Deep Elves

The high diabolist of house Ahi patrols the central hallway of her palatial stone-carved temple. Her handmaidens mirror her every move as she walks, their long tentacles sliding wetly across tiled alabaster floors. The small infant-like zebub devil on her shoulder whispers something, and she stops, turning her face to see an intruder caught up in a web of blades and chains running alongside her balcony. An assassin from the Naraka family, no doubt. The diabolist leans in closely to see her work- the assassin's body had only just been snapped up in the silent trap, but the blades are already pulling on his flesh, his every struggle speeding up the process of the flaying. The diabolist smiles and murmurs a sweet secret to the assassin, under her breath- "You'll make a lovely addition to the gallery!" -and then steps away, leaving her zebub to buzz around the assassin with its housefly wings and interrogate him. The Ahi diabolist continues onwards, lovingly giving glances to her other works of art splayed on either side of the long hallway, some would-be assassins still squirming in their throes. The diabolist wouldn't be killed by some off-beat demon worshiping rivals. Not today.

Culture

Shared customary codes and values

Most of Deep Elven society is governed by the demoniac nobility- because of this, higher class Deep Elves attempt to follow in their footsteps. This doesn't solely apply to attempting to replicate the binding of fiends, but also to the brutality and violence found in much of Deep Elf society. The violence that suffuses much of Deep Elven society leads to the common belief that Deep Elves- or all drow, in general- are evil and sadistic, though Deep Elves often don't do much to debate that. The Underdark, especially in the more upper class Deep Elven enclaves, is full of Elves with a shared low respect for life of their own people, let alone respect for the lives of other non-Deep Elf humanoids.

Common Etiquette rules

If any humanoid system of etiquette is more inscrutable than that of the High Elves, it is that of the subterranean Drow. Etiquette rarely has any guidelines- although many polite niceties are observed, most Deep Elves have a sense of justification in striking out and wounding, maiming, or killing any offenders or even perceived offenders of a lower class than them. Deep Elven etiquette, in truth, follows a strict hierarchy of families, professions, and capital, referred to in Undercommon as "menigedi"- the way it is. Just about any act is fair game when inflicted upon someone of a lower status than you, as long as they're not able to easily fight back- losing a fight to someone 'lower' than you, of course, is grounds for exile even if the unfortunate noble was spared. Most important in the menigedi hierarchy are the noble families of fiend binders, followed by non-noble spellcasters and then by experienced assassins. Artisans- especially of the blade or of flesh- rank quite high, as do architects and builders integral to life in the Underdark. Laborers, farmers, and the like, are rather low ranked, as they're easily replaceable in the eyes of the aristocracy.
Within noble families, the menigedi competition is even greater. Extending beyond just attacks for quasi-imagined slights, Deep Elven nobility is as cutthroat and scheming as the fiends they employ. Owing to their long lifetimes, some complex plans to assassinate or humiliate a family member may go decades without coming to fruition, especially in the more planning-minded families like the Dis, Velstrak, and Ahi families. When it comes to inter-nobility conflict, however, violence is inevitable, swift, and outside of the confines of politeness. Various families have differing stances on one another, but they range from "doubt and distrust at all times" in the mildest cases to "kill on sight" in the most heated cases, such as between the Dis and Naraka families.

Coming of Age Rites

Although most Deep Elves don't have any particularly complex rituals around coming of age- the violence and competition native to Deep Elven society leads to a rapid necessity to "grow up", with the exception of the heavily guarded nobility. Noble family members are tested upon reaching a century of age- the Elves are forced by their family to form an alliance of some sort with a fiend related to the family. The adolescent Deep Elf in question is locked in a prison- sealed with magic to stop planar travel- and forced to either fight the fiend, beguile them, or bind them to their side. Failures- if not devoured by the fiend- are generally either exiled or executed by their family.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Underdark drow generally dispose of their dead to the wide fungus farms that they garden, interring dead bodies in mushroom-rich soil in deep caves. Sometimes, the bones of the dead are removed from their bodies and used for making necromantic implements or jewelry. Due to the high mortality rates in the violent Underdark, and the necessity of providing food for fungal crops, there is very little mourning or memorial of deceased ancestors in the Ch'elema territories. Often, souls of the dead are imprisoned and used in bartering with the various fiends involved in governing the underdark.

