Everyone has heard of D3 The Vault of the Drow but how many of you Drow enthusiasts have a copy of Dragon Magazine #298 and Fred Weining's article, The Vault of the Drow: Dark Elf Metropolis? Based on Gygax's mod, Fred updated the Vault to post-Greyhawk Wars era and developed into even further interesting directions. The article is a must have for anyone running a campaign in Erelhei-Cinlu. There are some good full-color maps of the Vault by Christopher West and it has some new info for the religions of Keptolo Drow demigod of flattery, intoxication and opportunism; Kiaransali Drow demigoddess of slavery, vengeance and undeath; and Zinzerena Drow hero-goddess of deception, ambush and assassination.
Mentioned in both Weining and Gygax's works and now by the cultists, is the strange minerals of the Vault. Tumkeoite, which gives light to the Drow city is naturally a Gygax creation. A punny homage to Tom Keogh, while the mineral Lacofcite which Tumkeoite decays and turns into is either an homage to Len Lakofka or also a pun of 'Lack of Sight'. Clever stuff. Now in a more practical question, we know from D3 that Drow cloaks, armor, poison and weapons are all imbued by radiation with a property that makes them decay when exposed to direct-sunlight. I would assume it is either the Tumkeoite or its later state, Lacofcite that is responsible for this radiation (Anyone who is an expert on real-world radiation let me know). At any rate, the fact that Tumkeoite decays and drow gear decays makes the presence of Tharizdun cultists in the Vault even more ironic.
One last Vault subject, the existence of a vault-cyst that massive is a fictional abberation. Having consulted "top people" I can say that there are few credible ways it could be created in nature. There are of course ways it can be made in fantasy, like the vault could have been excavated by a huge underdark monster, or it could have been formed by a planar effect, or it could've been created by mass disintegration spells. Whatever its origin, how long can the vault possibly last with the cultists in town? Not long I imagine. ;)
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