Drow

"All Trust is Foolish."

Lore

Discussing the Drow inevitably involves delving into their Goddess. Despite conflicting creation myths and origin stories among the dark elves themselves, surface historians often dismiss these in favor of the widely accepted account that Queen Urgath was driven below with a host of High-Elven loyalists. One story, deemed heretical and punishable by death in the Underdark, suggests Urgath I, the original Avariel, was cast out of Aer Arnad for attempting to usurp the godhood of The Goddess Doerlia during the Second Heresy. Regardless, Drow, or 'those who went below,' are generally considered an ancient offshoot of elves and high elves driven underground by an alliance of The People and The Stout Folk. What follows is one of several (often historically conflicting) origin stories Drow tell about themselves:

"It is known that the Avariel cast out the Queen Mother Urgath II over two thousand years ago. They feared her power, though she was a great and benevolent Queen Mother who channeled her wicked son Derelan's energies into productive pursuits, and it was by her design that he created the Halflings and Goblinoids, so in truth, she is their mother also. Without her, Derelan would have wrought unspeakable acts of evil and collapsed the Elven empire of Aer Arnad. But alas, in her exile, the former queen Urgath II learned with what loyalty she was repaid for her good deeds. After the death of her son, having no one to turn to, Urgath II forsook Liyúvië and prayed to any who would hear. It was then the Avariel Urgath I who emerged, granting her prayer by sending a beautiful spider to Urgath II. With this spider Urgath II grew strong in power, and built the Demonweb Pits, and she mated with it to produce numerous offspring. It is said that the spider's first host of eggs hatched into Elf-like creatures with skin as dark as the spider's carapace was black, and with hair as white as the spider's silk. These became the first Drow."

Dark Elves, notorious for wickedness, cruelty, betrayal, poison use, and demon worship, typically follow Urgath, the perverse deity of Darkness, Sexuality, Madness, Betrayal, and Blood-Sacrifice, known as 'The Demon Queen of Spiders.' Speaking her true name is taboo, and various monikers such as 'Lloth,' 'The Queen of Chaos,' and 'She Who Waits' are used which vary from clan-to-clan. Misfortune is believed to befall those who utter her true name without offering a small amount of blood - another's or one's own - in tribute.

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It is rumored however (and any caught uttering it in the Underdark are promptly executed) that Urgath herself is the original Avariel they now call Urgath I, and was cast out of Aer Arnad for attempting to ascend to godhood and take from Liyúvië his patronage of the Elves during the Second Heresy. Regardless of the truth of the matter, Drow (or 'those who went below') are typically regarded as an off-shoot of high elves that were driven underground by an alliance of The People, Men and The Stout Folk in antiquity.

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Drow are the descendants of, and widely believe themselves to be the rightful rulers of The Empire of Aer Arnad, and in the time since their exile have largely continued their viscous underground war against the Dwarves who assisted in and funded the other races in their uprising against High-Elven rule.

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While sometimes being artistically inclined the war-like clans of drow do not build cities: They usually conquer and occupy the cities of their enemies - typically Dwarves - though eventually do use magic to sculpt stone and style these places to their tastes over time after conquest.

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Contrary to popular human 'wives tales'; drow are not 'cursed', as much as coming from among the ranks of former high-elves, and very likely modified themselves through magic to adapt to their underground environments much like the High Elves of the current year, yielding both positive and negative results.

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Quirks

• Drow breed as quickly as humans, though their life-spans are shorter than those of most elves and they typically live violent lives, preventing over-population.

• Drow, unlike elves, grow body hair and some male drow are capable of growing facial hair - most commonly styled in goatees.

• Some Drow routinely dye their hair in streaked House Colors.

• Drow are weakened and blinded by direct sunlight and without significant shade (such as a forest canopy) must retreat from combat in it, but are capable of seeing in perfect darkness and low-light conditions.

• Drow may hear another creature's heartbeat within 5 meters.

• Drow are often quite predatory and 'cold blooded' in their mindsets due to the survival and war-footing of their culture, but because of how careful they try to be, can be strangely and endearingly naïve to many surface concepts and customs. This is lessened somewhat in Drow who have experience in eastern surface cities such as the Hidden City of Zerzura or the Yaun-ti capital of Lemuria where drow are more common.

• Drow will cook and eat almost anything if it is proven to be edible, and are quite accustomed to starvation diets in the Underdark. It is not uncommon for drow merchants on the surface to gain weight.

• Because of the dangerous nature of their war-like lives and untreated trauma Drow are often hedonists and take great pleasure in experimenting with alchohol, sex, drugs and any luxuries or depravities they can secure or steal for themselves. Much in parallel with orcs, Drow believe strongly in the right of conquest and often believe those who don't are trying to cheat them out of their just rewards.

• Drow raised in the Underdark often have difficulty smiling because it is highly discouraged or seen as boorish among the Drow to show ones true feelings on one's face. Often, while learning surface mannerisms, this manifests as peeling one's lips back from and showing their teeth in a kind of uncomfortable, frozen sneer.

• While often used in tactical circumstances where stealth is required, Drow hand-sign is also used as an 'aside' for commentary or digression from a topic so as not to interrupt important topics - often as a way of discussing two subjects at once. (Such as talking about something someone has done, and hand-signing in reference about how someone else will react without verbalizing it.)