Chapter Text
Far off the main continent of Arda to the south, there was a pair of twin islands. Large and filled with what you'd expect; trees, rivers, plains and wildlife. Unassuming and out of the way, no one really knows that these islands exist – the pieces of land weren't considered important at all, since in the First Age of Middle-Earth they were uninhabited. Until the fall of the Dökkálfar, the Dark Elves. Or, as they used to be called in the First Age, during the reign of Morgoth; Drow. A name given to them by the fallen Maiar after he had seduced the Dökkálfar to his side of the war. A sub-race of Elves that lived in the dark, in the underground much like Dwarves and the dark creatures of Arda. They were plentiful much like the other races, but the war costed them greatly and now they are few in number – even thousands of years later in the Third Age.
The Dökkálfar, near the end of the First Age and thus the first war, had managed to free themselves of Morgoth's control and with their newfound freedom sought out a place to live undisturbed. Setting sail the Dökkálfar originally headed west in search of a new place to call home – they were caught in a terrible storm and lost many ships and reducing their already small numbers to even smaller and they were redirected south, to the uninhabited islands. There they made their home, deep underground in the mountains of which they named Isle of Xen'drik, their capital city; Underdark in the common tongue.
Over the years of the mainland, the Dark Elves went into obscurity, falling into myth and eventually passing out of history and all knowledge – forgotten and believed to be unreal, fake. Some of the oldest elves of Middle Earth that still live much as Galadriel and the Istari remember them but believe that the Drow are extinct.
The Dökkálfar are dark skinned, ranging from shades of medium brown to dark brown to skin gray like an orc or even darker until near black. A Dökkálfar's “purity” is based on how dark their skin is, the darker the more “pure” they were, they were prized amongst their people. Their eyes ranged from red to various shades of purple like lilac and deeper prurple to even pale like they were blind. Red and pale eyes, much like darker skin, were considered “true”, a sign of high breeding. The Dökkálfar are slight in their build, wiry muscles built for stealth and quick movements, they also tended to be a bit shorter than the Noldor and Silvan elves. Their second and third most prominent traits are that their ears are much longer than the sun-dwelling elves and their hair is worn in various styles from short to long to even bald but the color always ranges from sliver-white to medium grey. The Dökkálfar are a warrior race, prideful in combat prowess and stealth, they value strength and wit above anything else and are proficient in poisons. They despise those who show mercy, yet despite all their violence, they don't believe in prolonged suffering – quick.
Half-breeds are considered the worst of the worst in their warrior based society and those who frolic and bear a half-bred Drow are considered trash. Half-breeds are lower than even their slaves which are already lower than dirt. Ostracized, condemned to forever be nothing, half-drow aren't even considered to truly be a part of the Dökkálfar race, often sent out to sea under the pretense of finding glory to be recognized as one of them, it is just banishment in disguise, giving false hope and to the rulers of the Isle of Xen'dik it is a death sentence, a way to get rid of their shame.
Then, in the Third Age of Arda, there was the birth of a half-breed...
Leif, son of Mistress Lolth.