History of the Drow

The Beginning
According to the drow and elves of Toril, the first connection between Lolth and the drow started with Corellon Larethian naming Araushnee, his wife and later known as Lolth, keeper of the fate of the dark elves. However, unsatisfied with her position, counting on the help of her son, Vhaeraun, and devising a plan to frame her daughter, Eilistraee, for her actions, Araushnee would attempt to overthrow Corellon, starting what was known as the War of the Seldarine. The conflict ended with Araushnee being banished into the Abyss and her name changing into Lolth: from there, it would take her millennia in order to regain influence on the dark elves. Vhaeraun was exiled from Arvandor, and he would deeply shape the future of the dark elves, while Eilistraee chose exile to bring her light to them in the time of need.

The wizard Mordenkainen recorded a different version of this story. The elves who later became drow chose Lolth on their own. Elves were an accidental product that emerged from the blood that Corellon lost in a fight against Gruumsh. Like their god, the first elves had shape-changing powers, and, with them, freedom. The Protector took some favorites, who were made deities: among them, Lolth was the most privileged. She saw that other races made something out of their lives, and made the argument that the elves should do the same by casting off their shape-changing powers in exchange for a fixed form that would allow them to gain dominion over everything. Every single elf agreed and chose such a form, but Corellon was revolted by their decision and railed against Lolth. The god was stopped with the argument that nobody of his blood should be attacked, and, while he was thinking about it, Lolth used the opportunity to attempt to murder him. Realizing the extent of Lolth's betrayal, many elves intervened to stop her, but some remained loyal to the Spider Queen: the latter became the dark elves, and Lolth became a demon lord of the Abyss.

Time of Dragons
The first elves came to Toril around, in three racially distinct immigration waves, through portals opened by the fey with the declared goal to erode the power of the dragons who ruled the world at the time. During that era, the dragons acted like tyrants who viewed other races as inferior, and even the metallic ones couldn't be called good back then. However, the dark elves, or tribe Ilythiiri, part of the second wave and the most successful, differed from the others in that they wanted to found a nation rather than to fight the dragons. The Ilithyiiri negotiated with them and gained a piece of land where they would build Ilythiir.

According to Mordenkainen, some branches of elves had forgotten about Corellon and the Seldarine. The elves who entered Toril worshiped fey gods instead. In this environment, most Ilythiiri picked up the faith of Vhaeraun, the god of territory, and under the careful leadership of his church, Ilythiir grew in size and power, managing to keep its independence and the dragons at bay. It became a bastion of elven civilization but not of good (for example, the nation institutionalized slavery). The faith of Ghaunadaur, the god of oozes, also gained influence, to a lesser extent, and fulfilled a smaller but similar role to the church of Vhaeraun's. An even smaller faith was that of Eilistraee, the goddess of dance. Her church opposed the evil machinations of her brother's church.

Despite being founded by dark elves, in, Ilythiir was a dark elf-moon elf-nation. According to Ka'Narlist, the proportion of dark elves was increasing due to the genetic dominance of their traits. The moon elf Kethryllia Amarillis, a devout follower of Corellon Larethian, accidentally drew Lolth’s attention to Toril in, which led to the subsequent introduction of her faith in Ilythiir.

First Flowering
After the Time of Dragons, the First Flowering, the golden age of the elves, began.

After the Time of Dragons, several elven states were founded. Ilythiir expanded its territory towards east and south, and the relationships between the dark elves and the newer states were of peaceful nature. This would however change due to influence of the church of Lolth, and by, the first skirmishes between Orishaar, a moon elf nation, and Ilythiir started.
 * First Flowering - Ilythiir

Due to Ilythiir's expansionism, the Seldarine-following elves opted to create a dark elf-free haven. They decided to ignore historical warnings and cast the ritual known as the First Sundering in. The intervention of their gods managed to reduce the collateral damage, but despite their efforts, the spell still had the disastrous effect of "ripping apart the continent" of Faerûn. The ensuing casualties destroyed most of the church of Vhaeraun's membership. Vhaeraun's efforts to bring Ilythiir's citizens into his church once again were thwarted by the church of Eilistraee. Szorak Auzkovyn, a priest of Vhaeraun, claimed that Eilistraee expelled males and favored females, thus making herself more attractive to Vhaeraun's female followers. This struggle granted Lolth and Ghaunadaur the opportunity to rise to prominence in Ilythiir.

