High Elves
The High elves, or the Elvanon(True Elves) as they call themselves, are the direct descendants of the elves of the Ancient empire and those who remained true to the Illuminar.
In the Honourable tongue of us the first folk, The Elvanon where born out of the ashes of the great schism, when other elves became thief’s and beggars, betrayers and outcast we remained true, we are the true heirs of our legacy.Most elves cling to the memory of the better times, teaching their children an almost extinct language they cling proudly to, for memory is all that is left of the once mighty elven Civilization, reduced to third-rate citizens they desperately seek refuge in stories of better times. No Son or daughter of the Elvanon have not been told the tales of the first elves, immortal and all powerful, but non more so than the first king of all the elves and 7 daughters and 7 sons who disappeared during the end of the second age. They tell of a kingdom stretching from western shores far beyond the veil, to Kalbarous Ridge in the east. And Though its name, and the name of its kings are long forgotten some stories remain, some of great battles against demon hordes, and others of great personal feats, of nobles and their generosity and great tales of your kins marvellous feats of magic. And now here you are, a race in decline, clinging to hope, a hope they must themselves make manifest, for the world around them serves to bring them down, and only the most affluent of elves may rise to glory in such a world, and they seem uncaring to those who look down. A great melancholy has beset most elves, they find it hard to find meaning the world, and hard to find the inner strength necessary to work. As must elves consider their current predicament a sort of devine punishment for the hubris they exercised during the height of their rule.
Children of Order.
The High elves are the adopted sons and daughters of Semalia, when their own creator gods, father Laark was killed and their Mother Mivha went insane the elven people did not know what the future held for them, if their own gods could be felled, than what fate would await them? Thus Semalia took them in, she reigned in their wild tendencies, for the elves before her had been individualistic, wild and untamed, she gave them purpose and unity, though has time would show, not all adopted her teachings. She The High elves are the adopted sons and daughters of Semalia, when their own creator gods, father Laark was killed and their Mother Mivha went insane the elven people did not know what the future held for them, if their own gods could be felled, than what fate would await them? ThusSemalia took them in, she reigned in their wild tendencies, for the elves before her had been individualistic, wild and untamed, she gave them purpose and unity, though has time would show, not all adopted her teachings. She taught them life in her imagine, Strength in unity and loyalty, happiness in community and obedience. High elves are social beings, their close connection to Shizuma has always meant that they trust in one other to be the best at what they do, trust in a hierarchy is after all important. And this is a trait they still possess, High elves are quick to set aside their own ego to deal with a common issue and work well in groups and readily trust in others to achieve something together. Though it should be noted that High elves who work alone will usually develop quite a large ego, and it is not unusual for high ranking high elves to become maniacal with power, for most high elves do not extend this spirit of cooperation with other races. While other races frolicked in the woods and bathed in the mud, they build mighty cities, they brought such things to the rest of the world, law order and peace, that they would claim is their legacy.Last of the True kin
The high elves bear the burden, that they know they are truly the last of the true descendants of the old ways, of the old empire and that their flame is fading. It is something which urges many of their kin to strive, to reclaim what was there, or it furthers their despair. Ofcourse there are many who try to not to think about it, and simply try to live their lives before they too join the ashes.Soul and Magic
High elves view magic as an expression of the soul, stemming from their deep and innate understanding of magic and their kins easy understanding of it. Seeing that the school of magic comes easier to certain people, usually those who specialize in evocation are vocal, boastful and those who seek quick results and change for example. So in the eyes of elves, those who cannot cast magic are barely seen as having a soul.Superior
Elves are often seen as arrogant, which on one hand is true they do truly believe and know themselves superior to other races, their innate understanding of the magical arts are surpassed by few others and their martial prowess has once conquered the world. As such many a High Elf believe themselves the true masters of the world viewing other races as beneath them and meant to serve, this will come across as open condescending or simply snide remarks, it is simple fates cruel twist that has momentarily displaced the worlds true masters, and you endure the curling days of having lesser beings above you in stride while you aim to prove to them once again who is the superior being. Other high elves feel a sense of hopelessness at it all stemming from this knowledge, for while you might be stronger than the other races, it is they who prosper, what does that say of your kin. It is a grueling realization to some that they serve the lesser and live under their harsh boots it is something that can drain a person, and elves emotions tear on them heavily.Religion
High elves primarily hold reverence and fear towards two different pantheons:Illuminar
The Illuminar, the gods of light and goodness, the gods which exemplify there species, and more importantly the gods who their ancestors worshiped, changes to the Illuminar are not made lightly.Semalia
