Children of the Spider Goddess
The Darkest Elves' Point of View
The drow, or dark elves, are easily the most distinctive elves found in the AD&D® game. From their very appearance to their way of life, dark elves are as different from surface elves as is possible; in more ways than one, dark elves are like photographic negatives of surface elves. At the same time, the common ancestry of dark and surface elves shows up in the many similarities between the races. Indeed, the enmity between these races could well lie in the fact that each side sees a horrid caricature of itself in the other.
Pride and Personality
The key to the dark elf's personality is pride. Any dark elf, no matter how lowly his station, feels that he is a natural aristocrat. No matter how powerful a nondrow is, or how awe-inspiring his achievements are, the most open praise a dark elf will usually give is: "You did about as well as could be expected, for a [fill in racial name]." When dealing with drow, other beings often note a hint of elaborate, subtle mockery in the dark elven manner. When among other races, even the humblest beggar-drow carries himself like a prince in exile.
For a dark elf, pride in clan comes just after pride in self. The achievements of a noble house are believed to reflect upon all its members; a merchant clan's successes, for example, are sources of pride for each member. At the same time, this pride often leads to bitter feuds between noble houses, since no drow is willing to believe that a house other than his own should be more prominent in a drow colony. These internecine feuds often grow very nasty, with assassins plying their trade briskly or with open battles breaking out in little-traveled corridors. One reason the drow give for the preeminence of the priestesses of Lolth among them is that the priestesses ensure that these feuds are never taken to the point of endangering any one colony of drow. As a result, many dark-elven ballads celebrate heroes and heroines whose loyalty to their clans and kin saved the day.
The third sort of pride all dark elves feel is pride in their race and its accomplishments. To be sure, the drow do have reasons for being proud. In one of the most threatening environments on the Prime Material Plane, they not only survive but thrive within and dominate their surroundings. Dark-elven legend states that in the beginning, all elves were challenged to enter the underworld and test themselves against its elements. The ancestors of the drow accepted this challenge, and were made different from all other elves to commemorate their courage. Because of this, dark elves scorn their surfacedwelling kinfolk for choosing the easy, untroubled life. "More danger, more glory" is a common drow saying.
Dark Societies
Some commentators have wondered how the chaotic-evil drow manage to hold themselves together and survive at all, much less how they have done as well as they have. The answer lies in clan loyalty, as noted earlier. Even the most chaotic, evil, and primitive drow differentiate between the "in group" with whom an individual cooperates and the "out groups" who are fair game. This is reflected among primitive tribes in our own world: Many of the names these tribes give themselves translate as "the people," indicating that outsiders are not quite regarded as human. The drow feel much the same, although more so about their merchant clan or noble house, purely as a matter of survival. Clan loyalty among dark elves is intense and deep, even though it does not preclude nonlethal infighting for positions, of dominance within the group. The drow feel that leadership should go to those who show themselves worthy, and a leader worthy of the title is able to keep subordinates loyal to the clan.
Drow adventurers are usually social exiles, and have no clan to which they may cleave. This loss tends to make drow adventurers intensely loyal to their adventuring party, although their normal tendency for domination is exacerbated by dealing with nondrow. Such a drow defends the group with fervor and fury (simply as a matter of survival) in order to preserve the only surface-dwellers with whom he feels even partially comfortable - yet may constantly quarrel with and engage in petty rivalries with group members when with the group alone.
One tendency drow share with the other elves is a deep appreciation of beauty and quality in all things. For the drow, this appreciation is manifested in a drive to excel at whatever is done. A drow craftsman with centuries of perspective thinks nothing of taking a few decades off to become skilled in some new craft technique. This drive for excellence ensures that any items manufactured by drow are of the best quality and beauty. The love of beauty is somewhat spoiled by the sharp and egotistical pride they feel in viewing their own works.
The drow love of beauty is one main reason their race engages in the construction of free-standing buildings in the high, wide caverns they favor. Queried on this practice, a drow often responds: "What scope for skill can holes grubbed out of the rock afford?" This tendency for building runs contrary to that of most other underground races.
The drive to excel at all things, combined with personal pride, tempts most dark elves to leave menial work to slaves or servants, thus providing the free-time for studying spell-casting or practicing the warrior's arts. Even drow thieves and assassins take great pride in their skills, often competing to see who can steal the most in a set time, or to see who can assassinate a particularly difficult target first.
