Drow

"The Ones Who Went Below"

Drow (pronounced: /draʊ/ drow or: /droʊ/ dro), also known as dark elves, deep elves, night elves, or sometimes "The Ones Who Went Below" on the surface, were a dark-skinned sub-race of elves that predominantly lived in the Underdark. They were hated and feared due to their cruelty, though some non-evil and an even smaller number of good drow existed.

Description

In many ways, the drow resembled eladrin and elves. Their bodies were wiry and athletic, while their faces were chiseled and attractive. Drow were shorter and thinner than other sub-races of elves. It was believed that females were generally bigger and stronger than males, but both sexes varied in height from 4 feet and 7 inches to 5 feet and 5 inches (140 to 170 centimeters), averaging 5 feet (150 centimeters). Males weighed between 87 to 157 pounds (39 to 71.2 kilograms), averaging 109.5 pounds (49.67 kilograms females were a bit lighter and weighed between 82 to 152 pounds (37 to 68.9 kilograms), averaging 104.5 pounds (47.4 kilograms). The skin of the drow was dark grey, jet-black or obsidian (with shades of blue). An exception were the albino drow, the Szarkai. Drow hair could be stark white, pale yellow and, more rarely, silver or copper in color. Drow were incapable of having beards, but some males managed to grow long sideburns or even tufts of wispy hair on the cheek or chin. Drow eyes could be of any color, with bright red being the most common. Pale shades that appeared nearly white of blue, lilac, pink, or silver were also frequent. Drow with green, brown, black, amber, or rose-hued eyes existed, but they were rare. Purple or blue eyes indicated surface elves and/or human ancestry. It was possible to read some information in the eye color of a drow. For example, drow eyes reddened when they were angry, and turned yellow when they were sick, poisoned, or under some negative magical influence. Due to a process of selective breeding that lasted for several generations, the drow (especially nobles) looked attractive even when compared to other elves. Their alluring appearance, which could be used for seduction, was more often used to instill fear. Blood-Related Races There were a number of races and creatures that were in some ways related to the drow.

Elves- Drow were a subrace of the elves. Their ancestors, the Ilythiiri, or dark elves, were an offshoot of the green elves, also known as wild elves.

When different sub-races of elves intermarried, there was an equal chance for the child to inherit either of the parents' traits. However, children born of the union between a drow and elf were far more likely to inherit the drow traits, and were more likely to parent a drow themselves. Dark elves possessed these traits too.

Half-drow- The half-elf born from a drow-human couple was a half-drow. As a general rule, half-drow had no different abilities than other half-elves. However, some half-drow could gain certain powers through their parentage. Regarding reproduction, the "2-generation-rule" applied to half-drow just like it did to all half-elves.
Szarkai- The Szarkai were pale-skinned drow. They were called albino drow, but had no more weaknesses to the sun than the rest of their kin. This genetic anomaly was more often found among nobles than commoners.
Draegloth- The Draegloth were a type of half-fiend that was born as a product of a ritualistic coupling between a drow and a glabrezu.
Draa'zekyl- The Draa'zekyl, also called drow-dragon, were a type of half-shadow dragon drow that managed to split their heritage in two, and thus gained the ability to change their form from dragon to drow, and vice-versa.
Zekyl- The Zekyl were a winged type of half-shadow dragons drow with a predisposition for thievery, stealth, and assassination.
Zar'ithra- A Zar'ithra was a type of shadow draconic drow with a talent for sorcery.

Related Races by Transformation Some races were not related to the drow because they were born from them but because they were transformed from drow:

Chwidencha- Chwidencha originated from drow who failed one of Lolth's tests.
Drider- Driders were created from drow who failed the Test of Lolth.
Shunned- A shunned originated from a female drow who failed Lolth, losing her favor.
Vhaerath- A vhaerath was a type of drow petitioner of Vhaeraun.

The drow had lifespans far beyond those of humans, and comparable with the rest of the elven race. Provided they did not meet a premature and violent end, they could live for centuries. Generally, a drow's natural lifespan ran up to 750 years, and about 94% of natural deaths occurred before 800 years of age. However, drow who could afford a lifestyle that spared them hardships, like the matron mothers, could live more than 1000 years (though, by that point, they became withered by age). Lolth's magic could maintain a matron's life for thousands of years. This was considered a clear sign of favor from the goddess. Aging Signs The drow started to show signs of aging when their age neared 600. One of those signs consisted of their hair growing thin, and turning yellow in females, and silver or grey in males.