Around, Eiellûr, Syòrpiir, and Thearnytaar, three different wild elf-realms, opened a series of negotiations to unify all the elves of Satyrwood. Ilythiir, however, poisoned the three nations' relationship by assassinating their leaders and framing their heirs for the crime. This was the cause of the War of Three Leaves between and. By the end of the conflict, the Ilythiiri had reached their goal, and the three nations remained separate and so hostile to each other that they skirmished often. However, Ilythiiri's plot was also eventually uncovered, and the three nations opened hostilities against the dark elves as well.

Miyeritar was a dark and wood elven realm founded by those who didn't agree with the sun elves from Aryvandaar in, covering the areas that became later known as the High Moor and Misty Forest. Eilistraee's faith took a strong hold in the nation, which would grow into a flourishing center of art and magic, reaching its peak in. The dark elven followers of Eilistraee wanted a part in the casting of the First Sundering, but weren't seen as equals by the others, especially by sun elves, and the other subraces joined in barring them from participating in the ritual.
 * First Flowering - Miyeritar

Crown Wars
Main article: Crown Wars

The Crown Wars were a series of conflicts fought by the elven nations that resulted in the end of the golden age of the Tel'Quessir.

The basis for the First Crown War was laid during the First Flowering era, in, when the rulers of Aryvandaar, the Vyshaan, learned about their blood relationship with the Miyeritari ruling family, the Olrythii. Using this as a pretext, they tried to annex and gain control over Miyeritar through the use of diplomacy. Miyeritar refused to give up on its independence, and by, skirmishes and disruption of trade, between the two nations, started by the sun elves, became commonplace.
 * First Crown War - Miyeritar

In, tired of the lack of results, the Aryvandaari organized a violent invasion of Miyeritar , which ended with the defeat of the latter in. Resistance movements persisted for centuries, but were eventually quelled in, when Aryvandaar occupied the entirety of Miyeritar, and the nation was no more.

While Illefarn, a moon-wild elf nation, declared neutrality regarding the conflict, many of its inhabitants accepted refugees from Miyeritar, and eventually came to openly condemn Aryvandaar's actions. Meanwhile, factions from Ilythiir sent help to the Miyeritari in the name of their "dark elf kinship". The help was initially unrequested, but accepted and further built up.

The Second Crown War started in, when the Ilythiiri, enraged for the occupation of Miyeritar and the violence against the only other dark elven nation, opened hostilities against Aryvandaar's allies in retaliation. They began with Orishaar, a major trade partner and ally of Aryvandaar, and continued with Syòrpiir. Against the latter, the Ilythiiri military made extensive use of fire, separating the region from its allies and burning down houses and forests alike.
 * Second Crown War - Ilythiir

At some point around, fearing an attack or even a genocidal campaign from Aryvandaar, Geirildin Sethomiir, the coronal of Ilythiir, summoned Wendonai, a balor under Lolth’s control, and bought power from the demon (and therefore from Lolth). The nation’s nobility followed their royalty’s example and bought power from other demonic patrons, coming to revel in torture and war. By the Fourth Crown War, the whole future Dark Seldarine (minus Eilistraee) had been providing the dark elves similar help in the form of fiendish magic and servants.

With their newfound power, in, led by twisted and cruel individuals, Ilythiir launched an attack against Thearnytaar and Eiellûr, who had allied with each other and tried to invade Ilythiir and stop its advancements (with help, if minimal, from Keltomir and Shantel Othreier).

By, Eiellûr was destroyed by fire and through treachery. In an act of appeasement, a number of wild elves joined forces with the Ilythiiri against their own nation, believing that could help to restore peace. The survivors of Eiellûr were enslaved and, due to the genetic dominance of the dark elves, their descendants became dark elves over one or two generations. The wild elves who had supported the Ilythiir were given the land of the Misty Vale, an untamed and dangerous jungle where the living products of Ilythiiri magical experiments were let loose. The jungle became a hiding spot for those elves who managed to escape Ilythiir's slave farms.

