Elf

Shadar-kai

Sworn to the Raven Queen's service, the mysterious shadar-kai venture into the Material Plane from the Shadowfell to advance her will. Once they were fey like the rest of their elven kin, and now they exist in a strange state between life and death. Eladrin and shadar-kai are like reflections of each other: one bursting with emotion, the other nearly devoid of it.

• • Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.

  • Necrotic Resistance. You have resistance to necrotic damage.

  • Blessing of the Raven Queen. As a bonus action, you can magically teleport up to 30 feet to an unoccupied space you can see. Once you use this trait, you can't do so again until you finish a long rest. Starting at 3rd level, you also gain resistance to all damage when you teleport using this trait. The resistance lasts until the start of your next turn. During that time, you appear ghostly and translucent.

Elf

“I have never imagined such beauty existed,” Goldmoon said softly. The day’s march had been difficult, but the reward at the end was beyond their dreams. The companions stood on a high cliff over the fabled city of Qualinost.

Four slender spires rose from the city’s corners like glistening spindles, their brilliant white stone marbled with shining silver. Graceful arches, swooping from spire to spire, soared through the air. Crafted by ancient dwarven metalsmiths, they were strong enough to hold the weight of an army, yet they appeared so delicate that a bird lighting on them might overthrow the balance. These glistening arches were the city’s only boundaries; there was no wall around Qualinost. The elven city opened its arms lovingly to the wilderness.

—Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, Dragons of Autumn Twilight

The most ancient tales speak of elves as the children of the god Corellon. Unlike many similar myths involving other races, these tales are true. Elves are all descended from a deity, and their origin led to a tragedy that shapes their culture to this day. The gulf between the elves and Corellon, and the split between Corellon and Lolth, arose from the same transgression. That one incident set all the many races of elves on their present paths, determined their unique life cycle, and triggered an unflagging hatred between the drow and the elves of the Material Plane. No other event has had such momentous impact on elven history as the one that began it all.

A Race Divided

Once we followed in Corellon's footsteps, but we strayed from that path. For our whole existence, we pay penance for a misstep. It is just? Mayhap not, but when is love just? Is loss and longing a matter for judges to decide? The heart knows what the soul wants.

- Amlaruil Moonflower, Last Queen of Evermeet

Long before elves existed, Corellon danced from world to world and plane to plane. A being of consummate mutability and infinite grace, Corellon was a god like no other - able to take the form of a chuckling stream, a teasing breeze, an incandescent beam, a cavorting flame, or a crackling bolt of lightning. On nothing more than a whim, Corellon's body could become a school of fish, a swarm of bees, or a flock of birds. When consorting with other gods, Corellon often adopted their appearances - male, female, or something else - but just as often kept their company in the form of a rose blossom or a delicate doe.

Corellon's flamboyant, mercurial personality showed through no matter which form the entity took. Corellon loved whole heartedly, broke oaths without reservation, and took pleasure from every encounter with the other divine beings of the multiverse.

Most of the gods accepted Corellon's mutability and passionate behavior, but these traits infuriated Gruumsh, the greatest of the orc gods. Gruumsh's wrath was almost universally respected, even among the divine powers, but Corellon blithely took no heed of him. Perhaps it was this seeming hauteur that enabled Gruumsh to get close enough to wound Corellon, igniting the legendary conflict that cost Gruumsh one of his eyes. Depending on who does the telling, the battle was a clash of titans fought across many planes and worlds, or it was little more than an annoyance to Corellon. But the legends all agree that the first elves emerged from the blood that Corellon shed.

These primal elves were much akin to Corellon, not nearly as powerful but just as changeable and audacious. Splendid fey creatures, they traveled in Corellon's shadow, sparkling like the reflections from a finely cut gem. When Corellon came to notice these glorious echoes, the god tarried with them in the place that became the realm of Arvandor. While enjoying the company of these primal elves, Corellon came to appreciate their ideas, which were both novel and familiar, and singled out those of great repute for special treatment. Corellon gave each of these luminaries a unique name: Aerdrie, Keptolo, Solonor, Naralis, Erevan, Hanali, Tarsellis, Rillifane, Zandilar, Labelas, and many more - and with each name uttered, a new elf god was born.

One of these beings, although privileged to be elevated above the rest of the primal elves, was not satisfied with being one of Corellon's trusted underlings. She - for she had declared herself thus - saw in the multiverse around them other beings making an impact in various worlds. The entity who called herself Lolth spoke to the other new gods and wove an enticing tale of how the elves could attain superiority if only they could relinquish a bit of their individual freedom. Together, united in purpose, the gods could be the vanguard of this effort. Wasn't losing freedom to achieve greatness worth the price? Through this argument, Lolth persuaded the primal entities to take static forms, largely resembling what elves look like today, and thereby turn away from the example of Corellon's wild, ever-shifting ways.

As these primal reflections of Corellon changed their nature and defined themselves, they came to see Corellon and Lolth in new lights. They now viewed Corellon as their father, the one who had sired them, and Lolth as their mother, the one who set them on the path to their destiny. Each of the other primal elves, as children will do, favored one parent or the other. Corellon was revolted by this perceived betrayal and railed against Lolth's intrusion. Some of the primal elves rose to her defense. They argued that no entity who sprang from Corellon, no matter how rebellious, should be attacked. Those who remained advocates of Corellon insisted that their sire also wanted greatness for the elves and that such greatness could be achieved if all the primal elves followed Corellon's lead.

The primal elves gathered in great hosts around Lolth and Corellon as each entity pleaded its case. At a time when Corellon became distracted and lost in thought, Lolth crept up on him and sought to strike a mortal blow. The elves who favored Corellon helped to blunt the attack, but those in Lolth's camp remained aloof and detached, doing nothing to prevent her onslaught.

This act rent the elves asunder. Lolth and Corellon parted ways, Lolth to become a demon lord in the Abyss and Corellon to become the de facto leader of a pantheon that could no longer be trusted. The elf gods who sided with Corellon became the Seldarine, and those who fled along with Lolth became the Seldarine’s dark reflection. Save for those who had been named gods, Corellon cast out the primal elves from Arvandor and consigned them to a physical existence on the Material Plane and other worlds of the multiverse such as the Feywild and the Shadowfell. From then on, all elves would be mortal, fixed in the forms they had adopted in defiance of Corellon's will. The elves who most revered Lolth became drow, and the others divided themselves into a multitude of surface-dwelling groups, each worshiping some or all of the Seldarine in their respective enclaves.

As a consequence of this rift, no elf would ever fully return to Corellon's embrace to enjoy life eternal in Arvandor. Instead, when an elven soul returns to Arvandor, it is adopted by the other gods of the Seldarine and given respite from the world for a time, during which it is left alone to contemplate its creator's disappointment. Then the soul emerges from Arvandor, to be reborn into a lissome, graceful body that lives for an incredibly long time - evidence that their creator holds a love for them that, deep down, is boundless.

The Elven Diaspora

The primal elves cavorted on various planes of existence before the rift between Corellon and Lolth. Outside the glory of Arvandor, their favorite place was the Feywild, also called Faerie - a realm of unbridled passion. It is to that place of splendors that the elves fled after they were flung from Corellon's presence. It is in that place where they transformed from fey creatures into humanoids. Afterward, they often wept as they realized what they had lost, their sorrow made even deeper by the influence of the Feywild. But it was also in the Feywild where they discovered the potential joys of being a person in a world of fixed forms.

Most of the elves eventually spread from the Feywild to other worlds, as wanderlust and curiosity drove them to the far reaches of the multiverse. In those other worlds, the elves developed the forms of culture and society that are now associated with their people. In some places, the name Corellon has passed from the memory of the elves, but the god's blood flows within them still, even if they know nothing of its source.

No matter where they are in the multiverse, elves of all sorts feel a special connection to the realm of Faerie, for it was their race's first home after they were cast adrift. Even if they can't name that realm or don't know how to return there, vestigial memories of the place sometimes glimmer in their minds when they trance.

One group of elves, the eladrin, never left that first refuge. After being exposed to the pervasive magic of the Feywild for centuries, these elves have a supernatural quality not shared by their cousins on the Material Plane. Some eladrin have been transformed so thoroughly that they have become fey creatures again and have been permitted to return to Arvandor, where they are a fascination and a delight to the Seldarine.

Living in Reverie

History, my young friends? Just because your lives are as fleetingly swift as a hummingbird's flight is no cause to say mine constitutes history. History is the weave of things outside life, not for those still within its loom. Still I shall tell you of my lifetime and my clan's lifetime, as my clan song has not been sung in over a century. In reverie, the People may learn all that has passed for them and their predecessors. Now, in songs that were once only sung in celebration, I may teach you brief candles of humanity of the People and your own place among us.

-Cymbiir Haevault, Lorekeeper of House Haevault

A memory is a curious thing. One can come into consciousness unbidden, evoked by an unexpected scent or the words spoken by a friend. A memory can also be elusive, foiling all attempts to recall it and sometimes remembered only after the hunt is abandoned, like a word on the tip of one's tongue. Some memories pull at the heart, weighing it down and holding it there as an anchor moors a ship. Others buoy it up or make it flutter joyously like the wings of a bird. Some memories lie in wait like predators, ready to leap out when the mind or the heart is vulnerable. Some linger like scars, not always visible but ever-present.

Perhaps more so than any other race, elves are familiar with all aspects of memory. From birth, elves don't sleep but instead enter a trance when they need to rest. In this state, elves remain aware of their surroundings while immersing themselves in memories. What an elf remembers during this reverie depends largely on how long the elf has lived, and the events of the lives that the elf's soul has experienced before.

Dreams from Beyond Memory

Elves can sleep and dream just like any human, but almost all surface elves avoid doing so. Dreams, as humans know them, are strange and confusing to elves. Unlike the actual memories of one's primal soul, present life, or past lives, dreams are uncontrolled products of the subconscious, and perhaps the subconscious minds of those past lives or primal souls as well. An elf who dreams must always wonder whose mind these thoughts first arose from, and why. Priests of Sehanine Moonbow are an exception: they sleep and dream to receive signs from their god, and elves consult such priests to interpret their own dreams.

Childhood

Much has been made of the relative fecundity of humans compared to elves. Ignorant folk wonder how elves can live so long, yet have so few children. They cannot know what it means to an elf to usher a child into the world. They cannot understand how a birth is both a joy and a sorrow, a reunion and a parting.

Each birth represents an elf soul that has been to Arvandor and returned. Mortal elves cannot know if it is the soul of someone recently dead or someone who died millennia ago. They cannot even be certain it is an elf of the same world. The only assurance they have is that it is an elf of their own kind, for when the primal elves went against Corellon and took permanent shapes, they chose this fate for themselves.

How many elves are born to which parents or in any given generation is a topic studied by elves in the hope of discerning some sign from Corellon or others of the Seldarine. Aerdrie Faenya, the winged goddess of air and sky, is thought to ferry souls from Arvandor into the world, bringing them down from the heavens to begin their mortal lives anew. A decade in which many elves are born across the world is thought to be a harbinger of danger that great numbers of elves will be needed to withstand. In contrast, if an elven community goes a century or longer without a new birth, members take this as a sign that the community has stagnated and must disband.

Because of the rarity of elf births, siblings might be separated in age by decades, or even a century or more. Thus, few elves grow up playing with brothers or sisters of similar age and instead rely on friends for the development of their social skills. In exceedingly rare cases, a birth might produce twins or - scarcer yet - triplets. These offspring, which the elves refer to as soul siblings, are believed to have a special, intertwined destiny that can be fulfilled only if they are raised together. Elf legends are filled with tales of misfortune and tragedy that comes to pass when twins are separated and kept too long apart. One might be compelled to reunite with the other, at risk of life and limb; identical twins could become entangled in a case of mistaken identity; or the siblings might grow up as opposites, each determined to seek out and defeat the other.

During a young elf's first few years, the memories evoked during trance are drawn not from current life experiences, but from the fantastic past adventures of the elf's immortal soul. Parents of young elves and priests of Erevan Ilesere encourage the youths to explore these memories and talk about them with one another, but they aren't to be discussed with adults until a memory of waking life first intrudes upon a youngster's trance. This experience, called the First Reflection, marks the end of childhood and the start of adolescence.

The Blessed of Corellon

Ever changing, mirthful, and beautiful, the primal elves could assume whatever sex they liked. When they bowed to Lolth's influence and chose to fix their physical forms, elves lost the ability to transform in this way. Yet occasionally elves are born who are so androgynous that they are proclaimed to be among the blessed of Corellon - living symbols of the god's love and of the primal elves' original fluid state of being. Many of Corellon's chief priests bear this blessing.

The rarest of these blessed elves can change their sex whenever they finish a long rest - a miracle celebrated by elves of all sorts except drow. (The DM decides whether an elf can manifest this miracle.) Dark elves find this ability to be terrifying and characterize it as a curse, for it could destabilize their entire society. If Corellon's blessing manifests in a drow, that elf usually flees to the surface world to seek shelter among those dedicated to Corellon.

Adolescence

Most elves experience their First Reflection in their second or third decade. It marks the beginning of the period when an elf must focus on acquiring the knowledge and skills needed for the elf's role as an adult.

As a means to this end, elves in adolescence learn how to use trance to evoke memories of their waking lives, giving them opportunities to reflect on the joys of the mortal world and to reinforce the principles of any training or practice undertaken while awake. At the same time, the memories of long ago that came so easily during childhood now arise less and less frequently. The Drawing of the Veil is the name that elves give to the occasion when a young elf no longer experiences primal memories during trance but instead recalls only the events of its current mortal existence.

Adulthood

The Drawing of the Veil marks an elf's passage into adulthood, which typically occurs at the end of the first century of life.

Losing access to one's primal memories can be a traumatic experience. Elder elves look for signs of this change in young elves and try to guide them through it. Most elven cultures mark the Drawing of the Veil with a ceremony of pride or celebration, as a way of offsetting an individual's melancholy. For some young adults, this might be a time to contemplate Labelas Enoreth, while in another community the Drawing of the Veil is occasion for a celebration that invokes gods such as Alobal Lorfiril and Zandilar.

After the Drawing of the Veil, an elf enters the prime of life, a span of centuries during which most elves strive to engage with the world. An adult elf learns how to control the memories that bubble up during trance, choosing to recall experiences from its waking life that enhance its training or give it solace in bad times.

This is the stage of elven life that others are most familiar with because it's the age when elves move outside their reclusive communities and interact with the larger world. They strive to have a permanent effect on the world, to change things for the better (as they see it). Elves want to leave a mark on the world that future generations will remember.

Over time, an adult elf can become accomplished in many endeavors while pursuing its destiny. It isn't unusual among elves to meet someone who is expert in disparate disciplines, such as a battle wizard who also is a settlement's best vintner and famous for creating delicate wood carvings. This versatility speaks to every adult elf's eagerness for new experiences, because memories of adventures, escapades, and accomplishments will fuel the next and possibly longest phase of one's life.

