[4:44 AM] silentanon: So let's get the exposition out of the way.
[4:44 AM] silentanon: We got three houses to choose from.
[4:45 AM] silentanon: The fighter house, the mage house, and the thief house
[4:46 AM] silentanon: Long, long ago, four drow girls went on a expedition to destroy a rival city.
[4:47 AM] silentanon: But surprise, surprise. They hated their mothers, and didn't actually want to do it.
[4:47 AM] silentanon: So one of them went "Well, we have an army. Let's just carve out our own city."
[4:47 AM] silentanon: So they backstabbed the fourth girl (the priestess) and started houses of their own.
[4:49 AM] silentanon: They took the army and used the resources and logistics to colonize a new portion of the underdark. Fortified a camp. And waited for the inevitable consequences.
[4:49 AM] silentanon: It never happened.
[4:49 AM] silentanon: Centuries pass.
[4:51 AM] silentanon: Being so close to the surface, the coffers swelled with wealth and loot and slaves. Rogue drow from the cities below filter upwards, and are adopted into the families.
[4:52 AM] silentanon: Without an outside threat to unite them, the triumverate is falling apart.
[4:52 AM] silentanon: So as long as the current matriarchs are alive, an uneasy peace is maintained. But their daughters... their daughters have ambition.
[4:52 AM] silentanon: And time is running out.

[4:55 AM] silentanon: House Sharyn is the shield and sword of the city. The eponymous matriarch is a mistress of blades. Her house values strength above all - pushing the darwinian tendencies of Drow society to extremes. Even other Drow think she is a little too harsh. She is responsible for the city-state's army and defenses. Most military commands have Sharyn officers.(edited)
[4:58 AM] silentanon: Of the trio, she is the most paranoid - convinced that any day now, their mothers will return from below and execute a punitive expedition for their ambition. She prefers isolationist stances in nearly every situation. Their house is notable in distrusting slaves - which keeps their ranks elite, but limits their overall strength in politics in the city.

[5:03 AM] silentanon: House El'sae are the eyes and ears of the city. The founder of the house was a rogue of great skill. Of all the houses, they value intelligence and cunning the most. Information is considered as valuable as any other treasure, but they are not mere spymasters - their armed forces consist of rangers and raiding partie to the surface, bringing back resources for the city to use.
[5:06 AM] silentanon: Of the triumverate, El'sae is the most open-minded... for a drow. She sees the value of slaves, and uses them extensively in her household operations. She even has some of them in positions of authority - something that the priestesses to Lloth consider scandalous. Wary of having her own daughters pull off the same trick that she did, she keeps tight control over her daughters through blackmail and intrigue, and the occasional knife in the back.

[5:09 AM] silentanon: House Tel'myn is the magical power of the city. The matriarch is a powerful mage - and holds the title of 'first amongst equals', a distinction that was given very grudgingly. Their house is the most typically 'drow', and pride themselves on their purity and orthodoxy. They are responsible for managing both arcane and divine magics.
[5:12 AM] silentanon: Of the three, Tel'myn is devoted to the power of family. She has the most daughters of the three, and her own commoners have their marriages arranged by the mage-priests. They have the greatest amount of pureblood drow in their population. She is more trustful of her daughters, believing that a loose hand with their affairs will stem resentment to a manageable level.

[5:12 AM] silentanon: And what of the fourth girl, left unmentioned..?
[5:14 AM] silentanon: Zel'ga, the priestess of Lloth, failed to see her comrade's betrayal, and was punished into becoming a Drider. Her disloyal daughters were absorbed into the other three houses, and she despises them. Although their numbers are low in comparison to the city, they are a constant threat, preying on and transforming girls caught unaware into driders as well.

[5:22 AM] silentanon: The three matriarchs are not friends.
[5:23 AM] silentanon: They're good enemies, which is probably the closest thing they have to a friend that Drow Society has.
[5:23 AM] silentanon: They respect one another, but that doesn't mean that they can't disagree.

[5:24 AM] silentanon: Sharyn thinks that Tel'myn is diluting the purity of drow blood, and it's true. They produce less drow nobles.
[5:24 AM] silentanon: Sharyn thinks that El'sae miscegnating with a human is utterly disgusting and reprehensible.(edited)

[5:25 AM] silentanon: Elsae thinks that Tel'myn is too trusting of her own daughters, and is practically asking for a coup. Utterly careless.
[5:26 AM] silentanon: Elsae thinks that Sharyn is a fool for not using slaves.

[5:27 AM] silentanon: Tel'myn thinks that Sharyn is just echoing the tyranny that their mothers imposed on them, and is creating strong daughters who hate her.
[5:28 AM] silentanon: Tel'myn thinks that El'sae trusts slaves too much, and it's not proper for talented serviles to lead drow, even males, in any respect.

[5:28 AM] silentanon: This basic attitude filters down to their daughters, and takes the form of stereotypes.

[5:29 AM] silentanon: Shar'yns are elitist amazons who are incredibly xenophobic, but they have a strange propensity to be chivalrous to a worthy foe. It might be mercy, if you squint.(edited)
[5:31 AM] silentanon: El'sae are tricky, backstabbing sneaks who dress in exotic surface fashions, have impudent slaves who they listen to on occasion, which is bizarre.
[5:32 AM] silentanon: Tel'myns are sexually precocious sorceresses who have half a dozen sisters, and who show affection to their children in public, which is considered disgusting.
[5:36 AM] silentanon: Those are the stereotypes, so if you want to play into your house's strengths or be a black sheep, there you go.