Elf
Elves are a humanoid race from Emain. Since they are born with a natural ability to shapeshift, young elves are often called changelings. Like all creatures from Emain, they age at a much slower rate in Droswal, allowing them to extend their lives tenfold if they wish by moving to the neighboring plane.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Changelings can alter their form at will, but their horns keep them within the typical-humanoid bounds of anotomical structure. That is to say, they have two arms, two legs, and so on. The rest of this section describes adult elves that can no longer change shape at will, and is reflective more of the standards that elves choosing their adult forms hold themselves to than of any biological law.
Elves are slightly smaller than humans, appearing slender by comparison. However, elven muscle is a little bit more efficient, so there is no observed strength difference between the two races.
Elves have much more varied skin, hair, and eye colors than humans, owing to their childhood shapeshifting and faerie heritage. Their ears come to a point instead of rounding off. They do not grow visible facial hair besides their eyebrows.
Many elves have environmental adaptations chosen to better suit the place they decide to call home.
Elves will sometimes mention having a horn. This is not a lie, but their horns are invisible and intangible without magical interference. Elves' horns contain and control their ability to shapeshift, and are located in the center of the forehead.
Genetics and Reproduction
Female elves are only fertile in Emain. Furthermore, time spent in Droswal during elven pregnancy or elven childhood extends the duration of each in the same way that it extends elven lifespans. As such, elves prefer to keep the entire process in Emain for the sake of comfort and expediency. Elven reproduction in Emain functions the same way and on the same timescale as human reproduction in Droswal.
Growth Rate & Stages
In Emain, elves mature and grow old much like humans do. However, they live far longer in Droswal, with a decade spent there "aging" the elf by only about a year. Young elves tend to be kept in Emain so that they can complete their childhood in a reasonable time frame.
Several generations after horns became common, elves developed a ceremony meant to symbolize the transition into adulthood. The young elf would choose the form they wanted to spend the rest of their life in, leaving behind the freedom and lack of obligations of youth. After the changeling assumed their chosen form, an elder elf (typically a relative) would break off the young elf's horn with the help of a spell that makes ethereal anatomy tangible.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
Like all humanoids, elves can be used as a source of spirit filaments. This is illegal.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Elves are most populous in their homeworld, Emain. In Droswal, they tend to settle in or near forests, owing to the fact that Droswal and Emain are linked mainly by the portals that appear within forests.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Elves possess the innate ability of all fae to pick up on a range of magical signals that are used in the Sylvan language. Fae find these signals difficult to explain to outsiders.
Elves also have better vision in low light than humans do, and slightly sharper senses overall.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Since changelings can freely switch between male and female through shapeshifting, an elf's ultimate gender is simply one of the many decisions they make when they give up their horn. Elven names are, consequently, not usually considered "masculine" or "feminine" inherently.
Major Organizations
Like most fae, elves are eligible to join any of the Sylvan Courts, so long as no two Courts they join are part of the same Circuit. Court membership is typically just nominal, but elves who fully commit themselves to Court life find it to be an intricate dance of social and magical pressure as the balance of power within each Circuit ebbs and flows.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Sylvan is the proper language of Emain, but the fae find Droswal amusing enough to study its languages.
Common Taboos
Elves hold a common understanding not to get too close to the humans. To an extent, this helps them avoid grief when the people they care most about die early in the elf's overall lifespan. However, that point applies to most races. The more pressing issue with humans is the possibility of half-elves. Giving a human (one of Droswal's most adept militarists) an extra couple of centuries of elven lifespan to play around with is widely considered a bad idea.
Common Myths and Legends
The elves are said to have first received their horns from unicorns. Eventually, horns became commonplace due to their genetic dominance. However, this supposedly happened before the Sylvan writing system was developed, and unicorns are notoriously bad at remembering things, so the details cannot be independently verified.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Elves are among the most magical of the humanoids known to Droswal. Their extended longevity outside of Emain allows them to undertake massive projects requiring generations of effort, but it also disconnects them from shorter-lived races emotionally.
