Drow

Far beneath Bastion and spreading for hundreds of miles in every direction are the domains of the Palen Imperium. The Palen are Elves who fled underground to escape the cataclysm and as a result managed to survive, unbeknownst to and surface dwellers. Deep beneath the surface they began to adapt to their environments, the process dramatically accelerated through ambient magics and selective breeding. The elves transformed over the centuries and became The Drow, their values distorted from the nature loving creatures they used to be into something much harder and malicious.
Their society is split into houses, each led by a Matriarch and in charge of their own territory. Conflict between houses is common, violent and definitive. The constant conflict is considered a way of weeding out the weak and strengthening their race. All houses do bow to House Palen though, from which the Imperium takes it’s name. The Matriarch of Palen is known as the Imperatrix and her word is law. House Palen is far to the East of Bastion, deep beneath the Shifting Sands and has nearly fifteen thousand drow within their city.
Drow worship Vekata, a Demon Queen from the Abyss who rose to godlike power following the fall of the Elemental Lords. She did so by not following Ogren into a destructive rampage as many of her Demons did, but by taking advantage of the power vacuum left in the abyss following their departure and defeating her foes one by one. She grants divine power to those she favours amongst the Drow, and these often rise to power as Matriarchs in time. Vekata’s power is only ever granted to Female Drow, and should a Male display powers of this nature they are immediately killed.