Bat: Drow enjoy the company of bats of all kinds, whether carnivorous or herbivorous.

In
drow society they are used as pets, messengers (in the manner of carrier pigeons used by
some surface cultures), fighting animals, or as spies. Some kinds of bats have adapted to
eating Underdark fungi instead of fruit, while others cannot survive without fruits
imported from the surface and thus are limited to the most affluent and well-connected
drow. The carnivorous bats eat insects and small strange flying creatures, but those that eat
spiders are exterminated in areas controlled by followers of Lolth. Because of their ability
to navigate with sound, bats function extremely well underground, although most owners
use their faerie fire ability to call the trained bats back home. The smallest varieties of bats
are often kept in cages by small drow children, and the larger ones are kept in small rooms
in drow mansions. (Slaves frequently clean these rooms to prevent odors.) Drow pet bats
are often killed by relatives or rivals, either for needless cruelty or to teach the child a
lesson -- typically "sentimental attachments to other creatures are a foolish weakness."
Bats are described in the Monster Manual.
Cavvekan: Also known as bat-faced dogs, these Underdark natives superficially resemble the
dogs of the surface world, except instead of fur they have black, velvet-smooth skin. Their ears
are upright and pointed and their noses have leaflike projections similar to those of certain
surface bats. They have sensitive whiskers, small eyes, and a slender build. Cavvekans are
nearsighted and can see in the dark or light only to a range of 10 feet. Like drow, they are
temporarily blinded by bright light. Their extremely sensitive hearing makes up for their poor
eyesight, and they can detect creatures within 120 feet of themselves. Because their senses are
superior even to the dark elves, drow use cavvekans as guard and hunting animals, for the
creatures can track by scent almost as well as a bloodhound. Because of their rarity near
dangerous drow cities, cavvekans are rarely taken as pets and are used mainly as work animals.
In the wild they are cautious scavengers, but they fight as a pack to bring down larger weakened
creatures, including humanoids.

Dire Bat: These large fliers are sometimes bred to fight each other, either in the air or crippled
and forced to walk in a crude arena. These ghoulish fights are the source of many wagers. A few
drow communities utilize trained dire bats as flying steeds, although such flights are dangerous
and it's usually commoners or even drow children (always commoners) forced to ride the bats;
that way, if the bats and riders are slain, it is no great loss to the community. These flying pairs
are used only for scouting or to annoy enemies with poisoned crossbow bolts. Training for the
bats consists of learning how to be steered with a bit and bridle, and training for the rider is a
matter of learning how to hold onto the bat's harness to prevent falls. Dire bats are described in
the Monster Manual.
Flying Spider: This mutant creature was first discovered in Undermountain but has spread to
other areas under the care of the dark elves. It looks like a normal spider with a body about the
size of a human hand, except it has a pair of translucent gossamer wings that allow it to fly
clumsily at about the speed of a dwarf's walk. These flying spiders are as poisonous as their
landbound cousins and appear to be originally of hunting spider stock, for they are adept at
jumping into the air to catch prey and use webs only to secure captured food in their lairs. The
existence of these creatures has started rumors about a degenerate crossbreed between avariel
(the rare winged surface elves) and the drow. These auvathyrri (as self-proclaimed scholars have
named them) are reputed to have scraggly birdlike wings or black insect wings and keep flying
spiders in preference to all other pets. That nobody has ever seen such an elf only lends power to

