The Drow

A drow, also known as dark elf, deep elf, night elf, and the Dark One, is infused with the magic of the Underdark. Drow are at home in shadows and learn to conjure forth both light and darkness innately. They were hated and feared due to their cruelty, though some non-evil and an even smaller number of good drow existed.

Drow tend to have stark white hair and grayish skin of many hues. Drow skin tones ranged from dark grey, jet-black, and obsidian (with various shades of blue), the albino drow known as the Szarkai being an exception. This genetic anomaly was more often found among nobles than commoners. Drow had white, black, or purple teeth, while their gums, tongues, and throats could be red, pink, or purple.

Drow eyes could be of any color, with bright red being the most common. Pale shades that appeared nearly white of blue, lilac, pink, or silver were also frequent. Drow with green, brown, black, amber, or rose-hued eyes existed, but they were rare. Purple or blue eyes indicated surface elves and/or human ancestry. The color of a drow's eyes could also be indicative of their current mental or physical state; drow eyes reddened when they were angry, and turned yellow when they were sick, poisoned, or under some negative magical influence.

In many ways, the drow resembled other elves or eladrin. Their bodies were wiry and athletic, while their faces were chiseled and attractive, though they were shorter and thinner than other elven subspecies. Though their alluring appearance could be used for seduction, it was more often utilized to instill fear. The beauty standards of the surface species made them prone to turn a blind eye to the deeds of the drow, showing them greater leniency and acceptance.

Drow sexes varied in height from 140 to 170 centimeters, averaging at 150 centimeters. Males weighed 49 kilograms on average, while females were a bit lighter, weighing 47 kilograms on average.

Drow generally kept their hair long, and decorated it with pins and webbing made of precious metals. They were incapable of growing proper beards, but some males managed to grow long sideburns or even tufts of wispy hair on the cheek or chin.

The majority of drow wore a drow house insignia. This showed the House or merchant clan to which a drow belonged, be it as a member or servant. However, with the exception of the First House, insignias weren't openly displayed except when inside the House territory or the clan's base. Noble drow wore clothes and equipment of superior quality (except, of course, when they didn't want to attract attention). For example, a noble's house insignia didn't just show house allegiance but also carried magic that could be used on command. Web chokers' were considered fashionable by drow priestesses, who also often used powdered Ormu, an Underdark-moss, as eye shadow.

The drow (fittingly for the dark perversions of the elves they were) were decadent and hedonistic beings with a love for what they considered beautiful and a desire to surround themselves with it, generally without paying attention to the cost of acquiring it. For example, they were often lecherous, with a tendency to take lovers at their leisure and discard them at their whim. However, the drow were able to (or at least tried to) hide some of their more heinous traits behind a veneer of sophistication.

From birth, the drow were taught that they were superior to other species, and as such they believed themselves to be the ultimate beings. This mindset created an arrogance so strong that drow could be incapable of viewing other creatures as their equals, including members of their own kind; almost every drow believed themselves to be the epitome of their superior species. The treatment reserved for non-drow ran the entire gamut from pets, to slaves, to grudgingly respected partners if they proved themselves a military match for them, though never equals.

As one might expect, this atmosphere of utter condescension meant that most drow generally felt entitled to do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted to do it. If a drow was not where they believed they should be, their pride demanded they blame someone else (sometimes everyone else) for their incorrect position. They were also taught that they should crush those beneath them, for cruelty was seen as a method of self-validation. If someone could not defend themselves, as the logic went, they deserved to have cruelty inflicted on them, which would prove the superiority of the drow performing the torment. They were a vengeful people by necessity, as not answering to slights with punishment was easily perceived as weakness by other drow, and was essentially the same as inviting exploitation, abuse, or even death.

Drow relentlessly pursued higher ranks for power and control, valuing status over individual merit. Skills and abilities held little inherent worth; they only mattered as tools for climbing the social ladder. Passion for one's craft was foreign; talents were valuable only if they led to advancement and dominance. Due to the scarce resources in the Underdark and limited opportunities for advancement, drow were compelled to be fiercely competitive. Violence was their preferred, often instinctual, way of resolving conflicts, though they could restrain this inclination to strike at a more advantageous moment.

