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The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

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By far the most common class of House Zhakhun is the<br />

ranger, though fighters, clerics and sorcerers are also in<br />

good supply.<br />

Religion<br />

House Zhakhun has its roots in the host of warriors<br />

under the command of Orenth Zhakhun at the time of the<br />

Sundering and though the culture and society of these drow<br />

has changed dramatically since that day, the worship of<br />

Thraud the Pitiless Blade has never faded from them.<br />

However, Thraud is not the only god worshipped by the drow<br />

of House Zhakhun, who also revere Alsythuth, Olyet’Naru<br />

and Polshoath, all of whom the drow have associated<br />

somehow with hunting, whether from Alsythuth’s control<br />

of raiders or Polshoath’s governance over life. <strong>The</strong> drow<br />

of House Zhakhun also actively worship Belishtim, though<br />

her worship has nothing to do with hunting.<br />

House Features:<br />

� Bonus feat Track. All drow of House Zhakhun learn to<br />

track their prey from the time they are children.<br />

� +2 bonus to Move Silently and Survival<br />

� -2 penalty to Wisdom-based skill checks except<br />

Survival. Though they are exceptional hunters, the<br />

rash and overconfident House Zhakhun drow have<br />

often proven that they are not amongst the wisest of<br />

their race.<br />

House Skills: Move Silently, Survival<br />

Favoured Class: Ranger<br />

Predominant Alignment: Neutral evil<br />

Predominant Religion: Thraud (but also Alsythuth,<br />

Belishtim, Olyet’Naru and Polshoath)<br />

Other Powers of the <strong>Drow</strong><br />

<strong>The</strong> Seekers of na’Koth<br />

Many drow know the name of the Seekers of na’Koth but<br />

few know anything more than that about this shadowy<br />

organisation. <strong>The</strong> Seekers are everywhere and nowhere,<br />

hidden within drow society and working towards what<br />

ends no one knows, though there is of course a wealth of<br />

rumours. Generally, they are considered to be nothing more<br />

than information brokers, albeit the most resourceful and<br />

reliable ones available. <strong>The</strong> true purpose of the Seekers<br />

runs somewhat deeper than that.<br />

Background<br />

Mere days after the Sundering, the warrior Drem na’Koth<br />

was leading a small, bedraggled group of his people<br />

through the unfamiliar ways of the Underdeep. Stealing a<br />

few moments’ rest in a dank, stale cavern, the thoughts of<br />

the great warrior turned to the reasons such a terrible fate<br />

had befallen his people - first the Great Betrayal, then the<br />

Sundering. With what he later called a moment of clarity,<br />

he understood how this had happened, that it was ignorance<br />

that caused the downfall of the drow; ignorance of the<br />

martial prowess of the surface elves, ignorance of what<br />

lurked in the depths of the Underdeep. Drem understood<br />

then that knowledge was the key to the future of the drow.<br />

Knowledge is what would let the drow survive the horrors<br />

in the Underdeep, what would strengthen the drow for<br />

their eventual return to the surface for vengeance against<br />

the surface elves. Knowledge, Drem understood at that<br />

moment, was the mightiest weapon one could wield, an<br />

invisible blade to overcome any enemy.<br />

In the years that followed, once the immediate danger of<br />

the Sundering, of the surface elves and of the shangu was<br />

past, Drem began his quest to bring his vision to fruition.<br />

He gathered together a handful of other drow whom he<br />

knew well, forming the core of what would soon grow into<br />

a much larger organisation. <strong>The</strong>se were the first Seekers<br />

of na’Koth.<br />

Drem’s original vision had simply been the creation of a<br />

storehouse of knowledge, one which would serve the drow<br />

well in the present and in the future. However, he also<br />

understood that without wealth and influence, the Seekers<br />

could never grow and indeed were unlikely to survive even<br />

to the end of Drem’s life. It was then he realised knowledge<br />

could be more than a weapon, it could be a commodity of<br />

nearly infinite value. Thus the Seekers entered the business<br />

which has since become their primary reason for being,<br />

acting as information brokers throughout the lands of the<br />

drow.<br />

Wealth began to pour into the coffers of the Seekers as the<br />

temples and Noble Houses of the drow clamoured for the<br />

services of Drem na’Koth and his followers, offering up<br />

chests of gold to know the most closely-kept secrets of<br />

their rivals. In this sudden demand for their services, the<br />

Seekers saw an opportunity.<br />

Drem na’Koth’s agenda was always to strengthen the<br />

drow race, to make them powerful enough to dominate<br />

the Underdeep, mighty enough to come forth again from<br />

beneath the surface to destroy the traitorous surface elves.<br />

To his mind, some of the factions rising among the drow<br />

were well-suited to those aims, while others were less so.<br />

Further, he decided the Seekers must do all in their power to<br />

prevent one of these factions from achieving its inevitable<br />

goal of dominion over all the drow, for while competition<br />

builds strength, the stagnancy of a single power would<br />

lessen it. It was with this agenda firmly in mind that Drem<br />

79

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