Language: Drow

Drow

Region(s): Underdark
Race(s): Drow, Half Drow

Drow are as eloquent and musical in their speech as other elves, and are capable of readily reproducing the sounds of other languages.

A citizen of an underground city who seldom ventures far afield will know two tongues: the everyday spoken language of the drow and the soundless language of gestures and expressions developed by drow long ago. This “silent language” of drow, sometimes called the “hand code,” is a language as detailed as the spoken word.

Drow is the everyday tongue, corrupted by passing fashions, trade-tongue jargon, and even words from other languages (notably orcish, dwarven, surface elven and human wizardly terms). It has a similar structure to the Elven Tongue but is distinct from a mere dialect because of the subtle differences in its verbal and written form. It is speculated by surface Elves that many of these differences were purposely introduced to betray a speakers familiarity with 'regular' Elven.

When written, its flowing letters resemble old elven and freehand Thorass scripts, but a being familiar with both elvish and Common writing can puzzle out only 14% of the general nature of a drow inscription. Drow is a living, changing tongue, and varies from place to place in the Underdark, as well as over time. Terms central to the Drow way of life, such as Lolth and her temple, Spiders, but also wizardry and martial arts tend to remain rigid and unchanging between communities.