History and Culture
Dark Elves are an offshoot of the elf race thought to be cursed and evil for following the ways of Lyothi and Lunothi The dark sister goddesses of the moon and night. They are known for their dark skin that comes in shades of black, grey, dark blue, and some purplish hues. Due to the coloring of the skin, their choice of goddesses, and the fact that they tend to be nocturnal (even though they only have to rest for 3 hours a day) they where dubbed Dark Elves by their elven brothers. They themselves call themselves the Drow. Due to the hatred of the Elves the Drow where forced out of thier homes in the old world by an allied force of Elves and humans after the elves convinced the humans the Drow where an evil stain on the world. The drow fled and settled in the new world. They lived in peace till the elves, humans and dwarves come and once again drove them out. They now live in the hidden city of Aztlani hidden deep in the wilds.
Dark elf culture is run by the Females with the high priestess of Lyothi as the queen followed by the high priestess of Lunothi then the other priestesses then nobles then the commoners. Many Female dark elves tend to be bisexual and enjoy the finer things in life though the Priestesses and noble women own the finest of these things. Females are also the only ones allowed to use the priestly powers of the goddess serving as the battle healers and war clerics of the people. Females are also the only allowed in the Shadow Maidens the elite assassin core of the dark elf people. Though the woman have the right to join any class of fighter or mage or even just be a commoner if they so chose. All the scouts and traders are female as they don't trust the males with such tasks, this has led many to believe all Dark Elves are female which is of course not true.
Male Drow are the lowest ring in the drow culture. Though an elite few are given the right to use the arcane arts most are just used as lightly armed fighters and manual labor. Drow males are also kept around for breeding and can be taken and used by any female for this. The typical family is not seen in Drow culture and once born and off of needing a mother's feeding they are placed in schools one for males and one for female.
Lastly lie the slaves these are members of every race that are taken in Drow raids and those that wonder to close to the Drow city. The life of a slave is normally quite short as many are used as offerings to Lyothi and Lunothi. While alive they do the tasks even too low for the drow males to do.
Religion, The Moon, and the Stars
In drow religion the closest moon is seen as the home of Lyothi while the far moon is seen as Lunothi's Home. The Stars are seen as a race unto themselves which act as warrior's the protect the moons. Do to this they study the stars and find their way by them which is why drow are active mostly at night. As the moons get bigger it means to them the closer it and thier goddess is to them. On full moons they gather at the temple of the moon to offer the slaves and sometimes even drow males as offerings to the goddess. The blood offered goes up to the goddesses and make the moons grow smaller which shows to the drow they have pleased the goddesses until the next full moon.
Drow Cities and towns
The city of Aztlani itself is built around a small lake making a circle shape around the lake. In the lake is an island where sits the temple of the moons a giant step pyramid temple. The island is Holy Land and only the temple and the homes of the priestesses reside there. The first ring around the lake is the home of nobles this is the oldest and best part of the city and has its own wall around it. The second ring is the homes of the commoners the other most edge is the homes of the males cut off from the commoners by a small moat. Beyond this is the ring fort that holds the main defense armies. out side the wall are the slave pins and jails using them as meat shields for the city.
In the last few hundred years the Drow have started to colonize in the underdark below the city using them as mines and forges for weapon making. They also use it for underground troop movements and trade routes
Relations
Dark Elves like normal elves often see other races as lower then them. At the start they would raid any race of monster as well as the Elves, Humans, and Dwarves. Over the years though they have become trading partners with the most of the monster races and allies to the dungeon lords. The only real reason for this pact is the fact of a common foe in the Elves humans and dwarves as the drow and dungeon lords disagree on some things but see the greater threat over these things.
