Culture of the Drow
One
of the first things that I shall explain is the one that a lot of races do not
understand. The Drow Hierarchy. The Drow society is Matriarchal. Drow females
are stronger and more powerful than the males. Drow males are treated more as
servants than people and are there to do the bidding of the females. The
highest-ranking male is still lower than the lowest ranked female. Marriage as
such does not exist. Matron Mothers often have more than one patron. Only one is
the current patron. When they are no longer needed they are either sacrificed to
Lolth or put to work within the house. Other females may take, then discard,
males when they please. Females treat males with contempt. This is how they are
taught to treat them from birth, (all drow children can understand their own
language from birth) and this tutoring carries on within Arach Tinilith, the
drow school of Lolth.
Social Structure
Matron
Mothers
Of
all the Drow you may meet these are the ones you must show the greatest respect
to. They must always be referred to as Matron Mother. Unless you are given
permission then you must not look her in the eyes either. Matron Mothers rule
their Houses with an iron fist and know all that happens within them. They are
the closest to Lolth as well. Matron Mothers from the top 8 houses form a
council that meets secretly to make decisions on the running of the city. They
are the ones who have the most influence and can turn events in a favourable
manner. The most important thing to remember is that these women should not be
crossed. They are dangerous, even to themselves and the members of their house.
One example of this is the fact that every third male child is sacrificed to
Lolth. The females of the house carry on the family name and only the children
of the Matron Mother are nobles.
Drow
have a strong affinity for arachnids. Most of them worship the spider goddess,
Lloth, whose priestesses dominate drow society - and whose ritual Test is forced
on many drow at graduation. The Test, is an examination of loyalty and
skills, and is thought to be infallible. Failure carries its own horrible price.
Those
who pass are rewarded with increased status in their community, usually with
immediate promotion within the priesthood. Others are sent on a quest set by the
goddess. This usually involves a dangerous mission against specific targets in
the surface world.
Even
among drow who do not worship Lolth, an affinity for arachnids is strong.
Spiders and similar creatures often dwell among drow communities, and are
prominent in drow sculpture, art, and fashion. Drow door-carvings and frames,
for example, are apt to sport a pattern of repeating crawling spiders.
Translucent, draped grey hangings that emulate spiderwebs often decorate Drow
homes.
Even
games of tag, especially the courting games of hide-and-seek played at festival
times by young drow, are known as "spider hunts", and any battle or
endeavour in which a drow dies fighting is known as his "last bite".
Drow
society is strongly matriarchal, with females holding all positions of power and
responsibility in government, the military, and in the home.
Males
are effective fighters, and can become priests and wizards of minor power.
Outside drow communities, they are rarely encountered without female commanders.
Male-commanded
drow groups are generally either streeakh, "suicide squads", or are
dobluth (outcasts) who have rejected the traditional authority-structure of the
drow.
Social
station is the most important thing in the world of the drow. Ascension to
greater power is the ultimate goal in drow society. Assassination is the
preferred tool in this job. It must be used discreetly in the city setting, for
to openly murder or wage war (on a rival House) brings down the merciless might
of drow justice (not because of the act itself, simply as punishment for the
boorish act of fighting in public).
Outside
the patrol-range of cities, however, might is right, and Houses and merchant
clans often battle each other openly in the wild Underdark.
Among
Lolth-worshipping drow nobles, females can choose and discard mates freely
(sometimes merely leaving them, but usually slaying them). Among drow commoners
and drow of other faiths, marriage is still a transient thing. Marriages usually
last from summer to summer, or for a decade, always with possibility for
renewal.
In
drow merchant clans, security demands that mates be of the same clan, or that an
outsider be taken into the clan, if a relationship develops. This clan induction
is forever; death usually comes if the outsider decides to leave. In noble
families, the honour of the House demands the family name be given (if only
temporarily) to mates of other families, or of common blood.
Child-rearing
is the responsibility of the whole family (House, or clan), not merely of the
direct parents. A long-lived female drow, choosing to have children only after
an active career, normally gives birth to ten children before her fertility
wanes.
Drow
rarely live past their seventh century, and 94% of them die of natural causes
before age 800. Rare individuals (usually those who are subjected to the least
hardship, such as the matron mothers of powerful Houses) may live more than a
thousand years, becoming withered
Limited
space prohibits any outline of the long, twisted High History of the Drow here,
from the Dawning Days (that long ago time before the Descent, when drow dwelt in
The Lands of Terrible Light) to their present widespread control of the
Underdark, great wealth, and mastery of magic.
Instead,
a handful of useful customs are given here. For instance, a drow gesture of
surrender is dropping to one knee, letting fall any weapons, before the being
one submits to (usually performed by male drow, to female drow).
Drow
like to give and receive massages - long, skilled massages involving scented
oils, hot water and steam. This is close to ultimate luxury for them.
Drow
enjoy magic, and exult in wielding its unleashed power. New spells and effects
fascinate them.
Drow
love beauty - the beauty of sculpture and made items (especially weapons) and
the beauty of the body. Drow of both sexes are proud of displaying their
physiques - and all children exhibiting any physical deficiency are slain.
