Elves

Elves are a long-lived race of the arcane-born mortals found most commonly in forests, shrublands, and other wildernesses. From time to time the elves organised strong nations, though with far less frequency their eladrin counterparts, in some cases adopting even a nomadic lifestyle. Almost all elves worshipped the gods of the Seldarine, and the elves were generally, though not always, good in nature. Today, the great elven realms may have retreated from the encroachment of humans and humanoids, but the elven influence in the world is unmistakable and pervasive.

Description

Elves adapt and change dramatically to meld with their surroundings, so through the generations the various tribes of elves have become quite divergent in appearance and outlook. Despite this, all elves retain certain characteristics that set them apart from the other races of the world. Elves stood on average 5′5″‒6′5″ and weighed 130‒170 lb. Usually, true elves were a naturally slender and athletic race. Elves had a similar range of complexions to humans, with wood elves typically coppery or pale skinned and wild elves having darker pigmentation. Often, elven hair was dark, either brown or black, with copper red or blond hair also found amongst wood elves, although orange or even green hues were not completely unheard of. Elven eyes are commonly brown, hazel, or an emerald green. Elves, like their cousins the eladrin, were fair and beautiful, handsome, and had pointed ears and no body hair except eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair.
Elves matured at roughly the same rate as humans, though they were not usually considered past adolescence until they reached 110 years of age. Unlike humans, elves did not age dramatically as their lifespan came to a close, with the most obvious changes being a change in hair colour, alternatively graying or darkening. Most elves remained healthy and full of life up until their death, which, if age-related, was usually between two and nine centuries.
There are many subraces of elves, and although most mortals will only ever see wood or half-elves in their lifetimes - the Eladrin from the feywild as well as dark and sea elves make up large proportions of the total elven population.

Abilities

Despite the incredible diversity of the various elven subraces, all elves share a number of characteristics. Elves had a number of abilities that set them apart from other humanoid races: Like their kin the eladrin, elves were agile, dexterous creatures. However, elves could move slightly faster than their eladrin kin and could move swiftly through even the roughest terrain. Elves were also more preternaturally aware of their surroundings than eladrin, as well as possessing better common sense. This aided elves in many ways, allowing elves a high degree of perceptiveness that they could lend partially to allies. Additionally, elves were extremely accurate in their attacks, having a degree of precision that would be unusual for other humanoids.
Perhaps the strongest thing they share is their affinity for magic. The use of magic pervades elven society at every level. The most impressive examples of elven magic are the mythals, powerful fields of magical energy created by the ancient elves to cloak entire cities with protective and useful magical auras. The elves’ natural resistance to enchantment spells is likely due in part to the fact that every moment of their lives is spent immersed in such magical environments.
Unlike other humanoid races, elves don’t truly sleep. An elf needs only to rest and relax in a trance known as a reverie for four hours every day.

General Information

Size

Medium

Type

Humanoid

Average Lifespan

750 years

Homeland

Arborea, The Feywilds, Auxis

Languages

Common, Elvish

Deities

Seldarine

Subraces

Wood Elves
Half-Elves
Moon Elves
Sea Elves
Star Elves
Sun Elves
Dark Elves

Appearance

Average Height

5'5 - 7ft

Average Weight

80-150lb

Distinctions

Slender; little to no body hair; long, mostly light hair; light skin mostly the same range as humans plus shades of copper, bronze and bluish-white

