Elves

The creator gods of the Elves, known as the Five Who Make, are said to have set out to forge them from the same elemental stuff as the original Titans, with the intent of creating a true successor race to the original masters of Aiaos. They were unable to work on such a scale, and instead matched their creations to the form and substance of the Titans' diminutive servants, the Eladrin, working the material of the Primal Wild into their creations. The resulting mortals lacked the eladrin seasonal magics, and instead each Kindred bore largely temperamental reflections of their foundational elements: the adamant pride of the Steadfast, the swiftness of the Vagabond, the restlessness of the Flowing, and the cool fury of the Kindled.
Long-lived, but ultimately mortal creations, the elves have long, perhaps always, harboured an obsession with finding immortality through legacy, be it through order, preservation, great tales or the continuity of family. Caught between the material solidity of their bodies and a fey soul, they devote themselves to living for the moment while building for eternity. They confuse shorter-lived races, and especially humans, because, while they have a deep sense of racial arrogance, elves have little or no concept of ego. No elf is ever raised, encouraged or allowed to think themself greater than the legacy of their kindred.
Elves average a little shorter and lighter in build than humans. Their metabolisms are efficient, but specialised, so that they require less food than most mortal races, but can consume only very specific fare. They have a wide range of colouration and appearance; their skin ranges from fair to dark, and their hair can be almost any colour, including some shades of green and blue. Their ears have high, pointed tops, but little or no lobes. An elf's pupils are vertical slits, like a cat's, dilating to encompass almost the entire visible portion of the eyeball by night. Their hair is fine, but very strong, although very few elves have much body or facial hair.
Elven legend tells that those Eladrin who survived the Colossus War and the Cataclysm joined the elven line, lending their strength and wisdom and blending the two lineages together. This claim, which is impossible to substantiate, is part of the elves' claim to be the oldest of the Mortal Lineages. Regardless of its truth, elves marked by especially dramatic colouration, exceptional longevity or greater than usual height are often thought to have eladrin heritage, but while such markers are sometimes accompanied by unusual powers, they carry no social cache.

Elves and Identity

Elves traditionally identify as elves, first and foremost, but since the collapse of the Regime most elves consider their kindred their primary identity. When elves of different kindreds interbreed, their children will mix physical traits from both lineages, but almost invariably display one of their parents' temperaments above the other. This is not considered prescriptive, however, and an elf can choose to identify as any kindred that their parents or grandparents identified as. Variations in language between the kindred dialects is a common means of distinguishing an elf's chosen kindred.
Until they become an adult, elves have a child’s name – typically simple in structure and without intrinsic meaning – and identify without gender. Elves of mixed heritage will typically not identify as a member of any kindred while they are still a child. They are addressed with the pronouns ‘they’ and ‘their’. Elves traditionally do not claim an adult name and responsibility until somewhere between 50 and 100 years of age. They reach physical maturity at fifteen to twenty years of age, however, and those who live close to communities of shorter-lived races tend to adopt an adult role much earlier. As they are considered in all ways a child, an elf who has not claimed maturity will not be expected to take on complicated work or responsibility. Those who take an adult identity earlier in life, in order to fit in with shorter-lived neighbours, are often not trusted with responsibility by their kin, and tend to replace their long childhood with an extended adolescence. This often leads to elves being characterised as shiftless and idle by their neighbours.
When they take on an adult identity, elves assert their membership in one of the elven kindreds. In addition, high elves, wood elves and sea elves adopt a gender identity – male, female or aesur – at adulthood. Aesuri – non-binaries – use the pronouns ee, eir and em. Drow make the same choice as other elves in their private lives, but many never adopt a public gender and use they/their pronouns throughout their lives.
Gender has few social implications in purely elven cultures, and this has influenced many younger cultures. It is also unlinked to sexuality, which among elves is not something that has limits. For elves, the heart wants what – and who – the heart wants, and that should never be a source of shame. Even unrequited love should be declared and honoured, but with no expectation that it must be reciprocated.
Elven Philosophy and Sciences