By, Thearnytaar was destroyed by Ilythiir's enslaved monsters and undead. Witnessing the increasing corruption and cruelty of the Ilythiiri army, even the generally peaceful Keltomir equipped themselves for war, and the two nations started to skirmish along their eastern and southern borders.

During this time, peace with other nations wasn't achievable due to the warmongering activities of the adherents of Ghaunadaur and Lolth. In fact, even internal peace in Ilythiir was not fully achievable, for the Ghaunadans were constantly at war with the other faiths. Ilythiir's course of action earned the dark elves the title dhaerow, traitor in elven, a word that would eventually become "drow", the term commonly used to describe the descendants of the dark elves.

During these days, the Ilythiiri were refining their worship of their gods. The early Ilythiiri temples were often decorated with grossly wrong depictions of the Dark Seldarine, portraying them as spider deities subservient to Lolth. For example, in one of such temples, Eilistraee, goddess of song, was depicted as spider singing praises to Lolth; Ghaunadaur, god of slime, as a spider with an oozy face; Kiaransalee, goddess of undeath, as an undead spider, and Vhaeraun, whose titles included the Masked Lord, as a masked spider. With the exception of Eilistraee, it was known for sure that the offended gods killed their high priests who depicted them in such a way.

The Third Crown War, involving Aryvandaar and Shantel Othreier, was fought between and, and ended with the victory of the former.
 * Third Crown War and Dark Disaster - Miyeritar

A century after the war ended, the Dark Disaster struck Miyeritar], destroying it and killing all citizens who had remained there. After the disaster only a barren place, known as the High Moor, remained. Miyeritar had already been conquered by Aryvandaar at that time, and many citizens had already fled towards Illefarn during the First Crown War for safety, although countless innocent dark elven lives were still lost to the cataclysm. Among them were the vast majority of the followers of Eilistraee: their death in the Dark Disaster, alongside the rise of Lolth and Ghaundadur, reduced [Eilistraee into virtual powerlessness for millennia. Kraanfhaor's Door, a ruined, ancient magic college, was the last remnant of Miyeritar.

The Dark Disaster was caused by Aryvandaar, but the sun elves were careful to not leave evidence of any kind. According to the spirits in House Melarn's lorestone, the Aryvandaari's genocidal intentions towards the dark elves were the reason behind the Killing Storms. However, the Vyshaan pointed at the Miyeritari high mages as the real culprits, accusing them of having tried to harness corrupt magic for resistance sake, accidentally destroying their country in the process. The reality was that most of those elven high mages had been murdered months before during an assassination campaign of the sun elves.

The Fourth Crown War started as an Ilythiiri retaliatory assault on Aryvandaar in, supported by House Aelryth of Miyeritar. By, riding enslaved dragons, they destroyed Shantel Othreier, which had been conquered by Aryvandaar. For the first time, the elves could see the corrupt power of entities like Ghaunadaur openly in action, and, overwhelmed, they prayed to their own gods for salvation.
 * Fourth Crown War - Ilythiir

As a result, the Seldarine's (or, to be more precise, Corellon Larethian's) magic, channeled through their clerics, turned all dark elves, including innocents, into drow, changing their bodies and causing them to be harmed by sunlight. By that point some dark elves had modified their bodies, and were thus not further changed. According to Wendonai, a balor fiend of corruption, Corellon let his clerics channel his magic because he considered the dark elves too dangerous. The elves believed that the unjust punishment was collateral damage originated by their lack of a proper understanding of elven high magic. In truth, it was all Aryvandaar's plan: the ritual itself had the goal to tie the dark elves of Ilythiir and Miyeritar to the faerzress without discrimination, and to create a mental compulsion to enter the Underdark and remain there.

After their transformation, over two months, the drow were forcefully exiled in the Underdark by a coalition of elven armies, an event called "Descent of the drow". After that the drow lived as nomads and scavengers for a time but, through the call of Lolth, they eventually managed to gather themselves and to found the cities Telantiwar and Guallidurth in. Over the following five centuries, the drow kept attacking the Aryvandaari forces, preventing them from conquering Keltomir.

