Drow
"In Darkness, strength"
History
The drow are viewed as the second born, and as the first of the true Kin: made in the visage of a god. Myrakka, Goddess of Darkness , discontent with the goblins, yearned for a people in her image; a Kin that would love and grow from darkness, quiet and foreboding, hiding multitudes beneath a dark exterior.
And so she strove, and created the Drow. The drow are human like in looks, but with blueish grey skin and white hair, pointed ears, black eyes and slender tall builds. The drow like to live above ground, but in the darkest recesses available: shallow caves, deep woods and windowless temples are their favored locations. Like many of the first Kin, they participated in the Titan wars, and were the Kin that most suffered during it, as they made up most of the bulk of the old god's armies.
A drow revels in darkness and nightmares. If a drow is unable to sleep, or if he does not have nightmares during it, it is almost the same as not resting at all. Always on edge and prepared, a drow routinely learns and adapts via their dreams in an almost prophetic way. Many a drow has a story of dreaming of being stabbed in the back while in a forest clearing, only for that exact scenario to happen weeks later, with the drow crediting the nightmare as a learning experience for how one could avoid or handle such a dangerous scenario. It is said that a drow who only has pleasant dreams will quickly die or fade away, becoming soft and less connected to his material self over time. When several drow sleep together, they usually have shared dreams as well. It's common for drow brigades to sleep closely together, as they will dream of battles and betrayals, and they will bond and learn together in their sleep.
Even still, the most important function of a drow's dreams has to do with how this Kin grows. When ready to produce offspring, a drow couple will go to the darkest recess of their community and meditate together. They will have a shared nightmare, wherein they will shape and teach their newborn about the difficulties of the world and how to overcome them. As the parents dream of fights, bloodshed and starvation, they imagine their child rising above the occasion, always struggling but surviving through cunning and strength. At the end of the night, when they awake, a new baby drow will lay resting between them.
And this is how the drow lived for centuries, until after the Deep Night , when many events that significantly altered the drow's lives happened in a short span of time.
First, Eryndor, God of Nature's birth moved a great part of their population from the ember wastes into Rootheart Isle. The drow in the island still worship Eryndor, for life near the Embermaw was becoming unsustainable. They initially flourished in the island, making it their own, and Eryndor's massive tree and forests made for an ideal place for drow to live: wild, mysterious and dark.
However, Lunara, Goddess of Dreams's birth is viewed as heresy to the drow priesthood. Viewed as a betrayer of her mother goddess, Myrakka, Lunara hates nightmares and strives to give pleasant dreams to everyone. In her folly, she started giving drow pleasant dreams; even during their mating rituals. When a drow couple have pleasant dreams during a coupling, they do not produce drow offspring but an elf. Therefore, the first Elves to be born in this land were birthed by an unsupecting drow couple having a shared pleasant dream.
The first of these elves were viewed as aberrations, and were shunned or killed. However, with time, it became impossible to keep ignoring the issue as more and more elves were born. With the birth of Seraphina, Goddess of Light, the day became much brighter as well, making it almost impossible for a drow to leave the forest in daylight. And so, a rift was born and two disparate communities formed in Rootheart. The Drow migrated to the thickest parts of the forest, and the Elves built their settlements closer to the ocean and the brightest parts of the forest. Every year they meet near the Erdtree, and commune and swap children so the drow can be with their own, and the elves can bask in sunlight.
Now
After the Sundering, the drow remained relatively unscathed in Rootheart Isle. If anything, they are thriving for the first time since the Deep Night. It is said the sun shines less brightly, and the night is again darker and filled with danger. Nightmares are now as common as they were during the First Age, causing the drow population to rise for the first time in centuries, and the elf population to decline.
Still, the drow like to keep mostly to themselves when possible. Where there are elves though, you will always have drow, so it's not impossible to see one of them out and about in a human settlement, miserable and with a hood shadowing their eyes.
Comments