Drow
Drow | |
---|---|
First appearance | G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King (1977) |
Based on | Dark elf, Drow |
In-universe information | |
Type | Humanoid or fey humanoid |
Alignment | Usually Chaotic Evil or Neutral Evil (1st – 3rd Edition) Any alignment (4th – 5th Edition) |
The drow (
Creative origins
The word "drow" originates from the
Gygax stated that "Drow are mentioned in
Publication history
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition
The drow were first mentioned in the Dungeons & Dragons game in the 1st Edition 1977 Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual under the "Elf" entry, where it is stated that "The 'Black Elves,' or drow, are only legend." No statistics are given for the drow in this book, apart from the statistics for normal elves. The drow are described as purportedly dwelling deep beneath the surface world, in strange subterranean realms. They are said to be evil, "as dark as faeries are bright", and pictured in tales as poor fighters but strong magic-users.[13] From 1978 to 1980, the Greyhawk adventure module series explored the drow in depth, including statblocks for drow and an introduction to their Underdark society.[14][15][16]
The first hardcover D&D rulebook featuring statistical information on the drow was the original Fiend Folio (1981). Gygax wrote this entry, listed under "Elf, Drow", according to the book's credits section. The text is a slightly abridged version of the text originally found in modules G3 and D3. Likewise, Lolth's description from module D3 is reprinted in the Fiend Folio under the "Demon" heading.[17]
The drow were first presented as a player character race in Unearthed Arcana (1985), also written by Gygax. Several elven sub-races are described in the book, including gray elves, wood elves, wild elves, and valley elves; the dark elves are described as the most divergent sub-race, and dark elf player characters are considered outcasts from their homeland, either by choice, differing from the standard chaotic evil alignment of the race, or having lost in some family-wide power struggle.[18]
Greyhawk module storyline
It is hinted in G1 Steading of the Hill Giant Chief (1978) that there is a "secret force, some motivational power behind this unusual banding of different races of giants." G2 The Glacial Rift of the Frost Giant Jarl (1978) mentions this guiding force again in its introduction. The third module in the series, G3 Hall of the Fire Giant King (1978) again mentions the party's need to find out whatever is behind the giants' alliance, and this time mentions the drow specifically by name. In the adventure, the
Having discovered that the drow instigated the alliance between the races of giants and its warfare against mankind, in D1 Descent into the Depths of the Earth (1978) the party follows the fleeing drow into the tunnels leading northwest and deep into the earth, to eliminate the threat they pose. Examining a golden spider pin found on one of the drow priestesses, the party can discover runes in the drow language reading "
The story concludes in module Q1 Queen of the Demonweb Pits (1980). The astral gate from D3 leads to the
Novels
Gary Gygax's 1986 novel for TSR's "Greyhawk Adventures" series, Artifact of Evil, was the first novel to feature the drow prominently. Gygax's subsequent Gord the Rogue novels, published by New Infinities, Inc., continued the story and the drow's involvement, in the novels Sea of Death (1987), Come Endless Darkness (1988), and Dance of Demons (1988).
Keith Baker's The Dreaming Dark trilogy (2005–2006) featured the story of the drow in Baker's world of Eberron.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition
The drow appear first for this edition in the
Drow society, religion, history, magic, craftwork, and language for the Forgotten Realms campaign setting is detailed significantly in The Drow of the Underdark (1991), by Ed Greenwood. Greenwood appears in the book's introduction as a narrator, explaining how he came across the information in the book: a discussion with Elminster, and chance encounter with a former apprentice of Elminster—the drow lady, Susprina Arkhenneld—as the two explain the drow of the world to the narrator.[27]
The drow are presented as a player character race for 2nd edition in The Complete Book of Elves (1992).
Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition
The drow appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000).[31] The drow of the Forgotten Realms setting appear in the hardcover Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001),[32] and in Races of Faerûn (2003).[33] The drow also appears in the revised Monster Manual for the 3.5 edition (2003).[4]
The Underdark hardcover for the Forgotten Realms setting (2003) features the drow yet again as a player character race,[34] as does the Player's Guide to Faerûn (2004).[35] Lost Empires of Faerûn describes the drow werebat (2005).[36] The drow paragon 3-level prestige class appears in Unearthed Arcana (2004).[37]
In 2004, the new Eberron campaign setting introduced drow in a world where Lolth doesn't exist;[38][39] various drow societies were then explored in more detail in Secrets of Xen'drik (2006).[40] Additionally, the umbragen for the setting appeared as a player character race in Dragon #330 (April 2005).
