Page 123 - Critical Role: Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting

tal’dorei campaign guide

driders
the animals of the world. Some creatures created by this
outpouring of magic remain feral beasts, like the abom-
inable owlbear or giant toad. Others, however, gained The betrayer god known as the Spider Queen was one of
increased intelligence, the ability to create tools, and the the first casualties of the Calamity; she was impaled by the
capacity to form civilizations. Stormlord’s thunderspear before her drow soldiers even saw
battle. Her blood, thick and silvery, pooled in the sunless
centaurs caverns beneath the world. In the years to come, it was
discovered by her most loyal dark elven servants, and they
During the Calamity, many elves fled into the Feywild to
drank deeply. The blood of the Spider Queen granted them
escape the war. One elven tribe that remained on Exan-
the goddess’s terrible power and warped their bodies until
dria to fight alongside their gods were the Horselords of
they were half-spider, half-elf. The driders grew in number
Laphithas. The elves of Laphithas rode alongside the elven
as more and more drow accepted this gift, but the pools of
god Archeart against the mortal servants of the Ruiner,
divine blood began to run dry, and they found themselves
but the entire tribe was slain in a burst of chaotic magic
tormented by its absence. The driders now roam the under-
when the Archeart stabbed the Ruiner through his eye,
ground, desperately searching for hidden pools of the silver
their power merging their mortal bodies with their horses.
nectar. Yet, for their agony, they may still be in better shape
The Archeart rewarded his followers by reviving them as
as a tribal civilization than the dark elves.
centaurs to ride across the Dividing Plains, forever free of
war. The centaurs have diverged from their elven ancestry, gnolls
but still hold a grudge against the elves of Syngorn for
fleeing when their need was greatest. They are an incred- As their canine appearance suggests, gnolls were once
ibly faithful people—worshipping their creator with a mere hyenas. A pack of wild dogs was caught in the
fervor unknown even among the elves. divine eminence of an unknown deity entering Exan-
This story conflicts somewhat with the creation myth dria to do battle in the Calamity, and when the nimbus
of the orcs, who were elves corrupted by the spilled faded, the beasts were transformed. Today, most gnolls
blood of the Ruiner. It is possible that neither story is are still nomadic tribes led by a matriarch and her mate,
entirely accurate—or that both are. If both centaur and finding food where they can, be it scavenged carrion or
orcs are elves altered by the Ruiner’s defeat, it would cer- more civilized sustenance from human caravans along
tainly explain the two peoples’ long-standing hatred for the Silvercut Roadway. Gnolls are a people with few
one another. allies, seen as weak by the Ravagers of the Dividing

122 chapter 4: allies and adversaries