Elves

Elves are known to almost everyone in Ferdlan for their beauty, incredible sense of art and extremely good weapons they are experts in making. Not everyone is an admirer of their fine work, as they have a history with elven steel, goblins and orc for instance, but every soul agrees that there are no weapons better than those forged in elven forges hidden deep inside humid forests. Elves are also considered a bit harsh in relationships with other races due to their very long lifespans and their long timed perspective of the world. They are known to have problems in creating relationships with people of other races, but it is only because gaining their trust is a very long period in time. They are known to be perfect rangers and masters of forests and jungles. Not everyone knows though, that they have magic in their elvish blood, that exposes itself sometimes more or less, but nevertheless, elves are known of magic and mysteries that surround them.
Elves are connected spiritually to their places of birth. They are connected very closely to the nature of those places and whenever they leave their homes, they feel an internal need to come back to their place in nature. Because of that they do not establish new settlements and are rarely seen in terrains that they are not connected with. That causes the big absence of elves in a political ruling, as they prefer to spend their time caring for nature.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Elves are divided into a few subraces, that depend on the place their ancestors come from. A few biological traits vary depending on their subrace:

Field elves - They are elves that inhabit plains and grasslands. They are easily distinguished by their light greenish skin and hair in the colour of dried grass. They are mostly nimbler and more agile than other elven subraces.

Rock elves - They are elves that inhabit mountains and rocky terrains. They vary from other elves thanks to greyish skin and white hair. They are the most resilient and strong of elves.

Underground elves - They are elves that inhabit the Underground. They are different from other elves because of their almost purple-greyish skin, and white or purple hair.

Ice elves - They are elves that inhabit glaciers and tundras. They have blueish skin and white hairs, but they are also distinguished from other elves by their ability to survive in extremely low temperatures.

Forest elves - They are elves that inhabit deep rainforests of the south. They have brownish skin and green hair. They are known for their ability to easily disappear in their natural environment, which are forests and wilds.

Flower elves - They are elves that inhabit Great Flower Fields. They have very radiant pink skin and blue hair.

Growth Rate & Stages

Elves have the following stages of life

0 - 120 years - Childhood - Elves in that age learn to properly learn, move around, communicate and mimic basic behaviours.

120 - 360 years - Younghood - Elves at this age begin to change slowly into adults, through hormonal as well as mental maturation. Elves at this age begin to independently learn and comprehend the basics of adult life and being part of the society they are in.

360 - 450 years - Peaking - Elves reach the peak of their growth and do not grow taller. They are fully formed adults, that are at peak of their innate physical and mental ability.

450 - 1200 years - Adulthood - Elves at that age are fully grown members of society, that are responsible for their role in it and have to make crucial life decisions.

1300 - estimated 1500 years - Seniority - Elves at that age start to slowly lose the elven beauty and perfectness of their skin. Wrinkles and hair decolouration start to appear and the physical ability starts to decrease. Diseases to which elves are completely immune at a younger age begin to violently attack the body further weakening it. Changes beyond that are unknown as the few elves that reached one and half millennium died from illnesses, but it is theorised that their bodies could survive longer if they had developed immunity for those diseases earlier.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Elves have been ruled in their ancient times by the Council, but then they forfeited this system for others. The Council consisted of twelve elves that were chosen every fifty years and were the highest authority in elven cities. Different elven cities were not connected by any political structures before other races introduced the idea of countries to them. Then, they adjusted their social structures to those they were introduced to. Overground elves have always considered underground elves to be inferior, due to their weakness in sunlight and very different way of thinking, as in underground elven societies the system of Council remained and cities never decided to connect.

Facial characteristics

Elves have very sharp features and long chins. Their eyes are oblique on the ends and the same concerns their long ears. Their eyes vary in shades of green, blue and violet.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Elves are species that are very territorial and are rarely known to expand beyond their domain. Every subrace of elves is connected with different places of nature and they spend most of their time living in those places. The Kingdom of Waruet is considered an elven kingdom, but not closed to other races, as most of the elven cities are placed there, some of them reaching about ten thousand years of existence. Elves have no important influence in countries other than Waruet and Divine Countries.

Average Intelligence

Elves are known for their unique and vast knowledge about nature, forests and places they live in, as they want to know a lot about their environment, they feel connected with. They also have quite a knowledge about art and elven weapons.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Elven perception is a little varied between the subraces, but common between them is a generic humanoid perception with five senses. Beyond that following is different:

Field elves - One feature that distinguishes field elves in perception is their ability to sense grass in the spring and summer even from a kilometre away.

