Drow

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The drow (rhyming either with "now" or "throw," per Mentzer, 1985) or dark elves are a generally evil, dark-skinned subrace of elves in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game.

Ecology

Environment

After the great war amongst the elves, the drow were forced underground in what is now known as the Underdark, a vast system of caverns and tunnels spanning much of the continent. The drow have since built cities across the Underdark, becoming one of the most powerful races therein.

The drow have adapted to seeing better in the darkness than in the light, and they rarely, if ever, venture up to the surface, for their eyes are sensitive to the light. In earlier editions of the game, the magic weapons, armor, and various other items of the drow would disintegrate on contact with sunlight.

Typical physical characteristics

Drow characters are extremely intelligent, charismatic and dexterous, but share surface elves' comparative frailty and slight frames. Females tend to be bigger and stronger than males. Drow are characterized by white or silver hair, obsidian black skin, and red (or rarely gray, violet, or yellow) eyes, as well as innate spell powers and spell resistance. This is balanced by their weakness in daylight. Drow weapons and armor (usually made of adamantite or another metal unique to the Underdark) slowly lose their magical properties if exposed to the sun. In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition, drow weapons disintegrate upon exposure to sunlight unless specifically treated. Drow also employ the unusual hand crossbow, firing small, though very lethal, darts. Half-drow are the result of crossbreeding between another race and a drow, and share characteristics of both. (The term "half-drow" usually refers to one who is half drow and half human.)

Drow males are commonly wizards or fighters. Females are almost always clerics and almost never wizards.

Alignment

As a race, drow are usually evil. Exceptions exist, the most notable being Leda, Nilonim, Tysiln San, and Landis Bree, but these are highly unusual. Originally, drow were chaotic evil in alignment. Beginning with 3rd edition D&D, drow are usually neutral evil. There have been encounters with nonevil drow, but these are distrusted as much as their brethren, due to their reputation.

Society

Drow society is primarily matriarchal, with priestesses of their evil spider goddess Lolth in the highest seats of power. Some drow, especially of the House of Eilserv, worship a nameless Elder Elemental God (said to have ties to Tharizdun) instead of Lolth. Males are considered inferior to females within drow society, and while some males may be respected if they are powerful wizards, they are never allowed to rule. The drow sometimes use their dark arts to turn humanoid slaves into living sculptures.

Drow society is based upon violence, murder, cunning, and the philosophy that only the strong survive (though in the Drow tongue, a quirk of the language creates a reversal of cause-and-effect; more correctly, it can be translated as "those who survive are strong"). Hence, most drow plot endlessly to murder or otherwise incapacitate their rivals and enemy drow using deceit and betrayal. Drow, particularly in higher positions, are constantly wary of assassins and the like. Their society, as a whole, is seemingly nonviable. The only reason they do not murder themselves to extinction is by the will of Lolth, working primarily through her clergy. Lolth does not tolerate any drow that threaten to bring down her society, and the clergy make certain that perpetrators cease their destructive actions by either threatening or killing them, depending on her mood.

There are exceptions to the rule, of course. Some communities of drow worship other gods (like Vhaeraun or Kiaransali) and thus their hierarchy changes, reverses the roles of males and females, or results in other differences in their social order.

Most drow societies hate surface elves, but will wage war with almost any surface race and other subterranean races, such as mind flayers, svirfneblin, duergar, kuo-toa, dwarves, and orcs, for spoils and territory.

Religion

The gods most commonly worshiped by the drow include Lolth, the Elder Elemental Eye, Keptolo, Kiaransali, Vhaerun, and Zinzerena. Other fell entities and demon lords may also be worshiped.

Drow Settlements

The most famous drow community is the subterranean city Erelhei-Cinlu, and its surrounding Vault, commonly called the Vault of the Drow. Drow are also known to dwell beneath the Domain of Greyhawk, where they worship elemental forces, and beneath the Pomarj.

Famous Drow

Known drow of Greyhawk include Clannair Blackshadow, Derken Gale, Jawal Severnain, and Landis Bree of Greyhawk City; Tysiln San of the Valley of the Mage; Eclavdra of House Eilserv and her clone Leda; and Edralve of the Slave Lords.

The drow of the moon Celene include Queen Lililth "Darkmane," her advisor Xerolan'th, and the priestess Tathis Spiderheart.

List of works in which drow play a major role

Novels

Gary Gygax

Creative origins

The word "drow" is of Scottish origin, an alternative form of "trow", which is a cognate for "troll". Trow/drow was used to refer to a wide variety of evil sprites. Except for the basic concept of "dark elves", everything else about drow was apparently invented by TSR's writers.

The Dungeons & Dragons author Gary Gygax stated that "Drow are mentioned in Keightley's The Fairy Mythology, as I recall (it might have been The Secret Commonwealth--neither book is before me, and it is not all that important anyway), and as Dark Elves of evil nature, they served as an ideal basis for the creation of a unique new mythos designed especially for the AD&D game." ("Books Are Books, Games Are Games" in Dragon Magazine, Nov. 1979, #31. This establishes Gygax's source for the term as Thomas Keightley's The Fairy Mythology, Illustrative of the Romance and Superstition of Various Countries (1828; aka The World Guide to Gnomes, Fairies, Elves and Other Little People). They were first mentioned in the Dungeons & Dragons game in the 1977 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual under "Elf", where it is stated that "The 'Black Elves,' or drow, are only legend." They made their first statistical appearance in G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King (later G1-2-3 Against the Giants) (1978) by Gary Gygax. The story continued in modules D1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth, D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, D3 Vault of the Drow, and Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits each of which expanded on drow culture. The first D&D manual that the drow appeared in was the original Fiend Folio.

Bibliography

  • Baas, Walter. "The Well of All Heals." Treasures of Greyhawk. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1992.
  • Caigle, Eric. "THE BESTIARY: PUNISHMENTS OF LOLTH." Dragon #298. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2002.
  • Laws, Robin D. "Flesh for Lolth." Dragon #298. Bellevue, WA: Paizo Publishing, 2002.
  • Ward, James. Greyhawk Adventures. Lake Geneva, WI: TSR, 1988.
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