Elves
Elves are generally tall, lithe humanoids with pointed ears and large, almond shaped eyes. They are the 3rd most common people in the known world, and are encountered slightly less often than Halflings outside of their island homeland of Alfen or the temple cities of Undra. Elves are known for their maritime traditions, almost casual sense of spirituality, and unique relationship to time.
The Timeless
Though elves are recognized by most folk as having long lives, the whole truth is even stranger: as far as anyone has been able to determine, all elves are functionally immortal. Any elf that you meet has existed possibly as long as the world itself has, and they always seem to continue on no matter what happens. One hears stories of a particular elf being killed or dying, but then a century or two later they re-appear, unchanged by the experience. No one knows how the elves do this, where they come from, or how they come back from death. Even the elves don't appear to know, because their memories seem to work differently than other peoples'. Because they live such long lives, they only retain what matters to them, and only as long as it continues to do so. They can remember the previous 100-200 years easily, but anything before that is fuzzy or forgotten, unless it's important knowledge that they've chosen to preserve (such as a field of study) or there's some emotional attachment (a trauma or blessing) and even those things will eventually fade if the elf's priorities change enough. Their existence is therefore somewhat unmoored from time, leading human scholars to sometimes refer to them as The Timeless.Foresight
And because they are Timeless, they have an odd connection to the future as well. They sometimes sense the shape of things that haven't yet happened, and seem to always know where to look to find or notice something. This has led some to believe that elves can see into the future, and though there are stories of elven oracles (including the famous Oracle of Alcazar) such things are exceedingly rare, at least in their waking lives. If an elf sleeps, their dreams are often plagued with strange visions of things to come, which as a rule they find disturbing. As a result, most elves simply don't sleep - it upsets them, so they instead have found a way to rest and renew themselves through periods of meditation.Gods and Spirtuality
Finally, their Timeless perspective gives them a different take on spiritual or divine matters. Because they are just as timeless as the gods, they don't necessarily hold them in awe like mortals do. Since they have a connection to the beginning of time (whatever it is), they can "remember" the gods in a way other people can't. The gods for them feel more like old out-of-touch friends or distant relatives. This makes other peoples think of the elves as irreligious, but it's really that the elves are just much more casual and comfortable with regards to matters of spirituality and divinity. (See: Elven Pantheon )Family Relations
Family associations among elves are unusual as well. While there are elves who claim to have some kind of vague recollections of something that might have been a childhood, such memories are so distant and cloudy that they might be conflated with ancient stories, dreams, or visions of other realities. Elves may feel familial connections between themselves, and may live in clans or houses which are recognized through old traditions. They may call each other cousin or sibling or uncle, etc, but this may just be tradition or habit rather than based in any genealogical fact. Such associations may last for centuries or even millenia, but there is no guarantee of their permanence.Half Elves
It is known that elves are capable of having children, because there are verifiable stories of elves coming together with humans to produce half-elf offspring, who have lives measured in centuries and who manifest strange powers and abilities. This is an exceedingly rare event, however, because having progeny just isn't a priority for the elves.Adaptive Appearance
Elves vary in appearance and features as much as humans do, but they sometimes pick up traits such as hair, eye, and skin color from their environment - an elf who has a long association with the sea may have blue or gray hair, and pale white or bluish skin, while an elf who has spent centuries among the trees of a forest might have green hair and a nut-brown complexion.Cultural Divisions
There are three major elven cultures: Alfaen - the original island homeland of the Sea Elves, from which they sailed to many distant lands. Undra - the Wood Elves live among the Jungles and forests of this subcontinent. Once a colony of Alfaen, the elves who settled here have broken away from the mother-culture to embrace a profound mysticism and an extreme form of nature-worship. The Storm Reaches - The colder, snowy mountain areas in the north of the Western Continent are the former home of the Storm Elves. Another faction that left the Alfaen culture, their kingdom was based on conquest, slavery, and an alliance with dragons. Fractious infighting doomed their lands to eventual ruin, but the occasional refugee from the old kingdom can still be encountered now and again. There are rumors of "Dark Elves" that live in caverns deep underground, but no one knows if such tales are true.
Related Organizations
Languages spoken
Comments