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The Drow in Sigil

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Fri, 2005-10-28 01:23
#1
KismetRose
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The Drow in Sigil

My boyfriend, in our pre Faction War Planescape game, is playing an imp that was once a drow, still has a drow form, and thinks of himself as a drow. This character is a wizard in Sigil slowly gaining allies, spells, a little wealth, and information. He will need all of these things to continue on his journey.

The thing is, he has been hiding out from any other drow in the city. He doesn't want to have much to do with them; even though he thinks of himself as a drow, that doesn't mean that he's enjoyed being one in a Lolth-dominated society. Sigil has given him his first real taste of freedom and he doesn't want to lose it. All the same, there ARE drow in the city, and eventually he will come into contact with them.

So of course, I have to figure out who they are and what they are doing at the hub of the multiverse.

I'm wondering, since folks here might know: have the PS books had much to say on the drow in Sigil? If so, where? I like to start by at least looking at what's been done before I try to change anything.

As it is, I am thinking that I will shy away from using Menzoberranzan since it has been used so often. I'm going to try to figure in some other cities of origin for the drow, like Sschindylryn and Sshamath.

Besides the obvious plethora of magical items and fiends, what else would be of particular interest to drow visitors in the City of Doors?

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Fri, 2005-10-28 02:28
#2
Nemui
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The Drow in Sigil

In official sources, I don't remember a single Cager drow NPC. There was an adventure module that offered a drow character as a pregenerated NPC; she was your sterotipical outcast (though NE instead of the "default" CG) disguised as a moon elf ranger/rogue, and I think she had a monodrone "animal companion". Can't remember the name, though.

Then, there are these two, a drow mage and her pet marut.

In general, I'd assume that not many drow live in Sigil. Perhaps most of them are too narrow-minded to find their way in a philosophy-oriented society, what with religion dominating their lives and all that? On the other hand, they should enjoy the sunless City of Doors... speaking of which, does Sigil's illumination affect vampires, wraiths, drow, duergar, etc., as normal sun would? I assume no, but it doesn't hurt to check...

Fri, 2005-10-28 10:22
(Reply to #2) #3
Fell
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'Nemui' wrote:
In general, I'd assume that not many drow live in Sigil. Perhaps most of them are too narrow-minded to find their way in a philosophy-oriented society, what with religion dominating their lives and all that?
And to that, I would add simply, that most drow probably don't even see the need to find themselves in Sigil. We know drow dislike relating with most other races... and since the Cage is such a melting pot of various races and cultures the drow would find little to interest them.

Also, part of the reason why drow thrive on most Prime worlds is due to the fact that they've established extensive power bases -- where their rule is the only law. In Sigil, they'd find it difficult to re-establish such notions, at least for the most part, because of the Cage's hodge-podge nature of laws, cultures, and customs.

Fri, 2005-10-28 11:05
(Reply to #3) #4
ripvanwormer
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The Drow in Sigil

'Nemui' wrote:
speaking of which, does Sigil's illumination affect vampires, wraiths, drow, duergar, etc., as normal sun would? I assume no, but it doesn't hurt to check...

It does, but only during the brightest six hours near Peak. Vampires have a lot more time to wander around than they do elsewhere - and there's always Sigil Below.

I don't think Sigil has any actual community of drow, but it has plenty of individual drow elves in it - after all, many of them are powerful spellcasters and can travel the planes, so it was only a matter of time before they discovered the City of Doors. But they haven't found a way to dominate any section of it - the fiends, factions, wererats, and even surface elves are too powerful and well-established. The surface elves were probably established in Sigil before the drow were ever banished from their presence, as old as the city is. I'm sure there are places where drow frequent and so on - but they mostly share those places with other creatures from the Abyss and the Underdark, and probably githyanki and tieflings and the like.

