Dark elf Dark elves , were elves , known as Ssri - tel - quessir in the elven tongue , and were the ancestors of the drow . The two terms were oftentimes used interchangeably , even by elves ( Tel - quessir ) themselves . Dark elves had dark brown skin , as opposed to the ebony skin that drow presently have . They also " may " have had black hair instead of white and no darkvision . Dark elves were also not tainted with Wendonai ' s blood . History . Roughly , twenty - seven millennia before the raising of the Standing Stone , the Fey creator race opened gates to the Feywild in an effort to undermine the ruling dragon empires . Through these portals , the first elves immigrated to Toril . These primitive green elves worship the Faerie gods ( not the Seldarine , which were unknown at this time ) . Although most green elves were content to remain in small scattered tribes , one group known as the Ilythiiri , negotiated a truce with dragonkind and began carving out a small kingdom in the south . The great Ilythiir capital at Atorrnash would remain a shining beacon of elf culture for millennia . Other dark elven nations would later arise including the realm of Miyeritar , located in what is now the High Moor . Wendonai was a balor lord who , in - 11500 DR was tasked by Lolth to seduce the Sethomiir clan , rulers of the Ilythiiri into her worship and grant them evil magics . He succeeded and was probably the greatest ( but by no means the only ) influence on the fall of the dark elves . In - 10500 DR , during the Crown Wars , the High Mages of Aryvandaar cast a fell high magic ritual that completely destroyed the dark elven nation of Miyeritar in an event called the Dark Disaster , changing that realm into a large swampy expanse known as the High Moor . During the Crown Wars , the Ilythiiri made several unsuccessful attempts to conquer Faerûn ( although they conquered Southern Faerûn up to Shantel Othreier ) , and at the time of the Fourth Crown War , they turned to Lloth and the other outcast Seldarine in the Demonweb Pits who gave them powerful magic and fiendish allies as a reward for allegiance . After many malicious acts and abuses of elven magic , Corellon Larethian banished the " Dhaerow " ( traitors ) whom Lolth used to be responsible for ( and most of whom still secretly worshiped her ) to the Underdark . It was at this time that all dark elves were physically transformed into drow , their skin becoming much darker . In 1374 DR , Khelben " Blackstaff " Arunsun brought together many powerful mages in order to restore the denizens of the lost city of Miyeritaar ' s High Mages and cleanse part of the High Moor . In order to make the magic permanent , he and the Grand Mage Ualair the Silent sacrificed their lives to restore Rhymanthiin , the Hidden City of Hope . Later , Q ' arlynd Melarn managed ( through a High Magic spell , with the aid of Eilistraee ) to transform those drow that took up Eilistraee ' s dance back to their ancestral physiology as dark elves and they physically reverted to their brown - skinned dark elf form . Drizzt was not among those " redeemed dark elves , " and his skin remained ebony because only followers of the Dark Dancer were affected by the High Magic spell . However , as of the 1490s DR , post Second Sundering , the returned goddess Eilistraee still had many drow followers despite a century of absence . Considering that the transformed drow were less than one thousand , and that the Dark Maiden , as a lesser power , had at least a few thousands of followers , this could lead to think that there is a possibility that Q ' arlynd ' s spell didn ' t in fact affect all the followers of the goddess , or that they were given the choice to embrace the transformation or not .