Personality

Drow, by reputation, were almost entirely evil. The teachings of Lolth represented the standard moral code for most of the race. They were overall decadent but managed to hide it under a veneer of sophistication. Drow were arrogant, ambitious, sadistic, treacherous, and hedonistic. From birth, the drow were taught they were superior to other races, and that they should crush those beneath them. Unlike inherently evil creatures like orcs, the evil of the drow wasn't of inherent nature: They enforced the Way of Lolth, leading to a race of emotionally stunted people, with a tenuous grasp on sanity and scarred mentalities, among which relatively undamaged minds were considered abnormal. However, as mentioned above, the drow had no innate drive towards evil and their morality was colored by the society they lived in. Goals Most drow's personal goal was about increasing their station in life, as they desired the power on others that a higher station would provide. The scarcity of resources in the Underdark and the limited chances for advancement within the society forced most drow to aggressively compete with each other. However, as mentioned above, they managed to hide their traits behind of veneer of sophistication. For example, while they liked to assassinate their competiton, doing so and being exposed would bring punishment for being too overt about it, as would open murder. Rising through the ranks too quickly was dangerous for any drow. The usual reaction was the formation of temporary alliances among those who were wronged by the quickly ascending drow to take the latter down. Such alliances were often successful. Anger Drow were a violent race, and violence was their favorite, if not instinctive, method for conflict resolution. The drow managed to fight this urge when waiting for a more propitious time to strike. Arrogance Drow believed themselves to be the apex creature. They were arrogant to the point of being incapable of viewing other creatures as their equal, including their own kind. Every single drow believed themsleves to be the best example of their superior species. This attitude was condoned by some of their gods: Vhaeraun, the god of arrogance. The treatment reserved by the drow to members of other races ran the entire gamut from pets, to slaves, to grudgingly respected partners when they proved themselves a military match for them, though never equals. Cruelty As a general rule, drow living within a Lolthite society couldn't afford to show emotions like compassion or love, for they were easy to exploit. Their environment turned them into distrustful sadists with a constant readiness to backstab people, both in the figurative and literal sense. Drow had a tendency to prefer emotional cruelty over physical one. Cruelty was also seen as a mean of self-validation. The drow believed that any person that could not defend themselves deserved to be inflicted cruelty, and by delivering cruelty on a weaker creature the drow could prove their superiority. Fear The constant strife of their society led the drow to be paranoid and fear everyone and everything. They feared the potential loss of their station, the loss of Lolth's favor, the loss of loyalty or outright rebellion of their underlings, and the potential of punishment from their superiors. Hedonism Drow were hedonists. They loved and surrounded themselves with what they considered beautiful, generally without paying attention to the cost. They generally believed to be entitled to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted to do it. This also extended to partners: for example, they took and discarded lovers at their leisure and had a tendency to be lecherous. Trust Drow were incapable of trusting other creatures, no matter their race. They were taught from an early age to be distrustful, as the drow culture expected individuals to advance at the expenses of others by any means, included treachery and even outright murder. While the drow understood the value of forging bonds, they did not see a value in the virtue of honesty. Forming bonds was thus a dangerous endeavor and mostly of temporary nature. Since any alliance or cordial relationship could end in treachery, the drow went into engagements of this sort expecting the worst. Alliances were generally formed when the ally was susceptible to blackmail, considered weak enough to not be a serious threat, or when cooperation was forced by the existence of a common enemy. Alliances were always under scrutiny for signs of treachery and often ended violently. In fact, the mere inconvenience of maintaining the bond could be a reason to end it. Even in moments of safety or relaxation, the drow were always alert and constantly expecting attacks of any kind. Therefore, they were rarely surprised when those actually happened, depriving the attacker of the advantage of surprise. Vengefulness Drow were vengeful people by necessity. Not answering to slights with punishment was easily perceived as weakness by other drow, and was essentially the same as inviting exploitation, abuse, or even death. For this reason, Kiaransalee, goddess of vengeance, had a significant appeal among the drow. Good Drow "Good drow" amounted to about 15% of the entire race. However, most of them weren't actually of good alignment, but merely chaotic neutral or lawful neutral. Within the Lolthite society, even actually good drow generally had problems to form a sense of moral for themselves. They generally acted in the same way as evil drow due to social pressure and risks. As mentioned above, being soft in any way was lethal in drow society and therefore these people often died. It was believed that the "good drow" collectively worshipped Eilistraee, goddess of freedom, but the actual breakdown was that the good-aligned drow did indeed worship the kind goddess, while the morally neutral drow's worship was split among Ghaunadaur, Lolth, Selvetarm, and Vhaeraun. Those who managed to leave Lolthite settlements would often die to the dangerous wilderness of the Underdark. Among the actually good drow, some followers of Eilistraee lived within Lolthite settlements, either looking for an escape with their families (if any), or as infiltrators helping the other drow escape. They were known as "Secret Moondancers". However, no good drow managed to cause meaningful, lasting, or any change for the matter in a drow city. Furthermore, even those who escaped the cruelties of the Underdark found it more difficult to form long-term friendships than most races did and had to constantly be on the lookout for pursuers who could kill them.