Fri, 2005-10-28 13:09
(Reply to #4) #5
Nemui
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The Drow in Sigil

Kismet, I forgot to mention that I really like that character concept - a barmy imp that thinks he's a drow. Cool
Consider it borrowed.

Fri, 2005-10-28 13:30
(Reply to #5) #6
ripvanwormer
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If he looks like a drow, and thinks he's a drow, how is he not a drow? Does he have an imp's statistics and special abilities? Can he shapeshift into a rat or a crow? I suppose it's a philosophical issue.

But yeah, kind of cool.

I think drow are almost a planewalking race. Their city of Erinhei Cinlu on Oerth has githyanki and tanar'ri roaming through it, after all, as well as a permanent portal to the Abyss that featured prominently in Dead Gods - which I guess makes it a gate town, sort of.

So they should have a fair presence in the Abyss - at least those strong enough to deal with the tanar'ri as equals - and from there to Plague-mort and Sigil.

But the dynamics will be different. The tanar'ri in drow cities on the Prime are forced to respect the will of the Matron Mothers, but on the planes the tanar'ri are on their home ground - the drow are the ones who are going to have to respect the wills of the tanar'ri. Any drow-demon crossbreeds will be the rulers, often enough, rather than the servants.

They'll ally with githyanki a lot more on the planes, too, in order to have allies against the illithids. Or they might ally with the illithids against the githyanki, depending on how things go. Some might ally with the githzerai against both illithids and githyanki.

Oh, and I forgot about the chaotic neutral drow in Nidvellir, the third layer of Ysgard. They're the svartalfar of Norse myth, and they're very different from typical drow elves. If you're looking for a change from Lolth-worshippers, they're an excellent choice. They're blacksmiths, earth elemental wizards, illusionists, and enchanters. More on them in Planes of Chaos. and inspiration from stories of the svartalfar, dwarfs, elves, and trow of Norse and English folklore (since all those races tend to get confused in legend).

There might be a great rivalry in Sigil between drow from Nidvellir, drow from the Prime, drow who are lackeys of the tanar'ri, drow who are allied with the gith, and drow who are allied with mind flayers. It might make sectarian conflicts between Lolth's worshippers and Vhaeraun's seem small and petty in comparison.

And the marut in the drow NPC write-up Nemui linked to above should probably be a zelekhut in 3rd edition, shouldn't it? An enforcer of the law rather than an enforcer of death.

Fri, 2005-10-28 13:55
(Reply to #6) #7
KismetRose
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Thanks, everyone, for your replies, and feel free to keep 'em coming. This whole thing has given me a lot to think about.

So far, my rationale for having a drow population is that they are known for their powerful magic, and magic opens the door for them.

In the Underdark typically portals are the only reliable means of teleportation. They're also damned quick and useful, since traveling the dangerous expanses between places is a good way not to get to your destination. It makes sense to me that in an environment already riddled with portals, at least a few would go to Sigil.

Also, even in cities dominated by Lolthian priestesses, male drow are often able to study magic without too much trouble. Once powerful enough, I would imagine that some male drow would be looking for someplace else to be - someplace where they could have more power than they are allowed at home.

Quote:
Also, part of the reason why drow thrive on most Prime worlds is due to the fact that they've established extensive power bases -- where their rule is the only law. In Sigil, they'd find it difficult to re-establish such notions, at least for the most part, because of the Cage's hodge-podge nature of laws, cultures, and customs.

As far as I've read drow do have extensive power bases, but they've had to fight for them tooth and nail. Good spots in the Underdark are not easy to procure, and building an empire on slave labor is no small amount of work. The drow are willing to fight - and fight in just about any means necessary, including stealthily - in order to spread their power.

More importantly, however, the drow do have trading partners. Trade is dangerous, of course, and relations are usually strained, but the drow must trade for certain things like any other race. Sigil is the greatest market your mother never told you about. I could see them very much wanting trade alliances for many things: slaves, magical items, rare spell components, information, etc.