Racial History

The Elves have a long and complex history on Auxis, and it was often believed they were not truly native to Toril. The tales of the toril-bound elvenkind attribute their creation to the daughter Iallanis, though many new Eladrin - the sun, moon and star elves - attribute their ancestry to old Eladrin before recorded history, tying their lineage back to beyond the material plane.
Records of the ancient elves are few and far between, with most ancient history swept up and taken to the Faerie lands following the Astral War, though relics and ruins of old do paint a picture of the elves being a highly advanced people from the beginning of recorded history. The first texts of the meeting between the humans and elves speak of a highly adept, distrusting culture who looked down on the primitive human kingdoms and wished to keep themselves divided from them. Over the first millenniums, a very diverse elven population settled to the northwest of a single Auxis, building their nations in the forests and grasslands of what would become Taleos and Yx'ala.
These elven nations each grew and expanded and developed in their own ways. Building what were marvellous cities of wood and arcane stone, they enjoyed isolated bliss in their research and plotting of most common scientific knowledge. As the human nations from the south grew, taking form of large kingdoms, empires and dynasties which stretched across the land fought for power and resources, the elves were confronted by vigorous human expansion into the ancient forestlands of Auxis, plunging them into endless cycles of warfare.
Over these millennia, pacts between the elves and the humans begin to grew as desires to end the countless wars bubbled to the surface. As civilisations formed alliances, the elves and humans began to mix, and the first reported half-elves were born. Despite this, war continued to rage, and following the discovery of the gods and the age of Numinus, the elves were contacted by beings they long suspected existed but were all but confirmed. The Seldarine, gods of nature, peace and magic from the upper planes made contact with the elves and offered them a retreat to somewhere they could truly call their own.
Following the invasion of savage races from the deep; the persecution of many elves by goblinoids, orcs and creatures beginning to invade from the convergence; and equally put off by the invasive and often shortsighted expansion of humans, many elves decided simply to pick up and move. As such, the Elven presence on the mainland fell to its lowest level since the beginning of the first age, and a vast majority of the star elf populations had fled beyond the material plane to the far beyond plane of Arborea.
As the Astral War began to grow and foul beasts and armies from the lower planes began to put an end to the wasteful wars between the humans, dwarves and elves, the remaining elf populations stayed, using their new divine power to push back against the invading forces. As the war dragged on, a portion of the star elf population and other astral-born Eladrin returned to the material plane to assist in the battles. Over the long and arduous war, swafts of the elven population perished in war, sacrificing themselves for the safety and freedom of a land they had spent so long trying to claim a home on. As the wars went on, much of the moon, star elf and eldarin peoples retreated to the The Feywilds, a mirror dimension which had been crafted by the gods to protect the good-aligned mortals in times of great duress.
This permanent retreat had caused the sun elves to exist under greater pressure and greater reliance on the human and dwarvern forces during the later centuries of the war. This forged the closest inter-civilisational ties in history, and led to a great number of close relationships between elf and human kind. Following the schism and the war drew to an end, much of the remaining sun-elf population felt it necessary to say goodbye to the mortal world and live out their days in the feywild in order to ensure prolonged peace between the peoples.
The island of Yx'ala was freely given to the Elves, which they used to form the Cynterien Republic and coated in the material plane's largest Mythal, in which the island was transformed into a large tropical climate and allowed their cities to pass between the material and fey worlds. Many of the elves who wished not to flee, including half-elf populations who had ties to their human ancestors, remained in a newly defined. The remaining sun-elves quickly adapted to the woods and grasslands of unclaimed lands, becoming modern Wood elves, living in the forests and grasslands of Taleos, Yt'zel and The Northern Wildlands. Meanwhile the half-elf populations blended into their human settlements, becoming ever-present in human society. A small portion fled to the Brandruin Archipelago and settled on these islands as their first natives. Over the next centuries they swiftly adapted to the coastal climate, living in and out of the water as Sea Elves. Many of these half-elves spread southward towards Xedaris, and while a small amount make up the populations of their cities, very very few pureblood elves are found in these regions.
Although the elven race has been largely peaceful since then, ideological differences between the Yx'alan elves drove divisions between those who wished to remain isolated and those who did not. Around the 2nd century AT, a series of civil was skirmishes broke out which caused those who sided with the Dark Seldarine to be banished to the cold wastes of Zathala, where they quickly adapted into modern Dark Elves, or drow.

