The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

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of the majesty of the Underdeep and the secrets it had
taught him, now that he had thrown off his old life and
embraced his fey roots.
His words struck a chord in the hearts of a very few drow,
who gave up their lives in drow society and struck out into
the wilds of the Underdeep. Like those before them, few
survived, but there were enough who endured the dangers
to form a loose association.
The Dark Fey, as they soon came to be known, were
quickly branded heretics by the cults of the drow and
ceased coming anywhere near the drow cities. Still, from
time to time, a drow would choose to abandon his life and
station in drow society and strike out into the Underdeep
to join them. Only those who truly sought to become the
Dark Fey have ever managed to locate the others; the many
cult-sponsored attempts to destroy them have always met
with utter failure.
Culture
Every member of the Dark Fey is at least a little bit mad.
Whether he was made so by magic, by too much drug use
or even by witnessing and partaking in rituals that broke
his sanity seems to make no real difference. Upon leaving
behind his old life and seeking out the Dark Fey, the drow
also usually leaves behind his old name, taking up a new
appellation upon joining the Dark Fey.
The Dark Fey are devoted to the Underdeep. They consider
it their natural domain, and see themselves as students and
shepherds of its trackless depths. They believe the life they
lead, of utter freedom and complete self-determination, is
the natural lifestyle for the drow and feel sorrow for those
drow still trapped in their stinking cities by the oppressive
grasp of greedy beings masquerading as gods.
The goal of a Dark Fey is to become attuned to his fey
roots, to that element of faerie which still resides deep in
the soul of every drow. They have embraced the trickster
aspect of the fey, but not in the benign spirit of many
faeries of the surface. They entrap and destroy wanderers
in the Underdeep, deceiving travellers with false paths
and cunning traps, leading them to their doom. This, they
believe, is the essence of the Underdeep and they honour it
by destroying those who do not understand. Malicious and
mischievous, they consider all races other than themselves
as trespassers in the Underdeep.
The Dark Fey contain the only significant number of druids
in the lands of the drow. Many members of the Dark Fey
are multi-classed, having abandoned their old profession
to take up the path of the druid upon joining the Dark Fey.
There are some sorcerers in its ranks, as well as rangers
and rogues.
The Dark Fey have no central organisation, no leaders and
no servants. They wander the Underdeep in small numbers,
meeting once every year to drink, celebrate and mate. Each
year the meeting is in a different place, yet each year the
drow of the Dark Fey know exactly where to go.
The other races of the Underdeep consider the Dark Fey to
be more like a natural hazard than an enemy, just as likely
to ignore an unprotected trading caravan as they are to
attack it. Though chaotic and slightly mad, the Dark Fey
are not stupid and will not engage in a fight they cannot
win, unless there is no other choice.
Place in Society
The Dark Fey have no position in drow society, as they
have divorced themselves from it entirely, eschewing all of
its trappings and conventions, even their own names, to live
as they believe the drow should.
When rumours of the Dark Fey first reached the ears of
other drow, they were ignored as inconsequential. As time
passed, however, and the rumours continued, the clergy of
most drow cults denounced the Dark Fey as heretics and
the faithful among the drow began to hunt them. It proved
all but impossible to find, let alone capture, the Dark Fey
and innumerable hunting parties returned empty-handed.
Fearing they would look like fools if they continued the
search, the clergy of the various drow gods ceased to
hunt the renegade dark elves, publicly dismissing them as