Abilities

Drow had a set of unique abilities. Physical Abilities Like all elves, drow required no sleep. They instead entered a meditative trance while retaining full awareness of their surroundings. This state was half-again as efficient as the way most races gained rest. However, while the elves relived parts of their memories, including those of past lives, during the trance, drow normally experienced nothing save for the occasional dream (which they tried to interpret looking for signs from Lolth). The fact that drow didn't relive memories of past lives during their trances was viewed as an indication that, unlike the elves, their souls didn't reincarnate. Senses -Sight- Drow eyes were sensitive to heat. They had infravision up to a range of 120′ (36.58 m) and learned to discern information from heat patterns and shades. Cold objects appeared grey, while heat was seen, in ascending order of intensity, as blue, purple, red, and warm yellow. The training in stealth received by the drow included blending in with the heat patterns of their surroundings, much like hiding in the shadows. Likewise, formal education or a lot of practice was needed to read heat hues, as the drow couldn't discern the meaning of the various patterns since birth. They also had darkvision up to the same range, but not the low-light vision characteristic of other elves. -Hearing- Drow had excellent hearing, a trait developed by necessity. In the Underdark, the sense of hearing was paramount in foreseeing rock shifts, collapses, and other hazards, and was also the primary mean to find water through the dripping sound that it made. They could also recognize drowcraft items by holding them. -Magical Abilities- Drow had a number of inborn unique abilities, strong light (like sunlight) hampered the drow's concentration, rendering them unable to use their innate abilities, with few exceptions, namely the nobles. Magic Resistance- Drow had a limited resistance to magic and had a better chance than other races at resisting spells that attempted to bend their will. Base powers were abilities that the drow could cast without any schooling but simple practice. They varied slightly from person to person due to different reasons: genetics, personal talent, divine favor, etc.. Drow magical abilities were somehow tied to the faerzress, the radiation of the Underdark, and its intensity in the birthplace of a drow could influence their base powers. Dancing Lights- Drow could naturally cast the dancing lights spell. The drow's innate dancing lights could create a larger number of light motes than the normal spell, and provided better control as the power of the caster increased. For example, the light spheres could be moved be further away from each other than normal. Apart from its obvious use as a light source, it was used to divert attention, or create a surprise factor with the sudden appearance of a glowing figure or will-o'-wisp-like light balls. Teaming up with actual will-o'-wisps to make this more effective was a known technique, however, this was viewed as corrupted behavior. Darkness- Drow had the ability to naturally cast darkness, creating an area that was impervious to normal sight and infravision. Unlike the normal spell, the drow's innate darkness could also create a globe that could be moved around and grew in radius with the strength of the caster. Apart from its obvious use to cancel light sources, this ability was an integral part of drow combat due to its use to limit sight or otherwise hamper enemies. Darkness looked like black stone when looked at with darkvision, allowing creative uses of the spell. For example, a drow could hide behind the "black stone" and ambush enemies from their cover, or the "black stone" could turn out to be a covered-up pitfall. An entire school of drow martial arts concerned itself with the use of darkness, the kyone veldrin style. Faerie Fire- Drow had the ability to naturally cast faerie fire. Unlike the normal spell, the drow's innate faerie fire could create a glowing field that grew wider with the strength of the caster. It was used to force enemies to pay attention to an area, or as a diversion. The possibility to change the color of the light provided by the spell was used as a handy system of color signals to convey information over long distances. As mentioned above, base powers were affected by faerzress. According to Seldszar Elpragh, a drow's faerie fire worked by channeling faerzress. Casting innate powers was impossible in the presence of intense light, and was similarly affected when separated from faerzress. Noble Powers- Some drow were born with more powers than usual, like the ability to divine a person's mental inclination, as the detect good spell, to detect magic, as detect magic, and to levitate. Such drow made up the noble class of their society. These abilities seemed to be a dominant trait. Nobles could use their base and mature powers up to once per decade of their lives per day, instead of merely once per day. Unlike commoners, nobles could attempt to cast their inborn abilities in the presence of light, but they could only maintain one of their spells at a time in presence of light, even when they could normally do otherwise.

Sunbathing; the result of years-long training. Sunlight Drow had a weakness against light in general. For example, a common or untrained drow could neither use nor maintain their innate abilities under the effect of light that was as bright as, or brighter than, sunlight. Noble drow could use up to one innate ability in bright light. However, the drow developed a method to defend themselves against light through the use of the hand of darkness spell. Before the 1360s DR, the drow had used to gradually lose their base and mature powers as well as their defenses against magic, if exposed to sunlight. However, during the 1360s DR, Liriel Baenre, guided by Eilistraee, carved her rune in the Child of the Yggdrasil with the intent of preserving her own drow magic away from the Underdark, but the act ended up allowing all drow to keep their powers on the surface. Despite Eilistraee guiding Liriel, speculations were that Lolth also had a hand in the matter. It took a drow about ten years of exposure to get used to the sunlight and to use their infravision and normal vision simultaneously. Initial exposure to sunlight was dangerous for a drow and cause of heavy sunburns. Even after getting used to the sunlight, drow had a strong tendency to cover their skin and head. Besides physical effects, bright light also limited drow activity, for they could not do anything effectively during daytime.

Culture/Society

Drow slavers marching prisoners. Drow lived in city-states characterized by a theocratic, matriarchal, and militaristic society. Purpose The drow society nominally had two purposes, called "the First and Second Part of the Destiny of the People". The former was about forcing all other races of the Underdark into subservience, while the latter was about driving the entire elven population into extinction. Lolth claimed that, in order to achieve such goals, the drow needed to be forced into perpetual infighting and violent competition, so that the constant training would make them stronger and smarter. However, the extreme, self-destructive degree to which this was taken prevented the drow from achieving either of their purposes, barring possibilities for significant growth. In fact, despite her rhetoric, Lolth merely enjoyed the infighting that she promoted and put no effort into reaching the supposed goal. City-States Drow lived in city-states in the Underdark, built in places that had to meet sevaral criteria. For example, the caverns were huge, allowing a horizontal layout of the city; a lot of iron, adamantite, and gems needed to be nearby; the magnetic force and the faerzress needed to be particularly intense, both for practical reasons and, according to Qilué Veladorn, because the drow had a mental compulsion to be near the radiation and were drawn to it. When the faerzress collapsed for some reason, the drow-city usually collapsed too. Drow cities could have trade agreements between each other, but were mostly at war. While called "city-states", they didn't have the organization of an actual state: they were mostly clusters of drow, with the most powerful family groups taking the best lands and resources for themselves, and forming the aristocratic class. These cities were ruled by the most powerful among the families (or Houses), and the leaders of the various Houses held the greatest influence within the community. The second power group inside a given drow city were the merchant clans. Desperation, oppression, and poverty were the general rule in such a city for anyone other than those belonging to power groups. Noble Houses Drow were ruled by their aristocracy, made up by the families that had the strength to violently occupy the best lands. Noble Houses constantly fought each other but were also characterized by internal strife, as it was actually expected in a society that followed the Way of Lolth. Even though the power of the many Houses changed often, the few at the top usually remained stable. Within a family, noble drow parents viewed their children as vehicles for their own advancement, including sacrificing them for some potential gain. Noble drow stayed with their family as children as a protection from outside violence, and as adults because Houses proved to be good tools for societal advancement. Merchant Clans The success of the merchant clans was important for the survival of the drow race. The clans were among the primary mercantile organizations in the Underdark, and their presence was common along the trade routes. Contrary to the Houses, merchant clans were run by male drow, because females considered interaction with outsiders to be too demeaning and dangerous for them. Commoner Most members of the Lolthite drow society lived under oppression, in perpetual desperation and poverty. Normally, commoners learned a craft or entered military training, while talented individuals could hope to enter one of the magic schools. Commoners who gained enough expertise in a certain area, like Zaknafein Do'Urden as a warrior, could be adopted into a noble family. From time to time, artists were adopted by one of the Houses for their skill. Commoners could also rise to a higher social station by becoming the consort of a noble, gaining the latter's last name for the duration of the marriage. These bonds were generally of temporary nature, however, due to accidents, or to the noble growing tired of the commoner, or using the latter merely as a figure. The outcome was either a painful death or expulsion—usually the former. Nonetheless, noble drow valued drow commoners more than slaves, and usually sacrificed them only when a slave was not at hand. In general, commoners had a higher chance to live a long life than nobles, resulting in families who had many living generations of members. This was because there wasn't much to gain from killing an elder, who actually represented a valuable source of historical and general knowledge with realistic accessibility. Artisans Due to the drow's love of beautiful things, the demand for art and skilled craft (especially exquisitely forged weapons) was high. Good artisans, especially innovative artists (about 0,1 to 0,4% of the population), were highly sought after by the noble Houses, and families that didn't produce artistic talent on their own acquired it from the outside (be it by adoption into the family, a rare occurrence, simple hiring, or forceful coercion). About a fifth of the entire drow race was capable of complex works, while only about one-tenth could create items fine enough to be enchanted or turned into drowcraft through the absorption of faerzress. Even though capable artisans weren't few among the drow, there was a great shortage of such talents compared to the demand, and both nobles and merchant clans tried to have at least six on their payroll. Overall, artisans were among the most intrigant and paranoid drow. They used tricky devices, like clothes with built-in items, body weapons like gas-powered needle-throwers, extensile mechanical hands, wire-saws, and more to break out of cages and prisons, but also as weapons against people.

