Role: The Cult of Silence is an organization of Drow warrior-mages who follow an incredibily strict warrior code, the Code of Silence. They strive for excellence in combat, rivaling and, if they survive their first years as Wardancers, surpassing most above-world Bladesingers both in the arts martial and in pure viciousness and toughness. Unlike most Drow they are usually not cruel, but neither are they merciful. They prefer to deal a quick death to their prey, but will occasionally resort to torture, though this is most often left to others who can ask questions verbally, The only time they employ cruelty is when they punish a renegade.

Required stats: Int 15, Dex 16, Con 13, Str 13

Nonweapon proficiencies:

• Bonus: blind fighting, dancing
• Required: Alertness
• Recommended: direction sense, slow respiration, somatic concealment

Weapon proficiencies:

• Bonus: ambidexterity, 2 weapon style
• Required: battle cloak, longsword or arm blade
• Recommended: 1 weapon style, hand crossbow, martial arts

Benefits:

• Combat modes:
  • Offensive attack mode: +1 to hit for every 3 levels, -2 to AC, -1 to initiative
  • Defensive mode: + (level / 2) +1 to AC, maximum of 1 sword attack possible per round, -2 to hit
  • Passive mode: +1 to hit for every 5 levels, -1 to AC for every 4 levels. May parry without losing attacks.
  • Spellcasting mode: no attacks possible, - (levels / 2) to AC, +2 to casting time
• Special moves: bonus to negate penalties for special moves is +1 for every 4 levels
• Surprise bonus: surprised only on 1, + (level / 2) to surprise others if alone.
• Stealth:Wardancers gain the ability to Move silently at 15% +6% / level, and Hide in shadows at 15% +5% / level. Neither of these include adjustements for dexterity or armor adjustment

Penalties:

• The Code of Silence: As stated before, the Wardancers strive to operate in complete and utter silence. To this end they carry silenced equipment, wear no or silenced armor and take pains to move as silently as possible. In addition, once a Wardancer has survived basic training he or she is rendered mute. In addition to serving as a reminder to the Wardancer that silence is his closest ally, it serves to limit the Wardancer´s possible outside world contact (after all, who is going to accept the surrender of a Drow whose only mode of communication is the Drow sign language, and how is the same Drow supposed to convince others of his good intentions when he cannot speak). Another aspect of this is that all the spells that the Wardancer knows must be modified for somatic and material components only. This limits the Wardancer to studying with his appointed masters and makes it even harder for a renegade to survive in the world outside. It also makes it impossible for them to teach their skills to anyone who does not know the Drow sign language.
• Armor restrictions: A Wardancer is prohibited from wearing any armor other than leather (ac 7) or elven chain (ac 4), and even in those cases the armor must be silenced. Most Wardancer do not wear armor, preferring instead a Drow spidersilk bodysuit treated with heatbane. Sometimes this suit is the equivalent to padded armor (ac 8). It always has a full face mask.
• Becoming a renegade: Should a Wardancer choose to become a renegade, he may expect to be hunted by other Wardancers until the day he dies. Should he ever be caught alive, he will executed in ritual fashion by his pears. The execution will be overseen by a master. During the ritual the renegade is stripped of all armor and clothing and his hands tied to a stake set in the ground behind him. The renegade ends up kneeling inside a circle of hot stones. Each Wardancer present will then approach the renegade and cut him or her deeply with a ritual knife. The overseer usually has the honor of the first cut and, should the renegade still live after all present members have cut him three times, the honor of ending the ritual by slitting the renegade's throat.
• Weapon restrictions: Although a Wardancer may carry and be proficient with any weapon available, he will always choose the cloak and sword (and sometimes the blastpipes) over any other carried weapons. When using any other weapons the Wardancer receives a -2 to his attack roll. Note that a Wardancer may only be specialized in one of the three available sword types but may be proficient in the other two and use both without penalty. A surprising number of Wardancers have their right arm replaced by an artificial one with an arm blade mounted in the forearm.
• No family: Once the Wardancer joins the Cult of Silence he is no longer considered a member of his former house or family. No Wardancer will ever be seen wearing any marking related to a house or a family.

Equipment:
Drow spidersilk bodysuit treated with heatbane (renders the wearer almost invisible to infravision), elven or silenced boots, cloak (see weapons), adamantine sword of choice, blastpipes (see weapons) or hand crossbow, poison (death/15, save at -2; sleep/drowsiness). Their clothing is most often matte black, as are their weapons.

Weapons:

• Adamantine longsword (d8/d12), arm blade (d6+1/d8) or scimitar (d8/d8). Note that the scimitar is a very rare choice with the exception of Wardancers from the city of Ched-Nasad. The longsword is the most common specialty weapon of the Wardancers, and is often created with a spring loaded dagger blade (d4/d3) in the handle.
• Blastpipes are a set of three tubes, mounted together either under or above the wirsts, which use a spring loaded mechanism to launch a hand crossbow quarrel. The quarrel is usually coated with poison. The range is the same as that of the hand crossbow, as is the damage (d4+1/d4).
• Arm-mounted crossbows: Hand crossbows mounted on the forearm.
• The Battlecloak is a silenced (sometimes elven) cloak with an inlaid adamantium web. This enhances the AC of the wearer by 1. Also within the cloak are a set of 5 adamantine spears (d8/d6 together). The cloak may be used to make a fan-like attack causing the aforementioned damage. The hem of the cloak is often strapped to the wearers off-hand and is always attached to the shoulders, not tied around the neck. The spears in both hems of the cloak are telescopic, and so the one attached to the off-hand may be withdrawn out of the way. When not withdrawn the spear may be used to stab (d4+1/d4). The cloak may also be used to disarm opponents and deflect their weapons at +2 to the roll required. The battlecloak is an enormously difficult weapon to use and requires two weapon proficiency slots (one for attack, one for defense). If used without proficiency the penalty to do so is the standard penalty -3 (-8 for wizards, -5 for fighters, etc). If used with only the attack proficiency, the defense options can be used without penalty, if only the defense proficiency is possessed, however, the user suffers a -1 to all attack rolls with the weapon.
• The Wardancers always carry enough poison of each type to coat their sword at least three times (one flask of poison will coat one sword or ten crossbow bolts). The cloak blades are usually not poisoned.

Note: All Wardancer equipment is usable in daylight. This means that their adamantite weapons and armor (if any) are not magical, rather they are jsut weapons forged of non-radiated adamantium. All non-magical adamantium weapons have a +1 to both hit and damage.