Baconthief

No, you cannot be Mori or Drow or a Drizzt-noob. You can have similarities but cannot be an actual Drow, sorry. I know there is a HUGE cult-following(I personally only read the a few of the Drizzt comics) for drows with things like Drow-Tales, Drizzt, and that other RA Salvatore series that takes place solely in the underdark, but you need to resist the sweet temptation and not draw all your character from those sources(It's okay for some of course). Look elsewhere just as much. TES dummner are great models, night elves (Gross) possibly if you want to bend that way. (I like to bash on Drizzt fans since 50% of the noobs that start off as dark elves essentially rip from him, myself included. Dual sworded dark elves sound familiar? It's a Drizzt-noob. Purple eyes? It's a Drizzt-noob. Hatred for strong racism? It's a Drizz-noob)

I do believe Sythra mentioned a lesser amount of clothing, relative to the other elves in her asulon lore. I think he was just taking qualities already present in rp and sticking them on a wiki page. Some derp will always be a half naked dark elf, it's inevitable, might as well make lore explaining why you see freezing dark elves all over the place. Some dark elves take the Mori-quessir culture for their own often times because it's they fact they're very similar in features. Sure there are a few differences concerning height or finger length. So for a dark elf to say"Those people were my ancestors. Those people speak my ancestral language" Is hardly a stretch; however, you are correct. If you want to make a TRUE dark elf culture, don't be taking too many drow qualities else you're the mori.(Because a true dark elf culture is completely unaffected by mori)I think a great failure on my part is for allowing my previous character's obsession with the origins of his people affect others oocly to follow me down a similar path. It's fine for a dark elf to think he is an uncursed/blessed mori who instead of traveling from the verge to asulon, he/she went from the verge to Aegis, yet be conscious of the fact that's not true and if you begin to take Mrowi qualities you're less of a dark elf. In fact, this current group has been stepping away from that and I am very happy they are taking these steps away. It's tempting to recreate their favorite books(which there is plenty over drow) and they're now conscious of that urge to be a Drizzt or whatever. Look at the rest of the guide, there are no places where Drow culture is present. (Aside for the house system. Which house systems are present in so many damned dark elf fantasies you almost must say if there are dark eves, there will be houses) I think they are trying an Elder Scrolls approach to these dark elves((IE powerful reverence to ancestral spirits)). Yes there are qualities of Drow in there, but it's not too much to say with an unbiased ooc mind that they come from the same origins. Do remember though that the first fantasy dark elf had its origins in D&D as Drow. Every fantasy book/game since then is warping Drow to begin with. Even in the most distant fantasy darkies, there will always be similarities because of their origins at drow. If these darkies have subtle similarities, like both being nearly naked for some reason, then I'd say it's excusable as long as you are not doing it strictly because Mrowi like nakedness. That's just my interpretation though.

I call them Mrowies, since they're the same damn thing.

Why can't you normal and rational living in a cave? It's already happening and to deny its occurance and restrict those people's rp is wrong. Most of the current dark elf community that is actively building and establishing lore and guides are not these special snow-flake murderers. . .and even if they have one, they usually have an alt. You can be "normal" if you redefine what normal is. If you're playing an elf as a normal person, you're playing it wrong. In fact I find those who are not searching for dark elf lore or even following what is established are the ones who are the special snow-flakes. Anyhow, think of the topic at hand. I find there are more faults to it than actual advantages *A cleric blasts light into the eyes of a cave darkie, harms him greatly* *Cave darkie struggles for his eyes to adjust to the light* *Surface darkie carries a tourch down into the cave to see, not wanting the headaches that come with dramatic changes* The advantage in rp is: *DArk elf sees you coming from afar* (Which you would see anyways through mc mechanics.) All I want to state for lore is what is rather obvious and honestly has been and is likely to continue to be roleplayed out.

I did some editing to further delve into the low-light vision, yet I am sure more will come to me soon.

I think the thunder cats have it already, not 100% sure. I recall Fremma rping it once But yeah a black skinned race of elves would do well in.....black. This doesn't have to include the underground necessarily....you could be nocturnal, which sounds quite fun tbh. Yet that doesn't mean all dark elves are nocturnal or have to live in dark areas at all, play as you want I think the term night vision can lead to misunderstandings( as they would be more inclined to think the iconic, modern night vision where anything is visiable even small details.)Low light vision seems like a better term

Would be interesting to say the least, really up to the other de players and not myself. If you did though it should be a switch of sorts and have a cool down or cast time of sorts to use, compensate for eyes adjusting