Elven Society

The long and conflicted history of the elves combined with their many geographic and cultural divisions over the years has led to a highly fractured and complex culture. There are things which do unite the elven peoples though, and unique traits sets apart their settlements and homes from the rest of mortal society. The Elves are a highly proud and spiritualistic people, placing much weight on their arcane and divine routes.
Elves were usually found in small tribes throughout the forests of Toril, as well as on windswept plains and in mountain vales. The elves, as a whole, preferred these secluded places of nature to the cities and nations of the civilized world, living in harmony with their natural surroundings. Cautious and cunning warriors, particularly of the bow, elves secured these homelands through guile and tactics.
Magic and worship is at the centre of elven society, and has a large effect on their societal and cultural traits. The elven religion is the Seldarine, a religious pantheon centred upon nature, magic and knowledge. The elves worship their deities for guidance and knowledge, seeking to perfect the arcane crafts and create their ideal societies. The elven culture is a highly artistic and literary one, with every city full of millenia old libraries packed with tomes of knowledge and ancient secrets. Their cities and settlements are crafted of fine wood and stone, their long lives dedicated to focus and perfection of highly prideful displays of elegance.
Those who remained in the feywild following the astral war became the mortal-born Eladrin, or the high elves. The star elves were the highest of this order, followed by the moon and then the sun elves. Each race were granted immortality while in their fey home, and such their cultures changed to reflect this. The isolated and strange magical homeland they resided in made them less relatable to mortal races, and they often wished to separate themselves from the material plane and their worries.
Unlike the wood and half-elves who remained on Auxis, these Eladrin shifted their religious view as time went on. Their society took on its own divine nature, and saw their worship as symbiotic. Those who remained continued to live mortal lives and settled alongside other races, carving their own piece of the land and settling their tribes in trade and contact with particular human cultures.

Wood Elves

The wood elves are among the most numerous of Auxis' elven people, a young and confident folk who hold the old elven forest homelands in strength. Where the old empires expanded with strength and pride, the realms of the wood elves hope to grow with compassion and humility. The wood elves do not view their homelands as a land apart from Auxis; they understand better than their kindred that for better or worse, their fates are bound up with the fates of the humans, dwarves, and halflings around them.
Wood elves were easily identifiable by their coppery skin and green, brown, or hazel eyes. Wood elven hair was usually black or brown, although hues such as blond or copper red were also found. Wood elves tended to dress in simple clothes, similar to those of the moon elves but with fewer bold colors and a greater number of earth tones that blended into their natural surroundings. Accustomed to a harsh, naturalistic lifestyle, wood elves loved to wear leather armor, even when they were not under immediate threat. Wood elves were roughly identical to other elves in height and build, with males larger than females.
Over time, the wood elves have developed unique outlook in their centuries as a nomadic people. As a people, wood elves are largely seen as calm and level-headed. Arousing strong emotions in wood elves is not something that was easily done, although many do have a strong aversion for large cities. To wood elves, the trappings of civilisation, including the mightiest of fortresses or tallest walls, were transient and impermanent things that would eventually be overcome by the long processes of nature. To many, this attitude seems condescending, weakening the bonds between wood elves and other races.

Wood Elf Society

Wood elves live at ease with nature, using what naturally occurs in the world to shelter or defend themselves. They are not nomadic, and claim large territories in the deepest woodlands of Edea. Some wood elves choose to do without houses, furnishings, and any possessions they can’t carry, using the high branches of great trees or natural caves in their roots for shelter and storage. Most wood elves instead prefer to dwell in small villages of permanent homes of natural fieldstone and lovingly carved wood, so carefully concealed among the surrounding wilderness that a human hunter might walk through the center of a wood elf village and not even notice that he had done so.
Wood elves adhere to a tradition of leadership by their oldest and most experienced druids, although most villages form a council of elders selected from the wisest and most experienced elves of each family to handle day-to-day affairs. The druidical hierarchy serves to unite wood elves of different villages and weld all the wood elves of a particular forest into a common realm. The druids do not presume to tell the elders how to run a village, but the elders generally give great weight to anything a druid chooses to say.

