Appearance	Philosophies	-	History	Society
The Races of Krynn	-	-	-	Dragonlance Adventures

Q: Can Dargonesti elves be PCs?
A: No. This race almost never ventures out
of the ocean depths.
(143.10)

APPEARANCE
    The Dimernesti and Dargonesti are races of
Sea Elves, groups that separated radically from
the elven land races during the Age of
Dreams--partly as a result of the Greystone
passage at that time. (The Dimernesti are also
called Shoal Elves as they inhabit the shallows
of many of Ansalon's coastlines.) They have
been few in number ever since the devastation
of the Cataclysm in which many of their citadels
and homes were destroyed. They breathe
both air and water and have light bluish skin
and webbed fingers. They wear their silver hair
long, braided with shells. The Dargonesti,
or Deep-Elves, are the tallest elven race, a
slender people with large eyes, extended
fingers, and deep blue skin.

    The most interesting aspect of the sea elves is
their unique ability to shapechange into the
form of a sea otter (Dimernesti) or dolphin
(Dargonesti). This comes naturally to them and
greatly aids them in moving about their underwater
kingdoms. There are differences between
actual dolphins and whales and their elven
shapechanged counterparts but those differences
are so minor as to be only distinguishable to
another Dimernesti or Dargonesti.
 

HISTORY
    The sea elves were created during the passage
of the Greystone of Gargath. Originally
elven mariners with a great love for the sea,
their race became dwellers of the oceans and
its main civilizing force.

    Practically nothing of their history has been
transmitted to the ears of surface dwellers.
Those contacts that have been made indicate
that the sea elves' history is as full and colorful
as those of the land-dwelling elves. What is
known is that great battles were waged during
the War of the Lance by the Dimernesti and
Dargonesti under the water. The Shoal Elves
seem to have the same stand-offish relationship
with the Deep Elves as the Qualinesti do
with the Silvanesti.

    Long ago, the Dimernesti had a partnership
with the Silvanesti, allowing elvish mariners
to explore distant lands. Quarrels wtih the
stiff-necked Silvanesti led to a break in all
communication with the land elves; the
House Mariner is now a lost guild among
the Silvanesti.

    Throughout history, wondrous tales of
these elves helping mariners in distress have
been told in all seaports. However, these tales
are almost always reported third or fourth
hand and are undoubtedly greatly exaggerated.
 

PHILOSOPHIES
    Shoal Elves take little interest in what happens
above the watery surface of their
domain. THe few who have appeared on land
did so only on a mission of importance or
under the direction of the Speaker of the Sea,
the leader of the Dimernesti. Dargonesti have
rarely been seen by humans or any of their
land-based kin.
 

SOCIETY
    The Dimernesti follow the Speaker of the
Sea, a hereditary position much like the
Speaker of Stars. While there are many guilds
that mirror those of Silvanesti, there is no
caste system and the boundaries between
guilds are not as rigid as for the Silvanesti.

    The Dimernesti have recently taken to living
in the sunken cities of the Cataclysm.
They find them romantic && intriguing. The
Dimernesti are not builders but they seem to
enjoy living in the buildings.

    Most Dimernesti live in schools that are
clan-oriented groups. There are no families as
all of those in the group care for the young of
the school. They are nomadic in nature and
rarely stay in the same place for long.

DIMERNESTI ELVES
GAME STATISTICS

Generating Abilities: The initial ability rolls are modified by a
-1 penalty to Strength and a +2 bonus to Dexterity. The min.
and max. ability scores for Dimernesti
elves are as follows:

Dimernesti Elves Ability Scores

Ability	Minimum	Maximum
Strength	3	18
Intelligence	8	18
Wisdom	8	18
Dexterity	10	19
Constitution	3	18
Charisma	8	18
Comeliness	-	-

Qualinesti Class Limits

Class	Maximum Level
Cavalier	10/Unlim *
Paladin	10/Unlim *
Knight of the Crown	N/E **
Knight of the Sword	N/E **
Knight of the Rose	N/E **
Fighter	16/Unlim *
Barbarian	N/E **
Ranger	N/E **
Magic-User (Renegade)	N/E **
Illusionist (Renegade)	N/E **
Wizard of High Sorcery	10/Unlim *
Thief	N/E **
Thief/Acrobat	N/E **
Cleric (Heathen)	N/E **
Druid (Heathen)	N/E **
Holy Orders of the Stars	Unlim

* The level listed before the slash is the
maximum allowable to the character while on
land. The Dimernesti are unlimited while
they are in the environs of the sea. Should a
Dimernesti elf of level higher than that listed
leave the environment of the water, his HD,
HP, and all other related adjustments
must be made to temporarily reduce
the character to the max. listed. This
reduction goes away once the character returns
to the water.

** N/E means not eligible for the class

SPECABS: The Dimernesti and
Dargonesti elves have the ability to shapechange
at will into the form of a sea otter or a
dolphin respectively. This can take place up to
three times per day and the transformation
takes five segments. The elves take on all the
movement rates and special abilities of these
creatures, but they lose any spell-casting abilities
they might normally have.