Drow

When the primal elves chose to take the forms of mortals, they were one people split by conflicting loyalty to gods who reviled each other. The schism led to a conflict⁠ that ended with Lolth retreating to the Abyss and her adherents exiled to The Underdark. This banishment⁠ enabled the victors to once again live in peace on Arvandor but did nothing to heal the rift. The vanquished elves weren’t seen or heard from again for centuries. Throughout that age of residing in the darkness⁠, absorbing the unhealthy emanations of The Underdark, subsisting on its tainted water and food, and always beseeching their god for guidance⁠ and following her poisonous dictates, Lolth’s worshipers gradually transformed into the drow: the cruel, predatory, and wicked offshoot of the elf race.

Reflections of L⁠olth

From the time they’re old enough to understand, drow are taught that they’re superior to all other creatures, for they remain steadfast in their devotion to L⁠olth despite the hardships of their existence. Any creature that isn’t a drow is useful only as a sacrifice to L⁠olth, as a slave, or as fodder for the giant spiders that the drow train to patrol their cities and tunnels. Among these other, lesser forms of life, the elves that live in sunlight are especially despised because they are descended from the primal elves who betrayed L⁠⁠olth so long ago. First they accepted L⁠⁠olth’s offer of mortality in return for destiny, but then they turned against her in a pathetic effort to win back Corellon’s favor. Drow view the elves of the surface world as cowardly children who defy their Parents when they’re not around but cower in the corner when their Parents return, terrified of having their bad behavior found out. Reverence for L⁠olth touches every aspect of drow life. All dark elves constantly watch for signs of her favor. Any incident or physical feature can be interpreted as such a sign, and priestesses are quick to attach meanings to obscure omens that benefit their own interests. All this effort to please L⁠olth is a wise precaution. Though she resides in the Abyss, the Spider⁠ Queen isn’t a distant god. She sometimes tests her most faithful by drawing their spirits to her in the Demonweb to undergo her judgment. Followers never know when or if they are to be tested. One who claims to have undergone the test and passed it is rewarded with respect and elevated status. Even someone who successfully lies about having taken the test can earn the respect of their peers, since perpetrating this falsehood is a way of proving one’s worth to L⁠olth. Lying and conniving can’t save those who fail the test, however, because the evidence of such an outcome is immediately obvious—a drow whose spirit has failed its test in the Demonweb Pits⁠ becomes transformed into a Drider. When Lolth is well served, she Rewards her faithful with favors. When she is defied, she visits The Underdark in one of her forms and takes a direct hand in punishing the malefactor in a manner that discourages anyone who might be contemplating a similar kind of disobedience. Perhaps making an example of malcontents in this way is simply an aspect of how L⁠olth’s cruel personality works. It also might be evidence of a lesson that she learned all too well from the way Corellon reacted to her betrayal of him: the smallest flame of resistance⁠ must be snuffed out before it grows into a conflagration.

Society of Blood and Poison

The principal organization in drow culture and society is the house, an extended clan that comprises many related families, plus a number of lesser families who have pledged loyalty to the house. A house’s membership also includes some (potentially very large) number of indentured drow servants and slaves⁠ of other species. A house usually specializes in a business, a service, or a craft that supports by providing income. Houses are in constant competition with one another. They vie for money, for prestige, and, more than anything else, for power over others—the surest sign of L⁠olth’s approval. No tactic is outside the rules in this ongoing conflict⁠. Raids against another house’s outlying property (farming caverns, trade caravans, or hunting parties) are commonplace. Rumors about disloyalty, conspiracies with surface elves, or heresy against Lolth are circulated so frequently that no one knows what to be sure of. Assassinations, both by blade and by the use of special⁠ drow Poisons, are a constant threat. Bodyguards and food tasters are as necessary to the Survival of a high-ranking drow as air and water. Squabbles within a house also occur from time to time as relatives jockey for position. It’s a rare occurrence, though far from unknown, for drow to Assassinate their own Parents or Siblings if that’s what it takes to create a path for advancement.

