Drow
From Snowblossom
The drow of Snowblossom are not the evil, Lolth-worshipping drow of other universes. Although the drow are similarly divided from the elves and eladrin, they are not similar to those drow in most other ways.
The drow - the dark elves, or "Naladir" (literally "Night People") in the Elven tongue - are a subrace of elves in the world of the Eye. The Naladir secretly split from the Telwadir before The Divide. Drow are known for their curiosity of magic and love of secrets. Their magical aptitude is a direct result of this curiosity.
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Personality
The Naladir are secretive and wary of outsiders. They have a reputation for being untrustworthy, but realistically, the Naladir value all secrets, including other people's secrets. To those who have not earned their trust, the Naladir are quiet and cold. They are slow to trust others, but once you have earned a drow's trust, they are as warm and loyal as their elven cousins - sometimes moreso. However, betraying a dark elf's trust is the greatest offense. Once betrayed, drow are vengeful and spiteful, and will go to great lengths for revenge. The more of a drow's secrets the betrayer knows, the greater lengths the drow will take to assure their silence.
Physical Description
Drow have the typical height, weight and age categories of standard elves. Their skin ranges from ebony to dark purple or blue. Their eyes have dark but colorful irises in shades of purple and blue. Their hair can be black, white or shades of purple and blue.
Relations
Drow tend to stick to themselves. They get along well with elves, humans and halflings, so long as these races aren't too intrusive into the dark elves' lives. Dwarves and dark elves seem to have a mutual distrust. Drow and eladrin rarely get along very well.
Alignment
The drow are generally Unaligned. They are usually more interested in knowledge itself than doing something - good or evil - with that knowledge. Still, some dark elves have strong commitments to morality. Such Naladir often leave their communities and strike out on their own, seeing their neighbors' neutrality as a weakness or apathy.
History
Legend has it that the Naladir were once a cabal of secretive wizards within the ancient city of Telwar. These wizards would meet at night and share knowledge. Eventually, they decided more knowledge existed outside Telwar than within its walls, so they struck out and formed their own society, exploring the lands around them.
When Snowblossom returned to Telwar and conflict erupted, a contingent of strange Telwadir appeared at the city (it is unknown if the drow had yet taken on their current appearance, but it is suggested at least a few of these were dark-skinned and white-haired). These were the drow, who had secretly left the city of Telwar to learn more about the outside world. They were active at night, and had developed darkvision (and at some point before or after, darker skin). The Telwadir mistrusted these drow, but ultimately their presence prevented a war from breaking out in the city, since it made it clear the elders could not control every individual Telwadir.
By the time of the conflict, the drow had already been living outside of the city for a century or more. Many floated in and out of the city secretly, often in disguise, but others lived entirely outside Telwar. The drow survived in small tribes, living mostly at night. When word reached the drow leaders that conflict was brewing in Telwar, a decision was made to formerly introduce the Naladir. Perhaps inadvertently, this prevented the conflict in the city from escalating.
After the resolution of the Divide, the drow left the city for good, forming their own villages in the darkest places of the world.
Dark Elf Lands
The Naladir are found in the darkest, most remote places of the Eye. They hide themselves in deep forests, in unwelcoming marshes and in rocky crags. Wherever there is an place to hide their homes, the dark elves will create a village. Many explorers have walked right through Naladir villages without ever knowing it. There are no cities or kingdoms of dark elves - the Naladir live simply in small villages. If a village becomes too large, the Naladir will split up and form a new village in a new hiding place.
Religion
The Naladir worship a moon goddess they call Nualla. Most scholars agree this goddess is an aspect of Eventide. Nualla is a great keeper of secrets. The moonlight is a holy thing for Naladir, and they will often meditate or study under the moon's radiance. The phases of the moon are important to dark elves, and most believe that the phases of the moon reflect Nualla's mood, and thus the fortune or misfortune of the dark elf race.
The evil goddess of darkness Zilloth also enjoys the worship of a number of drow, who she seems to prefer over other races as clerics and paladins.
Language
The Naladir's language, Naladine, is different than Elven. However, a character who understands Elven who listens and speaks carefully can understand Naladine and vice-versa.
Names
Dark elves are not given a name at birth. Instead, they are called by a diminutive name which is easy for the child to pronounce. This name is used until adolescence, when the Naladir is given the right to choose his or her own name. While surnames are long and complex, chosen names for Naladir are very short and flow easily off the tongue.
Male Names: Avil, Bien, Kalil, Merin, Nevil, Nogri, Tamil, Tiar
Female Names: Ani, Devi, Fira, Kona, Mira, Oona, Patala, Tial, Zina
Family Names: Aranulari, Filarosonar, Kanasataka, Naratandir, Palanasatir, Tamakatalar
Adventurers
It is not uncommon for dark elves to venture from their homes in search of knowledge and secrets. Sometimes, dark elves gather in groups and set out but often a dark elf goes out alone and seeks other races to adventure with. Such dark elves are quick to befriend other races, although they will not trust their new friends completely.
Occasionally, a dark elf is taken with a moral imperative - be it good, evil or otherwise - and cannot abide the neutrality of her race. In these cases, the dark elf will sometimes leave his home to pursue his imperative.
