In the World of Sword and Magic as Space Marine

Chapter 129: Dark Elves

Drows are the D&D version of Dark Elves. They are the dark-skinned sub-race of the elves that end up living in the Underdark, the underground network of cities. Due to Drow's cruel culture and religious beliefs, another majority of races despise and are suspicious of their existence.

Church of Lolth is one of the two primary religions of the Drows and the most recognizable one since it is the religion of the Spider Queen. Also known as Queen of the Demonweb Pits, Drows worship Lolth with the practice of sacrifice and killing who are in the way of the church itself (Sounds very familiar).

Drows are the chaotic evil and masters of slaves who they raided from the surface world. As a sub-race of elves, Drows are long-living beings that use their time to their advantage as they are patient and skillful in their crafts. It is said that Drows Swordmasters honed their skill to the nail as they have hundreds of years to master them all.

Drow's nobles are the pillars of the Drow culture. Each noble house was founded through special traits and possessed special powers that could pass on to the next generations. As Lolth is a female goddess and powerhouse of one of the primary religions, Drow noble houses each have matron mothers who are also powerful priestesses of Lolth. Their influence can reach beyond the house and even overcome threats, mostly from rival noble houses.

As evil and cruel as the Drow are, there are few small good Drow. Not crazy as their close relatives but some are chaotic neutral or lawful neutral which in Drow's perspective, it is uncommon. The most notable name of good Drow is Drizzt Do'Urden, an exiled Drow ranger who later became an iconic character within the D&D world.

Overall, Drow is D&D dark elves and tends to be on the negative side of things. They don't hold rare gems and gold as valuable things unlike dwarfs but greatly value knowledge of magic and information. The culture itself is cruel and society is run by zealous priestesses/head house and slaves of other races as the workforce. In short, it is Tuesday for these folks.

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William and Rana found themselves in a dark hallway that leads to an unknown place. William speculated that they are somewhere underground as his Vox communicator isn't working and there is no signal to contact his main forces. At this point, William and Rana hope that their men and women took the matter into their hands and resolve the invasion accordingly.

"I'm sure they will find us after completing their duty. After all, they are your finest warriors with years of experience and stern minds even in unexpected battle situations." Rana reassures William with a gentle voice and reasonable thinking as both walk in the dark tunnel with light sources.

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Meanwhile…

"OUR CHAPTER MASTER IS GONE! WE MUST FIND HIM! KILL THE FILTHY XENOS!" Said one of the Null Marines who just found out their Chapter Master is missing.

"Bring out the prisoners. They must know where Chapter Master and Living Saint are." Said one particular Null Marine who is more interested in the integration than the whereabouts of two missing leaders.

The city burns as Blacksouls Marines and Sisters of Battle fully engage in combat without mercy. This didn't change when Xeno forces and Vampire Lords regained their consciousness as Necron Mindshackle scarabs became useless.

Confused and uncertain who the friend or enemy is, Tau forces attempt to retreat but failed as Null Marines launched a devastating attack to wipe out the majority of heavy units and vehicles.

As for the Dark Eldars, they are no match for the newly summoned former White Scars. Their maddening speed of lighting did no favor to the Dark Eldars as they weren't prepared or ready to face the enemy while under mind control. With the fury matching the Great Khan himself, former White Scars launched a search and destroy mission to eradicate the taint of the Drukhari.

By the time invasion is done, the entire Legion of Blacksouls Marines search for their missing Chapter Master and the Living Saint. Unknown to them, they have no idea that Alpha Legion Space Marines used the outsourced teleportation magic from the New World. Due to Null Marines' natural ability to counter the magic, no Blacksouls Liberians could sense to know what to search for.

With no way to find their missing leaders, Lord Creed focuses his attention on maintaining military readiness until the Magos of the Metalica detect a signal from the Chapter Master's terminator armor.

The matter of invasion of the vampire land is done. Soon, Crown Prince Benton's forces will come to relieve them as promised. Until then, Lord Creed will watch over the main force while Space Marines and Sisters of Battle cleanse the very land itself as they search and eliminate potential threats within the land.

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Back to William and Rana,

Normally, walking into a dark tunnel requires some kind of light source such as a torch or lantern, but William and Rana didn't need them as they have different ways to negative through the darkness.