Cities without Sunlight

The drow might have not chosen to live in the Underdark, but just the same they consider it their home, not a prison. Just as the sea elves adapted to their aquatic realm, the drow have long been accustomed to the harsh conditions⁠ of life in The Underdark. They’ve lived away from sunlight for so long that they can’t bear the touch of it on their flesh, and thus they prefer to visit the surface only at night. Even though they live Underground, drow are much more than cave-dwellers. Their cities are as magnificent as anything built by surface elves, and their defenses are even more secure. Their most important sites are located inside immense, hollowed-out stalactites and stalagmites, with entrances well guarded.

Rule of Matriarchs

Females are the top figures in drow society. At the head of each house is someone who is a shrewd business operator, a Skilled tactician, a high priestess of L⁠olth, and probably also a merciless assassin⁠ with blood on her hands. Unlike with many other races, female drow are typically taller and more robust than males. To rise to the top echelons of power, a female must first become a priestess of L⁠olth. Then, to ascend to the status of high priestess, she must take advantage of powerful connections or craft special⁠ alliances. The path to ultimate power in drow society is never direct and is always paved with death. A male drow can advance in standing as a combatant, a consort, or both. Physical beauty and fitness are highly prized in male drow, and those who are especially Favored in this regard can earn Protection and gifts from their matrons. A few males can attain high status in their society, especially those who serve as mages, but they never Overshadow the females of their houses. Even the most intelligent, strong-willed, and devious male will never be more than a second-class citizen in any drow city or house. That situation will never change as long as L⁠olth reigns as their queen.

Nocturnal Raiders

If the drow kept to themselves in their subterranean cities and fortresses, few other creatures would care. The dark elves could indulge their evil practices until their caverns were heaped with corpses and awash in blood. Even the surface elves might be content to overlook their hatred⁠ for their kin and leave the drow alone, as long as they never had to lay eyes on the drow or view the results of their efforts. But drow society is predicated on a foundation of terror and slavery, and the most desirable slaves⁠ live on the world’s surface: Humans, d⁠warves, and best of all, other elves. To the dark elves, raiding the surface for captives and treasure⁠ isn’t just a cultural and Military tradition, but also an economic necessity. Some raids are major operations that involve hundreds of warriors, mages, priestesses, and giant spiders, a large enough force to Overwhelm a community. The invaders would sweep through the town in the dark of night, shackle the best potential slaves⁠ into long trains of chattel, kill everyone who resisted, burn everything to the ground, and set their sights on the next town in line. Most of the dark elves’ raids, however, are small, stealthy, one-night missions. The drow scout their targets⁠ in advance, then strike on a night when the moon is new or its light is obscured by thick clouds. They might kill indiscriminately to spread terror, while at other times they slip into a village, knock out their targets⁠ with poison, and spirit their captives away without even waking the neighborhood dogs. Sometimes a raid uses both tactics; one squad sets fires or sets off alarms to focus the defenders’ attention on one area, as another team strikes at the real target on the other side of town. Loot is a secondary goal on almost all raids; taking prisoners is the primary objective. Some of the dark elves’ victims become slaves⁠, some end up as food for giant spiders or other Monsters that the drow have trained to serve them, and some are laid out across blood-stained altars and sacrificed to L⁠olth. The drow know how vulnerable they are during daylight⁠, so they typically plan raids that can be executed within the span of a single night. As a rule, that means their target must be no more than a few hours’ march—eight to twelve miles is typical—from an entrance to The Underdark. Ideally, they’ll have more than one return path mapped out; if an escape route is blocked, they can switch to another and get safely home. Once the raiders get inside their escape tunnel, they’re usually safe. Opposing forces seldom pursue the drow below ground for good reason—beyond the light lies unmapped enemy territory where everything they meet is likely to be Hostile. In special⁠ circumstances, such as if one of the raiders’ captives is a royal heir or the scion of a wealthy Family, adventurers might be hired to mount a rescue mission. Otherwise, it’s rare for any rescuers to follow the kidnappers’ trail deep into the deadly darkness⁠ without becoming victims themselves.

