Hoshi Elves

Hoshi Elves, also known as "High Elves" were elves that had separated themselves from the Tuatha Dé Danann or the Midori Elves. They separated themselves from their fey origin, focusing more heavily on the study of the heavens and philosophy. Their future place in this world. They found the Életfa Tree and the people who built their city around it. They grew to worship this tree and built their own religious understanding of it. Many years later, during The Burning Time, the remaining Hoshi elves separated into two sections. The Taiyō Elves, also known as Sun elves or Golden elves, were those that lived on the floating rocks tethered to the earth in what became the Yoseikyo Empire. They were the ones that created a strong relation with the Kohaarteba Empirehe Tsuki Elves, also known as Moon or Silver elves, went south to regions known as JingliaoThey removed themselves from political focus and continued to study philosophy and religion.

Hoshi Elf Features:

Ability score increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2, and your Intelligence score increases by 1.
Age. Although elves reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, the elven understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience. An elf typically claims adulthood and an adult name around the age of 100 and can live to be 750 years old.
Size. Elves range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and have slender builds. Your size is Medium.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 30 feet.
Darkvision. Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Fey Ancestry. You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep.
Trance. Elves do not sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semi-conscious, for 4 hours a day. The Common word for this meditation is "trance". While meditating, you dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive after years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit a human would from 8 hours of sleep.
Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill.
Elf Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.
Cantrip. You know one cantrip of your choice from the wizard spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write a variation of Common, Elvish, and one other language of your choice.

Naming Traditions

Unisex names

All Hoshi elf names are considered unisex and are chosen elvan variations of existing names of significant places, families, and events. They are personalized self inventions. Loved ones might forget to use this chosen name and still refer to an elf by a child name, but this is considered very personal, and informal. It would be extremely rude for someone else to use such a name. Examples are: Honetu, Taimairian, Finoni, Nakasone, or Toshiana

Family names

Instead of family names, a Hoshi elf will say that they are from a certain place using "no" meaning "of." Therefore they will introduce themself as Sariel no'Tokai. This leads to a misunderstanding in other cultures that think elves have a lot of no' last names, and that they aren't location-specific. This also changes depending on if they moved or where they feel they are actually "from." For example, someone who was born in Tokai, but moved to Sakegawa and quickly feels more strongly connected to Sakegawa would change their last name to no'Sakegawa.

Other names

Hoshi elves have changed from the traditions of "Elder" names and the like and have more concrete social roles that are age-dependent. They typically are given a child name that is usually considered whimsical. For example, a child's name might be elvish words for "Birdy, Bitsy, Piper, Lucky, Whisper, or Nimble." When the child declares themself an adult around their 100th birthday, they often choose their new name, which is often a variety of important people or events in their life. Most are unique creations that they hope will be slightly varied and adapted by another elf when they are older.

Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

Elves are typically conservative of expressing values, emotions, and feelings. They tend to be expressive of love openly, but little else. Elves reach physical maturity at the same rate as humans, but they haven't reached "adulthood" in the elvan sense until they've stopped dreaming of their past. Since their birth, Elves do not dream, but instead enter "dream like" trances. During this time, they often have vague dreams of past lives, past emotional connections, and visions of the feywild. This continues until they begin to make their own connections and relationships. When they have done enough in their life that they are no longer dream of their past, or past relationships (usually around 100 years of age), they are considered mature enough in this lifetime, and adults in the eyes of elves. These dreams are usually considered extremely private, and not spoken about, as they often share images and ideas of history with old loved ones and enemies. Some will actively seek out close relations with past family relations. Those that do not have old memories of past lives often have dreams or visions of future events or events they will experience before they become an adult. This isn't often realized until later for these elves. Despite a common lack of expression, many elves will personalize themselves with tattoos and piercings as a means of telling stories.

Common Etiquette rules

It is considered extremly rude to touch another's hair, almost as a personal attack, unless in an intimate setting. To cut someone else's hair is ultimate humiliation on the person who's hare is cut and total disrespect. Additionally, respect among elders is extremly important for their experience and wisdom. Many elves even use honorifics to denote elders, teachers, peers, etc.

Common Dress code

Elves favor natural plant based fabrics that can endure the intense humidity of the rain-forest. However, they have an abundance of color variations due to the plant diversity, and often wear brightly colored clothing. Hoshi elves ave an abundance of silkworms, which is a great source of export, and favor the material. Many hoshi elves have also developed a sense of fashion using fans, and wide brim hats to protect against the harsh sun rays and survive in the heat. Hair pins are extremly popular sources of jewelry, and elaborate hair styles with intricate braids, pins, and weavings can be a display of wealth and influence.