Magic and Religion

Wood elves were generally uncomfortable with most forms of magic, viewing wizards and other arcane spellcasters with no small amount of distrust. Clerics and other divine spellcasters fared little better in wood elven eyes, who saw their prayers as a useless call to distant and alien gods. However, wood elves were largely at ease with the ways of the primal magic used by druids, barbarians, and shamans, which they felt was the truest expression of supernatural power—or rather, a reflection of nature itself, used to protect the wilderness. However, wood elves were not completely adverse to arcane magic and wood elven bards, sorcerers, and wizards were far from unknown, although wood elves as a whole had no particular tradition of the Art.
Like other elves, the wood elves largely worshipped the Seldarine, but unlike their kin, they did not do so exclusively. Many wood elves had a special place in their heart for the gods Silvanus and Mielikki, whose protection of the wilderness was something the wood elves themselves tried to espouse. Among the elven gods, the wood elves most commonly worshipped Solonor Thelandira and Rillifane Rallathil, who, like Silvanus and Mielikki, had particular connections to the untamed wilderness. Solonor, as the god of archery, was perhaps the most popular god amongst the wood elves, who would sometimes invoke him as their protector and patron deity just prior to a battle.
The wood elves primarily were land druids, worshipping Mielikki and drawing on the power of the forest itself to fuel their divine magics in order to protect and nurture the forest. Wood elves were pragmatic about magic, judging it by its ability to protect and grow rather than taking any value from the study of the arcane arts themselves. This set them apart from many other elven druids and highlighted a connection to divinity influenced by their time around humans.

Half-Elves

The most common of the races of mixed heritage, half-elves are found all over Auxis, but have few homes to call their own. They feel at home in the sprawling human cities and empires, and in the secretive elven retreats, standing between elf and human culture but truly belonging to neither. They are a handsome and even-tempered race who handle the challenge of their mixed heritage with grace and reserve. Because they took around twenty years to reach adulthood, they matured quickly when raised by elves (who think they look like humans), making them feel like an outsider in either place. Most half-elves were descended from sun and wood elves, but pairings of other elves and races besides humans existed too, though these were much rarer.
Unlike common elves, however, male half-elves were capable of growing facial hair and often did so to distinguish themselves, in part, from their elven parents. Half-elven ears were about the size of human ones, but like elves, they were pointed on the ends. Half-elves were also notably more durable and passionate than either elves or humans, a unique result of the two races' blending.
Half-elves usually adopted the dress and hairstyles of the culture among which they were raised. However, it was also fairly common for half-elves raised among humans to wear elven clothing in order to proudly display signs of their dual heritage. Regardless of what they wore, half-elves stood out in a crowd through the combination of physical distinctiveness and force of personality. Half-elves matured at a slower rate than humans, and could live for over 180 years.
Half-elves gained an unusual blend of abilities from their two heritages. More durable and more innately charming than either humans or elves, half-elves lacked the grace or wisdom of their elven parents, though they did have some of the versatility of their human ancestors. Half-elves had a natural ability to learn outside of their specialty, giving them a strength in adaptability. Half-elves, like their elven parents, worked well with others and could lend some of their own skill to friends or allies. Like their elven parents, half-elves were typically immune to the effects of the enchantment school of magic. Likewise, half-elves also inherited the ability to see keenly in low-light conditions, with little or no ill effect, and had enhanced senses of sight and hearing compared to their human brethren

Half-Elven Society

Half-elves had no culture to call their own, although the culture of Yt'zel may be said to be "half-elven" given the large influence of half-elves on the state. Generally speaking, half-elves represented the culture into which they were born, though many half-elves wandered from their homes, becoming truly cosmopolitan individuals. As a result, many half-elves lacked a "true" accent or even a consistent cultural outlook, and a common name for pidgins in Auxis is "the tongue of a half-elf."
Many half-elves were inexplicably drawn to the life of an adventurer, possessed by a sense of wanderlust and alienation that drove them into unusual careers. Half-elves do, however, often slip into human society without notice, taking up trades in the production expert crafts and working with magic or research due their prowess of learning and keen abilities. Many half-elves also work their way up into the political establishment of nation states and they are far from excluded from inner circles. There are many half-elven diplomats and politicians in the The Astrium and in the political bodies of Ataria. One of the greatest political figures of Edean history - Esalius Vandral - was of mixed blood.