The arcane guard drow, the dark sniper drow, the drow priestess, the Lolth's sting, and the Lolth-touched drow ranger appear in Monster Manual IV (2006).[41] The deepwyrm drow is presented as a player character race in Dragon Magic (2006).[42]
The drow are presented as a player character race for the 3.5 edition in Expedition to the Demonweb Pits (2007)[43] and Drow of the Underdark (2007).[44] Drow of the Underdark also features the arcane guard, the drow assassin, the house captain, the house wizard, the drow inquisitor, the favored consort, the drow priestess, the drow slaver, the spider sentinel, the albino drow (szarkai), the szarkai fighters, the szarkai druids, and the drow warrior, along with numerous prestige classes and other monsters related to drow.[44]
Open gaming
The release of the Open Game License and the System Reference Document's inclusion of the drow race also led to a number of books related to drow being published by companies not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast, such as The Quintessential Drow,[45] The Complete Guide to Drow,[46] and Encyclopaedia Arcane: Drow Magic.[47]
Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition
The drow appear in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008), including the drow warrior, the drow arachnomancer, the drow blademaster, and the drow priest.[48] The drow appear as a playable race in the Forgotten Realms Player's Guide (2008) and the Essentials rulebook Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms (2010).[49][50][51]
The drow feature in a pre-written playable module called Demon Queen's Enclave (2008) which takes adventurers from levels 14 through 17 into the Underdark to battle the forces of Orcus and possibly ally with members of the treacherous dark elves and/or their minions.[52] The drow of Xen'drik are also outlined in the 4E Eberron Campaign Guide (2009).[53]
Dungeons & Dragons 5th edition
The drow appear as a playable elf subrace in the Player's Handbook (2014) for this edition. They also appear in the Monster Manual (2014) for this edition. In the adventure module Out of the Abyss (2015), the players are captured by the drow at the beginning of the adventure. The drow are also discussed in the Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide (2015) and in the Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018) supplements, including write-ups for their pantheon updated to the 5E Forgotten Realms status-quo.
The drow of Xen'drik are again outlined in Eberron: Rising From The Last War (2019).[54] The new Exandria campaign setting added a non-Lolth based society of drow which was introduced in the Explorer's Guide to Wildemount (2020).[55] Per Wizards of the Coast, the drow of these settings are presented as more "morally and culturally complex".[56]
Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook.com, highlighted a 2021 update on Drizzt Do'Urden by Wizards of the Coast and wrote, "it also notes one major change to D&D canon that relates to the drow culture that Drizzt ultimately abandoned. The website points out that while Drizzt grew up in a 'cult of Lolth' [...], there are two other entire cultures of drow who have no ties to Lolth whatsoever. [...] The reveal of the Lorendrow and Aevendrow seem to suggest that Dungeons & Dragons is officially moving past some long-held canon about the drow".[5] Tika Viteri, for Book Riot, highlighted that Salvatore's Starlight Enclave (2021) "contains a singular shift in the narrative of the story of the drow; Salvatore reveals that drow are not, in fact, the only dark-skinned elves in the Forgotten Realms".[57]
Reception
Made famous by
The drow originally created by
The drow, especially when used as
On June 26, 2020, Netflix and Hulu removed the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons episode of the TV series Community from their platforms due to scenes with Chang playing a dark elf by wearing elf ears and makeup resembling blackface. A statement from Sony Pictures Television said that the studio supported the decision to remove the episode.[65][66]
Some critics have highlighted that the drow[67][56][68] are "dark skinned and inherently evil"[69] and are connected to the "racist idea that non-white people are inherently bad".[70] In 2010, scholar Cory Lowell Grewell found that in the Baldur's Gate video game series, "issues of contemporary race relations are brought to the fore in the player-Character's interactions with the dark-skinned Drow Elves."[71] In the book Dungeons and Dragons and Philosophy (2012), author James Rocha states that the difference between drow and dark elves in the Forgotten Realms setting is rooted in racist stereotypes: "an acceptable lighter skinned dark race side by side with only the most rare exceptions in the darker race, which is thought to be inherently evil, mirrors American history in a very uncomfortable fashion".[72]: 98 In response to this criticism in 2020, Wizards of the Coast stated: "we present orcs and drow in a new light in two of our most recent books, Eberron: Rising from the Last War and Explorer's Guide to Wildemount. In those books, orcs and drow are just as morally and culturally complex as other peoples. We will continue that approach in future books, portraying all the peoples of D&D in relatable ways and making it clear that they are as free as humans to decide who they are and what they do".[56] Christian Hoffer, for ComicBook.com, highlighted a 2021 Forgotten Realms lore update on the Wizards of the Coast website and wrote that "while Drizzt himself is proof that all drow aren't inherently evil, many fans still think that Dungeons & Dragons lore needs major updates when it comes to the drow. The main issue is that the drow (like other 'evil' races) are presented as a large monolithic society dedicated to evil instead of a group with multiple competing interests and beliefs. It's not that some drow, or even a city or country of drow, are seen as evil—it's that Dungeons & Dragons lore has traditionally considered evil drow to be the default. [...] By bringing in two entirely new cultures of drow that have rejected Lolth, it seems that the lore will show that drow are just as complex and multi-faceted as the many other elven subraces in the game".[5]
