Elves

Elves are the second-most populous species in the Prime Material plane. They are tremendously adaptable, and have developed into numerous subraces that allow them to thrive in almost any environment.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Humanoid, with various adaptations for their environments (e.g. sea elves can breathe underwater and are resistant to cold, avarial elves of the Plane of Air have wings, desert elves can go twice as long without food and water before suffering exhaustion, wood elves are faster than most other elves and blend easily into their surroundings). All elves share certain traits with only very rare exceptions: darkvision, keen senses overall, a resistance to being magically charmed, and the ability to gain the full benefits of a long rest without actually sleeping. Some elven subraces are generally shorter than the average human, others tend to be taller. Most elves are considered quite attractive by human standards, though this says more about humans than it does about elves: they have as much variation in their appearance as any other species.

Genetics and Reproduction

Native to the Life plane, elves have an innate desire to reproduce and spread quickly. However, this was tempered by the fact that they were immortal, and would rapidly overpopulate an area if unchecked. This drove them to reproduce extremely slowly, and some communities could go centuries without a new birth. The tension between these extremes led some elves to leave the Life plane and spread across the Prime Material and into several other planes as well. Whenever they entered a new environment they would reproduce rapidly, "evolving" extremely quickly to adapt to the needs of their surroundings, and spawning a new subrace. (Thanks to the influence of magic, evolution was not nearly so slow a process in the other planes as it was in the Mundane.) Once they reached a stable point, their reproduction would slow drastically, until a group of them felt compelled to move on and find someplace new to inhabit.

Growth Rate & Stages

Elves reach physical adulthood within two decades, like humans. However, emotional maturity can be much slower, and it takes most elves at least a century to be regarded as fully adult by others of their kind.

Ecology and Habitats

Anywhere that humans can visit using technology or magic, one or more subraces of elves can be found living there.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Details vary by subrace or even community, but in general elves do not adhere to strict hierarchies. Age and experience are usually respected, and there may be a council of elders that convene to determine issues involving a group and relations with outside forces. But most elves would be reluctant to straight up tell another elf what to do.

Facial characteristics

Elves look a lot like very attractive humans. They are most easily recognized as elves by their pointy ears and long, pointed eyebrows. How exaggerated or muted these are varies a lot even within each subrace.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Elves are the most widely distributed sapient species. Their numbers are far less than humans but they can live anywhere humans can on land, and a great many places humans cannot. This includes under the sea, deep in the arctic, in the densest jungles, and in other planes such as the Feywild and the Shadowfell, the Planes of Air, Water, and Earth, and likely further.

Average Intelligence

Many humans believe that elves on average are smarter than humans but this is just a stereotype. Elves exhibit the same range of intelligence as humans.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Nearly all elves can see in the dark, and their other senses are more keen than a lot of the other sapient species.

Civilization and Culture

History

Elves were the principal sapient species native to the Life plane, which became the Feywild after The Convergence. In the Life plane, they were immortal, and they were infinitely adaptable. Many elves have a natural affinity for magic, and learned to travel to other planes millenia ago. The might have been the second species ever to do so, after the dragons. As they spread to other planes they became mortal, but retained their adaptability. This allowed them to thrive in nearly every environment they found. There are more subraces of elf than any other species, and they can be found in more varied habitats.

Lifespan

1000 years

Average Height

Depending on the subrace, anywhere from 4'6" to 7'.

Average Physique

It's not impossible for an elf to become fat, but it is rare outside of a few specific subraces. Their bodies do not tend to store calories in this way. They range from slender, nearly frail, to quite muscular.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

"High" elves, those who lived in the Magic plane prior to the Convergence, have skin, hair, and eye colors that overlap almost completely with humans. Most other subraces have at least some variations that do not occur in humans, such as golden Eladrin, green wood elves, blue sea elves, and many more.