Dark Elf

Basic Information

Biological Traits

Shorter and slighter than most elves due to poor nutrition and lack of sunlight.

Ecology and Habitats

Over the millennia since the first of them were trapped on the Plane of Shadow, the dark elves have adapted to their harsh environment. Although the poor soil does not allow them to farm, there is just enough animal life that they can subsist on hunting, supplemented with food magically created by spellcasters.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Because of their reliance on spellcasters, particularly divine casters, for so much of their food supply, dark elf society centres around the priesthood. A relatively small number of clerics, paladins and druids rule over populations held captive by their dependence on magically created food and clean water.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Very few dark elves make it off the Plane of Shadow to the Material Plane or Faerie. Those that do tend to be distrusted by most, and keep to themselves while they search for a place they can call home. In Faerie, small groups of dark elves have established themselves in the Feydark, the sprawling network of tunnels and caverns beneath the surface. There, they compete for space with goblins, gnomes, and other subterranean fey.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Due to their sunless environment, dark elves see far better in the dark than their relatives, at the cost of poorer daylight vision. Dark elves who have grown up in the Plane of Shadow find bright light painful and disorienting.

Civilization and Culture

History

The dark elves are the descendants of elves who found themselves trapped in the Plane of Shadow many generations ago. Rather than succumbing to the pull of entropy generated by the plane, they made it a part of their way of life. One of the more foresighted among the initial group seized the initiative and took charge, using the mixed carrot and stick of his ability to create food from nothing to persuade his companions to listen. From there grew the seeds of the theocratic dictatorship which now characterises dark elf society.

Common Myths and Legends

A common deity in the Plane of Shadow, worshipped only by the dark elves, is Zilia, goddess of order and tyranny. She encourages the autocratic rule of her priesthood and directs them to raise themselves above the rest of their race, keeping themselves strong and other dark elves weaker.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

The scarce resources of the Plane of Shadow make for an environment of fierce competition, in which any outsider is an enemy from whom the community must be defended, as well as a potential source of resources if one can take them by trade, trickery or force. Dark elves are utterly ruthless in their dealings with other races, and are slow to break these habits, even when they find their way to places of greater abundance.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Elf

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Colourless skin and hair in shades of black, white and grey. Pale eyes, sometimes with remnants of colour.