Justice

Within the Lolthite drow society, "might makes right" was the only "law". In fact, the priestesses of the Spider Queen—the rulers of the various cities—violently forced others to comply with Lolth's dogma, which in turn became the main law. In practice, however, something akin to an actual body of laws existed within the drow society, and the priestesses fulfilled the judicial functions. They saw it as their right to arrest and punish people for assumed offenses in ways made up on the spot. Concepts such as the presumption of innocence didn't exist, and the only possibility to lessen a punishment was for the presumed criminal to have connections that the punishing priestesses considered a threat.

Way of Lolth

The Way of Lolth was the basis for the drow laws. The most important points were the following. Monotheism Only Lolth was considered a true deity and worship of others was forbidden. This included her servant deities, like Kiaransalee, who was prayed to in secret, and Selvetarm, who could be socially acceptably invoked as a non-divine servant of Lolth. An exception was the faith of Vhaeraun. The church of Lolth considered the church of Vhaeraun as a serious enemy. The followers of the Masked Lord outright called for the destruction of Lolth's established order, therefore, people were apprehended when suspected of that god's worship. However, since the Second Sundering, there were three ways to openly pray Vhaeraun in a Lolthite society. First, invoking the god of thieves when embarking on raids was a normal, accepted practice. Second, in the 1490s DR, the majority of the church of Vhaeraun were not revolutionaries, but simply people who wanted to improve their lot in life and worked towards that end. This was tacitly tolerated by the matriarchy but such people still hid their identities, for they passively resisted the established order and that remained dangerous. Third, there were true Lolth-loyalists who believed a legend that painted the Masked God of Night as a god who hid the scars that his mother inflicted him under a mask, and who lost his tongue to her. These loyalists scarred and silenced themselves, and acted as bodyguards for the matron mothers. Hierarchy According to the Way of Lolth, the violation of a given hierarchy could be met with various punishments. Anyone who killed a spider had to be killed, a slave was to be killed for disobedience, commoners could be punished in any way if they objected to a high priestess, students who refused the "courting" of a matron or female teacher could be punished in any way (including death), and so on. Identification The drow society had a strict fashion code (which included rules about hairstyles) meant to allow easy identification of a drow's social station and House (if any). Any drow who committed identification litigations by wearing the wrong hair style, clothes, and/or drow house insignia was killed, as was a non-drow who tried to pass as a drow.

