The Tarantulas Faction consists of Dark Elves, other dark beings, some unliving and various other creatures that dwell beneath the surface of Erdreja. Their tunnels and vast caverns are known collectively as the Underdark. Predominantly a matriarchal society, all the Tarantulas have the same fundamental beliefs; a unique culture and law system that is vehemently enforced. Dark Elves are the main race within the Faction, although most other races are welcome. When on the surface, the Tarantulas tend to band together and look after one another, saving their group quarrels and city disputes for their return below ground. Each group, whether its members are dark elves or otherwise, represents the most powerful within their own city within the Underdark.

"A lot of people think of us as evil. This is absolutely not true, we are simply misunderstood. Ask any law abiding Tarantula."
- Matron Mother .

Many stories have been told about the past of the Underdark races, and the Sundering of the Drow from the Elves of the surface. The tale is different according to who you hear it from, for as we know, history is always written by the winners and those who survive.

A History of the Fall written from the texts of J'ker Gel'met.

The Dark Elves were driven beneath the surface long ago by the light-loving elves. There they made a home for themselves in what the surface dwellers called the Underdark. The Dark Elves soon become the masters of these dark grottoes, and any intelligent creature feared to intrude upon them.
It is said that an Ancestor revealed herself to them, centuries ago when they had lived upon the surface, and had sought to enlighten their brethren to her ways, but the Elves had not listened. Then the humans and the younger races made war upon the elder races, and the Elves put aside their differences and fought together. A long and painful war, all Elves fought side by side, and great magic flew in the name of the Ancestors. Much of the world was devastated, soaked in the blood of all those races who fought.

However, the younger races, through magics and deceptions, betrayed the Dark Elves. The Dark Elves petitioned the Elves for aid, but were refused, leaving the Dark Elves to stand alone against the younger races. So the Dark Elven races sought a place of defence, a way to retreat, survive, and plot revenge upon our cursed brethren who had hidden from war in their high towers and tree top bowers. The races of Dark Elves found refuge in the bowels of the earth, in those strange places surrounded by the Darkness.

Over the centuries, the Dark Elves learned to trust some of those who would share their lives in the darkness. Small groups of Humans, Unseelie Fey, Goblins, Ogres etc… All have chosen to ally with the Tarantula cause at different times. The majority have struggled to survive in the harsh competitive society of the Dark Elves. Yet some have take up their cause, and earned their right to stand as comrades.

In the years after the Race Wars, the Underdark became a refuge for many that sought to escape the rule of Tebron and the Empire. During the Dark Ages after the cataclysm it became a refuge for many that sought to escape the chaos. It was during this time that those amongst the Dark Elves who still looked to the surface began to emerge as a dominant political force in some parts of the Underdark.
Since 1092, these Dark Elves have visited the surface frequently. In 1093 they founded the Tarantula Faction, and have been accepted in peace, if not in friendship, by the nations of the Heartlands. Having been long forged in darkness and deceit, their way of battle is hardly suited to open ground, this did not stop the Dark Elves leading the way at the Victorious battle of 1101.

The Underdark is ever shifting the passages and caverns only a fool or a desperate man would wish to try to travel far on foot. Not all the cities in the darkness are part of the Tarantula Faction or even known to it. Many lie in wait for foolish travellers, unthinking creatures, and some more cunning lurk in the darkness, slavers and those who practice darker arts.
It is known that the kingdom of the Underdark permeates the entire Heartlands. Entrances to the deeper tunnels beneath the ground are kept hidden and secret. Yet some are occasionally revealed. One such occasion happened in the spring of 1100, when a regiment of Nosta Kar troops blasted their way out of the upper levels of the Underdark to emerge in the kingdom of Albion. From here, they marched straight into the mists of Avalon and disappeared. If the Harts of Albion had any doubt as to the existence of the Underdark, there was no doubt in their minds after this.