Swamp Elves

An interesting and rare subspecie of elves, creates by genmaturgists of Xylian Dominion to serve as an infantry specialized with fighting in hard terrain, especially in swamps and bogs where xylian warmachines couldn't enter. Thus they are considered one of the militant subspecies, with their culture create to make them serve well as soldiers, albeit degraded over time due to their rather extreme environment.
Their greatest breeding – and training - zone in Karadia were an expansive swamps in today's eastern Visenia, called Leshyan Swamps. There they were allowed to multiply to grant Xylian Dominion access to enough number of them for their needs. They seemed to serve in big numbers during the last Xylian-Kivanthian War, not to mention their wars against Mechanics for control over Lana, sustaining great loses they didn't manage to entiretly replenish before Black Iron War.
Following the collapse of their overlords' state and xylian nigh extinction, they created their own state, Kingdom of Leshya, that was considered one rather secondary in power, but on the other hand one practically unconquerable due to its difficult environment. It proved too much even for humans, since while their wave sunken local elven states, swamp elves survived with naught but glancing hit.
They are actually surprisingly widespread in Imperium, with many feudal lords and countries introducing them to local swamps, letting them gather – trade - wood, tar, fish, peat and low grade iron from swamp ores in peace, causing their slow rise in number especially due to closed environments and lack of other elves wishing to live amongst them.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Typical humanoids. Two hands, two legs, one head. Their biggest difference from baseline elves lies in their immune system, which makes them nearly completely resistant for overwhelming majority of viruses, bacterias, poisons and so on transmitted through water, making them able to drink swamp water without risking any significant problems (and without diarrhea even).
While they still tend to purify water, it is caused mainly by its taste, not by risk of death, with swamp elves fully capable of drinking it raw when in pinch. They also very rarely have their wounds infected, even in they wash them with particularly bad and contaminated water. On the other hand, their immune system is more specialized than overhauled, making them particularly sensitive to typical elven infectious diseases, with plagues like elven pox or black lungs disease causing an increased danger to them and further reinforcing their self imposed isolation.

Biological Traits

As all elves, they are very dependant on level of their blood purity. Mixing with other elven subspecies makest heir offsprings genetically inferior, slowly degenerating into low elves, making special traits of their subspecies much weaker with every generation, and lowerign their lifespan.

Genetics and Reproduction

Their reproduction is typical for elves. Can have children only with other elves, ogres, and very magical beings like shapeshifters and High Dragons. Pregnancy ranges from 9 to 10 months, depending on level of blood purity.
What's interesting is that the swamp elves pregnancy, too, was a target of xylian improvements, making them much more resistant for deaths and infections during giving birth in difficult conditions. On the other hand, it also wasn't without side effects, as their women tends to go through noticable more ardurous labor and with about 10-15% of them being infertile.

Ecology and Habitats

Swamp elves prefere swamps, where their unique characteristics give them ability to live on decent level without any outside interference, with their culture prefering to be left this way.

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

Lack of facial hair with exception of eyebrows. Their skin tends to feel and look rather soft and delicate. Skin tends to be light, but slightly greenish in tint, while hair are normally dark, murky green.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Most of them hails from ancient Kingdom of Leshya, although following its eventual collapse after human invasion it was never rebuild, remaining a loose group of sometimes warring tribes. This system spread throughout Karadia together with swamp elven settlers, who live in separate tribe spread over entire continent.

Civilization and Culture

Gender Ideals

Overwhelming majority of swamp elven tribes is divided between more 'militant' males that hunt, forage and so on, and females whose job is to give birth and take care of children, made meals, tend to their houses and so on.

Relationship Ideals

Most of the swamp elven tribes follow typical system for wild tribes, prefering the more or less monogamous marriage system but with more notable members able to take few concubines that are considered a de facto wifes, only with less rights that already right-defficient wifes.

Common Taboos

As in case of most elves, they have a taboo about mixed relationships with other elven subspecies, although its actually more of a general xenophobia directed especially towards other subspecies. Caused mainly by the risk of catching infectious diseases. Although even with humans they prefer to leave all contacts to their elders.

Created by: Xylian Dominion.
IC: Occurence: Uncommon
IC: Danger: Threatened

Lifespan

80-400.

Average Height

1.5-1.7m.

Average Weight

45-75kg.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

Their rather primitive society tends to use a wide variety of tattoos, with quite many meanings, including ones religious, magical and societal.