Shadow Elf

Shadow Elves are a subspecies of Elf native to the Dungeons & Dragons setting of Mystara, where they serve as, more or less, that world's equivalent to Drow.

When Blackmoor destroyed itself in the Great Rain of Fire, elven survivors in the land that would become Glantri fled to the Broken Lands, where they were ultimately driven to take shelter from the fires by hiding in caverns deep below the surface. Through elven magic, they bred and cultivated fungus to serve their dietary needs, and shaped surviving seed samples to produce otherworldly plants that could survive in the depths. Eventually, over eight hundred years later, they cautiously resettled the surface, unaware that other elves from the southern continent had beaten them there.

This lasted for 250 years, and then elves of the southern continent dug up a nuclear reactor from Blackmoore and accidentally blew it up; the shadow elves immediately fled back down into the underworld, retreating to the same fungal forests they had cultivated centuries ago.

But they were not alone there anymore; here, they came into contact with a community of Azcans, whom they drove out. More importantly, they found temples to Atzanteotl, and in their fearful state, they were so desperate for protection that they turned to worship of this dark Immortal, building a new city around the temple, called Aengmor. However, he grew tired of them and their lack of a willingness to shed blood in his honor, so he caused a volcanic that destroyerd Aengmor, slaying many shadow elves and driving the survivors deeper into the underworld. Aengmor ultimately become the Kingdom of Thar, a fractious alliance of various monstrous humanoids - orcs, goblinoids, trolls, ogres, gnolls and kobolds.

In the depths, the shadow elves discovered a cavern, on whose walls were inscribed the Refuge of Stone: 14 verses written by an Immortal named Rafiel that promised the elves protection, and a great and bountiful future. Though cautious at first, the elves dared to settle down, and ultimately came to found a new nation, one that has remained in the depths ever since.

Unlike the drow, shadow elves are extremely pale, with almost albino-white skin, white hair, and "clear-colored" eyes, typically a sparkling blue or grey. One distinct characteristic is that shadow elves have much larger ears than normal elves; they rely heavily on their hearing to navigate in the dark caverns they call home. Their voices have a high, almost squeaky pitch to them. A minority of shadow elves are born deformed, to the point they could be visibly mistaken for orcs, goblinoids, or the other races of Thar; these unfortunates are abandoned at birth, and Rafiel secretly arranges for them to be adopted by those same humanoids. A larger minority are born with distinctive birthmarks; purple markings (almost always symmetrical) around the eyes and extending up the forehead into the hairline, and often appearing on other parts of the face and/or body, such as the backs of hands and the tops of feet. These birthmarks are regarded as holy symbols by the shadow elves; a marked shadow elf is given over to the shamans of Rafiel, to be raised as a shaman in turn. Strangely, 70% of the shadow elves born with the Mark of Rafiel are female, although unlike drow is there no stigma against male shadow elves becoming shamans, nor is shadow elf culture as insanely misandric as drow culture.

Shadow elves live in clans, which are linked by the practice of exogamous marriage; much like surface elves, these marriages are not life-long monogamies, and are usually dissolved after about 20 years or so. The typical shadow elf lives to be about 800 years old and will have about 4 children on average, not counting the aforementioned deformed children.

Mechanically, shadow elves function the same as elves under the basic rules. Like elves, after achieving 10th level, they can choose to progress to the 20th level as either Elf Lords (gaining increased Fighter abilities) or Elf Wizards (gaining increased spells). Alternatively, a shadow elf can take the Shadow Elf Shaman racial class; these shadow elves are pure magic users, but possess access to a number of cleric spells. To qualify, a Shadow Elf Shaman needs a minimum of 9 Intelligence and 9 Wisdom; a Shaman with Int 13 and Wis 13 gains +5% Experience, and one with Int 13+ and Wis 16+ gains +10% Experience. They possess the same default abilities as any shadow elf, but require an extra amount of XP to gain each level, and gain bonus spells of 1st to 7th level; they can reach level 22 in total. They are considered to be following the "Elf Wizard" upper-ranked class automatically; this means they cannot gain the increased attacks or attck rank of an Elf Lord.

One major drawback to shadow elf shamans is that they cannot cast their shaman spells without access to a specifically powerful soul crystal - and these crystals disintegrate when brought up to the surface.

Like the drow, shadow elves hold a great deal of hatred for their surface elf kindred. Unlike drow, it's a matter of historical mishap, rather than religion. In the year 131 AC, by the Mystaran calendar, a team of human adventurers exploring the caves were captured by shadow elves; before being slain for their ancestors' unleashing of the Great Rain of Fire, they revealed to their captors that the surface world was healed from the destruction, and that a great nation of elves - Alfheim - now resided on the surface. When shadow elf envoys made their way to Alfheim, they were welcomed with open arms by King Celedryl, who was more than happy to try and find accomodations for these long-lost cousins.

And then he learned that the shadow elf population was equal to that of Alfheim itself. And then the shadow elves demanded, as "fair retribution", ownership of more than half of Alfheim (even though they could no longer bear to live on the surface) and to be made the leaders of all elven clans! This was too much for King Celedryl to agree to, and the stubborn, proud shadow elves would accept nothing less.

Since then, the two races have been opposed to each other... well, technically. It's more of a one-sided hate on the shadow elves' part; in what seems to be typical for the race, although they have made multiple efforts to attack, spy on or subvert Alfheim so they can conquer it, none of those efforts have ever worked out yet. Attempts to manipulate monstrous humanoids into attacking Alfheim have just resulted in those humanoids being wiped out by the surface elf defenders, and spies have variously defected to the surface or brought home deadly plagues.

So the shadow elves sit in their caverns and just get on with their lives, trusting that, eventually, Rafiel's promises will come true. They seek out the rare and precious soul gems, which they believe hold the unborn souls of their people, waiting to be reincarnated, milk giant slugs of nutrient-rich slime, cultivate fungus, and generally live fairly peaceful lives, all things considered.