The Drow are charcoal skinned with white and silver hair. They range in height from five to six feet, and typically are fine-boned and lithe, holding an ethereal beauty. They originally were created by the Father as counterpoint to the Mother's creation of the Elves. The common assumption is that they are the evil counterparts to the elves. While the Elves do nothing to discredit this assumption, in reality they are simply from a different origin (the Father's worlds, instead of the Mother's). Drow have a similar lifespan to the Elves, living to be up to 150 years old.
Several years after the destruction of Qu'ulsis, Celestial histories record that the Drow were again sighted, living among the ruins of their world and scrabbling out an existence on some of the larger fragments. Calling themselves the Children of Qu'ulsis or the Survivors, and calling the ruins of their home The Web, they re-declared eternal enmity toward the Celestials, and swore to see them destroyed.
More frightening, however, were the rumors of marauding kill-crazed Drow called the Echo--discarding any semblance of society and order, the Echo are believed to have become insane after the destruction of their world.
The Survivors Children of Qu'ulsis
Many people claim the Drow lived under ground, hiding in caves and grottoes from the Mother Sun. This could not be farther from the truth. The Survivors have large cities, even with their world of Qu'ulsis broken up in the vicious attack by the Elves.
The Survivors buildings tend to be fairly baroque in style, large, airy and designed to bring white light throughout the structure. They are ornately gilded with silver and other white metals (rarely yellow metals). Heavy semiology and iconography can be found in all Survivor Drow structures, laced as religious symbols in decorations and design as well as scenes depicting important aspects of their religious history.
Survivor settlements are many and varied within the Web. Some live in ruined cities on chunks of rock barely large enough to contain the buildings, while some live on larger pieces capable of crop cultivation. The Drow Survivor city-state of Zamolxis consists of a number of very large rocks, over 100 miles across, chained and bridged together in an intricate webwork, the center of which is occupied by the high temple of Qu'ulsis (an ancient structure which survived the cataclysm and has been reclaimed by the Survivor faithful).
History
Qu'ulsis is the mother of all the Drow. She was the first Drow created by the Father, and remains as the greatest power in the Drow pantheon. She often is iconified as a spider, the nest builder and protector of the Drow. There are other Demi-gods in the Drow pantheon, known as the Immortals, but they are all kept in check by Qu'ulsis.
The Drow home world was consumed by the Hollow, in a fit of rage. Qu'ulsis, the mother of the Drow, saw the coming destruction and, as the stories tell it, she cast a tenebrous web across the void where it landed on the mostly vacant home of the Root Walkers circling the Hearth. Then, while the Father Sun was boiling on the verge of apocalypse, she ferried her people from their doomed home world across the great void to their new home. Unfortunately not all could make it, and as the Father Sun went dark and consumed all of his worlds, the Drow home world included, Qu'ulsis held on for as long as she could on behalf of her people, but in the end she had to let go as the Father cut off one of her eight legs. This is why her symbol only shows seven legs, or more commonly is an eight pointed star with the southern-post point missing.
Unfortunately for the Root Walkers, the Celestial Elves had started to colonize their home world. They claimed the entire world as a territory of the Celestial Empire. When the Drow refused to bow to the Celestial Empire, a war began between the people which has been raging ever since.
A thousand years in the past, the Celestial Empire blockaded the world of Qu'ulsis and, somehow, destroyed it, leaving what is now called the Web. Only a fragment of the Drow population survived the devastation, but they have reestablished much of their power in the intervening years.
Beliefs and Society
The Drow firmly believe in a very grounded sense of right, wrong and justice. Nobody's ever given them quarter or mercy, so why should they trust anyone else? They believe that if slighted, it is acceptable to take revenge. The ends often do justify the means. While many take this as lack of compassion, they believe this is simply how one should behave. Do not offend a Drow, it may be the last thing you do.
Since their society was shattered a second time by the destruction of their world and perhaps because their race once came so close to extinction, children receive great reverence and protection by the Drow. They have formed into small family-groups called Septs. Each Sept is a communal arrangement geared towards producing as many offspring as possible to help regenerate their floundering race. This is a difficult task as Drow, like Elves, have a slower fertility cycle. When a female Drow is fertile, any male of the Sept may take the role to engender a child. The Sept then raises all children together, many don't even know who their father or mother are, thus the habit within Drow society of referring to each other as cousin. Only the elderly are given the revered term of mother and father, as these are also the ones who provide most of the rearing within the Sept.
