A very short history of the Dark Elves of Forgotten Realms

Since the Chosen of Eilistraee is a religious oriented player group, naturally there is a place to have theological discussions. That is in-game religions; please leave real-world religion out of it. Debate the fine points of a certain dogma, how a church can enforce worship while staying true to its tenets or simply why one deity is better than another one is. All are free to talk about it here.

Moderators: Shir'le E. Illios, Bhaern Quel

Post Reply
Talwyn Aureliano
Lord||Lady
Posts: 1480
Joined: Sun Mar 16, 2008 2:27 pm
Location: Western Australia
Contact:

A very short history of the Dark Elves of Forgotten Realms

Post by Talwyn Aureliano »

I found this piece of research/lore over at Candlekeep and it is actually quite good.

[b:1361v74l]History of Dark Elves[/b:1361v74l]




[b:1361v74l]Dark Elves[/b:1361v74l]

Dark elves are what the drow were before the descent, and what many of them became just after Eilistraee’s death.

They have dark brown skin, and glossy black hair, according to the Lady Penitent series, though elsewhere they were mentioned as having dark brown skin and blond to white hair.


[color=darkred:1361v74l]• Miyeritar got nearly exterminated. And many atrocities were visited upon them by Aryvandaar (also known as the Vyshaantar empire), an expansionist Sun Elven empire who occupied their country and controlled them by force.
• Ilythiir, the country of elves favored by Lolth, retaliated, and destroyed the realms of Shantel Othreier (the closest outpost of Vyshaantar power).
• Lolth sent the balor Wendonai to help the ilythiiri win the fourth crown war.
• Wendonai appeared many times over millennia to breed with drow and make the majority of the race have his tainted demon blood..
• Ilythiir started winning the war, though they had resorted to tactics and war practices that were cruel, vicious, and very barbaric.
• They ilythiiri are cast down and transformed by high magic, magic, worked by the mages and clerics of the elves of Keltormir, Aryvandaar, and some other elven enclaves, against the dark elves of ancient Ilythiir and their allies in retaliation for the destruction of Shantel Othreier.
• This high magic was performed at the site of a dark elf temple to Corellon Larethian from the time when Lolth, Vhaeraun, and Eilistraee were members of the Seldarine. The high magic to cast the down drow is done to include the Ilythiir's allies as well: not all who were cursed actually deserved it.
• The drow(ilythiiri and miyeritari alike) begin to hate the surface elves for doing this to them.
• The miyeritari did not approve of the ilythiiri behavior, or the consorting with demons, and they were largely worshippers of the elven gods who remained in the Seldarine, as well as Eilistraee.
• Little known effects of the High magic of the descent:
o Faerzress is created to burrow into the earth and create tunnels and caves beneath the world.
o Faerzress inherently blocks teleportation magic and divination.
o The drow are drawn to faerzress, so they are less likely to leave their caves.
o Faerzress means "magic that remains", because of its inherent magical properties. Faer, magic, and Z’ress, To hold dominance/remain in force
o With the words reversed, the resulting term takes on an entirely different layer of meaning. "Dominating magic." Magic that compelled.
• While the miyeritari were cursed as the ilythiiri were, the inherent evilness that drow possess comes from Wendonai’s taint. Those of miyeritari blood for example have the same yearning for companionship, for family, come instinctively to them, as any other elf, and it is only the cruelties they suffer as children that beat it into dormancy.
• Kraanfhaor's Door actually contained dozens of selu’kiira. One selu’kiira from each House whose patriarch or matriarch survived the Killing Storm. (As opposed to being the entrance to a dungeon or something).
• Some drow begin to return to the surface in the late 1360s and early 1370s, around the same time that the magic of the faerzress begins to decrease.
• A Priestess of Lolth acquired an ancient artifact so she could go to the surface without losing her drow abilities. Through her, Lolth used this artifact to extend that ability to all natural drow magic, though some magical items are still enchanted in a way that they do not function in sunlight.(Starlight and Shadows)
• Kiaransalee orders her followers to use magic to cause the faerzress in the underdark to grow stronger, and interfere greatly with divination and teleportation magic.
• A small number of drow, led by a miyeritari descended drow, practice high magic to stop the faerzress progression.
• Kiaransalee has her name wiped from the face of faerûn by those same high mages, which eliminates her worshippers and makes her fade to nothing (or wither up to insignificance)
• Eilistraee kills Vhaeraun, and adds the ranks of his worshippers and his domains to her own, becoming the Masked Lady.
• Eilistraee is killed by Lolth’s champion.
• Within minutes of Eilistraee’s death, the drow high mages complete a spell of high magic, with divine assistance, that reverses the magic of the descent. However, not all drow are cured of their curse. Only those few without taint. Miyeritari, and those who follow the dance. By Eilistraee's grace, they too transformed.
• Miyeritari Houses
o Elpragh
o Melarn[/color:1361v74l]

Sources:
Cormanthyr, Empire of Elves.
The Lady Penitent novel series
FR Wikia Wiki.
In War: Resolution. In Defeat: Defiance. In Victory: Magnanimity. In Peace: Goodwill.

Image
Zekafae
Champion
Posts: 768
Joined: Wed Apr 23, 2008 2:41 am

Post by Zekafae »

A very nice short history, and I'm still prompted to ask this small question. Kiaransalee originally was not from faerun, As I got this small snipet here.

Kiaransalee was once mortal, a powerful dark elven necromancer-queen on a world known as Threnody. The Revenancer was named drow and banished by her husband, the king of Threnody, for her unholy experiments on the once-living. Kiaransalee fled with a small group of followers who she then transformed into undead servitors to ensure their loyalty. The Lady of the Dead continued her unholy experiments in secret for centuries before raising an army of undead to exact her vengeance. In the wake of the Revenancer's army, Threnody was a dead world, and the architect of its destruction fled with her unthinking servants into the Abyss-where she eventually assumed a measure of divine power herself-to escape the wrath of the Seldarine.

I understand faerun to be it's own "planet" as it were. Now Threnody is it's own place/plane. This may remove her from Faerun, but still leaves her to exist in other places. Her fight's with Lolth mostly. I think that in 4.0 we might see a return of her slowly. I dunno who should be feared more? Lolth who was already a deity, or Kiaransalee whom was a mortal and ascended to lesser deity status on her own accord.

I think when it comes down to it, if she ever comes back, and she's no longer insane, she'll become an interesting figure in dnd's deity list. However as per the wiki(never trust this source even if it's quoted)

Forgotten Realms
[edit] Death

As part of the world restructuring of the Forgotten Realms in preparation for D&D 4th Edition, many deities were removed from the game to simplify the pantheons.[1]

Kiaransalee's worship was destroyed through epic magic by the drow wizard Q'arlynd and his apprentices, erasing all memory of the goddess, effectively eliminating her from the pantheons of Abeir-Toril. There is no explicit reason to believe that this affects the goddess in other game worlds, despite the novel Storm of the Dead which describes the destruction of her true form within the cosmology of the Realms. Now this means technically she'd still be in Greyhawk. but the butchers of wotc as quoted basically went and culled a chunk of the pantheon. A hack maneuver by using the typical "culling" tool to make things work.

Long story short all one needs to do is wait and see. Because if she was not killed fully (like in the novel it seems which is just stories based on the world setting hard to consider cannon at times) she could make a return, As well as Eilistraee and any other deity whom was removed from the scene. I'm content with 3 and 3.5 stuff, 4.0 doesn't appeal to me though in the field i'm going to college for, I might be forced to make a game based on 4.0 -sigh- Ending rant here.
Site, story being redone
Stats added story still in works

http://dragcave.net/user/Zekafae (click please?)

Twilight vampires are the vampire equivalent of Pluto...
Post Reply