As a general rule, drow couldn't afford to show emotions like compassion or love, for they were easy to exploit and drow often preferred emotional cruelty over causing physical harm. The strife they constantly endured led them to be paranoid, with a fear of everyone and everything, from the potential loss of personal position, loyalty, or even the threat of outright rebellion of their inferiors, to punishment by their own superiors' hands.

In their harsh upbringing, drow evolved as untrusting sadists, ready to stab someone's back both physically and symbolically. Emotionally stunted, they prized cunning over sanity, with scarred minds being the norm and intact individuals seen as anomalies. Trust was alien, taught since youth; advancement by any means, including treachery and veiled murder, was anticipated. Even in calm times they expected attacks of surprise.

While the drow understood the advantage of forging bonds with others, they did not see the value in honesty. Forming relations with others was therefore a dangerous endeavor, and mostly temporary, since any alliance or cordial relationship could end in treachery. Drow normally went into engagements of this sort expecting the worst, and alliances were always under scrutiny for signs of treachery, often ending violently. They were generally formed when the supposed ally was susceptible to blackmail, considered weak enough to not be a serious threat, or when cooperation was forced by the existence of a common enemy. In fact, the mere inconvenience of maintaining the bond could be a reason to end it.

To achieve their individual desires required their society to retain at least some level of stability, and they were held tightly to tradition even if that code wasn't actually codified into law. In fact, the drow responded poorly to social norms being turned into written rules, obeying them primarily out of fear and social pressure (but obeying them nonetheless). This lead to the phenomenon where a lone drow would drift towards chaos, whereas a drow community would be forced to work together against one another, setting up rules to stabilize the power each individual wanted for themselves and allowing for cooperation beyond what chaos could typically create.

Unlike creatures such as orcs, drow had no innate inclination towards evil, with their morality having been colored by their society. 'Good drow' made up about 15% of the entire species, although most of them were actually not of the evil alignment. They generally behaved the same way as evil drow due to social pressure, as being soft in any way was lethal in drow society and often resulted in the death of such drow.

Only truly exceptional 'good drow', were capable of freeing themselves from a typical Drow society. The majority were found out and sacrificed, and those who managed to leave their settlements would often die in the dangerous wilderness of the Underdark. Furthermore, even those who escaped the cruelties of the Underdark found it more difficult to form long-term friendships than most species did and had to constantly be on the lookout for pursuers who could kill them.

Drow were more agile than most humanoid species, which, much like their higher intellects and force of personality, was a result of selective breeding over several generations. Similarly, drow had a higher than normal tolerance for poison due to exposure over the course of countless generations. They had no special tolerance for contact poisons or to poison gases.

Drow had tremendous resistance to magic, with adults overcoming magic around half the time. During infancy it fluctuated between almost non-existent and youth-level (resisting around two fifths of the time), stabilizing as they grew up. It increased again when they reached adulthood, and could be trained even further, but even if a drow's magic resistance was overcome, they could handle magical attacks quite well and had a better chance than other species at resisting them, especially spells that attempted to bend their will.

Drow also had a natural aptitude for audible mimicry, the entire species possessing the capacity to easily imitate the sound and tone of another person in a believable manner, especially if frequently exposed to the language they were using.

Base powers were abilities that the drow could cast without any schooling, needing only simple practice. They varied slightly from person to person due to various reasons, including but not limited to genetics, personal talent, and divine favor. Drow magical abilities were somehow tied to the faerzress, the radiation of the Underdark, and its intensity in the birthplace of a drow could influence their base powers. These abilities could also vary in the same person temporarily, depending on their personal (mental and physical) health situation, age, and degree of training. For example, a dying drow could double the effectiveness of the own innate powers by super-charging them with her or his own life force. A common or untrained drow could neither use nor maintain their innate abilities under the effect of light that was as bright as, or brighter than, sunlight, as it impeded their concentration.