Elder Elves

At some point during adulthood, the reverie of an elf's trance is first interrupted by a new form of unbidden thought. This seemingly errant memory arises not from the elf's personal experience, nor from the memories of the elf's primal soul, but comes from another life and another time. An elf's first experience of this sort is often referred to as the Remembrance and attributed to the influence of Labelas Enoreth. Or it is called the Revelation, and Araleth Letheranil is honored for its occurrence. Regardless of its label, this event marks the start of a new phase in an elf's life.

An elf who begins to experience these other-life memories might live on as normal for decades, but as the intrusions become more frequent, they take their toll on the individual's outlook. Eventually, an elf’s thoughts start drifting away from worldly accomplishments and turning more and more inward. This change is gradual at first, but it becomes more and more severe until it can't be ignored. When that happens, an elf loses interest in the outside world and wants nothing more than to return home, to be surrounded by others of their own kind, to explore the memories they've accumulated in this life and keep them separate from the ever-increasing number of other-life memories that are resurfacing.

Most elves undergo this experience in their third or fourth century. Elves who led extremely active and dangerous lives, such as adventurers, seem to be affected earlier than those who pursue more sedate occupations. Notably, elves who have been revived from death by magical means seem to experience their first other-life memory earlier than they otherwise might.

Regardless of how soon or how often elves experience such memories, most consider them a blessing from the gods. The experiences of other lives that are revisited during trance can be examined for lessons to be applied during one's waking life, signs from the gods, or ways to open an elf's perspective to other points of view.

A handful of elves in any generation never experience another-life memory during trance. It's hypothesized that these select few might be reincarnations of the original primal elves who sprang from Corellon's blood and were allowed to stay in his company. Although most elder elves become more serene, these rare folk spend the rest of their lives throwing themselves into dangerous situations, as if daring death to try to take them.

Aging and Death

Most elves don't age outwardly as other humanoids do. The skin of adults remains smooth, their hair does not gray, and their bones do not ache. Even the oldest elves look similar in age to a human of perhaps 30 years.

Yet there is one sure sign that an elf is nearing the end of life: cataracts in the shape of crescents, points down, that appear over the pupils of both eyes when the elf is in trance. This change, commonly known as Transcendence, is evidence that Sehanine Moonbow has opened the door to enable the elf's soul to return to Arvandor - a direct sign from the gods that it's time to get one's affairs in order.

How much time an elf's body has left is never certain. Whether hours or years, the period is marked by both intense joy and great sadness. Most mortal elves accept their upcoming fate with optimism or resignation, but some react by throwing themselves back into the labors of life with a frenzy other elves consider unbecoming.

Elves who die of old age without experiencing Transcendence are believed to have been denied admission to Arvandor, and thus their souls pass on to other planes and are never reincarnated. The living are left to guess why this might be true, but an elf's conduct during life often offers a clue. Drow never experience Transcendence, for example, and the same is true for elves who turn to the worship of gods other than the Seldarine.

The Elven Outlook

The elves of the surface realms have a unique perspective on the workings of the world and their place in it that is a mixture of all the factors that shape their nature, dating back to the rift between the primal elves and Corellon in the time before time.

Cultural Melancholy

The reason that elves are seldom frivolous and carefree is rooted in an inborn malaise or sorrow that infused the primal elves when they chose to stop following Corellon's path. These feelings of regret and sadness grip all elves at various times in their lives and impact every aspect of their society.

Priests among the elves typically believe that the broken link can never be healed unless Corellon has a change of heart. And as changeable as Corellon is, the god has been adamant on one point: as long as Lolth remains in existence, the responsibility for her betrayal falls on all elves. When the primal elves cast aside formlessness and impermanence for the promise of greatness, they forsook the part of their nature that Corellon most cherished - and, worse still, by doing so they somehow compromised Corellon's mutability as well. 

Whether or not Lolth tricked the primal elves, to Corellon's mind, is beside the point. They chose to follow her lead, which precipitated the schism between Corellon and Lolth, even if many of them ultimately remained loyal to Corellon. Now the elves of the world must forever live and die and live again, suffering the consequences of their ancestors' poor judgment. In this one regard, Corellon is as inflexible and unchanging as the foundation of the world. And all elves grieve over the memories of the irreparably broken bond between themselves and their creator.

A Timeless Perspective

Elves can live well over 700 years, giving them a broad perspective on events that might trouble the shorter- lived races more deeply. They are more often amused than excited, and more likely to be curious than greedy. They tend to remain aloof and unfazed by petty happenstance. When pursuing a goal, however, whether adventuring on a mission or learning a new skill or art, elves can be focused and relentless. They are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. They reply to petty insults with disdain and to serious insults with vengeance.

Like the branches of a young tree, elves are flexible in the face of danger. They trust in diplomacy and compromise to resolve differences before they escalate to violence. They have been known to retreat from intrusions into their woodland homes, confident that they can simply wait the invaders out. But when the need arises, elves reveal a stern martial side, demonstrating skill with sword, bow, and strategy.

The Long View

Elves have a natural life span of seven centuries or longer. Not surprisingly, this trait affects their attitude and outlook toward every aspect of mortal life.

Events from centuries ago that are distant or even ancient history to humans might have been experienced firsthand by many elves who are still alive. And an elf's memory of such events is likely more accurate than a well-researched historian's account, because the elf can revisit the memory over and over during trance, fixing it more firmly in mind each time.

The elven sense of value as it relates to time is hard for humans to comprehend. An elf seldom becomes sentimentally attached to physical objects such as manufactured structures and furnishings, except those of personal significance, for the simple reason that the object is likely to become decrepit before the elf does. Even fine jewelry and steel swords become tarnished and pitted, succumbing to the ravages of age long before the years of their elven owners come to an end.

Paradoxically, elves pay special interest to the ephemeral: a cloud of mayflies, bubbles in water, illusions, eclipses, rainbows, artistic performances, and so forth. They are fascinated by any thing of beauty - an object, creature, scene, or event - that might be experienced only once, but which can be captured in an elf's memory and revisited during trance for the rest of their lives.

It's a rare elf who forms strong relationships with people of other races, particularly those whose life spans are much shorter. Humans like to believe that elves don't form close bonds with them because the elves are saddened whenever they lose a human friend to death, but that's only a portion of the truth. From the elven view, humans' lives are over too soon for elves to forge what they consider a real friendship. Among elves, a hundred years of acquaintance between individuals is considered a good foundation for a close relationship.

In keeping with their seeming aloofness, elves can appear cold and emotionless in the face of tragedy. They do feel the same pain that others feel, and they do mourn their losses. But they also understand, in a way that other creatures can't, that all worldly pain is fleeting. Also, if an elf becomes too emotionally invested in a loss, the experience might be relived during trance for centuries to come. Keeping some distance between themselves and the concerns of others serves elves best.

Even though they are stingy with their affection for others, most elves are excellent judges of character. Thus, they can form superficial associations with other creatures very quickly. An elf often knows within minutes of meeting someone whether that new acquaintance would be a fitting companion for a journey or an adventure, and their first impressions are seldom wrong - though it might be decades later before the relationship becomes deeply personal.

The quality of patience, as other races define it, is so ingrained in elves that it goes beyond second nature. When enemies threaten to invade their domain, elves are just as often satisfied to wait out the danger in their concealed strongholds as to come forth and fight. Remaining out of harm's way for a year or even a decade is a small price to pay to avoid bloodshed - because elves, after all, have all the time in the world.

Crimes and Punishment

Consistent with their long perspective on the world and their knowledge of its history, elves have a special view of morality. They abide by the traditional definitions of good and evil, but tinged with elven sensibilities. When someone takes the life of another, for instance, the elves have a unique way of delivering justice.

Like most civilized beings, elves consider murder a serious crime, but their reasoning concerning punishment is their own. Mortal creatures, such as humans, condemn murder and those who commit it because it snuffs out a life. Where a mortal's life is concerned, elves see things the same way. Even if a murdered creature is brought back to life with magic, that doesn't negate the crime any more than replacing stolen gold makes up for the original act of thievery. But elves aren't truly mortal in the way that humans and other creatures are. If an elf is killed, the soul is re incarnated into a new body after some indeterminate time. Only the deceased elf's ambitions and current life goals are cut short; the soul will eventually receive another chance at life and fulfillment.

Because elves are reincarnated, their society treats the family and friends of a slain elf as the real victims of the murder. The survivors must carry on in life without a beloved parent, child, partner, sibling, or companion, and might feel that loss for centuries. Justice in such cases is geared toward their benefit rather than toward avenging the individual whose life was ended. Punishment for the murderer depends to some extent on the nature of the crime and whether it was premeditated. It can take the form of being exiled from the community, paying a great sum to the survivors, or being forced to carry on whatever unfinished work the slain elf was engaged in. Of these, exile is the most severe punishment.

The surface elves' attitude toward murder - which some races see as bordering on blasé - is carried to the extreme by the drow, who have elevated the assassination of both enemies and friends to an art and who consider killing to be just another tool for resolving disputes and clearing the way for social advancement.

Property crimes such as theft are usually considered evidence of significant character flaws, because elves don't value material goods as highly as shorter-lived races do. An item's intrinsic value is secondary to its historical and sentimental value, which can be considerable. An elf who steals a pouch full of gems would be pitied, but someone who steals a dried flower presented to an elf by her long-gone sister would be seen as a monster and likely exiled from the community.

Passion vs. Restraint

The elven personality is a mixture of two opposing forces, which vie for dominance throughout an elf's life. How an elf handles the tension between passion and restraint colors their life experiences.

When they're young, elves approach life with great enthusiasm. Their joy is as intense as roaring flame, their sadness as deep as the sea. They dive into endeavors with seemingly inexhaustible energy, yet they typically do so without much display of emotion.

The reserve and patience of elves is well known among other races, but what a dwarf or a human doesn't see is the conflict taking place inside an elf's mind. Elves keep their passion internalized because they learn at a young age that such feelings can become destructive when they are allowed to take control. Elves who let passion overtake their behavior can be consumed by it. They stop caring about friendships, alienate family members, and take foolish risks in pursuit of gratification that a cooler head would never hazard.

This passion wanes as an elf ages, but it never disappears entirely. One of the most important responsibilities of elder elves is teaching youngsters the danger of letting their passions loose and showing them how to develop a long-lasting self-discipline.

Primeval Hatred

One of the most fervent passions in an elf is the animosity that surface elves and drow hold for one another. This hatred dates back to when the primal elves surrendered their mutable forms in response to Lolth's promises. They split into two factions: the drow, who believed that Corellon had held them back and that Lolth's betrayal was justified, and all other elves, who felt bereft of Corellon's presence and believed Lolth had manipulated them from the very beginning. To the drow, every elf who basks in Corellon's light is a weakling and a fool. To most other elves, every drow is a traitor.

Despite the rift between them, drow and other elves can deal with each other when necessary, avoiding violence for the sake of a common cause. They won't like it - they might even hate themselves for a time afterward - but they'll do what must be done according to the circumstances of the situation.

Some elves do manage to transcend this hatred. They have met or heard of dark elves, like Drizzt Do'Urden, who find their own paths in life and view each elf as an individual, not as the representative of one side or the other in a cosmic struggle.

Elven Personality

Elves are a magical people of otherworldly grace, living in the world but not entirely part of it. They live in places of ethereal beauty, in the midst of ancient forests or in silvery spires glittering with faerie light, where soft music drifts through the air and gentle fragrances waft on the breeze. Elves love nature and magic, art and artistry, music and poetry, and the good things of the world.

Skilled in both magic and warfare, the Tel'Quessir - "the People," as they call themselves - came to Faerun ages ago, building vast and powerful empires long before the rise of humans. The days of the great elven nations are now long past, and many elves have withdrawn from the world into isolated sylvan realms, or set sail across the Trackless Sea to the isle of Evermeet.

Unlike dwarves, who developed subraces in the world, elves brought their divisions with them , settling into separate kingdoms by type. Beings of immense power, the first elves explored and settled the world, bringing about a golden age of art, magic, and civilization. At the height of their power, the elves performed a High Magic ritual intended to create the ideal homeland. They succeeded, but the spell sundered the land in a terrible cataclysm at the same time that it caused the distant isle of Evermeet to rise from beneath the sea.

Then came the Crown Wars, a series of conflicts between the great elven kingdoms lasting three thousand years. These battles devastated much of the world and resulted in the dark elves' flight into the Underdark.

Reeling from these calamities, the elven empires went into a long, slow decline, and many of their kind took part in the great Retreat to their refuge on Evermeet. As the elves increasingly withdrew from the world, other races and civilizations rose to prominence in Faerun.

The Elvish language used across Faerun - sometimes called the True Tongue by elves - is written in the graceful script of the Espruar alphabet. Seldruin, the ancient language of elven High Magic that uses the Hamarfae alphabet, is a ll but forgotten nowadays.

Slender and Graceful

With their unearthly grace and fine features, elves appear hauntingly beautiful to humans and members of many other races. They are slightly shorter than humans on average, ranging from well under 5 feet tall to just over 6 feet. They are more slender than humans, weighing only 100 to 145 pounds. Males and females are about the same height, and males are only marginally heavier than females.

Elves’ coloration encompasses the normal human range and also includes skin in shades of copper, bronze, and almost bluish-white, hair of green or blue, and eyes like pools of liquid gold or silver. Elves have no facial and little body hair. They favor elegant clothing in bright colors, and they enjoy simple yet lovely jewelry.

Hidden Woodland Realms

Most elves dwell in small forest villages hidden among the trees. Elves hunt game, gather food, and grow vegetables, and their skill and magic allow them to support themselves without the need for clearing and plowing land. They are talented artisans, crafting finely worked clothes and art objects. Their contact with outsiders is usually limited, though a few elves make a good living by trading crafted items for metals (which they have no interest in mining).

Elves encountered outside their own lands are commonly traveling minstrels, artists, or sages. Human nobles compete for the services of elf instructors to teach swordplay or magic to their children.

Arvandor

Arvandor is the ancient elven name for the home of the Seldarine, one of the realms on the Outer Plane of Arborea. It is a place where the unfettered passions of elves run free - joy, lust, rage, contentment, jealousy, and love in all their extremes are on spectacular display there. Lifelong friends might share a laugh over food and wine, cross blades over a mutual lover, and write songs celebrating each other's courage and integrity, all in a single evening. Elves who live on Arvandor are no different from elves living anywhere else, except for the intensity of their passion. All manner of elves can be found there, including eladrin and even a few extraordinary drow. The splendor of the Seldarine illuminates their days, and their trances are filled with the intoxicating, blissful feeling engendered by their nearness to Corellon's magnificence.

When an elf's soul reincarnates, the elf might return to life on any world or on Arvandor. As a result, many elves alive today have latent memories of a previous life spent on Arvandor. Because of the deep feelings associated with those memories, they are often among the first previous-life recollections to resurface at the beginning of an elf's Remembrance. Recalling such an existence can stir up a great longing to visit the place once again.