Rock elves - Rock elves have been observed to hear much better whenever in mountains, or similar places that have space restricted by stones.

Underground elves - These elves are equipped to penetrate even the deepest darkness with their eyes.

Ice elves - They can sense an approaching snow blizzard in the air.

Forest elves - Whenever they are in the forest, their senses are gently heightened.

Flower elves - Flower elves have a remarkable innate ability to distinguish and remember the scents of a variety of flowers.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Naming varies due to the variety in subraces of elves.

Field elves - Male first names: Feral, Humal, Minal, Yrwal, Purnal, Wernal, Hormral, Baldral. Female first names: Mainal, Wuinal, Reiwal, Joilal, Geiwal, Vuiral, Eminal, Joival. Surnames: Meowaler, Gaowaler, Buimalir, Huamalir, Fuamalir, Orvolar, Emvolar, Lovoral.

Rock elves - Male first names: Aun, Bun, Dun, Pun, Hun, Qun, Vun, Xun. Female first names: Aan, Uan, Ean, Oan, Ian, Yan, Qan, Xan. Surnames: Tutanwol, Dwarvwol, Orkwol, Humawol, Gobliwol, Sarahwol, Gubarwol, Duranwol.

Underground elves - Male first names: . Female first names: . Surnames: .

Ice elves - Male first names: . Female first names: . Surnames: .

Forest elves - Male first names: . Female first names: . Surnames: .

Flower elves - Male first names: . Female first names: . Surnames: .

Major Organizations

Kingdom of Waruet - Kingdom almost full of forest elves. Divine Kingdoms - Only place where elves influence the political life of countries. Auvaran Caliphate - Country where most rock elves are living. Kingdom of Rilan - Only place where flower elves live. Kingdom of Tar - Kingdom swarmed with field elves.
Avengers of Adun - organization of elves willing to reclaim Halls of Adun from claws of monsters, which made their lairs inside of them. Okr' Saylih - an organization that recruits elves willing to fight and slaughter orcs for their ancestors' crimes.

Average Technological Level

Elves are perfectly known for their unique weapons in which forging they became masters. Ways of forging elven weapons are kept secret deep in magical forges of elves. Only fact known for certain is that magic is used directly in the process of forging. Numerous creations of elven smiths have magical properties. Beyond their extraordinary properties as weapons they are considered form of art by every smith that has seen such a weapon themselves.
Only people worth of wielding elven weapons are considered elves themselves, close friends of them and anyone that has been gifted with one, due to their merits for elvenkind.

History

Elves' beginnings are covered with secrets and mystery. There was no possibility to throughfully examine their homelands and discover their true origin. Themselves they claim to be weakened descendants of nature spirits, given stable material form and freedom of acts, but strapped of their power. This is why elves have originated in places with strong attachment to magic of nature. Type of terrain, they were created in, decided of their abilities and appearance.
Elven societies grew in prosperity thanks to benefits of opening to outside world. They were still territorial about their magical homelands, but stopped fearing guests. Later elven homelands became to attract tourists, because of Six Elven Miracles, that were built around -4,000 BG. Those Six Miracles were: Halls of Adun, Glacier City, Rose Palace, Jungle City, Fields of Blessing, Ice Spire. None of them remained in their original form after Godsdoom. Halls of Adun and Glacier City were destroyed by orcish raids. Rose Palace died because of Petal Plague. Fields of Blessing were destroyed during Godsdoom. Jungle City and Ice Spire were taken over by various monsters.

Historical Figures

Ambrose Limmanuel - famous sorceress adventurer.

Lifespan

Elves themselves have probems in estimating their lifespan, as none died purely of old age, but it is estimated that elves live about milenium and a half, reaching maturity in age of 360.

Average Height

Elves reach about 2 meters in the age of about 360 - 450 years and rarely grow beyond this number, as they stop growing at that stage of life.

Average Weight

Elves' weight is mostly varying in numbers from 50 to 60 kg, thanks to their very light, pneumatic bones.

Average Physique

Elves are most usually slim, but they are strong, thanks to the specific build of their bones and muscles. They might appear fragile to orcs or dwarves, but they sometimes outmatch in strength even those if they take care of their muscle power.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

The skin of elves varies depending on their subrace. It can be of shades of the following colours: green, grey, black, blue, brown and pink.

Geographic Distribution

• Ferdlan