Origins: Unknown
Languages: Elven, and Common
Life Expectancy: 600 years
Religion: Lolth
Status: Safe
Drow differ from their Elven cousins in several key instances. The skin of a Drow is generally very pale because they lack sunlight. The Drow's hair is dark, ranging from black to dark green to dark purple. It is not uncommon for a Drow to be albino. Hardy and strengthened from their underground heritage, the Drow are generally stronger than their Elven relatives.
A highly honourable race, the Drow lived below the ground in great underground caverns. Cousins of the Elves, they have similar skills in the arts, but are also a powerful fighting force. Though the Elves despise them, the Drow rarely react vehemently, for though quick to anger, their honour, cool logic and judgements normally bring the situation to a peaceful resolution, or at least a stale-mate. Deadly in battle, the Drow remain a mysterious race that does not like to share it's secrets with others.
Drows are faster than Humans, and have powerful mental abilities. They lack strength, though, and even a fully trained Drow cannot take as many blows as a Human.
The History of the Drow is dominated by one story that tell of their origin. The story tells the tale of a small band of Elves, ostracized by Finelyn Ba'dor. They discovered a small system of caves that gave them a safe haven from the thugs Ba'dor sent after them. These Elves were able to sleep in the cave at night, and scavenge the nearby forest by day. One night, the cave collapsed mysteriously, crushing several Elves and trapping the rest. The imprisoned Elves explored the cave system and found a water-source and an underground grove of mushrooms, on which they could feed. Over several hundred years and many generations, the Elves were able to adapt to this underground environment and became the Drow.
Because of their magical origins, all Drow are resistant to most forms of magical attacks and can determine if an item is magical merely by looking at it. They are, however, vulnerable to light and blinded by bright light. Drow are reasonable warriors, but they more often tend to be dabblers in magic if they are not trained spellcasters. Due to their living in the dark, they naturally develop skills in hiding and sneaking.
The Drow culture is one of the most complex and established on any other people. Because of their isolation, they were uninvolved with other races, and so, were able to develop a very unique heritage. The Drow society is made up of Houses who vie for power, within their cities. These Houses, many of which go back for centuries, are to a certain extent families, but often may be made up of more than one family (in the case of two Houses which merge). House-name is used in the place of a surname. The method with which these Houses fight for prominence is twofold.
Firstly, business sense. Wealth is important in any society, and the Drow are no different. With money you can do many things, buy many people; which leads as to the second method: assassination. Many assassins, without House attachments, kill for a price. HOWEVER, these assassins do not merely fire an arrow from a rooftop or subtly poison their victim. The Drow code of honour prevents that. The only honourable way to do in with an opponent is to challenge them to a duel. As a result, assassins are really skilled swordsmen, mercenaries in a sense, who will challenge opponents for their masters. It is a battle to the death, unless one of the fighters submits to the other. If that is the case, his/her House is dishonoured, but they may live. Most Drow preferred to die in such duels than dishonour their Houses.
Because of the Elven blood of the Drow, they are a very long-lived race. Though they do not live forever (few live over 600 years), they retain their youthful grace and strength right until the end. They learn the ways of battle early, and also the code of honour which permeates their society. A Drow may challenge another to a duel to the death for a single insult. The Drow also have a fine musical heritage, carried on primarily by followers of faiths over than the Darkeness, and are especially skilled with a stringed instrument: the cithera.
When the time comes, the Drow feel that it is their duty to subjugate all other races of the known world, to take their righteous place. The exception is the Elves, whom the Drow bear a mutual hatred for, and they will be exterminated, instead of subjugated. This hatred stems from a war fought against the Elves roughly a thousand years ago, when the Drow were forced from their old homes on the eastern side of the sea.
Most Drow are relatively friendly with Avians and Dwarves, neutral towards Halflings, Gnomes, and Humans. Orcs, half-Orcs, Gnolls, and Kobolds they generally look upon with contempt. Elves and half-Elves they despise utterly; those of elven descent are safe when a drow is around only if they are substantially stronger or if the Drow has a reason to let them live.