Like most Outer Planes, Arvandor can be perilous for outsiders, including mortal elves who were not born in the place. The native elves are boisterous, tempestuous, and ready to draw blood over the slightest insult or lapse of tradition. The plane's beauty is both overpowering and bewildering. Fey spirits lurk everywhere, and they're even more unpredictable and more easily provoked than the elves.

Those are the obvious dangers. The subtle danger of Arvandor is that it can act like an addictive drug on visitors: the longer they remain, the more likely they will never want to leave. Anyone who stays more than a month might need to be dragged back to their home plane by well-meaning friends, then guarded or confined until Arvandor's pull on the person wanes.

Because of all these difficulties, many elves resist the urge to visit Arvandor and instead make a pilgrimage to the Feywild, which feels like a realm very similar to the home of their gods.

Evermeet

Uaul'selu'keryth. In your tongue, the name might be translated as "At War with the Weave." When twelve High Mages last performed this ritual, the world was torn asunder. It is a power no mortal should possess and no god should use.

- Ecamane Truesilver, High Mage of Silverymoon

At one time or another, every surface elf, during every lifetime, pines for Arvandor. They might not know of Arvandor or be able to fully define the longing, but they can't escape it. Getting to Arvandor, on the other hand, is extraordinarily difficult for most mortal elves, requiring magic far beyond what most practitioners are capable of. Yet even if one could manage to open or find such a pathway, Corellon doesn't look favorably on elves from the mortal world who get near to him in this way. He suffers their presence only for a short time, forcing them to vacate the realm or be overcome by it.

It was, in part, this situation that led to the creation of Evermeet. By means of a cataclysmic ritual, the greatest elf wizards of Faerun summoned into the world a piece of Arvandor and bound it there. Their intent was to craft a new homeland for the elves, a place protected from the outside world and so similar to their afterlife as to allow elves to live in a virtual heaven on earth.

Although the performance of the ritual was an act of supreme sacrilege, it didn't bring divine retribution down on those responsible. Perhaps the Seldarine deemed the consequences of the act to be punishment enough. The ritual ripped continents apart. It shifted seas. The lives lost couldn't be counted. Even time and space were, for a time, torn asunder. This event was the first Sundering of Faerun, and the world was forever changed by it.

Millennia later, Evermeet still exists, although now it is unmoored from the world, somewhere in the space between the Feywild, Arvandor, and the Material Plane. By using secret pathways, entering a fairy ring on special nights, or traversing a moonlit sea by following certain stars, elves of many worlds can get to Evermeet - if they're lucky. Even from Faerun, for instance, one can sail to Evermeet only on a ship captained by an elf who has been there before. And if the captain slips up, the ship might become adrift on the Astral Plane.

Despite all these obstacles, when elves feel the pull of Arvandor, some find the way to assuage that feeling by traveling to Evermeet instead. Unlike on Arvandor, elves who visit Evermeet can do so for as long as they like and leave when they want - or can choose to stay, as many elves do in the later decades of their lives.

The arrival of elves from worlds other than Faerun is a phenomenon of just the last few decades. When Evermeet became detached from Faerun, it also lost its great queen, Amlaruil Moonflower, said to have been invested with powers by all of the Seldarine. Her throne has sat empty ever since. The consensus of the ruling houses in Evermeet is that the Seldarine now want Evermeet to be open to all elves and not ruled by any single mortal.

Half-Elf, Half Soul?

From the elven perspective, the birth of a half-elf represents a disruption of the natural order of reincarnation. Elves in different communities and across different worlds have numerous ideas about the nature of the disruption, because the gods have never given an answer that seems applicable to all. The soul of a half-elf might be an elf soul whose connection to the Seldarine has been weakened, or it might be a true elf soul trapped in the body of a half-elf until death, or the soul that lies beneath one's elf-like visage might be human.

Many elves, especially the younger ones, view the existence of half-elves as a sign of hope rather than as a threat- an example of how elf souls can experience the world in new ways, not bound to a single physical form or a particular philosophy.

Elves and Magic

Magic infuses the elves' world. Even so, they aren't born with an innate understanding of magic. To master spell casting, an elf must devote years of study and practice to it, the same as most folk. But from the moment they're born, elves are surrounded by a culture, a philosophy, and an artistic style that incorporates and subtly reveals the mysteries of magic to someone who is receptive to the message - which elves certainly are.

Wizardry

There's a reason most powerful wizards are old. The special formulas of action, item, and sound that produce wizardly magic require precision, and such precision comes only from long practice. More than that, each spell a wizard might cast requires a portion of one's powerful intellect to be dedicated to the task, with the necessary patterns of thought and proper mindset kept in stasis, ready to be unleashed. Even after these concepts are mastered, new knowledge of magic remains elusive, and a wizard must progress steadily through deeper levels of understanding, breaking through mental barriers in order to achieve ever greater mastery.

Of all peoples, elves are perhaps best suited to wizardry. They have centuries of life to devote to their studies, and their trance effectively gives them extra time to practice, as lessons learned during study can be reinforced by recalling them during resting periods. The rigidity and studiousness required by wizardry would seem anathema to a people who can recall a life of unfettered exploration and free expression of form, but magic provides a means of regaining that power. The patience and restraint for which elves are well known serves them well in this pursuit.

Not all elven communities embrace wizardry, but most worlds of the multiverse have at least one community of elves in which the spellcasters are renowned as masters. In some worlds, elves are even credited with the invention of the art of wizardry.

Mythals

Great works of magic are by no means unique to elves, but the creation of mythals seems to be knowledge that did originate with them. Known by different names on different worlds, a mythal is a persistent magical field that changes how reality works over a large area. Creating the most powerful of mythals requires many wizards of great renown and long experience to engage in the same ritual, while lesser wizards feed spells into the growing webwork of magic. Such a ritual can take a long time to perform and sometimes requires the sacrifice of lives in order to achieve its purpose, but the results can be utterly miraculous.

The mythal that protected the mighty city of Myth Drannor on the world of Faerun prevented the entrance of enemy races such as dragons, illithids, drow, and doppelgangers. It negated spying magic and teleportation, and every elf within its bounds gained the power to Ry and a multitude of magical protections.

A mythal can't be dispelled or suppressed by any conventional means, nor can its effects. Once one is in place, it seemingly lasts forever, since none are known to have dissipated. A mythal's nature can only be warped or changed, and that can be accomplished only through the use of magical energy equal to that required for its creation.

The metropolis of Waterdeep, which lies on the Sword Coast of Faerun, benefits from mythals that were created to protect the capital of a great empire of elves that stood on the spot over two thousand years before the city's founding. The elves left for Evermeet upon the order of their leader, who commanded the wizards of the city to alter the mythal so that evidence of the empire's existence was wiped from the surface of the world.

Bladesong

Those who see a bladesinger in battle never forget the sight. Surrounded by chaos and blood, the bladesinger moves in an otherworldly dance. Spells and sword act in concert, meshing awe-inspiring beauty with fearsome deadliness. When the bladesinger's sword whirls through the air so swiftly that it keens and the air hums and whistles in chorus, the bladesong has begun - and it might be the last thing the bladesinger's enemy hears.

The elves and half-elves who practice the art of the bladesinger, a tradition found primarily on the world of Faerun, appear to be almost casual in combat, deflecting opponents' blades while elegantly moving into position to score hits in return. A bladesinger wields a weapon one-handed, leaving the other free for spellcasting or to manipulate a wand that can be incorporated into the fighting style. This technique gives a bladesinger the freedom of movement necessary for the dancelike motions of the various forms of martial art, which allow both magical and physical attacks to flow freely.

Few among the elves, and an even smaller number of half-elves, have the honor of being inducted into the ranks of the bladesingers. One must have the mind necessary to be a great wizard, and also the agility of the greatest dancers.

Elven Deities

The gods of the Tel'Quessir, collectively known as the Seldarine, have embodied the ideals of the elf people since time immemorial. They are believed to dwell in the realm of Arvandor on the plane of Arborea.

The Seldarine

The pantheon of elven deities, called the Seldarine, includes Corellon and the group of primal elves whom he graced with divinity. These gods were the ones who brought word to Corellon of Lolth's radical ideas, and their creator rewarded them with a vast increase in their divine power. When Lolth lured some of the primal elves away from Corellon with her promises, this high-ranking core of divine entities remained loyal. Because they rejected Lolth's treacherous ways, they retained their primal power and their immortality.

Surface elves, and other elves who dwell in the light, revere these entities for remaining true to Corellon. In practice, this reverence is expressed more as the honoring of an ancestor than the worshiping of a god, for all the elves are descended from the Seldarine.

Corellon Larethian is the wise leader of the Seldarine, the god of elves, magic, poetry, rulership, and warcraft. He is thought of as the father of the race, but he is depicted as female as often as he is depicted as male.

The creator of all elves is both chaos and beauty personified. Corellon is as fluid and changeable as a breeze or a brook- quick to anger, but equally quick to forgive and forget. The god loves magic, artistry, nature, and freedom. Anyone who has felt the mystical presence of Corellon describes it as a joy like no other, followed by a deep melancholy when his presence is no longer felt. Corellon doesn't expect much from followers-no complex rituals or frequent ceremonies or even regular prayer. Corellon wants them to enjoy life, to try new things, to imagine what they desire and then pursue it, and to be kind to others. In return for this freedom from the usual requirements of religion, Corellon expects them to address their own problems and not pray for aid in every crisis. These precepts are instilled within every elf, since all elves are ultimately descended from fragments of Corellon. When elves ask their priests how one might become able to sense Corellon's presence, the priests often say, "First, truly know yourself. Only then can you feel our creator near."

Services in Corellon's honor are typically conducted in natural stone amphitheaters or bowl-shaped forest clearings. In keeping with Corellon's chief commandment for everyone to be free, all who attend are allowed to show their obeisance however they choose, as long as their way of contributing combines with the others to form a grand display of reverence. Such a gathering has the atmosphere of a festival rather than of an organized worship service.

Many elf wizards honor Corellon and adorn their spellbooks and towers with the god's symbols. Some of them speculate that Corellon is the personification of raw magic itself, the primal force that underlies the multiverse. Corellon is not magic tamed or shaped-not the Weave, as some name it- but magic in its original form: a well of endless, splendid possibilities.

The Mysteries of Arvandor. Only those long-lived scholars who have researched the elves with the greatest tenacity have heard of the Mysteries of Arvandor, and all these luminaries have ever been able to glean is that it is a secret gathering of elves dedicated to Corellon where a magical replaying of the elven myths of creation is communally experienced.

The truth is that the Mysteries of Arvandor is a phenomenon that elves recognize as a summons from their creator, which they can choose to accept or disregard. The event occurs on one plane or multiple planes within the multiverse in a single moment, and there is no guarantee that it will ever occur again; the ability to hear the call is a rare gift. Depending on Corellon's need, the god might call a few dozen or several thousand elves to gather, each elf returning to Corellon's body temporarily for some task that only the god can comprehend.

Before this gathering begins, the elves who have been selected start to have powerful dreams and waking visions, urging them to travel to a certain location. At this point, each of the summoned elves must choose whether to follow the visions, because it is known that not every elf returns from an encounter with Corellon. It's true that to be absorbed into the god once more, and returned to awareness before the Drawing of the Veil, is the fulfillment of every elf's longing, but some elves have grown attached to the mortal and mundane world, and thus they turn away from their god's summons. Those who answer the call of Corellon are telepathically guided to their destination, often for hundreds of miles across unknown terrain, or even across planes.

Most elves who return to their homes from the Mysteries are forever transformed. These participants generally remain silent about their experience, out of reverence and appreciation. Those who speak about the Mysteries of Arvandor struggle for the right words, but they all say in one way or another that experiencing the Mysteries is a way for elves to join with Corellon, gifting the god with their life force - and in return, they revert back to their free, formless nature for a time. After this mystical communion, many elves have a deeper understanding of their origin and a firmer grasp of magic, and some enjoy a lingering telepathic connect ion with others who have been initiated into the Mysteries.

Cryptic shrines to the Mysteries of Arvandor appear throughout the planes, mostly sites where carved or painted stars cover the ceiling of a cave. On the planes that have hosted one of these rare events, elf priests consecrate and maintain temples devoted to the Mysteries. Often these sacred sites are natural spaces that have intrinsic magical properties.

Stories about the Mysteries are preached by many theologians as examples of Corellon's abiding love for his wayward children. Some sages imagine that, one day, all elves will be given this opportunity, after Corellon is satisfied by the completion of some great cosmic quest, and elves will once again be a people of unfettered form and unimaginable joy.

Goddess of Wisdom

Angharradh, triune goddess of wisdom and the fierce mother-protector of the elf people, is Corellon's consort. In legends, these goddesses are often separate entities from Angharradh, and frequently depicted as Correllon's daughters or consorts. Her three aspects are:

Aerdrie Faenya, wild goddess of the winds and weather, as well as patron of the avariel

Hanali Celanil, the Winsome Rose, goddess of love, beauty, art, and enchantment, is the elven god of beauty and love. Usually depicted as a beautiful female, in some stories the god appears to mortals as a gorgeous male. Hanali's gender in a story seldom matters, for no matter how much heartache and confusion the stories contain, they end with affairs of the heart properly sorted out and everyone in love with the person, or persons, they were fated to be with. Stories of HanaIi's romantic adventures among elves and other mortals are perennial favorites when sung by e lf bards and poets.

• • In Arvandor, Hanali maintains a hidden pool called Evergold. She bathes in it at least once a day. It's said that the water of Evergold keeps her young and breathtakingly beautiful, but this is certainly a poetic myth, since all the Seldarine appear young and beautiful, with or without having bathed in this fountain. Mortal elves who are invited to join Hana Ii in the pool are said to retain their youthfulness and to delay the onset of Transcendence by at least a century. More than a few elves claim to have experienced this benefit, and the truth of it is attested by many bards - sometimes in all earnestness, sometimes with a knowing wink.

  • Priests of Hanali perform weddings between elves and preside over most other family-related ceremonies. Other than nuptials and a spate of spring celebrations, the priests conduct few observances.

  • Pools of Beauty. Those who worship Hanali Celanil build shrines in her honor around natural pools of clear spring water - a representation of the purity and power of Evergold. Her priests often surround such an area with flowers or arrange stones in a way that accentuates the natural beauty of the place. In a shrine dedicated to the worship of several elven deities, an alabaster bowl of water, usually with yellow flowers or petals floating in it, is left in reverence to Hanali.

  • Hanali's pool is a symbol of rejuvenation, and its water has significance as well in representing the ever-flowing force of love. To HanaIi's followers, love is a living thing that flows like a river, moving around obstacles with ease, and, if it must, carving a path through bedrock to reach the sea of unity where all love gathers to become one with the cosmos. As one would navigate a river, the faithful of Hanali are known for following their hearts, unwilling to deviate from the pursuit of ultimate beauty.

