The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

made on the surface, nor does it take dye as well, but it is
stronger. Drow cities with an abundance of spider silk find
it to be a valuable trade resource with drow cities lacking
such a thing.
The beasts of the Underdeep, herded by the drow for food,
also provide hides which can be used as clothing. Such
clothing is worn only by the poorest of drow, however, as
wealthier drow consider garbing themselves in skins and
hides as uncouth.
There are two herd beasts of the drow, the druuge (see page
219) and gursk (see page 220), whose fur can be sheared
and woven into fabric, much like the wool taken from sheep
on the surface.
By far the most common clothing among the drow is a wide
variety of fabrics collectively known as na’orsuin (literally
‘of the fungus’). It is made by weaving together the fibres
of the various funguses of the Underdeep, soaking and
tightening them until they become a pliable cloth. Each
fungus used in the creation of na’orsuin has its own specific
texture and appearance, making it easy to tell which part
of the Underdeep the drow wearing it hails from. More
expensive and luxurious fabrics are made from combining
the fibres of multiple fungi into a single cloth.
Clothing for the drow, while varied and distinctive, is more
an item of ornamentation than necessity. The constant
temperature of the Underdeep, while slightly cool, is not
such to demand clothing for protection or warmth. This
holds true throughout almost all of the Underdeep, save
some of the shallower dwellings of House Merezzym in the
far north of the world where the intense cold seeps down
from the surface and the drow live in caves and caverns
festooned with carved ice.
Along with the near-constant temperature of the lands they
inhabit, the drow also have little need to worry about the
vicissitudes of weather. There are no thunderstorms or
blizzards to concern themselves with, or protect themselves
from, in the Underdeep. People from the surface are often
surprised to find that there is sometime rain in the caverns
of the drow, however. A cavern with a large population and
plentiful fresh water will often have condensation collect
on the roof, which is shed in a kind of rain ranging from
a near-constant mist to an occasional deluge lasting only a
few seconds. Drow living in a cavern with a tendency for
mist will often wear a cloak woven of gursk hair whenever
they venture outside their structures.
Economy
Whether or not they are active worshippers of Alsythuth
the Bloodied Coin (see page 33), necessity forces all
drow cities to engage in trade and commerce, as this is the
only way to provide for all the needs of a people living
underground. The Underdeep is a place of scarcity and
privation, where resources taken for granted on the surface
are rare or absent.
Of all aspects of drow society, the economy is the most
fragile. Though the Underdeep contains resources that
can, barely, provide for most of the needs of the drow, they
make for a spartan existence at best. Food, in particular, is
always a concern, as the Underdeep contains nothing to eat
save fungus and the flesh of the few species of beasts native
to the depths.
To make up for the scarcity and monotony of the resources
available to them, the drow are active traders with other
underground races and even with the surface if they can find
someone both brave and greedy enough to deal with them.
The more fortunate and affluent communities of drow have
access to universally prized goods like precious metals and
gemstones, mined from the rock by small armies of slaves.
Drow without such raw materials as resources must be
more creative in trade.
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