Elves
The Elves are a proud and dying ember in a world that seems to be increasingly hostile to them, in a world where their word is no longer law, but a frail whisper to be carried away by the wind. For the once great powers wielded by their kin, has weakened with the passage of time, and through the many great catastrophes their wonders have collapsed, and the backs who toiled to their whim were swift to remind them, what suffering meant.
Rulers of The Old World
Once in a bygone age, the elves were the undisputed masters of the world and even across the spheres and their domains stretched across the known world, though such claims are largely founded on myth and old stories, however, none can dispute the fact that mark they left upon the world, ancient ruins; Crumbling monuments, destroyed cities, and mystical relics still stand as a testament to their mastery of the world. However, such a legacy was forged in by an iron will and zeal. There are few other races that hold fond relations towards elves, for the history of empires is often written in blood and the "Eternal Kingdom" of the elves was no exception. The Elves saw themselves as the defenders of the world, and at least according to themselves and their ancient texts and stories, it was the elves who defended against the ancient evils since they were young, it was them who drove off their wicked tendrils of corruption and gave the "younger" races a chance to flourish in the first place.Beings of magic
All elves possess an intrinsic understanding of magic and the flow of mana, even “younger” elves are able to utilize some form of simple magic without any formal training. But it is more than just that, elves have a physical need to feel magic, their bodies in a sense require it to function properly, they might feel sick and nauseous should they for some reason be in an area cut off from the flow of mana. It is what gives them their incredible lifespans. This infusion allows them to function without the need for sleep, instead, elves enter a trance-like state for a few hours in which their bodies absorb the magic that permeates all living things, energizing their bodies and mind with rapid speed. In fact, elves cannot sleep at all, the concept of dreaming is completely foreign to them, and quite alien too, or rather it becomes such. Old stories tell that back before he falls, this gift was much more than a mere understanding and some spells, they say that the elves of old, were born as incredibly powerful sorcerers and that if trained their mages could move mountains and change reality, even the flow of time was open to them.The Fall
Most elves refer to the great calamity as the Fall, for it marked the beginning of their decline, the fall of their empire, the endless plagues that ravaged their people. To them the Fall is more than a single event, it is a long list of great catastrophes, that stretched hundreds of years. The wounds of this age left upon their souls have never fully healed. Many of their kin still hold a feeling of deep sorrow for the loss of a world they have never known, they have told the stories of how magnificent their peoples once were, now reduced to a shell of their former selves. Indeed the elves never truly recovered from the great fall, that saw their innate power greatly diminished and their eternal life snuffed out and shortened to mere centuries.Immortal no more
Perhaps to the Elves the most tragic of these tales was the theft of their immortality, by The Gethwen a selfish and terrible tyrant who made pacts with the foulest of creatures and doomed his people to short awful lives to become that of a god himself and then fled the world with his barbaric followers.Children of Dead Gods
The elves were born from the Union of Mivha and Laark, but during an ancient conflict the great creator Laark was killed in combat by his son, the first abomination, and Mivha so driven by loss and grief, lashed out in anger against her own children and fellow gods. To protect the elves and themselves, the gods imprisoned Mivha deep beneath the earth, where her madness could harm no one. The elves were left without guidance, without love, until the sister of Mivha Semalia took the elves in and raised them as her own, but she was quite different from her sister, where she has been a force of change and chaos and love, Semalia was a goddess of order and stability, of law and detachment. No one knows the truth for sure, but one day many of the elves would hear the voice of their imprisoned god, what she told them drove them into a murderous rage, the great empire descended into a long and bloody civil war, until the followers of the mad god, who now called herself Lolth were driven underground in eternal exile together with their wretched impersonater of the love of Mivha. From this springs the common insult directed towards elves, "orphans", the children who watched their parents die, unable to stop it.Fractured People
The Elven people were once known as the Elva, before the fall they were a single people, led by their eternal king according to myth, who was appointed himself by their creator gods. But during The Fall the Elva was torn apart by themselves, three great civil wars would see the Elva become: The Elvanon, the true heirs of the empire, The Elvadra, those banished for following the false god, and the Elvana for following the arch-traitor. This ancient resentment has never been forgotten by them, elven memory is long, and the sheer animosity in this conflict still lingers in them, holding each other responsible for the Fall of their empire and people.Basic Information
Anatomy
Elves and humans share many similarities, with elves being slightly taller and of thinner builds, elves have a very low fat to muscle, so even though their limbs are appeared extremely thin and frail, they are taunt with muscle and many have been surprised at their deceptive strength. Their keen ears are pointed and their slanted eyes possess a penetrating quality more akin to that of a hunting cat than a man.
Elven minds are far more inclined towards extremes than that of humans. To an Elf, all of life’s experiences are available on a far grander scale: the individual rewards of study, the exhilaration of battle, and every imaginable pleasure or sensation in between. Their capacity to experience emotion enables them to attain transcendent bliss or, in contrast, experience soul-wracking sorrow.
