The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

community down rather than helping it reach new heights.
The elderly drow, once slain, is then entombed with the full
honour of any other funeral.
Food
The food harvested and eaten by the Lorgreln is as simple
and bland as that of other drow, consisting primarily of
mushrooms. Meat and fish caught in the Underdeep is
more of a luxury than a staple.
However, the wide trade networks of the Lorgreln, including
the races who pay the iron drow to transport their goods,
provide the Lorgreln with the opportunity to import more
exotic and flavourful foods. This is not the status symbol
it is among other drow, but it is a welcome departure from
the usual fare for those who can afford vegetables from the
surface or the Sulzthul, not to mention fruits, spices and
sundry other foods.
One thing the iron drow and other drow do have in common
is a love of bread, though it is even harder for the Lorgreln
to acquire the necessary grain. Bread is uncommon at even
the richest tables of the iron drow, and rarely is it enjoyed
by anyone of a social standing lower than among the top
hierarchy of a Host.
Government
The Lorgreln, alone among the drow, have a single
centralised government uniting their cities and villages.
The government itself is, in its simplest terms, a monarchy,
controlled by a single powerful family with a strong claim
to descent from Hruth na’Ythreen. The family’s name is, of
course, Ythreen, but it is widely whispered by those Lorgreln
who would seek to supplant the current ruling family that
the Ythreen name is merely an affectation, adopted to help
seize control of the throne from the previous ruling family.
Though the Lorgreln government might seem simple at
first glance, it is anything but. Indeed, the complexity of
rulership is one of the few things the iron drow share with
their drow cousins. The king is advised by a council, made
up of one representative from each Host, and each Host has
its own sphere of control within the government which is
jealously guarded against interference by others, even the
king himself.
Each of the Six Cities of the Lorgreln is ruled over by a
Warden, a governor appointed to his post by the king, and
each Warden is also advised by a group of representatives
from each of the Hosts, again with their own spheres of
influence. Trade agreements or other relations between
two cities of the Lorgreln must be handled through the
appropriate Hosts. Even the smallest community of iron
drow is not exempt from these rules, as no matter how
small the group of Lorgreln, it is ruled over by a Warden
appointed by the king.
The only real exception to the tight grip the Hosts maintain
on their power is the Warrior Host, which does answer
directly to the king. No monarch who allowed his military
to answer to the control of someone else would sit on the
Unforged Throne of the Lorgreln for very long. Likewise,
warriors based in one of the Six Cities are answerable
directly to the Warden of that city. The Warden of a city is
responsible for the enforcement of law in his city, and has
authority to appoint tribunals to weigh criminal cases. All
laws, however, are the province of the monarchy. No other
laws may be created, and none deleted, by the Wardens.
This highly stratified form of government does have
its advantages. Assassinations are rare in Lorgreln
government, as all important decisions and appointments
descend from the king. Without a complete coup of the
government (which has happened a few times) it is difficult,
if not impossible, to seize power through assassination.
Magic
Of all the societies of the drow and the sub-races which
have sprung from the drow, the culture of the Lorgreln is
the least magical.
This is widely held to be a result of the race’s long tenure
in caves and caverns with air too thin and still to support
the use of a smelting furnace, forcing the Lorgreln to turn
to cold-wrought iron as their only source of weaponry. It is
thought that the millennia of touching and wielding those
cold-wrought blades, a substance which is anathema to all
things fey, burned all remaining elements of faerie from the
Lorgreln. Whether this is the truth or not, certain facts are
undeniable, most prominently that the iron drow have lost
all of the innate spellcasting abilities taken for granted by
other drow, seemingly beyond recall.
The Lorgreln also have difficult learning any of the magical
arts, despite the single-minded determination they are
capable of. They are certainly no less intelligent than any
other drow, yet it requires roughly twice as long for them to
learn magic as it does the members of any other race. Those
Lorgreln who do practice magic are exclusively priests and
wizards as only those willing to suffer long hours in study
or prayer can begin to channel magic. Sorcerers do not
exist in iron drow society.
Though the Lorgreln have lost access to the useful innate
spell abilities that were part of their drow heritage, they
have made up for that loss in other ways having to do with
magic. The innate spell resistance of the drow is intact
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