Dark Elves, Warhammer (3.5e Race)
 |
|
Dark Elves (WarHammer)[edit]
Personality[edit]
The Dark Elves are a race of harsh, warlike and vicious Elves. Unlike Dark Elves in most of modern fantasy fiction, Warhammer's Dark Elves do not dwell underground, nor are they dark-skinned; instead many of them are pale skinned and have raven black hair. They call themselves the Druchii in most Warhammer fiction books. They live in the land of Naggaroth. Their cities include Anlec har Ganeth and Clarond clar
The Dark elves (or Druchii, as they call themselves) are cruel, sadistic raiders with much disdain for all other races, especially their lighter kindred the High Elves. Many believe they are the most pure evil of all races in the Warhammer World.
Physical Description[edit]
Many of them are pale skinned and have raven black hair and are alittle taller then most humans.
Relations[edit]
The Druchii primarily worship the Elven god Kaela Mensha Khaine, the Bloody-Handed God and Thousand Faced Lord of Murder. While their kindred, the High Elves of Ulthuan, only invoke this wrathful god in times of war, the Dark Elves are wholly devoted to him. Each city has temples and shrines devoted to Khaine where blood sacrifices are made. Dark Elves are required to donate a percentages of the slaves they capture on raids to the temple but most Dark Elves make several additional sacrifices a year.
The most savage sect of Khaine worshippers are known as the Brides of Khaine, more commonly called Witch Elves (or Maibd in the Dark Elf language). They are an all-female cult of warrior priestesses. Witch Elves consider the battlefield to be a holy place and are suicidally fanatical in proving their worth to Khaine by spilling the blood of their enemies. The cult is led by high priestesess called hags, who bathe in blood to retain eternal youth. Morathi founded the cult of Khaine, but on a day to day level her rival Crone Hellebron, eldest of the hags, rules the cult, although in truth, the vast majority of the cult are loyal to Morathi.
The holiest time of the year for Dark Elves is Death Night. During this night the Witch Elves rule the streets of the Dark Elf cities, capturing anyone they find (whether they are slaves or Dark Elves) and either dragging them back to the temples or simply killing them on the spot as sacrifices to Khaine. The Witch Elves will even go so far as to break into houses, which has led to Dark Elf families barricading windows and doors during this night. On Death Night, the Witch Elves will also steal away a number of children and babies from their families. Girls captured like this will be trained to become Witch Elves while boys are tossed in a cauldron of boiling blood: those that survive are trained to be true adepts of Khaine- the feared assassins. As dawn breaks after Death Night, it is customary for those who lived through the night to make a sacrifice from their own household (usually a favoured slave or elderly relative) as a thanks to the Lord of Murder for sparing their family. It is doubtful that anyone would even attempt to defend themselves against the Witches, as the retribution for successfully doing so would be cruel even by the standards of the Dark Elves.
Besides the worship of Khaine, a sizeable portion of the population has also secretly kept alive worship of the Chaos God of Pleasure, Slaanesh. The Cult of Pleasure, led by Morathi, played a major role in the Sundering of the Elves of Ulthuan, but was considered heretical after the founding of Naggaroth and was brutally suppressed as the worship of Khaine became prevalent. Centuries passed, and the Cult grew stronger in the shadows and secret places of the six cities. The Convents of the Sorceresses, also headed by Morathi, are implied to be power bases for the Cult (this is why there is a sect enmity between the Convents and the Cult of Khaine). As the Storm of Chaos engulfed the Old World, the Cult rose to prominence once more when Morathi and her sorceresses raised a substantial army from warbands of Slaaneshi-worshipping Hung tribesmen (human followers of Chaos) to the Cult, and marched them through Naggaroth. In response to this, underground members of the Cult openly joined Morathi's growing war host. Using her supernatural beauty, shrewd political mind and powerful magic, she turned the Cult and its allies into her own private army and invaded the lands of Lustria to the far south, seeking to plunder the vast wealth of riches and magical artifacts kept by the Lizardmen and their Slann masters.
