Half-Elf
Half-elves are typically rare in most of Cisum, but the they are slightly more common amongst the islands of the Acapellago. Often seen as outcasts in both human and elven society, half-elves typically find solace in the island chain. The slight differences of the island elves make half-elves more readily accepted and common in the region. Having to keep a foot in both the human and elven lives makes half-elves great diplomats. When they are born or grow up in a region that shuns them, they often turn to adventuring as a way to find purpose.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Half-elves use either human or elven naming conventions. As if to emphasize that they don't really fit in to either society, half-elves raised among humans are given elven names, and those raised among elves often take human names.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Half-elves are often brought up with only their elven or human parent, but this is not an absolute. Many half-elves stuggle to fit in with one of their halves, and so are accoustomed to being the outisder. This makes it common for them to find peacemaker jobs. Their drive to find somewhere they belong makes it almost inate to find common interests where none may be obvious. Outside of the Acapellago, it's rare for half-elves that aren't siblings to meet other half-elves. They are often adaptable like their human parent, but drawn by the same wanderlust of as their eleven parent.
Being a child of two cultures, half-elves often adopt the societal norms from where they are raised. This means that half-elves brougth up among elves tend to be more haughty, while half-elves brought up amongst humans tend to be more open and brash. Either half-elf is still likely to be suspicious and slow to trust, given that they are still often shunned. This paradigm is almost flipped on its head in the Acapellago. The nature of island nations and the differences of island elves from high and wood elves means half-elves are as common as humans and elves on certain islands.
History
Half-elves have never been overly common. Unlike the half-orcs, half-elves have not been around for as long as humans and elves have interacted. Human and elf relationships are rare, given the obvious difference in life expectancies. Several societies on both the northern and souther continents are more homogenous and therefor distrusting of mixed-race beings. The Acapellago has long stood in stark contrast to this notion. The reliance of each island nation on the other has lead to a majority of Cisum's half-elves to take up residence somewhere among the islands. Many half-elves are often born and raised among the island nations after their parents opt to leave the mainland to avoid the up-turned noses of their neighbors. This has led to many prominent half-elf areas in places like the Sychronicity and Panama.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Many half-elves learn at an early age to get along with everyone, defusing hostility and finding common ground. As a race, they have elven grace without elven alooflenss and human energy without human boorishness. They often make excellent ambassadors and go-betweens (except between elves and humans, since each side suspects the half-elf of favoring the other).
Although many people outside the islands have never seen a half-elf, virtually everyone knows they exist. A half-elf stranger's arrival is followed by gossip behind their back and stolen glances across the common room, rather than any confromtation or open curiosity.
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