Drow

THOSE WHO LURK THE DEPTHS BELOW

❝ Fear not the dark, know you are the most frightening beast within it. ❞

Dhaerow, Drow, the traitors, banished from the surface for their betrayals. Exiled from all land touched by the sun by their elven brethren, they embraced the very insult they were sent away with.


Drow are small, wiry, strong – like the spiders they so admire they thrive in the shadows.



At heart the Drow are not an evil people, they are the product of their circumstances, the product of their "goddess", Lolth. She, who thrives on their weakness, is the one who made them pariahs in the first place. They are only as strong as she wants them to be, for those who reach beyond her will are smote without a second's thought.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Like much of the Drow culture, their language is a complex web nigh impossible to untangle. At heart, Drow is a dialect distantly derived from Elvish, formed after the schism that cast the Drow into the Underdark, yet Elvish is only one part of the equation. At this point in time, were an elf from the Overworld and an elf from the Underdark to try to communicate neither would be able to grasp more than a handful of words from one another.

Hand signs are a significant part of Drowish and frequently the largest barrier keeping others from learning it, as many Drow speak and sign at the same time. Drow children are taught sign language before they even learn to speak. These signs can be quite intricate and involved it often takes years of practice for one to become fluent, as it requires hand motions and finger contortions that must be honed through years of use. Though difficult to master, these hand signs are intrinsic to Drow survival, allowing them to move through the inhospitable Underdark silently. Hand signs aren't just tactical but can be used to signify tone, humor, and respect in the dangerously complicated world of Drow politics.

Outsiders with no knowledge of the language describe it as sounding like a heavily accented elvish, much harsher than the flowing lyrical language of their Overworld cousins. They pepper their conversations with phrases from Undercommon, picking and choosing which language suits their thoughts moment to moment. Drow often fall back on Undercommon for casual conversation but rely on their native tongue for moments of reverence, secrecy, ceremony, or intimacy.

Shared customary codes and values

❝ Friendship is the mother of betrayal, your dearest ally is your closest enemy. ❞

– A Drow Proverb

From the earliest days of childhood, Drow children are taught to trust no one. By nature, Drow are defiantly self-reliant.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

HAIR

Drow, like many elven cultures, deeply value their hair. It is expected of one to keep their hair from the time they are born, never cutting it once. Each individual house has a hairstyle unique to them. Each house-style has variations – from the very simple twists and tucks of a servants hair to the intricately coiled and decorated locks of a well-respected elder.

Cutting one's hair is seen as a deep affront against not only your house but against Drow culture entirely. Those who crop their hair short send an unmistakable message: they no longer want to be associated with their family, house, or people. Drow who commit crimes considered unspeakable against society have their hair forcibly shorn off. It must be noted what Drow consider an unforgivable act varies quite drastically from what denizens of the Overworld consider unforgivable.

As a rule, drow tend to value white hair above the faint blonde many are born with. Rarely, some drow have vivid fox-red hair, a trait both exoticized and reviled by those around them. Recently, it has become trendy amongst younger drow to dye their hair vibrant colors, but elders view this as disrespectful.

Many drow are deeply superstitious with such fears seeping into all aspects of their lives and their ideals of beauty are not untouched. A babe born with black hair is seen as a dark omen, a stain of bad luck upon their house. Many noble families try to hide their dark-haired children, foisting them off on servants to be raised as a commoner, or worse yet abandoned to the mercy of the Underdark wilds. Similarly, infants born with silver hair are also at a disadvantage, many believing their hair to be a sign of mental weakness and disability.

COMPLEXION

Drow prize their dark skin as the pinnacle of beauty as it is what makes them distinct and sets them apart from those that abandoned them. An obsidian complexion is viewed as preferable to the various shades of ash, grey, and deep purple many drow come in. Light grey skin, especially those with warm undertones, are viewed as lesser by those around them as they believe their pale skin to be a sign of recent surface ancestry. Drow see half-drow, even those mixed with other elven races, as lesser than even the slaves they were born from. Many fair drow, out of fear or shame, darken their skin with kohl powder and apply it religiously. Some even attempt to harness magic to give themselves the dark complexion they dream of, but Lolth rarely allows such power to be used for foolish whims.

The one exception to this prejudice are the Szarkai – meaning ghost spider – extremely rare drow who are born albino. Drow society prizes these individuals for the same reason they revile fair grey-skinned drow, Szarkai look like surface elves, almost indistinguishably so. That said, Szarkai are not prized for their beauty, but for their ability to blend in. A Szarkai child born to a poor couple could be the blessing that elevates a Drow family from squalor to nobility – *if* they are willing to sell their child to a noble house to be raised as a spy.

Courtship Ideals

Drow courtship is a long, complicated process, but rarely a romantic one. Love, young drow are taught, is a weakness.