The manor lay in pitch darkness. As Aaron studied the Hobgoblin warlord Adan Heavyhammer, the warlord was studying him in turn.
A male Drow? How unusual!
Whether Goblins, Bugbears, or Hobgoblins, they had to admit that they stood relatively low in the racial hierarchy of the Realms. Even Hobgoblins, brave, warlike, militarily disciplined, and skilled at making weapons, held a lowly place in the Realms. Most could only establish their rule in remote wilderness or on the fringes of civilization.
The Drow were entirely different.
The Drow living in the Underdark were unquestionably a regional hegemonic power. They maintained their supremacy through cruelty, slaughter, and vicious competition. Every Drow had tasted killing and betrayal. They were dangerous to provoke: not only did they repay every slight, but they often murdered, burned, and committed every imaginable atrocity without a word of explanation. Betrayal came as naturally to them as breathing.
Adan Heavyhammer was reluctant to provoke the Drow, especially since the Goblin army had recently begun cooperating with them! Quite a few Drow emerging from Tifanton were negotiating with Tugin, the great Khan of the Orks.
But why a male Drow? The Hobgoblin warlord could not quite grasp Aaron's purpose in coming.
In the Underdark, the Drow were the quintessential matriarchal society. Women reigned supreme in their great families, with the most exalted known as "Matron Mothers." To them, women alone formed the substance of society. They killed, fought, traded, and conquered in the name of Lolth, while men were merely their dependents. Every Drow harbored contempt for males. Such were Lolth's teachings, and such were the beliefs of the Drow Matron Mothers at the very top of society.
To them, males were merely tools for mating and reproduction. Men held a lowly position in Drow society and had no right