The Dark Seldarine: Erevan Ilesere

Every royal court needs a jester, and Erevan Ilesere is the Dark Seldarine’s. Perched from a tree branch, lounging in a grassy glade, or peering down from a nearby balcony, Erevan fires volleys of jokes, puns, and pointed observations to keep the elven deities alternately rolling with laughter or seething with anger. Which is just the way Erevan likes it.

No wise power turns his back on Erevan, however; nor should any mortal. He is a thief to his core and a backstabber by nature. Elven thieves worship him and elf assassins consign their blades to his care.

Erevan is also a gambler. He has a devil’s eye for knowing just what a mortal wants and what that mortal will wager to get it. But at least the Hells’ own are lawful. Chaotic Erevan, on the other hand, will cheat, lie, and invoke all the godly power he can muster to win, even against the most naïve child. Only with the other Dark Seldarine does the Dark Jester play fair (after one too many stern—and scarring—reprimands from Corellon Larethian).

Erevan loves evil pixies for their sharp wits, sharp blades, and natural invisibility. (The fact that they are handy with poison never hurts either.) His friendship with dragons—and their deities—is more complicated. He will partner with one from time to time when there is a mighty hoard or priceless artifact to gain, and more than one demon lord or stuffy deva has found herself the poorer after such a collaboration. These elf/dragon pairings are epic capers involving much wordplay, side bets, and very, very careful negotiation ahead of time of how the take will be split.

Alignment: Chaotic Evil
Cleric Alignment: CE, CN, NE
Domains: Chaos, Elf, Evil, Luck, Trickery
Favored Weapon: Short sword

The Dark Seldarine: Solonor Thelandira

If Corellon Larethian is the noble who loves a merry (or baleful) hunt, Solonor Thelandira is his master hunter, tracker, and game warden. Eschewing the life of the trouping court, Solonor hunts alone if it all possible, stalking prey with divine patience and cunning. That his quarry occasionally includes creatures that most folk would never consider game—including men, unicorns, blink dogs, metallic dragons, and the odd insufferable archon—is of no consequence to this solitary hunter.

Solonor is a good steward of the land; he never kills pregnant females or the young. But he has little patience for those who see hunting as a proxy for honor or a statement about the nature of elfhood. He brings home meat and hides, not trophies, and in a pinch he is as happy to kill with a snare, a knife, or his own bloody jaws as he is with his beloved bow.

A remote deity, Solonor does little more than provide spells to his clerics. Worshipping rangers model their behavior after him (always choosing the bow over double weapons) but rarely ask his assistance, calling on him only for the most impossible shots. Aside from Corellon, Solonor avoids communicating with other beings. The lone exception is Rillifane Rallathil, whose woods he frequents. By exterminating those who have angered the Green Regent, Solonor ensures unrestricted access to his favorite hunting grounds.

Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Cleric Alignment: CE, CG, CN
Domains: Animal, Chaos, Elf, Plant, War
Favored Weapon: Longbow

The Dark Seldarine

Gods shape their adherents, and adherents shape their gods. If you change who a race of people worships, you inevitably change the race.

In most incarnations of D&D, elves are a force for good, and their gods are as well. The elven pantheon, the Seldarine, is an important bulwark against the depredations of the wicked orc and goblin deities, and they make their home of Arvandor on the Chaotic Good plane of Arborea.

Anyone seeking to trade the idyllic creations of Tolkien for the more dangerous sprites of folklore need only start with the Seldarine themselves. In your world, the elven gods might be Neutral, Chaotic Neutral, or even Chaotic Evil. Their children would accordingly be far more wild and fey, even feral, in nature. And the deep woods might become a place even hardy adventurers fear to tread.

So what might a Dark Seldarine pantheon look like? Let’s start at the top in two days, with Corellon Larethian.

In the meantime, clerics and other divine casters can, of course, worship the whole pantheon, rather than just one particularly deity.

The Dark Seldarine Pantheon
Alignment: Chaotic Neutral
Cleric Alignment: CE, CG, CN,
Domains: Chaos, Elf, Magic, Plant, Trickery
Favored Weapon: Longbow, longsword, or shortspear