Yes, it would be a grey haze of course with only dark blues and purples showing. Low frequency of light wouldn't be as abundant, similar to going scuba diving and losing bright warm colors within 30 ft. I'll write that down when I have access to a computer and can actually utilize the English language correctly. I'll make sure to really delve into the parameters more. Thanks @Dusk Really what I am saying is in darker places, the pupil expands to a larger capacity to let more light in; however there still must be light present.(To justify the dark elves living underground currently) I was cave living too P: But that was because I was hella poor in aegis and that was most economical @freya that is actually just a myth some darkies hold. The true origins are completely unknown and I like it that way

I fail to see how this changes anything. There are some dark elves on the surface, there are some underground. No where does it point all darkies down the Drow like darkie, it just gives the opportunity for it or to be nocturnal, it's a chance at creativity(Drow in environment, not personality of course) Again, weather you like it or not dark elves are living both above and below ground. I only want to draw a logical bridge between the two. If you don't like dark elves living underground, speak to the current dark elf rpers and convince them to stop their pursuits, or wright dark elf lore. Or, you know, play a darkie yourself instead of dictating how others should play their character type you are not part of. I am not trying to bring back the mori or create Drow, infact I am currently playing a strictly surface darkie living with high elves who hate such primitive cave dwellers. He is very much anti mori . If you think I am this Drow/mori wanna be or a Mrowi, that's just wrong. My previous character idolized them was all, and near his death he began to hate them. Was only using that culture to confuse hims on the answer to the mysterious origins if his own race.(Which who could blame him? Physical similarities were great)

Or maybe because people want to play a dark elf that way, that's why thy live underground. Biologically speaking, living in a dark( whether it be night or underground) environment and having dark skin gives them a higher chance of survival Edit: where did I say its a dark elf exclusive thing? I am only writing lore for them because I enjoy the race. In fact I am certain that a dwarf would see better in the dark than a human would

Also I'd like to say there are many darkies who have been living underground in more private caverns. This has been going on for a very long time, would you like to deny them the right to play in such a way?

And I've been rping underground since aegis, it has been like this for awhile. Both play-styles must be recognized. I am not a fan of the mori, khel was, but I am a fan of rping how I want to play. Many people agree with me and have been playing underground, and just as many play above the surface. If a race is doing both, then there should be something like this. Again, this is not to enhance a wanna be mori scenario. It's to enhance how many want to rp, and create a logical bridge between two play styles that could actually generate rp. That is the point