Septs are grouped within a Clan. When a child becomes of age, they must leave the sept. Often times this is for another Sept within the Clan, but it can be outside of the clan as well.
Drow society does not consider males or females more superior than the others--all are working towards the common goal of preserving their race. Drow do revere their ancestors as well as the elderly, placing them in positions of leadership.
Within a Sept it is the most elderly Mother or Father of sound mind who is given common decision making duties. The Revered Mother or Revered Father (as the case may be) takes on the duties as religious leader as well as leader of the sept. It is the Revered Mother or Father who tells the children when they must leave the sept, and who interacts on behalf of the Sept in Clan councils.
The Drow are very religiously grounded. Semiology and Iconography from their religion is throughout their buildings and clothing. All Drow wear the star of Qu'ulsis, the eight pointed star missing one point. This same star can be found designed within filigree and knot work for all of their artistic designs.
There are some religious behaviors of the Drow that they must adhere to each day. The Drow week is seven days long. They are not permitted to eat meat on the first day, and they are not permitted to eat cultivated foods on the fifth day. They are constantly considering numerology, considering significance or auspice in all unique number combinations. They have a ritual performed each day at noon to revere Qu'ulsis and her Immortals, and if they are staying within a structure the men must sleep on the north end, and the females must sleep on the south end, in different rooms.
Governance
The Drow have a very rigid and structured society. Each sept has a Revered Mother or Father. Septs range in size from 10 to 40 individuals, but are never larger than 49 individuals. If a child will be born making a Sept larger than 49, one of the men are asked to leave before the birth to find a new Sept.
The Revered Mother or Father of each sept in a clan meet seven times a year at a Clan Council. Each of the seven councils meetings has a name {SOMEBODY PICK SOME}, and is followed by a festival by the same name. There is a High Revered Mother or Father that speaks on behalf of the entire clan, at the Clan Synod held in Zamolxis once a year in the week following the Seventh Clan Council. It is at the Synod that the High Revered Clan leaders commune with Qu'ulsis and her Immortals, receiving direction and guidance for the following year.
Interactions
The Children of Qu'ulsis are avatars of fairness in all things. They believe to their core in the concept of an eye for an eye, they absolutely want to see all scores settled, regardless of what the score is related to.
People of the other worlds don't universally hate Drow--they are just generally perceived as very very different. One as part of a group of other people can be vouched for by his buddies. A single group of Drow can cause some concern.
All Drow children are taught from the cradle that the Celestial Elves are the ultimate evil, and must be destroyed to avenge the wrongs perpetrated on the Children of Qu'ulsis. Drow oaths of vengeance are legendary. This does not extend to the Jade Crown or other states, which the Drow treat as fairly as they feel they have been treated.
There are rumors that the Children of Qu'ulsis have made deals with the C'thrau. However, what the deals would be for, or if it is even true, have yet to be established.
The Survivors consider the Echo as dead to Qu'ulsis. If somebody is taken by the Echo a funeral is held, as even if they are not dead, they have been assimilated into the Echo and will not return.
There are two Septs on Ra'niah as Embassy's. One is in Sai, and one is in Telma. The Embassy in Telma pre-dates the destruction of Qu'ulsis by the Celestial Empire.
The Echo
The Echo are a feared subtype of Drow that are a mix of religious zealot and kill-crazed cannibal. They maraud through the Web, killing everyone they find, wearing skins, piercing themselves, and lashing corpses to their ships. There have been very few survivors of Echo attacks, and they are generally a long time recovering. Indeed, high sailors have been known to break and panic merely at the sight of Echo boarders, before combat is even joined.
They do not behave in a coordinated manner (there is no Echo nation). They are all independently insane, and no one knows what holds them together at all (some speculate a hive-mind, some speculate single warlord-captains who rule through strength, some simply say they all just wander until they find a target, behaving almost as a force of nature). Regardless of what drives them, the Echo are easily the most widely feared hazard of travel within the Web, and the very rumor of their presence can send ship captains running for shelter.
Builders Notes
The Drow are the only surviving remnant of Father Sun's creations.