Upon reaching a sufficient degree of expertise, the drow gained their so called 'mature powers'. These included the spell-like abilities detect magic, know alignment, and levitate. Particularly intelligent and powerful drow could maintain two inborn abilities, or one inborn ability and one normal spell, simultaneously, using levitate and darkness at the same time for example. Like with base powers, it was normally impossible to cast mature powers in the presence of intense light.

Some drow were born with more magical power than normal, allowing them early access to their mature powers. Such drow made up the noble class of their society, and among them this was a dominant trait. Not only could nobles use both base and mature powers more than once per day, but every decade they gained another daily use, with centuries old nobility having virtually unlimited uses. Unlike commoners, they could attempt to cast their inborn abilities even in the presence of light, but they could only maintain one of their spells in this condition even when normally able to do more.

Drow were as frail as any other elves, and had a fascination with stealth and subtlety. They had a tendency to ambush their enemies with ranged weaponry, choosing hand crossbows when possible, to deliver their poisons from afar. They also favored light and quick weapons like rapiers in melee but normally retreated if close combat was the only remaining option.

Specific training was available for their rogues, which included lessons on how to blend in with the heat hues and patterns of their surroundings, similarly to how other species could hide in the shadows of light sources. Their famous (or infamous) assassin schools doubled as assassins' guilds. Male drow were normally competent fighters, and rangers were also valued as scouts.

Apart from its obvious use as a light source, drow used their ability to create dancing lights to surprise the enemy with the sudden appearance of a glowing figure or will-o'-wisp-like light balls. Teaming up with actual will-o'-wisps to make this more effective was a known technique, however, this was viewed as corrupted behavior.

Drow weapons and armor were made out of a substance called adamantine, an alloy of adamantite, and then turned into drowcraft items. Such equipment could not withstand sunlight, but was cheap and easy to produce. These items however fell out of favor and the drow started to wear mithral armor when it was affordable, but they kept using armor that wouldn't hamper their natural dexterity. A well-known drow-made piece of gear was the death armor, legendary in the Underdark. The drow also created some weapons with the specific purpose to fight their own kind, namely the flash globes and light pellets.

Among the Underdark species, the drow were the most skilled in the use of poisons and toxins. Especially famous was the powerful drow knockout poison, made from a slippery black fungus that grew in certain Underdark caverns, and commonly applied to crossbow bolts to easily put enemies to sleep. Other popular poisons were those extracted from purple worms, scorpions, and spiders, the so-called calling, the eyeburn paste, and the skullrot.

Almost every drow put some individual effort into strengthening their tolerance to poisons as part of their training. This was done by ingesting ever-larger doses of drow sleep poison and of spider venom, granting them further resistance to such toxins. Their massive use of poisons led the drow to developed the virulent weapon enchantment to enhance the effects of any toxin applied to their weapons. Naturally, the drow had some countermeasures against poison, like the ring of antivenom.

The priestesses of drow socieities formally occupied the positions of military leadership, but in practice it was the male commanders that actually led such forces. The priestesses often hid away in the face of danger, while resorting to the use of corporal threats and magical domination to ensure loyalty. A military squad formally led by a male drow, was either a streeakh, a suicide squad, or a dobluth, a group of outcasts.

When drow nobles warred against each other, the attacking side had to eradicate the entire enemy family in a single attack. If even one member of the defending family survived, they could apply for 'justice', and the entire city would turn on the attackers. Alliances were not allowed in these kinds of attacks, and there was a minimum interim time (one year) between attacks on an individual house, giving them time to recuperate. Prolonged covert warfare between two houses, by means like assassination, were not exactly forbidden, but it was only tolerated for a time counted in years, after which the drow city's ruling council forced the two houses to enter open war.

This was the reason why drow society was in a perpetual state of very small-scale battle of underhandedness, instead of a series of bloody frontal battles. Making matters worse for the drow, in war situations, the noble Houses schemed against each other so that their rivals would take the heaviest losses, or carry the responsibility for any failure, meaning that they were incapable of forming a truly united front against their enemies.

