Elves

Called Eladrin in their own tongue, the long-lived elves are children of the natural world, distant relatives to the fey, and amongst the oldest peoples of Astora.

Description

Appearance

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.
While elven clothing often plays off the beauty of the natural world, those elves who live in cities tend to bedeck themselves in the latest fashions. Where city-dwelling elves encounter other urbanites, the elves are often fashion trendsetters.

Personality

Elves commonly possess strong but swiftly passing passions, being moved easily to laughter, anger, or misery and as quickly calmed. They are known for their impulsive behavior and, as a result, many races see them as flighty or impetuous. However, elves are not as flaky as others might interpret them to be, and they are typically responsible despite their almost whimsical nature. Partially due to their long lifespan (though not entirely, since many long-lived races acted differently), elves have difficulty taking some matters as seriously as other races, but when threats they recognize do arise, elves are strong friends and allies to those they are loyal to.
Elves tend to make strong and uplifting friends. Most elves love simple joys such as dancing, singing, footraces, or contests of skill. They have a natural aversion to that which they see as uninteresting tasks and are fun-loving by nature. However, despite how unpleasant some things such as war could be, elves become grimly serious if a threat to their friends, family, or livelihood make such actions necessary.
Elves are a relaxed people, with a degree of patience and detachment granted to them by their long lifespans. Elves are not easily excited and lack the greed that sometimes characterized other races. Most elves are unconcerned with the events that only affect the short-term and are likewise slow to make friends or enemies since time for them is measured in centuries, not decades. Focused on whatever they apply themselves to, elves ignore the slight but rarely forgot the serious.
Because of their long lifespan, most elves have a patience uncommon to other humanoids. They view the lives and concerns of younger races as fleeting and take less joy in the short-term victories that other races have to content themselves with. Instead, elves take pleasure in things that have more endurance, such as the arts or the honing of one's skills.

Traits

Elves have a number of abilities that set them apart from other humanoid races. They tend to be quite aware of their surroundings, with more potent senses of sight and sound than humans. They have the ability to see in low light conditions unhampered, though some elven sub-races go so far as to possess the ability to see in the dark. Most elves are also agile, dexterous creatures.

Lifespan

Elves are universally long-lived, achieving what they consider adulthood at 110 years of age and living for up to 700 and more years thereafter.

Abilities

As creatures born of the Fey, elves have a natural resistance to certain types of magic, including sleep effects and many enchantments. They are also natural spellcasters, responsible for some of the most powerful magics ever enacted in Astora, paralleled only by the ancient Imaskari and Netherese human empires (for whom the elves acted as teachers and mentors).

Reverie

Many elves do not sleep, instead finding their rest in a meditative state called reverie or "trance", which is as restful as true sleep but leaves them partially aware of their surroundings. In this state, they achieve the same results as a human might through sleeping in roughly half the time. Elves able to trance are also often resistant to the effects of supernatural powers such as sleep, since they do not themselves sleep but instead rest in a semi-aware state.

Culture

True artists at heart, elves often favor roles that are more artistic in nature, such as minstrels, artists, and sages. They also highly value arcane studies and martial prowess, both considered forms of art amongst the elven people.

Society

Elven governments tend to be very loosely organized, with small groups of elves accepting the legitimacy of a respected noble, who in turn acknowledge the authority of a monarchical king. This was not always the case, as the elven empires of the Era of First Flowering covered vast territories and held great numbers of elves within their ranks. In more recent times, however, Tor Dorthanolin stands as the single remaining elven nation, and even they operate primarily as a loose confederation of local cities and towns in their current state.

While most elven settlements are isolated from surrounding civilization, often deep within forests or in frontier territory of other nations, they are no strangers to city life, with some elven cities rivaling their human counterparts for sheer size and population. These cities were not the norm, with most elven communities numbering in the hundreds of members, blending easily into the natural landscape. It was not unknown for outsiders to walk right through an elven enclave without even realizing they were doing so, as their architecture so often blended with and molded to their surrounding environment. They are often wary of outsiders, but rarely to the point of barring them entry to their lands (though Tor Dorthanolin stands as an exception to this generalization).
Many elves live amongst the other races, especially humans, rather than isolated within settlements of their kin. The Moon Elves are especially common to find outside of elven lands, due in no small part to their wanderlust and adventurous nature.