Founding Time
The drow in Telantiwar seized the gold dwarf cavern of Bhaerynden for themselves around ; Guallidurth destroyed the dwarven nation of Alatorin in the First Spider War between and. The Second Spider War took place only five years later, between and, when the forces of Guallidurth were driven back from Alatorin by the other eight nations of Shanatar. The region would be retaken by the drow between and, in the Third Spider War.

Around, the infighting among the drow of Telantiwar reached a critical level, leading to the destruction of their own cavern in a great magical explosion and forming the Great Rift. The homeless drow then scattered, a time called the Scattering, in every direction but the south, spreading around in the Underdark and founding most drow cities in the process (like Llurth Dreier in -7,600 DR, Sshamath beneath the Far Hills in, Menzoberranzan, in , and Ched Nasad, in ).

Between and, the Webfire War saw the followers of Ghaunadaur clash with the worshipers of Lolth in Llurth Dreier. In. an alliance of Lolthite drow and duergar massacred the participants in a gathering of elven and dwarven leaders in the Elven Court, an event known as the Dark Court Slaughter. In a fit of rage, one of the survivors, Shevarash, vowed to drive the drow into extinction. He ultimately died in while acting on it, but ascended to godhood and started to hunt the mightiest deities of the drow: Lolth and Vhaeraun (despite the latter's promotion of cooperation between drow and various elven subraces). However, by that time, he diluted his initial vow and excluded Eilistraee and her followers from his list of enemies.

Age of Humanity
The Age of Humanity saw many important events involving all drow factions and many of their cities.

Between and, Guallidurth started a series of surface raids against Calmishan on a large scale, collectively named Night Wars. With exposure to the outer world and the surface, the faith of Vhaeraun, the god of evil activity on the surface and surface raids, gained a strong presence in the temple-city. The Vhaeraunites then founded Allsihwann, Dallnothax, Holldaybim, Iskasshyoll, and the Vault of Cloaked Midnight.
 * Guallidurth

Planning to conquer what would later become Shadowdale, between and  the drow Maerimydra built a surface outpost, which would later become the Twisted Tower of Ashaba. After they caused the Spiderfire, the Twisted Tower became the target of many attacks. However, no assault managed to break the outpost's defenses; on the contrary, between and  the fortress grew double in size. In, Rystalwood and Cormanthyr, aided by the followers of Eilistraee, managed to defeat the Lolthites and drive them away. The Twisted Tower was left under the protection of the Eilistraeens, who turned it into a temple called "Tower of the Dark Moon". It was taken once again by the Lolthite drow centuries later, in 190 DR, reassuming its original function.
 * Maerimydra

T'lindhet managed to gain a foothold on the surface by conquering Dambrath between –802 DR and –831 DR. As a result, they installed the Hazm'cri Dynasty to rule the region.
 * T'lindet

See also: History of the church of Eilistraee After near collapsing, the church of Eilistraee started a slow process of recovery in which their influence would ebb and flow, only regaining some prominence in the late part of the Age of Humanity. Within a century of its foundation, the Tower of the Dark Moon (see above) became Eilistraee's greatest temple in the Realms. As mentioned above, it eventually fell. Overall, the Dark Maiden's church was in a state of obscurity and powerlessness. These dark times were ended by the efforts of Qilue Veladorn, Chosen of Mystra and Eilistraee both. The Promenade of the Dark Maiden was founded in 1357 DR; see here).
 * The followers of Eilistraee

Interactions between surface elves and drow were especially frequent in Cormanthor (see Maerimydra above), leading the elves of the region to even open a diplomatic channel for all subraces, including the drow: the Tiru Tel-Quessir or the Tower of the People. None of the drow groups visited the tower, but alliances would nonetheless happen. A long-lasting example was that between the drow of Eilistraee and Cormanthyr (mentioned above), while the Spider Truce, stipulated between Maerimydra's House Dhuurniv and Cormanthyr's forces in 712 DR, only lasted one year, ending in 713 DR. When Cormanthyr finally fell in 714 DR, the elves started to abandon the main continent for Evermeet in the face of human expansion. The drow, especially those who followed Vhaeraun, started to repopulate the abandoned territory. Their success at settling in these lands was one of the reasons why the elves of Evermeet considered a return to the Faerûn.
 * Drow of Cormanthor