Magic and Religion

Half-Elves are highly magical individuals, and, unlike wood-elves, continue many of the traditional elven practices in terms of alchemical and arcane prowess. Many worked as enchanters and wizards, or travelled the world as bards and wizards. Half-elves often partook in the religious culture they found themselves in, and were highly adaptable to their cultural environments, though many continued to worship deities of the Seldarine. Half-elves of The Undareen were highly interested in deities from the Gates of the Moon, and worship of Selûne and Sune were common among these half-elven populations.

Moon Elves

Before the exodus of the moon elves to the feywilds, moon elves were the most common of the elven subraces on Auxis. Following the fall of Cendrianne, few remain, except for those scattered amongst other fey cities. They have fair skin, sometimes tinged with blue, and hair of silver-white, black, or blue; humanlike colors are somewhat rare. Their eyes are blue or green, with gold flecks.
Moon elves prefered to dress in rustic clothes of simple cuts and fashions that are nevertheless of fine and exquisite make. They adorn their dress with embroidered patterns, beads, and similar trappings, preferring earthen colors for everyday wear, hues that make it easy to conceal themselves in foliage. In places of safety or in times of revelry, moon elves enjoy dressing in bold colors— the more brightly colored, the better. Hair is worn in braids or ponytails, twined with wires or beads.
When there were many, before the Exodus, of all the elven races, moon elves were the most impulsive, with a strong distaste for complacency or isolation. Moon elves longed to be on the road, travelling and exploring the untamed wilderness that lay between cities and nations. This extroverted quality was part of the reason why moon elves got along uncommonly well with other races and had come to the conclusion that the Elves were not necessarily as foolhardy or unworthy as their brethren might think. Moon elves, rather than feeling that interaction outside of their race diminished or weakened them, believed that interacting with other races, humans in particular, was the best way to spread the values of the elven race, thereby strengthening their culture.
Following their leaving, the Moon elves became more isolated and inward-looking. It is unknown why, but in the years before Cendrianne many of the moon elves cut contact with the rest of their elven brethren, and were never seen again. Many of the surviving moon elves are just as mistrusting and introverted. Unlike their lively ancestors, modern moon elves keep themselves to themselves, holding onto what remains of their people best they can.

by Jasinai

Moon Elf Society

Moon elves were much less solemn and serious in their ways and actions than sun elves. Their songs and poems are lighter and often quite humorous; tragedies have their place but the moon elves prefered to balance such things with light-hearted and often bawdy tales and songs. They also enjoyed a wide variety of art styles, including paintings and sculpture. Moon elves were fond of games of chance and gambling. Drinking, feasting, and revelling were all a strong part of their society.
A more serious side to the moon elves emerged in times of trouble. Moon elves were just as skilled with weapons and magic as their fellow elven subraces, and did not hesitate to act if a situation called for violence as a solution. Even in warfare, they try to find hope and humour, for it was during these dark times that levity and joy are most valuable.
Moon elves gathered in loose bands, composed of a dozen or so extended families. Leadership was democratic; all elves of the band had a say in important decisions, although the voices of one or two of the wiser and more experienced family heads tended to carry the day. In times of danger, the band chose an elder or warleader to see them through the peril. Moon elves travelled light and travelled often, rarely staying in the same place for more than a season or two before moving on.

Magic and Religion

Moon elves, like other elves, loved the learning and use of magic, in whatever form it took. Both traditions of arcane and divine magic were highly encouraged and those who partook in either were pushed to expand the knowledge of their race. This pressure did not bother most moon elves, who were outright delighted should they ever become masters of the Art.
Moon elves generally worshipped the Seldarine, particularly Sehanine, Eilisatraee, Aerdrie Faenya and Hanali Celanil. The moon elves worshipped these gods for their relation to Selûne, the goddess of the moon, and drew on her power through Sehanine to create the largest druid circle of the moon before Cendrianne fell. Even now, those who moon elves who wander the forest keep with them their religion. When the moon elves had contact with the rest of their race, regardless of deity, moon elven religious ceremonies were, like so many other things in moon elf culture, loud and joyful and even the most pious of the subrace couldn't deny that the festivals were often just another excuse to revel.

