Drow

The Dark Elves, Children of the Sword of Nyxfall

Also known as the dark elves or the nyx elves, drow are a black-skinned, light-haired species of Meranthic (mixed human-elven) Humanoid.

Drow on Waking Materia are thought to be the descendents of Ahm's Third Aspect, the Sword of Nyxfall.

Nyx elf light sensitivity, ingrained sense of superiority and tendency to worship Duskscape Regents have meant a distant and often chilly relationship with surface races, but the riches and beauty of the surface world are too strong a draw for some, and drow merchants or mercenary guilds are not wholly uncommon.

Appearance

See also: Drow Image Gallery (External)

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Drow are the tallest of the three Meranthic-elven lineages that occur on Waking Materia and The Near Umbra, slightly taller than eladrin and shorter than humans on average. Their skin is night black, hair mostly silver-white but occasionally other metallic shades of copper and mythril blue.

Faetouched sorcery expresses itself more often in drow than other Meranthic elves. Explanations for this vary. A common belief is that Nyxfall was not just father to the first drow but to the first fae as well, making drow their closest cousins.

Society

Drow are often ruled by Matriarchs: rare births, seemingly among women only, which empower their innate fae-aspected magic and result in higher intelligence (as well as no small amount of megalomania, though this may be cultural rather than innate). It is unknown whether Matriarchs are a subtype of other Aspected births or a different phenomenon altogether.

Drow are especially active in Marai, where they maintain an opulent civilization in the muggy jungles, bayous and calcite caves of the Emerald Expanse. It is so influential they even have a seat on the Maraian Commonwealth, with the clan name of Oronaga. Their Totem Kami is the Anaconda.

History

Drow are not indigenous to Waking Materia. It is unknown when the dark elves first began colonizing the plane, though they were likely present, at minimum, during the interplanar explosion of trade and piracy known as the Dye Wars in the First Age of Man. Though they seemed to never speak of race or lineage, there is cause to believe the people of the New Rozsan Empire were Meranthic human-drow, based on surviving artwork and descriptions.

Religion

The drow worship a complex pantheon of both Waking and Umbral gods. Though their ways seem selfish, capricious and sensual to most Waking races, they can also be astoundingly serious about their religious practices, and some scholars have commented on the beauty and emotional depth of some practices.

Ahm and Nyxfall

Most worshipped is the entity known as the Sword of Nyxfall, called The Owl God by some surface cultures, whom the drow of Materia believe is the strongest and wisest of Ahm's progeny. The drow call Ahm Zhirai Rulat, or "Host of the Dream": they believe all reality is a manifestation of its sleeping mind, culminating in a paradise known as Nidavellir, which Zhirai Rulat's chosen people (the drow, of course!) are destined to rule. They consider Nyxfall a more direct guide to this heavenly and hedonistic place, rarely worshipping Zhirai Rulat directly.

Tariel

Tariel, the Twin Hags of Calamity, are worshipped frequently as a creator god of the First World (the drow name for Materia's myriad underground caverns and tunnels), by way of their earthquakes, subterranean rivers and glaciers. In some religious circles they are considered a united being named Ixkana, First Daughter of Nyxfall. Combining expert swordsmanship and powerful destructive magic, Battlemages of Tariel are the most celebrated members of drow militaries.

The Cenobites

Naturally sensitive to the Duskscape and exposed to more frequent weaknesses in the Veil than surface societies, the drow treat the Shadow Realm as a sort of Godsland, experimenting with the contact of powerful Twilight beings since their earliest recorded history. The vast majority of such entities don’t find the Material Realm interesting or even fathomable, but some have found uses for Material worship, and indeed some of the Cenobite Churches on Materia spread initially through drow society.

Thoroughly matriarchal, drow societies are generally ruled by Matriarchs, rare individuals who are born with immense intellect and arcane power. They are thought to be reincarnations of one of Nyxfall’s Thirteen Daughters, whom they collectively call the Ultimatra, and are usually given titles in reference to the Ultimatra they are closest to based on personality, appearance, ruling style or other factors. Divine magic associated with Nyxfall’s daughters appear mostly to be associated with Duskscape Regents of fear, superiority, manipulation and subjugation, like the Dust King, Sheoldred, Elir-Otrinax and the Toadstool Queen.

Drow also esteem martial arts, and as such roving "mad monks" of the Crimson Serenity and martial temples to Asphodel are frequent sights.

Valaan Blackblade

Better known amongst surface races is the drow god of above-ground travel, adventuring, luck and light resistance, Valaan Blackblade, worshipped by a few isolated surface cultures as The Sojourner. The god of surfacer drow is said to carry an obsidian greatsword forged by Grandfather Shadow himself, and is thought to be a First Age Ascendant who occasionally fought alongside the Insurgent Demigods against the Colonial Godlords. Though not good-aligned, Valaan Blackblade and his adherents distance themselves from the usual drow xenophobia.