Though they were repulsed by the reptilian denizens of Lustria, the Cult of Pleasure returned to Naggaroth in strength, having acquired much physical and magical wealth from the invasion, and have openly displayed their status as devotees of Slaanesh. This open display of prowess and hubris enraged Hellebron, the current leader of the Cult of Khaine and Morathi's chief rival, who has begun to gather the Cult of Khaine to confront Morathi and her Slanneshi allies. Because of this, and with the armies of Malekith (who both hates Chaos and views the Cult of Slannesh as a threat to his power) attacking far-off Ulthuan and thus unable to intervene, Naggaroth currently stands on the brink of civil war. Malekith is a great sorcerer who rules a kingdom of dark elves known as svartalfheim where he has been known to planeswalk to different worlds. Malekith wields the power to warp reality and to dominate wills. Their are rumors that Malekith has a military pact with Lazav guild master of house dimir and Loki god of mischief.
Alignment[edit]
Dark elves honourable and warlike nature made them both Chaotic and evil, however, dark elves of every alignments exist. Chaotic dwelling mostly in war tribe and serving their warlords, and Lawful being blacksmiths and city workers
Alignment by %:(approximately)
- Lawful Good: 3%
- Neutral Good: 3%
- Chaotic Good: 4%
- Lawful Neutral: 4%
- True Neutral: 5%
- Chaotic Neutral: 6%
- Lawful Evil: 20%
- Neutral Evil: 25%
- 'Chaotic Evil:' 30%
Lands[edit]
When the Dark Elves were driven from the Elven homeland of Ulthuan following a cataclysmic civil war, they fled northwards to the dark and forbidding lands of Naggaroth, "the Land of Chill". The name is an appropriate one, for the unwelcoming home of the Dark Elves is a harsh wilderness of frozen tundra.
After exterminating the native barbarian tribes of Naggaroth they constructed six heavily fortified cities:
Naggarond: the Tower of Cold, Dark Elf capital and seat of the Witch King Ghrond: the North Tower where the sorceresses study the Realm of Chaos Karond Kar: the Tower of Despair, largest slave port of the Dark Elves Hag Graef: the Dark Crag which is never touched by the sun's rays Har Ganeth: the City of Executioners and religious capital of Cult of Khaine Clar Karond: the Tower of Doom and largest Dark Elf shipyard The Dark Elves also constructed a series of fortified watch towers along their northern border to ensure the forces of Chaos did not trespass into their domain.
These cities have innumerable black towers rising like pinnacles of ice from the cold, hard rock of Naggaroth. Due to the harsh and unforgiving nature of Naggaroth, few live outside the cities and so the Druchii cities are some of the most densely populated centers in the world. All of these cities are dark and evil places. Their dungeons are crammed with captives whose wailings fill the air and whose moans seep through the thick walls of the high towers, saturating the place with pain, despair and the souls of the dying. At the tips of these towers, the Sorceresses of Naggaroth cast their malign magic over the world.
The society of Naggaroth is a hierarchical one, with their Witch King, Malekith, at the top. At his right hand is his mother and consort, Queen Morathi. It has been argued, however, that the Dark Elves are in truth a Machiavellian society, with one man at the top and several powerful underlings in competition with each other, all vying for power but simultaneously preventing others from getting it. Malekith allows this to continue because it keeps all sects strong by culling the weak, but also keeps them under his complete control.
Religion[edit]
The Druchii primarily worship the Elven god Kaela Mensha Khaine, the Bloody-Handed God and Thousand Faced Lord of Murder. While their kindred, the High Elves of Ulthuan, only invoke this wrathful god in times of war, the Dark Elves are wholly devoted to him. Each city has temples and shrines devoted to Khaine where blood sacrifices are made. Dark Elves are required to donate a percentages of the slaves they capture on raids to the temple but most Dark Elves make several additional sacrifices a year.
The most savage sect of Khaine worshippers are known as the Brides of Khaine, more commonly called Witch Elves (or Maibd in the Dark Elf language). They are an all-female cult of warrior priestesses. Witch Elves consider the battlefield to be a holy place and are suicidally fanatical in proving their worth to Khaine by spilling the blood of their enemies. The cult is led by high priestesess called hags, who bathe in blood to retain eternal youth. Morathi founded the cult of Khaine, but on a day to day level her rival Crone Hellebron, eldest of the hags, rules the cult, although in truth, the vast majority of the cult are loyal to Morathi.