Sea Elves

Little is known of the sea elves, as they are rarely encountered by landbound races and reserve themselves to their homes beneath the seas. It is told, however, that the aquatic elves are a civilised and good-natured people who hail from the western seas of the Brandruin Archipelago.
The aquatic elves are tall, standing 6 feet or more in height. They have long limbs with strong swimming muscles, and their fingers and toes are long with thick webbing. Their most striking features are sets of gills along the collarbone and ribcage. Aquatic elves are nowhere near as thin as their landbound cousins, and their hair is usually stringy and thick, cut short for warriors but otherwise worn long. Eye colors for aquatic elf come in every shade seen among gold, moon, or wild elves. Their clothing is made of various undersea plants in shades of green, black, and brown, although aquatic elves usually go about lightly clad, if dressed at all, while underwater.
Aquatic elves were isolationist by both their nature and the physical location of their settlements, although they were not quite as reclusive as the moon elves became. Their trust did not extend far beyond their clan and others of their kind, and their communities were very tightly-knit. They couldn't understand why the surface elves did not realise that community and alliances meant survival, whereas rivalry, individualism, and factionalism meant death. However, despite being extremely cautious, they were also extremely curious, and aquatic elves near the shore would often spend a significant amount time secretly observing the land-bound races.
Little is known of the society or magical practices of these sea-bound tribes.

Star Elves

Star Elves, or Mithral Elves, were a race of elves who resided on the prime material plane before fleeing to Arborea following the Eon of Numinus. They were considered the first mortal-born Eladrin, and were eventually joined in the feywild by the Sun and Moon elves following the schism.
Star elves looked a lot like moon elves, with light skin and hair of gold, red, or silver. They had violet or gray eyes with occasional gold flecks in them. They were tall for elves, being about 6 to 7 ft tall, and had a slender build. They liked to wear elaborate tunics but in neutral tones, so as to better remain unseen in the forest. They were strikingly handsome by human standards, even more so than other elves. Aloof and cautious, star elves were distant with Auxis and even other races.
Isolated in the twilight realm of Senaliesse, they had little contact with the other races and they liked it that way. It was the war-like and expansionist humans that caused them to retreat to Arborea and flee their home in the first place. They generally got along with other elves, though they feared for their other mortal-born Eladrin who they believed were overly generous and a touch naive.

Star Elf Society

Star elf society is highly ritualistic and dynastic. After centuries of isolation, they have little understanding of other cultures and are influenced only by their celestial history. As stout traditional and elitist societies, they organise their culture around intellectual pursuit and betterment of themselves as physical, arcane and spiritual beings. Personal lives are strictly regulated, with diets, romantic and sexual relations, and labour pursuits clearly defined. As such, star elves care not for gender, marriage or family. Bearing children is forbidden, as the population level is designated to stay constant, and as such Star Elves keep themselves out of harms way and do not meddle in the business of the Feywilds in order to retain their numbers. If one was to pass, they accept this as fated and wish not to replace their legacy with new life, for it is a waste of resources. Entry into Senaliesse as such is highly restricted and frowned upon, therefore, and few have stepped further than a few steps into their city.

Magic and Religion

The Star Elves are a highly advanced arcane race, focusing primarily on divination magic. They focus on developing and refining high level spells in order to perfect and expand the art, and were the first race to perfect high level magics in the first age. Most magic users are wizards and sorcerers, with a high quantity of divine soul sorcerers from their time in Arborea. There is no religiosity amongst the star elves, and most see worship beneath them. Due to their direct communication with the Seldarine over many hundred years, they merely interact with the gods as as though they were colleagues rather than higher powers. Druidic magic does exist, a rare form of power called the twilight circle, a unique and isolated form of power drawn from the feywilds. The sponsor of this magic is Correlon Larethian himself, the ruler of the Seldarine, and as such the race has a high level of influence amongst the divine ranks.

