|
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 organization. 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 rank in the merchant clan,
the “assets”, are nearly all non-drow. These are the laborers and soldiery
of the merchant house. Together, the merchant clans form the trade links
with the outside world that enable the Noble Houses to survive.
NOBLE HOUSES
Noble Houses
are led by a matron mother, the senior female priestess. 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
send assassins and saboteurs against
each other for years will be forced into an open battle by the city’s ruling
council, with the same results as above.
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 maneuvering for small advantages. Underhanded
intrigue, poisoned knives in dark alleys, vicious trade rivalries, and
dirty dealings are all a part of normal drow life.
|
Read
Guestbook