The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

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they partake of the pleasures within. Such measures often
include magical wards against scrying and magical entry,
combined with strict policies on no weaponry and a small
army of trained slaves ready to enforce the peace.
The least active form of entertainment common among
the drow is scarcely considered entertainment at all by
them, though surface dwellers would certainly see it that
way. Games of skill and strategy such as chess are a near
obsession for many drow who perceive them as merely
another form of training, a sort of dry run for the Game of
Bones, the intricate political struggle between the various
drow factions. In fact, as the pieces are usually carved
from rock, the drow often jokingly refer to chess as the
Game of Stones.
These games teach the lessons of war without the waste or
the mess and skilled players are highly regarded in drow
society for their abilities. Barring war or some other major
conflict, drow cities in close proximity to one another
will often participate in inter-city competition, each side
putting forth its best player to compete with the other drow.
Several times in drow history, cities have even agreed to
settle their disputes through a chess competition, though
it seldom works out, as the losing side generally invents a
new reason to go to war after their loss on the chessboard.
Of course, these are but a few of the diversions enjoyed by
drow. The dark elves of the Underdeep have a long, long
lifespan in which to invent new amusements for themselves
and Games Masters should feel free to add any other
appropriate diversions to this list.
Family
Family in the traditional sense is not an important concept
to the drow in the way it is to other races. As noted above,
the drow do not coddle their offspring and indeed there
may be very little contact at all between drow parents and
their children. In some of the drow sub-races, notably the
Lorgreln and the Sulzthul, this is not the case but taken as a
whole, the drow race does not organise itself into the same
kind of familial units so common in other races.
Instead of the usual concept of family, the drow prefer to
organise themselves by House. These large clans of drow
contain hundreds, even thousands of members and are a
principal way in which the drow differentiate themselves
from one another. The House does not take on all of the
traditional roles of a family, however. Filled with various
factions all jockeying for control, a House of the drow
serves as a microcosm of drow society as a whole. Most
commonly, these factions are individual families, but drow
who belong to a House still identify themselves by that
House rather than by individual family or parentage. Any
thing important or remarkable a drow achieves in his life is
attributed to the glory of the House, not the family.
Among the lower classes, the concept of family is more
relevant, as these drow generally do not have the strength of
a House at their back. Most often, this is because the drow
of the lower classes are not members of any of the Houses,
but even those drow who are, but whose fortunes have
waned to the point they are now counted among society’s
lower classes, cannot expect aid, or even acknowledgement,
from the House.
Without a larger House to count on, the lower classes of
the drow usually seek to find a place for their children in
an artisans’ guild or a temple. If successful, the guild or
temple will oversee the child’s education and any contact
with the parents will be kept to a minimum or severed
altogether. If the parents are not successful, the child will
remain with them until such time as drow society demands
he be forced to find his own way in the world.
Food
Food in the Underdeep is almost entirely limited to two
things: fungi and meat taken from the beasts native to this
strange place. All other foods must be acquired in one
of two ways, either gained through trade and raiding or
conjured magically.
Those drow with the ability to magically conjure food do
so almost exclusively, as it is surely the safest means of
eating. The chances of an assassin slipping poison into
one’s food in the few moments between conjuring it and
eating it are remote at best. As magically inclined as the
drow are, however, those who can create food with a snap
of their fingers are a slender minority.
For all other drow, food must be acquired in one of the
old-fashioned ways: it must be grown, bought or stolen.
Mushrooms are obviously the most common food, as
even the meat of beasts native to the Underdeep is more
expensive than what poorer drow can generally afford.
Fungus pits are ubiquitous to drow cities, but very few of
their cities have access to enough room to maintain any
significant number of meat animals.
Long years in the Underdeep have taught the drow to make
the best of what they have available and the finest chefs
among the drow are able to do amazing things with the
materials they have to work with. Still, with nothing but
fungus and meat as their ingredients, most drow food is
exceptionally bland. Spices taken for granted by those on
the surface are incredibly valuable among the drow, except
for salt, which is readily found throughout the Underdeep.