Drow (dark elves, Ilythiiri)

the elves were once torn by discord and warfare, driving out from their surface lands their selfish and cruel members of elvish society, who then sought safety in the underworld. These creatures, later known as the "dark elvenfolk" or drow, grew strong in the arcane arts over the centuries and content with their gloomy fairyland beneath the earth, though they still bear enmity towards and seek revenge against their distant kin, the elves and faeries who drove them down. They are described as chaotic evil in alignment, and highly intelligent.drow are a dark reflection of the elven race. Also called dark elves, they dwell deep underground in elaborate cities shaped from the rock of cyclopean caverns. Drow seldom make themselves known to surface folk, preferring to remain legends while advancing their sinister agendas through proxies and agents. Drow have no love for anyone but themselves, and are adept at manipulating other creatures. While they are not born evil, malignancy is deep-rooted in their culture and society, and nonconformists rarely survive for long.They are described as black-skinned and pale haired in appearance, around 5-feet tall and slight of build with somewhat sharp features, with large eyes and large pointed ears. Their equipment (magical boots and cloaks, and fine mesh armor similar to chainmail) is black in color and described as being empowered by exposure to the strange radiations of the Drow homeland, losing this power and eventually falling apart when exposed to direct sunlight and kept from the radiation for too long. Females are inherently more powerful than males, and only females may be clerics or fighter/clerics; male drow are commonly fighters, magic-users, or both classes at once. Drow move silently and with a graceful quickness, even when wearing their armor, and blend into shadows with ease. Drow are highly resistant to magic, while all drow have the ability to use some inherent magical abilities even if they are not strictly spellcasters. there are rumors of vast caverns housing whole cities of drow which exist somewhere deep beneath the earth, and now that the drow have dwelled in these dark labyrinth places for millennia they dislike daylight and other forms of bright light as it hampers their abilities. drow society is matriarchal and is controlled by 8 noble houses with an elder or strong female at the head of each house. Social stations are the most important thing in drow society, making ascension to greater power a drow's ultimate goal. Often times noble houses will wage wars on another to vie for a higher rank and ultimately total control over a city. They are able to communicate using a silent language composed of hand movements, and when coupled with facial and body expression, movement, and posture, this form of communication is the equal of any spoken language. Female drow tend to fill many positions of great importance, with priests of the dark goddess holding a very high place in society. Drow fighters are required to go through rigorous training in their youth, and those who fail are put to death. Drow society, being strongly matriarchal, allows the females to hold all positions of power in the government, and to choose and discard mates freely.Drow have a strong affinity for arachnids, as worship the spider goddess is compulsory, and spiders dwell freely among drow communities.Drow were arrogant, ambitious, sadistic, treacherous and hedonistic. From birth, drow were taught they were superior to other races and should crush those beneath them. Children who resisted and showed kindness or love were brutally punished, so as to beat the instinct for cruelty into them.Drow were taught from an early age to be distrustful of others. Like in any other culture, drow culture expected one to advance at the expenses of others. Unlike other cultures, there were no rules for what the "expense of others" had to look like, acceptable forms included treachery and even outright murder.While drow did understand the value of forging bonds,they didn’t see a value in the virtue of honesty.Forming bonds was thus a dangerous endeavor and mostly of temporary nature. Because any alliance or cordial relationship could end in treachery, drow went into with the expectation for the worst, and this attitude showed itself. Alliances were generally formed when one considered the ally weak enough to be not a too dangerous threat, be susceptible to blackmail or there was a common enemy that forced into cooperation. Even formed alliances were under scrutiny for signs of treachery and often ended violently. In fact, simple inconvenience to maintain the bond was a reason to end their loyalty Drow believed themselves to be the apex creature. Most drow shared a hatred of all other races, especially surface races, the object of true hatred was dark/deep dwarves and the surface elves, "Darthiir" in Drow. It was the only thing that united them as a species, leading them to yearn for a return to the surface that would defeat the surface elves.Their treatment towards members of other races ran the entire gamut from pets, slaves grudgingly respected military prowess, though never equals in their minds.Slavery played a large part in drow society, and drow households usually had two or more slaves for each member. All unskilled labor in drow cities was carried out by slaves, this caused the slave trade to become a booming business. Slaves weren’t only captured but also bred for every aspect imaginable.

Basic Information

Anatomy

a Male stood 5 ft. 6 in. – 6 ft. 4 in. and weighed 100 – 150 lbs. a Female stood 5 ft. 6 in. – 6 ft. 8 in. and weighed 120 – 190 lbs.

Biological Traits

most vary in eye color from red to purple,blue, lilac, pink and silver. Drow are difficult to surprise as they are able to see very well in the dark, have an intuitive sense about their underground world similar to that of dwarves, and can detect hidden or secret doors as easily as other elves do. as well as dark vision enabling them to see for 60 in absolute darkness at the expence of losing color. only seeing in black,white and grey tones

Ecology and Habitats

caves, undedark, caverns, Ruins

Dietary Needs and Habits

mushrooms moss and fish were a dietary staple

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

under dark and caves, some ruins aslo harbour drow elves

Average Intelligence

sharp, above average come pared to most humans

Lifespan

drow lives are often cut short due to the nature of infighting but rumors say some drow have lived as long as 875 years

Average Height

a Male stood 5 ft. 6 in. – 6 ft. 4 in. a Female stood 5 ft. 6 in. – 6 ft. 8 in.

Average Weight

a Male weighed 100 – 150 lbs. a Female weighed 120 – 190 lbs.

Average Physique

in many ways resemble other races of elves being lithe and slender.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Drow are dark skined in tones of dark blue to greyish black, whith white hair, Rare hair colors included copper and silver and longer pointed ears.