In, the Lolthite city of Chaulssin was overtaken by the shadow dragons of Clan Jaezred, who enslaved the drow who lived there. Eventually, the drow succeeded at overthrowing their slavers, only to be assaulted by Lolth's forces in 734 DR for not worshiping the Spider Queen. The Chaulssinyr accepted the help of Vhaeraun and managed to flee into the Shadowfell where they founded Chaul'mur'ssin and House Jaezred in 792 DR, which would later become a Vhaeraunite assassins guild known as Jaezred Chaulssin, who eventually returned to Toril in 1136 DR. They then proceeded to infiltrate about fourteen drow cities.
 * Chaulssin

Era of Upheaval
The most important occurrences for the drow during the Era of Upheavel were the Silence of Lolth and the Reckoning. Aside from those events, in 1374 DR, the elven army of Seiveril Miritar, leading the return of the Tel'Quessir to Faerûn, recaptured Myth Drannor. Under coronal Ilsevele Miritar, the elven realm would later return to its former splendor; most drow were driven away from the surface of Cormanthor in the process.

Silence of Lolth
Main article: Silence of Lolth

In the Year of Wild Magic, 1372 DR, the goddess Lolth went into a state of hibernation, a period called the Silence. She stopped granting spells to her followers and became effectively inactive.

While it only lasted for one year, a lot happened during that time. To name a few examples, in Sshamath, Lolth’s clergy was demoted and the churches of Ghaunadaur and Vhaeraun took the official clerical positions. In Eryndlyn, the church of Vhaeraun and of Ghaunadaur joined forces and destroyed Lolth's matriarchy. In cities like Dusklyngh, Jhachalkhyn and Karsoluthiyl, through a series of assassinations, the Jaezred Chaulssin shifted the power balance in favor of secular power holders like merchants, while other cities, such as Maerimydra, suffered complete breakdowns.

The Reckoning
See also: History of the Dark Seldarine: the Reckoning

The Reckoning includes the years following the Silence, between 1375 DR and 1385 DR, during which the church of Lolth destroyed all the other drow churches. It began when Lolth invited Eilistraee to play a divine game of sava over the fate of the drow, and the Dark Maiden accepted seeing an opportunity to free her people once and for all. The events concerning the fall of various faiths were:


 * Church of Selvetarm
 * Radical elements from the church of Selvetarm allied themselves with the church of Vhaeraun. Under the leadership of Dhairn, they duped various Lolth-worshiping groups into serving their ends. Their goal was to take over the Promenade of the Dark Maiden as their new headquarters. They almost succeeded, but failure came when their god was killed by Cavatina Xarann with the help of the Lady Penitent Halisstra Melarn and the balor Wendonai, as planned by Lolth The radical elements in the church of Selvetarm were then built into the church of Lolth.


 * Church of Vhaeraun
 * The church of Vhaeraun organized an elven high magic ritual that was meant to allow their god to attempt to assassinate Eilistraee. The plan was noticed by Halisstra Melarn, who then relayed the intelligence to the church of Eilistraee. Being forewarned, the assassination failed and Vhaeraun was no more. Parts of the church Vhaeraun joined Eilistraee's. Others remained with their faith because either out of stubbornness or because they did not realize their god was dead and formed the skulkers of Vhaeraun.


 * Church of Kiaransalee
 * While Kiaransalee worked to take down Eilistraee, her church tried to call an army of undead from Death Heart, a city on the Negative Energy Plane. To achieve that goal, they fed the faerzress with negative energy, enhancing it and increasing the drow's urge to go back to the Underdark. To prevent such an event, the church of Eilistraee sent assassins to the Acropolis of Thanatos, Kiaransalee's main temple and base of operations, to kill the Crones' leader. Sages like Mordenkainen claimed that the churches of Lolth and Eilistraee teamed up to destroy the temple. Lolth did indeed move in favor of Eilistraee, but there was no alliance between the two churches. Q'arlynd Melarn cast an elven high magic ritual that erased the name from everybody's memories, and the goddess was no more (even though necromancers kept remembering her name and invoking her). The defeated clerics of the Revenancer in the Acropolis died on the spot if undead, and became powerless if still mortal. The Eilistraeen wanted to offer them redemption, but Wendonai's influence led Qilué Veladorn to order their death.


