Crinti

The Crinti (drowic for "noble ones" ), also referred to as "shadow amazons" by the Halruaans, were the half-drow and half-elf aristocracy and ruling class of Dambrath.

History
In 831 DR, the Arkaiun people were defeated at the Battle of Crimtar by the combined efforts of the drow of T'lindhet and one hundred and twelve priestesses of Loviatar, who later became known as The First. In exchange for their assistance in defeating the Arkaiuns, the drow of T'lindhet allowed the half-elf priestesses to rule Dambrath in their stead.

In time, some of these half-elf priestesses bore half-drow children, who became known as the Crinti. ) and by 1373 DR were about 15% of Dambrath's population.

The Arkaiuns, rebelled during the Spellplague and overthrew the Crinti destroying many Crinti cities.

Description
The Crinti were a people from a convoluted mixture of bloodlines: the drow of T'lindhet, the one hundred and twelve half-elf priestesses of Loviatar known as The First, and human barbarians taken as slaves or lovers by the drow and half-elves.

Most Crinti had darker gray or black skin, silver or white hair, and widely varied eye colors known among humans or elves. Some however were pale-skinned like their half-elf ancestors.

While most of the Crinti had at least partial drow blood, generations of interbreeding made it more pronounced in some more than others. Those Crinti who had stronger drow-like features, such as darker skin and pointed ears, were generally treated better and had a higher social status than those with a more human appearance. However, to be considered Crinti for legal purposes, a person had to prove themselves at least 1/32 drow or the First (half-elf). Most of the Crinti (90%) were darker-skinned and traced their ancestry mostly back to the drow of T'lindhet and their human slaves or lovers. The remaining 10% of the Crinti had paler skin and were called the Children of the First, tracing their lineage to the half-elf priestesses of Loviatar known as The First. Female half-elves with fair skin were readily accepted within Dambrath society, as their features could set them as one of the daughters of the First, however such claims were often overstated as for every true Child of the First, there were two more who would falsely claim such heritage.

Folklore
Crinti felt uncontrollable terror hearing unsettling music played by the unseelie and other dark fey. This irrational fear came from Lolth and their drow ancestry if legends were to be believed. Crinti lore documented in tomes found in libraries of Halruaa told a story of an Ilythiiri wizard who lived many thousands of years before the 14 century DR. The woman's true name was long-forgotten leaving only her title in the records – the Spider Queen. According to the legend, she stumbled past the veil into the realm of the Unseelie Court where she learned their dark fey magics by unfortunate firsthand experiences. She was tormented but serendipitously escaped the fey realm. The Spider Queen was believed to have been driven insane by the fell magic but gained unimaginable power, becoming the most powerful spell-caster in Ilythiir. Eventually, the Spider Queen was absorbed by the goddess Lolth, taking the wizard's moniker, powers, and fear of the unseelie. Lolth ended up passing that compulsory fear onto her drow children and subsequently onto the Crinti half-elves.

Society
Like the drow, the Crinti of Dambrath were a matriarchal society, with women in possession of the land and positions of leadership, while the men were put to work.

In Dambrath, drow blood gave one power and prestige, but the Crinti were secretly ashamed of still being considered second-class citizens when they visited their ancient relations in the Underdark.

Like their drow ancestors, the Crinti were generally an evil race. However, good half-drow were less rare than good drow. Crinti spoke Elven, the human language of their homeland, and Undercommon if they were raised in the Underdark or Dambrath. They often worshiped one of the drow pantheon or Loviatar if evil, and Eilistraee if good.

Some of them lived at the border of Halruaa and frequently roamed in the Nath at the northeastern part of the country. The Halruaans called them "shadow amazons", because of their barbarian ancestors.

Circa 1372 DR, the high priestesses of Loviatar that ruled Dambrath contemplated opening trade enclaves in other nations, copying the idea from the Red Wizards of Thay, much to the horror of their neighbors. The enclaves would serve as trade centers and also as places of worship.

Connections
Crinti