The Highest god ranking god amongst the Illuminar is Semalia , she is goddess of order, cooperation and restraint the very corner stones of high elven society, But to them she also symbolizes mercy, kindness and war. They view her as an adoptive protector and mother, and outright savior as such she is held in great esteem and respected immensely. In return does she view the high elves as her adoptive sons and daughters, but also her responsibility as the sister of their mother it was her duty to take care of them. But first and foremost she most handle her responsibities as a god, which stays her hand.Harkon
Harkon is primarily Worshipped by high elves as “The All Judge”, to a society founded on law and order, prober judicial processes is highly important as such many high elves hold great respect for the work of Harkon. For the law must be equal to all, to ensure that all follow it as such the high elves call upon her blind sight to judges the guilty and spares the innocent, as only evidence can sway her mind in a case. Elves worship her together with Semalia as the Law, which Semalias order brings, if so to say.Laark and Mivha
High elves believe that in death, they join their father and mother in the nether, but given that the civil war of old has soured their relation to Mivha, they primarily worship Laark as their god of death. The scar which was seared in the soul of all elves at the death of their parental gods have never healed, but neither has their devotion to them faded, though they are rarely worshiped in a festive matter, the worship of their corpses is merely a ceremonial reminder of their affection to them, and the hope that they may join them in death once more.Teshkari
is minor god to the high elves but a vital one to the them non the less, as he serves as the guide of souls, so that all may find their way to Laark and Mivha in the afterlife and their protector.Estilbus
holds great importance to the elves, as the god and warden of magic, to the high elves he is the warden of their souls and their way of life, to him do they offer thanks for their gifts and that he may grant them further insight in their studies. And as the brother of Laark he is also given high importance due to that connection to their creator god. Some elves even prescribe him greater reverence than Semalia.Oktavi
Oktavi holds great importance to the high elves, not just as the other half of Eistilbus, but for the simple fact that many high elves find great pleasure in studying and gaining new knowledge that they may utilize and archive for themselves and future generations. And the high elves drive for perfection in all things will often see them questioning what they know and reevaluate it, allowing for new discoveries. Likewise does Oktavi love the high elves for their search and teaching of knowledge.Farron
When high elves go to war, they always seek to utilize their natural strengths of their vast intellect, magical prowess and individual skill. However they often lack the numbers for conventional warfare, therefor they must lay in-depth strategies and tactics to dismantle the strength of numbers their foes posses and enhance their own strengths. Such a way of war requires the blessing of the god of strategies and victory, and his cold cynical view on warfare is shared by the elves, for though it is last resort for them, when they do go to war, they do so to dismantle their enemies by any means necessary, that they may never threaten them again. In return Farron has grown fond of the elves, as fond as the god of remorseless strategy can.Calium
Is worshiped by some elves, given that elves in most things seek perfection, it is only natural that those who seek to hone their martial prowess attract his attention or seek it. Though many do look down upon him for being a god of the simple and foolish. Not that any would say it aloud or near his temples, for the high elves own Calium a dept of great gratitude for his favor during the wars against the Drow.Drow'var
The dark betrayer gods, those who followed Lolth and Drow into the depths. Though their worship is forbidden, and the gods shunned, there are some gods who maybe invoked during desperate times, or in the hope that they may spare their wrath.Lolth
The wretched imposter of our beloved mother, she who tore our lands apart and forced brothers and sisters to kill one another. Lolth is the most despised of all gods, her name is nothing but a curse to high elves, and even mention to her is swiftly stifled.Dailia
Sister of Mivha, deceived by the great traitor she allowed herself to be corrupted in her persuit to aid the betrayer. Now she bears the sins of Lolth forever, thus she is the two faced god, one face bears old aspects, her new face reflects her horrid ambition to enslave elvenkind. Dailia is viewed as tragic god, for she was once much loved by the elven people as both a warrior god and a god of kinship, now her name most be invoked sparingly for one does not which of her faces might be invoked.Htar
eldest daughter of Mivha, Htar was always a dark child, and her fall was inevitable. The High elves find Htar to be necessary evil at times, though to invoke er name is considered a grave sin, for Htar is the master of Assassins and the art of killing unseen. Such gifts can prove valuable, but her blade is indiscriminate, and a blade without loyalty is a tool for chaos.Kanar
Youngest son of Mivna and Laark, Kanar was god of familial structures, brotherhood/sisterhood and bonds of blood. It was said that the death of his mother and father drove him into a great depression. The illuminar preach that this was his folly, that he allowed love to blind him to the fact that Lolth was a crue imposter and when he followed her, he only sowed greater tragedy and destroyed even more bonds. Thus he became a Drow'var. The High elves view him as a tragic yet cruel figure, for it was love that drove him to commit the great atrocities of the first great civil war.Basic Information
Anatomy
Elves and humans share many similarities, with elves being slightly taller and and of thiner builds, elves have a very low fat to muscle, so even though their limbs are appear extremly thin and frail, they are taunt with muscle and many have been surpised 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 inbetween. 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 buddies seemingly able to adapt to extreme changes in their envoirments within few generations. Many attribute this to how elven bodies seemingly absorb magical energies around them.