Dark-elven society, unlike that of any known race of surface elves, is basically matriarchal. Whether or not this came from the widespread worship of the demoness Lolth is unknown. In any case, noble houses are usually led by their most dominant female member. The males accept this rule without cavil. Like other elves, the dark elves do not discriminate against a dark elf of proven ability simply on account of sex (noble houses led by males exist, though they are rare).
The priestesses of Lolth, along with their male assistants, form an elite group and provide such race-wide leadership as exists. When an intrafamily vendetta threatens the colony, or an outside threat has been detected, the priestesses of Lolth usually rally the other dark elves to their banner. No drow could willingly accept domination by any single noble house, but those who serve Lolth serve a cause that almost all evil (and even some neutral) dark elves revere.
The Drow Adventurer
Drow adventurers are even rarer than halfling adventurers. A drow needs very powerful motives to leave his or her clan. One common motive for such departure is alignment. Any good-aligned dark elf finds his entire society repugnant. The casual acceptance of betrayal and treachery as methods of advancing the clan's cause, the worship of Lolth and trafficking with other demons and devils, the casual cruelty with which slaves are treated - all of this tends to alienate a good dark elf. Attempts at reforming drow society might follow, only to be promptly quelled by the amused majority. When a good dark elf has had enough, he might well decide to defect to the side of the predominantly good, surface-dwelling races.
Evil drow might also find themselves trying their luck among the surfacedwellers. In this case, the predominant motive could well be that their clans have been virtually destroyed as a result of a vendetta or assassins' war. With no clan and many enemies, the surface might hold fewer terrors than the drow's subterranean home.
Still another motive that could apply to any drow adventurer is greed. Dark elves are well aware of their relative advantages over other races, and a dissatisfied dark elf might easily decide to put his skills to use against inferior opposition. This sort of dark elf usually plans a brief surface sojourn with intentions of returning much richer than when he set out.
As can be expected with such a unique race of beings, the dark elves approach each profession in their own distinctive manner. Often, their perspective on a given profession is unlike that of any other known race.
Dark-elven cavaliers are immediately recognizable (even in full plate mail with a closed visor) by the holstered handcrossbow they invariably carry. Since cavaliers must start out as good characters, these dark elves are converts from evil. Like many other converts, they are often more fervent about the cause than those whose lives have been spent in its service. Good and neutral drow cavaliers are among the most relentless foes evil has. Their race is often an advantage in itself, for many evil beings are more at home in darkness - an element in which the drow operates at peak efficiency. As the drow reach higher levels, their innate spells become more useful, particularly against enemies who are unaware of the fact that they're up against a dark elf.
Dark-elven clerics are almost all female. Unlike other elves, dark-elven females have unlimited advancement in the clerical class, which gives rise to some anomalous situations. A case is known in which a dark-elven female cleric of Corellon Larethian rose far past the highest level that the worship of Corellon Larethian normally allowed. Like regular cavaliers, goodaligned, dark-elven clerics are particularly remorseless in battling evil; their familiarity fuels their hatred of it.
Fighters hold a relatively low status among dark elves, even among the ranks of adventurers. Most dark-elven fighters are multi-classed, if any talent for another career exists. No dark elf likes to think that all he is good for is fighting. Nevertheless, a dark elf with fighting skills alone works just as hard to perfect these skills as he would in any other profession.
Drow rangers are a rare and special breed. Like dark-elven cavaliers, they are usually converts from evil, and are just as fervent against it as are dark-elven cavaliers. Not surprisingly, drow rangers prefer operating at night, making them invaluable members of any rangers' organization. Since many evil beings think that the night is their time, a few drow rangers can often be more effective than their numbers warrant. This is due, in part, to the overconfidence of their foes. Taking advantage of their race's evil reputation also helps. A drow ranger has a better chance of entering an orc encampment and being accepted as a nonthreatening stranger than any surface-dwelling demihuman does.
Magic-users among the drow tend to be male for the same reasons that female drow tend to be clerics. Often, a dark-elven male who chafes at female domination within his society takes up magic in an effort to excel at something few female drow are capable of. Good drow magic-users tend to be less dismayed over the concept of dealing with demons than they do over dealing with magic-users of other races, especially since drow magic-users are so familiar with various beings from the lower planes.
