Drow

This article refers to the fictional elven race from Dungeons & Dragons. For the "drow" of Scottish folklore as well as other examples of dark elves and black elves from mythology, folklore, and fantasy fiction, see Dark elf.

Drow are a species of elf in the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game.

The drow, as they appear in fantasy fiction and games, were created by Gary Gygax, and appeared in the 1979 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons module, Hall of the Fire Giant King. They were first mentioned in the Dungeons & Dragons game in the 1st Edition 1977 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual under "Elf." They made their first statistical appearance in G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King (later G1-2-3 Against the Giants) (1978) by Gary Gygax. The story continued in modules D1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth, D2 Shrine of the Kuo-Toa, D3 Vault of the Drow, and Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits each of which expanded on drow culture. The first D&D manual that the drow appeared in was the original Fiend Folio.

The history of the Drow and Dark Elf goes back to the times of King Arthur. Several versions of the story mention him and or his men meeting up with a Dark Elf in order to pass into the caverns, as a right of passage. They had to show their intentions as being pure and honorable, as well as respectfull for life below the surface as well as above.

Physical description

Drow, or "dark elves" as they are called by most surface dwellers, are an offshoot of the elven race. Drow are characterized by white or silver hair, obsidian black skin, and red (or rarely gray, violet, or yellow) eyes, as well as innate spell powers and spell resistance. This is balanced by their weakness in daylight. Also, drow weapons and armor (usually made of adamantite or another metal unique to the Underdark) slowly lose their magical properties if exposed to the sun. In Advanced Dungeons & Dragons second edition, adamantite disintegrates upon exposure to sunlight unless specifically treated. Drow also employ the unusual dart-firing hand crossbow. Half-drow are the result of crossbreeding between humans and drow, and share characteristics of both.

Drow characters are extremely intelligent, charismatic and dextrous, but share surface elves' comparative frailty and slight frames. As a race they are usually evil. Drow males are commonly wizards or fighters. Females are almost always clerics and almost never wizards.

Society

Drow society is matriarchal, with priestesses of the evil spider goddess Lolth (Lloth in the drow tongue) in the highest seats of power. Males are (rarely) respected if they are powerful wizards, but never allowed to rule. The drow sometimes use their dark arts to turn human slaves into living sculptures.

Drow hate elves, but wage war with almost any surface and subterranean races, such as mind flayers, svirfneblin, duergar, and kuo-toa for spoils and territory.

Drow in Eberron

Inhabiting the jungles and underdark in the continental isle of Xen'drik, the drow in Eberron have a much more tribalistic culture than their other Dungeons & Dragons counterparts. They are not an offshoot of the elven race like in many other worlds but rather a separate, if similar, race. Instead of the spider goddess Lolth most tribes worship a male scorpion deity, though exceptions are not uncommon. The tribes are often xenophobic, and the social structure varies from tribe to tribe. It is known that the drow mastered elemental binding before gnomes did, and that there is a subgroup called the umbragen, or shadow elves, who worship the Mockery in the form of a scorpion god and Khyber or the Umbra, the Consuming Shadow, for whom the umbragen are named after; the umbragen dwell underground beneath Xen'drik and are noted for producing many warlocks and soulknives.

Drow in Eberron run the gamut from almost feral in nature to being fully civilized and on par with the cultural level of Khorvaire, varying from tribe to tribe.

Drow in the Forgotten Realms

In the Forgotten Realms, the drow were elves of the ancient tribes of Ilythiir, cast down and driven underground by the light-skinned elves because of the Ilythiirian's savagery during the Crown Wars. The drow had fallen under the influence of Lolth, who was cast down into the Demonweb Pits along with her son Vhaeraun by the elven god Corellon Larethian because of Lolth's and Vhaeraun's attempt to take control of the elven pantheon (which included Lolth's seduction of Corellon Larethian).The center of drow civilization is the subterreanean city of Menzoberranzan. If you know this, you really need to get laid. Seriously. 40 is not too late

Drow may also worship Eilistraee, Ghaunadaur, Kiaransalee, Selvetarm or Vhaeraun.

Amongst the most infamous of drow are the members of House Baenre, whilst Abeir-Toril is also home to some famous good-aligned drow including Drizzt Do'Urden and his deceased father Zaknafein, Liriel Baenre (formerly of Menzoberranzan's aforementioned House Baenre), and Qilué of the Seven Sisters. The drow elf Jarlaxle is also well-known, as he is one of the few males in Menzoberranzan to obtain a position of great power. He is the founder and former leader of the mercenary band Bregan D'aerthe, although he has since relinquished his band to Kimmuriel Oblodra in search of treasure and adventure on the surface world with his new companion Artemis Entreri. These characters are from The Dark Elf Trilogy (1990–1991), a series of books by R. A. Salvatore. The six drow in the War of the Spider Queen series have also gained some renown since the novels have been published.

Drow in Greyhawk

In the world of Greyhawk, the drow were driven underground by their surface-dwelling relatives because of ideological differences. There they eventually adapted to their surroundings, especially by attracting the attention of the goddess Lolth, Queen of Spiders. The center of drow civilization is the subterreanean city Erelhei-Cinlu, and its surrounding Vault, commonly called the Vault of the Drow.