Art & Architecture

Hoshi elves have protected their cities during the burning time, and many exist on floating rocks and debri as an aftermath of Enkidu's destruction. They have tethered these cities to the high canopies of the East Yosong Rainforest. The remaining architecture is of master forged dwarven shaped before the conflict arose between the people when the Raashken Empire was still in control. It has since grown and changed, adding intricate elvish detail, living structures made from trees and plants, and elaborate guardans.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Elves don't require a lot of meat in their diet, and rely heavily on high fructose and plant based. They eat a lot of sweet, sour, and tart dishes and are known for their jams, jellies, preserves, and canned foods. They have also found ways to harvest various insects and bugs or frogs as a source of protein, often also put in forms of jellies, or fried with fruit spreads on top. It's often very flavorful. They also are well known for their abundance in fruit wines. Some might eat game for celebrations, in small portions with a fair amount of sauces and fruity toppings.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

When a child is born, extended family and family friends in a localized community will often come together to meet the child. During this celebration, seven guardians are named as the child's mentors and teachers aside from the parents. These must be agreed upon by both parents, and is a source of great respect for those chosen. they come together to help decide an elf's "child name" though the parents have the final say. Marriage is not a formal idea among the elves, therefore two people will come together to raise a child, and remain positive and supportive even if they no longer remain together as partners. The community of the seven, and the two parents will act as the most important figures in the child's lives, and they might refer to them as "sept" family members. A grandmother that is also one of these seven might be called a "sept grandmother."

Coming of Age Rites

Elves have 2 coming of age rites. When they reach "physical maturity," hoshi elves will often partake an a festival known as the Flight of the Vespyr which occurs roughly once every 5 years. It's a famous festival among many some of the largest hoshi elf cities, which many families will often travel long ways to be able partiake in the festivals as well. Some of the festival activities involve the sunset dance, which is a dance that begins when the sun touches the horizon. All of the participants are those that have reached physical maturity since the last festival. They drink a special mixture before they begin that is typically a plant based psychoactive tea, and dance until they drop. During this dance, they often in bright colored clothing of intricate costumes and the dance is known to last into the night. The winner is typically crowned the festival Queen or the Vespyr Queen, despite them being male or female. This is done in a specific area, though others will often participate in the dance as well, outside of the competition, as their own celebration. It's usually something only done by those who have not reached 100 years or more. Other events involve music, games, costume competitions, and couple dances throughout the day. The sunset dance is the final dance, and after that is a community feast. When night falls, during the feast, they watch the Vespyr swarm take flight that evening, as bioluminescent cricket like bugs that make homes in the floating lands around Yoseikyo.
The second Coming of Age is when they reach "mental maturity" which they often claim themselves, by choosing to leave on walk about. After they have gone a month without a trance involving their past lives or unknown visions, and only dream of their current life, they can declare their independence and begin their walk about. Their family will braid their hair, typically to keep it out of the way and as their first of many. In this time, they do not return home or to their tribe for 1 year. When they return, they tell of all the news they have learned on their time apart. Those that do not return are considered "lost." If they return and confess that they chose not to return, this is often considered dishonor, for leaving their family worried. Their hair might be braided and cut. While on walkabout braids don't need to be kept in, but there is an intricate braid culture among elves where number of braids, parts per braid, and ornaments. They typically represent battles, obstacles, and social ranking. This is a common tradition among all variations of elves.

Funerary and Memorial customs

When an elf dies, they are the most susceptible to undeath than any other race due to their connection to the fey, and the Othersphere. To protect against this, cremation is the most common form of burials among elves. They will typically do a pyre of the dead burning them with carved or grown offerings to pass with them. They believe the spirit goes into the ether until it can be reborn. Loved ones will often take a small section of hair if they wish to remember their loved ones. These are often kept in trinket boxes or lockets.

Ideals

Beauty Ideals

Hair is very important to most elves. They typically have very fine, illustrious hair that can grow to incredible lengths, though it tends to grow slowly and is very strong. Hair is often used as a way to see age and gauge respect for an individual as well as a way of showing disrespect or humiliation. Because elves, especially the Hoshi Elf variations, tend to be considered so beautiful that they often look alike to other races, tattoos and piercings have become especially common forms of self-expression. Many elves will get tattoos to tell stories or personalize themself, show strength and endurance with intricate tattoos in sensitive places (such as faces), and even get many piercings to show wealth or status. These are also commonly used as expressions of beauty.

Gender Ideals

Hoshi elves have less strict gender roles than the cultures of Midori Elves. This is largely in part because they live in more urban environments with larger communities that do not need typical roles. They also tend to be extremely fluid in gender expression, and have a more androgynous appearance, and cannot grow facial hair. The Tsuki Elves (silver elves or moon elves), in their study of the arcane, their fey origin, and other transmutive powers, have learned how to be as changing as the moon. Some particularly well-studied or well-focused Tsuki elves can change gender and sex to best fit whatever suits them at the time. This abundance of bisexuality (not only in orientation but literally dual sex potential) has created a culture that values friendship in a relationship above all else and finds concepts of rigid sexuality foreign. The idea that someone wouldn't date another based on gender or sexual characteristics would be difficult to understand.

Courtship Ideals

Elves of all kinds tend to be very sex-positive. They wish to encourage the creation of children which are rare among elves. Most only have 1 or 2 in a lifetime and many don't start until midway through their life. Children are seen as precious and extremely protected. They don't have a standard sense of marriage, but it isn't uncommon for two elves to come together and stay together for the entirety of their lives. Tsuki elves especially have no problem with population growth and as all Hoshi elves live in larger communities, they value the need for children less than the Midori Elves.

Relationship Ideals

Relationships are often casual, with a great deal of personal independence. The local community or extended family comes together to raise children, so relationships become more like partnerships or choices to live together. There is often little distinction between friends or partners among elves, aside from the amount of physical expression.