Drow

"Trust is foolish."

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Lore

Drow society is defined by hierarchy, conquest, and survival, forged in perpetual struggle. Lives lived in the dark, ruled by a brutal kakistocracy where the only true law is strength. To those outside of drow society, they appear ruthless, predatory, and treacherous - but to those who thrive in its brutal confines, they see themselves as the strongest of the elves, a blade honed in the shadows poised to reclaim their place in history.

Legend has it the drow were born in the conflux of the Second Heresy, and drow society still claims they are the rightful rulers of Aer Arnad. This core belief drives drow society, and they see their centuries long exile not as a punishment but as a test they must pass by reclaiming their lost place in history. In this, drow society is inexorably linked to the god Ulkarith and the Enshrouded religion that surrounds her.

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The drow rarely, if ever, create settlements anew. They instead prefer to conquer fresh places to live, most often from the dwarves, and shape their enemy’s homes to their will. As population grows and becomes a problem, the impetus to strike out at another settlement grows, lest the rulers have a coup on their hands.

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Drow society is structured along the same brutalist lines, ruled by matriarchal noble houses in eternal conflict, each vying for advantage with deception, assassination, and outright military action. Though these houses claim nobility, in truth it is their cunning and ruthlessness keeping them entrenched in the political structure, rather than their birthright. Many a house with a reckless scion has been pruned. 

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While most drow live in the dark, leaving for resources, war, or very little else, some venture to the surface on a more permanent basis - due to exile, to escape plots surrounding them, or to seek fortune in an easier society. Those few who find acceptance often do so in large, multicultural cities, where rigid hierarchies and shadowed alleyways allow them to carve out a place in society. Those who do must overcome their weaknesses, learning to work in the bright of day, unlearning the worst of the lessons taught to them by Underdark society, while battling fresh prejudice against their kind. Most find their way as assassins, spies, mercenaries, or traders, but even the most integrated of drow rarely forget their origins.

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The surface world assumes that drow women dominate all aspects of life, but this is only a half-truth. While there is a strong matriarchal tradition in the Underdark, drow do not bow to tradition - they bow to strength. The weak are used or culled by the strong, gender tradition be damned, it is just much harder for male drow to prove their strength. This is particularly true the further afield the drow are. While those in the heart of the Underdark might rarely see need for a male candidate for high leadership, those smaller outposts or noble houses without the wealth of leadership candidates may, by necessity, fall under control of a male drow. Even in populated areas, it is not uncommon for men to achieve a middling level of leadership, being put in charge of troupes of assassins, warbands, or spy rings.

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Quirks

• Drow breed as quickly as humans, though their life-spans are shorter than those of most elves and they typically live violent lives, preventing over-population.

• Drow and other elves can produce offspring, but due to the latent presence of the magics that created the drow in the first place, all children born of such a union are drow. Drow and humans are also compatible, and create half-drow.

• Drow, unlike other elves, grow body hair and some male drow are capable of growing facial hair - most commonly styled in goatees.

• Some drow routinely dye their hair in streaked house colours.

• Drow need rest like any other, though they need less of it than normal, either sleeping for less time or with larger gaps between rests. When they do sleep, they do not dream like most mortals - instead entering a meditative void where they can think and plan. Drow who sleep in close proximity can choose to enter the same void, able to share time together while their bodies recuperate.

• Drow vision is adapted to the dark, and they can see well even in extreme low-light conditions. Relatedly, drow are uncomfortable around bright lights, and spending too much time in direct sunlight can induce migraines and other adverse effects.

• Drow are often quite harsh and predatory, but because of how careful they try to be, can be strangely and endearingly naïve to many surface concepts and customs. This is lessened somewhat in drow who have experience in those few surface cities that accept them, particularly in the east.

• Drow will cook and eat almost anything if it is proven to be edible, and are quite accustomed to starvation diets in the Underdark. It is not uncommon for drow merchants on the surface to gain weight.

• Because of the dangerous nature of their war-like lives and untreated trauma drow are often hedonists and take great pleasure in experimenting with alcohol, sex, drugs and any luxuries or depravities they can secure or steal for themselves. Much in parallel with orcs, drow believe strongly in the right of conquest and often believe those who don't are trying to cheat them out of their just rewards.

• Drow raised in the Underdark often have difficulty smiling because it is highly discouraged or seen as boorish among the drow to show ones true feelings on one's face. Often, while learning surface mannerisms, this manifests as peeling one's lips back from and showing their teeth in a kind of uncomfortable, frozen sneer.

• While often used in tactical circumstances where stealth is required, drow hand-sign is also used as an aside for commentary or digression from a topic so as not to interrupt important topics.

• Drow younger than 100 years of age are children and may not be played on Orcrest.