William uses his helmet's night vision while Rana simply followed William as her vision is never blinded by the darkness. One benefit of being a Living Saint is to be the embodiment of the Emperor's light. For Rana, walking in the darkest tunnel is like a walk in the park in broad daylight.

"William, I have something I need to tell you," Rana said to William as she approach closer to stand next to him.

"What is it?" William asks his beloved and is about to turn his head to look at Rana when his helmet displays an alert of something unknown approaching. Without hesitation, William lifts both of his arms to ready his range weapons as his helmet automatically searches for the targets to lock on.

[Target found and locked. Fire when ready.] The computer system announces through the helmet and William pulls the trigger without any question.

Echos of bolter sounds can be heard as a dozen rounds were fired from William's terminator armor. In a matter of seconds, the target is destroyed as William's bolter did its job by delivering devastating destruction. When both William and Rana reach the corpses of the unknown target, they found a corpse of a monster with a mix of humanoid features.

"It's a minotaur. Was more likely. I wonder if there are more of them?" Rana said as she search for any clues.

Meanwhile, William scans the area and attempts to find if there is any hidden path within the dark tunnel. Monsters such as minotaur tend to be difficult monsters for an adventurer's party and tend to be protectors of some kind of dungeon.

"William, look. This looks like a metal collar. Could this monster might have been a slave?" Rana said as she use her sword to lift a metal piece that used to be a slave collar. After one of William's bolter rounds exploded the monster's head, there isn't much to look at but thanks to Rana's observation, they have a general understanding of possible civilization within this place.

"Let's move on. I'm sure we will find some people if there is a sign of a slave collar. By the way, we found this as it is." William said to Rana with a certain cue that he doesn't want to owe anyone money for killing a slave, even if it's a monster. Worst case, William might end up in a conflict with the slavers before he could find out where exactly he is.

Two left the corpse and eventually reach the large chamber where the sound of activity can be heard. William is the first to enter the chamber and to his surprise, the chamber is some kind of tomb as he saw five stone sarcophagus with beautiful carvings.

Guarding the tomb, eight minotaurs stand with melee weapons in their hands. But what got William's attention was a small figure in fancy clothes with a vicious whip in her hand. It was at this moment that Rana finally entered the chamber and saw what William saw before.

"Drow!" Said, Rana.

"Drukhari!" Said, William.

Both William and Rana looked at each other for a second after they spoke at the same time.

"Doesn't matter," William spoke without concern as he was more focused on what was in front of him.

Just as William and Rana bring out their weapons, the rest of the enemy came out from the darkness above as the rest of the Drows drop from the high ceiling with weapons already out.

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"The ambush is successful but your opponents are equipped beyond your imagination," Mal said to his players with excitement. He continued.

"The poison darts didn't work on the giant man as his armor is too thick to penetrate. Meanwhile, the holy being in woman's form began to generate energy beyond your understanding. Roll your saves." Mal explained to the players and instruct them to roll the dice with 20 sides.

"Man, I got 7."

"I got 14."

"With plus, I got 19."

"Both of you failed your saves. You on the other hand made the save as you hid behind the monsters. The blinding light came out from the female Living Saint and in a matter of seconds, two of you are blinded due to the sudden light equivalent of the sun itself." Said Mal as he roll the dice of his own to see what will happen next.

"Meanwhile, due to your blindness, two of you don't see the next attack. The giant man opened fire and he rolled critical 20. Both of you are killed instantly. I recommend using your backup character sheets if you wish to continue playing." Mal then gave two sheets of paper to the players.

"You, on the other hand, are safe but lost a minotaur since it was used as a meat shield. Now, roll for your next move." The game continued as two players took over the two minotaurs for their use while Drown Slavemaster buff her slave monsters to launch a counterattack.

Mal smiled wickedly as the table began to fill with monsters and more dead corpses. The entire encounter turned into madness when Mal rolled for more chaos as five stone sarcophagi popped open and five large undead emerged.

"Due to the chaos and death, the ancient sarcophagi open as Boneclaws of ancient times came out with hatred and pain. Seeking to fill their hatred, all five decided to attack all of you including your enemies. Now, roll for a new encounter and hope you survive the murder and torture." Mal said to his players and roll his own dice as the fight turned into chaos and complete madness without an order.

Boneclaw is weak undead physically and magically but it can't go down before its master's death. Until Mal is defeated, Boneclaws will respawn and continue to kill until Mal is satisfied.