  • Devotees of Hanali Celanil are known for taking the initiative in beautifying their surroundings without asking or expecting others to follow suit. If a shrine to the gods is beginning to look somewhat untidy, her followers will straighten things up, bring fresh flowers, and refresh offerings of food, water, and wine. Especially vigilant individuals might even decide to clean up after others who carelessly spill a drink in a tavern or leave their dinner table in a slovenly condition, all in humble service to their god.

The Moonlit Mystery, silver Sehanine Moonbow, goddess of all life's mysteries, including mysticism, prophecy, death, and dreams.

• • Sehanine is Corellon's beloved; Corellon is Sehanine's creator. Sehanine is Corellon's shadow; Corellon is Sehanine's reflection. Sehanine is the moon; Corellon is the moon's crescent. Sehanine is the night sky; Corellon is the sun and all the stars.

  • No god of the Seldarine is as intertwined with Corellon or presents so many paradoxes for worshipers to unravel, but this role befits Sehanine, for she is a god of mysteries as much as anything else. Many non-elves find it easiest to think of Sehanine as the companion of Corellon and the god of the moon, but to elves she is much more than that. The moon passes from one phase to the next, and Sehanine watches over all such cycles, be it from season to season or cradle to grave. She is midwife to elf mothers, ushering souls into the world. She is also thought to stand beside dying elves, to greet their departing spirits and set them on the path to Arvandor. Sehanine serves as patron of the lost and any who travel, as well as those who seek meaning. Elves beseech her to provide relief from madness, and they mark her symbol on graves and tombs to invoke her protection of the dead. In these comforting aspects, Sehanine is often imagined as a willowy, gentle male elf with shining eyes that reveal both melancholy and tenderness in their gaze when depicted alongside his beloved Corellon.

  • In stories of the Seldarine, Sehanine is Corellon's steadfast companion, the one being who can persuade Corellon to pause and reflect rather than allow his emotions to rule him. Corellon can be resplendent with joy or shaking with anger, but a word or a look from Sehanine is enough to check or subtly alter Corellon's mood and behavior, redirecting the god to a less extreme course of action. Some elven legends treat Sehanine as Corellon's spouse or as a favored child, but other stories hint at a deeper truth. They say Sehanine was formed from the first drop of blood spilled from Corellon's body, and so she reminds Corellon that even as a divine being, he can be harmed.

  • Sehanine's priests often seek her guidance by entering into a state of true sleep and sifting through their dreams for signs. But Sehanine has another way of sending messages to the elves of the world. The crescent-shaped cataracts that appear in the eyes of an elderly elf at Transcendence are symbolic of the moonbow, an astronomical phenomenon with which she is associated. It appears in the night sky above the moon as a luminous arc of refracted light, no brighter than the moon itself. Only elves and some half-elves can perceive this sign, for it is meant only for Corellon's people. What it signifies depends on the phase of the moon. Above a full moon, when it is most often detected, it means that an elf of great importance and advanced age will soon journey to Arvandor. Elves who see the sign might be compelled to seek out this individual to commune with and learn from before the elder departs the world. The moonbow appearing above the moon during its other phases can be interpreted in many ways, depending on the season and the timing of its appearance. A moonbow appearing above a new moon is the most dreaded sign, for it is said to signal a coming period of great upheaval and many deaths.

  • Lunar Worship. Temples to Sehanine Moonbow are almost always aligned with the heavens to enable the priests to track the motion and phases of the moon. The sleeping quarters of the priests are positioned such that a shaft of light from the full moon falls on them while they are sleeping, and this silver light of Sehanine can influence their dreams and impart messages to them.

  • Offerings to Sehanine are mostly made from silver, often shaped in a way that is reminiscent of the full moon. Cups, bowls, cloak pins, and plates of silver are found at her shrines, as well as those dedicated to the Seldarine collectively. The weapons and gear used by her followers, such as silver arrowheads, knife blades, and wooden shields, are often decorated with a stylized image of Sehanine's eye with rays coming out of it - a warning to the elves' enemies that Sehanine's gaze has fallen upon them.

Gods of Nature

Deep Sashelas, sea god, lord of the sea elves and of dolphins.

• Deep Sashelas, sometimes known just as Sashelas, is the elven deity of the sea, seafaring, and knowledge. Sashelas is called the Knowledgeable One. His awareness of all lore, not only that about the sea, is seemingly limitless. He is especially beloved by sea elves, dolphins, and elf sages.

  • Most of Sashelas's most devoted followers are sea elves, as are his priests. Many seafarers toss offerings of gold and jewels overboard, beseeching Sashelas to calm storms or provide favorable winds, and he is inclined to aid them even if they aren't fully dedicated to his worship. His sea elf priests often lurk in the water beneath ships when these offerings are made. They catch the treasures as they sink and use them to decorate Sashelas's underwater shrines, to purchase items from coastal merchants that can't be manufactured underwater, and to bribe dragon turtles into their service. Ceremonies honoring Sashelas are held underwater at times of uncommonly high tides or during electrical storms, when flashes of lightning above the waves provide illumination to the calmer realm below the surface.

  • Sea of Knowledge. Over time, much of the world sinks to the depths of the oceans and is thought to be lost forever, but it isn't lost to everyone. Sashelas gleans much about the world above the waves from that which sinks beneath them: every shipwreck, every offering, and the wealth and knowledge of every seaside city swallowed by a giant wave are added to Sashelas's ever-expanding library of lore. Knowledge that has disappeared from the surface world might still be known to the priests of Sashelas, gained through communion with their god. Messengers who never reached their destination, ships filled with scrolls from an ancient library, scholars whose works were lost at sea - all of these add to Sashelas's storehouse.

  • Away from the open sea, many lagoons, reefs, and grottoes have shrines devoted to Sashelas. Many come in reverence to bathe in the waters in the hope of receiving visions from the god, since it is known that Sashelas is fond of sharing knowledge with those who are true seekers. Scholars, monks, and clerics visit these elaborately decorate d seaside temples, immersing themselves in the blessed waters and looking for enlightenment. Because the god also dispenses lore through dreams and reveries of memory, many artists and poets worship Sashelas. They seek his creative insight by spending time floating on the waves, then return to shore to write down or sketch out the gifts bequeathed to them.

  • Sahuagin: Danger from the Depths

    • The sea elves face as many perils in their watery world as other elves face on dry land, but none are as deadly as the sahuagin. The animosity between these two races stems from the sahuagin's ferocious territoriality. They simply won't abide any other intelligent society, and they consider the entire sea to be their domain.

    • Adding to the tension, the sahuagin worship Sekolah, the shark god, while Deep Sashelas, the sea deity of the elves, is a sworn enemy of all sharks. But even if the sea elves inexplicably began worshiping Sekolah, the sahuagin still wouldn't be able to get along with them - in the grip of a blood frenzy, sahuagin will tear apart even others of their own kind!

Labelas Enoreth, philosopher god, deity of time and history, whose gift of trance is crucial to elven identity and survival.

• • Even though elves live far longer than most other humanoids, they show few physical signs of aging until they become very old. By the time an elf's hair turns to silver and wrinkles appear around the eyes, the elf has lived for centuries and probably has only a few decades remaining. For this longevity and long-lasting vitality, they thank and revere Labelas Enoreth.

  • Labelas is portrayed a s an elderly elf with silver hair, still-active eyes that once were bright blue but now are clouded and gray, fine wrinkles around the eyes and mouth, and a right hand slightly impaired by the effects of age. If anything, these symptoms of mortality make the god even more handsome and stately in the eyes of his followers than he was in his youth.

  • Elves tend to give Labelas little regard until they experience Remembrance. Like Corellon and Hanali, Labelas makes few demands on his followers. A few minutes each day spent thanking him for his gift of long life and good health, and occasionally placing a fresh flower in one of his shrines, is generally all that's expected. When an elf develops unusual ailments in old age and appears headed for decrepitude, other elves might wonder if these are the repercussions for not paying Labelas his due.

  • Most settlements have only one or two priests of Labelas. These individuals are elves well past their prime but who have not yet begun to withdraw into themselves. Their duties involve guiding elves who have recently experienced Remembrance, and are thus beginning the journey into introversion in the waning days of one's mortal life. The priests also preside over funeral celebrations, since Labelas is also honored for his role in seeing that elves experience beneficial reincarnations.

  • Eternal Witness. Shrines and temples to Labelas Enoreth are mostly made of or decorated with ephemeral things. Patterns and images made with colored sand, cut flowers, precariously stacked stones, and images made from thin paper are all commonly found there. These places of veneration are usually located in desolate, high places where the ever-changing sky and the setting sun can be seen and contemplated. Along with the setting sun, images of clouds are a major motif for followers of Labelas, who often tattoo such designs on their bodies or embroider them on their robes to signify the ephemeral nature of the physical world.

  • Labelas Enoreth is the custodian of time, monitoring its passing and making sure that the warp and weft of history isn't torn asunder by powerful maniacs and errant demigods. He is also the eternal witness, watching the souls of the elves as they dance from incarnation to incarnation, each mortal lifetime representing a role an actor would take in a play. From his cosmic perspective, Labelas looks on each elven life as a story to be written, nudging wayward souls toward incarnations that he deems suitable for their overall development, and thus weaving the life of each elven soul into a tapestry that spans the ages. In acknowledgment of this gift, priests and devotees of Labelas often weave modest tapestries of their own and donate them to shrines in his honor.

  • Despite Labelas's influence in the Seldarine, elves can become psychologically immersed in their mortal incarnations, forgetting about the tick of time and the eventual end of their physical forms. Even Labelas's appearance, with his obvious signs of aging, isn't enough to dissuade some elves from growing attached to their youthful features, long life, and worldly treasures. But all such naive behavior is brought to heel when the Remembrance occurs, and an elf's inward examination begins as one journeys to ward death and a new beginning. Priests of Labelas smile with compassion when these wide-eyed elves show up at their temples, suddenly full of contrition and offerings for Labelas, still shaken from the vision of their Remembrance and the gravity of its meaning.

  • To enhance an elf's Remembrance, the priests of Labelas use a special mirror made of polished black onyx. Small versions of these can be seen at many shrines dedicated to the Seldarine, as a reminder to the passing faithful of the importance of Remembrance. The priests advise those in their care to look into the mirror in order to deepen the trance of Remembrance. In the black void of the mirror, they see the faces of their former selves and scenes from their past lives - a glimpse into the grand tapestry of the each soul's existence as Labelas begins to weave yet another incarnation.

Rillifane Rallathil is god of the woodlands and the wild places, the father of wood elves and protector of druids.

• Like the other elven deities, Rillifane Rallathil was once a primal elf sprung from droplets of Corellon's blood. The original primal elves - and indeed, Corellon himself - have no "true form." Their common, elf-like portrayals are a convenience adopted after the elves took on permanent humanoid form.

  • When the other elven deities decided on humanoid forms, Rillifane took a different approach. He took as his principal form that of an enormous oak tree, taller and wider than any other. Its roots are so deep and far-reaching that they touch the roots of every other plant in the world, or so it's said. Through this network of tendrils, Rillifane remains aware of everything that happens in the forest.

  • When he chooses to travel to other planes and worlds, Rillifane takes the appearance of an uncommonly tall and strong wood elf with dark skin, handsome features, and twigs and leaves protruding from his hair.

  • In either guise, his main concerns are the welfare of forests and prairies, the passing of the seasons, and the lives of beasts. Most of his followers and priests are elf druids. They're just as insular and secretive as any other druids, which means their motives are often not clear to those around them.

  • Energetic debates have been held over whether Rillifane's oak tree exists only on Arvandor; has roots that extend to all worlds; is duplicated fully on every world that has plant life; or is only a metaphor for Rillifane's deep connection to nature. A growing sentiment among Rillifane's druids holds that the correct answer is "All of the above or none of the above, depending on Rillifane's mood."

  • Roots Run Deep. Ancient trees are almost always incorporated into shrines to Rillifane Rallathil. Many forests in elven lands have sacred groves where such trees stand as silent witnesses to the events of the world. At the base of such a tree, amid its immense, gnarled roots, the druids of Rillifane place their offerings. Carvings of animals, golden acorns, snowdrops, and sprigs of holly or witch hazel are all common offerings to the god of the passing seasons and the beasts of the forest. Often a shrine to Rillifane contains resting places where one can bend knee and meditate at the base of the great tree.

  • The druids of Rillifane consider trees to be symbolic of the connect ion between the mental and the physical, between what is illuminated and what remains mysterious. Trunks and branches reach high into the expanse of the mind and the realm of revelation, while roots sink deep, anchoring themselves in the known and enwrapping what remains hidden. When Rillifane's druids meditate at the site of a great tree, they can receive visions that afford them a new way of seeing the world. Often these flashes compel the devotee to undertake a quest to bring balance to the natural order by delivering a vital message or completing some other task.

Closely allied with him is Solonar Thelandira, the god of hunting, archery, and woodcraft.

Gods of Shadow

Of somewhat darker bent, Erevan Ilesere is a deity of mischief, a trickster-god

Fenmarel Mestarine is the moody and sullen god of outcasts and solitude, who has little to do with the rest of the Seldarine (except for Erevan who uses Fenmarel as a scapegoat in his plots and pranks).

And then there is Shevarash, a god thought of as embittered and obsessive, to whom elves turn when they seek vengeance.

Faerunian Gods

Many elves worship deities in the Faerfinian pantheon, including Mielikki (and the unicorn goddess Lurue), Silvanus, and Sune. In recent years, some elves have found delight in the worship of Lathander, as well.

Exploration and Adventure

Elves take up adventuring out of wanderlust. Since they are so long-lived, they can enjoy centuries of exploration and discovery. They dislike the pace of human society, which is regimented from day to day but constantly changing over decades, so they find careers that let them travel freely and set their own pace. Elves also enjoy exercising their martial prowess or gaining greater magical power, and adventuring allows them to do so. Some might join with rebels fighting against oppression, and others might become champions of moral causes.

Most surface elves embark on a period of adventuring during their early adulthood. An adventure to an elf, however, isn't always the same as what humans mean when they think of adventure. Humans tend to equate adventurers with people who battle monsters, explore dangerous ruins, delve into deep caverns, and generally stir up trouble, usually in pursuit of gold and glory. Elves have been known to do all those things, but more typical elf adventurers are simple travelers.

Elves know that once they experience Transcendence, the memories they have accumulated will contribute to their eternal contentment. So they seek out experiences that will produce exciting, beautiful, or satisfying memories. A few battles against monsters certainly could qualify, but such activities aren't usually the focus of an elf's endeavors. Much preferred are memories of faraway places, excellent meals, and fascinating people. As such, most elf "adventurers" are primarily sightseers, not valiant crusaders or heroes for hire.

This aspect of elven life isn't as well known among other races as it might be, because elves spend much of their "adventuring" years in places far away from other societies. They're more interested in remote forests, lonely valleys, high mountains, and other natural places than in cities. Traveling elves want to meet people, but not too many.

A small fraction of elves are born with or develop the qualities that mark them as potential adventurers, as other races define the term. Many traditional adventuring groups are happy to count an elf among their members, and some elves take to this life enthusiastically. Elves have a reputation for remaining unruffled in the face of danger, a very good quality to have among folk who regularly find themselves in difficult situations.

