Elven Customs

All races have many unique customs, peculiarities of their culture, history, and way of life that are specific to them and their sense of racial identity. This article lists some that are unique to the elven race, in no particular order.
For more basic information about this race, see Elves.

The Elven Kingdoms

In the present day elves have a strong sense of racial unity, but this wasn't always the case. Ancient elves were far more divided and clannish, separated along the lines of their ancient kingdoms and prone to conflict with one another; war was common, whether between the different kingdoms or against the other races. It wasn't until the Treaty of Six Lands in 1200 BCE that a peace was negotiated and the elves resolved to align themselves in the face of an exploding human population.
Signed by the ancient kingdoms of Darkmere, Starfall, Silverleaf, Snowsong, Shadowheart, and Iram of the Pillars, the Treaty of Six Lands was a formal end to elven war and formed the position of High King. While each of the kingdoms maintained their sovereignty and royal family, the High King serves as a symbolic overarching leader unifying and leading the others in times of conflict. The position rotates periodically upon the death of the previous High King or Queen and passes to the most capable of the available candidates as decided by all involved; due to the length of elven lifespans, it can be several centuries between these rotations.
Since the signing of the treaty, the various kingdoms have enjoyed a fairly peaceful cooperation. They maintain a reasonable amount of commerce between themselves and their various farflung outposts, and travel between the kingdoms is more common than most inter-shard travel. Some rivalries still remain, but for the most part the elven people have tied themselves together with a combination of intermarriage and identity through shared heritage.

Inheritance and Adoption

Elves take great pride in their lineages and there's a focus on maintaining the family's name and heritage. As a result, marriage is carefully orchestrated around keeping power in the family and making sure that there are children to keep the group strong; while this might suggest that there's little room for adoptive children, this isn't the case. Elves know the value of children in a race with low fertility, and while adoptive members are rarely considered for the lines of direct inheritance they're a welcome addition.
Inheritance among elves takes the form of primogeniture, with no distinction between male and female. Though this does mean a certain level of rank and power among noble houses, for the most part inheriting family leadership is seen as much as a duty as a privilege due to the fact that management of a large elven family is a fulltime task; as a result, there's generally little jealousy between elder and younger siblings. Being prepared for serving as matriarch or patriarch means cultivating skills of management, diplomacy, and careful attention to detail, and many younger siblings of elven families are grateful for the larger degree of freedom in marriage consideration and pursuing their own interests.

Birth of a Child

Due to their low fertility rates and the strong family ties among elves, the birth of a child is a major event in elven culture. If at all possible, while pregnant elven women will live in the family home even if it means having to travel; the family helps provide support and encouragement throughout the pregnancy process, and expectant mothers are expected to stop whatever form of work they might perform in order to focus fully on preparing themselves for birth. The family gathers together on the expected due date, with female family members attending to the birth itself and male family members joining them for the celebration afterwards.
Elves feel strongly protective of expectant mothers, and even houseless elves are rarely alone during this time. It's common for them to be supported by the community, and in many cases elven houses will temporarily adopt a single mother who doesn't have family of her own; these arrangements typically end after the child is approximately a year old, but will sometimes become permanent with the mother marrying into the family and the child gaining inheritance rights.

Forest Graves

Elves honor their dead, and see the departing of a loved one as a reason for fond remembrance rather than grief. As a result it's important to them that the dead are laid to rest in a place that's close and accessible where they can be regularly visited.  Elven graveyards, whether communal or familial, are beautiful forested areas of land that are regularly frequented by the living; graveyards are seen as a place for relaxation and contemplation, where the living can enjoy the nearness of the dead, and it's normal to see a fair number of visitors at any given time.
The planting of trees in graveyards is a common practice. In addition to adding to the quiet atmosphere, trees are seen as a physical manifestation of the natural cycle where the living take nourishment from the dead; their roots both symbolically and physically bind together all those who've gone before. Trees within forest graveyards often reach incredible ages thanks to the careful tending by generations of elves.

Memories of the Shadow

Though they neither recall nor acknowledge their racial origins in the The Worldshadow, most elves feel a certain degree of connection to Lore and give the Shadow King a place of honor in their household shrines. Elves tend to feel comfortable in darkness, especially the natural darkness of nighttime. They rarely take up official service as timewalkers of Lore, with most feeling that seeking to extend their lives via the Worldshadow's immortality is scorning the long lives that Siarus granted their kind, but it's not unusual for an elven mage to have an affinity for shadow magic that shares some similarity with the abilites granted to timewalkers.