Slaves⁠ and Status

The drow are known and feared throughout the world for their practice of slavery, but those who have visited their cities report that slaves⁠ aren’t as prevalent as the dark elves’ reputation would suggest. In general, only powerful houses hold significant numbers of slaves⁠, and the slaves⁠ of a house are never more numerous than its population of drow. Slaves⁠ are often kept as signs of status as much as for their intrinsic worth as laborers. When they are put to work, they are also put on display, doing jobs that enable everyone on the street or in an audience chamber to see that their drow Master owns and subjugates powerful enemies. As such, the creatures are commonly used as litter bearers, banner carriers, servers, and footstools. Slaves⁠ without appreciable value as status symbols are used for strenuous or dangerous jobs such as tending farms, hauling cargo, or hollowing out giant stalagmites and stalactites to make new dwelling spaces. When they become too weak or dispirited to work, they might be staked out as bait during a hunt, fed to the spiders, or sacrificed to L⁠olth (and then fed to the spiders). Although all slaves⁠ are at the bottom of the dark elves’ social Hierarchy, the lowest-ranking drow are considered little better than slaves⁠ themselves. A weak house that doesn’t ally itself with a protector will be preyed on and victimized into extinction. If it does swear allegiance to a more powerful house, it avoids being persecuted by other houses but becomes effectively a clan of indentured servants. Only the most exceptional females in such a clan have any chance of rising above their low station, and those who do advance end up hurting rather than helping their families because they are adopted into the more prestigious house, leaving their original house even weaker than before.

Drow Renegades

Drow society is, paradoxically, extremely open-ended and extremely oppressive. All drow have a chance, at least theoretically, to improve their station in life, and movement⁠ does occur throughout the Hierarchy all the time. But, naturally, those in power are determined to put down any threat against them—and the penalty for insubordination is death. As things work out in practice, indentured drow at the bottom of the ladder⁠ spend their lives laboring for another house’s gain, and powerful drow at the top of society spend their time trying not to be assassinated or framed for heresy, while clinging to the power and prestige they’ve wrested from other houses. A dark elf who challenges another for superiority and fails, or who fails to respect the Hierarchy in some other way, has just three options: agonizing death on an altar, virtual enslavement, or fleeing for their lives. Some of those who choose to run succeed in escaping into The Underdark, despite the odds against them. Survival for a solitary drow Underground is nearly impossible. The main routes through The Underdark are dotted with drow guard posts, and the back ways are prowled by ropers, Mind Flayers, Duergar, and other killers. To make matters worse, the renegade’s former house offers a bounty that entices drow assassins to take up the chase. Of those who run, only a small fraction get to the surface. And even that achievement is no guarantee of safety, because a lone drow above ground is likely to be attacked on sight by surface dwellers. Those who find a way to survive in the painful world of sunlight either live as recluses or find a community where their heritage and upbringing give them an advantage, such as an assassins’ guild or a company of adventurers. Even in such cases, these traitorous drow spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders, hoping to spy the black hood and flashing blade of a bounty-hunting drow assassin⁠ before it’s too late.

Driders: Lowest of the Low

Much confusion⁠ and misinformation exists about driders among non-drow, but all dark elves know exactly what driders are: failures. They have either fared badly in L⁠olth’s test or displeased her in some other way. Once its transformation has taken hold, a newly created Drider is shunned by its house and exiled from the community, with nothing but a few meager supplies and its knowledge of The Underdark to protect it. Drow congregate to throw stones at the still-dazed creature and drive it into the tunnels beyond the city’s environs. If it’s unlucky, it’s attacked by a roper, a Carrion Crawler, or another Drider. If it’s lucky, the new Drider finds a safe place to hide while its wounds heal. So begins a drider’s life in exile. Another widespread misunderstanding about driders is that they serve the drow as pickets, elite troops, or even suicide squads. They do none of those things. They are despised outcasts who live on the fringes of drow territory. Even though drow revile driders, they don’t kill them, because a drider’s punishment is to live a long life in wretchedness. Killing one would cut short L⁠olth’s judgment and possibly earn the same sentence for the perpetrator. Driders that survive for a long time can become accomplished hunters and navigators in The Underdark. Nothing will reopen the doors of drow society to them, but sometimes a Drider can find a place in another community. Someone who needs a guide through The Underdark might not find a better one than a centuries-old Drider that has faced every hazard those tunnels hold.