The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

in the body and the poor souls trapped within
scream and blubber in horror and pain. This
is probably the least common form of lighting
in a drow city, for several reasons. First, the
corpselights must be replaced periodically,
unlike continuous flame that burns forever
or luminous fungus that consistently renews
itself. Second, many drow find the light
from a corpselight uncomfortably bright and
the unending screams annoying, though the
clergy of the Dark Mother and Polshoath
are quite fond of the unending, agonised
serenade.
Unless a drow city is in a location in which
luminous fungus occurs naturally, the only
lighted areas of a city are the wealthiest. No
drow would waste the time or resources to
create continuous flames or corpselights for
the poor, who must get by in the unending
darkness as best they can.
Entertainment
The drow practice little of what surface
dwellers would consider entertainment.
Theatre, bardic song, dancing and oratory
are relatively new concepts to them. These
entertainments are at once passive and serve
no true purpose. Most drow view them as
frivolities, but they are gradually becoming
accepted within the more powerful and
secure drow realms.
Life in the Underdeep is violent and vital and traditional
drow entertainments reflect this fact. They serve not
merely as pastimes, but as a way to train fighting and
survival skills, or as a way to forget utterly the troubles of
the Underdeep, if only for a little while.
A nearly universal practice and pleasure of the drow are
gladiatorial contests. Even the smallest settlement of drow
will almost certainly have a fighting pit of some kind and
in the mightiest cities, gladiators will spill one another’s
blood in a magnificent coliseum to rival any that grace
the surface of the world. The drow eagerly purchase and
capture slaves for competition in the gladiatorial sports,
with wealthy drow often maintaining large stables of
fighters from dozens of races. Though there is no true
hope of freedom or indeed anything but an eventual and
inevitable bloody death, life as a gladiator is the best life
a slave of the drow can hope for. Those slaves who are
victorious in their battles earn both money and prestige for
their owners and are in turn often treated as favoured pets,
with comfortable accommodations and good food.
The gladiatorial bouts are not something the drow are
content to just observe passively, however. A large number
of these fights are designed to test the mettle and abilities
of the dark elves themselves. A furious battle against an
assortment of foes is considered appropriate, even necessary,
for drow fighters to prepare themselves for combat against
the many enemies of their race.
In stark contrast to the blood and spectacle of gladiatorial
contests is another mainstay of drow entertainment – the
pleasure den. Such places come in many forms, dependent
on the culture of the drow in question, but most of them
have at least some things in common. They are places for
the drow to put aside, for a short time, the perils of the
Underdeep and life among their fellow drow. As such, they
offer customers the opportunity to engage in hedonistic,
sense-numbing excess, be it in the form of prostitution,
mind-altering drugs derived from the fungi of the Underdeep
or simply the opportunity to torment a whimpering slave.
Obviously, for such a place to attract and retain business,
it must offer absolute protection for all its customers while
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