Biological Traits
The health of high elves is highly dependant on their emotional health, usually high elves that live in human societies can expect to live some 200 hundred years less, due to the emotional stress that often follows.
In generally many other species can have trouble telling male and female high elves apart if not for obvious sexual traits and organs, as they generally have the same facial features, height and weight, while men usually have slightly longer ears, and more pronouced features, easy to pick apart by elven eyes, but not by many other races.
Like many other humanoids, male high elves are generally stronger, faster and tougher than females of the species by a small margin.
Genetics and Reproduction
Elven infertility is perhaps almost as famous as their lifespans, the chances of succesful inception are generally slim to non, both malese and females become fertile around the age of 160 and as they age the chances of successful inception only become smaller. 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.
Gestation for elves is quite similar to that of humans
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 ageing, 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.
Ecology and Habitats
High elves are able to thrive almost anywhere, their bodies highly resistant to most diseases and adaptive to changes in their surroundings.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Elven bodies do not require not much in the way of sustenance due to their bodies depenance on magic, allowing them to sustain their bodies and complex minds with little to know food for extended periods of time and barely any meat.
Additional Information
Social Structure
High elven society is hierarchical in nature, they refer to it as Semalia's chain, to them it is the natural order of things, some lead, others follow their word. They're very communitive in nature, naturally seeking to their place in an establishment so they can further the aim of their local communities. Elves hold family in high regard, for their bloodlines are direct descendants of great and powerful figures whom they track through intricate and ancient family trees, to continue such bloodlines is incredibly important, and to loose your history is to loose your place in society, for without the bloodline, a person is reduced to just that, a single individual, alone in the world, bereft of those who look out for you.
As such high elven communities often become a subtle power struggle between the most powerful families vying for political power between one another, forming alliances between likeminded families. There need for order rarely sees the families use outright violence as a tool, but it is not uncommon to pressure others with the threat of it.
Average Intelligence
High elves are nearly without exception incredibly intelligent, or they do atleast hold the potential, their minds grasp new concepts with ease and learning comes naturally to them, given the chance. Allowing the average elf to surpass most other species with relative ease.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
High elves have an unnatrual ability to sense, almost something akin to smelling or hearing magic, allowing them to weave it with greater ease than any other species, their natural understainding of magic, stems not only from their longs years of study, but also from a bond with it, that no other race posses.
Civilization and Culture
Beauty Ideals
To elves beauty seemingly comes naturally, there flawless skin and physique seemingly a common trait amongst them and there keen eyes allowing them to pick out even minor flaws in each other. As such to elves, to appear as anything less than stunning is quite distasteful. To elves beauty can only be perfection, one could say that beauty is a combination of physical traits that must all come together to create a flawless image, clothing, hairstyle, jewelry, accessoires all must . In sence, one could say that elves view the body as canvas for style, it can be simple yet elegant and thereby beautiful. It can be extravagant and colourful, and thereby come together.
As a general note, high elves find symmetry to be an important factor in most styles, and especially bodily symmetry.
