The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

complex as the process is, however, it is uncommon for
a slave trainer to specialize in more than two different
species. Drow with a slave of another species will have to
find an alternate trainer, if one is available.
There are far more uses for trained slaves than for
untrained, obviously. A trained slave can be trusted with
money, weapons, even with his master’s life. They are
used as bodyguards, personal servants, concubines, skilled
gladiators and soldiers to make up the front ranks of a drow
army.
The Gods of the Drow
Even the haughtiest of the drow does not presume to
understand the origins of the gods, where they came from
or how they came to be. The official dogma of most
drow churches is that the drow pantheon predates
the existence of any other gods and it was
through their primordial efforts to force their
way into being that all other divinities
were created. Despite the insistence of
the clergy, this seems unlikely.
Another theory, which holds more
currency with drow brave enough to
entertain such thoughts, is that the gods
of the drow were created concurrently
with the gods of the surface elves. This
theory holds that the two sets of gods are
shadows of one another, precise opposites,
light and dark, created alongside one another
to accommodate the universe’s need for balance
in all things. Where there is an Allfather, there
must be a Dark Mother and so with the other deities.
The gods of the drow have not seen fit to comment on the
issue and no drow has ever been fool enough to ask.
Listed below are the gods worshipped by the drow,
including descriptions of their spheres of influence, the
kinds of worship performed in their name, the general
makeup of the clergy and congregation and notes on the
design of their temples.
The Dark Mother
Symbol: A black spider on a silver web. In traditional
symbology, the web is depicted with barbed edges. More
elaborate scenes add the flesh and bones of enemy races,
including shangu, humans and of course elves from the
surface. Amongst the common folk, her symbol is often
reduced to a circle surrounded by eight crooked lines, a
crude representation of the spider.
Alignment: Chaotic evil
Governs: Death, destruction, drow, fate
Domains: Chaos, Death, Evil, Protection
Favoured Weapons: Flails, whips
Requirements for Priesthood: Must be a female drow
Background
The Dark Mother is the only deity of the drow that is well
known on the surface world. Even among other Underdeep
races, many gods and goddesses of the drow are virtually
unknown, leading races throughout the world to some
incorrect assumptions about the dark elves. Particularly on
the surface, the drow are regarded as a single, monolithic
culture, a connection of closely related cities populated in
equal part by dark elves and giant spiders, ruled over with
an iron fist by a cruel order of priestesses.
The priestesses of the Dark Mother are well
aware of this belief and have always striven to
propagate it. For the most part, they have
succeeded and very few on the surface
world are aware of the wide variety and
diversity of beliefs and cultures found
in the drow. Even some of the wisest
heads of other races hold tightly to this
belief, ignoring through sheer force
of will the argument that a people as
chaotic, individualistic and suspicious
as the drow would not submit to a
culture in which they were ruled over by
a single, autocratic entity.
The Dark Mother, though a feminine deity, is
focused on the darker aspects of motherhood such
as vengeful protectiveness, control and obscene fecundity.
She considers all the drow her children, a viewpoint that
frequently puts her at odds with the other gods of the drow
pantheon. She is fiercely protective of her children, but
through her priestesses is equally fierce about destroying
any children who cross her. There are always other
worshippers, other children, other slaves.
In her role as a nurturer, the Dark Mother showers her
priestesses with gifts, purchasing their loyalty through
the bestowment of divine powers. In turn, she demands
complete and absolute obedience and service. The price
paid by a priestess who betrays the faith is terrible enough
to make even the drow shudder. The more fortunate die
after long and agonising torture as a sacrifice on a temple
altar, while something worse awaits the most hated traitors.
The Underdeep is littered with the horrific creatures known
as the driders, pitiful and bitter wretches that once were
drow favoured by the Dark Mother before they were judged
unworthy or unfaithful and warped into their new forms.
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