Drow

Drow are subtarranean creatures and rarely venture onto the upper lands. It is said that after the god Eneil created the elves, the goddess Tsauri created her own creatures: the drow. After ages of war between the two races, the drow finally left the surface to their lighter skinned counterparts. They created an intricate society which flourishes beneath the feet of unaware surfacers.

Appearance
Drow look similar to elves in their body structure and features, with pointed ears and a delicate bone structure. However, their coloration is vastly different. A drow's hair ranges from white to grey or ghostly blue, though there are occurrences of black hair, as well. Their eyes are usually a light to dark red in color, and are especially adept at seeing in complete darkness. However, this same ability causes drow to be especially vulnerable to light.

Drow are shorter than their pale skinned cousins, ranging from between 4'4' and 5'0' tall for females and slightly larger for males. As well as the dextrous traits of their cousins, drow benefit from larger, more cunning and swift brains, capable of tactical and persuasive actions beyond the majority of their relatives. The goddess of magic is present in most drow, and if not then the goddess of rage takes her place, granting the drow an affinity to their souls, making them difficult to target with spells and magic. Though this does not manifest itself in appearance strictly, when a spell lands upon the surface of their frail body it would be more than noticable that they are unaffected.

Most often, drow are seen clad in cloth or leather. However, their warriors usually prefer chainmail. Their weapons are light with daggers, knives, shortswords, rapiers and longswords amongst their favorites. They also use hand crossbows, shortbows and longbows in order to attack from a distance. They are often found in dark and bright combinations of colours; blacks, reds, blues, purples, depending on house and rank, most of their clothing and weapons will have some affinity to their gods etched into the surface.

Mentality
At the center of a drow's mentality is his honor, which he follows to an extreme. If a drow fails in his task the first time, he will cut off his left ear. If he fails a second time, he will cut off his right ear. A third failure will result in the drow's suicide. However, it's not only honor which drow treasure. They also live by strict rules of conduct which they follow religiously. Although drow once lived in a strictly matriarchal society, that has passed. They owe their allegiance to their clan.

Male drow are usually milital and strict. When they come of age, they must challenge their father to a duel; one of them will die. If they refuse to duel, the drow will be banished from his clan and shunned by all female drow. Male drow are extremely competitive, though they often don't live past middle age due to constant fights.

Female drow are more silent and reserved, though very sensual. They do not acknowledge their fathers, but instead live in a group commune with other females where they learn the ways of Tsaire. Most females are clerics in some form or other.

Drow don't marry. Instead, they sleep with whatever other drow accepts them. They procreate when necessary, though their parenting is usually less than nuturing.

Ecology
Drow live deep underground within natural caverns. They create their buildings from smooth stone or dark marble. Their cities have been described as both dark and beautiful at the same time.