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Human ethnicities: Calishite, Chondathan, Damaran, Mulan, Illuskan, Rashemi, Tethyrian.

Human
With lifespans that flash by in the blink of an elven eye, humans must make the most of their lives in the limited number of years given to them. Their energy and passion allows them to accomplish great things, yet their relative lack of historical perspective ensures that many of their greatest accomplishments will fall to dust, worn down by the sands of time.

Statistics
Favoured Class: Any. When determining whether a multiclass human suffers an XP penalty, his highest-level class does not count.
Quick to Master: 1 extra feat at 1st level.
Skilled: 4 extra skill points at 1st level, plus 1 additional skill point as each following level.

Physicality
Humans typically stand from 5 feet to a little over 6 feet tall and weigh from 125 to 250 pounds, with men noticeably taller and heavier than women. Thanks to their penchant for migration and conquest, and to their short generations, humans are more physically diverse than other common races, with skin shades that run from nearly black to very pale, hair from black to blond (curly, kinky, or straight), and facial hair (for men) from sparse to thick. Plenty of humans have a dash of nonhuman blood, and they may demonstrate hints of elven, orc, or other lineages. HUmans are often ostentatious or unorthodox in their grooming and dress, sporting unusual hairstyles, fanciful clothes, tattoos, body piercings, and the like .Humans have short life spans, achieving adulsthood at about age 15 and rarely living even a single century.

Personality
Humans are the most adaptable, flexible, and ambitious people among the common races. They are diverse in their tastes, morals, customs, and habits. Others accuse them of having little respect for history, but it's only natural that humans, with their relatively short life spans and constantly changing cultures, would have a shorter collective memory than dwarves, elves, gnomes, and halflings.

Human lands are usually in flux, with new ideas, social changes, innovations, and new leaders constantly coming to the fore. Members of longer-lived races find human culture exciting but eventually a little wearying or even bewildering. Since humans lead such short lives, their leaders are all young compared to the political, religious, and military leaders among the other races. Even where individual humans are conservative traditionalists, human institutions change with the generations, adapting and evolving faster than parellel institutions among the elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings. Individually and as a group, humans are adaptable oppurtunists, and they stat on top of changing political dynamics.

Relations
Just as readily as they mix with each other, humans mix with members of other races. Amng the other races, humans are known as "everyone's second-best friends." They serve as ambassadors, diplomats, magistrates, merchants, and functionaries of all kinds.

Languages
Humans speak Common. They typically learn other languages, including obscure ones, and they are fond of sprinkling their speech with words burrowed from other tongues. Orc curses, Halfling culinary terms, Elven musical expressions, Dwarven military phrases, and so on.

Sub Races
There are no sub races of humans. There are. however. seven major human ethnic groups, the Calishites, Chondathans, Damarans Illuskans, Mulan, Rashemi and Tethyrians. (As a player you do not need an ethnicality, as they are just more specified type of human, coming from a certain area of Faerun.)

It should be noted that Illuskans will be the most common ethnicality of human in this server, as they are the most common to Luskan. For now, most of the human information will be directed around Illuskans.

Calishites - Since the fall of the great genie empires that once ruled south of the Marching Mountains, humans descended from the slaves of the genie lords have ruled the successive empires of Calimshan. From the shores of the Shining Sea, Calishites have migrated northwards in large numbers as far as the Fields of the Dead and the Nelanther Isles, and castward into the Lake of Steam, the Border Kingdoms, Lapaliiya, and the Shaar. Some fled disasters in their homeland or sought new economic oppurtunities, but most came as conquerors under the banner of the Shoon Empire. Outside their homeland, Calishites form the primary racial stock of the Border Kingdoms, the Lake of Steam cities, and the Nelanther Isles. Calishites also comprise a large fraction of the population of Amn and Tethyr. Calishite ancestry, language, and culture have influenced all the lands nearby.

Chondathan - Chondathans are hardy folk, not afraid to take risks, travel, or settle new lands, and are always looking to better themselves and their families monetarily. As Chondathan culture has taken root in so many distant lands, Chondathans are merchants of one sort or another, selling their skills and the fruits of their labors for coin. Although Chondathans make skilled mercenaries and cunning rogues, Chondathan culture has not encouraged study of the Art or great religious fervor. Notable exceptions exist, particulary in the study of the Art among the Netherese-influenced Chondathan cultures that lie north and west of the Inner Sea.

Half-Humans: Half-elf, Half-orc, Half-drow.

Half-humans
Sometimes humans and elves fall in love, and the child produced by those two is a half-elf, sometimes humans and orcs fall in love (or more commonly, have 'forced' love), the offspring of those two is a half-orc. Half-humans fall into the same category, as they are part human, and part of another race.

Half-elf
The most prominent of the races of mixed heritage, half-elves can be found throughout Faerun, but have few lands to call their own. They feel at home both in the sprawling human empires and the secretive elven retreats, standing between elf and human culture but truly belonging to neither. They are a handsome and even-tempered race who handle the challenges of their mixed heritage with grace and reserve.

There are three major subraces of half-elves in Faerun: common half-elves, half-drow, and half-aquatic elves. The common half-elves are those whose elven parents hail from the moon elf, sun elf, wild elf, and wood elf peoples. When someone refers to a half-elf, they are almost certainly referring to a half-elf of this descent. The half-drow have drow blood in their veins, and are extremely rare except in the most southerly lands of Faerun. Finally, the half-aquatic elves can be found in small numbers along any of Faerun's coastlines, caught between their human and their sea-elf heritages.

No true half-elven realms exist in Faerun, but half-elves are far more prevalent in some lands than in others. In the Unapproachable East, in the Yuirwood of distant Aglarond, a culture of common half-elves descended from wild elves, moon elves, and Damaran human settlers thrives beneath the Yuirwood's green boughs. In isolated Dambrath in the south, half-drow rule over their human neighbours. Half-elves are also common in places where humans and leves have lived alongside each other peacefully, such as the domain of Silverymoon in the North or some of the southerly Dales.

Half-elves have atleast one elven parent or grandparent, or two half-elven parents. To put it another way, the child of a half-elf and a human will be human, unless the half-elf parent was the child of a full-blooded elf. Unless a half-elven line marries into other elven or half-elven families, their elf characteristics fade in a generation or two. On occasion elven traits can reappear in otherwise human children born several generations later, but half-elves of such remote descent are very rare.

Statistics
Favoured Class: Any. When determining whether a multiclass half-elf takes an XP penalty, her highest-level class does not count.

Hardiness vs. Enchantments: +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells or effects.
Immunity to sleep: Immunity to sleep and magic sleep effects.
Low-light vision: A half-elf can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination.
Partial Skill Affinity (Listen): +1 racial bonus on listen checks.
Partial Skill Affinity (Search): +1 racial bonus on search checks.
Partial Skill Affinity (Spot): +1 racial bonus on spot checks.
Skill Affinity (Bluff): +2 racial bonus on bluff skill checks.
Skill Affinity (Diplomacy): +2 racial bonus on diplomacy skill checks.

Physicality
To humans, half-elves look like elves. To elves, they look like humans (indeed, elves call them "half-humans", Half-elven height ranges from under 5 feet to almost 6 feet tall, and weight usually ranges from 90 to 180 pounds. Half-elven men are taller and heavier than half-elven women, but the difference is less pronounced than that found among humans. Half-elves are paler, fairer, and smoother-skinned than their human parents, but their actual skin tone, hair colour, and other details vary just as human features do. Half-elves' eyes are green, just as are those of their elven parents. A half-elf reaches adulthood at age 20 and can live to be over 180 years old.

