Underdark Equivilent of a homing pigeon

[Crake]

Does such a thing exist? How do the various underdark communities communicate with eachother beyond couriers/normal mail? Assume sending is not a viable option due to limited availability and the messages being too small, as well as it being too expensive to purchase for the typical community member.

[inuyasha]

Well, I suppose you could have a "homing bat" if you still want to go the flying rout, but I usually like to change things in the underdark to mostly being reptile based. Instead of horses, there are riding lizards that eat fish. Instead of cats, dogs, or other domesticated animals, the Dwarven children get different colored lizards as pets. So using this logic, I think it would actually be pretty fun to have large groups of "sending geckos" or something similar, trained to send a message quite far. Just imagine a city with a huge box of geckos to deliver the mail long distances!

[A_S]

Whatever critter you want (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/animalMessenger.htm).

[Milo v3]

Whatever critter you want (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/animalMessenger.htm).
Unfortunately that only works with tiny animals.... For a second I imagined homing underdark whales.

[Xuldarinar]

Im with inuyasha on this one. Odds are you are looking at some sort of lizard.


But consider this; What we are looking at is a hostile subterranean environment. Anything that can burrow its way, or rapidly navigate the hostile tunnels would be suitable. I'd invoke teleportation, but there are deposits in the underdark that tamper with teleportation, so it would make such a thing impractical.



A lizard is consistant, but a worm-esque creature might do as well. Drow sometimes train spiders, so you may have homing spiders as an option, but the message almost certainly must have some authority to be sent by such a sacred creature. If we want to step briefly into pathfinder, I'm sure they may have some sort of small flesh warped monstrosity that is suitable. I'd send a jashoi to deliver my messages, but only because I'd find it funny if the message actually would arrive.


Back to D&D.. Small elementals of earth also might do.

[Milo v3]

Those underdark worm things from MM2 probably have messenger zombies.

[Xuldarinar]

Those underdark worm things from MM2 probably have messenger zombies.

Avolakia? Perhaps. Maybe, though they would likely expect the zombie to be eaten upon arrival. To them it would be like sending food with the message.

[Milo v3]

Avolakia? Perhaps. Maybe, though they would likely expect the zombie to be eaten upon arrival. To them it would be like sending food with the message.

Yeah, Avolakia. I'd imagine the object would be stored inside the zombie's body rather than held. I can't imagine zombies would have the best grip....

[Xuldarinar]

Yeah, Avolakia. I'd imagine the object would be stored inside the zombie's body rather than held. I can't imagine zombies would have the best grip....

So... avolakia could use zombies as mobile fortune cookies. Got it.

[Crake]

Back to D&D.. Small elementals of earth also might do.

I'd imagine earth elementals to be the premium service haha

I suppose lizards could work, not so sure about spiders though, they are vermin after all.

[Necroticplague]

I imagine it heavily depends on what you are, and how important the message is. Bats and vermin are probably on the lower end of things, while Binding earth elementals and xorn are probably the most efficient way to go (in terms of both chance of successful delivery and speed, since they can move pretty much in a straight line in the underdark from point A, not having to deal with all this 'navigating tunnels' crap). Illithids and Beholders have various illithoids and beholderkin that are likely used for this purpose. Slavery is pretty endemic in the underdark, so using slave labor for message delivery probably isn't uncommon. Monstrous vermin and golems are possibly viable options (I imagine a message delivered by a giant spider from a drow or a brain golem from an illithid colony would indicate the message was of great importance).

[Telonius]

A Clockroach (MM4) would probably be programmable to deliver messages. Mindless construct, so it would go exactly where you tell it to.

[ExLibrisMortis]

Imps, having at-will greater teleport, bound with a geas. Improved Familiar imps may be reliable enough, without the geas. Do you trust an imp's LE alignment with your messages? You can have them carry sealed containers, or wipe their memory, if you're powerful enough.

