Elf
The elven people once controlled all of the region now known as the New Kingdoms but have retreated before the coming of humans. Now relegated to the mixed Kingdom of Atànot and their island Kingdom of Dadmaynan they are attempting to recapture their former glory by establishing new kingdoms in the Frontier Lands .
Basic Information
Anatomy
Generally taller than humans, elves possess a graceful, slender physique that is accentuated by their long, pointed ears. It is a mistake, however, to consider them weak or feeble, as the thin limbs of an elf can contain surprising power. Their eyes are wide and almond-shaped, and filled with large, vibrantly colored pupils. The coloration of elves as a whole varies wildly, and is much more diverse than that of human populations. However, as their coloration often matches their surroundings, the elves of a single community may appear quite similar. Forest-dwelling elves often have variations of green, brown, and tan in their hair, eye, and even skin tones.
Additional Information
Facial characteristics
Their eyes are wide and almond-shaped, and filled with large, vibrantly colored pupils. Their eyes also tend to be slanted. Elves male and female do not grow facial hair.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Elves also have three names. In the case of elves, there is the given name, the family name, and the chosen name. At birth an elf is given a name chosen by their parents, and being matrilineal will take the family name of the mother. However, upon coming of age (around 110 years) each elf chooses a name, this name replaces their given name except amongst family and childhood friends, who will sometimes still refer to them by their given name. Elves always give their chosen (or given) name first, followed by their family name. Elves who have come of age almost never divulge their given name.
Common male names include: Abbasdariel, Abdiel, Abrarel, Azazel, Barahel, Caphiel, Damandolphon, Darel, Darris, Erevel, Everson, Furnel, Hamaliel, Hebron, Jadonael, Jamiel, Jumon, Kafziel, Morael, Raduerius, Rikbiel, Sachidiel, Satqiel, Shoftiel, Tamiel, Turiel, Zaapiel, Zabkiel, Zakzakiel, Zephon
Common female names include: Akshara, Ambriel, Athara, Bishara, Camaedel, Chilara, Deshara, Dolanderal, Dolandlara, Dushlara, Eneynra, Gadiel, Habriel, Imalara, Inelida, Jahaleal, Jathlara, Krisiel, Lushlara, Mareyneal, Nishara, Nordellara, Orifiel, Praera, Salandlara, Shoftiel, Sujara, Tamaliel, Thelel, Thusaral
Gender Ideals
The elves are very egalitarian with regards to gender. There is total equality between the sexes, with the exception of things one gender is physically incapable of doing such as bearing and nursing children. An elf would be shocked if someone were to suggest an occupation or the like should be limited to one gender or the other.
Courtship Ideals
Courtship amongst the elves is a very casual thing. While elves generally deny the concept of "love at first sight" they don't have any customs regarding the length of a courtship. However, being long lived they tend to take their time with courtship as with anything else.
Relationship Ideals
The elven casual approach to life extends to relationships. A couple will generally pair-bond for a time, generally decades, then go their separate ways. While a couple will remain together as long as their are children to raise, it is common for a couple to part ways as soon as the last child reaches adulthood. A typical elf will marry several times over the course of their life.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Many elves feel a bond with nature and strive to live in harmony with the natural world. Although, like most, elves prefer bountiful lands where resources are plentiful, when driven to live in harsher climates, they work hard to protect and shepherd the region’s bounty, and learn how to maximize the benefit they receive from what little can be harvested. When they can carve out a sustainable, reliable life in deserts and wastelands, they take pride as a society in the accomplishment. While this can make them excellent guides to outsiders they befriend who must travel through such lands, their disdain of those who have not learned to live off the scant land as they have makes such friends rare.
Elves have an innate gift for craftsmanship and artistry, especially when working in wood, bone, ivory, or leather. Most, however, find manipulating earth and stone to be distasteful, and prefer to avoid forging, stonework, and pottery. When such work must be done within a community, a few elves may find themselves drawn to it, but regardless of their craftsmanship, such “dirt-wrights” are generally seen by other elves as being a bit off. In the most insular of elven societies, they may even be treated as lower class.
Elves also have an appreciation for the written word, magic, and painstaking research. Their naturally keen minds and senses, combined with their inborn patience, make them particularly suited to wizardry. Arcane research and accomplishment are seen as both practical goals, in line with being a soldier or architect, and artistic endeavors as great as poetry or sculpture. Within elven society, wizards are held in extremely high regard as masters of an art both powerful and aesthetically valued. Other spellcasters are not disdained, but do not gain the praise lavished upon elven wizards.
History
Elves are one of the oldest races, and often claim to be the oldest. They had dwelt in the lands now known as the New Kingdoms from the Atetef wastes to the islands of Dadmaynan. They never ventured east of the Tågbaf Mountains preferring to dwell in their own lands. The elves lived lightly on the land preferring to live in harmony with nature rather than subdue it as humans are wont to do. The had little dealings with humans apart from the Manneskor who dwelled to the north of their lands.
Things changed when the first Mangen arrived on their shores from the Old Kingdoms. The elves at first welcomed the newcomers and allowed them to settle in their lands. However the elves were unaware of the expansionistic nature of Mangen, nor how quickly the humans reproduced. As the years became decadesmore humans arrived and we're born. One by one the elven kingdoms fell before the expanding human nations as the elves retreated.
In time only the nation of Atànot remained, though as the human population of the mixed kingdom increases and the elven presence decreases it's anybody's guess how long it will endure. The island kingdom Dadmaynan endures as a Bastion of elvendom in a sea of humans, but only because non-elves are forbidden to set foot their on pain of death.
With the opening of the Frontier Lands to colonization by humans, some elves have sought to reclaim some of their races former glory by establishing new elven kingdoms. So far three have been established, yet it remains to be seen if these kingdoms will endure or be washed away in a rising tide of humanity.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Elves are prone to dismissing other races, writing them off as rash and impulsive, yet on an individual level, they are excellent judges of character. In many cases an elf will come to value a specific member of another race, seeing that individual as deserving and respectable, while still dismissing the race as a whole. If called on this behavior, the elf often doesn’t understand why his “special friend” is upset the elf has noticed the friend is “so much better than the rest of his kind.” Even elves who see such prejudice for what it is must constantly watch themselves to prevent such views from coloring their thinking.
Elves are not foolish enough, however, to dismiss all aspects of other races and cultures. An elf might not want a dwarf neighbor, but would be the first to acknowledge dwarves’ skill at smithing and their tenacity in facing orc threats. Elves regard gnomes as strange (and sometimes dangerous) curiosities, but regard their magical talent as being worthy of praise and respect. Halflings are often viewed with a measure of pity, for these small folk seem to the elves to be adrift, without a traditional home. Elves are fascinated with humans, who seem to live in a few short years as full a life as an elf manages in centuries. In fact, many elves become infatuated with humans, as evidenced by the number of half-elves in the world. Elves have difficulty accepting crossbreeds of any sort, however, and usually disown such offspring. They similarly regard half-orcs with distrust and suspicion, assuming they possess the worst aspects of orc and human personalities.
Genetic Descendants
Lifespan
550 years
Average Height
Males 6'1"
Females 5'11"
Average Weight
Males 136 lbs.
Females 111 lbs.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Elves display all the pigmentation that humans do, though many also have a green tint to their skin. Their skin coloration often reflects their surroundings.
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