Driven by the will of a sadistic spider-goddess, the dark elves are cruel, insane elves who plot in the depths of the Underlands and await the day when the hated sun will be blotted out and the Spinner in Darkness will at last link our world with Her own realm.
Appearance[]
Dark elves stand about five feet tall and possess dusky gray to ebony skin and white hair. They tend to be wiry and muscular, with an animalistic agility that allows them to get around easily in the tunnels and vaults of the Underlands. Their most alien feature is their eyes, however, possessing black pupils and sclerae with red irises that glow in the all-encompassing darkness of their homelands.
History[]
It is believed that the dark elves were once high elves, whose magical explorations opened a portal into an unknown dark realm, through which unnamed horrors threatened to invade this world. A group of powerful mages volunteered to sacrifice themselves in order to close the portal, while the rest of the community was evacuated as a precaution and sealed.
Years later, the elves returned to the site and found the buildings overgrown with a vaguely organic black substance which withered away as their lights drew near. Inside the mage tower they made a terrifying discovery - in the course of driving back whatever horror had threatened to come through, the mages had allowed themselves to be corrupted by its dark influence into a twisted parody of their former selves. After a desperate battle, the dark elves were driven into the tunnels of theUnderlands, and the high elves vowed never to speak of this event, hoping these new evil creatures would remain underground and away from the light of day.
Things seldom work out like that, however...
Lands[]
The dark elves live exclusively in the Underlands, a fact for which those who know of them are often intensely grateful until they discover that the dark elves delight in making nighttime raids on surface communities.
Languages[]
Culture[]
Dark elf culture is matriarchal, ruled over with an iron fist by the priestesses of the [[Spinner in Darkness|Spider Mother], whose word is law. Below them are the Matriarchs, each the most powerful female of their noble family, who direct the daughters and spellcasters in the political machinations needed to gain power and favor. Below them are the dark elf males, who may be trained in martial and magical techniques but otherwise are little more than servants to the noble families. Below them are the dark elf servants, generally taken from other families as slaves, and below these are slaves from other races, who are treated as llittle more than chattel and pets.