Elf

Elves...

Physical Description and Abilities

With their unearthly grace and fine features, elves appear hauntingly beautiful to humans and members of many other races. Elves’ coloration encompasses the normal human range and also includes skin in shades of copper, bronze, and almost bluish-white, hair of green or blue, and eyes like pools of liquid gold or silver. Elves tend to have no facial and little body hair.
Although elves reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, the elven understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience. An elf typically claims adulthood and an adult name around the age of one hundred and can live to be seven hundred and fifty years old.
Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, elves have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. They can see in dim light within 60 feet of them as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. They can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Elves' Fey ancestry gives them a certain resistance to being charmed, and magic can’t put them to sleep (such magic being common in the Feywild, from where they ancestrally hail). In fact, elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for four hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, they can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, they gain the same benefit that a human does from eight hours of sleep.

Habitat

Elves are seen as a magical people of otherworldly grace, living in the world but not entirely part of it. They tend to be drawn to places of ethereal beauty, in the midst of ancient forests or in silvery spires glittering with faerie light, where soft music drifts through the air and gentle fragrances waft on the breeze. A love of nature, magic, art, artistry, music, poetry, and the good things of the world is shared among elves of most clans.
Many Elves dwell in small forest villages hidden among the trees, where they hunt game, gather food, and grow vegetables, and their skill and magic allow them to support themselves without the need for clearing and plowing land. They are talented artisans, crafting finely worked clothes and art objects. They tend to favor elegant clothing in bright colors, and they enjoy simple yet lovely jewelry. Their contact with outsiders is usually limited, though a few Elves make a good living by trading crafted items for metals (which they typically have no interest in mining).

Culture

Elves are known for their love of freedom, variety, and self-expression, so they lean strongly toward the gentler aspects of chaos. They value and protect others’ freedom as well as their own.
Like the branches of a young tree, elves are said to be flexible in the face of danger. They trust in diplomacy and compromise to resolve differences before they escalate to violence. They have been known to retreat from intrusions into their woodland homes, confident that they can simply wait the invaders out. But when the need arises, elves reveal a stern martial side, demonstrating skill with sword, bow, and strategy.
They are more often amused than excited, and more likely to be curious than greedy. They tend to remain aloof and unfazed by petty happenstance. When pursuing a goal, however, whether adventuring on a mission or learning a new skill or art, elves can be focused and relentless. They are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. They reply to petty insults with disdain and to serious insults with vengeance.
Elves, for the most part, take up adventuring out of wanderlust. Since they are so long-lived, they can enjoy centuries of exploration and discovery. They dislike the pace of human society, which is regimented from day to day but constantly changing over decades, so they find careers that let them travel freely and set their own pace. Elves also enjoy exercising their martial prowess or gaining greater magical power, and adventuring allows them to do so. Some might join with rebels fighting against oppression, and others might become champions of moral causes.
Elves encountered outside their own lands are commonly traveling minstrels, artists, or sages. Human nobles compete for the services of elvish instructors to teach swordplay or magic to their children. Although they can be haughty, elves are generally gracious even to those who fall short of their high expectations—which is most non-elves. Still, they can find good in just about anyone.

Naming Traditions

Elves are considered children until they declare themselves adults, some time after the hundredth birthday, and before this period they are called by child names.
On declaring adulthood, an elf selects an adult name, although those who knew him or her as a youngster might continue to use the child name. Each elf’s adult name is a unique creation, though it might reflect the names of respected individuals or other family members. Little distinction exists between male names and female names; the groupings here reflect only general tendencies. In addition, every elf bears a family name, typically a combination of other Elvish words. Some elves traveling among humans translate their family names into Common, but others retain the Elvish version.
Child Names: Ara, Bryn, Del, Eryn, Faen, Innil, Lael, Mella, Naill, Naeris, Phann, Rael, Rinn, Sai, Syllin, Thia, Vall

Male Adult Names: Adran, Aelar, Aramil, Arannis, Aust, Beiro, Berrian, Carric, Enialis, Erdan, Erevan, Galinndan, Hadarai, Heian, Himo, Immeral, Ivellios, Laucian, Mindartis, Paelias, Peren, Quarion, Riardon, Rolen, Soveliss, Thamior, Tharivol, Theren, Varis
Female Adult Names: Adrie, Althaea, Anastrianna, Andraste, Antinua, Bethrynna, Birel, Caelynn, Drusilia, Enna, Felosial, Ielenia, Jelenneth, Keyleth, Leshanna, Lia, Meriele, Mialee, Naivara, Quelenna, Quillathe, Sariel, Shanairra, Shava, Silaqui, Theirastra, Thia, Vadania, Valanthe, Xanaphia
Family Names (Common Translations): Amakiir (Gemflower), Amastacia (Starflower), Galanodel (Moonwhisper), Holimion (Diamonddew), Ilphelkiir (Gemblossom), Liadon (Silverfrond), Meliamne (Oakenheel), Naïlo (Nightbreeze), Siannodel (Moonbrook), Xiloscient (Goldpetal)

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• Eladrin

Genetic Descendants

• Drow
• Half-Elf
• High Elf
• Sea Elf
• Wood Elf

Lifespan

Well over 700 years

Average Height

5 to 6ft

Average Weight

100 to 145 llbs