Station is the most important aspect of the Drow socitey.
In Drizzt Do' Urden's own words, " Station: In all the world of the Drow, there is no more important word. It is the calling of their -of our- religion, the incessant pulling of hungering heartstrings. Ambition overides good sense and compassion is thrown away in its face, all in the name of Lolth, the Spider Queen. "
Station is the most impotant thing in Drow life. It is the heirarchy in which power is distributed.
From a very young age, Drow are
brought up learning new ways to hate - both other Drow and other living things.
These incarnations of hate range from jealousy to betrayal. In a world where
you can't even trust your own blood, even your mother, what else is left. When
male Drow are born there is the chance that they may already be earmarked for
death. Every third boy-child is given to Lolth as sacrifice. Male Drow are of
no consequence in a world dominated by the female Priestesses of Lloth. If they
are chosen to live, they are forced down one of two paths. This path is chosen
by the Matron Mother of the house to which they belong. First and foremost in
the consideration of the Matron Mother is which path is of most benefit for
the House.
They can become a fighter and are trained from the moment they can hold a weapon,
or they can become a mage and then again they are trained as soon as they can
make coherent speech.
Either road is not of there choosing but preferable to death - only just.
Female children on the other hand are given at least a little choice. Since drow are a truly matriarchal society this only seems fit. From birth they are destined to serve Lolth and are sent to learn how to communicate her will. Only those born into powerful Noble houses will become High Priestesses but even the lesser born will become strong clerics of Lloth and more than a match for their surface dwelling counterpart. If the child is not seen fit to serve the Spider Queen as a cleric then she is given some, although not much, choice in what she is to become.
There are different social classes in drow life. First and most importantly are the Noble houses. They are by far the stronger and more influential within the Drow social order. Noble houses support more power, which is the lifeblood of Drow life. All the High Priestesses and more important males come from this elite group of houses. Life in the Underdark almost completely revolves around what the Noble houses seek to accomplish - often at the expense of other lesser ranked houses. Launching a pre-emptive strike against another rival house and murdering all the Nobles of that house is a perfectly legitimate way of gaining advancement within the social order! Should there be any surviving Nobles left to accuse an attacking house however, the justice metered out by other Noble houses is swift any usually means the total annihilation of the attacking house. This retributive action is not for attacking a rival house however, but for the failure to accomplish a swift and decisive victory.
Next come the Nobles of the lesser houses and the merchants .
The lesser houses are those ranked below the ruling eight. The Maron Mothers of the ruling eight houses are the people who run the Drow cities in Lloth's name. These lesser houses are continually looking for an opportunity to move up the social ladder and all aspire to one day be among the ruling eight. Small victories are always offset by losses and as such, the lesser houses tend to remain in as fairly static state of prominence.
The merchants, according to the priestesses of Lolth, are relatively overlooked although these clans actually keep the other social groups alive. How could one survive without valuable supplies needed from places other than the Underdark. Dealing with the surface world is considered demeaning and is beneath the noble houses so they rely on the merchants.
Each person from the Matron
Mother of the first house to the lowly servant of the last house has a certain
amount of station. Non Drow and slaves ,of course, are nothing and as such have
no station. The main goal in Drow life is to achieve more station. The primary
tool to gain station is assassination. Brothers will try to kill each other
as long as a higher station is achieved in the process - just ask Nalfein Do'Urden.
The main cause of this is Lloth, their goddess of chaos.
What better way to cause chaos and
disarray than to kill a superior?