Gender Roles

Lolth’s dogma mandated to recognize female drow as more valuable than males, who were considered worthless. This gave female drow absolute power, and they were also less likely to be sacrificed than males. Males who hoped to find any place of power often resorted to ends as treacherous as the women that ruled the drow, hoping to perhaps win a coveted place as the mate of a powerful matron mother. Arcane magic was a route for power for male drow, though open only to a few. While they were still socially inferior to female drow, they weren’t in real danger of being killed by a priestess, while even accomplished male war commanders were in danger of being executed for perceived insults. Generally, men tried currying favors with women and advance their station by attaching themselves to them (for example, by gaining high officer positions, or becoming consorts). Other ways of gaining station as a male were to become an arcane devotee (but it didn't grant any additional safety), or an arachnomancer, taking advantage of the reverence of spiders that came with the worship of Lolth. It would be easy to imagine that drow females, by comparison, had it much easier. However, this was an illusion, and their prestigious position came at a high cost. In fact, the teachings of Lolth and the drive to gain more power made the competition between female drow, particularly those who belonged to powerful houses, violent, aggressive and lethal in a way that males didn't have to deal with. It was even worse for those women who sought power outside of Lolth's church, where they had to compete not only with other females, but with resentful and oppressed males as well. Male Clergy Male clerics existed among the drow. In Lolth-dominated cities, however, they were targets of her female followers, and Lolth barred them from achieving power beyond a certain threshold. They served in low-ranking positions under lethal risks. While they could even become divine disciples, it often caused the priestesses to kill them. The faith of Ghaunadaur didn't have a gender barriers. Vhaeraun's faith had a gender barrier that made it harder for women to become his clerics. Eilistraee accepted clergy of all genders and races but, before the 1370s DR, her clerics had used to be only female, because, due to the goddess' nature, "One could not truly feel the Divine Dance of Eilistraee PROPERLY except as a female". However, during the 1370s DR, Eilistraee started working towards opening up to male priesthood: for a time, males still had a harder time becoming clerics (see also here), but after the Second Sundering, Eilistraee's clergy could be accessed by people of any gender with equal ease. Courting and Love Courting was the domain of women in drow society. Trying to initiate a relationship was a reason for execution by torture and sacrifice for a male drow. In general, drow women chose their partners as animals would be chosen for breeding purposes. Furthermore, once a relationship started, the male partner had no say on how long the relationship would last, or whether it should even start. The woman, on the other hand, could change partners as she desired. When a drow man was desired by more than one female, the latter competed over him. The male wasn’t safe from damage: in fact, for drow women, as a sign to clarify the loss of interest in the rivalry was to skin the male and drop the corpse before the room of her rival. The death of a male drow was the usual way in which a relationship ended. In non-Lolthite culture and among commoners, matters weren't that extreme. The concept of marriage existed but it was not for eternity. The contract lasted for a decade or so at longest, but renewal was possible. One exception were the merchant clans: marriage wasn't everlasting, but marrying someone from a merchant clan meant becoming part of it for life. Trying to leave could be the same as inviting death. The secret of a working long-term relationship between drow was not love but tangible reasons, like the male having a history of fathering many female offspring. The best "normal" romantic relationship between two drow was similar to the one between a spoiled brat and her well trained, obedient dog, with the owner having the right to put the dog down for any reason. Military In drow society, the priestesses formally occupied the positions of leadership among the military. However, in practice, male commanders led the military forces because the priestesses commonly hid away in the face of danger, while resorting to the use of corporal threats and magical domination to ensure loyalty. When a military squad was formally led by a male drow, it was either a streeakh, a suicide squad, or a dobluth, a group of outcasts.

War

When nobles warred against each other, the attacking side had to eradicate the entire enemy family within one single attack. If even one member of the defending family survived, they could apply for "justice", and the entire city would turn on the attackers. Alliances were not allowed in this kind of attacks, and there was a minimum interim time between two assaults against a house that had already been attacked. Prolonged covert warfare between two houses, by means like assassination, was not exactly forbidden. However, it was only tolerated for a time counted in years. After that, the drow city's ruling council forced the two houses to enter open war. This was the reason why drow society was in a perpetual state of very small-scale battle of underhandedness, instead of a series of bloody frontal battles. In war situations, the drow schemed against each other so that their rivals would take the heaviest losses, or carry the responsibility for any failure. They were literally incapable of forming a united front against their enemies. While the exact equipment and size of drow warbands varied from place to place, it was possible to make some general assumptions about the composition, for some typical traits existed. House Armies Each House had a standing army of drow soldiers, priestesses, and wizards. They included contingents consisting solely of non-drow slaves, usually bugbears, ogres, and minotaurs.

Childcare

As mentioned above, the drow had to compete for limited resources and chances for advancement in society. For this reason, they tried to instill tenacity, cruelty, ambition, self-reliance, and independence in their children. Physical imperfection wasn't tolerated (due to the obsession with physical beauty), and children born with physical malformations were killed shortly after birth. Traits like kindness or compassion were dangerous in the Lolthite society, as they made an individual prone to exploitation, and children who showed such weakness were punished. The punishment ranged from beatings to neglect, like ceasing to provide food to the kid, and could prove lethal. This abusive treatment was supposed to prepare the children for the cruelty of their future lives, and eventual child deaths due to punishment were justified with the assumption that they had been "saved" from an even worse end as adults. Drow children learned cruelty and bloodthirst both as a survival mechanism and as a defensive mechanism to escape punishment. As a general rule, these lessons scarred a drow and stuck with them for their entire life. Noble drow weren't raised by their parents, whom they only rarely saw, but by elder siblings and private caretakers, resulting in thin bonds between parents and children. Merchant clans and commoners (who lacked the resources to hire tutors) considered raising their children as the entire family's duty. Relationships As mentioned before, drow expected betrayal from each other and acted accordingly. The drow's view on other races ran the entire gamut from potential slaves or the targets of extermination. They held some respect towards races capable of resisting their aggressions, and could perceive certain races as possible equals with whom they had mutual gain or non-aggression pacts. However, contracts with "lesser races" were not seen as actually binding: they were readily broken as soon as they stopped being beneficial to the drow party. As a result, the other races learned to anticipate betrayal and always had counters to the treachery prepared. The drow believed that all "lesser races" had to be subjugated, or driven to extinction when representing a threat. This view resulted in an extreme thought process regarding other races. The drow's first idea on making new encounters generally was to wage war to subjugate or eradicate the others. Prisoners of such violent activities were the source of slaves in their cities.

Reputation

As a general rule, the inhabitants of Toril's surface knew very little about the drow. To the average person, the drow were such a distant problem that they were considered more like myth than reality. As a rule of thumb, only 5% of surface inhabitants had the superficial knowledge that the drow were "inhabitants of the Underdark who conducted raids on the surface", not including elves and eladrin, who had close historical connections. This made it easier for individual drow to enter surface communities without meeting hostility, as long as they didn't do or say something that could catch attention and lead people who had real knowledge about the drow to cleanse their community of the threat the drow represented. That said, surface cities didn't generally allow drow into their cities because of their reputation, even though followers of Eilistraee sometimes managed to gain a place within surface communities.

