Dark Elf

Also known as deep elves, night elves, or sometimes "The Ones Who Went Below" on the surface, dark elves are a dark-skinned sub-race of elves that predominantly live in Har'Oloth, the Upside Down, and in the twilight forests north of the Labyrinth of Thorns. Hated and feared due to their cruelty, there are small enclaves of non-evil and good dark elves scattered throughout Edras.

Personality

Dark Elves are arrogant, ambitious, sadistic, treacherous, and hedonistic. From birth, they are taught they are superior to other races, and that they should crush those beneath them.
They still view themselves as the true heirs to the elven dominions, believing it is their birth right to one day reclaim and rule all of Edras. They have never forgotten the sting of defeat, the humiliation they have suffered. Not in all their years beneath the earth, hidden from the eyes of the deities, have they stopped plotting their vengeance. For that is the spirit of their people, it is the teaching of cruel strength imparted by their struggle; that only by strength and by the will of Lolth can they survive. Weakness and emotion have no room among their number.
The long war turned them all into savage warriors without remorse, and to build rebuild their lost pride and home they were quick to turn to others, and so, for as long as the dark elves have existed, they been enslaving lesser races to do that which is beneath them. Though it has been so long that many of them now occupy roles their ancestors would never have dreamt of, such as servants, brewers, smiths and artisans, they still retain a long and prideful history as slavers and raiders.
Anger is a constant companion among the dark elves. The emotion is considered both normal and inevitable, but the reaction to it falls in one of two camps. Some believe that anger itself is a tool, that red-hot rage gives you strength to persevere over your foes. Others believe that anger should be cool and calculating, hidden in the shadows until the time is right for vengeance. Most of them borrow from both schools of thought, as the situation demands, but none would argue about the outcome - revenge. Revenge is an art form among the dark elves. It can come quickly or take centuries. It can be long and excruciatingly painful, or painless and deadly swift. All dark elves appreciate a well-executed vengeance, even when they are the targets.
Dark elves are also hedonists. They love and surround themselves with what they consider beautiful, generally without paying attention to the cost. They generally believe they are entitled to do whatever they want, whenever they want to do it. This also extends to partners: for example, they take and discard lovers at their leisure and have a tendency to be lecherous in both dress and demeanor.

Basic Information

Anatomy

In many ways, the dark elves resemble eladrin and elves. Their bodies are wiry and athletic while their faces are chiseled and attractive. They tend to be a bit shorter and thinner that other elves, though. Their skin ranges from dark grey to deep purple to obsidian, though rarely an albino with skin of pure white is born. These szarkai are highly esteemed in dark elf society, as they can pass as surface elves and thus make excellent spies and assassins.
Generally, the dark elves keep their hair long, and decorate it with pins and webbing made of precious metals. Their hair can be stark white, pale yellow and, more rarely, silver or copper in color. As they age, dark elf hair thins and changes color, turning pale yellow in women, and silver or grey in men.
Dark elf eyes can be of any color, with bright red being the most common. Pale shades that appear nearly white or blue, lilac, pink, or silver are also frequent. It is possible to read some information in the eye color of a dark elf. For example, their eyes redden when they are angry, and turn yellow when they are sick, poisoned, or under some negative magical influence.
Starkly differing from their surface cousins, dark elves have white, black, or even purple teeth, while their gums, tongues, and throats are pink, red or purple. Many among their number will file their teeth into razor-sharp fangs or cap them with tiny silver blades that look like arachnid mandibles, fangs, or legs.

Genetics and Reproduction

The dark elves are believed to be more fecund than the rest of the elves. In truth, their fecundity is the same as that of other elves, but they have a much higher readiness to birth as many children as possible during their lifespan. For example, in dark elf society, on average, a female dark elf with an active career under her belt gives birth to about ten children before she loses the ability to birth more. Comparatively, the other elven races average around two. However, the constant strife of Har'Oloth and their society itself keeps their numbers low, dropping their actual rate of population growth to dwarf-like levels.

Growth Rate & Stages

The dark elves have lifespans far beyond those of most Soulborn, and comparable with the rest of the elven race. Provided they do not meet a premature and violent end, they can live for centuries. Generally, a dark elf's natural lifespan runs up to 750 years, and about 94% of natural deaths occur before 800 years of age. However, dark elves who can afford a lifestyle that spares them hardships, like the matron mothers, can live more than 1000 years (though, by that point, they become withered by age). Lolth's magic can maintain a matron's life for thousands of years, considered a clear sign of favor from the Emanation.

Civilization and Culture

Beauty Ideals

Due to a process of selective breeding that lasted for several generations, the dark elves(especially nobles) look attractive even when compared to other elves. Their alluring appearance, which is honed to be used for seduction, is more often used to instill fear.

Gender Ideals

Lolth’s dogma mandates to recognize female dark elves as more valuable than males, who are considered worthless. This gives female dark elves absolute power, and makes them less likely to be sacrificed than males. Males who hope to find any place of power often resort to ends as treacherous as the women that rule the dark elves, hoping to perhaps win a coveted place as the mate of a powerful matron mother.

