Elves of Golarion
Elves on Golarion are more diverse than humanity often credits, though they are perhaps not so diverse as shorter lived races. Their long lives make for a slower process of cultural drift. The great division of Elvish history was the cataclysm of the First Earthfall many thousands of years ago. Aware of the eminent disaster, most elves fled Golarion for a mysterious location called Sovyrian. Whether this is another plane, a distant continent, or another world is not known to any but the most ancient elves. Some claim that a gate still exists within Iadara, the capital city of Kyonin. Not all elves fled, and many who tried did not reach the gate in time, and so were trapped on Golarion through the long Age of Darkness following the impact of the Starstone and the collapse of ancient empires like Azlant, Thassalion, and Iobara.
Those who remained found ways to survive. Some fled underground and adapted there innate magic to the darkness around them, becoming Drow. Others fled into the wilderness rarely visited by the other mortal races, and are spoken of as Wood Elves or Wild Elves. The largest population of these being in the great rain forest of the Mwangi Expanse. Some fled into the seas and adapted themselves to aquatic life. Legend speaks of an elvish queen who took her people and fled into Death itself.
When the elves returned, they found their beloved Kyonin had been infested by a demon which legend has named Treerazer. They managed to force the demonic horde back into a small corner of Kyonin, but the great elven civilization that once covered much of the world had been lost, it's ruins covered over by nature, or war, or by the cities of other peoples. Today, Kyonin remains the only truly elvish nation on the surface of Golarion, and even that must be on constant lookout against the demonic infestation in its southern fastness.
In appearance, elves resemble slight, graceful humans. They tend to be slightly shorter and lighter than humans, with elongated ears and large irises and pupils so that their eyes appear to have no white. Their irises often have shockingly vivid colors and in rare elves the irises are black, giving an unnerving appearance from the perspective of other species.
Elvish culture values friendship and loyalty highly, though it should be noted that elves living among other cultures often adapt to the culture surrounding them. Some elves resent the other species for their lost realms, but most have come to terms with it, knowing that it was the choice of the elves to flee rather than fight.
Recent History
The elves of Kyonin suffered less from the Rising than others. For reasons unknown it is virtually impossible to make an undead being from an elvish corpse, and so Kyonin did not face the sudden arising of their dead that so many nations did. This allowed Kyonin to seize the opportunity to expand its borders for the first time since their return to Golarion. In 4736, an elvish host crossed the West Sellen into the River Kingdoms and marched on Sevenarches. The druidic wardens of the ancient elven sacred sight fought fiercely, but they were outmatched and Sevenarches fell once again into elvish hands. The elves of Kyonin made note that the other River Kingdoms did not come to the aid of their neighbor.
Elsewhere, the wild elves of the Mwangi Expanse have found themselves the dominant power of the devastated region, and have spent much of the past decades seeking to heal the scarred land. They have aided refugees of the other folk who dwelt in the the Expanse, and the great crater where the Starstone struck is now an elvish settlement with homes carved into the walls.
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