Gender Ideals
High elves rarely rely on their physical might as much as they do their magical might, in which does not play a role there is not much differentiation in how they view men and women nor their responsibilities.
Courtship Ideals
Though it is not unheard of that many high elves marry for their families in political marriages, the courtship ideals of even aragned marriages and genuine love remain the same. For Highelves courting is highly important, and is a process that is somewhat ritualistic.
Relationship Ideals
High elves are political and social animals, as such the ideal relationship between a man and woman, is pair that can support each other where is one weak. A relation amongst elves is to seek something which you are missing and to allow your other half to support you in that, and to support them where they need.
History
Legacy of Bloodshed a legacy of might.
The history of the High elves is one of conflict, of strife for both good and evil, they did not become rulers and protectors of the world by asking in the ancient days, they crushed any who opposed in their quest to bring order and law to the world. Such a legacy is not easily forgotten and those who suffered under it have not forgotten. On the other hand the high elves hold great pride in their past, and in their ancient empire, they saw it as brining order and prosperity to a corrupt and wild world, without them the world would have existed in the primeval mud for several thousand years. The old stories of a single elve could make hundreds fall with their innate arcane prowess and their eternal years to hone their studies, such things are looked back upon with fondness, especially by those who still cling to the ideals of the old empire, to those who now live in human civilization there is something melancholic about it, to have once ruled the world, now reduced to a second rank citizen.Beaten, Broken.
The ancient empire of the elves is gone, now remains only enclaves and fallen ruins of elven civilization, most of the high elves that remain now live in ghettos or scattered across the known world. Those that have since been integrated in other societies such as human onces, are rarely welcomed with open arms, they are feared and resented, for their past history and their potential. They are beaten and subjugated brought into gated communities or utilised by the rich for their long life spans as servants of and valuable assets. For the True elves live long lives, and their generations take time to produce their true potential, while many of the lesser races simply outgrow in the same time, indeed this was the fall of the stragglers after the great fall, as barbarians overtook their lands and driving them out or enslaving them over many generations.Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
- Human One can never trust a human for their ambition, their short lives make them appreciate them nothing but their selfish desires, unable to put aside their own needs for the greater good. Without a doubt they will stab you in the back for their own good.Most elves have a great and innate shame to serve humans, for by all accounts they are inferior to them. This shame manifest it self as great coldness and disdain towards the human race, and especially towards anybody who would together with them.
- Dwarfs Elf’s carry a begrudging respect towards the dwarfs, but nothing too deep, they consider them crude and unlikable, due to their direct nature. Though respectable for their military feats, endless valour and determination they are nearly all dolts and brutes, as unsophisticated as their liquor is crude. The Dwarfs are as rigid as the stone they carve, once they swear to something you can keep them to their word, and their bonds are unbreakable. But do not expect a dwarf to ever aid you unprovoked, nor should you expect to understand the finer things in life.
- Elvadra The elves carry nothing but the deepest hatred in their body towards their traitorous cousins, they are considered untrustworthy and wholly evil to their cores, they do not consider humans their ultimate downfall, but rather their traitorous cousins, as they brought the final nail in the elven coffin during its downfall.
- Elvana Uncivilized brutes and thieves all, they lack even the dignity of our traitorous ilk, and the decency face our retribution.
- Tieflings Demonic influence though shunned is in some cases unavoidable, and the corruption of linage can only be salved by kindness, for that is the antisense of their dark sires. The Elves have deep understanding of the magical world, and thus know the Tiefling themselves are not necessarily evil, where others mistrust them, they pity them, for like themselves they are atoning for the crimes of their ancestors.
we are people living a world that does not want us, the few of us that are left, live in cities as social outcast, unwelcomed and unrecognized for our innate superiority, you are more beautiful and intelligent often even magically gifted from birth, but all of these things make those around you jealous and they shun our perfection. While the few places where are numbers can truly make a change, see the humans herding us into to these so called “Elf Homes”, in order to remove us from the broader world, afraid of true potential.
Genetic Ancestor(s)
Scientific Name
Elvanon
Lifespan
around 1000 years
Average Height
6 to 7 feet
Average Weight
100 pounds
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
High elves skin colour is much like humans, in that it depends on where they live, but they're usually somewhat pale.
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