[inuyasha]

So... taking Xuldarinar's fleshwarped creature idea and running with it, I present the Regock, a strange little lizard bred to be the perfect underground mail delivery system

Regock

Size/Type:Tiny Aberration
Hit Dice:0.25d8+0.25 (1.25 hp)
Initiative:4
Speed:30 ft (6 squares), burrow 10ft, climb 60ft
Armor Class:18 (+2 size,+4 dex, +1 natural, +1 dodge), touch 17, flat-footed 13
Base Attack/Grapple:+0/-12
Attack:bite -2 melee (1d2-4 plus 1 acid)
Full Attack:bite -2 melee (1d2-4 plus 1 acid)
Space/Reach:2.5ft/0ft
Special Attacks:Acidic Teeth
Special Qualities:Darkvision 120ft, Scent,
Saves:Fort +1, Ref +4, Will +4
Abilities: Str 3, Dex 18, Con 12, Int 1, Wis 15, Cha 9
Skills:Hide +13, Listen +8, Move Silently +10, Spot +8
Feats:Alertness (B), Dodge
Environment:Any underground
Organization:Single, Pair, Fleet (3-6), Swarm (7-12)
Challenge Rating:1/4
Treasure:None
Alignment:Always Neutral
Advancement:1 HD (tiny), 2-3 HD (small)
Level Adjustment:-

Scuttling on the ceiling above you is a strange little beast, it appears to be a lizard with six clawed feet and four wide unblinking eyes that are black as pitch. It's mouth open's sideways and begins to bite at the rock above as the creature contorts it's body and writhes with unnatural grace
Regock are the underdark's answer to the question "why don't we get homing pidgeons?", being developed from the genetic material of many underground species of lizards warped through strange magics until a creature is born. Their odd mouths secrete an acid that lets them burrow through the rocks around them, and their clawed feet are perfectly formed for hooking into the stone and moving with alarming speed. Messages are often secured to a regock on their torso, as the tunnels they create are a little wider than the creature itself, creating enough room for a piece of parchment or two.

Combat:
Regock do not usually participate in combat, eating small animals that they find in their travels, or being fed by their owners. Usually they find a way to escape, burrowing into the stone around them being their main method of doing so.

Acidic Teeth (Ex)
The razor sharp teeth of a regock are also covered with a natural acid that gets secreted from it's gums, this acid allows it to deal 1 point of acid damage with a bite (usually enough to discourage predators from eating it), and this also allows it to burrow through solid stone. This tunneling does leave a tunnel, and those trained to deliver messages often create wide enough tunnels to have things attached to their backs. Some are even bred larger (as noted under advancement) so that they may hold even larger things. Small regock deal 1d2 acid damage with their acidic teeth, and can burrow at a speed of 15 feet.

Skills:
Regock have a +4 racial bonus on spot, listen, and move silently checks in underground environments due to their very sharp senses. These are factored into the above statistics

[Crake]

Imps, having at-will greater teleport, bound with a geas. Improved Familiar imps may be reliable enough, without the geas. Do you trust an imp's LE alignment with your messages? You can have them carry sealed containers, or wipe their memory, if you're powerful enough.

I don't know which imp you're looking at, but they certainly don't have greater teleport.

[ekarney]

Whilst it's never explicitly stated, I'm almost 100% sure that the Drow use a system that involves a Vrill and a lot of whipping.

[ExLibrisMortis]

I don't know which imp you're looking at, but they certainly don't have greater teleport.
Ah, that is true. I thought the ability to teleport was part of the general baatezu traits (which it isn't, it's part of the archon traits), but imps aren't baatezu in any case. If you want imps to carry messages, they can still do so with their 50' perfect fly speed, or Alternate Form. They are invisible, which is practical. However, lantern archons are better.

For teleporting evil messengers, there is the 6 HD bearded devil, the 6 HD succubus, and the 6 HD bar-lgura (Fiendish Codex I). Just in case you can't get a lantern archon to work for you.

[Gallowglass]

I suppose my interpretation of the underdark is that it is populated with insular and isolated communities with little to no need or reason for communication over distance. Drow cities are constantly at war with each other with no meaningful diplomatic presences. The same with all the rest. I think with that kind of isolationist bent, there wouldn't be a need or structure for a inter-state postal service.

I would think that the only people with common need to communicate over distance are probably powerful priests and wizards who have access to summons, divinations and create wondrous items for creating talking mirrors or the like.

I would think that lower level, common folk with need to send a message from city to city are forced to go with the "hire four different sets of messengers and hope at least one makes it"

If I was an enterprising fellow and wanted to craft out a postal scheme, I'd go with animal messengers moles or worms or something with fast burrow speed because they would be slower than flying messengers, but have a vastly higher data loss rate (more likely to survive the trip)

[CrazyNoob]

Morse code transmitted via spiders and spider webs that require constant maintenance every so often.. it's enhance much similar to the process in making spider silk armor. Though i'm imagining a very large cavern with tons of switch board and giant million legged spider thing resolving connection between individuals. a Room full of tiny little spders tapping morse code onto individual lines..This assumes these spiders or whoever is controlling the entire operation is unbias towards anything, or is a super mad genius information gatherer.

