Weren't there already two "non-typical" drow off-shoots as it is - the followers of Eilistraee (dedicated to re-emerging to the surface and making up with the rest of Tel-quessir) and of Vhaeraun (the patron of the male drow)? And there were already quite a few more surfacer drow during the Spellplague times which weren't exactly bound to their supposed religion in any way.
As far as Drizzt goes, wouldn't the only clearly stated "rarity" to him would be his purple eyes which he almost got murdered at birth for, and most of his upbringing and how he became the way he is is mostly thanks to Zaknafein's mentoring?
Yes, but the thing that several people here on the forums, and out in the real world have been trying to get across to people is that there is no racial difference between Drow who continue to worship Lolth, and Drow who have chosen to follow Eilistraee/Vhaeraun. The difference is purely cultural. But this comes with the unspoken assumption that the evilness of the Drow is also purely cultural, which it seems not everyone assumes.
Drizzt's purple eyes might have earned him a death sentence because non-red eyes were considered to be a sign that you might have surface elf blood (or even non-elf blood) in your ancestry, which was unacceptable for a Drow born to a noble house. Same goes for Drow born with hair that isn't silver or white; or Drow that have yellow eyes; or Drow that have short ears, etc... It comes back to the cultural xenophobia that is common in the underdark Drow communities.
There was a race of dark-skinned elves that were ancestors of the Drow, but their homeleand was totally destroyed in the crown wars that ended up forcing Lolth and her followers underground. And it was Corellon who "cursed" them with their current appearance due to their loyalty to Lolth. there isn't any information about survivors, but if they dodged Corellon's curse, they would just be elves, and probably just reintegrated back into wood-elf communities. If I understand correctly, there was also an event where a population of Drow were "redeemed" by being turned back into their ancestral dark elf race.
