Lasil
Plural: Lasili. Also called Elves, they are the third and youngest of the Elder Races and are known as the Guardians of Life. It is their duty, handed down by the Light, to protect the Child Races from forces that threaten to steal away their freedom to choose their path. The Elves have separated into three distinct races, but remain bound by their common purpose.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Humanoid
Genetics and Reproduction
With the extended lifespan of Elves, their population would have issues with overcrowding if it were not for several key factors, including their reproductive trigger. Their species was created, fully formed to serve the role given to them by the Light, and thus did not evolve their traits naturally. Their reproductive cycle is triggered not by a season or biological timer, but by physical stimulation associated with mating. Only a few days after engaging in sexual stimulation will a female become fertile, and will only remain so for about a week following, resulting in highly purposeful pregnancies. This also means females do not experience periods unless they trigger their fertility without becoming pregnant. Consequently, sex without pregnancy is avoided and thus Elven society is not a promiscuous one. For all intents and purposes, their reproductive process is otherwise identical to Humans.
There are three distinct races within the Elven people. These three races can interbreed freely, but the children tend have a phenotype strongly favoring the racial traits of one of the parents' race, and usually the eye trait of the less prominent phenotype. No sub-race exists for the offspring of parents of different races.
There are three distinct races within the Elven people. These three races can interbreed freely, but the children tend have a phenotype strongly favoring the racial traits of one of the parents' race, and usually the eye trait of the less prominent phenotype. No sub-race exists for the offspring of parents of different races.
Growth Rate & Stages
They develop from infant to adolescence in fifteen years. Once they reach adolescence, an Elf will begin to develop their first signs of magical ability. This is considered their transition into adulthood and is accompanied by a deceleration in their physical development. They retain a teen-aged physical appearance for another ten to fifteen years before they begin another growth stage and fully develop their adult stature over the next twenty or so years. From this point, they remain the same relative physical age for as many as five hundred years before showing additional signs of age. These signs of more advanced age develop gradually and, for example, an Elf with silver-gray hair could be assumed to be in excess of two thousand years old. While Elves can live indefinitely, old age slows their step and their mind until they are too frail to handle the rigors expected by their society and it is expected for the elderly to perform a ritual known as the Release instead of continuing to linger in life.
Ecology and Habitats
While all types of Elves can inhabit any of these environments, each race has developed preferences. Light Elves make their homes in mountainous or plains regions, either building cities or farmsteads and preferring a stable community of neighbors and leadership. Green Elves live in wilder stretches of the plains and forests, but can be found in unsettled parts of nearly all climates. Smaller communities can be found when many Green Elves settle in the same place, and a few cities have been built in locations special to their culture, but many Green Elves live on the road as lone wanderers or in mobile camps. Green Elves are welcome and even common inhabitants of Light Elven cities, while the reverse is slightly more rare. Shadow Elves will not make permanent homes for themselves outside of the tundra they traditionally inhabit unless their chosen profession requires them to. They are one of the most homogeneous populations among the Elves, with almost no outsiders in residence and only marginally more visitors.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Elves are mainly agricultural, farming for a majority of their food. Green Elves have a much heavier prevalence of meat in their diet due to their tendency to hunt while traveling. Shadow Elves hunt and gather from wild plants hardy enough grow in their tundra home, but they rely on food grown by the Light Elven societies, which they trade for regularly.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Elves tend to be orderly, valuing consistency, permanence and reliability in their lives. While seemingly a contradiction with the constant changes of nature, Elves see instead a pattern of changes in a cycle that comes around again and again to the same familiar states.
Elves do not reach full physical maturity until the age of forty-five and are not socially considered adults until sixty, when they are seen as having enough experience to understand the expectations of adulthood.
Elves do not reach full physical maturity until the age of forty-five and are not socially considered adults until sixty, when they are seen as having enough experience to understand the expectations of adulthood.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Each of the sub-races of Elf have a unique ocular ability, reflecting their divergent cultures and the specializations that have come with them. Each of these traits is effective only up to a certain range, usually about sixty feet. The eye changes appearance when viewed from a certain angle, namely when looking directly into the eye. The specific trait is identifiable based on that altered appearance.
Illasil possess a limited ability to see through the Light itself to reveal the world around them as it truly is. They have a weak form of Truesight that pierces some illusions and other deceptive effects. Magical darkness and natural darkness appear noticeably different to their sight, allowing it to be identified as such readily. The visual identifier of this trait is a faint glow within the eye, as if light were shining out of them.
Sylasil are able to detect life, specifically living creatures and plants nearby, ensuring they are always aware of the life that surrounds them. A more complex creature is easily distinguishable from simple plants, counteracting any natural camouflage. The visual identifier for this trait is a faint glow of the iris, enhancing the intensity of the eyes' natural color.
Shalasil have a powerful affinity with darkness, so they can naturally see in the dark. But the special trait of their vision goes far beyond simply seeing well at night. They have the ability to detect shadows and places of darkness even when in well-illuminated places. Magical darkness conceals nothing, only appearing as a different kind of illumination. The visual identifier of this trait is that the iris and pupil appear completely black, with no light reflecting off of them from any source.
Additionally, Elves are able to use their mana as an extension of their perception, though only those trained in this art are able to utilize it.
Illasil possess a limited ability to see through the Light itself to reveal the world around them as it truly is. They have a weak form of Truesight that pierces some illusions and other deceptive effects. Magical darkness and natural darkness appear noticeably different to their sight, allowing it to be identified as such readily. The visual identifier of this trait is a faint glow within the eye, as if light were shining out of them.
Sylasil are able to detect life, specifically living creatures and plants nearby, ensuring they are always aware of the life that surrounds them. A more complex creature is easily distinguishable from simple plants, counteracting any natural camouflage. The visual identifier for this trait is a faint glow of the iris, enhancing the intensity of the eyes' natural color.
Shalasil have a powerful affinity with darkness, so they can naturally see in the dark. But the special trait of their vision goes far beyond simply seeing well at night. They have the ability to detect shadows and places of darkness even when in well-illuminated places. Magical darkness conceals nothing, only appearing as a different kind of illumination. The visual identifier of this trait is that the iris and pupil appear completely black, with no light reflecting off of them from any source.
Additionally, Elves are able to use their mana as an extension of their perception, though only those trained in this art are able to utilize it.
Civilization and Culture
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Elves tend to view all other races as a charge to be guided and protected. The exceptions are the Dragons, the Templar, and the Ascended.
Origin/Ancestry
The Elven people were originally one people, but over time they began to diverge into three distinct races: the Illasil, or Light Elves; the Sylasil, or Green Elves; the Shalasil, or Shadow Elves.
Lifespan
Effectively Immortal
Average Height
Female: 1.5 m
Male: 1.7 m
Male: 1.7 m
Average Weight
Female: 50-60 kg
Male: 55-70 kg
Male: 55-70 kg
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
The Light Elves have fair complexion, ranging from lightly suntanned all the way to alabaster.
Green Elves have a range of skin tones including olive, copper and sun-bronzed.
Shadow Elves tend to have varying shades of grey skin, though they tend to be on the darker side of the spectrum, even fully black.
Green Elves have a range of skin tones including olive, copper and sun-bronzed.
Shadow Elves tend to have varying shades of grey skin, though they tend to be on the darker side of the spectrum, even fully black.
Related Ethnicities
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