Only a handful of scholars know the drow clan name Cynaxis. All others refer to the clan as the drow of the Sacred Vale. Abundant legends tell of this Sacred Vale; some say it contains a river of gold, others claim the drow worship a skull carved from an enormous diamond. Most believe the spirits of the drow’s ancestors guard the vale and turn trespassers into hideous undead monstrosities.
Like most legends, these stories contain grains of truth and much fabrication. Years ago, a band of drow skirmished with a tribe of stone giants. Many drow died at giant hands, and the survivors fled into the jungle, pursued by the warrior-leader of the stone giants and two of his strongest hunters. The drow felt certain their end had come, but when all seemed lost, the ground trembled and a tremendous maw rent the earth. The nimble drow leapt to safety, but the giants fell into the chasm to dash their heads on the rocks below.
The drow survivors declared the earthquake a sign, and that the giants’ grave would thereafter be sacred. The drow settled in the chasm after hauling the giant corpses out. The leader of the drow ordered the giants decapitated and their heads boiled. He stacked the three skulls in the center of the chasm, declaring it a holy site.
The earthquake had opened an underground stream and fresh water ran from a tiny spring at the narrow end of the canyon. The drow set about constructing huts and deepening niches in the walls to use as abodes. Over the years, vines and plants grew down the sides of the dale, and trees shot up from the ground. Today, the chasm is a deep, shadowed vale, hidden from view by overhanging jungle canopy and guarded fiercely by the drow inhabitants. The spirits of drow ancestors don’t guard the Sacred Vale, but the current aquasa (chieftain) claims to be guided by the restless spirit of his father.
Leaders of the Sacred Vale
Two individuals guide the drow tribe in different ways. The aquasa, Sszaral, inflames his people with fiery words and the unflagging energy of a zealot. The shaman, I’qualyn, tempers the aquasa’s energy with her methodical, ruthless plotting.
Sszaral: It was Sszaral’s father, Kestral, who led his people in the near-fatal raid against the stone giants, only to be saved by the shaking of the earth. Sszaral was Kestral’s only son and lived his life in the shadow of his legacy. A small and sickly child, Sszaral keenly felt his father’s expectations for him and pushed himself further than he should have in an effort to live up to those expectations. He became a lean, savage, devoted champion of the clan. When Kestral died at the hands of the Tol Gorum, Sszaral became aquasa and swore he would bring his father’s body back for proper burial by the sacred skulls.
Sszaral led a raid against the Tol Gorum but found the stone giants had burned Kestral’s body to ash. Maddened by this disrespect and shamed by his failure, Sszaral has made it his life’s mission to destroy the Tol Gorum, hoping their extinction will appease his father’s spirit. Sszaral believes that Kestral’s spirit guides him, whispering plans into his ear and demanding vengeance in dreams. The more mundane truth lies with the clan’s shaman, I’qualyn.
Sszaral is a thin, angular drow with large, haunted eyes and a fanatic’s grin. A large scorpion-shaped birthmark on his back denotes his status as blessed of Vulkoor, the drow scorpion god. He wields a deadly scorpion chain* and fights fearlessly, although he does retreat rather than risk death.
I’qualyn: Decades ago, I’qualyn harbored plans to become the chieftain Kestral’s mate. She craved power over the clan but knew her abrasive personality and scheming ways had garnered little support among the drow. She resolved to seduce the aquasa and bear his child, solidifying her importance to the clan.
I’qualyn’s plans failed when Kestral proved resistant to her overtures and her magic. He took another woman as his mate, a woman who died giving birth to Sszaral. I’qualyn was furious but hid her rage. Outwardly she supported Kestral, while inwardly she seethed with resentment over her treatment.
When Kestral died and Sszaral became the new aquasa, I’qualyn saw her chance. Always a fretful, obsessive child, Sszaral was easier to manipulate than his father had been. I’qualyn uses her magic and cunning to convince Sszaral that his father’s spirit guides him. She falsifies divinations and auguries, claims to bring messages from the dead to Sszaral, and uses her magic to create signs, such as giant scorpions, to influence clan decisions. I’qualyn hopes these tricks will spur Sszaral into greater and greater acts of bravery against the Tol Gorum giants, ending in Sszaral’s messy death. The aquasa has no heirs, and control of the clan would likely pass to the shaman.
People of the Sacred Vale
The drow of the Sacred Vale value preparedness, organization, and training above all. Sszaral knows that, in a fair fight, the giants would crush his people. The drow use stealth tactics, ambushes, and secrecy to battle the Tol Gorum tribe and stay alive.
All adult drow take shifts scouting around the edge of the vale. As the clan is relatively small, all drow train as warriors from a young age and learn the subtle tactics of their elders.
An average day in the Sacred Vale consists of mundane activities interspersed with defending the vale and participating in important rituals. The clan does not divide labor by gender, save for childcare, which is traditionally handled by females. Infants remain with their mother, while older children play and work together, supervised by one or two drow women. Some drow gather plants from the nearby jungle. While the clan is not strictly agrarian, the drow do cultivate areas of wild growth in the jungle, encouraging greater yields. The clan traps most of its meat, but some drow hunt during the day. Night hunting seems more natural to drow, but most harmless prey is active during the day.
Trapmaking is an integral part of the vale’s defense. Drow scouts spend hours each day foraging for trapmaking materials and fashioning nets and snares. The traps bring in meat for the tribe and scare off (or kill) trespassers. In addition to watching for invaders, drow scouts take note of explorers and well-equipped outfits suitable for raiding. Sszaral believes that fine weaponry gives the clan an edge against the giants; since the drow lack the ability to forge their own weapons, they take them from explorers and adventurers who draw too near the vale.
When not working to ensure the clan’s survival, the drow enjoy tribal dances and songs, storytelling in the lodge, and contests of skill, such as dagger throwing or tree climbing. Just before sunrise, I’qualyn leads a ritual of reverence for the past by the sacred skulls. The entire clan attends this ceremony, where they chant softly in remembrance of their kin and pray for strength to defeat their enemies.