Elves

"For the ancient Elves, life was a cycle of birth, the fulfillment of every base desire, delving into every whim, wish and question, followed by a comfortable death, safe in the knowledge that their reign would last forever. But their own hubris, and those base desires, shattered that cycle forever. Now their once-great race cowers in the ruins of their civilization, too afraid of their own lusts and desires to embrace the full spectrum of sensation. It is a fate they justly deserve. In truth, there can be no escape from the doom they have brought upon themselves – not this side of the grave. Fate is a cruel mistress, and not to be courted lightly."
-Arch Mage Rommath of the Argent Order Elves are a magical people of otherworldly grace, living in the world but not entirely part of it the same way other mortal races are. They live in places of ethereal beauty, in the midst of ancient forests or in majestic spires glittering with faerie light, where soft music drifts through the air and gentle fragrances waft on the breeze. Elves love nature and magic, art and artistry, music and poetry, knowledge and mastery of all things.

An otherworldly people

With their unearthly grace, fine features, and sometimes cold unemotional logic, elves often appear hauntingly beautiful to humans and members of many other races. They are predominantly slender of build, and near the average height of humans or slightly taller (5.5 to 6.5 feet), weighing only 100 to 160 pounds. Males and females are about the same height, and males are only marginally heavier than females. Elves encompass a wide of physical appearances, including the normal human range of skin an hair tones. But certain sub-groups of elves tend towards other appearances, such as High Elves with skin in shades of tan or olive, and hair of white, gold or bright red, and eyes that of a green, gold or blue tint. Wood Elves, accustom to the deep woods may have and almost brown, copper, or pale skin colour, with hair of brown and black being most common. Those with extreme magical talents often see their eyes start to give off a glow as they grow in age and power. Elves rarely have facial hair, but when they do it is minimal; seldom growing to more than that of a goatee or mustache without magical assistance. Elves are blessed by their creator with extremely long life compared to most mortals in the world, but are most certainly still mortal. They normally live well over 500 years, with anyone reaching 600s being considered quite elderly; and their oldest living to around 700 years. This gives them a broad perspective on events that might trouble the shorter-lived races more deeply. This long lifespan also permeates their thought processes. Elves almost always think in longer terms than most of their other mortal counterparts. For a human, retaliation for a slight may happen hours or days after the fact; and elf might plan and think for weeks, months or even years; they've got the time. Much of their culture then also revolves around the mastery of skills. If you've got the time, might as well get good at things. Starting from a young age, most elves collect skills; picking several things of interest and spending hundreds of years becoming utter masters at such, then move onto another to add to their repertoire. Rituals and ceremonies for the elves are also known for their duration, along with performances, art, music, etc. They are all done at a pace that many humans consider slow, but the elves consider it paced and measured.

A life of extremes

Elves also do not experience the world in the same way as many other mortals do. Elves experience sensations and emotions at what would be considered a higher level than most other races. Anger, joy, sadness, colours, sounds. etc. are felt more acutely, and at extremes. An elf feels anger more acutely, sadness more profoundly, colours are brighter, sounds louder, the taste of magic sweeter, than would a human or other mortal might experience. This is believed to be because of their connection and origins to the Fey Wild where all of these heightened sensations are closer to the norm. A human equivalent, would be when under the influence of an intoxicant, a drunk get angrier faster than if he was sober. But this is the Elven experience all the time, for human the effect may feel euphoric, because it is outside of their norm, but for elves; it is their norm. The result is a culture strongly routed in discipline and self-control, in order to keep those emotions strongly in check, lest they fall to the same sins as their ancestors; this is known as The Path. The effect is an almost passivity of emotion which adds to their otherworldliness, as they keep their emotions in check and employ cold logic and skill. Conversely, in some it also creates a strange search to feel nothing. If the entire world is consistently abuzz around you, some seek silence as a high.

Tumultuous Past

Elves have a tumultuous relationship with the world as it is. Once their race was the proud ruler of the known world. But arrogance, malice, and the grinding years have taken their tole. Elves encountered while in human lands are treated with a mixture of awe, and derision; and often to the extreme ends of that spectrum. For much of the Fifth Epoch, most of the high elves were considered a people without a home. Their cities rent and torn down, and what few Elven enclaves remained had gone into extreme isolation, closing their doors to all and hiding from the outside world to protect what was left of their people. For this time, the elves left to fend for themselves were treated harshly, in some places they were treated as vagabonds, others as second class citizens, and even elsewhere captured and sold as slaves. They gathered in small enclaves where they could, but normally under the thumb of some greater power. Today, elves have taken steps to retake a place in the world. New Elven kingdoms have been founded, and the ones of old have reappeared once again. Outside their own lands and enclaves Elves can be found commonly in many forms of work, and some still as vagrants and criminals; but more commonly as traveling minstrels, artists, sages, rangers, or magicians for hire. The services of Elven sword and magic masters is often competed for by Human nobles to teach their children. As far as relationships go, High elves struggle the most with their past. They harbor resentment towards Humans and other "younger" races, both for their social treatment, but also for past conflicts with contributed to the downfall of their species. But they also to some extent, accept that humans may just be incapable of self control, and pity them. They also have strained relationship with Wood Elves, who previously closed their doors during their time of need and let them fend for themselves. Conflict with Dwarves is not uncommon over access to magical resources such as the varieties of Realmstone needed in the creation of many magical products; although they also do share a kinship in the loss of their once great empires. They do find kinship with other races who experienced similar hardships, and quickly form common bonds with the likes of Dragonborn who have experienced their own traumatic past and seen their own civilization fall. In the end, Elves are survivors. The High Elves and Wood Elves have done what they need to in order to survive, however distasteful that may be. And now they seek to regain former glories and look to the past for a future they still feel is theirs to claim.

Elvish Cultures

The Elven people are split between several distinct cultural groups. Unlike the dwarves, where the differences are largely superficial; there is often a wide gulf between the different ways of the elves: Wood Elves: The peoples of the Woodland realms. Those who live in harmony with nature, and choose not to participate in the urbanized aspects of society.
High Elves: Arrogant, intelligent, graceful, and otherworldly. High Elves are the embodiment of all that Elves can be; or so they believe. High Elves are artisans, artists, warriors, and practitioners of the arcane nearly unrivaled in this world. Sol'Cari Elves: Having been abandoned by their people for generations, the "Sol'Cari" seek to carve a new path in the world, separate from their High and Wood Elven brethren if they must; and will do what they need to in order to ensure their future. Drow: Dark Elves, known by the slang terms Drow or Cricks. They are considered evil by most, if not all who see them, and trusted by virtually no one. Their history dates back to Second Epoch; when their ancestors sided with forces of evil during the conflicts of that time. After their defeat, these elves retreated into the darkened spaces of the world, particularly The Underdark and hid to continue their worship of the dark gods. While some have broken sway from this history, they find life in the world above almost worse. Extreme racism, to outright violence often greets Drow when they arrive in most civilized places, regardless of their own intent. Drow are highly recognizable by their skintone and hair, which both tend towards light or dark purple/blue. Fey Elves: Little is known about this enigmatic group of elves by the outside world, or even within Elvish society. These are the remnants of the Elves who chose to remain behind in the Feywild after their creation. They seldom associate with the Material plane.