Drow
communities celebrate several annual festivals. There is always a wild feast
when wizards, fighters, and priestesses graduate from their decade-long training
(during which they taste all three branches of drow expertise: wizardry,
clerical teachings, and weapons training), involving the worship of Lolth and
the summoning of denizens who serve her.
Many
drow communities also observe "The Blooding", a rite of passage into
adulthood for both sexes, during which the young participants must kill an
intelligent or dangerous surface creature of some sort (e.g. a human warrior or
wizard). If the community is not near the surface, merchant clans provide
captives (for high fees) who are let loose with weapons for the young
Drow
communities near links to the surface world usually hold "The Running"
instead: a hunt and revel on the surface in which all who walk participate, once
a year. (Understand that what the drow call a "hunt and revel" the
surface dwellers refer to as "looting and killing".) The blades of
many drow rivals seem to accidentally find each other during the raids on
surface communities. Young drow participating in their first Running are
expected to carry out The Blooding (as described above). Drow communities tend
to vary the timing of this annual event slightly, to prevent surface communities
from hiring and readying strong guard contingents to await them.
It
should be noted that drow can, through training, experience, and repeated
exposure, become accustomed to light, and use both normal sight and infravision.
This process takes about ten years. The only encountered drow likely to be
immune to the detrimental effects of light are veteran surface-raiders and
wizards (who traditionally study by candlelight).
There
are two major social groupings among the drow. These are the relatively
unimportant (according to the priestesses of Lloth) merchant clans, and the
staid, monolithic noble houses. In truth, both establishments are vital to the
survival of the drow.
Merchants
Merchant
clans vary in organisation. They are usually headed by an "inner ring"
or council of the most experienced and/or wealthy merchant members, and hence
are usually led by males (the "demeaning" and dangerous occupation of
trading with outsiders is an almost exclusively male one).
The
membership of an inner ring of a given merchant clan consists primarily of male
wizards who have either passed or evaded The Test. Removed as they are from drow
society at large, the merchant clans have no compunction about dealing with the
surface world. In fact, a great number of the "second ring", or
managers, are non-drow of various races.
The
lowest ranks in the merchant clan, the “assets”, are nearly all non-drow.
These are the labourers and soldiery of the merchant house. Together, the
merchant clans form the trade links with the outside world that enables the
Noble Houses to survive.
Noble
Houses
A
matron mother, the senior female priestess, leads noble Houses. In Lolth-worshipping
drow communities, her rule is absolute, enforced by the priestesses beneath her
(usually her daughters). All females of the mother's blood, in order of their
age, follow in rank, although they wield no authority until they are trained and
of age (past puberty).
Below
the daughters come the male officers of the House; the weapons master (leader of
the fighters), (chief) House wizard, and the patron (current consort of the
matron mother). These ranks may be combined, and even held by the traditional
next rank down in the hierarchy: the male heirs of the House.
Male
heirs are also ranked by age: elderboy, secondboy, thirdboy, and so on. They are
not allowed to look at the faces of other drow, or speak unless spoken to or
bidden. This treatment teaches them their subordinate place in drow society.
Below
them are the "war-leaders" of the House (veteran warriors, who lead
House patrols, attack squads, and guards, under the command of the weapons
master), and the House mages (under the command of the House wizard).
Beneath
these "blood" members and officials of the House rank its common
warriors, its craftspeople, its servants, and its slaves. All ranks are decreed,
and can be changed at the whim of, the matron mother. Her position changes at
death - often at the hands of her eldest daughter.
Assassination
And War
In
a Lolth-worshipping drow community, it is a deadly thing to slay a matron mother
who holds Lolth's favor, so mothers may reign for hundreds of years, kept alive
by the magic of Lolth and the diligent service they perform to get and keep it.
The assassination of a matron mother is often a punishment for losing Lolth's
good will, and marks either a new direction for the House, or - if it is weak,
and has strong rivals - the beginning of its extinction.
If
one House in the city openly wars on another, and fails to eradicate it entirely
in a single attack, the survivors of the ruined House can call down the city's
justice on the attacking House. When this occurs, all Houses combine forces to
wipe out the offending House. Houses who
This
type of no-win scenario allows the internal strife of drow to be strictly
controlled, so that drow communities are not torn apart by continual, bloody
warfare. Most internal combat therefore takes the form of eternal manoeuvring
for small advantages. Underhanded intrigue, poisoned knives in dark alleys,
vicious trade rivalries, and dirty dealings are all a part of normal drow life.
Most
drow wear a magical, shielding cloak, called a "piwafwi". Under its
collar, most drow wear a neck-purse. In it, noble drow carry their house
insignia. Commoners will carry a black medal medallion denoting the house they
serve, of the merchant clan they belong to.
In
the streets of a drow city, house insignia are usually displayed openly (as
adornments) only by the members and servants of the "First House"
(most dominant family) of the city. Insignia of lesser houses can be seen on the
walls or gates of their strongholds, and are often worn openly inside such
strongholds.
The
house insignia if nobles that the form of distinctive sculpted images, often
equipped for use as brooches. All carry several magical powers - minor abilities
known in detail only to members of the House.