Page 53 - Mordenkainen's Tome Of Foes

as long as they never had to lay eyes on the drow or view to serve them, and some are laid out across blood-
the results of their efforts. stained altars and sacrificed to Lolth.
But drow society is predicated on a foundation ofter- The drow know how vulnerable they are during day-
ror and slavery, and the most desirable slaves live on the light, so they typically plan raids that can be executed
world's surface: humans, dwarves, and best of all, other within the span of a single night. As a rule, that means
elves. To the dark elves, raiding the surface for captives their target must be no more than a few hours' march-
and treasure isn't just a cultural and military tradition, eight to twelve miles is typical- from an entrance to the
but also an economic necessity. Underdark. Ideally, they'll have more than one return
Some raids are major operations that involve hun- path mapped out; if an escape route is blocked, they can
dreds of warriors, mages, priestesses, and giant spiders, switch to another and get safely home.
a large enough force to overwhelm a community. The Once the raiders get inside their escape tunnel, they're
invaders would sweep through the town in the dark of usually safe. Opposing forces seldom pursue the drow
night, shackle the best potential slaves into long trains below ground for good reason- beyond the light lies
of chattel, kill everyone who resisted, burn everything to unmapped enemy territory where everything they meet
the ground, and set their sights on the next town in line. is likely to be hostile. In special circumstances, such as
Most of the dark elves' raids, however, are small, if one of the raiders' captives is a royal heir or the scion
stealthy, one-night missions. The drow scout their tar- of a wealthy family, adventurers might be hired to mount
gets in advance, then strike on a night when the moon is a rescue mission. Otherwise, it's rare for any rescuers
new or its light is obscured by thick clouds. They might to follow the kidnappers' trail deep into the deadly dark-
kill indiscriminately to spread terror, while at other ness without becoming victims themselves.
times they slip into a village, knock out their targets with
poison, and spirit their captives away without even wak- SLAVES AND STATUS
ing the neighborhood dogs. Sometimes a raid uses both The drow are known and feared throughout the world
tactics; one squad sets fires or sets off alarms to focus for their practice of slavery, but those who have visited
the defenders' attention on one area, as another team their cities report that slaves aren't as prevalent as the
strikes at the real target on the other side of town. dark elves' reputation would suggest. In general, only
Loot is a secondary goal on almost all raids; taking powerful houses hold significant numbers of slaves, and
prisoners is the primary objective. Some of the dark the slaves of a house are never more numerous than its
elves' victims become slaves, some end up as food for gi- population of drow.
ant spiders or other monsters that the drow have trained Slaves are often kept as signs of status as much as for
their intrinsic worth as laborers. When they are put to
work, they are also put on display, doing jobs that enable

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