Drowcraft

A drowcraft armor or weapon was one of a unique style of drow manufacture.

Description
A drowcraft item was usually made from adamantine, an alloy of adamantite. It was impossible to detect magical energy from a drowcraft item despite it working like one.

Powers
In an area of faerzress or inside an earth node, a drowcraft item became energized—a wielder of a drowcraft weapon would enjoy more fortune in making attacks and inflicting injuries, while a wearer of drowcraft armor would find attacks against them deflected. This was in addition to its other enchantments.

A drowcraft armor or weapon had a number of inherent disadvantages. First, since it was powered by faerzress or an earth node, it lost its magic outside of such an area, but retained any other enchantments.

Furthermore, these items were very weak against sunlight. When exposed to natural sunlight, decay started after two minutes of exposure or five minutes spread over five days. The dissolution set in after two to twelve days. However, there was a small risk they would disintegrate right away when exposed to sunlight, even indirectly like in a room or even in a scabbard. Above ground, drowcraft armors and weapons kept safe inside a lead-lined container (but could last there indefinitely) or by coating them with darkoil, though only temporarily (1 day for armor, 3 days for a weapon). If such an item was used on the surface but the user took care in protecting it from sunlight, it could retain its properties for thirty-one to fifty days. A drowcraft item that was protected from the sun and then put in an area of heavy faerzress retained its properties.

Crafting a drowcraft item was, due to the faerzress, cheap and easy, but was largely a secret held by the drow. It was known that the process took long time. What was also known was that to craft a drowcraft armor or weapon, the crafter needed to be a drow capable of casting contingency and disintegrate, with skill in the forging of magical weapons or armors. The lengthy part of the process was the "baking". The metal needed to remain in strong Underdark radiation for long time, for example a buckler needed an entire year.

History
Drowcraft armors and weapons were once quite popular among drow in the Underdark. Even the lowest ranked warrior used to have such tools. But, by 1372 DR, such weapons were no longer popular in some drow cities, while for armors the fall from popularity was more widespread, and they were no longer in general use in many cities.

At latest around the Second Sundering, drowcraft items experienced a renaissance. It became normal again for foot soldiers and others to be equipped with these items and various magic items were again created with this method.

Reputation
Drowcraft tools were associated with the drow so much that they were the talk in taverns and the like on the surface.

As mentioned above, one way to protect the item's properties after a trip to the surface was to put it in a radiation-heavy area in the Underdark. Such areas were sought out and inhabited by drow and leaving an item there with a guard was a reason to be considered suspicious.

Drowcraft items had a great effect on drow-society as a whole that went past equipping every soldier of theirs with it. Because radiation-heavy places were sought out by them for their cities, drow habitats were by definition stationary and therefore more vulnerable against enemy attacks. This caused the drow to be very inventive regarding combat magic, training, and tactics out of necessity. Especially the need for magic for their protection became impossible to ignore.

Notable drowcraft items

 * Weapons:
 * Drow mission blade
 * Hand spinneret
 * Queen's scourge


 * Armor:
 * Death armor


 * Others:
 * Piwafwi
 * Wand of viscid globs