In the Io9 series revisiting older Dungeons & Dragons novels, in his review of Homeland, Rob Bricken says that "its greatest strength is how it explores drow society, which up to that point was best summarized as “very evil.” Prior to Drizzt, in the vein of orcs, trolls, and primary-colored dragons, the Drow were essentially categorized as more monsters for players to battle and defeat. Their skin was obsidian black, earning them the alternate name of dark elves, and marking them as the evil counterpart to the good and heroic lighter-skinned elves of the surface."[73]
Fictional description
This section needs to be updated.(February 2022) |
The drow made their first statistical appearance in the Greyhawk adventure module Hall of the Fire Giant King (1978) at the end of the module, and received a lengthy writeup. The history of the drow within the game is revealed; in ages past, the
The Advanced Dungeons & Dragons game's second edition product Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989) describes the world of the drow, where violent conflict is part of everyday life, so much so that most drow encountered are ready for a fight. Their inherent magic use comes from training in magic, which all drow receive. Not long after the creation of the elves, they were torn into rival factions, one evil and one good; after a great civil war, those who followed the path of evil and chaos were driven far from the world's forests and into the bleak, lightless caverns and tunnels of the underworld. Drow society is fragmented into opposing noble houses and merchant families, and they base their rigid class system on the belief that the strongest should rule. Female drow tend to fill many positions of great importance, with priests of the dark goddess Lolth holding a very high place in society. Drow fighters are required to go through rigorous training in their youth, and those who fail are put to death. Drow constantly war with other underground neighbors such as dwarves and deep gnomes (svirfneblin), and keep slaves of all types - including allies who fail to live up to drow expectations.[25]
The Complete Book of Elves (1993) by Colin McComb focuses some of its attention on the drow. The Elfwar is presented, an elven myth in which the elves were one people until the Spider Queen Lolth used the dissent among the elves to gain a foothold; the elves of Lolth took the name Drow to signify their new allegiance, but as they massed to conquer the other elves, Corellon Larethian and his followers drove Lolth and her people deep into the earth, where they chose to remain. The dark elves who became the drow were originally simply elves who held more with the tenets of might than those of justice, and as they quested for power they became corrupted and turned against their fairer brethren. Any elf character of good or neutral alignment, even drow, is allowed into the realm of Arvanaith where elves go upon reaching old age. The book notes that drow player characters have a large number of benefits while suffering few disadvantages, but that "the major disadvantage to being a drow is being a drow." Drow characters are extraordinarily dexterous and intelligent, but have the typically low elf constitution; also, their personalities are described as grating at best, and all other elves hate the drow which affects their reactions to a drow character.[28]
In the 5th Edition Basic Rules, drow are described as a subrace of elves with a connection to Underdark magic.[74] Additionally, it states, "the cult of the god Lolth, Queen of Spiders, has corrupted some of the oldest drow cities, especially in the worlds of Oerth and Toril. Eberron, Krynn, and other realms have escaped the cult's influence—for now. Wherever the cult lurks, drow heroes stand on the front lines in the war against it, seeking to sunder Lolth's web".[74] Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes (2018) retells the story of Corellon and Lolth; the elves who supported Lolth were cast "into darkness. They became a people wholly dedicated to Lolth and her scheming and for many, many centuries were viewed in the multi-verse as a people of evil".[75] However, since all elves are descended from Corellon, the drow have the ability to "break free of Lolth's influence" and turn to "the light within themselves".[75]
Fictional ecology
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2022) |
Abilities
With the ability to resist magic and powerful darkvision, drow are more powerful than many of Dungeons & Dragons' races.[76] Drow possess natural magical abilities which enables them to summon globes of darkness, outline targets in faerie fire which causes no harm but makes the target brightly visible to everyone who sees them, and create magical balls of light. They can also levitate for short periods of time. They live to extraordinarily long ages if not killed by violence first, over a thousand years in some cases. Their hearing and vision are better than that of a human being and they are difficult to sneak up on because of this. They naturally excel at moving silently. Drow also employ the unusual hand crossbow, firing small, though very lethal, darts.