Sun Elves

The Sun Elves, or the gold elves, were the most common subrace of elf on the material plane before the Retreat, and were the first elves to build the great Sylvan cities of the first age. The gold elves were a highly elitist and militaristic people, haughty and arrogant, building great works of magic and architecture simply as displays of prowess. Now, they reside exclusively in the cities upon the island of Yx'ala, in the various settlements which makes up the small but powerful Cynterien Republic . Most of these elves reside in the city of Astrazalian, which spends its autumn and winter months in the protection of the Feywilds.
Like all of the elves, the sun elves were close to the height of humans, but with notable differences. Sun elves had light bronze-colored skin and hair most often of copper, golden blond, and black, with red more uncommon but not unheard of. Sun elves typically had green eyes, though golden ones were also common, often with a liquid appearance, and silver, black, hazel, or copper hues had also been heard of. Like their moon elven brethren, male sun elves were typically taller and heavier than females, sometimes by as much as five inches or twenty pounds. Sun elves had a reputation for being stronger but less durable than other elves, though this was not necessarily the case for all sun elves.
Sun elves were firmly of the belief that they stood as the sole protectors and inheritors of Correlon's legacy and the guardians of the Seldarine. Patient and deliberate in most of what they did, they demonstrated an orderly nature uncommon to most elves, preferring to master a skill before applying it rather than learning as they go. Rushing was out of the nature of sun elves, who, while less versatile than most races, had a mastery of whatever they applied themselves to. The only true exception to this was martial combat, which nearly all sun elves had some training in, regardless of how much and which most were eager to finish as quickly as possible once engaged.

Sun Elf Society

Unlike most elves, sun elves organised their society along firm and hierarchical traditions. Communities were typically run by members of an esteemed nobility, some of whom could trace their ancestry all the way back to the elven kingdoms. There was a difference, however, between sun elven and human monarchy and where a human king typically accumulated influence through the ownership of land or command of soldiers, a sun elf noble commanded authority through the prestige of their family name or the magical power they held at their behest, a power they often demonstrated through the grandeur of their home.
Sun elves were less motivated to become adventurers than their wandering moon elven brethren and preferred, for the most part, to keep to themselves. Those who were driven into the world to forge a path among the other races often did so as spies or scouts on the behalf of their people, or perhaps as vigilant watchmen against possible threats. Others might be drawn to adventure by a desire to explore the ancient ruins of the world and learn from their secrets, bringing back lost secrets of magic and power to their people. Most sun elves who turned to adventure did so as wizards, fighters, or something in-between, though sun elves generally lacked the desire to be versatile. Many sun elves also became bards, though they were a rare sort given more to solemn songs of the ancients than joyous ballads. Many sun elves were also clerics or paladins and had more to their number of either than any other elven culture. Sun elves who continued their career away from sun elven homes often went on to become masters of the arcane such as arcane devotees, archmages, or loremasters.
The sun elven qualities of patience and haughtiness often both demonstrated themselves in sun elf art. Sun elven architecture, while undeniably beautiful in most cases, was often flashier than what other elves commonly built, a quality in part due to the fact that sun elves would accept nothing short of perfection, working tirelessly in their art to constantly raise the aesthetic bar. Sun elf art, poetry, music — all of these demonstrated a regal attitude that had come to be closely associated with sun elven tastes. To a sun elf, the grander a piece the better, with heroic ballads or tragic epics the preferred form of literature amongst the subrace. Sun elves loved and enjoyed learning, perhaps even to a point that others might find surprising. Nearly all sun elves had access to a private store of knowledge and no self-respecting sun elf lacked the capacity to read or write.
Contrastingly, many sun elves preferred clothing that was at once beautiful and understated, with subdued colors like blue or green favored over bolder hues. Most sun elves decorated themselves with gold or mithral embroidery in subtle patterns woven into the design of their clothes and which added to the beauty of the clothing without seeming flashy or showy. Similarly, most sun elven jewelry was simple in appearance, but in fact exquisitely complex both in construction and design.

