Harrow - Elf

When Ghul, the Half God, captured many elves from the southern portion of Shahalesti, he herded them into the dungeons beneath Goth Gulgamel, his dark fortress halfway up the Spire. There, he and his demonic servants (including the zaug and the Elder Brood) twisted them in body and spirit. While many of the elves received new magical powers, they were dark powers that corrupted their souls utterly. When he finished his awful work, Ghul released the elves—dubbed Harrow elves—back into the world to show his contempt for all that was good and pure, and to demonstrate his ability to unmake anything made.
The Harrow elves, for the most part, did not join in the great Ghulwar that followed between the Skull-King and most of the rest of that part of the world. Instead, the majority of the Harrow elves fled west and south.
Unlike normal elves, the Harrow elves are not immortal, and many Harrow elf generations have passed in the thousand years since their creation. Since then, their dramatic powers and physical deformities have softened with each new birth, but still the taint of evil remains. Harrow elves are mistrusted and disliked. Occasionally, one is born who displays the power and evil of the original Harrow elves, but such a child is rare (albeit feared). They have spell-like abilities far beyond the norm.

Personality

Even after all this time, Harrow elves are as twisted on the inside with bitterness and hate as their flesh is twisted and deformed on the outside. They know that everyone hates and fears them and, truth be told, they hate and fear themselves, at least to a degree. They resent the happy lives of others, and evil Harrow elves often seek to make others as miserable as they are. They frequently attempt to disfigure their enemies the way they have been disfigured. Some still seek revenge on those who mutated their forebears.

Physical Description

Harrow elves have the same general build as other elves. Their bodies typically bear horrible birthmarks, scars, and various deformities. Their flesh is a pale yellowish-white, and their eyes are red.
Harrow elves have a lifespan similar in length to that of humans.

Relations

Harrow elves are disdained by virtually all others, but especially by other elves, who see them as abominations only slightly better than dark elves. Harrow elves share a general wariness for all other species, but beyond that they have no preferences.

Alignment

Harrow elves lean toward evil, but some have overcome this predilection.

Harrow Elf Lands

The Harrow elves have no lands of their own. Most live in isolated communities. Typically, Harrow elves find mates only among their own kind, but sometimes they take mates through violence from among Shahalesti elves or even humans. Offspring from such rapes are always Harrow elves.

Religion

Harrow elves generally are too bitter to find much solace in religion. They have very few clerics, but the few who do pay homage to a deity often worship one of the demon gods of The Hordes of Hell.

Language

Harrow elves speak Elven.

Names

Harrow elf names are similar to other Elvish names.

Adventurers

Harrow elves make excellent adventurers, given that most of them feel they have little to live for—many have a death wish. They are fierce combatants, often quite ruthless. Usually, however, they do what they do more to prove themselves than to gain riches or fame.

Racial Information

• Ability Score Increase: One ability score of your choice increases by 2.
• Age: Harrow elves reach adulthood in their early teens and live less than a century.
• Alignment: Harrow elves are usually evil or neutral. They may be lawful, chaotic, or neutral.
• Size: Harrow elves range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and have slender builds. Your size is Medium.
• Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
• Darkvision: You have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of grey.
• Close Resemblance: You know how to disguise yourself as other elf ethnicities and are proficient in disguise kits when doing so.
• Unnerving Prodigy: You gain proficiency in two skills of your choice. You have -2 penalty on Diplomacy checks when trying to influence a creature that dislikes Harrow elves.
• Harrow Elf Magic: You know the mage hand, minor illusion, and prestidigitation cantrips, and the detect magic spell. You know one 1st- or 2nd-level sorcerer, warlock, or wizard spell chosen by the GM; you can cast it once and regain the ability to do so once per day. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for these spells.
• Languages: You can speak, read, and write two languages that your GM agrees are appropriate.

Encompassed species

• Elf