Elves are a magical people of otherworldly grace, living in the world but not entirely part of it. They live in places of ethereal beauty, in the midst of ancient forests or in silvery spires glittering with faerie light, where soft music drifts through the air and gentle fragrances waft on the breeze. Elves love nature and magic, art and artistry, music and poetry, and the good things of the world.
Cruel and Cunning
Like other elves, the drow are slightly shorter than humans, and more slender, with little physical difference between the genders. They have pointed ears. They are differentiated by their black skin and pale, almost-white hair and eyes.
Most drow are utterly evil. Those minority non-evil drow rarely have the malice necessary to survive in their cruel society, and many leave to adventure outside of drow lands. Good drow are exceptionally rare, but not unheard of.
A Once Timeless Perspective
Elves can live well over 700 years, giving them a broad perspective on events that might trouble the shorter-lived races more deeply. Like all elves, the drow are quite nimble and graceful. They have excellent sight and hearing, and are able to see in complete darkness. Centuries of exile has honed their darkvision to surpass even that of the surface elves, but they suffer from light sensitivity in bright sunlight. Drow have exceptional inner strength and talent for sorcery, and possess innate magical talents, able to create motes of light or summon magical darkness. Their elven ancestry resists magic that would charm a human or put them to sleep.
Drow live as long as elves, although in their violent society it is rare for any individual to live longer than 400 years. Drow begin schooling at age 8, and enter adolescence at age 20, where they enter an apprenticeship. Those who survive the harsh drow culture reach adulthood at age 80.
The Darkest Depths
Most drow inhabit the Underdark, deep caverns below the surface of the earth. There, the drow have built vast cities: some of the best known include Erelhei-Cinlu in the Eastern Lands and Menzoberranzan in the Old World. The Underdarkis an inhospitable and dangerous place, full of monstrous creatures. The weakest of the drow do not survive.
Some drow do find their way to the surface, though many do not leave their evil ways behind in the Underdark. City-states of drow pop up and vanish in the sands of the great deserts crossed Arata, all worshipping an aspect of Lolth, a great scorpion goddess, showing that even on the surface the drow cannot escape her grasp.
Fallen From Grace
Descended from an earlier subrace of elves, the drow were banished from the surface world for following the goddess Lolth down the path of evil. Now they have built their own civilization in the depths of the Underdark, patterned after the Way of Lolth. Also called dark elves, the drow have skin that resembles charcoal or obsidian, as well as stark white or pale yellow hair. They commonly have very pale eyes (so pale as to be mistaken for white) in shades of lilac, silver, pink, red, and blue. They tend to be smaller and thinner than most elves.
Drow society is strictly matriarchal. At the highest tiers of society are priestesses to Lolth, chosen from among the drow noble houses and trained from birth to serve the Spider Queen. Of highest status are the house matrons, priestesses who lead each noble house. The drow houses perpetually vie for power, a necessity in the cutthroat Underdark cities. Weaker houses are forced to pledge loyalty to stronger ones to survive. The drow think nothing of murder or betrayal if it raises their status, and the powerful must constantly watch their back.