The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

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have some hope of being restored to life, either through
raise dead, resurrection or (if the drow has planned ahead)
through emergence from a cloning tank, this is the very
essence of putting one’s life in another’s hands and the
drow do not ever count on being brought back from death.
Caught in the middle between the two extremes, the
merchant classes of the drow may be the most safe of all,
yet even they are hardly out of danger. They must still fear
a summons to serve the city in one of the frequent wars of
the drow, they must fear crude assassination attempts by
their rivals and those intent on climbing the social ladder
must be certain none of the powers of the city come to see
them as a threat.
Those drow who survive all the perils of life in the Underdeep
and among their people will still rarely die in bed, however.
The drow are a proud race, to whom infirmity and weakness
are despicable traits and very few drow who have survived
the long centuries of their lives are willing to die helpless
and bedridden. Further, no drow family would willingly
care for a relative so aged and infirm as to be nothing but
a useless burden. Therefore, most drow reaching the full
measure of their years choose to end their lives on their
own terms, with a knife to their wrists or a vial of poison
in their drink.
When death finally comes, very few drow can expect the
body they leave behind to be treated with any kind of
deference. With the exception of the wealthiest families,
the drow do not bury their dead. Not only would it be too
tempting a target for a necromancer looking for some raw
material, but space is in very short supply in most drow
cities, which certainly do not have the room to accommodate
a graveyard. The disposition of the body after death is, like
other things in drow culture, dictated by the individual’s
social standing in life.
The very wealthy can expect interment in catacombs
beneath the family home, or in a family mausoleum, locked
and guarded and warded by a network of spells against any
intruders, though the possibility always exists of a wizard
or priest within the family taking and using for
body for his own purposes.
Those without access to such luxuries as a
mausoleum and who live in a drow city with a
plentiful air flow may choose to pay a fee to one
of the temples for immolation services. In this
case, the body of the dead drow is taken to the
temple and burned as an offering to the god or
goddess. In some drow cities, this is impossible,
as there is not enough fresh air flowing through
the city to allow for immolation. In this case, or
in the case of drow too poor to pay for the service
(the fees vary from temple to temple and city to
city), there is only consignment to the fungus
pits. The bodies of the dead are dumped into the
fungus pits of the city, the main source of food,
that they might nurture the fungus on which the
living rely.
Clothing
Buried deep within the earth, the drow do not have
access to the wide array of simple fibres and cloth
made from plants that are taken for granted by
those who dwell on the surface. Linen, cotton,
even hemp cloth are rarities among the drow,
worn only by those drow both wealthy and with
easy access to trade routes running to the lands
above.
Among those drow dedicated to worship of the
Dark Mother, clothing spun from spider silk is
not uncommon. It is not as fine as the true silk