The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

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The iron drow are a particularly methodical and driven
people, thus it is unusual that a youth will fail at his studies.
Most commonly, this happens with children attached to the
Priest Host, who find themselves unable to overcome the
innate Lorgreln disadvantage with magic. Males who fail
in their studies are sent to the Warrior Host for training as
soldiers. If the youngster fails at the Warrior Host, he is
almost always assigned to heavy labour, working alongside
the slaves until he drops. Females who fail are offered to
any Host that will accept them. If none do, they are given
away, either in marriage if the girl is lucky, or handed over
to a brothel if she is not.
Very few Lorgreln outside the wealthy and privileged receive
what would be considered a thorough education. Rather,
each young iron drow receives an education emphasising
the knowledge and skills appropriate to the family’s Host,
almost to the exclusion of all else. Information not needed
to master the demands of the Host is kept to a minimum,
usually limited to a rudimentary grasp of basic subjects like
history, reading and mathematics.
Engineering
The Lorgreln are excellent and efficient engineers, drawing
on their own knowledge and that gleaned from their duergar
allies. Without the widespread use of magic in their culture,
the iron drow have had to achieve a level of mastery with
stonework unnecessary in other drow cultures.
The martial mindset of the Lorgreln carries over into the
structures they build. Whether it is a temple, a storehouse
or only a meagre home, the iron drow build everything
as though it were meant to withstand a siege. When they
actually build a fortress, it is an awesome sight, seemingly
as impregnable and impervious as a mountain.
Lorgreln cities are walled at each access point with as
much as a dozen yards of thick stone, carefully cut and
mortared into place. These walls run from floor to ceiling,
and are honeycombed with small rooms where three or four
iron drow can stand abreast and fire weapons out through
narrow arrow slits. The wall juts outward at the top in a
strongly-secured lip hanging over the area in front of the
gates. From this lip, the Lorgreln can pour everything
from boiling oil to cauldrons of green slime down on their
attackers.
The style of Lorgreln buildings differs markedly from
anything constructed by other drow, far more reminiscent
of dwarven architecture than elven.
Entertainment
Gladiatorial matches are very popular with the Lorgreln,
though the iron drow notion of such things differs from
that of other drow. Individual combat accounts for only
about half of all gladiatorial matches in Lorgreln culture.
Making up the other half are demonstrations of small-unit
combat, allowing a particular legion of iron drow soldiers
the opportunity to put their skills on display when matched
against a rabble of untrained goblin slaves.
Demonstrations of personal strength and skill are also
extremely popular among the Lorgreln, and competitions in
such things are frequent events in all iron drow communities,
from the largest city to the smallest outpost.
Lorgreln like a generous helping of spectacle in their
entertainment. Of all the drow races, they are the only ones
with any real passion for theatre, so long as it is grand in
scale and martial in theme.
Family
Family is considered an important element of Lorgreln
society. It is there that children first begin to learn the
lessons of ambition, diligence, order and meticulousness
that they must carry with them through life to be successful
members of society.
The family structure of the iron drow is unusual, however.
The core family unit consists of a single husband and from
one to five wives, the number dependent on the man’s
wealth, which Host he belongs to and his standing within
that Host. Though the Lorgreln have changed in many
ways from the drow they once were, one thing which has
not changed is the low birth rate endemic to the race. It
was decided long ago that multiple wives for a single
man provided the best means to overcome that. Tying the
number of wives to the man’s social standing and personal
success, in turn, helped ensure that the most outstanding
members of the population also had the opportunity to
produce the most offspring, thereby bettering the race as
a whole.
Large extended families of as many as ten generations of
Lorgreln often live together in a single home. Succeeding
generations are expected to care for the elderly, until such
point as they can no longer work or contribute to society.
Once the elderly become a burden to the larger community,
the youngest adult generation of the family is expected to
end the life of the old drow, painlessly, either by poison
or a swift stroke with a cold-wrought knife. This is not
considered cruelty among the Lorgreln. Indeed, the elderly
usually welcome it, as there is no greater shame to an
iron drow than to be a burden upon society, dragging the