In Lolth based societies, noble drow males are commonly wizards or fighters. Female nobles are almost always clerics and almost never wizards.
Alignment
As a race, drow were traditionally portrayed
The 4th Edition Heroes of the Forgotten Kingdoms (2010) does not suggest any typical alignment for drow player characters, however, it highlights the drow that break away from the evil Lolth based societies.[51] The 5th Edition Player's Handbook (2014) described drow as "more often evil than not".[77] In 2021, official errata removed the suggested alignments for playable races, including drow, in all 5th Edition sourcebooks.[78][79] As of Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse (2022), creature stat blocks that also have playable races "now state that they can be any alignment".[80]
Environment
Within the context of many Dungeons & Dragons campaign settings, the drow were forced underground in what is now known as the Underdark after the great war amongst the elves, a vast system of caverns and tunnels spanning much of the continent.[33][36] The drow live in city-states in the Underdark,[34] becoming one of the most powerful races therein.[34]
The drow are well adapted to seeing in the dark, and they loathe, are terrified of, and are easily blinded by the light of the surface.[41] Some magic weapons, armor, and various other items of the drow disintegrate or lose their magical properties if exposed to the sun.[34]
Typical physical characteristics
Drow characters are extremely intelligent, charismatic and dexterous, but share surface elves' comparative frailty and slight frames. Females tend to be bigger and stronger than males.[27] Drow are characterized by white or silver hair and obsidian black skin. Their eyes are red (or rarely gray, violet, or yellow) in darkness and can be many different colors in normal light.[81] In 5th Edition, drow typically have "white hair and grayish skin of many hues" along with better darkvision and a sensitivity to sunlight.[74]
Drow have several kinds of innate spell powers and spell resistance. This is balanced by their weakness in daylight. Half-drow are the result of crossbreeding between another race and a drow, and share characteristics of both.
Society
Lolth based drow society is primarily matriarchal, with priestesses of their evil spider goddess Lolth in the highest seats of power.[8] This society is based upon violence, murder, cunning, and the philosophy that only the strong survive. Hence, most drow plot endlessly to murder or otherwise incapacitate their rivals and enemy drow using deceit and betrayal. Drow, particularly in higher positions, are constantly wary of assassins and the like. One of the quirks of this constant infighting is the relatively short lifespan of the average drow. While being just as long lived as their surface cousins, living as long as a thousand years, elderly drow are rarely encountered. Consequently, they are the only race of elves that matches the fertility of 'lesser' races, such as humans. Their society, as a whole, is seemingly nonviable. The only reason they do not murder themselves to extinction is by the will of Lolth, working primarily through her clergy. Lolth does not tolerate any drow that threaten to bring down her society, and the clergy make certain that perpetrators cease their destructive actions by either threatening or killing them. Matron mothers lead the various noble houses and act as "high priestesses of Lolth".[82] Matthew Beilman, for CBR, highlighted that Lolth based "drow society is a lethal cloak-and-dagger affair – like a constant Game of Thrones but if every character were playing by Lannister/Bolton rules. That is to say, playing dirty and playing to win".[82]
There are exceptions to the rule, of course. Some communities of drow worship other gods (like Vhaeraun or Eilistraee), and thus, their hierarchy changes, reverses the roles of males and females, or (such as in the case of Eilastree) even approaching something like a workable, progressive society. Drow societies can also vary vastly depending on the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting.
In various campaign settings
This section needs additional citations for verification. (February 2022) |
Different campaign settings portray drow in various ways.