Values

Elves have an affinity for freedom more than anything else, preferring the way of unrestricted liberty to the restraints of civilized law and order. Liberty, both of one's self and of others, tends to be the greatest virtue in elven cultures. This love for freedom is often tempered by a good and generous nature, though not always. Drow in particular stand out as an example of evil amongst the Eladrin.
Due to their long lifespans, the elves of Astora put little stock in passing affairs or short term gains and losses. They are often willing to simply wait out trouble rather than spend the time facing it head-on. It is only when an outcome is lasting or dire in nature that they would react to it, leading other races to view them as a highly reactionary and disinterested people. This is not the case, however, but rather a result of the long lives of elves leading them to view the world on a different timescale from the shorter lived races.

Religion

Elves are no more or less religious than many other races, with worship of the gods commonplace amongst them, though not to a point of taking a central role in their lives or culture. Most follow one or more of the Seldarine Pantheon, gods dedicated specifically to the elven people. Worship of those of the Astoran Pantheon while not the norm, is not entirely uncommon, and there are even a rare few whose worship focused on one of the Interloper Pantheons.

Relations

Eladrin, the elven word for their own kind, more directly translates as "the people". Likewise, Eledain, the elven word for non-elves directly translates as "not people". This, paired with the lack of concern elves often show towards passing affairs has given many other races the impression that elves are elitist, racist, and condescending towards outsiders, though any that truly know the Eladrin understand this is not the case. Despite this conception, very few races hold a true enmity towards the Eladrin (or at least specifically towards them). They often come across as distant and unfriendly towards the other races, in no small part because it is often easier for an elf to avoid forming relationships with outsiders than to deal with the continual loss of those they befriend who live only a small fraction of their lifespans.
Gnomes and elves generally get along well thanks to their mutual love of life, combined with the gnomes' love of fine art and illusion magic. On the other hand, halflings and elves share only a lukewarm relationship. The elven habit of eating sparingly is not welcomed in halfling society, and elves sometimes deem a halfling's curiosity as childlike and troublesome.
Dwarves in particular have a difficult time forming relationships with elves, despite having longer lifespans themselves. Dwarves favor hard work and dedicated labor in contrast to an elven focus on relaxation and recreation. Dwarves enjoy carving homes out of rock, engineering straight, angular lines in contrast to the elves' preference towards more natural, flowing shapes. Despite these contradictions, both show a strong sense of dedication and commitment to lasting outcomes, and are able to form incredibly strong bonds of kinship, but only when they are able to overlook each other's differences.
Elves regard humans with both fear and respect. Humans grasp magic and adapt to many situations incredibly fast from an elven perspective, but they are wary of the human tendency to claim lands as their own, often regarding them as greedy, and their disregard for the long-term consequences of their actions has led elves to distrust the ability of humans to use the power they wield responsibly. It is quite possible for strong friendships to develop between humans and elves, but it is equally possible that hostilities might arise.

Diet

Elves are typically omnivorous, like humans, but tend to eat very little meat. This is not so much out of concern for the animal as an effort to make as little of an impact on the natural world as possible, with elves believing that the consumption of vegetation has a lesser impact on natural harmony. Additionally, this partially comes from many elven cultures' traditions of nomadic life, which require food to be easily preservable.

Sub-Races

Moon Eladrin

The most commonly encountered of the elven sub-races are the Moon Eladrin, known in the elven tongue as Ithil Eladrin, or Moon Elves in common. They have fair skin, sometimes tinged with blue, and hair typically of silver-white, black, or blue; human-like colors are somewhat rare. Their eyes are often blue or green, with gold flecks. They prefer to dress in rustic clothes of simple cuts and fashions that are nevertheless of fine and exquisite make. They adorn their dress with embroidered patterns, beads, and similar trappings, preferring earthen colors for everyday wear, hues that make it easy to conceal themselves in foliage. In places of safety or in times of revelry, they enjoy dressing in bold colors - the more brightly colored, the better. Hair is worn in braids or ponytails, twined with wires or beads.
Moon Eladrin are more impulsive than the other elves, and dislike remaining in one place for any significant amount of time. They are happiest when traveling, especially across the expanses of untrodden wilderness that exists far from civilization. This is the single greatest reason why they are so much more friendly and accommodating to other races than many other elves: Moon Eladrin do not isolate themselves behind impervious defenses as is common amongst their brethren and, having watched humankind for much longer than their sun or sylvan kin, know that non-elves aren't nearly as foolish and unimportant as many other elves assume. They feel that engaging promising human realms and instilling elven values and culture in these young lands is a better way for the elven race to survive and thrive than hiding away and avoiding all contact with ambitious, grasping humans.
Moon Eladrin gather in loose bands, composed of a dozen or so extended families. Leadership is democratic; all elves of the band have a say in important decisions, although the voices of one or two of the wiser and more experienced family heads tend to carry the day. In times of danger, the band chooses an elder or war-leader to see them through the peril. Moon Eladrin travel light and travel often, rarely staying in the same place for more than a season or two before moving on.

