Inhabiting the challenging subterranean world at every strata from the Brightdark to Underdark are the Dark Elves. Adapted to an environment that is dominated by claustrophobic tunnels, Dark Elves are the smallest of the Elven ethnicities, on average shorter and slighter than the smallest examples found among their surface-dwelling cousins. Their skin color typically matches the stone most abundant in the region and depth they were born, ranging in darkness from pitch black to light grey, with undertones of navy, violet, and burgundy. Their hair color ranges from deep black to stark white and every shade between.
Of all Eladrius’ children, they are the most adept at thriving in hostile wilderness and framing the beauty of these inhospitable under worlds. Dark Elves are skilled at creating art from the most unlikely of materials and sculpting havens within the most dangerous of conditions.
Dark Elven society has always deferred to those who bear children for guidance and leadership in their communities, but this became especially important during the diaspora from Eregoth, when the betrayal of the
Yuan-ti tore their greater civilization apart, and many Dark Elves survived only as scattered family units. The resolve and resourcefulness of the matriarchs led their people to safe havens in Keldan and the southern island of Eregoth in the lands of what would become
House Damarion. Their legacy is a source of terror as much as pride, for the demonic sects that persist to the present day were also the work of matriarchs who adapted the corrupted rituals “gifted” to them by the Yuan-ti, delving fully into the power the Abyss had to offer and forging with it their own weapons to save their people from extinction, at great personal cost.
Dark Elves In the World
Dark Elves are incredibly rare in Eregoth, and with the Underdark there still being dominated by the Yuan-ti, there are no Dark Elven settlements in mainland Eregoth. The terrible events that displaced them is something that their parents and grandparents experienced.
Those who do come from Eregoth are almost entirely from the large southern island and have ties to House Damarion, with others originating from islands that have subterranean lands isolated from the rest of Eregoth’s Underdark.
Dark Elves are more common in Keldan, with communities in the subterra of every Pact-Land. The majority of their settlements are beneath the Fey Pact-Lands, and it is especially common for Dark Elves from here to also learn Sylvan. The Fiend Pact-Land has become the home of the sects that perpetuate the Abyssal rites, and these Dark Elves are the most insular, considering other races expendable for the goal of preserving Dark Elven lives. Dark Elves from these communities almost always learn to speak Abyssal, a language shared by their nemesis, the Yuan-ti, as well as their demonic patrons. The have no qualms about sacrificing anyone who is not a Dark Elf to fuel the fiendish rituals that keep their power amassed. While most Dark Elves keep a philosophy of “never again” that leads them to be cautious, those who immersed themselves in fiendish power add to that “at whatever the cost”.
Due to their suffering by the machinations of the Yuan-ti, most Dark Elves greatly mistrust serpentfolk of any kind, and the hatred is often most intense from the Dark Elves who might otherwise fit right in with and share the cruel practices of the Yuan-ti. Their attitude toward snake creatures of other varieties might range from fear and aversion, to a need to control through extermination or subjugation, but is rarely ever indifferent.
Creating a Dark Elf
Dark Elves use the traits of the
Dark Elf (Drow) player race, with the following differences:
Alignment. Dark Elves in Armea do not share the curse that was afflicted upon them in other settings, and were never outcasted by other Elves. They are Good as often as they are Neutral. Typically only those who come from the communities that delved into the Abyssal rituals are Evil.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish, and Undercommon.
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