In Eberron
Inhabiting the jungles and Underdark in the continental isle of
Drow in Eberron run the gamut from almost feral in nature to being fully civilized and on par with the cultural level of
In Exandria
The region of Xhorhas, the eastern side of the Wildemount continent in the
Critics have highlighted that this setting breaks from traditional fantasy tropes especially around evil races.[6][87] James Grebey, for Syfy Wire, highlighted "it's a country of cast-offs and scrappy upstarts who are simply trying to thrive in a world that's prejudiced toward them. Due in no small part to a religion that allows for souls to be reborn in another body, the Kryn society is race-neutral in a way that's rarely seen in fantasy lore. It's borderline progressive, even. Crucially, while there are bad actors among the Kryn, they're not evil solely because of their race".[6]
In the Forgotten Realms
1991's
Prior to the Spellplague descendants of the Miyeritar, dark elves later succeed in reversing their transformation and are recreated as a distinct dark elf race.[88][page needed] According to The Complete Book of Elves, drow are not welcome in Evermeet and are turned away.[28] Drow could also worship Ghaunadaur, Kiaransalee, Selvetarm or Vhaeraun. A special case is Eilistraee, the only drow goddess who is chaotic good instead of chaotic evil; she wants the drow to return to the light. However, all of these alternative deities (except perhaps Ghaunadaur) were killed or forgotten in the last years before the Spellplague,[88][page needed][89][90] but they managed to return to life and regain their followers, about a century later, during the Sundering.[91][92][93]
Amongst the most infamous of drow are the members of House Baenre, while
In 2021, two new Underdark based drow societies, the Lorendrow and the Aevendrow, were introduced; both of these societies have rejected Lolth and are not evil. The Lolth based society of Menzoberranzan is now referred to as Unadrow.
In Dragonlance
In the
In Greyhawk
In the world of
Known drow of Greyhawk include Clannair Blackshadow, Derken Gale, Jawal Severnain, and Landis Bree of
Some drow worship a nameless
In other campaign settings
- In the Mystara / "Known World" setting, shadow elves are a race of subterranean elves who have been mutated via magic. Aside from living underground, they have nothing in common with Drow and are not known as Dark elves.
- In Nazis. The author of the series has stated that this was a deliberate reaction to the prevalence of renegade, non-evil drow characters.
- Drow appear as a playable race in Urban Arcana, which is a d20 Modern setting based on Dungeons & Dragons. They are shown as very fashionable, often setting new trends. The symbol for most drow is a spider, and they often take the mage or acolyte classes.
- A supplement book about the drow was produced by slaves of the various fantasy types like elves and humans. Wizards of the Coast, seeing the heavy sales of the GRP supplement, released their own supplement book called Drow of the Underdarkin May 2007.
- Drow in the retconned out of Golarion's lore and replaced by serpentfolk as the publisher transitions away from Wizard of the Coast's Open Game License.[97][98]
Lolth
Lolth | |
---|---|
Demonweb Pits | |
Power level | Intermediate/Greater |
Portfolio | Spiders, evil, darkness, chaos, assassins, drow |
Domains | Chaos, Darkness, Drow, Evil, Destruction, Spider, Trickery |
Lolth is a fictional goddess in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Lolth (Lloth in the Drow language), the Demon Queen of Spiders, is the chief goddess of the Drow. She is also known as the Spider Queen and the Queen of the Demonweb Pits; her realm, the 66th layer of the Abyss, is referred to as the Demonweb Pits.[101] Lolth usually appears in two forms: drow and arachnid. In drow form, the Spider Queen appears as an "exquisitely beautiful" female dark elf, sometimes covered in clinging spiders. In her arachnid form, Lolth takes the appearance of a giant black widow spider with the head of a female drow or human peering from between the eight spider-eyes. Sometimes, the two foremost pair of her spider-legs are actually humanoid arms. In third edition, her arachnid form has taken more of a drider-like appearance, due to the events of the "War of the Spider Queen" novel series.