Known drow of Greyhawk include Clannair Blackshadow, Derken Gale, Jawal Severnain, and Landis Bree of Greyhawk City; Eclavdra of House Eilserv; and Edralve of the Slave Lords.

Some drow, especially of the House of Eilserv, worship a nameless Elder Elemental God (said to have ties to Tharizdun) instead of Lolth.

Drow in other campaign settings

Different campaign settings portray drow in different ways.

In the Dragonlance setting, dark elves are not a distinct race; rather, "dark elves" are elves who have been cast out by the other elves for various crimes, such as worship of the evil deities. Dalamar, an ally of Raistlin Majere, is the most notable of Krynn's dark elves. However, several novels and modules refer directly to dark-skinned drow elves as existing on Krynn, and Dalamar has even been referred to as one.

In the Mystara/"Known World" setting, shadow elves are a race of subterranean elves who have been mutated via magic.

In Mongoose Publishing's Drow War trilogy, the drow are recast as lawful evil villains and likened to the Nazis. The author of the series has stated that this was a deliberate reaction to the prevalence of renegade, non-evil drow characters.

Drow in other media

The Baldur's Gate series of computer games features drow as enemies and NPCs, as well as part of the game being set in the fictional drow city of Ust'Natha. The drow cleric of Shar, Viconia, features in Baldur's Gate, and Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn as a party member and, in the second game, a possible romantic interest. The Eilistraee-worshipping drow male Solaufein plays a minor role in the second game, but his role can be expanded into a romance with a mod. Jarlaxle, Drizzt Do'Urden, and the male elves Maznafein and Jalynfein also appear in the 1994 IBM-PC CD game Menzoberranzan.

In Icewind Dale, a drow named Nym steals dwarven weapons and artifacts and sells them to the goblin and orc armies attacking the elven fortress, the Shattered Hand. Since the armies are armed with dwarven weapons, the elf leader Larrel assumes the dwarves betrayed them, and thus shattered the previous alliance between the two. Thus, Nym is single-handedly responsible for the fall of both the dwarves and the elves in the Dale.

Creative origins

Etymologically, "drow" is probably derived from the Shetland Isles Drow. Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (1970) states: "Drow, n., [scot.] A tiny elf which lived in caves and forged magical metal work." The word's origin is identical to the origin of the word "troll," which goes back further to the Scottish Gaelic word spelled "trow." The original Scottish Gaelic word is pronounced "dtrow" with a soft "dt" sound, and the original pronunciation sounds similar to "troll." The word is also found in Cornish and Welsh, with slight pronunciation differences. The race itself seems based on another dark elf, specifically the Dokkalfar of Norse mythology.

The creation of the fictional drow was likely influenced by the drow of the Shetland Isles. Drow are also likely influenced by the fictional dero of Amazing Stories (1940s), an evil 'degenerate' subterrannean race who also enslaved humans and turned them into living sculptures. Gary Gygax was a fan of science fiction and fantasy pulp of the 1940s, especially from authors of L. Sprague de Camp (Astounding Science Fiction) and Robert E. Howard (Weird Tales). The derro (introduced into the game by Gygax in the Monster Manual II) is also an evil "degenerate" subterranean race who enslave humans. The svartalfar (modern: Svartalver, English: dark elves) of Norse mythology and The Lord of the Rings were added to the mix. So, the drow are most likely to be a fictional fusion of all these influences.

List of works in which drow play a major role

Novels

Elaine Cunningham

• Starlight and Shadows

Gary Gygax

• Artifact of Evil
• Come Endless Darkness
• Dance of Demons
• Sea of Death

R.A. Salvatore

• The Dark Elf Trilogy
• Hunter's Blade Trilogy
• The Icewind Dale Trilogy
• Legacy of the Drow
• Paths of Darkness
• War of the Spider Queen

Video Games

• Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance
• Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance II
• Baldur's Gate II: Shadows of Amn
• Eye of the Beholder
• Forgotten Realms: Menzoberranzan
• Neverwinter Nights: Hordes of the Underdark
• Pools of Darkness

Drow in popular culture

• The dark elves of EverQuest's Norrath are clearly drow-inspired.
• Drowtales is a manga-styled webcomic in which drow are the main species.
• Drows are a playable race in the game Slash'EM.
• There is a Drow Ranger in the popular Warcraft 3 Mod DotA.

References

• Cook, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (TSR, 1989).

• Gygax, Gary. Artifact of Evil (TSR, 1986).
• Gygax, Gary. Against the Giants (TSR, 1981).
• Gygax, Gary. Come Endless Darkness (New Infinities, 1988).
• Gygax, Gary. Dance of Demons (New Infinities, 1988).
• Gygax, Gary. Descent Into the Depths of the Earth (TSR, 1978).
• Gygax, Gary. Hall of the Fire Giant King (TSR, 1978).
• Gygax, Gary. Queen of the Spiders (TSR, 1986).
• Gygax, Gary. Sea of Death (New Infinities, 1987).
• Gygax, Gary. Vault of the Drow (TSR, 1978).

• Turnbull, Don, ed. Fiend Folio (TSR, 1981).

External links

• "Perilous Gateways: Dark Elf Portals" at the official Forgotten Realms website
• Internet Archive of a drow webpage
• The Dark Seldarine of the War of the Spider Queen
• Common to Drow language translator