Feared and reviled throughout Migdalia, the dark elves are one of the most numerous, powerful, and wide-spread of the Underdark’s native races. The majority of dark elves live in large city-states ruled over by various noble Houses. Each house commands its own small army of fearless samurai, cunning mages, zealous priests, and ruthless ninja. Each city exists in a tenuous balance of order of chaos, as each House struggles to exert its dominance over the others. Deep rivalries between the clergies of Vastra and Elkolvir cut through even the most unified of Houses, almost eclipsing the thousand personal vendettas and grudges which seem to fester within each city-state.Personality: Most dark elves are cruel, arrogant, and hedonistic. Dark elves define themselves by the one thing that sets them apart from the more feral denizens of the Underdark – manners. Even the most despicable, bloodthirsty dark elf knows better than to behave like a rude child in mixed company. Even if none present have the authority to admonish a misbehaving dark elf, someone further up the chain of command will inevitably hear about it and rectify the situation. Dark elf society simply does not tolerate those who do not take the time to act civilized, and punishment can range from a simple public humiliation to the dishonorable execution of the offender to the binding of the offender’s soul for an eternity.
Those dark elves who feel the need to be offensive and rude to one another may do so in accepted ways – cunning insults are a favorite in the noble courts, and those unable to respond in kind or otherwise handle the situation stand to lose much reputation. Dark elf society values those who can maintain a calm demeanor at all times over those who bluster with curses and boasts.
It is customary for noble dark elves to greet each other by bowing. This practice began shortly after the dark elves’ exile from the surface, when warriors would bow or kneel before their lord with their hands held to their sides. This was a way to demonstrate their loyalty by offering their unprotected neck, and thus their lives, to their liege. This practice has continued to this day. The lower the bow, the greater the respect shown to the person to whom one is bowing. Bowing only very slightly to another is a sign of distrust or disrespect, and is commonly considered a thinly veiled insult. Dark elves kneel before individuals of obviously superior rank; samurai kneel before their daimyo, as well as the daimyo of rival Houses. Even if both Houses are at open war, a dark elf is still expected to kneel, or at the very least, deeply bow, before the daimyo of the other House.
Dark elf society, though corrupt in every sense of the word, is not without its laws. Judicators, the elite warrior-judges of Vastra, are the judges, juries, and executioners of dark elf society, and often decide the fate of suspected criminals in a matter of minutes. Justice is elusive, however, and a criminal’s fate has more to do with his House’s relation to the judicator’s House than whether the criminal is actually guilty. A judicator’s decision is final; not even another judicator is able to reverse a criminal’s sentence, and a suspect released by a judicator is considered to be innocent. Judicators, however, are notorious hanging judges, and many would-be criminals attempt to avoid attracting the attention of the judicators altogether.
Noble dark elves control every aspect of society – a dark elf born outside of a noble family has no rights. Noble dark elves are able to demand anything they desire from commoners, a practice which many dark elves abuse greatly. Though all noble dark elves are educated, commoners capable of reading or writing are the exception, rather than the rule.
Physical Description: Dark elves are short and slim, standing about 4-½ to 5-½ feet tall and weighing 95 to 135 pounds, with dark elf men the same size and only slightly heavier than the women. They possess unearthly grace and fine features, but tend to be somewhat frail. The skin of a dark elf can be any shade from pale grey to a polished obsidian. Hair color ranges from white to silver, and tends to be exceedingly fine. Their eyes can be nearly any color, including blood red. Dark elves prefer smooth silks, with kimonos being a favorite, and simple yet elegant jewelry. A dark elf reaches adulthood at about 80 years of age and can live to be more than 700 years old.
Dark elves do not sleep, as members of other races do. Instead, an elf meditates in a trance for 4 hours a day. An elf resting in this fashion gains the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep. While meditation, a dark elf dreams, though these dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive though years of practice.
