Racial faction: partially drow, partially elves (primarily wood, also some moon)
Location: Tharis elven quarter & beneath
Faith: originally evil gods of drow, later good gods of drow, lesser worship of elven deities.
Alignment: initially evil, now neutral.
Leadership: Aunuit Rilynath (Valsharess), Ryzan Rilynath (Valuk)
Alliances:
Hostile factions: Tharis city (human faction), Selu'havessthyr
Rilynath arose on the surface through the ongoing efforts of the drow siblings/lovers Aunuit (a szarkai) and Ryzan. Initially faithful to Vhaeraun as House Teken'ghym and working to further his goals of a drow return to the surface, they worked amidst the powers of Juran and Tonovi, playing the many games of evil to strong effect, but never quite gaining the position of strength they'd hoped for.
A later change of tack brought their focus to elvenkind, a far more sturdy set of allies upon the surface, if they could be brought around. Using strength, charisma and trickery, they managed to gather a contingent of elves loyal to themselves, primarily those elves resigned to their suffering within the city confines of Tharis. Eventually, through leading an uprising against the humans, they won themselves a place of power over the elven quarter of Tharis, and growing loyalty to sway some of elvenkind to at least tolerance of their cause.
However, a very blunt halt to their rise came about following the intervention of the sun elves. Displeased at what they saw as betrayal by the wood elves of Tharis, Selu'havessthyr enacted a curse to turn all those elves loyal to Rilynath into drow themselves. This led to a rift in loyalties between the various elven groups; those now-drow who saw themselves as betrayed and outcast by their own kind; those who felt the curse was righteously served; those who saw family, friends, or at least goodly elves cast aside and could not justify such an act; those who lived in fear of any alliance to the Tharisian group lest they be turned themselves.
Time upon the surface, colored by loyalties earned and betrayals from within, eventually had the pair realise that the trickery & shadow-play Vhaeraun preaches was as much for them as those they opposed. Managing to thwart the Shadows' play for power, and escaping several attempts to extinguish their house entirely, they turned to a brighter path towards Eilistraee. Their aid during the ritual to restore the cursed wood elves earned them a level of respect within the eyes of many elves that could not be ignored. Despite setbacks and distrust, a loyal force of non-evil drow and surface elves have begun to flock to their cause in greater numbers, resulting in a faction of growing power that can no longer be ignored.
They are now seeking to bring about the restoration of the fallen wood/dark elf kingdom of Daoine'yndaar of old…