Most half-elves are the children of human-elf pairings. Some, however, are the children of parents who themselves are partly human and partly elven. Some of these "second generation" half-elves have humanlike eyes, but most still have green eyes.

Personality
While elves and half-elves are respected and admired in many parts of Faerun, humans in lands where elves are not commonly encountered can be resentful of elven blood. Elves are graceful, attractive, long-lived, mysterious, and skilled with mighty magic, and humans who do not know them well can easily come to regard elves-and by extension, half-elves-with envy and fear. In places such as Silverymoon or the Dalelands, a half-elf's race is noting remarkable, and she faces little or no bigotry. In lands where there is a long history of elven-human conflict, such as Tethyr or Sembia, her elven blood marks her as different and dangerous, with all the fears and suspicions one might expect.

Many half-elves respond to suspicions and slights of their human neighbours by staying well away from human civilization, preferring a solitary life in the wildernesses of Faerun. Others instead take up a life of travel, never staying in one spot long enough for racial prejudices to distance them from the folk around them.

As the home of a mixed society of elves, humans, and half-elves. Aglarond is unique among the lands of Faerun. In Aglarond, a half-elf's race is unremarkable, and a half-elf is judged by her own actions and accomplishments, not her kindred. Aglarondan half-elves are quiet, thoughtful, and courteous folk, slow to befriend outsiders, but unfailingly loyal to the friends they've made. Many half-elves from other lands journey to Aglarond at least once in their lives, and more than a few remain there, enriching the Simbul's realm.

Preferred Classes
Among half-elves can be found people of every character class and nearly every multiclass combination, for flexibility is a key trait among half-elves.

Languages
Half-elves speak the langauges they are born to, Common and Elven. Half-elves are slightly clumsy with the intricate Elven language, though only elves notice, and even so they do better than nonelves.

Deities
Common half-elves can choose any human or elven deity as a patron. Many favour Sune for the love that brought their parents together. Aglarondan common half-elves favour Chauntea, Selune, Valkur, and the elven pantheon (the Seldarine), Those good-aligned half-drow who live in Aglarond have brought the worsship of the Lady of the Dance with them. The worship of Eilistraee has spread beyond those with drow blood in their veins, and many half-elves who enjoy midnight revelries - mostly bards, it has to be said - choose Eilistraee as a patron.

Relations
Half-elves do well among both elves and humans, and they also get along well with dwarves, gnomes, and halflings. They have elven grace without elven aloofness, human energy without human boorishness. They make excellent ambassadors and go-betweens (except between elves and humans, where each side suspects the half-elf of favoring the other). In human lands where elves are distant or not on friendly terms, however, half-elves are viewed with suspicion.

Some half-elves show a marked disfavour towards half-orcs. Perhaps the similarities between themselves and half-orcs (both have human lineage) make these half-elves uncomfortable.

(The information of the Half-aquatic elf is added for purposes of knowledge.)
Half-Aquatic Elves
Half-aquatic elves have no real society of their own. Born of human and sea elf blood, they are extremely rare, since sea elves rarely venture into human lands. Normally they live alone or in small groups along the shore, or they simply take up life in a human coastal community.

Half-aquatic elves have pale green skin. Their hair can be any human colour, but it usually has a faint green or blue cast to it. As tehy age, their hair becomes blue-silver. They have slight webbing between their fingers and toes, making them excellent swimmers.

Although they cannot breathe water like their aquatic elf ancestors, half-aquatic elves feel drawn to the sea. If they seem distant or aloof, it's not because they're ignoring someone on purpose. They're always listening to the roar of the nearby surt, or imagining its sound if they travel far from the sea.

Half-aquatic elves reach the age of muturity at 20 years old and can live to be over 180 years in age. Since aquatic elves are larger and heavier than most elves, half-aquatic elves have the same height and weight characteristics as a full-blooded human.

Half-Drow
In most lands, half-drow are rare. Since so many drow are irredeemably evil, they only mate with humans by way of rape or slavery. The only exception are the half-drow of the land of Dambrath in the Shining South, who arise from the centuries-old drow subjugation of the human folk of that land.

They are often just as dark-hearted as their elven parents, but with a bitter resentment that comes from knowing that they are considered second-class members of drow society. In human society, half-drow are distrusted nearly as much as their full-blooded cousins. Despite this, good half-drow are much less rare than good drow. Whether this hsa to do with the influence of their human blood, or the desire to rebel against the drow who treat them so poorly, is difficult to tell.

Around 500 years ago, the barbaric human kingdom of Dambrath warred with the powerful drow city-state of T'lindhet beneath the nearby Gnollwatch Mountains. When the drow won, they enslaved the humans of the region. Over the course of several human generations, the conquering dark elves took human lovers from their slaves, resulting in a large number of half-drow. Today, such people make up about 15% of the country's population.

In time, the ruling drow nobles came to spend less and less time on the surface, returning to their subterranean city and leaving their surface conquests in teh hands of their half-breed children. The great Houses of T'lindhet carved up the broad lands of Dambrath into their personal fiefs, and their half-drow scions served as good stewards for their vast estates. These great old families of half-drow rule Dambrath to this day, each nominally loyal to an ancient House of T'lindhet. Drow blood is a sign of power and wealth in Dambrath, but when the half-drow of the surface visit their ancient families below the Gnollwatch Mountains, they find that their full-blooded drow relations treat them as inferiors.

Statistics
Favoured Class: Any. When determining whether a multiclass half-drow takes an XP penalty, her highest-level class does not count.

Hardiness vs. Enchantments: +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells or effects.
Immunity to sleep: Immunity to sleep and magic sleep effects.
Darkvision: Half-drow can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Partial Skill Affinity (Listen): +1 racial bonus on listen checks.
Partial Skill Affinity (Search): +1 racial bonus on search checks.
Partial Skill Affinity (Spot): +1 racial bonus on spot checks.
Skill Affinity (Bluff): +2 racial bonus on bluff skill checks.
Skill Affinity (Diplomacy): +2 racial bonus on diplomacy skill checks.

Physicality
Half-drow have dusky skin, silver or white hair, and a broad range of eye colors.

Half-drow live for about aslong as half-elves do.

Personality
Dambrathan half-drow combine cold, condescending arrogance with secret shame. Although they consider themselves better of the humans over which they rule, they know that their drow cousins feel similarly about them. They spend a great deal of time trying to prove themselves to everyone around them, including each other.

Many half-drow become adventurers to escape the bigotry they face in just about every community they find outside Dambrath. Dambrathans, on the other hand, of ten range far outside their homeland to garner wealth and fame that can prove their superiority back home.

Preferred Classes
The half-drow of Dambrath are often fighters and wizards - two quick paths to power on the surface world. Unlike the casterdriven society their drow forebears came from, half-drow show all the adaptability of other half-elves. Accordingly, many of them opt to multiclass.

Languages
Half-drow speak Elven and the human tongue of their home region. if they were raised in the Underdark or Dambrath, they speak Undercommon. Otherwise they speak Common.

Deities
Half-drow can choose any human or drow deity as a patron. Dambrathan half-drow almost always choose either a patron among the drow pantheon or, better yet, Loviatar. Good half-drow almost always take Eilistraee as their patron. For many half-drow of good heart, choosing Eilistraee is a compromise between both sides of their heritage, one that they can happily live with.
Loviatar's faith has a peculiar place among the folk of Dambrath. This goddess of pain and suffering had a following in Dambrath before the drow conquered the land. Infact, without the aid of Loviatar's cult, the drow might have never taken the country at all. In respect for her, the worship of Loviatar is still the official faith in Dambrath, and most half-drow who live there follow this line.