[Xuldarinar]

Drow are known to utilize their SLAs to communicate. They can, and do, make patterns in accordance with DSL (Drow Sign Language). Its possible that where there are distances such things can be seen, they may utilize that.

[atemu1234]

Drow are known to utilize their SLAs to communicate. They can, and do, make patterns in accordance with DSL (Drow Sign Language). Its possible that where there are distances such things can be seen, they may utilize that.

Was DSL ever updated to 3.5? Does it even exist anymore?

I would guess scrolls of sending. That's the most reliable (that is to say, not very) route.

[TheYell]

Saw a nature show on web spinners, colony insects that spin networks of cocoons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embioptera

Ants bit their way into the cocoons, and ambushed a webspinner, which tried to flee. Now, there wasn't a code, but the vibrations of its flight and death throes as they bit it to death vibrated all down the cocoon, and warned the other spinners to seal off the tunnel in which it was killed.

So that's a real thing I could see a drow modifying.

[atemu1234]

Saw a nature show on web spinners, colony insects that spin networks of cocoons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embioptera

Ants bit their way into the cocoons, and ambushed a webspinner, which tried to flee. Now, there wasn't a code, but the vibrations of its flight and death throes as they bit it to death vibrated all down the cocoon, and warned the other spinners to seal off the tunnel in which it was killed.

So that's a real thing I could see a drow modifying.

That is far too compassionate and group-oriented for any drow to consider.

[Xuldarinar]

Was DSL ever updated to 3.5? Does it even exist anymore?

I would guess scrolls of sending. That's the most reliable (that is to say, not very) route.

It was listed as a language available to them (atleast in Drow of the Underdark).

The written form of DSL consists of simple dot-and-line arrangements that imitate the positions of the hands and fingers. It isn't as detailed, but for sending messages (such as warnings) via dancing lights it works.

[Crake]

I suppose my interpretation of the underdark is that it is populated with insular and isolated communities with little to no need or reason for communication over distance. Drow cities are constantly at war with each other with no meaningful diplomatic presences. The same with all the rest. I think with that kind of isolationist bent, there wouldn't be a need or structure for a inter-state postal service.

I would think that the only people with common need to communicate over distance are probably powerful priests and wizards who have access to summons, divinations and create wondrous items for creating talking mirrors or the like.

I would think that lower level, common folk with need to send a message from city to city are forced to go with the "hire four different sets of messengers and hope at least one makes it"

If I was an enterprising fellow and wanted to craft out a postal scheme, I'd go with animal messengers moles or worms or something with fast burrow speed because they would be slower than flying messengers, but have a vastly higher data loss rate (more likely to survive the trip)

In a traditional underdark, yeah, I'd agree with you, however my game has a few underdarks, one of which the inhabitants could be considered at the very least tolerable by surface dwellers. The main reason behind this is that Lolth (along with all the other gods) are dead, and in this area there is a minor good-aligned trait, so the inhabitants slowly adjusted over a hundred years or so to become more economical, rather than psychopathic. As such, trade with surface dwellers is uncommon, but consistent, and many of the underground societies would have developed trade routes and the like.


Morse code transmitted via spiders and spider webs that require constant maintenance every so often.. it's enhance much similar to the process in making spider silk armor. Though i'm imagining a very large cavern with tons of switch board and giant million legged spider thing resolving connection between individuals. a Room full of tiny little spders tapping morse code onto individual lines..This assumes these spiders or whoever is controlling the entire operation is unbias towards anything, or is a super mad genius information gatherer.


Saw a nature show on web spinners, colony insects that spin networks of cocoons.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embioptera

Ants bit their way into the cocoons, and ambushed a webspinner, which tried to flee. Now, there wasn't a code, but the vibrations of its flight and death throes as they bit it to death vibrated all down the cocoon, and warned the other spinners to seal off the tunnel in which it was killed.

So that's a real thing I could see a drow modifying.

Ooh, I'm liking this idea of morse code spiders, that could be interesting.


That is far too compassionate and group-oriented for any drow to consider.

See above :smalltongue: