Drow

The Drow are a humanoid race and a subrace of Elves. Most Drow dwell in the Underdark.

History

In the beginning, Elves did not worship any gods. Instead they revered nature and gave respect to the high-fey. In the aftermath of the War of Worlds, however, the non-mortal planes — including the Feywild — became more distant and less accessible. While disdaining the gods of other races, a few Elves began to feel the need for gods of their own. Drowla — the mightiest and most sophisticated of the Elven cities — took the radical step of giving birth to a spider-seaming god of their own, named Lolth.

Lolth marked the Drow with her favour by turning their skin to colours of charcoal and obsidian. With the support of Lolth, the Drow set out to carve themselves an empire. Elves of other lands were outraged by this break with tradition and led a coalition that included other races to destroy Drowla.

The war lasted for decades but the Drow could not hold back the tide forever.

Defeated, some Drow turned away from Lolth but most choose exile in the Underdark — establishing the city of New Drowla. In the tunnels and caverns deep under the surface, the Drow finally established the empire they so much desired. For centuries, the Drow dominated the Underdark. But the empire eventually disintegrated as colonies broke away from New Drowla.

'''Culture

Drow civilization is highly developed and Drow society is highly refined, though the refined nature of their society is but a facet of a culture that is deeply competitive, pragmatic, supremacist, elitist, merciless, intolerant of failure, vengeful, and celebrates violence and subjugation of who they see as lesser peoples.

The society is organized according to a six tiered caste system, described in further detail below.

For the most part, Drow society is organized into houses, both Greater Houses and Lesser Houses. Most Houses are led by a matriarch, wizened, ruthless, and terrible. These are typically wizards and priestesses, though some few may have had other backgrounds from long-ago days of study or adventuring. A handful or two of the Houses are led by patriarchs, whose backgrounds are more varied. Those few patriarchs that exist are cunning, patient, and strong, having seized and held power in a matriarchal society that is utterly without mercy, disdainful of change, and openly hostile to breaches of a labyrinthine system of custom and propriety.

Drow culture celebrates and highly values art - whether visual art, sculpture, music, and theatre. Works of breathtaking beauty and works of masterful and deliberate hideousness and discordance are equally valued. Art is incorporated into architecture, and everyday possessions such as furniture, weapons, tools, and clothing.

There is a strong academic tradition in Drow culture, and academia is held in high esteem. Sages and scholars instruct pupils in the traditional fields of reason, arcana, natural history, religion, and the chronicles of antiquity. More than a few delve into questions better left unasked - most find nothing, some are driven mad, whether by the answers or just the pursuit, but a rare few come back with a frighteningly clear understandings or arcane power from beyond.

There is also a strong tradition of arcane magic. Regardless of background and trade, it is rare for a Drow, even the most common labourer, to have no magic ability whatsoever.

Drow wizards are the equal of any other society's, and the Drow archmages are almost without peer. The greatest of these are the Nine, rulers of the Jade Sceptre.

Slavery of 'lesser' races is an integral part of Drow culture.

Drow have a complex legal system, but even this is only a test - the only true law is the law of the wild, where the strong shall rule over and devour the weak.

Results are valued above all else. It does not matter how one wins or loses - the only thing that matters is whether one wins or loses. Strength, cleverness, arcane mastery, social and diplomatic skills, mercantile and financial acumen - all of these are only means to an end.

Drow masters train students and apprentices, and it is not just common, but somewhat expected, and on occasion encouraged, for young Drow to kill to earn themselves a place studying under a renowned master. Apprenticeship is difficult and painful, sometimes lethal, but the results of the commitment to excellence speak for themselves.

Drow, if they do not die as a result of frequent violence, are extremely long lived. It is far from unknown for matriarchs and masterful wizards, let alone archmages, to live for multiple millenia. As a result, unless forced otherwise by external threats or pressure, Drow society is highly conservative, resistant to change and typically evolves slowly. At the same time, Drow are pragmatic, and something proves to be an advantage, Drow society will quickly adopt it - those who fail to adapt will fall behind, and be crushed under heel. Adapt or die is a reality in Drow society.