Thieves and thief-acrobats of dark-elven race steal primarily to prove their superiority over nondrow characters. Their predilection for operating in darkness, combined with their innate spell-ability and high dexterity, make drow thieves difficult to stop. In thieves' guilds, dark elves often specialize in the kinds of jobs that cause other thieves to despair. Drow thieves believe that success where other thieves fear to dare demonstrates dark-elven superiority.
Drow assassins seldom bother to go adventuring. In drow society, these characters perform a function that is both valuable and in high demand, and one in which they take great pride. In the eternal cold war between various noble houses and their associated merchant clans, darkelven assassins often do the perilous work of removing leaders who pose a particular threat. At other times, they perform the task of removing particularly charismatic troublemakers who threaten dark-elven society with reform or the overthrow of Lolth's priestesses. Since the drow seldom dare to war openly among themselves, the skillful assassin receives much of the status that a fighter receives among other races. In fact, the drow attempt to hire the services of nondrow assassins of higher rank than they themselves can attain. These higher-level assassins are offered enticing rewards and challenging work. Several human Guildmaster Assassins have accepted these offers; one Grandmother of Assassins who disappeared mysteriously is said to have taken on the job of defending a hard-pressed noble house.
Racial Considerations
Dark elves distrust most characters - dark-elven or not - who are not members of their noble house or clan, but they do make some judgments by race. Generally, dark elves respect humans of higher level than they themselves can attain. Contrary to Unearthed Arcana (first edition rules), dark elves should have a neutral disposition with respect to halflings. Unlike the other races to which they bear antipathy, halflings are not competitors for dark-elven food and living space. Furthermore, halflings do not even vaguely resemble races whom the drow disdain; as a result, most dark elves are entirely unfamiliar with halflings.
Gnomes, despite their similarities to halflings, are another story. Deep gnomes and dark elves have feuded throughout history, fighting over alignment, food, and living space. The deep gnomes are also tempted by the wealth of the dark elves, who share an envious greed over the wealth of the gnomes. This tends to make dark elves prejudiced toward all gnomes, whether "deep" or not. The gnomes' love of pranks and japes makes matters even worse. Although dark elves have a good sense of humor, they find jokes directed at them extremely unamusing.
Hill and mountain dwarves, being easily the most subterranean of all the surface dwelling races, have a long history of conflict with the dark elves. The dwarves usually claim they were tunneling along when the dark elves ambushed them without warning. Likewise, the dark elves claim that the dwarves, having discovered the drow wealth, deliberately tunneled toward their treasure caches. The usual dwarven-elven differences in outlook merely make things more bitter. To the disdainful drow, dwarves are grotesque, self-enslaved, compulsive hoarders. The dwarves, for their part, can't understand how any race with the undeniable subterranean skills of the drow can be so flighty. Furthermore, the drow penchant for slavery and evil enrages dwarves.
The dark elves are of two minds about half-orcs. The few half-orc assassins of levels above those the drow themselves can attain are respected (though never to the same extent that humans of equal level are). Other half-orcs are lumped together with orcs, hobgoblins, and other humanoids in the dark-elven mind. Such humanoids are regarded as useful cats-paws and patsies, but are not deserving of much respect. Thus, half-orcs are often underestimated by the dark elves. The excellent craftsmanship of the gnomes and dwarves is respected by the drow, and the few halflings the drow encounter are respected for their superlative thieving abilities. But half-orcs have no crafts or arts, nor any real prospect of improving themselves, Consequently, half-orcs often receive exaggerated praise from the dark elves for anything they manage to do. ("Oh, look! You actually managed to kill that monster! Isn"t that wonderful!")
Gray dwarves are probably the race with whom the drow feel most at ease. As underground demi-humans, both races have a lot in common. In many areas, both races have discovered that cooperation benefits both sides. Dark elves and gray dwarves have often fought as allies. Likewise, the two races often engage in a great deal of trade. The dangers of the underground environment force both sides to suppress the traditional dwarven-elven distrust that is typical of their surface-dwelling cousins.
Surface elves, as is well-known, are the people the drow hate most. Even good-aligned, surface-dwelling dark elves share some of this feeling, albeit to a lesser degree. The drow feel contemptuous of the easy life led by the surface elves; in like fashion, the surface elves are revolted by the demon-worship common among the drow. Civil wars and intrafamily feuds are usually the most bitter, and the feud between dark and surface elves is no exception. Indeed, many dark elves who defect to the surface because of alignment do not associate with surface elves if possible. Often, these defectors find it difficult to quell their childhood training of fear and hatred for their surface-dwelling cousins.
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