Sun Eladrin

Also known as Anar Eladrin, or Sun Elves, the Sun Eladrin they are responsible for the majority of the great magical and architectural wonders of elven legend, although they often were combined efforts and involved the other elven subraces as well. Their people are famed for their command of both arcane and divine magic, matched only by the ancient Imaskar and Netherese Empires. Works of elven high magic that predate human civilization entirely still survives in the hidden refuges of the Sun Eladrin. The works of the Sun Eladrin are the stuff of legend, and they played an integral part in the history of Astora for millennia. Fully aware of this, they often distance themselves from non-elf races and rarely allow such "lesser beings" into their lands.

Sun Eladrin often have bronze skin, hair of golden blond, copper, or black, and eyes of green or gold. They favor contemplation, lore, and study over the quick games and light-hearted songs of other elves, but seem to embody the unearthly beauty, grace, and presence of the elven folk. They dress in clothing that is at the same time magnificent and understated, favoring cool colors such as blue and green. They decorate their clothes with intricate gold or mithral thread embroidery in exacting patterns whose subtle designs are easy to miss at first. Jewelry is simple but painstakingly crafted.
Of all the elven sub-races, Sun Eladrin are the most arrogant and haughty. They believe that they are the true elven race, the builders and the leaders of the elven realms, and that the other elven sub-races fail to live up to the solemnity and dignity of their ancient stock. They believe that they were selected by their gods to be the defenders of elven tradition and history. They are also the most patient of the elven races, and they devote their time to perfecting a task rather than just merely completing the task. To a sun elf, rushing a job or finishing a project in anything less than perfection is betraying the elven ideal. As a result, they tend to have a much narrower range of skills than other elves, but they are the unrivaled masters of the skill, art, or craft to which they turn their efforts. The only exception to this rule is combat. Sun Eladrin have no love for combat, but they are nevertheless well trained in its ways. They view combat as a necessary evil, and one that should be resolved quickly so the task can be done and one can return to more pleasant and constructive pursuits.
Sun Eladrin revere wisdom and learning. Even the humblest sun elf abode features a room or two filled with old scrolls, maps, and books. Sun Eladrin have a strong tradition of rule by nobility, and most sun elf communities are ruled by a monarch who can trace their line back to the Era of First Flowering. Where a human noble measures their power by the expanse of the lands under their rule and the numbers of soldiers at their command, a sun elf noble is known by the honor of their family name, the magical power and lore their family has accumulated, and the wealth and beauty of their palatial home.

Sylvan Eladrin

The most numerous of Astora's elven races, Sylvan Eladrin, known in common as Wood Elves, are a youthful spirited and confident folk who hold the old elven forest homelands in strength. They do not view their homelands as a land apart from the rest of the world; they understand better than their kindred that for better or worse, their fates are bound up with the fates of the other human races around them.
Sylvan Eladrin have coppery skin tinged with green, and brown, green, or hazel eyes. Hair is usually brown or black, occasionally blond or coppery-red. They prefer to dress in simple clothing, similar to the Moon Eladrin but not quite so colorful. They favor a simple cut to tunic or dress, set off by common embroidery in natural designs. They are particularly fond of leather armor, and they often wear lovingly tooled and well-crafted suits even when they do not feel endangered. Their clothing, leather armor or not, is usually in dark shades of green and earth tones to better blend with their natural surroundings. They are a humble race and only rarely do they enhance their appearance with jewelry or similar accessories.