Elven immune systems are incredibly strong and quick to adapt, as are elves themselves, their bodies seemingly able to adapt to extreme changes in their environments within a few generations. Many attribute this to how elven bodies seemingly absorb magical energies around them.
Genetics and Reproduction
Elven infertility is perhaps almost as famous as their lifespans, the chances of successful inception are generally slim to non, both males and females become fertile around the age of 160, and as they age the chances of successful inception only become smaller. The elven ovulation cycle can take around a year, as such elven generations a typically quite small and far in between.
Due to the hardships of reproduction elves hold it quite sacred, and according to some elven mating rituals can last days.
Growth Rate & Stages
Elves mature at the same rate as that humans, at least superficially, until they reach the age of around 20-30 where they seemingly seem to stop aging, though there are signs if one knows where to look for it, their eyes grows darker with age, their ears grow slightly larger and more slated, their features become ever more sharp and refined.
Though elves change very little with the passing of time, physically, they do undergo great changes mentally. Elves say that their kin goes through three stages in life determined by what happens when they undergo their trance:
Dream Child
Young elves upon entering the trance will begin to experience the memories of their ancestors, they will see how they build great cities, they see their people walk alongside their gods, the creators smiling upon their favored children. Though they will not be able to understand anything said in such ancestral memories, as such it often comes off as confusing to young elves, but if nothing else most agree on a feeling a deep-seated love, to witness the compassion of their dead creators. As such young elves can usually become quite depressed, to some awakening from the trance is the worst to happen, to see cold harsh reality and emptiness in their hearts that can never be filled again. Some find strength from the ancestral memories to see the beauty in what was, instead of focusing on what was lost. These formative decades are incredibly important to elves, as during these times they learn at an incredible rate. For as they "dream" they learn from the memories of their ancestors, young elves learning to weave might dream of past ancestors who were great weavers, feel their calloused and routines hands work their mastery over the craft and remember it faintly as they wake.Awakenth
When elves each around 150 years of age, they will be considered adults or rather mentally matured, the dreams start focus, becoming guiding visions to help shape the maturing elf. Usually elves will have visions related to what tasks they are currently experiencing. This is both a boon and a curse, as they can help shape nacent elves, the trance often a reflection of their lives and professions helping shape technique and skill at an incredible rate.Moon Called
Elves that reach around 500 years old enter a stage in their lives referred to as moon called, the nature of the ancestral dreams will begin to shift and deminsh become rarer and rarer, the rare trances become memories of conflict and struggle. Many see it as a warning of the demise of their species. Many Elves in such an age, have become Elders of their communities and are overcome with a need to protect the younger generations and to help raise and guide their kin. Others start to travel the world in order to seek out new purpose and vision that was lost to them.Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Due to the incredibly attunement elves possess with magic, they can perceive its natural lingering in the physical world, like a thin sheen of otherworldly color that coats the world. This sense requires great training to properly harness, but training allows the elves to navigate dark places of their world, for even where there is an absence of light, can they still perceive the outline of the world, allowing them to navigate even the darkest grotto.
Civilization and Culture
Common Myths and Legends
In the ancient days, before even the Eternal Kingdom, the first elf, the first king created his first family and the first elves, sculpting from the mana a wife and 7 sons and 7 daughters, each of which would be given great powers and responsibilities in the paradise he sought to create. Though most of their names have been lost to time, but some names are preserved through the ages.
The Princess of Thorns
The Princess of Thorns was the Seventh daughter of the first King, she was his glee and joy, the one who brought the harvest and food to the people, she was the dancer of the festival and the defender of innocent beauty, thus she was the thorn of the rose. But she like most of their kind disappeared at the time of the great sundering.The Princess of Tranquility
In long forgotten times, of endless days those who sought the final rest went to the embrace princess of Tranquility, she would give them their final kiss and send their souls to creator gods, a burden and responsibility that wore heavily upon her kind smile, but one she carried stoically. Though her love for the people was boundless, her grief would grow, until the fifth daughter could bear it no more.The Princess of Iron
The Iron Princess was the first to shape metal and stone, adamantine and silver into the great Aswaran of constructs, binding mana and souls into the shape of immortal soldiers, to take the place of young elves in the endless struggle, and allow ancient heroes another chance to fight. She taught a hundred pupils her craft, and though she did not join the voyage and stayed to guide elven hands in the chaos of the fall, she would fall during the war against Demar, giving her life for the people she treasured.The Prince of Wrath
The Second son of the first King, though not his original title, it is what he was remembered for, the great defender, the last of royal blood who stayed after the great sundering, and the defender of the world, who lead his soldiers into the very maws of hell to stop the greatest invasion the infernal realms had ever mounted upon the world, saving it, as his father had done countless times.The Prince of Shrouds
Third son of the first king, the eternal protector of the elven soulm stoic warden of world well it was he who oversaw the conguest and exploration of the other realms, and ensured the sanctity of their spirit, he was amongst the few who stayed behind while his father and kin left upon their astral voyage to protect those who stayed behind. But he would also be amongs the first to venture out and search for them upon the tumultuous seas.
Genetic Descendants
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