-void-

BEFORE READING, CONSIDER: My intentions are not to create a race of underground elves similar to the Drow/Mori or Mrowi in a combined form. I use the example of underground plenty, but it could also mean justification for being nocturnal, or any other creative device you can think of. You're free to use your imagination to this enabler, not parameter. With this I only declare that a dark elf's eye naturally adjusts to low light environments. With many dark elves living underground, this a logical and reasonable assentation to make. The fact remains that there have been dark elves underground since Aegis. This fact cannot be ignored or swept away to achieve your own personal interpretation of a DE, nor can the fact that some lived above ground. (Thus you must find a bridge of sorts that enable both to be roleplayed. How the same person can see plainly in the day or be able to see in their cavern) Even if you do not agree that even a portion of dark elves live underground and are comfortable, you cannot deny previous roleplay sessions. The purpose of this lore is to create roleplay for those dark elves who do choose to live in a nocturnal sense or underground, they are going to be doing it anways. There is many many different ways to play a darkie, this does not conflict wit any at all(Nor do I intend for it to) A surface dark elf and a cave dark elf (or a nocturnal dark elf)all answer the same question/situation I propose, yet they do it in different ways. For people who have followed recent dark elf activities you would notice that dark elves have been living both on the surface and below ground, drawing from DEs from popular fiction such as Drow (altered to fit LOTC Lore of course) or TES dumner. For a race to be able to see clearly in a dim cavern, and enjoy the environment or walk on the surface along an other elf would mean a drastic changing in the eye from light to dark. Both of these roleplay forms should be encouraged and have been roleplayed out extensively on both ends, yet if you're going to be a cave darkie or a surface darkie there should some things to keep in mind. Yet first to understand how that might work in the context of how dark elves have been rped, we need to first understand how an eye works. The Eye As you can see from the diagram, light hits the lens and is focused into the pupil which is a small opening in the eye that allows the focused image to enter into the eye where it's processed by the brain. The pupil can expand and contract in order to allow more light in a dim area to come into the eye, giving a weak form of night-vision; however it takes a few seconds for it to expand and attract according to the environment. We have all experienced this after stepping out of a cinema, only to be blinding by the light outside. Your pupil at that current state is taking in too much light, thus you squint or close your eyes. The Dark Elf Eye There is no special cell group that would make a dark elf be able to see in on both ends of a value spectrum, they all have a lens, iris, cornea, rods/cones, and ect. However, I would imagine that a DE can be rped in both scenarios with the ability of the pupil to contract to expand to an abnormally large state; however, to change from such drastic ends of a scale would call for temporary reparations of sort which I can best explain in this example Mushroom farmer Khel lives beneath the earth in a small mushroom-farm with his family. The world around him, beneath the ground, he has enough sight in his cavern to fend off the local giant lizards and spiders yet regardless of these monsters,he enjoys it there. However, the evil High Prince demands he pay a fee for living on his subterranean land so he is forced to sell his wares at a surface market above his home. The dark elf would climb out of his cavern and emerge to the surface, only to find it's daylight outside. He would feel a strong pain in his eyes, as his hyper extended pupils take in a harmful amount of light. For days he may not be able to see because of this error. However, he may choose to emerge at night and allow the daylight to ease in and allow his eyes the proper time to adjust. When the day finally comes, his eyes have adjusted normally to his surroundings and he can sell his wares to pay his taxes to the evil high prince. However, on his return home he finds he cannot see as well in the dark as he could before. So he must sit and wait and allow his vision to adjust slowly over time, before he returns to his wife and seven children(He is a dark elf after-all) How would this effect roleplay? A dark elf who has lived on the surface for a long period of time, cannot immediately jump into dark areas as his cave dweller friends could. He would have to wait a handful of minutes before he can see in the dark (Or just use a torch like his any other race), yet once the DE is able to see, he can see more clear than his fellow pale-skin adventurers. A dark elf who has been living underground for a long time cannot just run straight into light, without causing serious damage to his eyes. He will need to slowly ease into it, perhaps arrive at night or cleverly use a mage to help him. Strong and sudden bursts of light would cause visual damage if it occurred within the confines of a cave darkie's domain. If a dark elf has been underground for a long time, you would notice that his pupils are much larger than any other elf or human than you've ever seen. (As they need to be larger to take in more light) New role-play opportunities as the light sensitive dark elf in the group of adventures must shamefully call out to his comrades as to ask them to wait, as he cannot see or he may be blinded. However, once he can see in the dark it's superior to the other's A more visceral and realistic feeling to a people that are fantasy. Weather or not you think dark elves should be living only underground or only on the surface, the fact remains that both have been rped out since Aegis. Rp that has already happened cannot be ignored or denied, it can only be further utilized. There are many ways to play a dark elf, and their physiology should allow for the diverse range of rp that a darkie can have. Parameters of the low light vision There must ALWAYS be a light source present in order for sight to be achieved, as sight is the reflection of light off of a surface and hitting your eye. So in areas of complete darkness, or magical darkness you will never be able to achieve sight. Yet in areas of low-lightm such as underground or night, a dark elf will still achieve sight; however, it would not be the same in appearance if he were to see in daylight. It would look nothing like the detailed, modern night vision that we have today. In the very small areas of light, at relatively far distances (Let us say 50-100 meters for the example) you would be unable to discern details of a figure. It would appear as simply a colorless figure with a discernible shape yet no discernible detail. The closer the figure, the more detail you will find. A dark elf at night would see a brighter and more colorful night; however, no so dramatically that it appears as our interpretation of day. Color in low light environments would be eradicated, unless adjacent to a light source. The further away from the light source, you receive less lower frequency light colors (Meaning first you lose red then orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple) The world in a low light environment would appear rather grey and bland, unless you were to bring the object next to a flame. It's not unheard of for a dark elf to suffer from intense headaches or even migraine when their mind adjusts to rapid changes in light. The more often the dark elf puts itself to changes in light, the more likely he is to develop a headache or migraine. Rate of Adjustment, clerification The pupil of a dark elf can extend much further than a fellow elf or human can; however, there rate at which the pupil compensates for change is much slower. A dark elf stepping out of a cinema after two hours would have a strong blinding pain in his eyes. A dark elf who has been practicing clerical magic (which is bright, white lights) will have trouble adjusting to the dark immediately. Again a surface dark elf and a cave dark elf are providing two different answers to the same question: How to avoid dramatic light changes. Even if such is subconscious.(IE some live above ground and often restrict themselves to that, while surface darkies do the same) Note that even if a dark elf has this low vision, in order to coup with their environment they already live in, it would be no different than the vision you have oocly. In mc you either see the person or don't, and dark elves don't get a magic ability to look through walls. Nothing ,in essence, has changed other than the ability to generate more rp ((PS, this was just some quick lore. If there are any questions or criticisms I will answer after my classes today))

Wonderful job lego. The ancestors smile on you. After a year and a half the dark elves have finally established something like a culture. Wood elves need to step up their game. "Psshaw rothes. See you at the end of the semester"