Sylvan Eladrin are calm, serene, and difficult to surprise. Their patience is legendary. They are at one with the world of nature, and are not comfortable in areas of heavy civilization. They have lost the urge to build and replace nature with walls and palaces; even the cities built by their elven kin seem to be foolish to the Sylvan Eladrin. They have come to believe that buildings of stone are transitory in nature, and that in time, the forest returns to overgrow the greatest of cities. Other races interpret this attitude as fatalistic or condescending, and as a result Sylvan Eladrin find it hard to understand other races. They live at ease with nature, using what naturally occurs in the world to shelter or defend themselves. They are not nomadic, and claim large territories deep in the woodlands of Astora. Some choose to do without houses, furnishings, and any possessions they can't carry, using the high branches of great trees or natural caves in their roots for shelter and storage. Most instead prefer to dwell in small villages of permanent homes of natural fieldstone and lovingly carved wood, so carefully concealed among the surrounding wilderness that a hunter might walk through the center of a village and not even notice that they had done so.
Sylvan Eladrin adhere to a tradition of leadership by their oldest and most experienced druids, although most villages form a council of elders selected from the wisest and most experienced elves of each family to handle day-to-day affairs. The druidical hierarchy serves to unite Sylvan Eladrin of different villages and weld all the Sylvan Eladrin of a particular forest into a common realm. The druids do not presume to tell the elders how to run a village, but the elders generally give great weight to anything a druid chooses to say.

Sylvan Eladrin excel in the hunt. They spend much of their time stalking their chosen territory on the search for food or intruders into their realm. The rest of their time is spent frolicking among the branches; in this regard, they are quite similar to Moon Eladrin.

Wild Eladrin
Some Sylvan Eladrin reject civilization and all its trappings as a whole, preferring a wild existence close to nature. These extremely insular elves lead near feral lives in total seclusion from outsiders, and are known as Sylvari Eladrin, or Wild Elves.

Fey Eladrin

Perhaps the most elusive and mysterious of the elves is the Fey Eladrin. While all elves trace their origin back to the Feywild, the Fey Eladrin either never left or returned to their ancestral home, and are thus bound to and altered by the plane's magic. As such, they are a rare sight on Astora, though their powerful sense of wanderlust means they frequently visit the Prime Material Plane seeking adventure in an attempt to satiate their boredom. Moody and impulsive, Fey Eladrin are a mercurial people, prone to sudden mood swings and inclined to act on them with little thought towards the consequences of their actions.
Like most elves, Fey Eladrin are slender and tall, with a shine in their eyes that betrays their connection to the Feywild. Their hair and skin are known to shift hue along with their mood, matching the colors of the season (tinged blue for winter, green for spring, gold for summer, and orange for autumn). They have no settlements or permanent presence on Astora, though their homes are known by description to display extraordinary feats of elven architecture, blending magic, nature, and structure into awe-inspiring landscapes. Their culture can be traced back further than any other elven culture, though the unpredictable flow of time of the Feywild makes it impossible to assess whether it is in fact older than their Astoran counterparts.

Umbral Eladrin

Known by their own tongue as the Drow, or Dark Elves by other races, this elven sub-race has disconnected from the rest of the elves entirely, with even their deities breaking off to form their own Dark Seldarine Pantheon.

Cruel and cunning, they are a dark reflection of the rest of the elven race. They dwell deep underground in elaborate cities shaped from the rock of cyclopean caverns. Umbral Eladrin seldom make themselves known to surface folk, preferring to remain legends while advancing their sinister agendas through proxies and agents. They have no love for anyone but themselves, and are adept at manipulating other creatures. While they are not born evil, malignancy is deep-rooted in their culture and society, and nonconformists rarely survive for long.
Umbral Eladrin are shorter than most other elves, more similar in stature to humans, but share the slender build and features of elves, including the distinctive long, pointed ears. Their eyes lack pupils and are usually solid white or red. Their skin ranges from coal black to a dusky purple, and their hair is typically white or silver, though some variation is not unknown.

Avariel Eladrin

Amongst the earliest elven races to migrate to Astora were the Avariel Eladrin, or winged elves. Mostly wiped out in conflicts with dragons during the Era of the Dawn Powers, they are thought by now to be either extinct or very nearly so.
Considered more delicate than their earth-bound cousins, including hollow bones to aid their flight, their torsos are typically larger and stronger as it was to bear wings.
Avariel Eladrin are a split people divided between two cultures: one that favored peace, featuring scholars, philosophers, and artists, and another geared towards war and power, dedicating their lives to the defense of their race.

Lythari Eladrin

Lythari Eladrin are elves possessing a form of natural lycanthropy, similar to that of werewolves. They are considered a mythical race, and many still doubt their actual existence. Rumors of appearances have independently arisen throughout Astora with stories bearing many similarities, leading some sages to believe there may actually be some truth to the myths.
It is said that Lythari Eladrin differ from traditional lycanthropes in several respects, including an alignment favoring good rather than evil, an inability to assume a hybrid form, and a friendly and companionable disposition when in animal form.

