Shadow Elf

Dwelling in the haunted Shadow Forest, the Shadow Elves are a neutral offshoot of the subterranean Drow. They are a dour and unimaginative people, rarely venturing out of their tiny empire. The Shadow Elves are master warriors and mages, and their skill in battle makes the valuable companions in the dangerous world.

Personality: The Shadow Elves lack the greed for power which makes their Drow cousins so unpopular above ground. Instead they possess a realism which borders on pessimism. They do not have hopes or dreams, and never seek to make themselves appear to be more than they are. They do not see the beauty in anything except death, an area with which they are infatuated. They see death as a final release from their ‘hellish’ above ground existence, one plagued with greedy fools and unclean beasts. Shadow Elves dislike most things, and are seen as depressing by most they encounter. Where a Desert Gnome may be fatalistic, a Shadow Elf borders on insane.

Physical Description: Shadow Elves, being descended from the Drow, resemble them in almost every way. They have dark skin, white hair and stand around five feet tall. It is not uncommon for Shadow Elves to possess blonde or silver hair. Eye colour varies, but is usually a glowing shade of purple. Shadow Elves favour practical clothing over the more colourful clothes worn by surface dwellers. Their obsession with death means that they prefer colours of mourning. Deep blue, greys and black are all favoured dress amongst Shadow Elves. Those of noble birth wear a deep red, which borders on a black. They value jewellery, not for its beauty, but because when buried it is a mark of one’s power to have vast wealth with which to be buried. Every Shadow Elf possesses some talisman to Yaro, their God of Death. These talismans are rarely ornate, but some are worth quite a lot to human art collectors. Shadow Elves can live up to five hundred years.

Relations: The Shadow Elves shun contact with the outside world, preferring to keep to themselves in most affairs. They do trade with the people of the Blight Ranges, and so have learnt to tolerate humanities unbearable happiness. They dislike most Elves and despise Halflings, both races have a pleasant outlook on life which they find absolutely sickening. They also dislike Gnomes, but feel some affinity with the similarly depressing Desert Gnomes. Shadow Elves dislike the crude Orcs and barely tolerate their Drow cousins, who they see as tainted. Strangely, the only creatures with which the Shadow Elves happily co-operate are the Ettercap which infest their forest home. They see the Ettercap as misguided creatures who must be guided to the ‘correct path’ of worshipping Yaro.

Alignment: Shadow Elves tend towards neutrality, and have no interest in the affairs of larger feuding empires. There are very few good or evil Shadow Elves, and they tend towards being lawful due to their society’s strict religious political system.

Shadow Elf Lands: The Shadow Elves are the sole rulers of Shadow Forest, and protect their domain fiercely. They despise those who would exploit their forest, and despite not seeing its beauty, recognise its value as a source of food and shelter. There are two other areas of Shadow Elf occupation. The first is a small outpost in Deepwood, one which has a strictly military purpose, to stave off Sylvan Elf invasion. The other is somewhere within the fog shrouded canyons of the Bleak Range, and serves as a base of operations for trading Shadow Elves. It is also home to a large religious compound.

Religion: The Shadow Elves worship Yaro, their own God of the Dead. He is a benevolent figure, who watches over his chosen with a loving eye. He is supposedly the guardian of the gates into the afterlife, and favours the Shadow Elves over all others. As the servant of Nerull, he often quests to the mortal plane to perform tasks. It is said by the Shadow Elves that Yaro once came amongst them and lead them from the caverns of the Drow. Yaro’s favoured weapon is the Scythe.

Language: Shadow Elves speak a dialect of Elven, which is easy for Elves or those who speak Elven to understand. Most also speak Common, so that they can communicate with the humans who inhabit the Bleak Range. The oldest Shadow Elves can also speak Undercommon, and retain some knowledge of Drow customs. Shadow Elf priests also speak Drane, a language used in their own burial rites and in religious services to Yaro.

Names: Shadow Elves have Elven names, but prefer to refer to each other as brother and sister. They call non Shadow Elves outsiders, a habit which often leads to fights. They do not see the value in learning a name which is unimportant in the afterlife.

Adventurers: Shadow Elves do not often leave their homes, except for purposes of trade or invasion. The major reason for Shadow Elves travelling is a feeling of wanderlust, something which is seen as a weakness by their elders. Shadow Elves sometimes feel jaded by the death obsessed lives they lead, and wish to escape into the great world to experience everything. Such Elves are usually Neutral Good and believe that Yaro sees the dour practices of their kin as sacrilige, and wants them to experience everything in life.

Shadow Elf Racial Traits

*+2 Wisdom, -2 Constitution: The Shadow Elves have lost the natural Elvena agility, but have gained great wisdom through their lives of study and religion.

*Shadow Elf base speed is 30ft.

*The Final Sleep: The Shadow Elves are attuned to the Plane of the Dead, and are sometimes able to stave off the cold embrace of death when it is not right. A Shadow Elf can automatically stalibise himself on a successful Wisdom check.

*+2 racial bonus to saving throws against all Necromancy spells. This power arises from the Shadow Elves attunement to the Plane of the Dead.

*+2 racial bonus on Heal, Spot, Search and Listen checks. The Shadow Elves still retain the Elf population’s uncanny senses as well as their practice in the healing arts.

*Shadow Elves with an intelligence of 10 or greater can take one Necromantic spell of level 0 at first level, a 1st level Necromantic spell at 3rd level, 2nd at 6th, 3rd at 9th, 4th at 12th, 5th at 15th, 6th at 18th and 7th at 20th. The training in the worship of Yaro manifests itself in a minor mastery of Necromancy.

*Automatic Languages: Elven, Shadow Elf and Common. Bonus Languages: Undercommon, Trader, Sylvan, Orc, Goblinoid, Draconic, Giant and Lizardfolk. The Shadow Elves learn many languages through their contact with nearby races.

*Blindsight: Shadow Elves can see twice as well as a human in low-light conditions such as starlight, moonlight or torchlight. A Shadow Elf can still detect colour and detail in these conditions.