I've been thinking more about it, and I seem to find reasons why the drow would feel at home. I mean, they're used to fiends, for the most part (although not free-natured fiends, which could be a problem). They're used to violence. It seems that they would be quite at home in some of the factions. Some might secretly side with the Bleakers, but it should be pretty safe for them to openly support the Doomguard. The Fated seems to cry out for drow members, and lawful drow might appreciate the power behind the ideas of the Guvners. A few might end up as Xaositects (I can see drow clerics of Lolth digging it). With the exception of the Athar, the factions don't ask that you give up or disregard your religion.

Fri, 2005-10-28 14:03
(Reply to #7) #8
KismetRose
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Quote:
If he looks like a drow, and thinks he's a drow, how is he not a drow? Does he have an imp's statistics and special abilities?

Here's the skinny: My boyfriend's character, Xar, was a male drow commoner. He went about his business and tried to stay out of the way, but one day he was murdered for no apparent reason. While on the Fugue Plane (in FR, the plane where souls go before they're sent to the plane of their god) a devil approached him about the possibility of getting revenge, for a price, of course. In the terms of their deal, Xar would become an imp and would be allowed to persue his killer without having to go to Baator for at least one sacrifice a month. There's more to it than that but that's the gist. In any case, Xar's soul belongs to the devil and to Baator now.

We're using the imp monster class in Savage Species (with some adjustments) and I'm allowing him to be a wizard simultaneously. (I know that the SS book doesn't allow for that, but it works for us.) The first form that he took was a drow form because he thought he would be going right back to the drow city he came from. He doesn't gain extra forms until later levels, and he's comfortable in a drow form anyway. So he still tends to think of himself as a drow rather than an imp.

Fri, 2005-10-28 16:49
(Reply to #8) #9
Nemui
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'ripvanwormer' wrote:
If he looks like a drow, and thinks he's a drow, how is he not a drow? Does he have an imp's statistics and special abilities? Can he shapeshift into a rat or a crow? I suppose it's a philosophical issue.

But yeah, kind of cool.

"If it looks like a drow and quacks like a drow..."

Me, I'd play it as an imp that spent too much time in its drow disguise and for some reason forgot that it's able to assume other shapes/identities, or that it's actually Baator-born. It'd keep all impish traits except the change shape ability (which it can still use, just doesn't know it) and those that rely on its physical form (poison sting); it'd have none of the drow traits except appearance, size, ability scores, etc.

Fri, 2005-10-28 21:21
(Reply to #9) #10
Fell
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'KismetRose' wrote:
More importantly, however, the drow do have trading partners. Trade is dangerous, of course, and relations are usually strained, but the drow must trade for certain things like any other race. Sigil is the greatest market your mother never told you about. I could see them very much wanting trade alliances for many things: slaves, magical items, rare spell components, information, etc.
I wouldn't be that surprised at all to find a couple of drow running some kind lucrative trading network out of the back alleys of Sigil. There's plenty in the City of Doors that they can shift back to their allies on the Prime... not the least of which are slaves, weapons, and exotic magicks.

Fri, 2005-10-28 21:26
(Reply to #10) #11
Fell
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As an aside to all this though, I like the idea that one might find more male drow roaming the Cage -- whether as slaves or as operatives for their respective Houses -- at least more so than drow High Priestesses for example.

The far-reaching nature of Sigil has the potential to offer all newcomers the chance to break away from traditional standards and the freedom to choose one's own course in the world. The possibility of doing away with trends that they may find inconvenient. Visiting male drow may see Sigil as one place where they can escape the vicious Lolth-dominated matriarchies of their homes... perhaps with the intention of setting up their own male-dominated groups.

Fri, 2005-10-28 21:34
(Reply to #11) #12
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Quite definately. The more open and urban environment of Sigil has contributed greatly to the character development of the character I'm currently playing. (Half drow) It's an environment where the male/female dynamics of the species can be quickly broken down.

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