Religion

Composition of the faiths The drow mainly worshiped a pantheon of gods called the Dark Seldarine (a name intended as a mockery of the original Seldarine), even though, as said above, within Lolthite settlements, continued worship of any deity but Lolth (and, under certain conditions, Vhaeraun) was punishable by death. Some drow living in Waterdeep, however, followed the gods of the Seldarine. Differently from the elves, who venerated one member of their pantheon above the rest while still paying homage to each of their deities, the drow chose one god or goddess (or sometimes two) from their pantheon and ignored the rest (even though exceptions, like praying to Vhaeraun—the god of thieves—when embarking on raids, existed). For this reason, while deities like Bane, Cyric, and Shar had millions of worshipers but only 135,000, 250,000, and 100,000 dedicated church members respectively, in the case of the Dark Seldarine, the number of worshipers of a certain deity was mostly equal to the size of their church. Aside from Eilistraee, whose worship wasn't far in nature and choice of sacred places from that practiced by surface elves, the drow gods weren't venerated out of true piety, but out of fear, respect, or ambition. Major Faiths There were two major faiths among the drow:

Church of Lolth- The church of Lolth was the primary drow faith. Its goal was to strengthen Lolth and her authority by bringing all drow under the church's wing, while killing those who were in any way a challenge to the authority of the Spider Queen and her clergy. Though religion played a large part in drow society, the caste system and other seemingly lawful aspects of the culture clashed with Lolth's intent and directives as a chaotic evil goddess. As a result, much of the tension between the clergy of Lolth and more secular drow came from this very different perspective.
Church of Vhaeraun- The faith of Vhaeraun was the biggest among surface drow, and the second biggest overall among the whole race. Its goal was to re-elevate the Ilythiiri to the position of power they once held, in a society where equality between the sexes reigned. They intended to gain a foothold on the surface, crush Lolth's version of society, stop the infighting, and unify their people for dominion. The Masked Lord was primarily worshiped by surface drow, male drow, because of his goal of gender equality, and by those people who dealt in the acquisition of wealth by illegal means, because he approved of greed as the god of thieves. To the church of Lolth, the followers of Vhaeraun represented a serious enemy, and the two faiths clearly had no common ground. That said, openly invoking him was tolerated as long as it respected certain boundaries (see above) There were also clerics of Lolth who were in fact specialty priests of Vhaeraun called masked traitors, spies whom Lolth believed to be her clerics.

Minor Faiths The following faiths were of minor importance:

Church of Eilistraee- The church of Eilistraee, followers of the goddess of beauty, song, and freedom, strove to free the drow from Lolth's web and build a place for their people on the surface world. They reached to the drow in the Underdark, while on the surface they offered help to the needy and nurtured arts, working to build peaceful relationships with the other races. Most drow weren't aware of Eilistraee, as the matron mothers suppressed all records about her, and what little information existed painted her as a surface elf deity aiming to drive the drow into extinction. Due to the nature of their goal, except when performing missions to bring other drow away from the Lolthite society, the faith was mainly active on the surface and had little presence in the Underdark.
Church of Ghaunadaur- The church of Ghaunadaur believed that everybody capable of strength was allowed to wield power, an idea that actually devolved into an extreme form of "might makes right". The Ghaunadans' goal was to promote the faith of their deity and to ensure that he was fed with sacrifices, by killing followers of other deities and pillaging their temples. Every drow had used to be more or less aware of That Which Lurks, but after the Spellplague, knowledge about the Elder Eye was forgotten by the drow due to suppression from Lolth's clergy.
Church of Kiaransalee- The church of Kiaransalee was a fatalistic cult that concerned itself with vengeance and necromancy. They believed that, through loyal service to the Revenancer, they would be reborn as undead and live forever. Said service consisted of killing and re-animating people, while at the same time avenging every slight. Kiaransalee was a rather unknown goddess, and most of those who knew about her thought her to be a delusional lich who saw herself as a deity. However, during the Silence of Lolth, the church grew enough in size to allow the deity to become a lesser power, rather than a demigoddess.
Church of Selvetarm- The church of Selvetarm, followers of the drow god of drow warriors, were mostly warriors or guards who constantly honed their fighting skills and reveled in battle. Due to its emphasis on individual battle prowess instead of strategy, adhering to this faith blocked a drow from obtaining high positions in the military. Calling out to the Spider That Waits was mostly done by lower-class drow. Selvetarm wasn't recognized as a god by most of his followers, who worshiped him as a powerful servant of Lolth (the only form of veneration of this deity that was accepted in the mainstream drow society). Venerating him as an individual deity wasn't tolerated within Lolthite settlements.

Customs

The drow had a number of customs, gestures, and rituals. For example, it was custom to kill all children with physical deficiencies; a commonly accepted gesture was dropping a knee and held weapons as a sign of surrender. There were many rituals as well, like the graduation ceremony for the graduates of the mage, priest, and warrior schools. Some known drow rituals and customs were the following:

The Blooding- A coming of age event that consisted of killing a dangerous or sentient surface creature.
Illiyitrii- A formal dance, which sometimes served as a platform for displaying wealth and power, for example through costumes.
Nedeirra- A dancing competiton where people had did the wrong steps were marked with harmless faerie fire.
The Running- An annual ritual where the drow went out to commit a massacre against a surface community. It was only held where the surface was easily accessible.
The Test and the Test of Lolth- Rites of passage and tests of loyalty for those Lolthite drow (especially wizards) who reached a certain degree of power and knowledge. When a priestess succeeded at it, she gained a promotion. Those who failed were turned into driders.
Spider Hunting- A game of hide-and-seek played by young drow as a kind of courting ritual during festivals.
Meeting Customs- When participating in a meeting, due to their weakness to light, the creation of an intense light source was seen as a hostile act by the drow, that led them to attack.