On extremely rare occasions, an elf might join an adventuring party for reasons that are based in fear. A tiny percentage of elves develop an irrational fear of the serene, contemplative life that awaits them in their later years. Even if such a future life seems tepid and unbearably dull during an elf's prime, the psychological changes that come with age make this peaceful period of existence the most satisfying experience possible for an elf's later years. Nevertheless, this fear is immune to logic when it arises in adult elves. To avoid the fate they dread, consciously or subconsciously, they throw themselves into dangerous situations, not caring whether they survive or perhaps even hoping they don't. In effect, they're looking for another chance, seeing their current life or perceived future as unbearable and hoping to stop the clock on this mortal body and start afresh.

Haughty but Gracious

Although they can be haughty, elves are generally gracious even to those who fall short of their high expectations — which is most non-elves. Still, they can find good in just about anyone.

• Dwarves. “Dwarves are dull, clumsy oafs. But what they lack in humor, sophistication, and manners, they make up in valor. And I must admit, their best smiths produce art that approaches elven quality.”

• Halflings. “Halflings are people of simple pleasures, and that is not a quality to scorn. They’re good folk, they care  for each other and tend their gardens, and they have proven themselves tougher than they seem when the need arises.”

• Humans. “All that haste, their ambition and drive to accomplish something before their brief lives pass away — human endeavors seem so futile sometimes. But then you look at what they have accomplished, and you have to appreciate their achievements. If only they could slow down and learn some refinement.”

Elf Names

Elves are considered children until they declare themselves adults, some time after the hundredth birthday, and before this period they are called by child names.

On declaring adulthood, an elf selects an adult name, although those who knew him or her as a youngster might continue to use the child name. Each elf’s adult name is a unique creation, though it might reflect the names of respected individuals or other family members. Little distinction exists between male names and female names; the groupings here reflect only general tendencies. In addition, every elf bears a family name, typically a combination of other Elvish words. Some elves traveling among humans translate their family names into Common, but others retain the Elvish version.

• Child Names: Ara, Bryn, Del, Eryn, Faen, Innil, Lael, Mella, Naill, Naeris, Phann, Rael, Rinn, Sai, Syllin, Thia, Vall

• Male Adult Names: Adran, Aelar, Aramil, Arannis, Aust, Beiro, Berrian, Carric, Enialis, Erdan, Erevan, Galinndan, Hadarai, Heian, Himo, Immeral, Ivellios, Laucian, Mindartis, Paelias, Peren, Quarion, Riardon, Rolen, Soveliss, Thamior, Tharivol, Theren, Varis

• Female Adult Names: Adrie, Althaea, Anastrianna, Andraste, Antinua, Bethrynna, Birel, Caelynn, Drusilia, Enna, Felosial, Ielenia, Jelenneth, Keyleth, Leshanna, Lia, Meriele, Mialee, Naivara, Quelenna, Quillathe, Sariel, Shanairra, Shava, Silaqui, Theirastra, Thia, Vadania, Valanthe, Xanaphia

• Family Names (Common Translations): Amakiir (Gemflower), Amastacia (Starflower), Galanodel (Moonwhisper), Holimion (Diamonddew), Ilphelkiir (Gemblossom), Liadon (Silverfrond), Meliamne (Oakenheel), Naïlo (Nightbreeze), Siannodel (Moonbrook), Xiloscient (Goldpetal)

Elf Tables

This section provides tables for players and DMs who want to choose or randomly generate details about elves.

Elven Trinkets

d8 Trinket

1 A small notebook that causes anything written in it to disappear after 1 hour.

2 A crystal lens made of ivory and gold that causes anything observed through it to appear to be surrounded by motes of multicolored light.

3 A small golden pyramid inscribed with elven symbols and about the size of a walnut.

4 A cloak pin made from enamel in the shape of a butterfly; when you take the pin off, it turns into a real butterfly, and returns when you are ready to put your cloak back on again.

5 A golden compass that points toward the nearest portal to the Feywild within 10 miles.

6 A small silver spinning top that, when spun, endlessly spins until interrupted.

7 A small songbird made of enamel, gold wire, and precious stone; uttering the songbird's name in Elvish causes the trinket to emit that bird's birdsong.

8 A small enamel flower that, when put in one's hair, animates, tying back the wearer's hair with a living vine with flowers; plucking a single flower from this vine returns it to its inanimate form.

Elf (Non-Drow) Adventurer Story Hooks

d8 Hook

1 You believe the key to reuniting the elves with Corellon lies somewhere in the wider world, not within elven society, and you're determined to find it.

2 Your sibling was killed by a rampaging monster. You won't rest until you track it down and slay it.

3 A raven brought you a cryptic message from an old friend who needs your help, but the message was vague about the friend's location. You're trying to follow a years-old trail and save your friend.

4 A beautiful elf won your heart, then broke it. If you earn enough gold and glory by adventuring, perhaps you can win back your love.

5 Your father thought you too weak to survive as an adventurer, but he's wrong, and you'll prove it.

6 Only those who perform great deeds are remembered long after their death. Bards will honor your exploits for generations to come.

7 You're secretly in love with one of the other members of your adventuring group, and you can't bear the thought of any harm befalling that person.

8 When you were born, your grandmother prophesied you would one day rule a human kingdom. You've gone in search of that destiny.

Elven Subraces

Moon Elves

Also called silver elves, or Teu'Tel'Quessir, moon elves are more tolerant and adventurous than elves of other sorts. In ancient times, the dissolution of their empires dispersed moon elves among other races, and since then they have traditionally gotten along well with their non-elf neighbors. They mingle with other people while their kin remain in hidden settlements and secluded strongholds.

Moon elves are sometimes seen as frivolous, especially by other elves. But it is the easygoing, fluid nature of their culture, philosophy, and personality that has enabled them to survive and flourish during and after tragic times in elven history. While communities of moon elves can be found in mainland Faerun, many moon elves live in the settlements of other races, staying for a few seasons or several decades before moving on.

To a moon elf, home can be among the members of one's family, clan, or other friends and loved ones. Moon elves who temporarily take up residence in or near sun elf communities aren't shy about expressing the opinion that their kin need to be less serious. In turn, the sun elves pretend to be more annoyed by their moon elf neighbors than they truly are, provided that the moon elves' whims and adventuresome urges don't cause serious disruption. Given that the moon elves usually move on before wearing out their welcome, such unrest rarely occurs.

Moon elves have the racial traits of high elves. They have pale skin with a bluish tint. Their hair runs the gamut of human colors, and some moon elves have hair of silvery white or various shades of blue. Their eyes are blue or green and have gold flecks.

Given the race's love of travel, exploration, and new experiences, many moon elves become adventurers, utilizing their talents for warfare, woodcraft, and wizardry in different measures.

Sun Elves

Sun elves, also known as gold elves, or Ar'Tel'Quessir, have a reputation for being arrogant and self-important. Many of them believe they are Corellon's chosen people and that other races- even other elves-are subordinate to them in skill, significance, and sophistication. They claim the title of "high elves" with pride, and indeed their race is responsible for great, and sometimes terrible, achievements.

Recalling and emphasizing the glorious aspects of their history, sun elves subscribe to the principle of "elven excellence"- no matter how interesting, exceptional, heroic, or noteworthy other races' accomplishments might be, there is an inherent superiority to all things elven. This attitude colors sun elves' relations with other elves, whom they see as diluted or diminished representatives of elven culture. Some sun elves reject this way of thinking, but it is common enough that when most folk of Faerun see a sun elf, they see arrogance personified. Their haughty attitude can overshadow the fact that most sun elves are also tirelessly compassionate and thoughtful champions of good. Sun elves have the racial traits of high elves. Sun elves have bronze skin. Their eyes are black, metallic gold, or metallic silver, and their hair is black, metallic copper, or golden blond.

Sun elf culture and civilization is highly magical in nature, thanks to the race's many accomplished wizards, sages, and crafters. Not every sun elf is a skilled practitioner of the Art, but each one has at least a bit of inherent magic. Many sun elves mix magic with other art forms, which produces the complex dance of the bladesingers as well as the enchanting music of their bards and the meticulous craftwork of their artisans. Sun elf adventurers often bring a feeling of noblesse oblige to their profession: they venture out into the world to challenge its dangers because someone must, and who could be better suited?

Wood Elves

Also called copper elves, or Sy'Tel'Quessir, wood elves are the most common elves remaining in Faerun. Their ancestors left behind the strife of the Crown Wars millennia ago to found strongholds and settlements deep in the forests. Today, most wood elves stand guard over the ruins of the past, believing it their duty to preserve their fallen glory as an object lesson of the dangers of hubris.

Wood elves tend to be hardier than other elves, more solid and grounded than their cousins. This attitude is reflected in their culture and traditions; wood elves tend more toward physical pursuits than do other elves, and they view ancient elven history with a more critical eye. To the wood elves, the "great" elven kingdoms were responsible for many equally great mistakes. They look upon the Sundering, the Crown Wars, the descent of the drow, and other calamities as the result of acts of arrogance on the part of their ancestors. Living around and amid the reminders of this arrogance, and standing witness to the rise and fall of many elven empires, wood elves see the place of elves in the world differently than moon or sun elves do. Wood elves seek a quiet harmony, not domination, with the wider world.

Sylvan counterparts of the sun elves and moon elves, wood elves eschew the cities and strongholds of their kin in favor of living close to nature. Wood elves have not claimed a large realm of their own since the kingdom of Eaerlann was destroyed millennia ago. Instead they maintain a number of smaller settlements, the better to keep those communities hidden or protected. Wood elves claim territory in the High Forest, the Great Dale, the Western Heartlands, and beyond. Some wood elves live in other elven communities and territories, where they serve as scouts, rangers, and hunters.

Despite seeing themselves as part of the world, wood elves don't commonly emerge from their homes to encounter non-elves. Likewise, in the deep woods and forests of the world, most wood elves don't come across members of other races. Adventurers, diplomats, couriers, and those who pursue similar professions are the exceptions, traveling far outside their sylvan domains and meeting a wide variety of folk.

Wood elves in Faerun have the racial traits of wood elves. They have tan or coppery skin, with hair of wood brown, golden blond, black, or a shining metallic copper, and eyes of green, brown, or hazel.

Skilled naturalists, wood elves often take up professions that allow them to remain close to the wild or to make use of their knowledge of woodcraft, wildlife, and forestry. Wood elves are more than capable in warfare, particularly archery. They are less magically inclined than their cousins, but have their fair share of practitioners of the Art, as well as clerics and many druids.

Water Elves (Sea)

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Dark Elves (Drow)

When the primal elves chose to take the forms of mortals, they were one people split by conflicting loyalty to gods who reviled each other. The schism led to a conflict that ended with Lolth retreating to the Abyss and her adherents exiled to the Underdark. This banishment enabled the victors to once again live in peace on Arvandor but did nothing to heal the rift.

The vanquished elves weren't seen or heard from again for centuries. Throughout that age of residing in the darkness, absorbing the unhealthy emanations of the Underdark, subsisting on its tainted water and food, and always beseeching their god for guidance and following her poisonous dictates, Lolth's worshipers gradually transformed into the drow: the cruel, predatory, and wicked offshoot of the elf race.

Reflections of Lolth 

From the time they're old enough to understand, drow are taught that they're superior to all other creatures, for they remain steadfast in their devotion to Lolth despite the hardships of their existence. Any creature that isn't a drow is useful only as a sacrifice to Lolth as a slave or as fodder for the giant spiders that the drow train to patrol their cities and tunnels.

Among these other, lesser forms of life, the elves that live in sunlight are especially despised because they are descended from the primal elves who betrayed Lolth so long ago. First they accepted Lolth's offer of mortality in return for destiny, but then they turned against her in a pathetic effort to win back Corellon's favor. Drow view the elves of the surface world as cowardly children who defy their parents when they're not around but cower in the corner when their parents return, terrified of having their bad behavior found out.

Reverence for Lolth touches every aspect of drow life. All dark elves constantly watch for signs of her favor. Any incident or physical feature can be interpreted as such a sign, and priestesses are quick to attach meanings to obscure omens that benefit their own interests.

All this effort to please Lolth is a wise precaution. Though she resides in the Abyss, the Spider Queen isn't a distant god. She sometimes tests her most faithful by drawing their spirits to her in the Demonweb to undergo her judgment. Followers never know when or if they are to be tested. One who claims to have undergone the test and passed it is rewarded with respect and elevated status. Even someone who successfully lies about having taken the test can earn the respect of their peers, since perpetrating this falsehood is a way of proving one's worth to Lolth. Lying and conniving can't save those who fail the test, however, because the evidence of such an outcome is immediately obvious - a drow whose spirit has failed its test in the Demonweb Pits becomes transformed into a drider.

When Lolth is well served, she rewards her faithful with favors. When she is defied, she visits the Underdark in one of her forms and takes a direct hand in punishing the malefactor in a manner that discourages anyone who might be contemplating a similar kind of disobedience. Perhaps making an example of malcontents in this way is simply an aspect of how Lolth's cruel personality works. It also might be evidence of a lesson that she learned all too well from the way Corellon reacted to her betrayal of him: the smallest flame of resistance must be snuffed out before it grows into a conflagration.

Driders: Lowest of the Low

Much confusion and misinformation exists about driders among non-drow, but all dark elves know exactly what driders are: failures. They have either fared badly in Lolth's test or displeased her in some other way.

Once its transformation has taken hold, a newly created drider is shunned by its house and exiled from the community, with nothing but a few meager supplies and its knowledge of the Underdark to protect it. Drow congregate to throw stones at the still-dazed creature and drive it into the tunnels beyond the city's environs. If it's unlucky, it's attacked by a roper, a carrion crawler, or another drider. If it's lucky, the new drider finds a safe place to hide while its wounds heal.

So begins a drider's life in exile. Another widespread misunderstanding about driders is that they serve the drow as pickets, elite troops, or even suicide squads. They do none of those things. They are despised outcasts who live on the fringes of drow territory. Even though drow revile driders, they don't kill them, because a drider's punishment is to live a long life in wretchedness. Killing one would cut short Lolth's judgment and possibly earn the same sentence for the perpetrator.

Driders that survive for a long time can become accomplished hunters and navigators in the Underdark. Nothing will reopen the doors of drow society to them, but sometimes a drider can find a place in another community. Someone who needs a guide through the Underdark might not find a better one than a centuries-old drider that has faced every hazard those tunnels hold.

Society of Blood and Poison

The principal organization in drow culture and society is the house, an extended clan that comprises many related families, plus a number of lesser families who have pledged loyalty to the house. A house's membership also includes some (potentially very large) number of indentured drow servants and slaves of other species. A house usually specializes in a business, a service, or a craft that supports by providing income.

Houses are in constant competition with one another. They vie for money, for prestige, and, more than anything else, for power over others - the surest sign of Lolth's approval.

