Elvenkind

The elves of Argent come in many varieties, with the most common being the dark, high, and wood elves of Sear, and the sea elves and avariel of Sedden. Elves origins date back to times before the world looked the way it was, before the great floods during Facit’s outburst thousands of years ago. Elves were the second sentient mortal breed, second to the true dragons. At first, the dragons saw them as just another beast of the wild to be ignored as dragonkind flourished, but as time went on, and the elves showed their superior intellect by mimicking draconic architecture, language, and magic, they became interested.
The elves that found themselves emerging alone in southern Sear, with no draconic influence, became the wood elves. They took to the magical land with ease, and their community quickly thrived in the vast world, saturated with new life as Liphan acted to repair what facit had destroyed. Contrary to this, the elves of northern Sear, were elves that had remained under this draconic influence even underground. Those of the underground dragon kingdom beneath what would be known now as the Eminent Territories even after the floods stayed under the dragon's claw. Their culture in desperation quickly became that of one that embraced their servitude. The dragons were smarter and mightier than they were, and they were privileged to be saved from the floods and protected by them. These elves would come to be some of the most influential in the world, as what would be known as the high elves took the draconic magical knowledge they had and lorded over the other mortal races in the same way the draconic did to them.
In Sedden, life was slightly different. The oceans of Sedden were much larger than that of Sear, and many were trapped beneath their waves much larger than those of their sister world. These elves either died, or adapted with their magical make up to became the sea elves, taking to Iquonial with ease, though keeping to the shores. A select few elves, trapped within the mountains of eastern Sedden, were given the gift of flight directly by Liphan and Deshai, and became the avariel.
The final breed of elf was that of a very specific group in Sear, who came to be known as dark elves. These elves abandoned the idea of ever seeing the light again, and instead of readying their world to see the light again, dug even deeper. Though in time these elves would discover the surface world above, those who would come to be known as the dark elves preferred their subterranean lifestyle.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Elves are humanoid, with two arms, two legs, etc. Though some have various special traits like wings, gills, or similar, those traits are usually specific to the breed of elf.

Additional Information

Geographic Origin and Distribution

The high elves, wood elves and dark elves all find themselves localized within Sear, whereas the avariel and sea elves are localized within Sedden.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

All elves, regardless of offshoot, have incredible senses. Vision, hearing, taste, and smell. They are simply more naturally perceptive than most races to such a degree that they've become known for it.

Civilization and Culture

History

The elves were intended to be much smarter than the draconic in a much shorter amount of time. It takes millennia for a dragon to come into its maturity and really flourish, but the elves had the advantage of a much shorter life span, and therefore a much shorter rate of maturity. The elves learned magic from the true dragons, by watching, and mimicking. Being magical races themselves, it wasn’t that uncommon for them to quickly find knacks for the sort of thing. The kind of inherent magic that both true dragons and elves used in this time was sorcerery, as wizardry was millennia off from discovery.
When the elves started forming communities and making their mark on the world with their cities and magical innovations was when they really caught the attention of the draconic. The elder dragons demanded the most talented of the elvenkind be brought in and brought to them. In time, they were, and the dragons left them with an ultimatum. Serve them, or be destroyed. Many of the elven cities attempted to resist them, but the dragons were too much. There was as many dragons as there were elves, but even the weakest dragons could go toe to toe with the strongest elves.
The elves were over the years, almost completely enslaved under the might of the draconic, and this carried on for years. Dragonborn came into being during this time, as a product of dragons in humanoid form getting particularly comfortable with their pointy eared servants. The elves became key members of the draconic communities hierarchy, doing a lot of jobs that to them would be considered the equivalent to menial manual labor. Elves en mass performing cantrips like factory workers, mending broken tools and weapons, or cleaning the scales of their draconic overlords. Jobs much like these made up almost the entirety of the elven life, until the great floods came.
After many years of servitude, the elves' worlds were shaken. Not more than anyone else really on a physical level, but their culture was definitely impacted the most out of the beings that lived to tell about it. True dragons in ancient times revered the sun and the sky, and the privilege to see these things was only for those on the top of the food chain. This belief was the cause behind a majority of dragon communities keeping their elven servants segregated beneath the earth, in communities built into the stone beneath, making use of many preexisting caverns to create these communities where the elves were kept seperate, in their cantrip factories, with only the highest caliber mages being given the privilege to come to the surface and use their magic to directly aid in the draconic society.
When the floods came, and water rained down in the world in such mass that nearly all surface civilization was destroyed, those who were originally forced to be underground discovered what a blessing that truly was. All across Argent, because of this widespread tradition, elves were saved from the flood. Many of these underground societies were already close to if not already self sustaining, and so for the next few hundred years the elves waited out the storm until it was finally time to return to the surface, and see what could be done. The modern elves are all descendant from different splinters of this event, with cultures dependent on the direction they took.

Lifespan

750 years

Average Height

5 - 6+ ft.

Average Weight

120 - 180 lbs.