The Tome Of Drow Lore.pdf - RoseRed

54
into the homes of the rulers of House
Narrishtah to slay some of the impertinent
drow and provide an object lesson to
the others. From that time onward, the
priestesses of the Dark Mother have been
held separate from the Houses of the drow
in Drak’kamuth.
The plague of spiders sent by the Dark
Mother was sufficient to bring the battle
over control of the priestesses to a swift
and sudden end, but in no way did it blunt
the growing competition and distrust
between the two Houses. However, it did
instil a sufficient amount of fear that the
priestesses of the Dark Mother were able
to slowly bring the two Houses under their
influence. Both House Arras’zur and
House Narrishtah still wield tremendous
power in Drak’kamuth, but long habit and
experience have taught them to pay careful
heed to the words of the priestesses.
The drow of House Arras’zur and House Narrishtah longed
for vengeance upon the surface elves as much as did any
drow, but even their hatred of the surface betrayers was
eclipsed by the rage of the Dark Mother. The priestesses
began to demand offerings to the goddess of surface races,
of humans and dwarves and particularly elves, presented as
a pledge by the drow of vengeance against the betrayers.
From the caverns near Drak’kamuth an easy pathway led
to the surface world. The drow travelled this path on the
first of an uncountable number of night time raids against
the surface, capturing those who dwelt there for slavery
or sacrifice and slaughtering all those they could not drag
back into the Underdeep with them. As the surface races
moved away, the drow of House Arras’zur and House
Narrishtah found new routes to the surface, continuing a
campaign of terror and vengeance against those who still
dwelt in the sunlit lands. It is from these drow that most
of the common perceptions of the dark elves in the surface
world were formed.
In time, the drow of Drak’kamuth grew strong enough for
the priestesses of the Dark Mother to deem it right to seek
out any other drow who may have survived the Sundering,
that they too could be made to worship only the Dark
Mother. The other tribes of drow have since been found,
but the goal of the priestesses to wipe out worship of any
god but their own has thus far met with abject failure.
Culture
The culture of Drak’kamuth, House Arras’zur and House
Narrishtah and the cities they have founded since has been
fundamentally influenced by worship of the Dark Mother.
Religion pervades every facet of life in these cities, from
the ubiquitous spider motif in clothing, jewellery and
buildings to the near-constant chanting that rises from the
web-cloaked temples of the Dark Mother. Spiders are
literally everywhere in these lands, ranging in size from tiny
to large. Millennia of breeding and experimentation have
created literally dozens of races of spiders, used by the drow
for everything from food sources to silk manufacturers to
guardian animals.
Among the drow of Houses Arras’zur and Narrishtah,
everything is considered a gift of the Dark Mother to her
worshippers, from the caverns in which they live to the skills
with magic they possess. In the many years that have passed
since the Dark Mother ended the feud over her priestesses, the
drow of House Arras’zur have come to dominate the clergy
of the Dark Mother, while the drow of House Narrishtah have
embraced arcane magic. This is not a hard and fast division,
as drow from each House practice both manners of magic,
but it is a valid generalisation. Although there are a number
of fighters among both Houses, they are not as prevalent as
they are in many other drow Houses, the profession never
having completely recovered from the near-total elimination
of warriors from each of the Houses at the time of the
Sundering.