No tactic is outside the rules in this ongoing conflict. Raids against another house's outlying property (farming caverns, trade caravans, or hunting parties) are commonplace. Rumors about disloyalty, conspiracies with surface elves, or heresy against Lolth are circulated so frequently that no one knows what to be sure of. Assassinations, both by blade and by the use of special drow poisons, are a constant threat. Bodyguards and food tasters are as necessary to the survival of a high-ranking drow as air and water. Squabbles within a house also occur from time to time as relatives jockey for position. It's a rare occurrence, though far from unknown, for drow to assassinate their own parents or siblings if that's what it takes to create a path for advancement.

Cities without Sunlight

The drow might have not chosen to live in the Underdark, but just the same they consider it their home, not a prison. Just as the sea elves adapted to their aquatic realm, the drow have long been accustomed to the harsh conditions of life in the Underdark. They've lived away from sunlight for so long that they can't bear the touch of it on their flesh, and thus they prefer to visit the surface only at night.

Even though they live underground, drow are much more than cave-dwellers. Their cities are as magnificent as anything built by surface elves, and their defenses are even more secure. Their most important sites are located inside immense, hollowed-out stalactites and stalagmites, with entrances well-guarded.

Rule of Matriarchs

Females are the top figures in drow society. At the head of each house is someone who is a shrewd business operator, a skilled tactician, a high priestess of Lolth, and probably also a merciless assassin with blood on her hands. Unlike with many other races, female drow are typically taller and more robust than males.

To rise to the top echelons of power, a female must first become a priestess of Lolth. Then, to ascend to the status of high priestess, she must take advantage of powerful connections or craft special alliances. The path to ultimate power in drow society is never direct and is always paved with death.

A male drow can advance in standing as a combatant, a consort, or both. Physical beauty and fitness are highly prized in male drow, and those who are especially favored in this regard can earn protection and gifts from their matrons. A few males can attain high status in their society, especially those who serve as mages, but they never overshadow the females of their houses. Even the most intelligent, strong-willed, and devious male will never be more than a second-class citizen in any drow city or house. That situation will never change as long as Lolth reigns as their queen.

Nocturnal Raiders

If the drow kept to themselves in their subterranean cities and fortresses, few other creatures would care. The dark elves could indulge their evil practices until their caverns were heaped with corpses and awash in blood. Even the surface elves might be content to overlook their hatred for their kin and leave the drow alone, as long as they never had to lay eyes on the drow or view the results of their efforts.

But drow society is predicated on a foundation of terror and slavery, and the most desirable slaves live on the world's surface: humans, dwarves, and best of all, other elves. To the dark elves, raiding the surface for captives and treasure isn't just a cultural and military tradition, but also an economic necessity.

Some raids are major operations that involve hundreds of warriors, mages, priestesses, and giant spiders, a large enough force to overwhelm a community. The invaders would sweep through the town in the dark of night, shackle the best potential slaves into long trains of chattel, kill everyone who resisted, burn everything to the ground, and set their sights on the next town in line.

Most of the dark elves' raids, however, are small, stealthy, one-night missions. The drow scout their targets in advance, then strike on a night when the moon is new or its light is obscured by thick clouds. They might kill indiscriminately to spread terror, while at other times they slip into a village, knock out their targets with poison, and spirit their captives away without even waking the neighborhood dogs. Sometimes a raid uses both tactics; one squad sets fires or sets off alarms to focus the defenders' attention on one area, as another team strikes at the real target on the other side of town.

Loot is a secondary goal on almost all raids; taking prisoners is the primary objective. Some of the dark elves' victims become slaves, some end up as food for giant spiders or other monsters that the drow have trained to serve them, and some are laid out across bloodstained altars and sacrificed to Lolth.

The drow know how vulnerable they are during daylight, so they typically plan raids that can be executed within the span of a single night. As a rule, that means their target must be no more than a few hours' march - eight to twelve miles is typical - from an entrance to the Underdark. Ideally, they'll have more than one return path mapped out; if an escape route is blocked, they can switch to another and get safely home.

Once the raiders get inside their escape tunnel, they're usually safe. Opposing forces seldom pursue the drow below ground for good reason - beyond the light lies unmapped enemy territory where everything they meet is likely to be hostile. In special circumstances, such as if one of the raiders' captives is a royal heir or the scion of a wealthy family, adventurers might be hired to mount a rescue mission. Otherwise, it's rare for any rescuers to follow the kidnappers' trail deep into the deadly darkness without becoming victims themselves.

Slaves and Status

The drow are known and feared throughout the world for their practice of slavery, but those who have visited their cities report that slaves aren't as prevalent as the dark elves' reputation would suggest. In general, only powerful houses hold significant numbers of slaves, and the slaves of a house are never more numerous than its population of drow.

Slaves are often kept as signs of status as much as for their intrinsic worth as laborers. When they are put to work, they are also put on display, doing jobs that enable everyone on the street or in an audience chamber to see that their drow master owns and subjugates powerful enemies. As such, the creatures are commonly used as litter bearers, banner carriers, servers, and footstools.

Slaves without appreciable value as status symbols are used for strenuous or dangerous jobs such as tending farms, hauling cargo, or hollowing out giant stalagmites and stalactites to make new dwelling spaces. When they become too weak or dispirited to work, they might be staked out as bait during a hunt, fed to the spiders, or sacrificed to Lolth (and then fed to the spiders).

Although all slaves are at the bottom of the dark elves' social hierarchy, the lowest-ranking drow are considered little better than slaves themselves. A weak house that doesn't ally itself with a protector will be preyed on and victimized into extinction. If it does swear allegiance to a more powerful house, it avoids being persecuted by other houses but becomes effectively a clan of indentured servants. Only the most exceptional females in such a clan have any chance of rising above their low station, and those who do advance end up hurting rather than helping their families because they are adopted into the more prestigious house, leaving their original house even weaker than before.

Drow Trance: Entering the Void

Drow enter trance just as other elves do, but they do not experience memories of a primal soul or of past lives. Often they recall nothing at all, but simply dwell for a time in darkness and silence, a respite from the dangers of their daily lives. When drow do dream, whether in trance or in sleep, they look for signs from Lolth or others of the Dark Seldarine. That drow do not experience trance the way other elves do lends credence to the idea that their souls do not reincarnate. Did Corellon forever bar the souls of dark elves from Arvandor and change them in some fundamental way? Or does Lolth somehow weave new souls for her followers, in the way that Moradin forges new spirits for dwarves? Only those entities know for certain.

Universally Reviled

Were it not for one renowned exception, the race of drow would be universally reviled. To most, they are a race of demon-worshiping marauders dwelling in the subterranean depths of the Underdark, emerging only on the blackest nights to pillage and slaughter the surface dwellers they despise. Their society is depraved and preoccupied with the favor of Lolth, their spider-goddess, who sanctions murder and the extermination of entire families as noble houses vie for position.

Yet one drow, at least, broke the mold. In the world of the Forgotten Realms, Drizzt Do'Urden, ranger of the North, has proven his quality as a good hearted defender of the weak and innocent. Rejecting his heritage and adrift in a world that looks upon him with terror and loathing, Drizzt is a model for those few drow who follow in his footsteps, trying to find a life apart from the evil society of their Underdark homes.

Drow grow up believing that surface-dwelling races are inferior, worthless except as slaves. Drow who develop a conscience or find it necessary to cooperate with members of other races find it hard to overcome that prejudice, especially when they are so often on the receiving end of hatred.

The drow are descended from the dark elves who retreated into the Underdark after the Crown Wars. They are infamous for their cruelty, evilness, and drive to dominate.

For much of history, many believed that all drow were beings of inherent and irredeemable evil. In truth, most drow do align with evil, engaging in torture, slavery, murder, and other nefarious activities in the name of their demon-goddess. Almost always, dark elves who reject the ways of their people are exiled, or executed for being rebels, heretics, and insurrectionists who have turned against drow culture and the will of Lolth. But the existence of noble and self-sacrificing drow such as Liriel Baenre and Drizzt Do'Urden suggests that the evil of the drow isn't innate and can be overcome. The actions of these few heroic drow have tempered some people's opinions toward the race, although the appearance of a dark elf on the surface remains a rare event and a cause for alarm.

Many drow in Faerun hail from Menzoberranzan, the infamous City of Spiders, or one of the other drow city-states in the Underdark, such as Jhachalkhyn or Ched Nasad. Dark elves encountered on the surface are usually found near entrances to the Underdark, because they are harmed by the light of day, which weakens them and their magic. Drow who become adventurers often do so after fleeing the oppressive, cruel theocracy of the city-states. Most of these individuals live as outcasts and wanderers, though a rare few find new homes with another race or culture.

Drow have the racial traits of dark elves. Drow characters can come from any background, though most have a history that links to one of the drow city-states of the Underdark.

Inherent magical abilities and a preference for dark places make drow naturally adept as assassins, thieves, and spies. Traditionally, male drow are warriors and wizards, and female drow occupy leadership roles as warriors or priestesses of Lolth. Drow exiles tend to follow their own path regardless of gender.

Drow Deities

The gods of the drow are fractious and treacherous as their worshipers.

• The Spider Queen, Lolth, the Demon Queen of Spiders, reigns supreme as goddess of the drow, ruthlessly eliminating all who would threaten her position. Her priestesses do likewise with the cults of rival gods among their people.

• Selvetarm is god of warriors, and therefore patron of male drow, although perhaps not so much as Vhaeraun.

• Vhaeraun, the rogue god of thievery and of drow males who rebel against the matriarchy.

• Kiaransalee, drow goddess of the undead, is served by secretive cults of necromancers.

• Ghaunadaur, known as That Which Lurks, is a subversive power, the mad god of oozes, rebels, and outcasts, occasionally revered by drow.

• The Dark Maiden: Some drow exiles have heard the song of Eilistraee, urging them out onto the surface to behold the moon as it rises. The drow goddess of song, beauty, swordwork, hunting, and moonlight, she is the patron of drow who reject the evils of their society, offering them light and hope.

The Dark Seldarine

Lolth demands the lion's share of worship from the drow, according to her wishes and by the command of her priestesses. The Spider Queen isn't, however, the only entity venerated by drow. They revere a host of divine entities, which they refer to as the Dark Seldarine in mockery of the surface elves' deities. The Dark Seldarine are mighty, immortal beings, survivors from the original group of primal elves who revolted against Corellon to remain at Lolth's side.

Lolth

Unlike Corellon, who asks very little of his followers, Lolth is a demanding mistress. What she demands most of all are sacrifices of treasure and blood. Time and time again, the screams of sacrificial victims echo through Lolth's lightless temples as they fall under the knives of her priestesses. Her altars are piled with skulls picked clean of flesh by the giant spiders that lurk in the web-draped stalactites overhead.

In return for victims and adoration, Lolth grants signs of her favor, such as great success during a slave raid on the surface, the matron of a rival house being struck down by an inexplicable illness, or an heiress to the house being born under propitious omens.

Ghaunadaur

This entity is most often referred to as That Which Lurks, because uttering its real name risks attracting its attention. Its actual form, if it even has one, is unknown; it’s most often represented as an ooze-like creature with many tentacles or a purple pupil surrounded by black instead of white. The liquid nature of Ghaunadaur is symbolic of its unpredictable nature, which is what makes attracting its attention so risky. It occasionally rewards its followers with supernatural powers or wealth, but it's equally likely to curse its faithful with hideous torments and afflictions. A subterranean hunter who whispers Ghaunadaur's name might stumble into a forgotten treasure trove, while a devoted priestess who offers long prayers and valuable sacrifices is consumed by a gelatinous cube. The entity's random behavior can be an attraction to drow who lack status and are desperate to achieve it. A small sacrifice and a prayer to That Which Lurks might simply go unnoticed by Ghaunadaur, or it might punish the petitioner, but there is also a chance of receiving a great reward.

Worship of That Which Lurks is widespread in the Underdark. Not just drow pay respect to it. Even creatures that are considered to be mindless, such as oozes and jellies, sometimes behave in ways that seem consistent with reverence for That Which Lurks.

Those who are faithful to Lolth often oppose Ghaunadaur's cultists, driving t hem into hiding or forcing them into open conflict. Some priestesses and scholars believe that this enmity exists because Ghaunadaur betrayed Lolth shortly after she betrayed Corellon. In these legends, Ghaunadaur tried to curry favor with Corellon and recapture his earlier formless nature by turning on Lolth. Ghaunadaur's double act of betrayal brought retribution from both gods, and he was cast down into the world as a skinless, boneless mass. Other stories portray Ghaunadaur as an incredibly ancient and ineffable deity, one of the so-called Great Old Ones. Both claims might have merit, because the truth about the time of the birth of gods can never be known for certain.

Keptolo

Keptolo shows the way. Feed the vanity of your mistress, and all her treasures shall be yours. Be careful whom you offend, and keep an expendable companion nearby to hold culpable for your crimes. Gossip can be as deadly as the venom on an assassin's blade. Use the poison of words to destroy your rivals, that you may claim for yourself all they once presumed was theirs.

-Tezzeryn, Head Consort of House Bhaerynden, instructing his son

The ideal of what a male drow can become, Keptolo is handsome, stylish, witty, hedonistic, an outrageous flatterer, and sought after as a lover. He is also dangerous in his aspects as a subtle assassin and a whisperer of rumors. For those attributes, he is worshiped by ambitious males who hope to emulate him. Some succeed admirably and achieve great things beyond the reach of most males, but many more succumb to excesses of the flesh, dissipation, and disease, or they are ruined or murdered by a rival - who is also a true disciple of Keptolo.

In most myths, Keptolo resides in the Demonweb Pits alongside Lolth, whom he serves as consort, more than a plaything but much less than an equal. Keptolo is a bitter enemy of Zinzerena, who deceives and uses him as a tool in many of the stories about the Dark Seldarine.

Kiaransalee

The drow god of vengeance and undeath, called the Revenancer, is portrayed in some legends as a fierce female clad in silver and translucent veils, and in others as a banshee. In either version, her hands bear many glittering silver rings, and this image is recognized as her symbol.

Drow see Kiaransalee as the patron of vengeance because she is said to have died and returned from death to get her revenge, bringing an army of the dead back with her. Various communities of her worshipers have differing ideas about who killed her and why, but typically the murderer is portrayed as having the features of some kind of creature the drow have great hatred for. Followers of Kiaransalee don't trouble themselves greatly over these details, because all the stories could be true: the Revenancer is believed to have returned from death over and over again.

Vengeance is the aspect of Kiaransalee that appeals to most drow, because it becomes a necessity in every ambitious drow’s life - usually more than once. The state of undeath is of less concern to them, but those who practice necromancy turn to Kiaransalee for guidance and for protection from undead. Some of her most fervent followers seek out the secret of attaining undeath for themselves. Kiaransalee favors them by bringing them back as undead, but unlike other gods of similar sort, Kiaransalee doesn't offer the undeath of lichdom but a lowly existence as a banshee, a revenant, or a wight.