Relations
Most half-drow don't get along well with anyone outside other half-drow. Dambrath is really the place for such people. Good half-drow are often friendly when approached with acceptance or understanding, but standoffish otherwise. They know all too well how most people feel about their drow kin aand, by extension, them.


Half-orc
Half-orcs are fairly common throughout Faerun. They have no true homeland to call their own and as a result most spend their lives wandering the world in search of a purpose. Half-orcs are invariably the product of a human and an orc, but stories are told of half-orcs carrying the blood of dwarves, goblins, hob-goblins, and even halflings, gnomes, and elves. Orcs are a fecund race, and such stories likely have some genesis in truth.

A half-orc is usually about as tall as a human and a little heavier. Their skin tends to be gray with green or even purple undertones, and their faces feature sloping brows, jutting jaws with prominent teeth, and flat, squashed noses. This and their coarse body hair make their lineage plain for all to see.

Statistics
Favoured Class: Favored class: Barbarian. A multiclass half-orc's barbarian class does not count when determining whether he takes an XP penalty. Ferocity runs in a half-orc's veins.

Ability Adjustment: +2 Strength, -2 Intelligence, -2 Charisma.
Darkvision: Half-orcs (and orcs) can see in the dark up to 60 feet.

Physicality
Half-orcs are as tall as humans and a little heavier, thanks to their muscle. A half-orc's grayish pigmentation, sloping forehead, jutting jaw, prominent teeth, and coarse body hair make his lineage plain for all to see.

Orcs like scars. They regard battle scars as tokens of pride and ornamental scars as things of beauty. Any half-orc who has lived among or near orcs has scars, whether they are marks of shame indicating servitude and identifying the half-orc's former owner, or marks of pride recounting conquests and high status. Such a half-orc living among humans either displays or hides his scars, depending on his attitude toward them.

Half-orcs mature a little faster than humans and age noticeably faster. Few half-orcs live longer than 75 years.

Personality
Most half-orc are surly individuals who endured horrible childhoods. They are too coarse and savage to fit in well with humans, and too fragile and thoughtful to fit in with orcs. As a result, the majority of half-orcs grow up alone and without any influence from orc or human society. Thus, half-orcs speak their mind and act upon their feelings without any fear of repercusions. They are nomads, loners, and hermits at best, and murderers and savages at worst.

Without a place to call home, and often without a family or close friends to count on for companionship, half-orcs learn from an early age to look out for themselves. This is often interpreted as greed or selfishness by other races, but too many half-orcs have learned the hard way that they are not welcome in any land, and must provide for themselves.

Preferred Classes
Half-orc's natural strength and toughness push them strongly towards fighters and barbarians and away from spellcasting classes. Half-orc rogues are common as well.

Languages
All half-orcs speak both Common and Orc. They are accepted on the fringe of both orc and human societies, and being able to communicate clearly with both dramatically increases a half-orc's chance to find allies. Although they don't particulary make gifted linguists, half-orcs learnt a number of other languages simply as a result of their nomadic, wandering lifestyles. Other languages commonly learned by half-orcs include Damaran, Giant, Gnoll, Goblin, Illuskan, and Undercommon.

Deities
Half-orcs who remain among their orc kindred worship the gods of the orc pantheon, often with greater belief and fervor than regular orcs since many half-orcs feel the need to prove to their deities that they are just as powerful and strong as theri full-blooded orc kindred. Those half-orcs who do not dwell among orcs are free to choose their deities as they will. Common patron deities for such half-orcs include Bane, Garagos, Hoar, Loviator, Malar, Talona, Tempus, and Tyr.

Relations
Half-orcs have uphill battles to fight when interacting with most other races, since many are quick to assume that their orcish blood carries with it an inherent savagery and cruelty. Most half-orcs return this supicion and trepidation when interacting with others. They make friends with difficulty. Once trust is established, it is often a fleeting thing that can be fractured with one misinterpreted comment. Often, a half-orc joins an adventuring company and never feels fully at ease with her traveling companions no matter how many times they have proven their loyalty.

Planetouched
Part mortal, part something else, the planetouched are loners and individuals, rarely so lucky as to meet another of their kind. The origins of the various kinds of planetouched races are as different as the forms of the planetouched themselves. In Calimshan, djinn and efreet sometimes mated with their human slaves, producing offspring whose children are air or fire genasi. In Mulhorand and Unther, the undying incarnations of the deities had children with favored humans, creating strains of aasimar and tieflings. In the High Forest, evil sun elves bred with succubi to produce the fey'ri. The planetouched races have no common history, although planetouched of the same type from the same region often have a common ancestor or relation.

The child of an outsider and another creature is a half-fiend, half-celestial, or half-elemental. If one of these half-blooded creatures has offspring with a humanoid, the result is usually a planetouched creature. The offspring of two planetouched is always a planetouched. Mixed-heritage planetouched of this sort take after one or the other parent (seemingly equal chances) but carry the traits of the other parent, which may show up in their own children. The offspring of a planetouched and a normal creature of its type (such as the child of a fey'ri and an elf) has an equal chance of being planetouched or "normal," but carries the potential for planetouched children in either case. Sometimes the outsider bloodline becomes dormant for one or more generations, only to manifest many years later.

Sub Races
There are six types of planetouched implemented in Neverwinter Nights 2, I will provide information on these and a brief summary of what the other two that are not implemented are.

The six implemented are Aasimar, Air Genasi, Earth Genasi, Fire Genasi, Tiefling and Water Genasi.

The two not implemented but will be summarised for your own purposes of knowledge are the Fey'ri and Tanarukk.



Aasimar
The Aasimar bear the legacy of a celestial being or even a deity in their ancestry, and have incredible potential to do good in the world. At the same time, their heritage marks them as different and often leads to persecution, ridicule, or exile from supersititious or backward communities. It is not unknown for an aasimar to give in to bitterness in the face of adversity and turn to evil.

Aasimar are the descendants of humans and some good outsider, such as a true celestial, a celestial creature, coutl, lillend, or even a servant or avatar of a good deity. (Some of these creatures must use magic to assume a form that is compotible with a human mate, of course.) While elves, dwarves, gnomes, and halflings with good outsider ancestry are reputed to exist, those crossbreeds are not true aasimar.

Statistics
Favoured Class: Paladin. A multiclass aasimar's paladin class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.
Level Adjustment: +1

Ability Adjustment: +2 Wisdom, +2 Charisma
Darkvision: Aasimar can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Celestial Resistance: Damage resistance to acid, cold and electricity 5.
Skill Affinity (Listen): +2 racial bonus to Listen.
Skill Affinity (Spot): +2 racial bonus to spot.
Spell-like abilities: 5/day - Light as sorcerer of equal level.

