The
High Elves, sometimes known as the
Sun Elves, are an ethnicity of the
elvish race found on the continent of
Crestfall. While as long-lived as any elf, the High Elf population is kept low in number by strict self-imposed laws regarding birthrates; the majority of High Elves live in the relatively secluded city-state of Alfhaven in northern Zholia.
History
The High Elves of Crestfall are the direct descendants of the
Eladrin, specifically those of the Seelie Court, who first arrived in Crestfall from their home in the
Feywild during the Pre-Vancian Era. Following the events of the Millennium War and the Fade, members of the Seelie Eladrin that did not withdraw back into the Feywild nevertheless relocated to Crestfall's more remote regions, primarily out of fear of retribution from the
humans and other native races of Crestfall who had been heavily oppressed during the War.
Over subsequent generations, the comparatively diminished magic of the Prime Material Plane had an effect on the elves' appearance, rendering their once-malleable and ever-changing bodies into more subdued and muted (but still considered be quite beautiful) forms.
Society
Although it occurred generations ago, the effects of the Fade still echo in the minds of the High Elves, who view the latter events of the War as a sort of karmic punishment for their Eladrin ancestors' over-consumption of Crestfall's natural resources and subjugation of its native inhabitants during the Pre-Vancian Era.
As both an act of penance and to prevent the repetition of past mistakes, the High Elves aim to reduce their societal footprint on the continent of Crestfall by imposing strict regulations on the size of their own population, typically only allowing a new generation of High Elves to be born once every few hundred years.
While this bottleneck imposed on elven birthrates has the desired effect of enforcing control of their population's numbers, it also carries the more dubious effect of cultural stagnation, as the gulfs of time between each successive generation means that new ideas within High Elven culture take a glacially long time to disseminate among the general populace. As a result, the culture of the High Elves has been largely unchanged for several centuries, as opposed to the much more fluid and dynamic development of their shorter-lived human neighbors.
It is not uncommon for a handful of elves each generation to attempt to fight back against this stagnation, fleeing the home and security of Alfhaven to pursue lives as travelers and adventurers. Others take a page from the books of their Wood Elf cousins, retreating from the rigid structures of society and instead deigning to attune themselves with the natural world as druids and rangers.
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