Drow believe that Kiaransalee was driven mad by returning from death as a god so many times, but her followers aren't discouraged by this assessment. Despite her madness, her actions are guided by a deep and devious cunning - a trait that drow attach more importance to than they do to sanity.

Holes in Lolth's Web

Lolth is far from omniscient, despite what her priestesses say. There are drow who live without bending to the tyranny of her worship. Communities of renegades who dispute Lolth's primacy often raise another of the Dark Seldarine up as their patron. Although this amounts to exchanging one evil oppressor for another, any escape from Lolth's web can feel like freedom.

The Acropolis of Thanatos, erected in the ruins of a drow city wiped out by plague in the Underdark of Faerun, was home to a drow settlement of a few thousand ruled by necromancer clerics of Kiaransalee. It existed for a few decades before worshipers of Lolth and worshipers of Eilistraee teamed up to eliminate its leaders.

Malyk

Malyk embodies rebellion and chaos. Drow know of his influence from the appearance of wild mages among their number. Such an individual, possessed of sorcerous powers seemingly bestowed at random, is often seen as a threat to the established order. Many drow, especially males and even females of low station, try to attract Malyk's attention by secretly making sacrifices to him. Meanwhile, house matrons and others steeped in the faith of Lolth attempt to purge Malyk's worship from drow society - at the same time that some of them pray to him for power.

Malyk is associated with rebellion because when a wild mage's true nature is revealed, the individual often has no recourse but to openly attack others and create chaos. Most other drow vie to receive Lolth's blessing by being the one to bring such a blasphemer to justice. In order to survive, a wild mage must defeat or elude all attackers and forge an alliance with those who can be threatened or bribed to provide a safe haven. Most wild mages who are discovered are put to death, some survive as outcasts, and a rare few rise to positions of status, declaring their allegiance to Lolth - or at least pretending to.

Selvetarm

Drow regard Selvetarm as the Champion of Lolth and the patron of drow warriors. He is portrayed as an eight-armed drow that represents the epitome of fighting prowess. But Lolth rarely looses her champion to do her bidding, keeping him snared by unbreakable webs that she removes only in times of direst need.

The dark elves believe that Selvetarm walked in solitude for many centuries, spurning both Lolth and Corellon, for he was not wholly given over to evil but neither was he fully aligned with the forces of light. Eventually his path crossed that of Eilistraee, and he began to appreciate the goodness of the Dark Maiden, as exhibited in her teachings and deeds. By aiding in Selvetarm's redemption, Eilistraee hoped to begin to heal the breach between drow and the Seldarine. That hope was dashed, however, by the insidious plotting of Lolth.

The Queen of Spiders had long resented the existence of Zanassu, a minor demon lord that competed with her for divine authority over spiders. She hated almost as much the possibility of Eilistraee's winning an ally among the drow pantheon. A prime opportunity arose when the spider demon lost much of its power in a conflict on the Material Plane. Lolth convinced Selvetarm to destroy Zanassu in its depleted state and seize the spider demon's burgeoning divine power. She did so by suggesting to Selvetarm that a victory would win him favor in the eyes of Eilistraee, whom he greatly admired. But when Selvetarm prevailed in battle over the spider demon, the wholly evil and chaotic nature of the divine power he absorbed overwhelmed Selvetarm's innate goodness and weakened him enough that the Spider Queen could bound his will tightly to her own.

Enraged by Lolth's duplicity, Selvetarm is an engine of destruction, an eight-limbed maestro of slaughter. If allowed to operate unchecked, he could rend his way through an entire drow city in a berserk rage. Keeping him restrained is one of the few acts of Lolth that can be described as merciful.

Because of his status as a captive, Selvetarm draws little attention from drow of high status. Low-caste drow warriors who are themselves slaves or indentured servants, or who have no chance to rise in rank, can beseech Selvetarm for prowess in battle without suffering any shame. Anyone of high standing or who hopes to attain high standing shies away from openly expressing reverence for Selvetarm, though such an individual might still beg his aid privately.

Vhaeraun

Vhaeraun stands for the dark elves' superiority over other races and for the primacy of individual drow over other drow. He is a god of arrogance, and thus he condones all acts of avarice, fair and foul alike. Those who take what they want from whom they wish, whether through stealth or bullying, pay homage to Vhaeraun. He is patron to thieves and often the object of prayer before drow embark on a raid.

Among the male gods of the Dark Seldarine, he is as widely recognized and accepted as Keptolo. But Vhaeraun represents a different aspect of drow masculinity: strong, silent, obedient, swift, and deadly. He is thought of as Lolth's favored son, in contrast to Keptolo's role as her beautiful consort.

Due to his high status in the Dark Seldarine (for a male} and because of his arrogance, a few of his worshipers look on him as an advocate of equality between male and female drow. That heresy, when it is expressed openly, is liable to be savagely crushed by the priestesses of Lolth. So most of Vhaeraun's male followers honor him simply by trying to carve out better lives for themselves, and that activity is tolerated. Even so, adherents of Vhaeraun don't appear in public without wearing masks. This practice exists in part because Vhaeraun is never portrayed unmasked, and partly because anonymity is a wise precaution when one challenges the social structure of the drow in even a small way.

To quash any challenge to the matriarchy that Vhaeraun might inspire in his followers, some drow communities preach that he wears a mask to hide the terrible scars from the wounds inflicted on him by Lolth as punishment for his arrogance. His silence, too, is part of his punishment, for his tongue was removed for questioning Lolth's orders. Worshipers of Vhaeraun who believe this dogma sometimes ritually scar and silence themselves as signs of their devotion, and then serve as voiceless, masked bodyguards for the matrons of their house.

Zinzerena

As the patron of assassination, illusions, and lies, Zinzerena personifies cruelty, stealth, misdirection, and survival by any means necessary. In some ways, Malyk is her reflection, and in many interpretations of the age-old stories, the two gods are siblings or lovers. But Zinzerena is more palatable to female drow than Malyk, and she condones the study of arcane magic.

The liturgy of Zinzerena is passed on in the form of folk tales, for her faith has no place among the leadership of drow society. Her tales usually describe her hiding and waiting until her foes are weakened or lax in their attention before she attacks. Those who respect or revere Zinzerena are almost always of modest social status, or worse. Even the most prestigious of noble estates, where a high priestess reigns supreme, might have a number of her followers among the commoners who work as servants and staff. Only the most capricious of nobles would enter her priesthood, though some have done so. Inevitably, when such traitors are discovered, they are cast out from their houses. Ironically, these maverick nobles often become leading figures in Zinzerena's cult, for they are the best educated and most politically experienced of her followers. Her adherents come from a wide range of occupations, including common thieves, laborers, guides, physicians, poets, and nearly any other profession. What they all share is a rebellious spirit and a desire for change.

In some stories, Zinzerena is Lolth's daughter, who was spirited away and hidden from her by illusions. In other tales, she begins life as a mortal elf who uses glamors to trick her way into the company of the gods. Regardless, Zinzerena always has some element of illusion magic about her, and she uses it and other deceptions to get the better of more powerful opponents. Deceit and taking advantage of others' weaknesses are recurring themes in the tales of her exploits. The only figure in the Dark Seldarine immune to Zinzerena's deceptions is Lolth, although even the Queen of Spiders is sometimes tricked when Zinzerena shifts blame for her actions onto others.

Not many female drow devote their lives to the study of magic, because it's held to be a low-status avocation more suited to males. Most females who pursue it seriously do so in secret. Even rumors that a drow matron practices arcane magic, if they aren't quashed, can sabotage her standing in society. Yet there's no denying that knowledge of arcane magic could be a great boon to an ambitious female. Zinzerena's worshipers encourage this pursuit and offer tutelage and tools in exchange for a candidate's alliance with Zinzerena's secret cult.

Eilistraee

Most drow know nothing of Eilistraee. Matron mothers of the most powerful houses closely guard the scrolls that chronicle her existence. They retain them for the sake of remaining aware of the enemy they describe: a drow god who would spirit away all of Lolth's worshipers to the surface world.

The matron mothers warn those who go to the surface on raids to retreat if they can see the moon - practical advice, it would seem. But an equally important reason is that Eilistraee is known to work her wiles under the light of the moon, so that drow are more susceptible to her lure at such times. The matrons also direct the raiders to flee back underground if any of their number hear music they find appealing, such as a parent's lullaby or the chorus of a rousing song carried on the mind, because Eilistraee's call to drow who would be free of Lolth's web is often delivered within dulcet tunes that aren't of otherworldly origin.

Eilistraee is a goddess of moonlight, song, dance, and, most important, the rejection of the evil ways of Lolth. Drow who feel like outsiders in their society, who react with disgust to the evils perpetrated by their kind, who come to the surface and fall in love with the stars - these are the ones who might be pleased to hear Eilistraee's call. If they respond to it by going to the surface and staying there, Eilistraee offers no guarantee of their safety and no promise of acceptance in the world above. But she opens her followers' hearts to the wonder of the nature in the night, and her songs and signs can show a drow how to persevere in that alien environment.

The scrolls that the matron mothers guard so closely attest that Eilistraee turned against Lolth but knew better than to seek solace among the Seldarine. Her position among the other drow gods remains uncertain, as is the fate of the souls of those who turn to her worship. Drow who are beloved by Eilistraee sometimes appear to vanish when they die, as the body dissolves into pale light and leaves no clue to where the soul has gone.

The Demonweb Connection

Lolth's personal realm is a layer of the Abyss known colloquially as the Demonweb Pits. Far from being intimidated by their deity's connection to the Abyss, the drow revel in it - sometimes literally.

Drow have respect for the power of demons, but they don't fear them the way most other mortal creatures do. A drow who calls up a demon from the Abyss into the Underdark wants something from it, typically a means of improving one's status or gaining leverage against enemies. A demon that answers the call wants something in return: an opportunity to spread carnage, to curry Lolth's favor, or to accomplish something more devious. As long as both sides get what they want, these arrangements conclude without further incident.

Every so often, a demon summoning goes badly. Perhaps the drow intended to trap the demon into servitude but took inadequate precautions, or the demon was wilier than usual, or the call was answered by a being more powerful than the summoner could handle. Calling forth a demon and failing to rein it in is a capital crime in most drow communities - an uncontrolled demon often spells disaster not only for the drow who pulled it from the Abyss but for the summoner's entire house.

A demon is the highest form of slave a drow house can own. There's no better display of a house's power than a demon kept shackled as it serves its master, and few more potent ways of striking fear in an enemy's heart. Demons are also sometimes sought after as house guests. The occasion of a major sacrifice, the dedication of a newborn daughter to Lolth, or even a lavish banquet takes on greater significance and imparts more status when one or more demons are in attendance. In addition, any "peaceful" gathering of drow and demons has the potential to descend into a riot of hedonism, even more raw and debased than the orgies drow engage in on their own. Stories of such encounters have spread all the way to the surface world, where listeners dismiss them as exaggerations - but they're not. Draegloths, the offspring of drow and glabrezu, serve as proof enough that when demons and drow consort with one another, the result can be truly horrific.

Yochlols

The shape-changing demons known as yochlols are the personal servants of Lolth. They seem to be numberless in the Demonweb Pits, but where they arise from is unknown. Are they spawned from drow souls that became trapped in Lolth's web? Or do they spring directly from the queen herself? Regardless of their origin, yochlols respond to the will of Lolth alone. No other demon or demon lord can command them.

Because yochlols can assume the form of a female drow or a giant spider, and because they serve Lolth without hesitation, all drow assume that some number of their friends and neighbors are actually yochlols in disguise, spying for Lolth. The higher a drow's standing, the more worrisome this prospect becomes. After all, Lolth has little reason to care about those at the bottom of society, but those who lead her people and direct her worship must be closely watched to be sure they remain devout, unquestioning, and afraid.

Drow Renegades

Drow society is, paradoxically, extremely open-ended and extremely oppressive. All drow have a chance, at least theoretically, to improve their station in life, and movement does occur throughout the hierarchy all the time. But, naturally, those in power are determined to put down any threat against them - and the penalty for insubordination is death.

As things work out in practice, indentured drow at the bottom of the ladder spend their lives laboring for another house's gain, and powerful drow at the top of society spend their time trying not to be assassinated or framed for heresy, while clinging to the power and prestige they've wrested from other houses.

A dark elf who challenges another for superiority and fails, or who fails to respect the hierarchy in some other way, has just three options: agonizing death on an altar, virtual enslavement, or fleeing for their lives. Some of those who choose to run succeed in escaping into the Underdark, despite the odds against them.

Survival for a solitary drow underground is nearly impossible. The main routes through the Underdark are dotted with drow guard posts, and the back ways are prowled by ropers, mind flayers, duergar, and other killers. To make matters worse, the renegade's former house offers a bounty that entices drow assassins to take up the chase. Of those who run, only a small fraction get to the surface. And even that achievement is no guarantee of safety, because a lone drow above ground is likely to be attacked on sight by surface dwellers.

Those who find a way to survive in the painful world of sunlight either live as recluses or find a community where their heritage and upbringing give them an advantage, such as an assassins' guild or a company of adventurers. Even in such cases, these traitorous drow spend the rest of their lives looking over their shoulders, hoping to spy the black hood and flashing blade of a bounty-hunting drow assassin before it's too late.

Drow Adventurer Story Hooks

d8 Hook

1 You overheard members of your own house plotting to poison you, so you fled from the Underdark to save yourself. You won't return until you've amassed enough fortune to surround yourself with loyal mercenary bodyguards.

2 You were enslaved as punishment for trying to poison an influential rival, but you escaped and fled to the surface. If you return to the Underdark and are captured, you'll be re-enslaved.

3 You were the lover of a high-ranking priestess of Lolth as a means of enhancing your status. When she tired of you, the loss of status was humiliating, so you left.

4 You killed a drow from a more powerful house in a duel over a public insult. The slain drow's house vowed to destroy your house unless you were handed over. Your kin urged you to leave the Underdark. You wonder what became of them.

5 A close friend of yours was revealed to be a worshiper of Eilistraee. Suspicion fell on everyone in her circle. Running was a tacit admission of guilt, even though you knew nothing about it, but you'd have been sacrificed to Lolth if you stayed.

6 You were among a group of surface raiders that was ambushed, and you were captured. During years of captivity, you learned that most of what Lolth's priestesses taught about the outer world was lies. Now you're experiencing the truth for yourself.

7 All your life, you were alienated and terrified by the cruelty of your kin. The first chance you got, you volunteered to go on a surface raid, then deserted the group and remained behind. Now you're hated and feared wherever you go, but at least you've found a small group of adventurous friends who trust and support each other.

8 You were part of a delegation carrying diplomatic messages to another drow city when duergar attacked the caravan for slaves and treasure. Only you and one other guard escaped. If you'd returned home, you'd have been poisoned or worse for failure. Becoming a mercenary was your best option.