The holiest time of the year for Dark Elves is Death Night. During this night the Witch Elves rule the streets of the Dark Elf cities, capturing anyone they find (whether they are slaves or Dark Elves) and either dragging them back to the temples or simply killing them on the spot as sacrifices to Khaine. The Witch Elves will even go so far as to break into houses, which has led to Dark Elf families barricading windows and doors during this night. On Death Night, the Witch Elves will also steal away a number of children and babies from their families. Girls captured like this will be trained to become Witch Elves while boys are tossed in a cauldron of boiling blood: those that survive are trained to be true adepts of Khaine- the feared assassins. As dawn breaks after Death Night, it is customary for those who lived through the night to make a sacrifice from their own household (usually a favoured slave or elderly relative) as a thanks to the Lord of Murder for sparing their family. It is doubtful that anyone would even attempt to defend themselves against the Witches, as the retribution for successfully doing so would be cruel even by the standards of the Dark Elves.
Besides the worship of Khaine, a sizeable portion of the population has also secretly kept alive worship of the Chaos God of Pleasure, Slaanesh. The Cult of Pleasure, led by Morathi, played a major role in the Sundering of the Elves of Ulthuan, but was considered heretical after the founding of Naggaroth and was brutally suppressed as the worship of Khaine became prevalent. Centuries passed, and the Cult grew stronger in the shadows and secret places of the six cities. The Convents of the Sorceresses, also headed by Morathi, are implied to be power bases for the Cult (this is why there is a sect enmity between the Convents and the Cult of Khaine). As the Storm of Chaos engulfed the Old World, the Cult rose to prominence once more when Morathi and her sorceresses raised a substantial army from warbands of Slaaneshi-worshipping Hung tribesmen (human followers of Chaos) to the Cult, and marched them through Naggaroth. In response to this, underground members of the Cult openly joined Morathi's growing war host. Using her supernatural beauty, shrewd political mind and powerful magic, she turned the Cult and its allies into her own private army and invaded the lands of Lustria to the far south, seeking to plunder the vast wealth of riches and magical artifacts kept by the Lizardmen and their Slann masters.
Though they were repulsed by the reptilian denizens of Lustria, the Cult of Pleasure returned to Naggaroth in strength, having acquired much physical and magical wealth from the invasion, and have openly displayed their status as devotees of Slaanesh. This open display of prowess and hubris enraged Hellebron, the current leader of the Cult of Khaine and Morathi's chief rival, who has begun to gather the Cult of Khaine to confront Morathi and her Slanneshi allies. Because of this, and with the armies of Malekith (who both hates Chaos and views the Cult of Slannesh as a threat to his power) attacking far-off Ulthuan and thus unable to intervene, Naggaroth currently stands on the brink of civil war.
Language[edit]
Elven and Dark Elven
Names[edit]
same as normal elfs
Racial Traits[edit]
- +2 Strength, +2 Dexterity , −2 Constitution, +2 Charisma: Dark elves are strong, agile and beautiful but have a frail frame.
- Humanoid
- Medium: As Medium creatures, dark elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
- Dark Elves base land speed is 30 feet
- Extreme Adaptation (Ex): As affected by Endure Elements spell, however this ability doesn't protect equipments.
- Incredible Memories: +2 to knowledge (history) check
- Low-Light Vision: A dark elf can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. She retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
- Resist Poison: +4 to SRD:Fortitude saves against Poison
- Resist Fire: Fire Resistance 5
- Spell resistance equal to 5 + class levels.
- Strong Senses: +2 spot, listen and search check.
- Tainted Blood: Double their Spell resistance for the purpose of resisting evil spells, (such as those of the demonology and necromancy school).
- Automatic Languages: Elven, Common. Bonus Languages: Any
- Favored Class: Sorcerer
- Level Adjustment: +1
Vital Statistics[edit]
| Adulthood | Simple | Moderate | Complex |
|---|---|---|---|
| 170 years | +4d6 | +6d6 | +10d6 |
| Middle Age1 | Old2 | Venerable3 | Maximum Age | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 464 years | 745 years | 1000 years | None | |
| ||||
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 5’ 5” | +2d10 | 85 lb. | × (1d6) lb. |
| Female | 5’ 5” | +2d10 | 80 lb. | × (1d6) lb. |
Back to Main Page → 3.5e Homebrew → Races