 * Church of Eilistraee
 * By 1378 DR, under the leadership of Kâras and Valdar Jaelre, Vhaeraunites organized the destruction of the Promenade of the Dark Maiden by manipulating an attack of Ghaunadaur's followers. They succeeded and the Promenade fell. In 1379 DR Eilistraee inhabited the body of Qilué Veladorn to free Halisstra Melarn from her torment and convince her to turn against Lolth. However, Wendonai tricked her into killing Qilué and alongside her the Masked Lady. Meanwhile, Q'arlynd Melarn cast a High Magic spell that he had been preparing alongside Qilué Veladorn, aimed to sever the link between the faerzress and the drow who didn't worship Lolth . It turned a few hundred among the followers of Dark Dancer (who, as a lesser power, had at least a few thousands of worshipers ) and those drow not tainted by Wendonai into dark elves, (albeit without their consent). Corellon allowed the souls of those who had been changed into Arvandor even though Eilistraee's realm, which continued existing, already was in Arvandor, and so were the souls of her followers within it. Corellon's servants Solars claimed that, with this act, the willing had been saved, while the unwilling had been cast down as a necessary sacrifice.


 * Church of Ghaunadaur
 * After Lolth got rid of the other drow deities, she attacked Ghaunadaur, but he managed to escape. The church of Lolth then succeeded at making the drow forget about the ooze god.

Post-Spellplague era
Around 1480 DR, every drow city was visited by Danifae Yauntyrr, the drow female who had been chosen as Chosen of Lolth at the end of the Silence. She informed the drow about Lolth's intention to create her own Demon Weave, to become the deity of magic, and to be served by both clerics and wizards equally.

The drow started to gather artifacts sacred to Mystra and to attempt to control magical locations. After they collected the magical energy for Lolth, the Demon Weave was completed, and drow clerics and wizards grew stronger. They used their increase in power to darken the sky on the surface in order to remain operative.

Wizards rising in status due to this new order was a reason of upheaval in the gendered Lolthite society, as it meant that female priestesses and male wizards would be equal. Lolth intended to solve the problem by favoring females and excluding males not only from divine spellcasting, but also from arcane magic. However, before anything could have any social implications, in the fall of 1485 DR, a party of adventurers from Luruar descended into the ruins of Eryndlyn, where they helped a resurgent Mystra to defeat Lolth and take command of the Demon Weave. She then began using it to strengthen her own Weave to restore it closer to the its pre-Spellplague conditions.

While in the century after the Spellplague the drow were primarily ruled by the church of Lolth, small scale opposition movements in the form of the skulkers of Vhaeraun or followers of Ghaunadaur did exist.

Most drow who didn't live in the Underdark dwelt within the lands of the Dragon Coast or the East Rift. Drow who headed for the Dragon Coast typically were less apologetic about their past and simply sought a place away from Lolth's corruption where few questions were asked and skill was the only quality that mattered. Many of those who dwelled in the East Rift were refugees of the catastrophe wrought on the neighboring regions of the Underdark by the Spellplague, and of the draining of the [[Sea of Fallen Stars.

Post-Second Sundering era
See also: History of the Dark Seldarine: the Second Sundering

Over the course of the Second Sundering, all the drow deities who had died before the Spellplague managed to return to life, thus causing a renaissance of their cults. Despite Q'arlynd's spell, Eilistraee and most of her followers were still drow after the goddess' re-emergence. Eilistraee and Vhaeraun were especially active in this time, and they personally manifested to their followers, especially along the Sword Coast. In particular, Eilistraee's appearance near Waterdeep led many of her followers to travel to the city. While some worked to create a new forest-temple within Waterdeep itself, the Dancing Haven,  the Promenade was also stealthily restored under the (informal) leadership of priestess Trelasarra Zuin, using the above-mentioned surface temple as a base of operations. However, part of the area formerly occupied by the Promenade had been refunctioned as a temple to Dumathoin and then settled by hobgoblins and the drow House Auvryndar.