The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

18
This preference for elegance and simplicity extends to
weaponry as well. The blades of the drow tend to be
simple, elegant, graceful and efficient. Their armour,
however, is another story entirely. The drow prefer ornate,
even ostentatious armour, though they are not so foolish
as to allow such preferences to interfere with the armour’s
vital function, nor to decrease its motility. Inlays of gold
or precious gems are common, however, as are ridges,
scrollwork and flared edges. When marching to war, drow
of Noble Houses often wear armour which makes clear
which House they belong to, the easier to tell friend from
foe both during and immediately after the battle, when some
drow try to settle old scores as the combat winds down.
Birth, Health and Death
As elves, the drow reproduce very slowly, a distinct
liability in the Underdeep. Wars with outside races and
the internecine struggles of the different factions of dark
elves all take a heavy toll on the population of the drow,
a toll which must somehow be made up or
surpassed with each successive generation.
The drow have several cultural, alchemical
and biological factors that help them
overcome their slow elven reproduction.
The drow culture in general is a lustful one,
given to sexual rituals and outright orgies
that might seem immoral or even pointless
to an outsider, but are in fact rooted in the
drow’s need to constantly replenish their
population. Of course, the drow are not blind
to the pleasurable aspect of such activities
and many tend towards such hedonism as
much for a respite from the harsh realities
of the Underdeep as out of any sense of duty
to increase their numbers. Fuelled by drugs
and alchemical aphrodisiacs, the drow can
and often do keep their festivities going for
days at a time. Most of the drow gods have
their own particular times and rituals for
such celebrations.
In addition to the drow’s enthusiastic
pursuit of conception through orgies and
sexual rites, they also make use of various
alchemical and magical potions and items
designed to increase fertility. Most of
these are of marginal effect at best, but do
provide some assistance. Like the orgies
themselves, items like this are more the
province of the wealthy and the nobility
than of the common and poor drow.
Prostitution is very common among most
drow cultures, with male and female prostitutes in more
or less equal supply. Children born of these couplings
are not discriminated against as bastards, as would be
the case in most surface cultures, but are instead given
every opportunity available to the ‘legitimate’ children of
the parent. The child is generally considered part of the
mother’s family, whether the mother is the prostitute or
the one who hired the prostitute, though a Noble House in
need of more heirs will often claim a child they believe was
fathered by one of their members.
It is important to note that only children born to two pure
drow parents are accepted in this manner. As many of the
prostitutes working in drow cities are in fact slaves of other
races, there are a fair number of half-drow born. These
unfortunate souls will never become part of a Noble House;
indeed, they will likely not survive their first month. Those
who do may count themselves unlucky for it, as they are
confined to the lowest rungs of society, scarcely above