Conception and creation
Lolth was created by
According to the
Publication history
Lolth was first mentioned in the modules
Lolth's role in the
Lolth is detailed in
Lolth appears as one of the evil deities described in the
In 2021, Lolth was featured on two cards as a "legendary planeswalker" in the Adventures in the Forgotten Realms line from the Magic: The Gathering collectible card game.[117]
Reception
Lolth was named as one of the greatest villains in D&D history by the final issue of Dragon.[112]
Lolth was #10 on Screen Rant's 2018 "Dungeons & Dragons: The 15 Most Powerful Villains, Ranked" list—the article states "The War of the Spider Queen series would show Lolth's transformation into a greater goddess, making her one of the most powerful beings in the Dungeons & Dragons multiverse. [...] Lolth can appear in the form of a monstrous spider, which many fans have mocked, due to the fact that it only has sixty-six hit points. You likely won't get a chance to get close enough to harm Lolth, due to the fact that you are battling her in her home dimension, which is filled with an army of demonic spiders. Lolth can also transform into the form of a high-level magic-user/cleric, which gives her access to a wide-range of powerful spells. This is to say nothing of her psionic abilities, though these are given to her at the discretion of the dungeon master".[118]
Lolth was #8 on CBR's 2020 "Dungeons & Dragons: 10 Endgame Bosses You Need To Use In Your Next Campaign" list—the article states "the DMs can even get rather creative with the stage; since Lolth is a creature of the Underdark, the fight leading up to her and the boss herself can take place in a dark and nightmarish cave that requires some spelunking and vertical maneuvers. Bonus points if the fight happens in a web network suspended midair with an abyssal drop".[119]
Witwer et al. considered Lolth one of the "iconic D&D characters", present throughout the decades of the game.[99]: 5, 110–111
Related creatures
Like elves, drow have other creatures associated with them either by environment or by blood. The drider, a drow transformed into a half-drow half-spider creature as a punishment, is one of the most often cited examples.
Drider
Only high-level priestesses in good standing with Lolth are able to initiate the transformation of a dark elf into a drider. This transformation is very painful, and lasts at least 12 hours. Driders develop a poisonous bite. Their digestion changes and they must drink blood of living creatures for sustenance. Driders still maintain the spells and special abilities they had developed as a drow. There can exist any character class of drider. They retain intelligence and memories. This usually makes them bitter, spiteful creatures. Some hunt for magic powerful enough to undo the transformation.
In previous editions, driders appear sexless due to bloating, but able to magically reproduce. In Dungeons & Dragons edition 3.5, driders seem to retain their gender and characteristics after the transformation, but fertility is debatable.
Driders play many roles in drow society. The dark elves both fear and are revolted by driders. After transformation, they are usually pushed to the wild area around a drow city. Driders are usually found in company with tiny, huge and giant spiders. Driders speak Common, Elvish, and Undercommon. In the first and second editions of the game, Driders spoke Drow. Driders are almost always
In the Fourth Edition of Dungeons & Dragons, becoming a drider is actually considered holy and a blessing from Lolth.
Draegloths
Draegloths are half-
Draegloths are about ten feet tall and have four arms, the upper pair being much larger than the lower. They have large claws on the upper arms and they use them for hand-to-hand combat, for they usually prefer the feeling of tearing flesh and sinew under their claws and fangs. Their face is stretched so it resembles that of a dog. Their flesh is as dark as a drow's, and they are covered in a fine coat of fur; they also have a white mane. They are sacred creatures to the Lolthites and are usually treated with respect.
V3.5 statistics for the draegloth can be found in Drow of the Underdark.[44]
Chitines and choldriths
"The chitine and the choldrith are part-elf, part-spider abominations created by magic as servitors of the spider goddess Lolth"[120] appearing in the Forgotten Realms setting. Chitine resembles a sickly, white, four-foot tall humanoid with vaguely spider-like features. They are depicted with wavy hair and sly faces with a set of spider's fangs protruding from their mouths. Chitines also have four arms which feature an additional joint (compared to a human), giving them great flexibility and dexterity. They were created inadvertently by the drow as a result of failed experiments on normal humanoids.
Chitines typically hate their former masters, the drow, but keep worshipping Lolth. The role of priests in their society is taken up by a closely related but completely separate race, the choldriths. Chitines strongly live up to their spider heritage; in their underground cities and villages, they build with webs in the same way that humans build with wood and stone. They build everything out of it, homes, traps, clothing, weapons, and more.
See also
References
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- ^ a b Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2003)
- ^ a b c d e "Dungeons & Dragons Sets Up Big Changes to the Drow". ComicBook.com. May 20, 2021. Archived from the original on 2021-05-20. Retrieved 2021-05-21.
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- ^ Sutherland III, David C, and Gygax, Gary. Queen of the Demonweb Pits(TSR, 1980)
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Further reading
- Game products
- Sernett, Matthew (2002). Plot and Poison: A Guidebook to Drow. Renton, Wash.: Green Ronin Publishing. OCLC 471536353.
External links
- "Perilous Gateways: Dark Elf Portals" at the official Forgotten Realms website.
- The Dark Seldarine of the War of the Spider Queen.
- Art of the Genre: The Drow at Black Gate