the rumor that they exist and that they slay any who encounter them.
Night Hunter: The evil batlike creatures called night hunters have 7-foot wingspans and sharp
triangular tails. They can see in the dark at a greater distance even than drow, and instead of
using sound to navigate in the dark, their eerie screams are used to strike fear into prey. They are
sometimes domesticated and make aggressive pets, and both surface dwellers and drow have
taken them as familiars. They are sometimes called dragazars in honor of Dragazar, the first
adventurer who was known to have tamed one. They fight with a bite and follow up with slashes
with the tail. Night hunters are described in Monster Compendium: Monsters of Faern.
Riding Lizard: These horse-sized lizards are built low to the ground with legs splayed wide.
Their steady gait, sense of balance, and ability to walk on walls and ceilings make them ideal
mounts for patrolling dark elves. Most noble houses have at least a handful of the valuable
lizards, and the larger houses have entire squadrons of lizard cavalry. Rather than charging into
battle like human knights, drow cavalry stealthily creeps unnoticed across the ceiling to pepper
enemies with poisoned crossbow bolts; by the time the targets realize the attack isn't coming
from the ground, most of them are asleep and are easy prey for support troops. Although they
cannot see in the dark, riding lizards have a keen sense of smell and are trained to follow the
silent directions of their rider, allowing them to navigate the blackest tunnels with only a slight
decrease in speed. Larger, slower breeds of lizards are used by the drow as pack animals. Riding
lizards and pack lizards are described in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting.
Shrieker: Some especially warped drow societies worship strange gods or demons, and some of
them favor particularly bizarre creatures as pets. Among these unusual pets are the shriekers,
which are noisy fungi that grow in dungeons and in many parts of the Underdark. While adult
shriekers are as big as a human man, young ones range from the size of a thumb to that of a
rabbit. Easy to care for, they can be trained even to recognize certain creatures, making them
good alarms for drow families wanting to avoid intruders in certain parts of the house. Different
varieties of shriekers have different calls (resembling different Underdark animals or
humanoids), allowing the drow to choose one of a particular tone. Since they are edible, if they
grow too large, noisy, or unruly, they can be eaten by their host family. Some make a sport of
raising shriekers and eating them live, savoring the screams as if they were those of a tortured
surface elf.
Sinister: The weird mantalike levitating creatures called sinisters have a 9-foot wingspan.
Although they are not evil, sinisters are sometimes captured and enslaved with magic and forced
to serve the dark elves. Drow wizards have devised a spell that can tune in to the sinister's natural
telepathy and use them as an early warning system in their towers. They have a strong bite,
possess the ability to freeze enemies in place with hold monster, and are protected by a natural
force field that deflects ranged attacks, making them greatly desired as bodyguards by
particularly cowardly drow spellcasters. Sinisters are described in Monster Compendium:
Monsters of Faern.
Slave: Drow live in a slaving society, and it is not unusual for younger members of a house to
adopt a slave as a "pet," particularly if that slave is a small creature (such as a kobold) or not
particularly intelligent (such as a goblin). Compared to other slaves, these pets live a pampered
life but are still treated as little more than animals and are often kept chained up in a small room
when the children don't want to play. Like all slaves, their lives are forfeit at any time, and many
slave pets have been tortured to death when its child owner tires of it. Others die of neglect, such
as by being banished to a high tower for an infraction and then forgotten for weeks. In the eyes
of the drow, such pets are easily replaceable.

Snake: Just as some clerics of Lolth carry snake-headed whips, living snakes are common
companions of the dark elves. Although they cannot see in the dark, snakes have a keen sense of
smell and can locate enemies and recognize familiar creatures even when their eyes are useless.
Drow raise both constrictors and venomous snakes, and drow torturers like to extract poison
from their pets in order to increase the agony of their victims. Young drow -- especially
priestesses-in-training -- may have small constrictor snake pets and often "train" them by feeding
them flesh carved from live slaves. The dark elves like keeping spitting snakes in cages on high
shelves so they can spit their venom into the eyes of drow-sized invaders. Snakes are favored by
Lolth-worshipers because they are venomous creatures, just like the sacred spider, although
clearly secondary to arachnids. Favored snakes slain protecting the Spider Queen's temple or
priestesses are often made into the dreaded snake-headed whips. Snakes are described in the
Monster Manual.
Spider: Unsurprisingly, spiders are a common pet of the dark elves. Whether tiny ones small
enough to crawl through a buttonhole and kept in elaborate lairs of metal and glass by drow
children, hand-size creatures able to kill mice and are the favorite of drow wizards, or the horsesized monstrosities used as steeds by some cities, spiders have a special place in dark elf society
-- at least that large part that pays homage to Lolth. Dog-size spiders are also used as guards in
Lolth's temples, and arachnids of all sizes are allowed to run free in her cities -- in Lolthian
society, killing a spider is punishable by torture and death. Sometimes a venerable temple spider
is revitalized by binding the spirit of a spider-demon into its body, giving it increased vigor and a
foul disposition. Spiders are described in the Monster Manual.
Spitting Crawler: The Underdark lizards called spitting crawlers grow to 2 feet long including
tail. Slim, with froglike toes and a gray-green complexion, they resemble skinks. They can easily
climb walls and ceilings and tend to freeze in place for extended periods if they have been
spotted. They attack prey and repel predators by spitting acid, which they can do three times per
day. This potent acid attacks flesh and metal, and it has been known to destroy an entire metal
shield. Their flexible bodies allow them to leap more than 10 feet and survive 30-foot falls
unharmed. Because of their abilities, they are a favorite pet or familiar of male drow forced to
live in a matriarchal spider-worshiping society. Because their acid is dangerous and extremely
irritating even on a slight exposure, they are unsuitable pets for children or the very vain. Spitting
crawlers are described in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting