About the Dark Elves

Dark Elf or Drow

As my story develops, subtle changes take place that further differentiate my work from other sources, such as dungeons and dragons, that came before it. I feel like Wizard of the Coast's source books is a great place to start, but the more I build my world, and the more corners of my imagination are filled with insight and creativity, the more I start to realize that I benefit from making my own turns in writing. For example, in the original draft of my story, I had consulted the Monster Manual for various creatures that could be summoned by the two spellcasters Elrin and Rhalyf in the prologue. In the initial draft, I had decided that Rhalyf would summon a Siren.

However, in my rewrite of that same scene, I had decided on a much more unique creature, a

Llamhigyn, a creature from welsh folklore with the body of a frog, the wings of a bat, and a stinger for a tail. It was interesting to me because this creature does not, to my knowledge, exist in Dungeons and Dragons, and it was the first time in writing my story that I introduced a new type of creature that was wholly my own to manipulate, albeit being rooted in mythology.

That being said, I have recently began to think about my origins of the dark elves in my story. There is no doubt that there will be dark elves, as they have always been one of my favorite races. In the Forgotten Realms, they are a race of elves who have been perverted by Lloth, the Spider Queen, and have been driven under ground in the Underdark where they have mostly existed since, except in later years in the Forgotten Realms when there are reportedly entire civilizations of drow (the common name for dark elves) who live on the surface under the worship of Vhaeraun or Eilistraee, two lesser-worshiped drow deities.

Llamhigyn

 

Similarly, in my story, dark elves are also an uncommon sight, and also share a common origin to other surface elves, but I've recently decided that instead of sticking them in the Underdark, or Mithia's equivalent of the Underdark, I instead was going to make them a part of the world of shadows, known as Lustros. And the transition makes a lot of sense. Afterall, the way that the dark elves came about in my story is that they were swayed by Illindra after Euna tempted in her into the shadows. Euna, of course, was the Goddess born of the essence of Lustros, the shadow realm, which was created by Dyhias's negative emotions, which he separated from himself and made into it's own plane of existence. So with Illindra's connection to Euna and the shadow world, it only makes sense that Illindra, who seeks to pervert the creations of others, would use the shadow world as her catalyst. And thus, the dark elves of my story have been modified from those earlier editions that were based on the Forgotten Realms and are now something different and for logical reasons.

This makes it rare for dark elves to ever be seen Mithia, as most of them belong to another plane of existence entirely, one filled with shadows and demons, where the world itself is filled with dread and gloom, and where societies can merely survive against the dangers of evil that lurk there. Therefore, for the dark elves, magic is held in high esteem, and in that realm, they can call strongly upon the will of their goddess, but not as much in the world of Mithia where the calls are muddled by the distance of a separate plane of existence.

It turns out that this shadow world, Lustros, is going to have a much grander impact on the story as a whole, as it is also the source of Duzen's demon patron, and now also the source of the orcs' power that made them such a great threat to the dwarves that they needed to seek the aid of the elves in the first place. And so, everything becomes intertwined in a logical and believable manner.