Elath (el-ath)
(Aka, elves.)
Basic Information
Anatomy
Facial shape ranges across several types, but are generally somewhat thin, with high cheekbones, slender noses, pointed ears that average 3’’ (7.62 cm) in length, and large eyes with big irises and slit pupils.
Elves have much longer, pointed canine teeth and sharp, blade-like premolars to ease the chewing of meat, while having more typical flat back molars.
Sexual dimorphism between males and females is limited to notably wider hips in the females, with non-lactating breasts never being beyond B-cup in size and averaging A-cup. There is some variation in facial structure, with differentiation being occasional more masculine features in males. Weight and muscle potential differs little between the two, with height variances being the same regardless of sex.
They have an upright, bipedal posture the same as humans. Elves also have a proportionally broader chest which gives even the males a slight figure since their torsos are also proportionally longer than a human’s.
Elves are not biologically inclined to build bulky muscle and have a high baseline average metabolism, along with a biology that does not store fat beyond the threshold of objective usefulness (with snow elves and star elves having a higher threshold than other elven subspecies, and desert elves having the lowest threshold).
Biological Traits
Lifespan
Oldest recorded non-ageless with a natural, unmodified lifespan is 750 Terran time (880 Alluanian time).Height Ranges
Tallest recorded height is 6'0" and shortest is 5’01’’ (this is in healthy individuals - some illnesses or genetic defects can cause variations well outside these numbers, which is oft accompanied by other, more detrimental effects). Gigantism is known to occur in this species.Dietary Needs and Habits
Elves are obligate carnivores, meaning that they are entirely dependant upon a meat-based diet to have good nutrition and be healthy.
As for the standard diet, that varies depending on subspecies, but in general elves will eat most meats available to them - ranging from poultry to venison to fish, an elf’s broad diet allows them to survive in most habitats and climates. Their diets can also include eggs, some fruits (eaten for fibre or simply just because of the taste), and goat, horse, or deer milk.
Most elven subspecies are lactose-tolerant, except for the dark elves, who are lactose-intolerant instead.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
An elf's given name is their child name, which becomes their middle name upon declaring adulthood. Once adulthood is declared, an elf crafts for themself a name that will be their first name from then on, though close family and friends may still call the elf by their child name privately if allowed.
Elven names are typically composed of partial syllables from Elven root words, with special modifiers used in the cases of atypical names (such as 'watch' becoming 'watcher' in part of an elf's name).
Most Elven names are either only mildly 'gendered' (in that some are considered more feminine or masculine oriented, but not actually considered to be male/female names) or neutral, but it is possible to use modifiers to specify an explicit gender if desired (usually pronoun use is the sole thing used to denote gender identity, but some individuals go as far as putting it in their very name as adults - child names never have gendered modifiers).
Male, female, neutral, agender, bigender, trigender, demi, and fluid modifiers all exist, as Elathivan inherently recognizes more genders than real-world English does. But they're rarely used in names. A name's default is considered neutral, but a neutral modifier can be used to reinforce that the individual is gender-neutral.
Beauty Ideals
The primary attractive feature to an elf is an overall healthy and fit body - other aesthetic preferences vary wildly between subspecies and individuals, but the primary desired traits in a potential significant other or temporary mate (elves do not culturally associate reproduction with love) are good health and at least decent fitness.
Gender Ideals
While their language leaves little room for doubt of an individual’s identified gender and biological sex, elves culturally care little about what is supposedly the ‘better.’ Males, females, agender, and queers are all equal and have little bearing on anything most elves consider relevant or important.
Transgender individuals are freely accepted, with a second circle transmutation spell (specifically, the spell Align Biology) allowing for easy change of biological sex if desired.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Elathivan is the primary language of the elven species, with numerous dialects dependent on both subspecies and region.
Most elves also know Morati fluently.
Other languages such as Ketnov, Draconic, and the outsider languages are also often spoken by elves, to varying fluency.
Lifespan
700 years Terran time (820 years Alluanian time).
Conservation Status
Least Concern.
Average Height
5’04’’ (165 cm.) to 5’10’’ (168 cm.) with little variation.
Average Weight
110 lbs to 160 lbs
Geographic Distribution