Drow society had had two nominal goals, called 'the First and Second Part of the Destiny of the People'. The former was about forcing all other species of the Underdark into subservience, while the latter was about driving the entire elven population into extinction, seizing their lands and holdings in the process. However, the extreme, self-destructive degree to which the Darwinian attitude of the drow was taken prevented them from achieving either of their purposes, barring possibilities for significant growth. In truth, despite her rhetoric, Drow religion had no intention of having the drow devote themselves to reaching their supposed goal. It found their in-fighting far too enjoyable to focus their attention of taking the surface.

On a personal level, each drow tried to gain and maintain favor, amass material goods (like wealth and slaves), and gain status inside their society. Depending on the station of a drow, there was a difference in the kind of plans they supported and executed. Drow of higher standing supported endeavors to boost their own prestige by increasing their own people's power and influence. Drow of lower station supported plans that dragged everybody down, for example by causing strife and violence within their communities.

Drow communities were known as city-states, although they weren't actually organized as 'states', as much as clusters of drow led by oppressive, theocratic nobility. Cities were normally independent and not part of a larger drow nation, and though some had trade agreements, most frequently fell to war with one another. Cities usually included farmlands, where slaves worked to produce and harvest meat and crops. Those lands were usually found inside the main cavern but sometimes, usually due to space limits, they could be found outside as well.

The drow held some respect towards species capable of resisting their aggressions, and could perceive certain species as at least possible equals (though never superiors) with whom they had mutual gain or non-aggression pacts. However, contracts with 'lesser species' were not seen as actually binding, and were readily broken as soon as they stopped being beneficial to the drow party. As a result, the other species learned to anticipate betrayal and always had counters to the treachery prepared. Normally the drow had poor opinions of even their erstwhile allies, and viewed other species, at best, as merely laughable or contemptible.

The drow's ultimately viewed other species as somewhere between targets of extermination and potential slaves, foes to be either dominated or, if they were a threat driven to extinction. As such, drow had an extremist mentality when meeting with them, their first thought being to wage war on the new neighbors in order to subjugate or eradicate them. Prisoners of such violent activities were the source of slaves in their cities. Normally somewhere between half and two-thirds of a given drow settlement's population consisted of slaves or other non-drow without rights, although only Houses possessed significant amounts of slaves. In some cases the number was rarely above the House's drow population and in others the slaves outnumbered them either two or three to one.

To the average person, the drow were such a distant problem that they were considered more like myth than reality. Given that they couldn't do anything effectively in bright light, drow were inactive on the surface during the day. As a rule of thumb, only 5% of surface inhabitants had the superficial knowledge that the drow were 'inhabitants of the Underdark who conducted raids on the surface', not including elves and eladrin, who had close historical connections. This made it easier for individual drow to enter surface communities without meeting hostility as long as they didn't do or say something that could catch attention and lead people who had real knowledge about the drow to cleanse their community of the threat the drow represented.

Even so, surface cities generally didn't allow drow into their cities because of their reputation. Their unique appearance combined with their negative public image made it practically impossible for them to effectively replenish their resources on the surface. Intelligent creatures on nearly every plane in existence knew of, and maintained at least a respect for, the drow.

War in the Underdark was far different from conflicts fought on the surface. The cramped space of the subterranean environment made it hard or ineffectual to amass giant armies, and most battles were actually skirmishes between small units or patrols. The drow avoided large sieges and pitched battles, in favor of focusing on skirmishes, as well as hit-and-run tactics and harrying strikes. The drow used ambush tactics that exploited existing dangers like loose rocks, and were skilled in using traps, such as deliberately placed phycomids or glasses full of ascomoid-spores, to gain an advantage in combat.

The drow also had a knack for responding to their enemies' actions, including spellcasting. The members of a patrol coordinated by using infravision and counting what they called 'handfades', a unit of time based on how long it took a rock to lose all heat after being touched by a hand. However, they were aggressive, if not outright impatient, and one way to gain an advantage on them was to taunt their warriors long enough for them to make a fatal mistake. Their method of warfare, especially considering their enlistment of slaves and allies, could drag on for years.

