Elf

Old, wise, and once the owners of a vast empire that covered the world, elves are now a shadow of their former selves with little to show for the great civilisation they once held. They are now found in the wilderness in small communities and are treated with suspicion by other peoples.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

Elves are considered children until they declare temselves adults, some time after their 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 them 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. 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. The players handbook has examples of elvish names.

Beauty Ideals

The cutlures of the high elves and the wood elves vary significantly, as do their beauty ideals. However, there is one factor that is consistently important accross all known elven culture; ears. Some might expect that a people whose presence is met with suspicion would try and hide what makes them different in order to not be recognised, but the elves instead choose to draw attnetion to them. It is unusual to find an elf without adormnet upon their ears, taking the form of wire frames that closely fit the ear's shape, ear rings down the outer ridge of the ear, or intricate tattooing of the ears. The decorations often of have little to no intrinsic value (given the elven propensity to not value wealth) but are beautifully designed and crafted.

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Attitudes

Passions Restrained

Such long lived creatures experience much change in their outlook on life. Descended from a god without fixed form, young elves are born with a passion for life that burns like a mighty flame, diving into life's endevours with neverending energy and feeling their emotions with a burning intensity, yet never actually displaying them. Elves are taught from a young age to attempt to surpress these intense emotions by elders of their groups as they know how destructive an elf can be when overwhelmed by their elven passions. The result of this upbringing is an outwardly calm adult elf with a constant internal conflict that they never show, appearing wise and graceful and hiding the flames within. These passions wane as an elf grows but never disappear, and even the oldest elves have that passionate spark within.

Memories over Possesions

Elves live for so long that, in the end, all things fade. Blades rust, papers crumble, and fabric wears away. For this reason, elves seek to observe beauty in all its forms rather than own it as to them, everything is ephemeral. All possesions are valued only by their utility. Elves desire to exist in beautiful settings so they may look back upon it in their trances. They would rather linger on a beautiful sunset than own an expensive trinket.

Cuisine

Elves have a complicated relationship with their food. As timeless, magical, and ethereal beings who can live for more than 700 years, elves view food as one of the few elements that connects them to mortality. Yet, they love and are ineffably drawn to all good things of the world: nature, magic, art, music, and, of course, food. But not all nourishment is created equal, and elves are especially particular when it comes to what they will put in their bodies. Often seen by outsiders as "picky eaters," their beliefs and life philosophy affect their eating habits every bit as much, if not more so, than their cravings and taste buds.

Common Taboos

Half-Elves

Elves believe that each elven soul is precious and eternal, each destined to return to the material plane after a brief time dancing with their gods in the realm their ancestors once abandoned. Due to the nature of the soul many believe it should only belong to true born elves, but the possibility of half-elves means this does not always happen. For reasons not fully understood, it is possible for elves and humans to have offspring. A relationship between these two people in itself is not taboo in elven society, but producing children from this pairing is, due to the nature of the elven soul. The schools of thought are different, with some believing that the half-elf has a human soul, and some belieiving they have an elven soul trapped in a mortal body, meaning the memories of that soul will forever be lost as the half-elf cannot trance. The people in this latter group belive the birth of a half-elf represents the death of an elven soul that will never return to them, sometimes using the slur "perdé-ame (pehrdeeh-ahh-m)" to mean "wasted soul."

History

The elves arrived in Itherün from the fey wilds towards the end of the Draco-Giantic period, with some theorising that they brought that era to an end. In the 12,000 years following their arrival known as "The Emerging Period", the elves built up mighty empires at one with the land. Their great civilisations were wrought from trees and woodlands and they drew great magic from the energies of the natural world and developing arcane magics.
At some point in around 12,000 BCE the elves met the dwarves. What followed was "The Turmoil," 3,000 years of war between them. During this time, humans and orcs arrived and joined the conflict. By the end of this era, the elven rule of the world came to an end. Much of the forests of the world were destroyed, elven settlements were lost, and dwarven outposts were made further from the mountains in old elven territories. At this time, humanity started push for ground too and took over much of the old elven lands and they lost mountain forests to the orcs.
Now, the elves are scattered accross the known world. Wood elves are found in the dangerous great forests in Aegall, lingering in the ruins of their verdant kingdoms, and high elves are found in nomadic tribes accross the Grantar Desert. There are rumours of a type of elf known as Dark Elves or "Drow" that live beneath the surface that worship an evil god, but these are unsubstanciated.
It is not uncommon to see elves in human settlements as they often come to trade and gather news of the outside world. They are often treated with suspiscion, however, and find it hard to settle in human places for too long.
In many palces, the little land that the elves have claim to is being encroached on by humans, resulting in skrimishes in the woods and malcontent between the two groups. The great forests are hostile enough without the threat of hidden wood elves at your back, so some humans are seeking peace with them.
Since the coming of the dragonborn, there has been more diplomatic conversations between the elves and the other peoples with a hope to build a lasting peace between them.

Lifespan

700 - 750 years

Average Height

4’8” - 6’2”

Average Weight

High Elf: 6 st 8 lbs - 12 st 2 lbs

Wood Elf: 7 st 4 lbs - 12 st 12 lbs