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Elf - Drakher

The Drakher are a race of subterranean elves which may be used for player characters. For additional information regarding this race, read their entry in the Creature Compendium. Presented here are guidelines for the play of Drakher characters.

Personality

Drakher are known through-out the Underhalls of the ground as a spartan and warrior-like race. They are a pridful, determined lot and are avoid by most other underground races for their volatile mood swings and proverbial "chip-on-the-shoulder" attitude. They are often skilled in wizardry, but also in more subtle arts - such as assassination. Drakher society is a corrupt ladder of power where the skilled, wealthy, and influential rule through cruelty and guarded caution. Political advancement is almost always through the elimination or disgrace of one's superiors and an opportunity for profit is rarely an opportunity turned down by a Drakher. Despite their status hungry nature, Drakher prefer power over material wealth. Gems, jewelry, finery, and comforts are the province of the weak and unambitious, so from an early age a Drakher is taught to shun such things. Fear is the quick way to gain respect from a Drakher elf (if it is you that they fear), but the long road of friendship and eventual trust is to be equally determined and to pursue goals that don't get in the way of whatever personal ambitions the Drakher has. It is not unheard of for the occasional Drakher to abandon their competitive society and seek solitude or the company of other races. One might sum up the Drakher's philosophy of ambition by the following: "Winning is everything. Do not expect pity, expect competition."

Physical Description

Drakher are easily distinguished from the other elfin races by their very pale, almost white skin. They are thinner and smaller than their elfin cousins. Their hair is also naturally almost all white. Drakher often use dyes to permanently color their hair or tattoo their skin. Dyes are also used to mark the skin and faces of slave Drakher. Dye colors are rarely bright or attention grabbing - unless the marked Drakher is a criminal or untouchable. Their ears are slightly larger and their eyes are slightly rounder than those of other elves.
    Drakher tend to range from 3½ to 4½ feet tall. Roll d12+41 for the height in inches of male or female Drakher elves. Roll 3d12+46 for starting average weight of an adult Drakher. Because of their slight build and short height, all but the tallest Drakher are considered small sized beings. Drakher elves are considered adults when they reach their 60th birthday. This is earlier than the other elfin races because of the harsh environment that they live in. Drakher benefit from the same longevity had by other elfin races, the most venerable said to be nearly a millennia old. When rolling for starting age of a Drakher player character, roll 4d12+60. When rolling max age roll 4d100+350. Drakher are considered middle aged at 175 years, old at 233 years and venerable at 350 years old. Most Drakher perish long before they reach a venerable age, often at the hands of their own race or ambitions.
    Drakher prefer solid, plain, and dark clothing. They do not ornament their bodies and avoid adorning anything upon their bodies that that might attract attention.

Relations

Drakher elves are not well loved by the races above or below ground. Their competitive and ethnocentric nature has caused a great many conflicts in the past. Most races assume that all Drakher elves are of an evil bent. True, there are many swayed to evil, but there are exceptions, and it is those exceptions that surface races are most likely to encounter. It is important to recognize the fact that the Drakher do not openly seek or pursue conflict with other races. Often times they are too preoccupied with their own society to plot against the other inhabitants of the world. Drakher are also rarely outright hostile with everyone they meet and in fact they can be quite reasonable conversationalists, but anyone whose actions consistently conflict with the Drakher's goals better watch their back.
    Subterranean races, such as Dwarves, Deep Gnomes, and Silothreni have little fondness for them and sometimes engage in brief skirmish conflicts with the race (often instigated by the Drakher). Wise and experienced Silothreni sometimes work alongside powerful Drakher wizards to further their research into the magical arts, but these relationships are tenuous at best. Drakher rarely voyage to the surface as the light of the Realm Above clouds their vision. Drakher prophets foretell a day when the Drakher will overcome the surface world and bring blessed darkness to all the lands of the Realm Above. Other elfin races care little enough for the Drakher. They see the Drakher as savages, unrefined and unappreciative of the fine arts. Dwarves grudgingly admit that they admire Drakher's steadfast drive and persistence which they compare to that of humans and other short lived races. Conflicts are less common between they and the Drakher since the dwarven goals and ambitions are more or less unattractive to a Drakher. Drakher admit, in turn, that Dwarves are brave warriors and well deserving of respect, but that they (dwarves) are far too proud of their gems, metal craft, and frivolous stonework. Humans, typically biased against anything that comes from the earth, treat Drakher with the same superstition that they give other subterranean races, yet human adventurers will find a Drakher elf who is on their side to be a dependable and useful ally. Unlike other elven races, Drakher never form cross-race love affairs with humans. It is unlikely that most humans would find a Drakher attractive in the same manner that they find the other, more graceful, elven races.

Alignment

Drakher society is orderly and lawful, but made corrupt by the clashing numbers of ambitious individuals. Tyrants in power use their connections to further their own selfish aims and solidify or advance their position in society. Drakher adventurers may be of any alignment but most are ambitious in some manner. What measures they are willing to take and sacrifices they are willing to make to achieve their ambitions ultimately determine their true alignment.

Drakher Lands

Drakher live in functional cities of stone that spread through multiple interconnected caverns of the earth. These buildings are shaped from stone by magical force so as to form strategic avenues and easily defended positions. Drakher hunting parties roam the tunnels nearby their cities, ever vigilant against the many predators of the underworld.