Alu Eladrin

Isolationist even by elven standards (nearly to the level of wild elves), the Alu Eladrin are aquatic in nature, living deep within the lakes and seas of Astora. Their trust does not extend far beyond their clan and others of their kind, and their communities are very tightly-knit. They struggle to understand why the surface elves do not realize that community and alliances means survival, whereas rivalry, individualism, and factionalism meant death. However, despite being extremely cautious, they are also extremely curious, and aquatic elves near the shore often spend a significant amount time secretly observing the land-bound races.

Fey'ri

Some elves possess an ancestor of infernal or demonic origins, with such heritage manifesting in the form of a Fey'ri. They are to elves as Tieflings are to Humans and Tanarukks are to Orcs.

Celadrin

Those with celestial ancestry can manifest their heritage in the form of Celadrin, much like their human equivalent of Aasimar. The vast majority of Celadrin are descended from Firres, a distant relative to the elves native to the outer planes.

History

Elves trace their origins to the Feywild, migrating to the material plane long after having established themselves as a people. Their history prior to this migration is lost to time, though their legends tell that they were created on the prime material plane, made in the image of the gods of the Seldarine Pantheon and chose to live within the Feywild as its sheer vibrancy and life was more suited to the outlook of the elves.
As with the dwarves, the elves keep their own records of time, with their calendar divided into four ages based around the major changes in the lives of their kind.

First Age: Planted Seed

(approx. 30,000 BCR to approx. 20,000 BCR)
Recorded elven history began with their migration to the material plane in the later parts of the Era of the Dawn Powers. They were brought forth in an attempt to put into check the power of the dragon empires, whose wars with each other and the giant kingdoms had brought destruction to the plane for millennia. First taking a diplomatic approach, the elves eventually found themselves in conflict with their designated rivals, facing heavy losses in several costly wars. The age is defined by expansion paired with strife, centered around their conflict with dragonkind. The age was brought to an end along with the end of the Era of the Dawn Powers, with the The Dragon Rage cataclysm.

Second Age: Harvest

(approx. 20,000 BCR to 14,865 BCR)
Having been nearly wiped out by the end of the first age, the second age of the elves saw their rise as the great power of Astora. They expanded to control much of the continent, forming the empires of Asfetheas, Aethel Loren, Thalanor, and Ose Alari. The era was marked by an extended period of peace and prosperity for the elves, where they crafted some of their greatest works and reached their pinnacle as a people.
This period also saw the Schism of the Seldarine Pantheon and the formation of the Dark Seldarine Pantheon.

Third Age: Fallow

(14,865 BCR to 10.506 BCR)
Several millennia of peace and prosperity for the elves ended in war, with the nation of Asfetheas invading Aethel Loren while they faced a crisis of succession. The Crown Wars brought strife to the elven empires for several thousand years, culminating in the enacting of the Morwen Mythal, triggering the banishment of the elves that would come to be the Umbral Eladrin. By the end of the age, Tor Dorthanolin stood as the last remaining elven nation, and those remaining elves had turned far more insular and reclusive, leaving room for the rise of humanity as the dominant force in Astora.

Fourth Age: Age of Man

(10,506 BCR to Present)
While much has happened since the end of The Crown Wars (including no less than two cataclysms), little of it has mattered to elven reckoning. Tor Dorthanolin remains nearly indistinguishable from its state at the end of the third age, and the remaining elven settlements remain insular and distributed throughout the continent. While they have seen the rise and fall of many human empires in the time since, they have been considered human affairs and have been of little more than scholarly interest to much of elven kind.

General Information

Size

Medium

Type

Humanoid (Elf)

Average Lifespan

550 years

Language(s)

Eldraic (Elvish)

Subraces

Moon Eladrin
Sun Eladrin
Sylvan Eladrin
Fey Eladrin
Umbral Eladrin
Avariel Eladrin
Lythari Eladrin
Alu Eladrin
Fey'ri
Celadrin

Favored Climate

Temperate

Favored Terrain

Forests

Appearance

Skin Colors

Same as humans, plus shades of copper, green, bronze, and blueish-white

Hair Colors

Same as humans, plus green and blue

Eye Colors

Same as humans, plus gold and silver

Typical Build

Slender

Distinctions

Pointed ears, little to no body hair

Average Height

Female: 5'11"
Male: 6'1"

Average Weight

Female:111 lbs.
Male: 127 lbs.

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Related Historical Events

• 24,800 BCR
  First Appearance of Elves in Astora