Physicality
Aasimar look human except for one distinguishing feature related to their unusual ancestor. Some examples of these features (and the ancestors that cause them) are:
Golden eyes
Silver hair
Emerald skin (planetar)
Feathers at the shoulder (astral deva, ayoral celestial, planetar, solar, trumpet archon)
Feathers in hair (avoral celestial)
Pearly opalescent eyes (ghaele celestial)
Powerful ringing voice (lillend, trumpet archon)
Brilliant topaz eyes (solar)
Silvery or golden skin (solar)
Iridescent scales in small patches (couatl or lillend)

History
Most aasimar in Faerun are derived from the deities of Mulhorand. When the mortal incarnations of the Mulhorandi pantheon defeated the Imaskari, they settled and took mortals as lovers and spouses. The half-celestial offspring of these unions became nobles of that country, and dilution of the divine essence through marriages to pureblooded humans created aasimar. Many of these aasimar left the country in search of a destiny not tied to their grandparents, and so the lands around Mulhorand have more aasimar than any other area.

Personality
Most aasimar are wary of their human neighbors. Even those raised by parents who understand their heritage cannot escape the states of other children and adults, for humans fear that which is different. Aasimar usually experience a great deal of prejudice, which is all the more painful to the good-inclined aasimar who truly wants to help other survive in a hostile world. Aasimar are often seen as aloof, when in many cases this is a protective measure born of years of misunderstandings. Aasimar often look upon true celestials and other good outsiders with a mixed envy and respect. The lucky ones receive occasional guidance and advice from their celestial ancestor, and these aasimar are more likely to exemplify the stereotypical celestial virtues.

Because an aasimar's favored class is paladin, a majority of them follow that path, as least for a time. The philosophy of the paladin class resonates in the aasimars' hearts, and they are innately suited for a career championing law and good. Some aasimar, particulary those descended from a nonlawful outsider, instead become clerics, since they are naturally wiser and more charismatic than most humans. Even aasimar who don't become divine spellcasters gravitate toward divine-related classes such as divine champion, for the call of light is very strong.

Not all aasimar live up to their potential. An aasimar blackguard or sorcerer of evil is a terrible opponent, and deities such as Shar and Set love to corrupt an aasimar, turning her into a bitter, angry creature nursing old grudges from unjust persecution.

Aasimar rarely have siblings who are other aasimar, for the hereditary of the supernatural is a chancy thing. Because of this, few aasimar get to know another of their kind. On the rare times they encounter another aasimar, there is a sort of unspoken understanding between them, and an aasimar is likely to take another aasimar's side in an argument, regardless of other affiliations, just for a taste of kinship. Aasimar being more rare than even half-elves, they have no true society of their own. Few have oppurtunity to meet other aasimar or celestial beings, so they attempt to blend into the culture of their parents. If they had such a thing, aasimar would have a lawful good or neutral good society, focussing on charitable works, helping the needy, and campaigning to eradicate evil. In a few rare places, aasimar can find true acceptance and search for other aasimar born in other lands, hoping to make arrangements to have a child brought to sancuary and raised in an environment where he or she is cherished, not considered strange.

Preferred Classes
Because they feel the pull of deific power so keenly, aasimar are often clerics or paladins. Some aasimar bring their otherwordly sensibilities to the art of music, becoming accomplished bards. Rarer still are aasimar who fall in love with Faerun's deep wilderness, becoming druids and rangers.

Languages
Aasimar have no cultural language, although those that realise their heritage usually learn Celestial. An aasimar usually learns the language of her parents and may pick up other languages appropriate to her region.

Deities
Aasimar have no common racial deity but often worship whatever deity their supernatural ancestor serves (or that being itself, if the ancestor is a deity). Because most aasimar in Faerun are descended from Mulhorandi powers, a large number of them serve those gods. An aasimar born outside the Old Empires, or whose travels have taken her far from those lands, might take a like-minded patron appropriate to her new country. Because several Mulhorandi deities are portrayed with animal heads or have strong ties to certain animals, aasimar descended from these deities or their supernatural agents often have an affinity for that sort of animal, and sometimes have a faint resemblance to a creature of that type.

Relations
Although aasimar are mostly human, they rarely feel like they fit in among human society. Instead, they get along best with other halfbreeds-namely, half-elves and half-orcs-because they and aasimar usually share the same sort of semi-outcast background. Dwarves, elves, gnomes, and halflings are neither embraced nor shunned by aasimar, for while these races have no history of persecuting the planetouched, they don't have a reputation for sheltering them either. Genasi of all types are too alien compared to an aasimar to elicit sympathy or a sense of kinship. Tieflings are the one race that garners the most suspicion from an aasimar, for those touched by the holy understands its calling and therefore can guess what sort of temptation those with unholy blood must hear.




Air Genasi
Air genasi are fast and free-willed. Because the traits that identify an air genasi are subtle, many go unrecognised for what they are for many years and are sometimes mistaken for sorcerers. Those who are overtly different quickly learn to disguise their nature from common folk, at least until they are able to protect themselves and strike out on their own.

Air genasi are descended from outsiders native to the Elemental Plane of Air and humans. Most air genasi in Faerun come from bloodlines established over nine thousand years ago by the djinn who founded what is now Calimshan. A few rare air genasi derive from djinn summoned in other parts of the world, and some are said to be born of a line founded by a powerful mephit sorcerer who lived on the Great Glacier hundreds of years ago. The numbers descended from the servants of air deities such as Akadi, Auril, and Shaundakul are unknown, but likely to be very small. Legends tell of elves similar to air genasi, possibly descended from followers of the elven goddess Aerdrie Faenya, but it is likely that these legends are just confused reports of the avariels.

Air genasi revel in their unusual nature, although few ever try to locate the being who founded their bloodline, since most are long dead or banished back to the Elemental Plane of Air. Because the Calimshan djinn bloodlines are so old and have suffered many crossbreedings, it is almost impossible to tell by normal means if two air genasi are from the same bloodline. As a result, all air genasi treat each as "cousins," although in an arrogant and competitive way.

Statistics
Favoured class: Fighter. A multiclass genasi's fighter class does not count when determining whether she takes an XP penalty for multiclassing.
Level Adjustment: +1

Ability Adjustment: +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
Darkvision: Genasi can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Air Resistance: Resistance to electricity 5.
Spell-like abilities: Summon Gale - Once per day, an air genasi can call upon his elemental nature and summon a powerful blast of wind which can knock over foes who fail a Fortitude save as well as disperse any harmful cloud effects in its path. This effect is similar to the Gust of Wind spell.
Breathless: Air Genasi do not breathe. (This means in roleplay, Air Genasi will not drown underwater or be able to be strangled, however strangulation could still kill them by damaging their neck. Also, while Water Genasi only gain the ability to breath underwater, Air Genasi are less likely to know how to swim, and may have trouble getting around water if they get in it.)
Clerical Focus: Air Genasi clerics must choose a deity with access to the Air domain and take that domain as one of their choices.

Physicality
Air genasi look human except for one or two distinguishing features related to their elemental ancestor. Some examples of these features are:
Light blue skin
Pale white skin
White hair
Light blue hair
A constant slight breeze in their presence
Flesh that is cool to the touch
Voice that can be heard over any nonmagical wind
Any sudden movement is accompanied by a whistling wind

History
With only a few exceptions, air genasi native to Faerun are descended form the djinn who once ruled Calimshan. The djinn and djinn nobles often had human concubines, and from these unions were born half-elementals. The half-elementals gained status by serving in the djinn's armies, and their own children inherited some of their elemental nature. When the djinn masters were overthrown, many djinni, half-djinn, and air genasi were slain, driven to another place, or bound in magic items such as iron flasks. The surviving air genasi went into hiding or fled to nearby lands. Now air genasi are most common in the Lands of Intrigue, Sword Coast, and the Western Heartlands. They have intermixed enough with the local populations that at least half of them do not resemble the people of Calimshan.