Religion

Drakher are mostly monotheistic, following the god known as Brakah, Lord of the Earth. They also believe in the earth as a spiritual force and special Drakher priests, called Dura, act as interpreters on behalf of the earth-spirits. It is difficult to discount the existence of these spirits as the Dura do indeed receive supernatural powers and spell like abilities in return for services on their behalf. Drakher do not worship the earth-spirits, but do revere them. Some believe that they are the "breath" of Brakah. Priests of Brakah can be very influential members of Drakher society and reinforce their power by the decrying of other gods as pretenders or weak spirits of the Realm Above. Some Drakher secretly worship the god called Shistar, god of mysteries, secrets, and magic. They are carefully clandestine of their worship of this god though for fear of punishment at the hands of the following of Brakah. Drakher adventurers may choose to follow any god, but should be aware of the rejection they may suffer from their own race should their worship of inappropriate gods be discovered.

Language

The Drakher speak their own language, Dhe-khalan, which has its own written equivalent. The language and written word is highly changeable from one Drakher clan to the next so the writings of two vastly separated clans might appear to be two completely different languages. The spoken tongue is not too difficult for non-Drakher to learn, though learning enough Dhe-khalan to communicate with Drakher from other clans can quickly become a difficult task. The written language is much more difficult to learn as it is comprised of thousands of characters which must be memorized before even simple sentences can be understood. The Drakher also have a simplified version of their written text called Dam. This set of way-runes are used as signposts and warnings through-out the underground. Any serious adventurer of the underground should take the time to learn the useful and commonly encountered Dam runes.

Names

Drakher are given two names, one at their birth and a second at their death. Their birth name typically is influenced by some expectation that the child's parents have for their newborn. Their death name is an important symbol of what they actually accomplished in life and is how the Drakher will be remembered in written texts and how they will be called when they live no more. A Drakher cannot choose their own death name, it is given to them once they are already dead. Thus it is an important task to a Drakher to have done something noteworthy, memorable, and deserving of a good death-name before they pass on into the afterlife. Some Drakher believe that without a death-name a spirit cannot rest soundly and will never find comfort in the afterlife. Following this belief, sometimes a particularly disliked or unaccomplished Drakher will be punished by never receiving a death-name, condemning their spirit to forever wander aimlessly through-out the afterlife.
    Drakher names are as varied as human names, only one characteristic renders them unique - male names frequently start and end with a consonant sound while female names begin and end with a vowel sound. Common male names are Telloch, Brome, Fassitch, Zorander, Kollin, Vedroc, Tchone, Katchen, Moaldaag, Falon, and Daalun. Common female names are Osa, Ella, Yuthie, Amarla, Islerree, Utemei, Iskarda, Errinul, Edranda, Itamy, Yola, and Ossama.

Adventures

Knowledge, power, vengeance, to prove oneself, to escape Drakher society, or merely for a change of pace, there are many reasons for a Drakher elf to go adventuring. Drakher elves make an effective addition to adventuring parties that prefer politics or blood-thirsty combat. As long as the party is on the move, progressing to some goal, it is easy to keep a Drakher character satisfied. Aimless wandering, months of sitting around, being lost in the woods, or mundane guard duty are tasks which will leave a Drakher frustrated. It is challenge and success or the impending anticipation of it that gets them going. This doesn't mean that Drakher are impatient. Drakher are known to carefully lay plans that may take years before fruition. It is not the speed of the task to be done, but the having a task to be done which is important to a Drakher. Some adventuring groups may find a Drakher companion to be too demanding, intense and focused. Many groups enjoy side adventures and excursions over the course of a longer campaign. A Drakher elf is the kind of person who might just ignore the villagers in distress if it means success in some endeavor they have undertaken.

Racial Traits

• +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, -2 Strength, -2 Charisma: Drakher Elves are naturally graceful but are not as strong as other races due to their slender build and smaller size. They are cunning and have an intuitive sense of how things work. Drakher elves can be difficult to get to know as their society does not encourage inter-dependence, but a self reliant and spartan lifestyle.
• Small-size: As small-sized creatures, Drakher gain a +1 bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but they must use smaller weapons than humans use and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of Medium-size characters. Exceptionally tall Drakher elves may be classified as Medium-sized characters at the option of the Dungeon Master.
• Drakher base speed is 30 feet.
• Altered Vision: Drakher elves possess perfect vision in the dark. In the dark, as on a moonless night, a twilight forest, or darker, the Drakher can see as well as a human could see on a sunny day. However, in the light they are at a disadvantage. When in daylight, as on a day in the open with clear skies, the Drakher elf can only see clearly to a distance of 60 feet. On a cloudy day or in the woods they can see up to 100 feet and in moonlight they can see up to 120 feet. Light is not painful to the Drakher, though momentarily uncomfortable, and their vision becomes clouded to protect their eyes from the light thus limiting the distance they can see. Very close, very bright lights, such as a Sunburst spell can momentarily blind a Drakher. Drakher suffer the same penalties during the day as humans suffer at night as regards the firing of ranged weapons or other vision related skills.
• Immunity to magic sleep spells and effects and a +2 racial saving throw bonus against Enchantment spells or effects.
• +2 racial bonus to Listen. Drakher possess acute hearing and may take the Listen skill as a class skill regardless of actual class.
• +2 racial bonus to Spot and Search checks. Merely passing within 5 feet of a secret door entitles the Drakher to a search check. Further, a Drakher's intimate knowledge of stone allows them a total +4 racial bonus to search checks when determining whether a stone wall, floor, or passage is structurally safe to travel upon.
• Fasting: Drakher elves possess the natural ability to force their bodies to survive without food for extended periods of time. When calculating the effects of water and food deprivation for a Drakher elf, double all time factors for how long they can go without and for how often they must make a constitution check. Drakher characters may improve this ability by the expenditure of feats. For each feat expended towards improving a Drakher's fasting ability, add an additional x1 multiplier to starvation and thirst time factors.
• Favored Class: Rogue. A multiclass Drakher's Rogue class does not count when determining whether he suffers an XP penalty.