Dark one

The dark ones are a race of humanoids dwelling in the Underdark. They serve as natural rogues with powers of stealth and shadow. They're divided into two subraces: the short, gnome-like dark creepers and the human-like dark stalkers. However, it's hard to say if they were actually the same race.

Description
Although dark creepers and dark stalkers look very different, all dark ones wear only black clothing.

Powers
Thrice a day, a dark one could envelop itself in cloak of shadows, concealing it from view even in bright light, aiding its defense. This darkness is magical, so a foe needed the ability to see in magical darkness to penetrate it.

A dark one can utilize all its acute senses—hearing and smell, as well as sight, to discern its surroundings. Even in absolute darkness, it had perfect sight out to 60 feet (18.3 meters).

However, when caught in daylight (natural or magical), a dark one was dazzled or badly demoralized in all ways.

Personality
The dark ones hate light of any kind, and will assault any being who carried a source of illumination, whether a lantern, a torch, or magic. They did not harass those who passed without the aid of an artificial light source.

Combat
Dark ones are craven creatures, but highly skilled in stealth and ambush. They usually surprised and picked off their foes from the shadows. They're natural backstabbers, most dangerous when making a sneak attack from flanking or surprise. Dark ones battle in total darkness wherever possible, and beat a hasty retreat if they lost the upper hand.

Society
Among the dark ones, the dark stalkers are the leaders. They lead dark creepers in ambush and combat.

If not working alone, dark ones typically operated in bands of two to five dark creepers led by one dark stalker. Their tribes comprised less than a hundred members, with twenty to eighty dark creepers and two to five dark stalker leaders.

Dark ones speak their own language, called Dark Tongue. They seemed to comprehend Undercommon, but no one ever heard them utter it. They also knew Common.

Relations
The dark ones are an enigmatic people, even to other races in the Underdark. They usually only came into contact with outsiders when they stole some item from others or defended their lairs from their foes.

History
In the Year of Lightning Storms, 1374 DR, a group of dark one mercenaries (a dark stalker and four dark creepers) were hired by clerics of Shar involved in the operations at the Temple of Mystra in Wheloon and the Lost Refuge in the Vast Swamp in Cormyr. By early Eleint, they've taken up residence in the Tomb of Chonis to watch over the petitioners travelling between the two points. In particular, they watch for groups investigating these petitioners. Adventurers investigating the Temple of Mystra may have encountered them.