Ages past, when the elvenfolk were but new to the face of the earth, their number was torn by discord, and those of better disposition drove from them those of the elves who were selfish and cruel. However, constant warfare between the two divisions of elvenkind continued, with the goodly ones ever victorious, until those of dark nature were forced to withdraw from the lands under the skies and seek safety in the realm of the underworld. Here, in the lightless caverns and endless warrens of twisting passages and caves hung with icicles of stone, the Dark Elvenfolk, the Drow, found both refuge and comfort. Over the centuries they grew strong once again and schooled themselves in arcane arts. And if they were strong enough to face and defeat their former brethren in battle, the Drow no longer desired to walk upon the green lands under the sun and stars. They no longer desired a life in the upper world, being content with the gloomy fairyland beneath the earth that they had made their own. Yet they neither forgive nor forget, and above all else they bear enmity for all of their distant kin - elves and faeries - who drove them down and now dwell in the meadows and dells of the bright world. Though they are seldom if ever seen by any human or demi-human, the Drow still persist, and occasionally they enter lower dungeon levels and consort with other creatures in order to work out their schemes and inflict revenge upon those who inhabit the world above.
Description: Drow are black skinned and pale haired. They are slight of build and have delicate fingers and toes. Their features are somewhat sharper and ears are pointed and large, but this does not make them unhandsome. Their eyes are very large, being all iris and pupil. Male drow are of thin build, about 5' tall, have dead black skin and dead white hair, and the irises of their eyes are orange to orange-yellow. Females are slender and shapely, about 5 1/2' tall, and have glossy black skin and shining silvery hair. The eyes of female Drow are amber, though a few are said to possess irises of lambent violet.
The usual Drow fighting/travelling garb includes a pair of black boots and a hooded black cloak which comes to the ankles of the wearer. The boots are simply black boots of elvenkind manufactured by a different sort of material. The cloaks are woven of spider silk and some unknown fiber which combined with the silk makes them very strong, slippery, supple, and nearly impossible to detect in dungeon-like surroundings. Thus, in boots and cloaks the Drow are 75% undetectable unless they are moving/attacking within 20', the former in direct view of an observer. Drow cloaks are usually not harmed by blows from weapons, as they slide aside and do not tear easily, nor are they easily burned (+6 on saving throws versus fire attacks). However, these garments are very difficult to tailor, and to be effective, the cloaks must neither be above the ankles nor dragging on the ground. Any alteration of a Drow cloak requires a saving throw of 76% or better. Less than this score indicates the material frays and will ravel away when worn, so the cloak is useless.
Drow wear a fine mesh armor of exquisite workmanship. It is an alloy of steel containing adamantite, and even the lowliest fighters have in effect +1 chainmail, with the higher level Drow having +2, +3, +4, or even +5 chainmail. Small bucklers are also used, shields of unusual shape, those of greater experience level and importance in the society having bucklers fashioned of adamantite so as to be +1, +2, or +3 value.
The extraordinary nature of the Dark Elves' armor and weaponry, their magic-like but non-magical plusses, is due only in part to the adamantite alloy from which they are fashioned. The value of this alloy is that when it is exposed to the strange radiation in the Drow homeland (see MODULE D3, VAULT OF THE DROW) for a period of a month, its magical bonuses come to the fore. If the item is kept from this radiation for more than a month, it loses the bonus and becomes merely a finely made item of normal sort.
The description goes on to talk about numbers encountered and class levels of typical drow, as well as special innate abilities of drow such as generating magical darkness, inherant spell resistance, and other racial traits... but I just wanted to include the above to give an idea of why I was so inspired by the original drow (and why Ed Greenwood, Bob Salvatore and countless others were also so inspired by Gary Gygax's creation).