Personality
Air genasi, like all the elemental planetouched, are proud of their heritage, regardless of others' opinion of them. They know they are descended from powerful beings, even nobles of their kind. Outside Calimshan most people like upon such things with awe instead of fear, so the air genasi are used to being flamboyant with their abilities and expect a certain amount of deference from normal folk. Because they consider themselves children of the sky, air genasi move about a lot over the course of their lives. Air genais want to see and taste the air in radically different places and consider settling in one place for any length of time to be confining. Air genasi view air elementals as dumb brutes but see djinn and other intelligent air-outsiders as potential rivals for attention and power.

Although rarely is more than one air genasi born to any particular couple, these planetouched see each other as members in an extended family, and their tendency to wander menas that they are more likely than not to find another of their kind at some point in their travels. Air genasi use these times to exchange news of other air genasi, usually in the form of bragging about their own deeds compared to others. Unlike the bonds that aasimar share, air genasi feeld no need to defend other air genasi, and in fact see another air genasi's weakness as an affirmation of their own strength.

In a few rare cases, particulary charismatic air genasi have gathered a few dozen of their own kind to form a mercenary company, cabal of mages, or mercentile rgoup. These individuals sometimes take air genasi children away from human parents so they may be raised by their own kind. However, air genasi rarely stay together for longer than a year, so these fosterlings usually end up being raised by one or two air genasi who stick together after the group dissolves. Still, these young genasi gain some sense of community and often go on to start their own temporary groups.

Preferred Classes
Because they may be of any alignment, air genasi have entered all walks of life, from paladin to necromancer to cleric, many develop skills as rogues or wizards, balancing their weakness with spells or special skills. By their nature, air genasi make poor bards, divine spellcasters, or sorcerers. Those who do practice magic favor spells involving air and electricity.

Languages
Air genasi have no common language, although most learn Auran if only to feel elitist and to share secrets with each other when within earshot of non-genasi. An air genasi usually learns the language of his parents and may pick up other languages appropriate to his region.

Deities
Air genasi have no common racial deity. Because air genasi clerics must choose deities who grant the Air domain, all air genasi clerics worship Aerdrie Faenya, Akadi, Auril, SEt, Shaundakul, Sheela Peryroyl, or Valkur. Those who are not devout enough to be clerics still worship those deities or a sky-themed deity appropriate to their region. For example, air genasi in Calimshan often worship Bhaelros (their name for Talos, the god of storms) and those in Amn may worship Selune (the goddess of moon, stars, and wanderers). Surprisingly, Akadi is not the most common choice of deity for an air genasi, possibly because she associates with true elementals rather than the anthropomorphic elemental outsiders such as djinn. owever, among the clergy of Akadi, air genasi are considered particulary blessed.
Aerdrie Faenya, the elven goddess of the skies, is normally only worshipped by air genasi with strong ties to elven communities, particulary communities of avariels. The air genasi of Aerdrie's faith act as protectors of avian creatures and encourage elves to explore other parts of the world, including human societies.
Auril, the Frost Maiden, is worshipped by air genasi who live in colder regions or enjoy cold magic. They tend to be zealots, inflicting pain upon others through the use of cold and wind to show supremacy of the air element and their own power. A disproportionate amount of Auril's genasi worshippers have pale blue skin. Shaundakul is also popular among air genasi. With his worship on the upswing, this deity has attracted many air genasi followers both for his focus on wind and because he espouses frequent travel. It is said that centuries ago he took a human lover in Myth Drannor, and from that line a handful of white-bearded male air genasi have sprung.
Air genasi who enjoy destruction, violence, or simple chaos are often drawn to Talos. Evil druids and rangers sometimes worship him, as do mages with a talent for large-scale battle magic. These beings do much to sully the name of air genasi across Faerun, for they loudly proclaim their elemental heritage and their faith, causing many ignorant folk to assume that all this race are of similar temperament.

Relations
Although they are arrogant about their own abilities, air genasi are smart enough to recognise the talents of the elven race (including half-elves), and they share a similar enjoyment of open natural spaces. They consider dwarves homebound and closed-minded, enjoying far too much the stony comfort of a cavern roof overhead. Gnomes are regarded much as dwarves, but the air genasi know that some gnomes love the open sky as much as elves do, and these are tolerated.
Halflings wander as much as air genasi do, and so the hin are welcome travelling companions to the planetouched. Half-orcs are considered clumsy and brutish, but valuable allies in a fight, and so even the haughty air genasi choose their words carefully around these large halfbreeds. Humans are accepted, although air genasi consider a typical human's readiness to settle on an unclaimed plot of land annoying and pointless.
Aasimar, tieflings, and other kinds of genasi are in the same boat as far as air genasi are concerned. All are touched by something out of their world, but since no other "taint" is truly as awesome and inspiring as the element of air, air genasi tend to treat these beings as limited but interesting distant relations.




Earth Genasi
Earth genasi are patient, stubborn, and contemplative in their decision making. Marked at birth with obvious traits reflecting their heritage, earth genasi are often shunned by others, but their physical gifts make them able to defend themselves against most attackers. Their strength and girth means that they sometimes become bullies, attracting sycophants out of fear and respect for their power.

At least three-quarters of earth genasi in Faerun are the descendants of outsiders native to the Elemental Plane of Earth and humans. The rest are descended from earth deities or servants thereof instead of elemental outsiders. Most of the elemental bloodlines originate in teh North, particulary near the Spine of the World, as natural portals to the Elemental Plane of Earth form there, allowing meetings between natives of both planes. The bloodlines spring up wherever worship of earth deities is common. It is thought that the Ludwakazar clan of shield dwarves deep in the Earthspurs in Impiltur and the Tobarin family of rock gnomes in the Great Dale have elemental blood, but both are mute on the question and neither would be a true earth genasi, but something quite different.

Earth genasi, like all elemental planetouched are proud of their nature and abilities, but their pride is a quiet, confident sort rather than a boastful one. Earth genasi are pragmatic about their parentage, usually not going out of their way to learn their ancestry but not avoiding the topic either. Earth genasi have no special relationship with others of their kind, although they seem to prefer others who share their physical differences.

Statistics
Favoured class: Fighter. A multiclass genasi's fighter class does not count when determining whether she takes an XP penalty for multiclassing.
Level Adjustment: +1

Ability Adjustment: +2 Strength, +2 Constitution, -2 Wisdom, -2 Charisma
Darkvision: Genasi can see in the dark up to 60 feet.
Acid Resistance: Resistance to acid 5.
Spell-like abilities: Merge with Stone: Once per day, an earth genasi can call upon his elemental nature to make his skin as hard as stone, gaining damage reduction 5/adamantine. The effect lasts for 5 rounds or until it has absorbed 20 points of damage, whichever comes first.
Pass without Trace: Earth Genasi being more natural to the land are much harder to track than other beings within natural areas such as caves and forests. (Roleplay this as you see fit.)
Clerical Focus: Earth Genasi clerics must choose a deity with access to the Earth domain and take that domain as one of their choices.

Physicality
Earth Genasi are obviously not human but have mostly human features except for one or two distinguishing traits related to their elemental ancestor. Some examples of these features are:
Earthlike skin
Eyes like black pits
Eyes like gems
Gravelly voice
Very large hands and feet
Iron gray hair
Sweats mud instead of water
Metallic shine to skin or hair

History
Earth genasi have no common history. Most of their bloodlines derive from chance meetings between humans and earth outsiders, and even those descended from agents of earth deities are spread across teh world with no common purpose. Because the outsider features often skipn a generation or two, bloodlines seem to disappear for decades only to pop up again unexpectedly in a family that had forgotten its ancestry. Because earth genasi are slightly less fertile than humans, some bloodlines disappear altogether. Because of their varied origins, both planar and geographical, earth genasi may be found among any racial group.

