Elf
Elves in Tiriande
Elves are common in Tiriande, being among the first groups to arrive in the Dungeonscape along with humans and halflings. The wife of the fabled Founder Queen Tiriande was an elf, starting a tradition of close cooperation and familiarity between elves and humans in the nation that persists to this day. As such, Tiriandan elves are considerably less aloof and haughty in their relations to other races than their counterparts on the Prime Material, though they retain the reputation. Sometimes, it is even deserved - their longevity still holds them apart. Though to a lesser extent than their half-elven relations, elves in Tiriande are often struck with a malaise known as Greenlust, where they wither for a time and complain of feeling cut off from the world and nature. Most of the time, this fades within months, though in rare occasions it can become a chronic and recurring illness known as Tiriande's Curse, a wasting illness that eventually results in death. The rest of this article describes elves as they are seen in Toril and other places outside the Dungeonscape.Description
Elves stood on average 5′4″‒6′0″ (1.6‒1.8 m) and weighed 130‒170 lb (59‒77 kg). Usually, true elves were a naturally slender and athletic race. Elves had a similar range of complexions to humans, with wood elves typically coppery or pale skinned and wild elves having darker pigmentation. Often, elven hair was dark, either brown or black, with copper red or blond hair also found amongst wood elves, although orange or even green hues were not completely unheard of. Elven eyes are commonly brown, hazel, or an emerald green. Elves, like their cousins the eladrin, were fair and beautiful, handsome, and had pointed ears and no body hair except eyebrows, eyelashes, and hair. Elves matured at roughly the same rate as humans, though they were not usually considered past adolescence until they reached 110 years of age. Unlike humans, elves did not age dramatically as their lifespan came to a close, with the most obvious changes being a change in hair color, alternatively graying or darkening. Most elves remained healthy and full of life up until their death, which, if age-related, was usually between two and nine centuries.Abilities
Elves had a number of abilities that set them apart from other humanoid races. Like their kin the eladrin, elves were agile, dexterous creatures. However, elves could move slightly faster than their eladrin kin and could move swiftly through even the roughest terrain. Elves were also more preternaturally aware of their surroundings than eladrin, as well as possessing better common sense. This aided elves in many ways, allowing elves a high degree of perceptiveness that they could lend partially to allies. Additionally, elves were extremely accurate in their attacks, having a degree of precision that would be unusual for other humanoids.Resting
Many elves did not sleep, instead finding their rest in a meditative state called "reverie", which was as restful as true sleep but left them aware of their surroundings, similar to an eladrin's ability to enter a trance.Personality
Elves commonly possessed strong but swiftly passing passions, being moved easily to laughter, anger, or misery and as quickly calmed. They were known for their impulsive behavior and, as a result, many races saw them as flighty or impetuous. However, elves were not as flaky as others might interpret them to be, and they were typically responsible despite their almost whimsical nature. Partially due to their long lifespan (though not entirely, since many long-lived races acted differently), elves had difficulty taking some matters as seriously as other races, but when threats they recognize did arise, elves were strong friends and allies to those they were loyal to. Elves tended to make strong and uplifting friends. Most elves loved simple joys such as dancing, singing, footraces, or contests of skill. They had a natural aversion to that which they saw as uninteresting tasks and were fun-loving by nature. However, despite how unpleasant some things such as war could be, elves became grimly serious if a threat to their friends, family, or livelihood made such actions necessary.Society
Homelands
Elves were usually found in small tribes throughout the forests of Toril, as well as on windswept plains and in mountain vales. The elves, as a whole, preferred these secluded places of nature to the cities and nations of the civilized world, living in harmony with their natural surroundings. Cautious and cunning warriors, particularly of the bow, elves secured these homelands through guile and tactics.Subraces
High Elves- Sun Elves Also called gold elves, sun elves were highly civilized elves with a natural gift for wizardry
- Moon Elves Also called silver elves, moon elves were one of the most common subraces. They lived a nomadic lifestyle, and often interacted with other races.
- Star Elves Little is known about this subrace, though they are sometimes referred to as Mithral Elves. Strangely, though they are present in Tiriande, they appear to be unheard of on the Prime Material.
- Wood Elves Also called copper elves, wood elves were a populous subrace that lived simply in the forests
- Drow A dark-skinned subrace of elves that predominantly lived in the Underdark. Common in Tiriande.
- Aquatic Elves An aquatic race of water-breathing elves. Tiriande has a significant enclave living in and around the Tranquil Depths, alongside various other aquatic races.
- Avariel A mostly extinct race of winged elves. There are a few in the stalagmite range in the southwest of Tiriande.
Basic Information
Biological Traits
Little to no body hair; Long, slender pointy ears
Civilization and Culture
History
The elves branched away from the eladrin in a long forgotten age, and no one was exactly sure which race came first, though most scholars believed the eladrin did. Of the Tel-quessir, those who would become the elves were the first to arrive on the then united worlds of Abeir-Toril. At that time, there were only the green elves, known as the Sy-tel-quessir in their own language.
Millennia passed and the fey ancestors of the elves and eladrin together ruled over much of Toril in relative peace until −12,000 DR, when the eladrin nation of Aryvandaar invaded the dark elf and green elf nation of Miyeritar, starting the first of five Crown Wars which, in total, lasted for 3000 years.
The green elves suffered many defeats in the Crown Wars and by the end of the conflict had lost all of their former territory. Driven into the wilderness, the green elves gradually changed over generations, with the gap between them and eladrin widening until they became a distinct race. This change caused the elves to gradually lose their talent for the arcane and grow even closer in their connections to the wilderness, becoming as much a part of the landscape as the wild beasts with whom they shared it.
The green elves who remained in isolation became the wild elves and lost their taste for civilization and nation-building, becoming nomadic wanderers. It was also around this time that the first of the wood elves (or Or-tel-quessir) emerged, when some of the wild elves migrated into the lands of the eladrin and bred with their kin race, creating a new hybrid culture.
The wood elves, unlike the wild elves, continued to build civilizations, though on a smaller scale than the eladrin. In the eastern High Forest, the wood elves founded the kingdom of Earlann, a contemporary and ally of Netheril. However, when Earlann fell, the wood elves too abandoned the concept of nation-building, leaving it to the other races.
Elves as a whole ignored the Retreat to Evermeet, though some followed their eladrin brethren to the land across the Trackless Sea. Most elves remained in Faerûn, embracing the world around them rather than rejecting it, though a few tribes of wild elves also chose to withdraw from the world, hiding in remote places like the Chondalwood in order to evade the notice of the other races.
The human scholar Wosar Anion wrote a book about elves based on the studies conducted by the academic minds of Myth Drannor, entitled A Study of the Tel'Quessir, their Natural Talents, Societal Norms, and their Explanations.
Lifespan
750 years
Average Height
4'7 - 5'5
Average Weight
82 - 152 lb
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