Languages

Most drow only knew two languages (Deep Drow and the Sign language) because they usually stayed in their cities and therefore exposure to other languages and the need to learn them was limited. However, drow adventurers, outcasts, and slave-traders learned more languages, as did their warriors.

Deep Drow- The spoken everyday language, commonly called "Deep Drow", but also "Low Drow" or "Drowic", was similar in structure to Common and Undercommon, with a lot of borrowed words from other languages like the orcish, dwarven, and human languages. Simply put, it was an elven dialect.
Drow Sign language- The Sign language was also commonly known among drow. It could convey information as well as any spoken language within sight range of 120 ft (36 m), and had no written form. The language was not part of the drow's compulsory education, but they had an easy time learning it.
High Drow- High Drow was an archaic dialect, which priestesses of Lolth learned in order to be able to speak without fear of others understanding them. It was not only spoken but conveyed information by certain gestures too.
Undercommon- It was quite common for drow to be proficient in this trade language.

Other languages Drow warriors had a tendency to learn the languages of creatures that lived physically close to the drow like Abyssal, Common, Draconic, and Goblin, as well as those languages that were spoken in the nearest surface area.

Variant cultures

Not all drow became a part of the violent mainstream culture that most of the race were forced to endure. Those few who escaped the life of the Underdark might break away entirely from their dark past, while some fortunate drow were actually born and raised outside of the world below. Some drow found virtue within themselves in spite of all the terrors they witnessed, or perhaps because of it, others turned to better ways either out of guilt, or simply because no longer under obligation of adhering to Lolth's dogma, while yet others were dangerously insane, broken by the horrors that shook their psyches. The drow who chose to live on the surface, outside of the churches of Eilistraee and Vhaeraun, did not form any kind of organized society and instead lived as hermits and outcasts. They would interact with other societies when needed, but not because of choice.

Economy

The drow had craftsmen, farmers, and businesses like any other culture, but the priestesses of Lolth represented a further risk for their economy. Not only did they purposefully undermine opportunities and chances for any form of growth, in order to ensure that those below them didn't gain the option to turn away from Lolth, but they had the authority to take items from businesses without paying, which at times could cause a business to go bankrupt. The destitute owners or craftsman were then forced into a contract that essentially made them slaves to the priestess. Drow society in general didn’t have unemployment or homeless issues, as those who fell in either or both categories were killed. Many drow signed up into the military because the risk of a violent death there was lower than as an unemployed or homeless. The constant demand for soldiers, no matter the level of skill, allowed such course of action.

Slavery

Slavery played an important role in drow society, and many households had two or more slaves for each member. Half to two-third of a normal drow city's population consisted of slaves. All unskilled labor in drow cities was carried out by slaves, and for that reason slave trade was a booming business. Slaves were not only captured but also bred, or bought from sellers like the humans of Calimshan, Thay, and the Plain of Horses, and the orcs from the North. The drow didn't see slaves as a valuable commodity, but as a cheaply and easily replaceable tool that they were allowed to treat cruelly and exploit at will. Slaves, in general, were not allowed to look into the eyes of a drow or to carry weapons without permission (a rule that was mostly enforced when the slave was a gladiator of some kind).

Surface Raids

Given that all unskilled labor in drow cities was carried out by slaves, and that surface dwellers were considered to be the best for that role, surface raids were vital for the maintenance of the economy. No matter the size, these attacks had the primary objective to capture people, while looting was considered of secondary importance.

History

The Beginning According to the drow and elves of Toril, the first connection between Lolth and the drow started with Corellon Larethian naming Araushnee, his wife and later known as Lolth, keeper of the fate of the dark elves. However, unsatisfied with her position, counting on the help of her son, Vhaeraun, and devising a plan to frame her daughter, Eilistraee, for her actions, Araushnee would attempt to overthrow Corellon, starting what was known as the War of the Seldarine. The conflict ended with Araushnee being banished into the Abyss and her name changing into Lolth: from there, it would take her millennia in order to regain influence on the dark elves. Vhaeraun was exiled from Arvandor, and he would deeply shape the future of the dark elves, while Eilistraee chose exile to bring her light to them in the time of need. Silence of Lolth In the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR, the goddess Lolth went into a state of hibernation, a period called the Silence. She stopped granting spells to her followers and became effectively inactive. While it only lasted for one year, a lot happened during that time. To name a few examples, in Sshamath, Lolth’s clergy was demoted and the churches of Ghaunadaur and Vhaeraun took the official clerical positions. In Eryndlyn, the church of Vhaeraun and of Ghaunadaur joined forces and destroyed Lolth's matriarchy. In cities like Dusklyngh, Jhachalkhyn and Karsoluthiyl, through a series of assassinations, the Jaezred Chaulssin shifted the power balance in favor of secular power holders like merchants, while other cities, such as Maerimydra, suffered complete breakdowns. The Reckoning The Reckoning includes the years following the Silence, between 1375 DR and 1385 DR, during which the church of Lolth destroyed all the other drow churches. It began when Lolth invited Eilistraee to play a divine game of sava over the fate of the drow, and the Dark Maiden accepted seeing an opportunity to free her people once and for all. The events concerning the fall of various faiths were:

Church of Selvetarm- Radical elements from the church of Selvetarm allied themselves with the church of Vhaeraun. Under the leadership of Dhairn, they duped various Lolth-worshiping groups into serving their ends. Their goal was to take over the Promenade of the Dark Maiden as their new headquarters. They almost succeeded, but failure came when their god was killed by Cavatina Xarann with the help of the Lady Penitent Halisstra Melarn and the balor Wendonai, as planned by Lolth The radical elements in the church of Selvetarm were then built into the church of Lolth.
Church of Vhaeraun- The church of Vhaeraun organized an elven high magic ritual that was meant to allow their god to attempt to assassinate Eilistraee. The plan was noticed by Halisstra Melarn, who then relayed the intelligence to the church of Eilistraee. Being forewarned, the assassination failed and Vhaeraun was no more. Parts of the church Vhaeraun joined Eilistraee's. Others remained with their faith because either out of stubbornness or because they did not realize their god was dead and formed the skulkers of Vhaeraun.
Church of Kiaransalee- While Kiaransalee worked to take down Eilistraee, her church tried to call an army of undead from Death Heart, a city on the Negative Energy Plane. To achieve that goal, they fed the faerzress with negative energy, enhancing it and increasing the drow's urge to go back to the Underdark. To prevent such an event, the church of Eilistraee sent assassins to the Acropolis of Thanatos, Kiaransalee's main temple and base of operations, to kill the Crones' leader. Sages like Mordenkainen claimed that the churches of Lolth and Eilistraee teamed up to destroy the temple. Lolth did indeed move in favor of Eilistraee, but there was no alliance between the two churches. Q'arlynd Melarn cast an elven high magic ritual that erased the name from everybody's memories, and the goddess was no more (even though necromancers kept remembering her name and invoking her). The defeated clerics of the Revenancer in the Acropolis died on the spot if undead, and became powerless if still mortal. The Eilistraeen wanted to offer them redemption, but Wendonai's influence led Qilué Veladorn to order their death.
Church of Eilistraee- By 1378 DR, under the leadership of Kâras and Valdar Jaelre, Vhaeraunites organized the destruction of the Promenade of the Dark Maiden by manipulating an attack of Ghaunadaur's followers. They succeeded and the Promenade fell. In 1379 DR Eilistraee inhabited the body of Qilué Veladorn to free Halisstra Melarn from her torment and convince her to turn against Lolth. However, Wendonai tricked her into killing Qilué and alongside her the Masked Lady. Meanwhile, Q'arlynd Melarn cast a High Magic spell that he had been preparing alongside Qilué Veladorn, aimed to sever the link between the faerzress and the drow who didn't worship Lolth. It turned a few hundred among the followers of Dark Dancer (who, as a lesser power, had at least a few thousands of worshipers) and those drow not tainted by Wendonai into dark elves, (albeit without their consent). Corellon allowed the souls of those who had been changed into Arvandor even though Eilistraee's realm, which continued existing, already was in Arvandor, and so were the souls of her followers within it. Corellon's servants Solars claimed that, with this act, the willing had been saved, while the unwilling had been cast down as a necessary sacrifice.
Church of Ghaunadaur- After Lolth got rid of the other drow deities, she attacked Ghaunadaur, but he managed to escape. The church of Lolth then succeeded at making the drow forget about the ooze god.

Post-Spellplague era Around 1480 DR, every drow city was visited by Danifae Yauntyrr, the drow female who had been chosen as Chosen of Lolth at the end of the Silence. She informed the drow about Lolth's intention to create her own Demon Weave, to become the deity of magic, and to be served by both clerics and wizards equally. The drow started to gather artifacts sacred to Mystra and to attempt to control magical locations. After they collected the magical energy for Lolth, the Demon Weave was completed, and drow clerics and wizards grew stronger. They used their increase in power to darken the sky on the surface in order to remain operative. Wizards rising in status due to this new order was a reason of upheaval in the gendered Lolthite society, as it meant that female priestesses and male wizards would be equal. Lolth intended to solve the problem by favoring females and excluding males not only from divine spellcasting, but also from arcane magic. However, before anything could have any social implications, in the fall of 1485 DR, a party of adventurers from Luruar descended into the ruins of Eryndlyn, where they helped a resurgent Mystra to defeat Lolth and take command of the Demon Weave. She then began using it to strengthen her own Weave to restore it closer to the its pre-Spellplague conditions. While in the century after the Spellplague the drow were primarily ruled by the church of Lolth, small scale opposition movements in the form of the skulkers of Vhaeraun or followers of Ghaunadaur did exist. Post-Second Sundering era Over the course of the Second Sundering, all the drow deities who had died before the Spellplague managed to return to life, thus causing a renaissance of their cults. Despite Q'arlynd's spell, Eilistraee and most of her followers were still drow after the goddess' re-emergence. Eilistraee and Vhaeraun were especially active in this time, and they personally manifested to their followers, especially along the Sword Coast. In particular, Eilistraee's appearance near Waterdeep led many of her followers to travel to the city. While some worked to create a new forest-temple within Waterdeep itself, the Dancing Haven, the Promenade was also stealthily restored under the (informal) leadership of priestess Trelasarra Zuin, using the above-mentioned surface temple as a base of operations. However, part of the area formerly occupied by the Promenade had been refunctioned as a temple to Dumathoin and then settled by hobgoblins and the drow House Auvryndar.

Homelands

Underdark Drow were the most wide-spread and numerous among the Underdark races. They lived in about forty city-states scattered around the Upperdark and Middledark, primarily in the latter. Drow were usually only sent in the Lowerdark as scouting parties, or as some kind of punishment for angering a matron. Drow preferred to live in areas that fulfilled certain criteria. As a result, most of their settlements were found under the Moonsea, north and west of Iltkazar, from the underground of Climshan to the one of Icewind Dale. Their sphere of influence, however, was much larger.

Notable Drow

Jarlaxle Baenre

Origin/Ancestry

Elves

Lifespan

Normally up to 750 years, however, some noble Drow such as the Matron Mothers might surpass a millenium

Average Height

4'7" - 5'5"

Average Weight

82 - 157 lbs.

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