Major organizations

The Washa underdark is divided into various noble lineages. Each of these lineages is founded around a particular type of fiend, summoning said fiends and serving those fiends' harbingers. Deep Elves have a great resentment for religion, almost never worshiping deities and despising both the gods and the divine. The only divine magic practiced by the Deep Elves is that given by archfiends, but very rarely do these Drow view their fiendish patrons as more than a means to an end. The Washa nobility is one of the few humanoid organizations that can come anywhere near the complex scheming inherent in draconic existence- there are networks of fiendish activity that stretch across Korthos that are often funded by, if not directly or indirectly ran by, drow noble lineages.
The differing Deep Elven noble houses each specialize in summoning and controlling varying types of fiend- although they all can be experts of all kinds of summoning and fiend-binding, they pay penance to the particular archfiends that give them strength above others. The Ahi lineage specialize in summoning of Asuras and above all pay respects to the asura rana Vritra, driven even more than other Deep Elves by their hatred of gods and the divine. The Gehenna family summon Daemons, paying respects to the varying apocalyptic horsemen that lead the Daemon armies, and are especially nihilistic and secretive. The lineage of Dis follows devils, especially the leader of devils Belial and the infamous infernal torturer Daji. The horrifically artistic Velstrac family summon Kytons as their servitors, following the council of Kyton Architects. The Naraka lineage are Deep Elves who summon and bind demons, often the most outwardly violent and unhinged even among other Washa nobility. Finally, the Tezukaga family serve Oni and are hedonistic and obsessive, preoccupied with the creation of new Oni from their debauchery.

Nobility

The aristocracy of Deep Elven culture are often strengthened by their connection to fiends, possessing the abilities of a drow noble and often having many fiendish boons and elements of visible corruption. The following is a list of the official leaders of the various important Deep Elven families.

House Ahi:

House Ahi is led by the tyrannical and always heavily armored antipaladin Bouda Ahi. Her face is almost always hidden by her large brass helmet, and her gleaming brass armor radiates heat out from her. Bouda wields a giant lucerne hammer that seems to be completely coated in gleaming mithral, which she took off of a high priest of The Moonling who she killed and imprisoned the soul of as part of her play to seize power over house Ahi. As the leader of house Ahi, Bouda has a large presence outside of the underdark, directing groups of soldiers and slaves to destroy holy relics and places of worship on the surface.

House Dis

The head of House Dis is a recent acquisition- a cunning handsome diabolist wizard named Irru Dis- who only within the last 3 years has seized power. A lesser noble, Irru slowly and methodically killed all members of house Dis that were between him and the seat of power, and has now accomplished his goal of rulership of the noble family. Rumor in the underdark has it that Irru has seized power so quickly because he's actually an undead vampire and has enslaved the supposedly murdered other family members.

House Gehenna

House Gehenna is ruled by a council of four just like that Daemon armies they work alongside- the chairman "Death" and the three councilors of "Famine", "War", and "Pestilence". The four councilors all wear similar skull masks in corresponding colors and their names and backgrounds are kept secret, so the details on each one are not well known. However, it is rumored that the chairman of Gehenna's council has recently been deposed, murdered, and replaced by one of their subordinates.

House Velstrac

Artistic house Velstrac is maintained by a "headmaster"- Coronia Velstrac. The house itself is run in the form of a school, and is a school in artistry as much as it is one in suffering. The Velstrac run schools throughout the Underdark serve as both schools in magical knowledge but also schools for the training of the deep elven aristocracy- something that gives the family immense power, especially so the regional masters and the headmaster Coronia. Velstrac, however, has nowhere near the military strength of the other more populous houses.

House Naraka

The politics of house Naraka are constantly in flux, similarly to the demons they bind. Three leaders- twin sisters Desta and Assefa, as well as their younger brother Abey- have all claimed rulership of the house and are constantly warring with one another as well as with the other Washa houses. House Naraka is also slowly being undermined by several factions of lower nobles, and the infighting in the household has made it an easy target for other houses to attack.

House Tezukaga

The hedonistic house Tezukaga is ruled by married rivals Adane and Urika Tezukaga. The two are both sorcerers of great strength, and make great use of illusions and trickery to hide much of their activity from the public. Adane and Urika are both very polite and friendly, even to foreigners, and as long as one doesn't let their guard down the houses of pleasure run by house Tezukaga are the

Parent ethnicities

• Drow