Relations: Dark elves regard all other races as inferior. This world view is encouraged by the clergy of Vastra, who preach a dogma of hatred and spite. Necessity and countless wars against their immediate neighbors and each other has tempered much of this hatred into a subdued, smoldering contempt, making even the most subdued negotiations with other races perilous. Though they maintain a grudging respect for duergar and goblins, even the most open-minded of dark elves still treats such races as second-class citizens. Though they despise humans and other surface folk as weak and uncivilized, the dark elves save their true venom for the surface elves, particularly the High Elves. The dark elves hate their surface kin with a blind passion, and seize upon even the slightest chance to strike their ancient enemies.
Alignment: The majority of dark elves are evil through and through, though most tend to remain neutral with regards to law or chaos. Though their society is highly structured, the corrupting influence of the clergy of Elkolvir, as well as the constant political flux present in every city, results in a corruption which undermines the very fabric of dark elf society. Dark elves rarely have qualms about murder or assault; by the time they reach adulthood, most dark elves have already become accomplished liars, schemers, and murderers.
Religion: Dark elf society is torn between the worship of Vastra, Goddess of Hatred and Spite, and Elkolvir, God of Darkness and Madness. The two clergies engage in constant political maneuvering, coercion, and assassination, each fighting for dominance over the beliefs of their race. A few dark elves secretly revere Selasarae, Goddess of Magic, or Illidair, God of Thieves. Unbeknownst to most dark elves, a small but rapidly growing number of dark elves unknowingly worship Kalosh, the God of Corruption, who sometimes masquerades as other deities in order to tempt promising new priests.
Language: Dark elves speak a dialect of elven that borrows words and grammatical constructions heavily from their Underdark neighbors, to the point of being almost incomprehensible to those capable of speaking Elven. They also have their own sign language (Dark Sign) that permits silent communication to a range of 120 feet.
Names: Noble dark elves carry two names: a House name (which always comes first) and a given name that is chosen by the dark elf at a coming-of-age ceremony (gempukku). Before coming of age, a dark elf child uses only a nickname – often a simple word meaning, for example, “first child” or “third daughter.” Common dark elves use only a single, given name. Most dark elf names feature double letters, and are pleasing to the ear.
How a dark elf addresses other dark elves can be a means of showing great respect or offering enormous insult. Dark elves of different Houses are expected to address each other by their House name. Two dark elves who refer to each other by their personal names in public are clearly very close friends, or may even be distantly related. When addressing another, it is typical for dark elves to add a suffix to a name in order to address the relationship between them. When speaking to a friend or at least another of equal rank, the suffix -san is added the end of the dark elf’s name. Superiors always receive the -sama suffix as a symbol of respect. Referring to a superior with the -san suffix is a great insult, while referring to an equal with the -sama suffix is a great complement. Individuals in close physical relationships will refer to each other with the -chan (for the female) or -kun (for the male) suffixes. Occasionally, the prefix O- is added to the beginning of a dark elf’s personal name; this is a sign of great prestige and enormous respect, and is typically bestowed upon an individual by their daimyo only after a demonstration of considerable prestige and loyalty.
Adventures: The vicissitudes of dark elf cities make adventuring an attractive choice for many dark elves. Some dark elves foreswear the race’s evil ways and seek to do good in the world. Others remain evil, using adventuring as a means to acquire power and wealth to avenge themselves upon rivals who brought them low.
Elf (Dark Elf) Racial Traits
*+2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution. Dark elves are poised and graceful, but physically frail.* Medium size. As Medium creatures, dark elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
* Dark elf base land speed is 30 feet.
* Darkvision: Dark elves can see in the dark up to 120 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and dark elves can function just fine with no light at all.
* Weapon Proficiency: Dark elves receive the Exotic Weapon Proficiency (katana) and the Exotic Weapon Proficiency (wakizashi) feats for free.
* Immunity to magical sleep effects, and a +2 racial saving throw bonus against Enchantment spells or effects.
* Light Blindness: Abrupt exposure to bright light blinds dark elves for 1 round. In subsequent rounds, the dark elves are considered dazzled as long as they remain in the affected area.
* Spell-like Abilities: Dark elves may use the following spell-like abilities once per day each: faerie fire and veil of shadow (which grants the dark elf concealment for 1 minute/level).
* Automatic Languages: Dark Elven. Bonus Languages: Dark Sign Language, Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Goblin, Kuo-Toan, Ogre, Terran.
* Favored Class: Samurai.
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