Drow House Specialty

d10 Specialty

1 Adamantine weapons

2 Assassinations

3 Giant spiders subject to magical control

4 Hallucinogenic substances

5 High-status slaves and sacrificial victims

6 Items taken from surface world in raids

7 Low-cost, humanoid slaves

8 Maps of the Underdark

9 Poisons

10 Reptilian beasts of burden

Shadar-kai

Ages spent in the Shadowfell have shaped the Shadar-kai into a people that live passionately and fearlessly to combat the apathy and gloom of their home plane. Shadar-kai society is meritocratic and based on power and prestige of great deeds. Most Shadar-kai do not fear death and live for the moment, or risk succumbing to ennui and fading out of existence, experimenting in all sorts of stimulation and extremes.

Appearance. The goth-like, Shadar-kai seem to draw in the shadows around them. Their skin ranges from white to dark gray and their eyes are black and lustrious without any white or clear pupil. Their drab or raven black hair is often died and worn in a variety of styles including long and loose, braided, or elaborately shaved. Shadar-kai are usually depicted as having human looking ears. While drab in appearance, these people like dark clothing, jewelry and weapons decorated with a splash of color. They are usually found with tattoos, scarifications, and piercings.

Deities. The Raven Queen is an elusive being and can’t be chosen as a deity. She can, however, be chosen as a warlock patron. She’s mysterious that way.

The Raven Queen and the Shadar-kai

The Raven Queen is trapped by her fascination with the past. She sits in her fortress, amidst all the memories of the world, looking at the ones that please her most as though they were glittering jewels. Many great wizards have attempted to understand her motives, but like a raven she has always remained cryptic, keeping her cache of secrets just out of their reach.

-High Lady Alustriel Silverhand

The Raven Queen is a being of dark mystery. Accomplished wizards talk about her in hushed tones, and with no small amount of fear, for even they can't say what power she wields in her realms, too subtle for mortal minds to sense. Rumors abound as to her current form, most coming from claims made by lunatics who have described an array of disturbing images: a terrible shadow that clawed at their innermost thoughts, a pale and regal elf who exploded into an untold number of ravens, a shambling tangle of slick roots and sticks that overwhelmed them with dread, or an unknown presence that pulled them screaming blindly into the gloom.

Despite all attempts to demystify her, the Raven Queen has remained enigmatic and aloof, immersed in a sea of questions. She rules from her Raven Throne within the Fortress of Memories, a mazelike castle deep within the bleakness of the Shadowfell. From there she sends out her ravens to find interesting souls she can pluck from various planes of existence. Once they are in the Shadowfell, she watches as these souls attempt to unravel the mystery of their being-and ultimately go mad in the process.

Origin of the Raven Queen

For those who seek to unravel the enigma of the Raven Queen, the story of her origin comes from the ancient history of the elves. It is said that she was once an elf queen, whose people loved her more than they loved the gods. Her true name has been lost to time.

But from the fragments that have been found of her history, it was she who, when Corellon and Lolth were locked in conflict, tried to use the souls and magic of her people to elevate herself to godly status, thus salvaging the fractured pantheon of the elves. Afterward, the legends suggest, she would attempt to implore Corellon and Lolth to come to their senses. But the information in these fragments was woefully incomplete, and the queen's true motives were never fully understood.

Descent into Shadow

As the queen rose in power, many elves became inspired by her, freely offering their souls and their magical abilities to help her achieve her goal. This group of devoted followers called themselves the shadar-kai, and they gathered others like themselves around their queen in hopes that, once she achieved divinity, she would unify all the elves. The queen's plan was to use the souls of the shadar-kai to forge a pathway through the Feywild to Arvandor, all the while increasing her influence.

As the numbers of shadar-kai grew, a consortium of evil wizards among her followers saw an opportunity to siphon off the energy of the shadar-kai for themselves by performing their own self-serving ritual, which would impart to them magical powers beyond those of the greatest elven wizards of legend. But as the queen approached the entrance to Arvandor, she realized what the wizards were doing and brought all her wrath down upon them as the ritual was under way. Because she was by now a quasi-divine entity, her supernatural rage corrupted the ritual into a phenomenon that took on a terrible strength of its own.

By the time the queen realized her error, she could feel the now-twisted magical energy grabbing hold of her, and she was powerless to stop it. In a panic, she reached out to the souls of the shadar-kai for more power, hoping to save herself, but the gravity of the spell had become irresistible. It pulled the queen, and all who were under her sway, into the Shadowfell, where she was instantly killed. From her ruined mind and body, the Raven Queen was born.

The Creation of the Nagpas

When their ritual failed with catastrophic results, the wizards in the consortium were pulled into the Shadowfell along with the queen and the shadar-kai, but their misfortune didn't end there. Their former queen arose from the center of a maze of ash and let loose a scream of ebon smoke that penetrated the flesh and minds of the wizards, turning their bones black and lacerating their souls. Their cries of agony merged with her own, and when her scream faded, the wizards had been mutated and warped into the scabrous, vulturish creatures known as nagpas. Now they wander the planes as wretched monsters, marked forever by the Raven Queen's curse and banished from her presence.

After the Fall

After the nagpas were created and then banished by the Raven Queen, the shadar-kai watched as she fell deeper and deeper into a divine madness. Her pain and turmoil over the betrayal of her wizards, the destruction of her kingdom, and her failure at attaining godhood all contributed to her descent into an unquenchable sorrow. At the same time, the energy of the corrupted ritual was still transforming her, breaking down her form from a physical one into an entity composed of symbols, images, and perceptions. To keep herself from dissipating entirely into nothingness, the queen used the last vestiges of her personal power to pull dead memories from the Shadowfell about her, creating a cloak of identities that sustained her. Over centuries, those dark memories accumulated and coalesced to give shape to the entity now known as the Raven Queen.

The Fortress of Memories

Since achieving divinity, the Raven Queen has filled her realm with shadows and memories, obsessively collecting such essences from remnants of dead gods and mortals that were strewn throughout the Shadowfell. From these metaphysical fragments she formed her new home, a twisted castle that the shadar-kai call the Fortress of Memories. The fortress is a mournful place, filled with incessant echoes of the past. Flocks of ravens that act as her eyes and ears darken the skies around it when they emerge from within, bearing her cryptic messages and omens far and wide across the multiverse.

Bizarre Menagerie. Within the Fortress of Memories are trinkets and items that the Raven Queen finds irresistible, memories plucked from people's pasts that have been invested with deep feelings of pain, sorrow, longing, guilt, or remorse. These items are brought to her as gifts from the shadar-kai. These trinkets can include furniture, clocks, mirrors, jewels, and toys. Also appearing in the fortress are ghostly visions of people, places, and pets. Any of these things can spontaneously appear about her lair, every object and apparition being a metaphoric representation of some story - great or small - that was saturated with raw emotion.

A Quest to the Fortress of Memories

Because the Raven Queen has godlike power, she can put an adventuring party inside a demiplane that is created from the psyche of one of the characters. On entering the Fortress of Memories, or encountering the Raven Queen, a character can find themselves transported to a strange fairy tale world pulled from their experiences, filled with metaphors, parables and allegories, all of which challenge that character's frailties, fears, and desires. Much can be learned from adventuring within the fortress and undergoing the Raven Queen's test, but much can also be lost. Many adventurers never return from the fortress, forever trapped within a world created from their own experience.

Encountering the Raven Queen

Mortals that enter the Raven Queen's realm are almost instantly confronted with a glimpse into their own internal landscape. Because she is fascinated with emotions, the Raven Queen worms into the unconscious minds and memories of her visitors, bringing forth visions from the deepest reaches of their psyches. Some of these visitors are the unwitting souls of departed people who have been pulled into the Raven Queen's clutches, others are astral travelers who are caught and trapped within the Shadowfell by her magic - but a rare few come of their own volition, seeking knowledge or freedom from a dark past.

Many of these daring individuals are adventurers who know of the Raven Queen's terrifying power yet nevertheless travel to the Shadowfell to undergo her trial, letting the secrets of their souls be unfolded and revealed. The reasons why folk would subject themselves to this dangerous experience are numerous, including:

• To free themselves from a dark and terrible past. It is said that the Raven Queen can make you confront your fears; some find a way to move beyond them, but others can be driven mad.

• To discover a secret of someone who is dead. Adventurers might need to go to the Shadowfell to find a soul that has been claimed by the Raven Queen, hoping to unlock its memories.

• To seek answers that only the Raven Queen might know. The Raven Queen's realm contains innumerable memories from all over the multiverse. Desperate adventurers might seek her out as a last resort or be led to her realm by a series of tempting clues.

Method or Madness? Some wizards and other scholars have speculated that the Raven Queen is simply insane, that there is no method to her madness other than a nervous pecking apart of a psyche with no more motive than a curious child pulling the legs off an ant. Others have speculated that the Raven Queen needs the gravity of emotions to hold her eternally decaying identity together. But a few sages have postulated that the Raven Queen's purpose is of greater importance, that she serves as a filter of sorts, cleansing souls that cling to fear and pain, forcing them to confront their unfinished business so that they are freed of their mortal baggage and can rise to explore higher planes of existence.

The Raven Queen's Influence

The Raven Queen's desire to interfere with the affairs of the gods and her subsequent failure was taken as nothing less than treason by both Corellon and Lolth. As a result, the physical reality of her kingdom was shifted to the Shadowfell, and the memory of her existence was wiped from the minds of elves. Initially, no mortals knew of her, but over the centuries, those who have journeyed to the Shadowfell and those who have encountered shadar-kai in the world have seen, or heard tales of, a dark fortress, a mysterious figure surrounded by gaunt servants, and scores of seemingly sentient ravens. Most folk who have heard of the Raven Queen view her through a lens of superstitious fear, attributing to her all kinds of strange occurrences, mishaps, and coincidences. But those who seriously study the arcane - warlocks, wizards, sorcerers, and the like - know that her effect on the world is farther-reaching than that.

Audience after Death. Some adventurers claim to have been visited by the Raven Queen after their deaths - before their stalwart friends paid to have them resurrected. While they were in the afterlife, the Raven Queen enlisted them for a quest to complete a task, acquire a particular item, or perhaps to travel to a location and simply wait. Most of those who have talked about these visitations say they felt compelled to do her bidding, because the visions imparted by the Raven Queen made it apparent that the quest was in some way part of their greater purpose.

The Raven Queen's reason for communing in this way is a matter of some dispute. Some sages posit that she is using people as pawns in an inscrutable game, the rules of which are known only to her and the Lady of Pain. Others suggest that she is balancing the multiverse by having mortals complete various tasks, and some say that it is in these moments of obeisance to her that the Raven Queen recalls a fragment of her former self.

Servants of the Queen

The shadar-kai are bound to the Raven Queen, cursed to forever serve her in the Shadowfell. They dwell in places outside the Fortress of Memories, usually too terrified of the place to enter it willingly. In their communities they reenact their old rituals and ceremonies, in a pale imitation of the days when they dwelled in the life and light of their now-lost kingdom.

When shadar-kai are in the Shadowfell, their bodies and faces are old and withered, displaying the full effects of the terrible magic that stripped them of their former elven beauty. To hide their visages, they often wear masks made of metal or wood, but even these coverings are melancholic in appearance. When shadar-kai are sent away from the Shadowfell to do the Raven Queen's bidding, they take on youthful features similar to those of other elves, although their skin remains deathly pale.

Immortal Servants. The shadar-kai know that when they die, the Raven Queen captures their souls and returns them to the Shadowfell, where they are resurrected to serve her yet again. Thus, they consider death to be a temporary condition, and many shadar-kai care little for the physical shell they currently inhabit.

Shadar-kai know that those who come willingly to the Raven Queen's tower are there to beseech her for something, and thus they try to prepare such visitors for what they will face. The queen's servants talk to any inquiring adventurer about the gravity of emotion, how sorrow weighs on the soul as it travels through the Shadowfell, and how best to persevere in the Raven Queen's test.

Follow the Ravens. When the Raven Queen sees a soul or a piece of information she wants, she sends her ravens to alert the shadar-kai. Her minions then put their trust in these cryptic, cawing guides to lead them to where the barriers are weakest so they can then slip across planes to their destination. Once at their destination, the shadar-kai watch and wait, looking for the tragedies their queen wishes them to collect. Sometimes they are small: a spurned lover, a lost item, a betrayal. But some tragedies are much graver: a murder, a war, a diabolical bargain. To bring back a trinket for their queen, the shadar-kai use their shadow magic. If a target is living, they magically infiltrate the person's mind and excise the desired bits of emotion, or if the target is close to death, the shadar-kai capture the whole soul to bring back to the Raven Queen.

Sediment of Memory. Shadar-kai are very interested in the magical silt at the bottom of the River Styx that holds the memories and identities of lost souls. Any adventurers who travel to the Nine Hells to procure a vial of this powder will likely draw the attention of the shadar-kai, who will attempt to steal or barter for it. Adventurers might also bring a bit of the sediment as a gift to the Raven Queen. What she would give in return is never known ahead of time, but her boons come in many wondrous forms: the restoration of a lost soul, the rediscovery of a missing memory, or a glimpse into the forgotten knowledge of the ancients.

Vecna's Obsession

One evil mind is fixated on wresting away the Raven Queen's power: the archlich Vecna. Vecna has long coveted her ability over knowledge and souls; to steal souls would give him the ability to amass an army of the dead large enough to conquer the Shadowfell and turn it into his own kingdom of death. There he would rule from the Fortress of Memories, and through the Raven Queen's power have access to all the lost knowledge stored within the souls she has trapped over the millennia. But to this day, all his attempts to gain a foothold there have been thwarted.

Because of his obsession with usurping the Raven Queen, and claiming the Fortress of Memories, Vecna has embroiled himself in a terrible conflict, leading his armies into relentless battles against the Raven Queen and her shadar-kai fanatics and against the vampire lord Kas, Vecna's former lieutenant, whom Vecna wants to see destroyed over all other enemies. Some say this war is just another of the Raven Queen's beloved tragedies playing out for her amusement.

Names. Shadar-kai will occasionally take names from elves or humans, but they usually take names of heroes from their own people or great warriors they respect from outside their people.

• • Male Names: Ashok, Baden, Chanoch, Emul, Natan, Sithierel, Skagi, Thieraven, Traedis, Vedoran, Zahar

  • Female Names: Afyn, Bahnka, Codruta, Doru, Ghita, Helayna, Ilvani, Lucya, Markella, Roduka, Zyna.

Rare Elf Subraces

Other lines of descendants exist of the elves who originally came to Faerun, but they are so rare as to be legendary, often considered mythical.

• • Avariel. The Aril'Tel'Quessir, or winged elves, were among the first to settle in Faerun. They are famed for their feathered wings and ability to fly. Ancient conflicts with dragons nearly wiped them out, and today they are rarely, if ever, seen.

  • Lythari. The Ly'Tel'Quessir have the ability to polymorph into wolves . Unlike werewolves, lythari don't have a hybrid form and aren't afflicted by a curse. They dwell together in secretive packs, primarily in wolf form, living free in the deep wilds of the world. 

  • Wild Elves. The Sy'Tel'Quessir are considered by many elves to be the most strange of their race, having abandoned or lost much of their ancient culture.