Magic and Religion

Sun elves had a deep respect for magic, particularly of the high magic variety, and often concentrated their studies on its nature and use. Sun elves had an advantage in this over other races, even other elves, for as a collective group, sun elves had a greater wealth of lore than any other, a collection accumulated over millennia. With the proper training, sun elven mages might be capable of warding an entire city or changing the landscape of a small region overnight, although such power was often used hesitantly and with restraint; the destruction of Myth Drannor and other disasters reminding sun elves that, with great power, came the need to restrain one's self. As a result, sun elves, as much out of an urge to prevent magical disasters as out of possessive arrogance, were hesitant to use their abilities learned as mages outside of their domains.
Although sun elves favored the arcane, they did not neglect the divine and most sun elves were deeply religious. This piety was often intertwined with nationalism, as sun elves firmly believed they were the chosen people of the Seldarine. As in most other things, sun elves left no detail incomplete and the sun elven ceremonies devoted to the Seldarine were often long and drawn-out. For other races, these rites might even seem dull, with sun elves neglecting any hint of joy or merriness, which they believed disrespectful to the gods, in their worship.

Dark Elves

Of all the elven sub-races on Toril, none are as notorious as the dark elves. The dark elves were those sun elves who were expelled from the Cynterien republic after a series of ideological and theological differences bubbled over into outright conflict on the island. Driven to the icy flatlands of the north and beneath the surface into the underdark, these elves quickly lost their bronze hue and became the notorious dark grey skinned hunters they are known to be today.
The drow have dark skin that resembles polished stone and stark white or pale yellow hair. They commonly have blood-red eyes, although pale eyes (so pale as to be often mistaken for white) in shades of pale lilac, silver, pink, and blue are not unknown. They also tend to be smaller and thinner than most elves. Many of the drow, especially those in positions of nobility, are incredibly attractive, and many of the malicious dark-elves use this for their advantage to seduce and manipulate their enemies.
The drow were very intelligent, calculating and analytical in their many centuries of state building in harsh environments, resulting in ruthless victories in their many conflicts. Drow were arrogant, ambitious, sadistic, treacherous, and hedonistic. From birth, the drow were taught they were superior to other races, and that they should crush those beneath them.

Dark-Elf Society

The drow lived in highly dynastic, ritualistic, theocratic, matriarchal and militaristic communities. Their cities are built around a single highly powerful noble houses who had connections to the aristocracy and resources around their territory. Such Houses were founded by powerful drow individuals with special powers, who then passed their traits to their offspring, and had the strength to violently occupy the best lands. Noble Houses constantly fought each other but were also characterized by internal strife, as it was actually expected in a society that cultivated such a ruthless culture. Even though the power of the many Houses changed often, the few at the top usually remained stable.
Many dynasties in the drow empires were almost entirely evil, but this was not inherent in their nature. Their harsh and deadly environments plus their worship of the Dark Seldarine often led to religions of trickery, violence and cruelty become implemented in their culture. Dark-elf society is fractured, with various dynasties and royal families vying for power and land. As such, a culture of violence and subterfuge evolved in a harsh landscape of war and rebellion in order to survive.
Despite this, there are numerous kingdoms and dynasties who exhibit neutral and even good traits. Many of these civilisations renounced their worship of the dark seldarine and instead pursued their own moral worldviews. For many, the pressures of isolation and survival against nature had forced them to take on a cultural foundation which relinquished their violent ways in exchange for community and loyalty to their leaders. For others, the drow turned to worship of deities like Fenmarel Mestarine and others in and outside of the Seldarine, who promoted freedom amongst their culture.

Magic and Religion

The drow have developed an astounding number of unique (and often disturbing) spells; many of these have since filtered up through the Underdark and have become well known even on the surface world. Drow have an affinity for magical glyphs and runes, and have long warded their homes with potent magics woven into various sigils and runes placed where they can ward against intrusion.
The drow worship a pantheon of deities known as the Dark Seldarine. These deities were cast out of the Seldarine ages ago and exiled to the Demonweb Pits. They are led by Lolth, the Spider Queen, and it is she whom the vast majority of drow worship. The other drow deities remain minor in the grand scheme of things, either too absorbed in their own interests to increase their worshippers, or too afraid or comfortable as Lolth’s servants to make a move for more power. Much of the Drow worship is centred upon societal definition, the axioms and dogma's of the drow line perfectly with the viscous and deceptive nature of the dark seldarine. Much like their elf cousins, who commune with their gods for power and magic, the drow gain their power through dark pacts and favours by their gods in order to increase their standing amongst their mortal rivals.