Why aren't drow white?

[Mingus]

Since all things that adapt to the darkness of caves eventually evolve into albinos; since there's no need for skin pigment, either for camoflauge mating or sun protection. Why haven't the Drow done the same? yes grated there are still drow alive as of the banishment of them to the underdark but still how many millennia and generations of new drow has it been since. You'd think they'd adapt and go from black to white by now... Or does this all go to the same reason as to when the elves where made. That they came about not by evolution but by magic. And therefore never change.

[Rhelian]

From what I know - and I'm sure Andy has more info than me - the "drow" were already a dark-skinned race before Lloth betrayed Corellon. After that little tiff, and resulting exile, they were cursed into their current colour - which would also mark them apart easily for any other elves, if they ever managed to break to the surface.

[Andreas]

I'd say you answered your own question: the drow were formed rather than evolved.

Each of the Seldarine had a hand in the creation of the elves. Some created "vessels" after their own likenesses. Before she was banished from Arvandor and the Seldarine, Araushnee, now Lloth, created elves in her own image: dark-skinned and silver-haired. The children of Corellon and Araushnee, Elistraee and Vhaeraun, both resemble their mother.

Elves are magical creatures. If cut off from the Weave, they will sicken and die. The fact that surface elves don't tan/sunburn is probably a result of their natural pigmentation and magically created forms. This is probably the best explanation as to why drow have remained black-skinned... or it could just be the will of Lloth.

[Echet]

Drat, albino drow would have been awesome to see... aside from the scorn from every race that lives and some that don't, of course.

Speaking of such, might Lloth curse someone who crosses her by making them albino, perhaps if she felt the transgression was not deserving of something as simple as death? Or am I off in left field again?

Echet, the necromancer

[Solaghar]

Lloth doesn't seem to play around with Drow much herself, she leaves that for them to do themselves. If a male Drow is deemed unworthy it's turned into a Drider. If a female Drow is deemed unworthy she is generally just killed... and since the Drow use infravision anyway, skin color isn't something they would pay attention to... besides the fact that as magical creatures their genetics don't seem to work in the same way human genetics do, and they aren't subject to the same sorts of mutations.

[Echet]

Drow use infravision anyway...

Does this mean that they're incapable of seeing things in true color, instead of just preferring infravision at some times over color?

And you say, Solaghar, that they're not subject to the same mutations, so which ones are they subject to, if any?

I am sorry. I'm not sure what kind of sources to look at for this, and even if I did know, Job Corps has cut my access to anything like D&D or MUDding down to nearly zero. It's only because I'm on free day that I'm posting :'-(

[Glim]

Drow can switch between infravision and normal vision, I guess kinda similar how our eyes get adjusted to the darkness, theirs do too, cept with infravision.

[Solaghar]

Yeah, Drow can indeed switch between normal vision and infravision... however in the world of the Underdark it's much more useful to be able to see in infravision, and they would use it far more often than switching to normal sight, which would have no real use. In the first book about Drizzt's life in Menzoberranzan, Zaknafein is enchanted to show up as cold as stone so that he can sneak into a house and kill the nobles, but there was no accompanying invisibility charm, he was just made cold and they figured that would be enough. I think that's a pretty good example of how well they think of normal vision in the Underdark...

[Glim]

*nod* Exactly. Just to say, drow cities are DARK. There are a few fires, faerie fire illuminating stuff, but faerie fire is visible infravision too. Chapels are also supposed to be completely dark, as this is sacred to Lloth. Just about the only place you would find an abundance of light would be in schools or the like where they have to read. Schools of magic or the like would have an abundance of candles. There are inks that can be read with infravision, but they are rare, so reading isnt possible with infravision, as the ink looks no different from the paper.