The drow regularly came into contact with the aboleths and their allies, meetings that normally resulted in war between the two groups. Unlike other species, which the dark elves could at least intuit the desires and determine the utility of, the aboleths thoughts followed alien patterns, and their environment was one the dark elves had no ability or interest in inhabiting. The drow would simply ignore the aboleths if not for the fact that the aquatic aberrations took their slaves and minions from both dark elves and their victims. Moreover, the drow were somewhat terrified of the aboleths, who had the power to strip free will and turn them into mindless slaves, and whose minions were immune to the intimidation the drow were accustomed to using. As such, the drow normally used brutal hit-and-run tactics against the aboleths, but only if they couldn't agree to stay out of each other's way. However, an increasing number of both aboleths and drow found a strangely comfortable commonality in their veneration of Ghaunadaur. The majority of both species considered his worship heretical at best and treasonous at worst, so the two outcasts of the incredibly different species frequently joined to create cities difficult to assail by land or sea. Beholders were often sought out by the drow as allies for the extra protection these aberrations could offer to their communities, encouraging them to make their lairs outside their settlements. Demons had an odd relationship with the drow. The drow didn't fear demons the same way most mortals did (as their own goddess was a denizen of the Abyss), respecting their power and reveling in their god's link to their home. Drow called demons from the Abyss when they wanted something, and demons answered their call when they wanted something in return. Drow sought the demon's service to increase their prestige or gain leverage against their foes while the demon either wanted to spread death, enact a devious scheme, or curry the favor of Lolth. As long as both sides got what they wanted, these arrangements concluded without incident. As with many of their relationships, the duergar were simultaneously one of the drow's biggest allies and most frequent rivals. The duergar had a 'might makes right' attitude, just as the drow did, and received their grudging respect for being able to build powerful cities and withstand their repeated attacks. That said, the duergar were almost never trusted by the drow, and for good reason. Though willing to trade with them, the gray dwarves harbored a longstanding hatred of their underground neighbors, regularly pitting them against each other and willing to raid their caravans for slaves and treasure (like the dark elves, lacking pity for those incapable of protecting their own property). War between the two was relatively common since they frequently competed for the same territory, and both sides were relatively equal in military endeavors (the drow pulling ahead by only the slimmest of margins).Dwarves were among the traditional enemies of the drow, the shared enmity between the two having begun as soon as the drow descended below the surface.

While most drow shared a hatred of all other species, especially surface species, the object of their deepest hatred was the surface elves, (especially moon and sun elves) referred to as the 'faeries' or the 'Darthiir' in Drow language, which also meant 'traitors'. Half-drow were mostly spurned by their arrogant, full-blooded kin, dismissed as inferior due to their diluted heritage. Humans were among the drow's traditional enemies, but one the drow lacked a unified stance on, finding them the only species as unpredictable as themselves. Kuo-toa were once wholly enemies of the drow, their first meeting resulting in the dark elves killing the gogglers on sight. This seemingly changed long ago. Illithids and drow were both powerful forces in the Underdark, and though neither species would ever admit the other was superior, both regarded the other as a threat. The drow viewed illithids as an inferior species, although one, like the duergar, to be respected for their powerful cities and military might, and they acknowledged the threat an illithid community could pose. This respect was colored by fear that matched that the drow felt towards the aboleths, for the humanoid aberrations were almost as alien, consumed brains, and could threaten the drow with the most horrific of fate: the loss of self. Deep gnomes, out of all their varied and horrible foes in the Underdark, were considered by the drow to be their most worst enemies, coming only before the surface elves in terms of hated status and perceived wickedness.

The drow didn't often keep animals as pets, preferring to keep creatures that could completely comprehend their dependence on their owners. Instead, many drow took a favored slave as a personal servant or thrall, slaves that were treated as little more than pets. They did however, domesticate a number of animals for various purposes, and were known to take advanage of molds, fungi, and oozes by using them as traps and for sanitation.

The drow had a number of customs and gestures. For example, it was a commonly accepted gesture to drop held weapons and fall on a knee as a sign of surrender. Due to the dark elf love of beauty, the demand for art and skilled craft, particularly exquisitely forged weapons, was high.