Caste System

The Drow live under a strict caste system with six levels, described here in order of supremacy:

1) The Gold Drow are concerned with ruling, the arts (including music and magic), academia, and religion. The ruling senate is elected by the Gold Drow and the highest office of Consul is elected by the senate.

2) The Silver Drow are the warrior caste.

3) The Bronze Drow are the merchants and tradesmen.

4) The Copper Drow are labourers and other low-skilled workers.

5) Slaves are non-Drow, either captured from the surface or another Underworld civilization (such as Goblins).

6) The Unclean are individual Drow who have been caught performing activities that are considered outside their caste. It is illegal to hire an Unclean for any work (although in practice many hire them for temporary and demeaning tasks) and there are no laws protecting them.

Drow typically live and die in the caste for which that they were born. However, if a Drow prove martial skills, they can leave their caste and join the Silvers—staying with their new caste for the rest of their lives. Moreover, marriages between Drow of different castes are extremely rare, with the notable exception of high-ranking generals marrying into Gold houses. The children of these unions are considered Gold caste, although the Silver husbands are considered inferior to any Gold husbands that a Gold woman might marry.

The peoples of Pettylin mostly interact with the Silver Drow — as they often raid the surface or become mercenaries to prove their martial prowess. Sometimes a Bronze Drow will trade with the surface dwellers, but the peoples of Pettylin have little that interest the Drow besides potential slaves.

Religion

Most Drow will choose to worship one of three primary gods: Lolth, V’haron, and Charon.

Each of the gods has their own rules and values for their followers and temples, and like the Drow themselves, the gods are in constant competition and conflict with one another, although they will close ranks against outsiders when threatened.

The choice of which god to worship is a highly personal choice, and this is one of the few areas where an individual's choice is respected.

'''Governance

Drow society is governed both through the House system, and the city-states themselves are governed by a Senate, although the franchise is limited to female Drow of the Gold caste.

A Senate is a physical building, as well as a ruling body for a Drow city-state. It is a series of concentric circles. Each circle is made of a different type of stone, veined through with precious metals from mithril to adamantine. Through social convention, as in all things in Drow society, the best seats, closest to the front, belong to the most prominent and powerful. From amongst the senators are elected different offices, the highest of which is consul. Each office is elected for a twelve year term, and no officer may hold the same position twice in a row, except if a state of emergency is declared. The senators are elected by the female members of the Gold Caste. Men are prohibited from voting, but can and do strongly influence the votes of others, and men can also be, and are, elected as Senators and to all offices, even Consul.

In theory, any free Drow has the right to speak to the Senate and to petition it for relief. In practice, only representatives of the most powerful guilds, schools, temples, and mercenary companies regularly do.

Relationship with Other Races

Drow generally look down on most other races as inferior, and primarily suitable for life as slaves. The only thing they respect is strength, and few other races are as strong as they.

Other Elves, particularly Wood Elves, are hated and resented for their destruction of the original Drowla.

Humans are a short lived race, the lives of individual humans are over in what seems to be the blink of an eye, their civilizations are generally far less refined and developed than the Drow's, and new human cultures and civilizations arise and fall in what seems to the Drow to be short spans of time.

Interestingly, Gnomes are looked upon with a sort of bemused respect. For all that Gnomish society seems absurd to the Drow, the Drow respect Gnomish mastery of the arcane, which is second to none, and their pragmatism. That the Gnomes are generally isolationist and xenophobic, and have no desire to conquer others or build an empire, seems strange to the Drow - but the Drow have learned the hard way that despite the small stature of the Gnomes, their seemingly ridiculous culture, and their professed disdain of violence, when threatened, the Gnomes can be utterly ruthless as a matter of pragmatism. And the Gnomes have the arcane might to back it up. Drow academics, wizards, and arcanists will on occasion cooperate and study together with Gnomish counterparts. This cooperation often occurs in the context of what the Gnomes call "Academic Conferences", where Gnomes invite particularly respected scholars and arcanists of many different cultures to study subjects of common interest and share their findings with their fellows - for the Drow, in a society where everyone is looking for an edge, a new discovery or technique can be invaluable, and the Gnomes seem to generate such with shocking regularity.