Drow

The drow are one of the Eight races, and were created by Air and Fire.

The Drow have both the utility granted by Air and the egression of fire, but they lack the moderation of the Men or the Orcs. They make natural assassins and mercenaries, but have a reputation as such. Even the most open minded of individuals have a hard time trusting a Drow.

Biology
Drow resembled Elves physically-though, to the respective races, they consider their differences as pronounced as men and Dwarves.

They are usually around 5'6 and 140 lb-shorter and slightly heavier than their above ground cousins. They live for around 300 years, much like Elves. They typically have smooth skin in dark, shaded colors-and very rarely in earth tones. Their eyes run all the usual shades of humanoid-with a few exceptional red shaded eyes being also somewhat common-and their hair tends to be black, gray or stark white.

Being dwellers of the dark places of the world, Drow have developed a number of adaptations unique to them-the first most are the highly sensitive zones that augment their hearing-special air filled cavities in a complicated network of cartilage, located near the base of the skull, capable of picking up minute vibrations in the air and ground-this gives the Drow their  usual 'high-eared' appearance. This 'tremor' sense or 'blind' sense is highly useful for survival, and can give a Drow nearly precognitive sensory input even in total darkness. Their eyes are remarkably adapted for low light conditions, capable of magnifying even a candle's light to conditions as bright as day.

Drow bodies are considerably strong in comparison to their cousins, but less hardy than men or Dwarves-as a race, they are disinclined to physical labors .Tending toward thin and wiry bodies, Drow are built for speed and flexibility-nearly 4/5th of their people are born ambidextrous naturally, having no preference for right or left handedness.

Culture
Drowish culture is marked by it's lack of unity-they have little in the way of a governing body. Various cults, cliques and clans have occasionally risen to some form or ruler ship, usually after a period of bloody conflict, only to find themselves replaced in short order. As such, Drow live in a state of near anarchy-where Kings and Laws mean little, and loyalty is to coin and pleasure first most. In truth, many prefer such an existence and it is not entirely an unhappy one. Their race is so disparate and isolated that all attempts to bring them to heel have so far failed.

As a consequence of this, Drow tend to be crafty and somewhat ruthless-even in personal relationships. Stupid Drow do not live long or in happiness, and only the most vicious tend to rise to the top. They have little cultural mores against the things other races denounce-robbery is only a crime if one is caught, for example. Murder is only punishable if one fails to kill their target. Lying is merely a different way of arriving to the same truth. Still, respect and a form of honor are known to them-similar in their dealings with other races, though this has giving them a reputation of dishonesty and evil-they merely attempt to conclude a conflict with the minimum of force required. They believe it is much better to handle intercine violence through subdued means, then wasting Drow lives in mass combat.

They do not feel the same way for the lives of slaves, however. Drow are perhaps the race most vilified for their role in the slave trade, though they do business with nearly all other races. And despite the popular ideal, most Drow do not use 'surface raids' to capture innocent blood for use in their trade-they tend to buy them from other peoples, and sell them back to prospective buyers, properly trained and with wills suitably broken. For their own use, slavery is a cornerstone of their economy-Ogres, Dwarves, Trolls and Orcs as laborers and expendable soldiers make up the majority of them. Humans are usually deemed unfit for any use, and Elves and Mira tend to be used for pleasure. Drow Slaves are actually considered the most valuable, ironically, and afforded more rights and privileges than normal captives, almost never pressed into labor or combat-the Drow are an ultimately vain race that ultimately values all other peoples even less then their own slaves.