Personality
Proud of their heritage despite the opinions of others, earth genasi know they are born of beings touched by the might of the earth itself. Although they know the circumstances of their outsider heritage are rare and mark them as unlike anyone they might meet, each still feels a strong kinship to the earth itself. Earth genasi feel most comfortable when their feet are on the ground and prefer to go barefoot if appropriate for the weather and environment (earth genasi develop thick calluses easily and can even walk on gravel without discomfort). They are used to being treated differently, but have the strength to defend themselves if harassed. Earth genasi respect their earth elemental cousins for their strength but are usually indifferent to other earth elemental creatures.

Earth genasi like to stake out a piece of land as their own and defend it, which makes them particularly valuable homesteaders in frontier regions like the Silver Marches. A few unusual ones come down with a strange form of wanderlust, wishing to plant their feet on every nation's soil before they die. Such a journey might take thirty years, but with methodical determination certain genasi have become famous for their long distance travels.

Preferred Classes
Most adventuring earth genasi are combat-orientated, whether fighter, warrior, ranger, or barbarian. They usually learn styles of combat that rely on their gifts, so an earth genasi armsman is either capable of incredible bloodshed or capable of enduring devastating attacks and remaining unshaken. Earth genasi wizards are uncommon, but those who do embrace arcane magic often learn spells to enhance their fighting skills or become masters of earth magic.

Languages
There is no common language among earth genasi, and they feel no urge to learn Terran unless they happen to be a spellcaster who needs to communicate with summoned elementals. An earth genasi usually learns the language of her parents and possibly other languages spoken in her native region.

Deities
Earth genasi have no racial deity or pantheon. Because earth genasi clerics must choose deities who grant the Earth domain, all earth genasi clerics worship Callarduran Smoothhands, Chauntea, Dumathoin, Geb, Gond, Gramhar, Luthic, Moradin, Segojan earthcaller, Urdlen, or Uroglan. Those who are not devout enough to be clerics still worship those deities or an earth or nature-themed deity appropriate to their region.

Revered by earth genasi as teh fusion of the powers of earth and life itself, Chauntea is a popular choice among this race. Many of the earth genasi who worship this deity ignore her argicultural aspect and instead focus on her role as the benign Earthmother, a foundation of life and strength that suffuses the ground they walk on. The more gentle worshipers of Chauntea are all too happy to hire an earth genasi of the faith as a guard.

Mulhorand and the lands adjacent to it have a small earth genasi population, most of them who reverere Geb, for the children of his divine line become earth genasi instead of aasimar. Earth genasi from Geb's bloodline often have any affinity for bears and sometimes have a faint resemblance to a creature of that type.

Many earth genasi worship Grumbar, the lord of the earth elementals. Although he shows them no more favor than any other worshiper, the genasi respect this and see it as proof that each should rely on his or her own abilities to succeed.

Relations
Earth genasi get along well with gnomes and dwarves but find elves and half-elves too weak and puny to be taken seriously. Halflings would alost be in the same category as elves except that they show a remarkable talent for survival, which the genasi respect. Oddly enough, most elves and half-elves appreciate an earth genasi's ties to the land, even though the feeling is not reciprocated.

As earth genasi usually have human parents, they get along fine with humans. They have no bias for or against other kinds of planetouched, even the air genasi, whom they consider flightly but skilled. Half-orcs are intriguing to earth genasi, for they have the hot blood of a much stronger race tempered with human nature much as earth genasi do, so the planetouched consider them lesser but similar kin.

Elves: Drow, Wild elf, Sun Elf, Wood Elf, Moon Elf.

Elves
Originally hailing from another realm far removed from Faerun in the distant past, the elves proved to be one of the most succesful and diverse races to appear on Abeir-Toril. They have taken to the lands, the seas, and even the skies of Faerun, colonising and expanding through the ages. Today, the great elven realms may have retreated from the encroachment of humans and humanoids, but the elven influence in the world is unmistakable and pervasive.
Elves adapt and change dramatically to meld with their surroundings, so through the generations the various tribes of elves have become quite divergent in appearance and outlook. Despite this, all elves retain certain characteristics that set them apart from the other races of the world. Collectively, the elves know themselves as the Tel-quessir (translated into the common tongue, this means, "The People". They refer to other beings as the N-Tel-Quess, a less-than diplomatic elven expression meaning "not-people."
Elves are graceful, lithe, and beautiful. Regardless of their particular heritage, they are viewed by other races as a highly magical and wondrous people. This awe and respect has an unexpected corollary - many people view elves as haughty and shamelessly introverted as a race. The reasons for this are numerous, including jealousy, envy, and religious hatred. It is the nature of the elf to elicit such reactions from others, for it seems impossible upon first encountering the elves to react with anything resembling disinterest or apathy.



(The information on the Aquatic elf is added for purposes of knowledge.)
Aquatic Elf
Rarely encountered by the landbound races, the aquatic elves are a civilised and good-hearted people who inhabit the seas surrounding Faerun. Most aquatic elves hail from underwater cities in the Sea of Fallen Stars or in the Great Sea south of Faerun, but small settlements of this race can be found in the seas along Faerun's western coasts as well.
The aquatic elves are tall, standing 6 feet or more in height. They have long limbs with strong swimming muscles and their fingers and toes are long with thick webbing. Their most striking features are sets of gills along the collarbone and ribcage. Aquatic elves are nowhere near as thin as their landbound cousins, and their hair is usually stringy and thick, cut short for warriors but otherwise worn long. Great Sea aquatic elves have radiant skin of deep green with irregular thin brown stripes and patches. Aquatic elves from the Sea of Fallen Stars have skin in many shades of blue with white patches and stripes. Eye colours for both types of aquatic elf come in every shade seen among gold, moon, or wild elves. Their clothing is made of various undersea plants in shades of green, black and brown, although aquatic elves usually go about lightly clad, if dressed at all, while underwater.
Aquatic elves reach adulthood at around 110 years of age, and can live to be over 700 years old.



(The information on the Avariel is added for purposes of knowledge.)
Avariel
The Avariels, or winged elves, are without a doubt the most reclusive and least numerous of the elven subraces on Faerun. Many scholars have long dismissed them as creatures of myth. In truth, small numbers of avariels still dwell in Faerun, concealed in hidden enclaves and remote regions.
The most striking feature of the avariels is their soft, feathered wings. These wings have spans of anywhere from twelve to sixteen feat and are usually white, but may also be gray, brown, black or speckled. Avariels take great pride in their wings and spend long hours grooming them. Their skin is pale, often procclain white, with tinges of blue or faint silver. They have silver-white or black hair, with other shades being rare but not unheard of. The avariels' eyes are rather large and more expressive than those of other elves, and they tend to be brilliant shades of blue or green. A few averiel have scintillating violet eyes as pure as amethysts. Avariels stand 5'9" tall on average, with thin, graceful limbs and angular facial features. They are the most beautiful and striking of the elven races, although too oftne this beauty is marred by haughtiness and condescension toward their land-bound kin, whom they often pity.
Avariels are even more delicate than other elves, and their movements are quick, calculated, and graceful. They prefer to wear loose fitting, diaphonous clothing that catches the wind in flight and ripples and weaves in the air. Armor is almost never worn, because it tends to weigh the avariels down and hinder their graceful motion. Avariels cannot fly while wearing heavy armour.
Avariels age more quickly than most elves, and reach adulthood at around 40 years of age, and can live to be over 450 years old.



