Long, long ago, before the coming of humans to Alair, a schism arose among the elven folk. A group of some of the noble Houses had made contact with certain new Gods, and wished to preach these new religions to the people as a whole. Distrusting the fair semblance presented by these "gods", the Elvenking refused their request.Defying him, the most extreme followers of the new gods turned from their ancient faith and worshiped the new deities, first in secret and then openly. They trusted the promises, but once their souls were committed, the "gods" revealed themselves; not Gods at all, but Demons of the Abyss. Their followers were horrified at first, but there was no turning back.
The demon they had chosen to follow was Lolth, the demon Queen of Spiders. To seal the bargain, she granted her followers gifts; innate magic, heightend fertility, resistance to lesser magics. In so doing, she marked them irrevocably; their lifespans dwindled to a few hundred years, and their skins changed from pale and fair to night black, while their hair became stark white. These traits bred true, making the followers of Lolth effectively a seperate race from that moment.
The true elves declared these turncoats damned and outcast forever, naming them Fae Mhor, Dark Elves. The Fae Mhor fled Sildor, and established a great city somewhere to the north; on the surface, for though they were alerady happier in the dark of night, they had not yet forsaken the upper world.
Breeding faster than the Light Elves, the Fae Mhor rapidly increased in numbers and power. Three hundred years later, they invaded Sildor, attacking their once kin and seeking to conquer their realm.
The Light Elves won this dreadful civil war, though they were hard put to it, and drove the Fae Mhor from their city, and destroyed it. Hated by every creature that walked the surface, the Fae Mhor turned their backs on it, and fled below, expecting nothing but caves. To their surprise, they found an entire subterranean ecology, into which they fitted, coming in time to adapt supremely to it and to dominate a great tract of it.
The Eldar, shamed and bitter, determindly went about eradicating any trace of evidence that the Fae Mhor had ever existed. By the time humans first crossed the mountains into Alair, there was no trace of the first War of the Elves.
This remained the case until after the Dragonslaying, when it became apparent that once more the Fae Mhor were taking an interest in the surface world.
Fae Mhor are slightly smaller than Noldor elves, and black-skinned with milk-white hair. Eyes are grey, green, blue and rarely, red. Females are usually larger, stronger and more powerful magically and politically than males.
Living in their vast underground city Erelhei-Cinlu, the Fae Mhor do the bidding of Lolth unquestioningly. For this they receive many benefits. Magic resistant, they can levitate, control lights and shapes, create areas of darkness, and dominate weaker creatures. There are drawbacks; they can no longer tolerate bright light, and are disorientated in daylight.
Their social structure is similar to the Noldor's, with a collection of noble houses, each headed by a matriarch. The difference is that most of these houses constantly scheme and plot, vying with each other for superiority. The only thing that prevents wholesale war or destruction is Lolth; the Fae Mhor obey her absolutely. She cares for them not, but forbids the extermination of a house unless at her word.
This back-biting, treacherous, self-intrested approach permeates every layer of Fae Mhor society; no-one trusts anyone else unless they have an edge, everyone is out for himself. Only the direction of Lolth and her (female) priesthood produces any co-operation at all.
The extent of their control of other elements of the Underdark is unclear. There are rumours of terrible creatures living deep below the earth, and there must be some relationship between these and the Dark Elves.
Some have speculated that the entire situation of the Fae Mhor is in reality a horrible punishment enacted by Lolth on the unfortunate elves, merely for being elves - that she keeps the Fae Mhor in existence merely to enjoy their pain, suffering, cruelty and evil.