It was common for injured drow to make use of a prosthesis, as craftsmanship in artificial limbs was advanced and easily available. The drow were particularly proficient in designing ways to move and store goods, from trade-containers to harnesses for beasts of burden and mounts. This technology was born out of a high demand for goods that had to be carried to drow cities from distant places. Drow also liked to eat live animals because they believed the meat had a better flavor.

The drow were believed to be more fecund than other elves, though in truth, they simply had a higher readiness to birth as many children as possible during their lifespan. For example, in the average Drow society, a female drow with an active career under her belt gave birth to about ten children before she lost the ability to birth more.

The cult that is associated with chaos, evil, and treacherous behavior has lost the war over influence over the Drow in Teothe. Even then, this cult managed to corrupt some of the oldest drow cities. Drow heroes stood on the front lines in the war against the cult, and many left legacies that are protected by sacred runes. Hence, the Drow adopted other deities and belief systems, potentially aligning themselves with surface elven gods, nature spirits, or even turning away from deities altogether. This led to Drow of other faiths stating that silver hair was a sign of mental handicap, and as every Drow is superior to one another, faith is another domain where the Drow try to prove their excellence.

Compared to other sentient beings, drow were notably intelligent, as having an analytical mindset and being observant at all times was needed to survive in their society. Intellect, along with force of personality, were mental traits that had been ruthlessly selected for in their socially darwinian civilization over several generations. However, being indoctrinated with the cult's dogma, being unable to eliminate it as mental blockages were common in the conquest to be supreme, combined with their upbringing giving them limited contact with other beings, surroundings, and alternative ways of life, made them close-minded, and left them with little wordly experience.

Underdark's affiliation with Shadowfell also had impacts on some spells Drow cast. Their innate magic was considerably different due to faerzress, but shadow touched versions or spells that were adapted also displayed significant change. Moreover, the drow would gradually lose their innate powers, as well as their defenses against magic, if exposed to sunlight. Adapting their art to channel the Shadow plane with the intent of preserving drow magic, hovewer, ended up allowing all drow to keep their powers on the surface.

Cult-thouched powers, were perhaps the most distinctive abilities of the drow. Cult's touch gave them a hold over the entire drow species, and overcoming it was only possible by becoming a redeemed drow who also managed to judged worthy by Yr'snn. After the victory over the cult, cult-touched indicate that there are still some cult activity in Drow societies. These drow manifested abilities like cloud of darkness, which would enshroud the given drow in shadow that was impossible for anyone but the caster to see through, and darkfire, which made other creatures an easier target by surrounding them in harmless purple flames. These powers were seemingly fueled by the same source, and the use of such abilities were tiring for the drow, with only more experienced and well-trained drow able to cast both abilities separately. Through training, drow could manifest the so-called webs of darkness that both slowed and impeded a foe, while also limiting their vision.

Curseborn drow could unlock even more Cult-touched powers, including improvements of the aforementioned cloud of darkness and darkfire abilities. Other ways to improve these abilities included training to cast the cloud of darkness faster in response to harm, or to turn the darkfire into a flickering protective shroud that made the beneficiary harder to hit.

The most famous guild of the Drow, Inthizilelgghinn, is a school for rogue arts and assassination. Meaning 'Plan as Death', this guild teaches techniques that can help one blend in via heat.

Drow had an aptitude for rune magic, elegantly limning runes in black paste, ink, or inlay. There were three categories of drow runes and glyphs: the house defense glyphs, used by the most powerful drow to defend their houses and treasures, the way-marker runes, used to guard places with drow traffic but no permanent population, and the sacred glyphs, only found in sacred sites of above-mentioned heroes. Runes could be enchanted with a glyph of warding spell, and drow runecasters could create unique ones for locations of importance.

Drow cities are often built deep underground and have a distinct dark aesthetic. They had a pleasing, more spread architecture, but the war against the Cult did not let the Drow take on different architectural styles. Their emphasis on darkness and secrecy amplified, because it was needed.