Drow
Of the various elven subraces, none are more notorious than the drow. Descended from the original dark-skinned elven subrace called the Ssri-tel-quessir, the drow were cursed into their present appearance by the good elven deities for following the goddess Lolth down the path to evil and corruption.
Often called dark elves, most drow on the surface are evil and worship Vhaeraun, but some outcasts and renegades have a more neutral attitude, and there are even groups of good drow who worship Eilistraee or other deities not of the traditional drow pantheon.
Though divided by endless feuds and schisms, the drow are united in one terrible desire they seethe with a hatred of the surface elves. By their way of reckoning, they proved themselves the superior race in the Fourth Crown War, and the fact that the Seldarine (and Correlon in particular) punished them for their success is a poison that churns in their hearts and minds eternally. They burn with hatred for the Seldarine and their coddled children, and want nothing more than to return to the surface and bring to the elves there suffering a thousand times greater than that which the drow have been forced to endure over the past ten thousand years.

Statistics
Favoured Class: Wizard. A multiclass drow's wizard class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.
Level Adjustment: +2.

Statistics: +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma, -2 Constitution
Darkvision: Drow can see in the dark up to 120 feet.
Hardiness vs. Enchantments: +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells or effects.
Immunity to Sleep: Immunity to sleep and magic sleep effects.
Spell Resistant: Spell resistance of 11 + character level.
Weapon Proficiency: Elves are automatically proficient with longsword, rapier, longbow (including compose longbow), and shortbow (including composite shortbow) weapons.
Keen Sense: An elf who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if she were actively looking for it.
Skill Affinity (Listen): +2 to Listen.
Skill Affinity (Search): +2 to Search.
Skill Affinity (Spot): +2 to Spot.
Light Blindness: Drow suffer -1 circumstance penalty to attack rolls, saves, and skill checks when outside.
Spell-Like Abilities: 1.day - Darkness, Light and See Invisibility as a sorcerer, equal to character level.

Physicality
The drow have black skin that resembles polished obsidian and stark white or pale yellow hair. They commonly have blood-red eyes, although pale eyes (so pale as to be often mistaken for white) in shades of pale lilac, silver, pink and blue are not unknown. They also tend to be smaller and thinner than most Faerunian elves.
Drow reach adulthood at around 110 years of age, and can live to be over 750 years old.

History
In the beginning, the Ssri-tel-quessir were the most successful of the elven colonists to the new world of Faerun. The nation of Ilythiir quickly became one of the most powerful of the early elven nations. But the Ssri-tel-quessir were not only the most successful of the elves of their time, they were also the most cruel and jealous. Despite their own accomplishments, they envied those of their neighbours all the same. While the First Crown War raged to the north, the dark elves waged their own war against their neighbours, seeking to dominate the elven realms of southern Faerun.
Unsuccessful in three attempts to subjugate the neighbouring realms, the dark elves of Ilythiir turned to a new and secret patron at the opening of the Fourth Crown War. The dark elves pledged their loyalties to the outcast Seldarine of the Demonweb Pits, and to Lolth in particular. The Spider Queen and her fellow exiles (with the notable exception of Eilistraee) granted the dark elves of Ilythiir great magical powers, fiendish allies, and support in return for their allegiance, and the Ilythiiri wreaked great havoc among the other elven realms.
But their success and victory were short-lived, for Corellon was shocked and deeply enraged by the traitorous acts of teh dark elves. By his decree, the Ilythiiri elves were cursed, transformed into drow and banished from the surface world into the Underdark. They became known as the dhacraow (the elven word for traitor), and over the centuries this word has since given them the name by which they are known, drow.

Personality
Drow are, on the whole, sadistic, destructive, and treacherous. They view themselves as the rightful heirs to Faerun and still remember the perceived injustice of their exile to the Underdark. They hate other races and either wish to make war upon them or view those others with contempt and tolerate them only as necessary for trade or temporary military alliances. Even among their own kind, drow are cruel and suspicious. There is little room for love and friendship in drow society. They may value alliances with other family members or acquintances, but no drow truly trusts another. Drow forge alliances only when they are more powerful than an "ally," possess blackmail worthy knowledge, or have a common enemy that overrides their mutual hatred. Even then, they keep their eyes and ears primed for the slightest hint of treachery. The motto for the dorw may well be, "Do unto others first so they cannot do unto you."
Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. A fair number of drow have come to value their position in the Underdark, and now think of themselves as true natives of the dark realm. They have little desire to return to the surface and would rather rule in the depths than struggle to regain a realm they no longer hold any interest in ruling. Even more rare are those few drow who have atoned for their evil ways and think of their fellows as monsters that need to be stopped. These drow are eitehr surface dwellers who are struggling to become accepted into new societies, or fugitives dwelling in out-of-the-way caverns deep underground. With the new expansion into the surface, more drow than ever before are being exposed to the truth on the surface, and many are realising that life on the surface is much nicer than they were led to believe by the agents of Lolth and her kin. It is possible, with the proper acceptance and encouragement, that the numbers of neutral or even good drow on the surface of Faerun could skyrocket in the coming years. This priesthood of Eilistraee is in the forefront on the movement, desperately trying to divert the drow war on the surface into a mass conversion from the dark elves' dreadful ways.

Preferred Classes
The dark elves are renowned for their skills as clerics, fighters, rogues and wizards. While many drow are naturally gifted enough to excel in almost any career to which they turn their attention, their society has long rewarded skill at arms, divine power (primarily in the hands of female clerics of Lolth), and arcane might (primarily in the hands of male wizards). Likewise, all drow have a deep-seated admiration for stealth, guile, and the unexpected blade in the dark. Dark elves are well-suited to make good bards, but few follow this path; the bard's exuberance does not fit well in drow society, although all drow can admire a work of skill. Drow rangers are valuable, too, serving as scouts who can roam the tunnels of the Underdark, seeking out threats to the great cities of the dark elves. Drow do not often multiclass, as their society tends to reward specialisation in the expected roles and skills.

Languages
Most drow speak Elven, Undercommon, and a language appropriate to their native region. Those with the time or inclination, particularly warriors, learn Drow Sign Language or languages commonly spoken by beings that settle nearby, including Abyssal, Common, Draconic, and Goblin. Drow also learn common languages spoken on the surface near the entrances to their particular corner of the Underdark, such as the Illuskan language.
Drow have developed a unique sign language, Drow Sign Language, which allows silent communication with hands gestures up to 120 feet away as long as both parties can see each other. Drow Sign Language has no alphabet or written form.

Deities
The drow worship a pantheon of deities known as the Dark Seldarine. These deities were cast out of the Seldarine ages ago and exiled to the Demonweb Pits. They are led by Lolth, the Spider Queen, and it is she whom the vast majority of the drow worship. The second most popular drow deity is Vhaeraun, worshiped by most of the surface-dwelling drow. The other drow deities remain minor in the grand scheme of things, either too absorbed in their own interests to increase their worshipers (such as Ghaunadaur), or too afraid or comfortable as Lolth's servants to make a move for more power (such as Kiaransalee and Selvetarm). A notable exception is Eilistraee, the solitary good-aligned deity in the drow pantheon. As more and more drow turn to the surface in an attempt to expand their domains, an increasing number are being converted away from their evil ways by the church or Eilistraee, which of late has significantly stepped up its efforts to "save" the drow from their destructive ways.

