Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

(Nancy Kaufman) #1
everyone on the street
or in an audience chamber to see

that their drow master
owns and s ubjugates powerful

enemies. As s uch,
the creatures are commonly used as

litter bearers, banner carriers, servers,
and footstools.

Slaves without appreciable valu
e as status symbols

are used for
strenuous or dangerous jobs such as tend





ing farms,
h auling cargo, or hollowing out giant sta-

lagmites
and stalactites to make new dwellin g spaces.

When they become too weak
or dispirited to work, they

might be staked out as bait
during a hunt, fed to the s pi-

ders, or sacrificed to Lolth
(and then fed to the spide rs).

Although
all slaves are at the bottom of the
dark elves'

social
hierarchy, the lowest-ranking drow are
consid-

ered
little better than slaves themselves. A
weak house

that doesn't ally itse lf with
a protector will be preyed

on and victimized into
extinction. If it does swear alle-

giance to a more
powerful house, it avoids being perse-

cuted by other houses but becomes effectively
a clan of

indentured servants. Only the most
exceptional females

in such a clan
have any chance of rising above their low

station, and
those who do advance e nd up hurting rath
er

than helpin
g their families because they are adopted

into the mor
e prestigious house, leaving their origi na l

house even weaker than befor
e.

THE
DARK SELDARINE

Lolth demands
the lion's share of worship from the

drow, according
to her wishes and by the command
of

her priestesses

. T he Spider Queen isn't, however,
the


only entity
venerated by drow. They revere a host
of di-

vine entities, which they r
efer to as the Dark Seldarine

in mockery of the surface
elves' deities. The Dark

Seldarine
are mighty, immortal beings, s urvivor
s from

the original group of primal elves who revolted
against

Corellon to remain at Lolth's side.

The Drow Deities
table lists the members of the Dark

Seldarine. For each
god, the table notes a lignment, prov-

ince (the god's
main areas of inte rest and responsibility),

suggested domains for clerics who
serve the god, and

a common symbol of the god. The
gods in the table are

described below.

LOLTH

Unlike
Corellon, who asks very little of his follow
ers,

Lolth is a demanding mistress.
What s he demands most

of all are sacrifices of
treasure and blood. Time and time


DROW D EI T I ES (THE D
ARK SELDARINE}

DROW TRANCE:
ENTERING T H E VOID

Drow enter trance
just as other elves do, but they do not

experience memories
of a primal soul or of past lives. Of-

ten they recall
nothing at all, but simply dwell for a time in

darkness and silence, a respite
from the dangers of their

daily lives. When drow do dream,
whether in trance or in

sleep, they look for signs
from Lolth or others of the Dark

Seldarine. That drow
do not experience trance the way

other elves do len
ds credence to the idea that their souls

do not reincarnate.
Did Corellon forever bar the souls of

dark elves from Arvandor and change
them in some funda-

mental way? Or does Lolth somehow
weave new souls for

her followers, in the way that
Moradin forges new spirits

for dwarves? Only those entities know for certain.

again, the screams of sacrificial
victims echo through

Lolth's lightless temples
as they fall under the knives of

her
priestesses. Her altars are piled with skull
s picked

clean
of flesh by the giant spiders that lurk
in the web-

draped s talactites overhead.

In return for victims and adoration, Lolth
grants signs

of her favor, s uch
as great success during a s lave raid

on the surface,
the matron of a riva l house being struck

down by a n inexplicable illness, or
an heiress to the

house being born under propitious
omens.

GHAUNADAUR

This entity is most often referr
ed to as That Which

Lurks, because uttering it
s real name risks attracting its

attention. Its actual form
, if it even has one, is unknown;

it's mos t often represented
as an ooze-like creature with

many tentacles or a purple pupil surrounded
by black in-

stead of white. The liquid nature of Ghaunadaur
is sym-

bolic of its unpredictable nature, which
is what makes

attracting its attention
so risky. It occasionally rewards

its followe rs with
supernatural powers or wealth, but it's

equally likely to curse its faithful with
hideous torments

and afflictions. A subterranean hunter
who whis pers

Ghaunadaur's name might stumbl
e into a forgotten

treasure tr
ove, while a devoted priestess who offers

long prayers
and valuable sacrifices is consumed by
a

gelatinous cube. The e ntity's
random behavior can be an

attraction to drow who lack
status and are despe rate to

achieve it. A s mall sacrific
e and a prayer to That Which

Lurks might si mply go
unnoticed by Ghaunadaur, or it

migh
t punish the petitioner, but there is also
a chance of

receivin
g a great reward.

Deity Alignment Province
Suggested Domains
Common Symbol

Eilistraee
CG Freedom,
moonlight, song

Ghaunadaur CE Oozes,
slimes, outcasts

Keptolo CE Beauty, hedonism, fertility

Kiaransalee CE Necromancy

Malyk

CE

Chaos, rebe
llion, wild magic

Loi th CE

Primary god of drow, spiders

Selvetarm CE

Warriors, slaughter

Vhaeraun CE

Arrogance,
thieves

Zinzerena CN

Assassination
, illusion, lies

~'Appears
in Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide


Life, Light, Nature

War

Nature, Trickery

Arcana,* Death

Tempest, Trickery

Trickery, War

War

Trickery, War

Trickery

Sword-wielding, dancing female drow

silhouetted against the full moon

Purple eye with black sclera

Mushroom

Drow hand wear
ing many silver rings

A flame in a tear
or a multihued vortex

Spider

Spider over crossed sword and mace

Black mask with blue glass lenses inse
t

over eyes

Shortsword draped with cloth

CHAPTER 2 I EL\'ES
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