The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

In an environment like this, mercy and pity are weaknesses
too easily exploited by potential enemies, weaknesses that
can compromise the strength of the drow. This viewpoint
extends even to the care of children.
The drow notions of parenting walk a fine line. On the one
hand, children are regarded as the greatest resource of the
drow, the only means the race can be expected to thrive and
continue, a viewpoint that dovetails easily with the natural
instinct of any parent to protect his or her children. On
the other hand, a coddled child cannot be coddled forever
and such treatment will only leave the child unprepared to
survive the rigours of life in the Underdeep, or even among
his fellow drow.
The most common compromise amongst the drow is as
follows: a child is protected by both parents and society
until such time as he can be expected to fend for himself.
At that time, he will remain part of the family, obviously,
but cannot expect help from anyone but himself.
This is difficult for parent and child both. The parental
instinct is as strong in the drow as it is in other sentient
races and effectively abandoning a child to the dangers of
life at such an early age is a painful experience for many
parents. For this reason, many parents have little to do with
the child as he or she is being raised, trusting that task to
the child’s siblings, as well as any tutors or mentors the
parents might be able to provide for their offspring. This
separation effectively prevents the parents and child from
forming overly-strong attachments toward one another.
However, the multiple means of procreation in drow society
(prostitution, sexual rites and so forth) often provide a
certain degree of ambiguity to a child’s parentage, divorcing
the child from the kind of bond a pair of mated drow might
feel for him. For a child of the drow, the sudden and (at the
time) inexplicable abandonment by his caretakers is often
seen as a betrayal, hardening the child’s heart at an early
age. Society itself benefits from this however, as the child,
upon reaching adulthood, will find it easier to let his own
children fend for themselves.
Children are usually turned loose by their parents to learn
to fend for themselves by the age or eight or nine, and
certainly before the onset of puberty. By the time a drow
child does reach puberty, he almost certainly will have
acquired some familiarity with weapons and will likely
have gained at least two levels in a character class.
Orphans and children who are abandoned at birth, an
uncommon but hardly unknown occurrence, face a life
even more difficult than that of children born to a drow
family or even within a brothel. Unless the child has the
dubious fortune to be taken as a slave by a temple, guild
or wealthy family, he will almost certainly not survive, as
there are no orphanages or charitable institutions among
the drow. Those few who do survive certainly turn out to
be amongst the strongest, smartest and most determined of
their kind.
Cruel though it may seem to outsiders, the drow consider
their child-rearing practices an absolute necessity. Forcing
a child to learn to fend for himself teaches strength and selfreliance
from an early age. Those who do not survive the
rigours of life outside the protective arms of their parents
are not mourned (except perhaps by the parents themselves)
as their failure proved them to be too weak to survive alone.
If the child had been protected and coddled until reaching
adulthood, as is common in surface races, the child would
still have been weak and that weakness in an adult would
have made the drow society as a whole weaker.
For many children, this ‘survival of the fittest’ approach
ends with death or maiming, particularly those cultures
who send youths out of the city on a hunt or expedition
into the Underdeep to prove themselves. However, the
vast majority survive and are made harder and stronger by
the experience, sloughing off the innocence of childhood.
Because of the trials all drow children endure, it is very rare
to find a drow who does not have at least several levels in
some character class.
Drow Society
Art
Art is an extremely important element of drow culture.
They are fond of beauty, even though their definition of
it may differ from that held by surface cultures. Still, the
elegance of their works is undeniable.
Drow prefer three-dimensional art such as sculpture,
architecture or even pottery to two-dimensional forms such
as painting or mosaics. Whether the item in question is a
simple vase or a mighty sculpture running up the side of a
temple, there are common themes which predominate most
drow cultures. The figure or item is likely to be simple and
elongated, evoking a feeling of lightness and grace.
Excessive ornamentation is uncommon in most drow
cultures, with a few exceptions. Rather than burden their
art with the weight of incredible detail, drow artisans are
adept at creating the effect of detail with just a few small
strokes. A few simple cuts and chisellings, keeping in mind
the play of light and shadow, can create a face on a sculpture
which seems at first glance to be completely lifelike.
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