Relations
The drow do not interact well with the various other sentient races of Faerun. At best, the drow think of other races as merely laughable or contemptible. They hold low opinions even of their erstwhile allies, such as the kuo-toa. Against most other races, the only way the drow know how to react is with hatred and outright war. They have built up powerful city-states based on the notion that the path to power lies in the subjugation of lesser races and the eradication of those who pose a threat to their homes.
Prisoners captured in drow raids and battles are usually brought back to cities to serve out the remainder of their lives as slaves. Orcs, hobgoblins, ogres, and other savage humanoids are common slaves. Most drow house-holds have two to three such slaves for every drow in the house. The breeding and selling of slaves is a thriving business in drow cities, because these hapless thralls perform all menial and unskilled labour in the drow city.
The true focus of drow hatred, though, is reserved for surface elves. They act quickly and cruelly to seize any chance to bring pain, suffering, and death to other elves they encounter. Even the few evil surface elves are seen as enemies. Drow sometimes enter truces with other races or individuals if doing so helps them to realise their sinister goals, but these truces are by their nature temporary affairs. It's only a matter of time until the drow turn on their allies.



Moon Elves
The most common of the elven subraces on Faerun are the moon elves.

Statistics
Favoured Class: Wizard. A multiclass moon elf's wizard class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing.

Statistics: +2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution
Hardiness vs. Enchantments: +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells or effects.
Immunity to Sleep: Immunity to sleep and magic sleep effects.
Spell Resistant: Spell resistance of 11 + character level.
Weapon Proficiency: Elves are automatically proficient with longsword, rapier, longbow (including compose longbow), and shortbow (including composite shortbow) weapons.
Keen Sense: An elf who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if she were actively looking for it.
Skill Affinity (Listen): +2 to Listen.
Skill Affinity (Search): +2 to Search.
Skill Affinity (Spot): +2 to Spot.

Physicality
Moon elves have fair skin, sometimes tinged with blue, and hair of silver-white, black, or blue; humanlike colours are somewhat rare. Their eyes are blue or green, with gold flecks. Moon elves prefer to dress in rustic clothes of simple cuts and fashions that are nevertheless of fine and exquisite make. They adorn their dress with embroidered patterns, beads, and similar trappings, preferring earthen colours for everyday wear, hues that make it easy to conceal themselves in foliage. In places of safety or in times of revelry, moon elves enjoy dressing in bold colours - the more brightly coloured, the better. Hair is worn in braids or ponytails, twined with wires or beads. Moon elves sometimes wear body paint or tattoos in mystic patterns, although not to the extent the wild elves do.
Moon elves reach adulthood at around 110 years of age, and can live to be over 750 years old.

History
Although the moon elves were not the first elves to migrate to Faerun, they comprised the largest migration. Even in the ancient past their joy for travel seems to have been present, for they came to Faerun in great numbers indeed. The moon elves wanted to explore this new world rather than settle down, and so did not establish nations of their own for some time, preferring to settle in other elven nations, such as Othreier and Keltormir.
The only one of the ancient elven nations that the moon elves could truly call their own was Orishaar, which was defeated in -11,200 DR by the Ilythiiri.
Following the Crown Wars, moon elves helped to raise many of the nations of the second generation of elven realms. Survivors of Orishaar, in conjunction with clans from other realms that had been destroyed during the Crown Wars, founded the secret refuge of Evereska in -8600 DR, and many moon elves populated the glorious realm of COrmanthyr, founded in -3983 DR in the woods of the Elven Court. One by one the old elven realms faded away, until the fall of Myth Drannor in 714 DR left Evereska as the last moon elf city in Faerun. Many nomadic moon elf bands still roamed around the great forests of northern Faerun, but no new elven kingdoms rose after the fall of the second generation realms.
Despite the fact that only a single realm of moon elves has survived the ages since the Crown Wars, the moon elves have fared well compared to many of their elven kin. Content to gather in small, secretive, and relatively short-lived settlements or to simply wander across the wild lands of Faerun as their hearts call them, the moon elves have built few places worth destroying. When the Elven Retreat began, the moon elves were slow to heed its call, and even then answered the call in much smaller numbers than did the sun elves and other elven races.

Personality
Moon elves are more impulsive than the other elves, and dislike remaining in one place for any significant amount of time. Most moon elves are happiest when travelling, especially across the expanses of untrodden wilderness that still survive in Faerun. This is probably the single greatest reason why they are so much more friendly and accommodating to other races than many other elves. They do not isolate themslves from the human lands behind impervious defenses. Moon elves have watched humankind for much longer than their sun or wood elf kin, and they know that nonelves aren't as foolish and unimportant as most other elves think. They feel that engaging promising human realms such as Silverymoon and instilling elven values and culture in these young lands is a better way for the elven race to survive and thrive than hiding away and avoiding all contact with ambitious, grasping humans.
Moon elves are drawn to adventure through sheer wanderlust. They desire to see and do everything possible during their long lives. Like their allies the Harpers, moon elves believe that a single person of good heart who stands up to injustice or evil can make a big difference. The typical moon elf adventurer tends to be a wandering protector of the common folk, not a dungeon-plundering slayer of monsters.

Preferred Classes
More so than other elves, moon elves are drawn to a variety of paths. They have a great love of music and make excellent bards. Moon elves do not possess the depth of reverence for the Seldarine that the sun elves do, nor the bond with nature of the wood elves, but clerics and druids are not uncommon among the subrace. Many moon elves are skilld warriors and have at least some levels in the fighter class, as they have long made up the bulk of the elven armies. But moon elves prefer stealth over strength, and often choose to become rangers or rogues instead.
Finally, like all elves, moon elves are enarmoured of magic, and a great number take up the wizard's arts.

Languages
All moon elves speak Elven, Common, and the human language of their home region. Their nomadic nature encourages them to pick up additional languages as they travel as well, and most moon elves can speak at least one or two additional languages beyond these. Common choices include Auran, Chondathan, Gnoll, Gnome, Halfling, Illuskan, and Sylvan.

Deities
Moon elves worship the Seldarine. A moon elf identifies with all the elven deities, but usually chooses one as a patron deity above the others. Unlike their sun elf cousins, many moon elves worship the elven deity Angharradh, who they believe to be a melding of the three goddesses Sehanine, Aerdrie Faenya, and Hanali Celanil. The moon elves view her as equal in power to Corellon Larethian, who is often regulated to the status of a consort. Moon elf religious cerermonies are exuberant, joyful, and loud. Even deeply religious moon elves recognise that some ceremonies and festivals are simply excuses for revelry.

Relations
Of the elven subraces, moon elves are the most tolerant of nonelves. They travel extensively, and a moon elf can expect to interact with hundreds of different races throughout her life. Moon elves find the diversity of Faerun's races to be intoxicating and forever surprising, and they especially value the insights of other races because they often think of things no elf would ever consider. This opennes and willingness to accept new ideas is regarded as foolish and dangerous by other elves, so ironically their own kin often give moon elves the coolest receptions.
Despite their open minds, moon elves have little patience or interest in the various evil beings, and they hold orcs and gnolls in particular contempt. They avoid regions where such cultures hold sway, although moon elf adventurers often infiltrate these areas to spy on them. The moon elves share with other elven subraces a hatred and loathing for the drow.