Courtship Ideals

Courting is the domain of women in dark elf society. Trying to initiate a relationship is a reason for execution by torture and sacrifice for a male dark elf. In general, dark elf women choose their partners as animals would be chosen for breeding purposes.

Common Dress Code

Dark elf society has a strict fashion code (which includes rules about hairstyles) meant to allow easy identification of a dark elf's social station and House (if any). Any dark elf who commits identification litigations by wearing the wrong hair style, clothes, and/or house insignia is killed, as are  non-dark elves who try to pass as dark elves.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Dark elves live in city-states characterized by a theocratic, matriarchal, and militaristic society. The dark elf society nominally has two purposes, called "the First and Second Part of the Destiny of the People". The former is about forcing all other races of the Upside Down into subservience, while the latter is about driving the entire elven population into utter extinction.
Lolth, who frequently intervenes in the societies of the dark elves directly, teaches that, in order to achieve such goals, the dark elves need to be forced into perpetual infighting and violent competition, so that the constant training will make them stronger and smarter. However, the extreme, self-destructive degree to which this is taken has, ironically, prevented the dark elves from achieving either of their purposes. In fact, despite her rhetoric, the reality is that Lolth merely enjoys the infighting and cruelty that she promotes.
Dark elves are ruled by their aristocracy, made up by the families that had the strength to violently occupy the best lands. Such Houses are founded by powerful dark elf matriarchs with special powers, who then passed their traits to their offspring. Nobles also further augment their abilities with large collections of jealously guarded magic items.
Noble Houses constantly fight each other, but are also characterized by internal strife, as it is actually expected in a society that follows the Way of Lolth. Even though the power of the many Houses changes often, the few at the top usually remain stable. Within a family, noble dark elf parents view their children as vehicles for their own advancement, including sacrificing them for some potential gain. Noble dark elves only stay with their family as children as a protection from outside violence, and as adults because Houses prove to be good tools for societal advancement.
The success of the merchant clans is important for the survival of the dark elf race. The clans are among the primary mercantile organizations in the Upside Down, and their presence is common along the underground trade routes. Contrary to the Houses, merchant clans are run by male dark elves, because females considered interaction with outsiders to be too demeaning and dangerous for them.
The Way of Lolth is the basis for the dark elf laws and religion. Only Lolth is considered a true goddess and worship of other Emanations is expressly forbidden.
Slavery plays an important role in dark elf society, and many households have two or more slaves for each member. Half to two-thirds of a normal dark elven city's population consists of slaves. All unskilled labor in these cities is carried out by slaves, and for that reason the slave trade is a booming business. Slaves are not only captured but also bred, or bought from sellers like the orcs of the Sararuki Clannarch.
The dark elves don't see slaves as a valuable commodity, but as a cheaply and easily replaceable tool that they are allowed to treat cruelly and exploit at will. Slaves, in general, are not allowed to look into the eyes of a dark elf or to carry weapons without permission (a rule that is mostly enforced when the slave is a gladiator of some kind).

History

Dark Elves are the children of Caighreadhug, Mother of Nightmares, and have been loyal to it since the time of the War of Souls. After their defeat in that war, they were forced underground, into Har'Oloth, by vengeful armies of their cousins - the high elves, wood elves, and eladrin. It has only been in the ages since that they have managed to reclaim long dormant kingdoms on the surface.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Dark elves are nearly universally reviled by the races of the Culled (and most of the races of the Progeny), though the citizens of the Iolrath Vale have come to accept a small community of friendly dark elves and there are rumors of a house of noble and honorable dark elves in the distant land of Orinoh.

Origin/Ancestry

Caighreadhug, Mother of Nightmares

Lifespan

750 years

Average Height

4'7"-5'5"

Average Weight

82-152 lbs.

Founding Emanation

Lolth, the Dark Mother

Racial Stats

Dark Elf

Elf (Dark)

Ability Score Increase +2 Dex, +1 Cha

Size Medium

Speed 30ft

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Superior Darkvision

Accustomed to the depths of the Upside Down, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 120 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Keen Senses

You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Fey Ancestry

You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.

Trance

Elves don't need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is "trance.") While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep. If you meditate during a long rest, you finish the rest after only 4 hours. You otherwise obey all the rules for a long rest; only the duration is changed.

Sunlight Sensitivity

You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.

Dark Elf Magic

You know the dancing lights cantrip. When you reach 3rd level, you can cast the faerie fire spell once per day; you must finish a long rest in order to cast the spell again using this trait. When you reach 5th level, you can also cast the darkness spell once per day; you must finish a long rest in order to cast the spell again using this trait. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.

Dark Elf Weapon Training

You have proficiency with rapiers, shortswords, and hand crossbows.

Languages. Eolian, Seldruin, and Shurkash