Elf
Otherworldly grace given form
Basic Information
Anatomy
Elves possess a humanoid form
Biological Traits
The many different subtypes of Elves boast many different quirks and traits. While most of the base traits are already listed some of the unique quirks of each type of Elf is:
- High Elves: widely seen as the first elves, high elves sport fair skin and have an ancient tradition for art and philosophy. Many sport long blonde hair and beautiful eyes ranging in color. High Elves refer to themselves as "Eladrin", likely in reference to their origins from the Fey Eladrin
- Moon elves: Sporting bluish skin and either light grey, blue, bright purple, or pure white hair, the Moon elves also have bright glowing eyes and slightly longer ears. They have a special reverence for the moonlight and are the most magically gifted of the elves. Moon Elves refer to themselves as "Yulka/Yulkian"
- Fire Elves: Hailing form the grand Mountain of Flame, in the middle of iadith, these elves have come to worship the sun and overtime from living in the hot conditions of the magical mountain have led to the creation of this subrace. They typically sport darker skin, and hairs range from reds and orange to brown and black, and typically the most popular hairstyles being braids and dreadlocks. They favpr strength and family above all else. They are all typically muscular, rivaling even the dragon elves, and are the tallest of the elven subraces. Fire elves call themselves "Vashka/Vashkalian"
- Ash Elves: Some argue that Ash Elves are the same as Fire Elves, however the Ash Elves would disagree. They live in the wake of great volcanoes, espically active ones, and due to this have ash grey skin. They worship their ancestors spirits, the embers of burnt ground, and also the elven god of fire. While they hold themselves to be different to Fire Elves, they do admit to sharing alot fo cultural history and heritage from them, making them one of the younger elven sub races to exist due to them not being found naturally on Iadith. Ash Elves call themselves (Arlath/Arlathian)
- Drow: Those that would follow the call of the goddess Lolth descended into the underdark. Their vision is finely adapted to the dark underground tunnels and many of these Drow, or “Dark Elves”, sport a faint purplish to grey or black skin tones. They do however find great discomfort in being on the surface and can hardly see without magic to assist them
- Desert Elves: elves that took to the desert sands of Carall, these elves sport an olive like to dark skin tones and have become well adapted to the heat and hardships of the Carall desert. They have become adept warriors and even more skilled traders and merchants. Desert Elves refer to themselves as "qizma/qizmiam"
- Winter Elves: Winter Elves moved to the wintery plains of Klasiyos, and sport an almost pale white skin, as well as antlers of varying size on their heads. They are well adapted to the winter climate and can almost walk into a snow storm naked without getting cold, almost. Winter Elves refer to themselves as "olen'ka/olen'kian"
- Wood Elves: Wood Elves are a reclusive bunch, hailing from the great forest of the Great Dale Woods, wood elves sport a tan to light brown or fair skin tone and have an almost otherworldly connection to nature and the world itself. They have become not only experts at moving through forests, but have become masters of the bow. Most wood elves stay in their forest home, a few however venture out to seek adventure. Wood Elves refer to themselves as "Hasrane/Hasrani"
- Sea Elves: Those who took to the call of the sea became sea elves. They usually possess varying blue-purple or green skin tones, and some even possess tentacle like appendages near their head, and some even take to morphing sea creature parts to their body. However it should be noted that many also have skin-tones similar to High Elves. They can also breath underwater and swim better than other surface races. Their hair can be a black, blue, silver-white, red, and varying blueish greens. Their eyes can either be white, black, blue, green, or silver. Sea Elves call themselves "Alu'Tel/Alu'Telian"
- Dragon Elves: Refer to themselves as "Darlia/Darlian" these elves are the result of elven men and women marrying the dragons that helped liberate Iadith. They sport a wide array of skin tones, and hair colors, and most typically have signs of their draconic ancestry: from scales, to horns, to draconic eyes, and in some cases wings and tails. Dragon Elves are also more muscular and slightly taller then most of the other elven breeds. Dragon Elves are also able to inherit the breath attack and resistances of their dragon parentage, leading many to form clans of elemental dragon family lines.
- Avariel: A strange form of elf that originated during the war against the demons and dragons of iadith, the mountainfolk of the ancient elves would be almost obliterated, causing the elves to use magic to evolve wings to escape the dragons. Rarely ever seen due to their preference to remain in floating islands high above the clouds (which brings them in conflict with he Dwarven Sky Kingdoms), Avariel possess pale skin, often porcelain white. The wings of Avariel are usually white, but can be brown or black, and many Avariel take to painting their feathers. Avariel possess hollow bones to aid in flight, much like birds. They are also capable of letting out a terrifying cry, sort of similar to a banshee wail, that lead many folk to tell children to beware the piercing cry of a Avariel
Genetics and Reproduction
Elves repoduce sexually the same way humans do, however their gestation period is 12-16 months instead of the humans 9ish months.
Growth Rate & Stages
Elves age at the same rate as humans do, however they are not considered adults till 100 years of age. After 100, they virtually don't age for the next couple hundred years, only at the age of 800 do they start to show signs of aging as they near the end of their natural life.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Elves generally have heightened senses of hearing, and see things faster then other races/ Its also observed that elves seem to have a natural affinity for magic, with the Moon Elves being the most magically gifted of them all. Some subtypes like Drow have developed the ability to see in the dark.
Civilization and Culture
Major Organizations
The Elven Kingdoms of Iadith is an island with the largest collection of elves in one place. This kingdom has stood for thousands of years, longer then any other kingdom in the world.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Elvish is the language of the elves and most of the other subtypes of elves speak it, save for the drow who speak Undercommon.
History
The history of the Elven race is a strange on to be sure, and one they aren't keen on sharing to the other races, and only the Elves on Iadith have access to this knowledge. The idea that the elven gods are the only "correct" pantheon also leads many foreign scholars to doubt the accuracy of these claims. It is said that long ago, there was only the Wyld Realm, and the Elven God of Creation Teclican. He would create the first sentient life in the form of the Fey Eladrin, and they would make great cities and kingdoms in the Wyld Realm. However, this age of peace would come to an end as another god of unknown name would come and try to create just like Teclican. However, his experiments would fail, and the pained screaming of his children would drive him mad. He would rename himself to Drinn, and become the great demon of the abyss, creating demons to make a home for his cursed children. This would result in the Fey Eladrin being corrupted and joining Drinn as Teclican would create Ira and together they would vanquish the demons and Drinn and seal them away in the Abyss. However, one blow from Teclican would wound Drinn, and result in his blood dripping to the Wyld Realm. The blood was the souls of the Fey Eladrin consumed by Drinn, but with the purifying power of Teclican, these souls would become pure and good. With the battle done, Teclican and ira would realize this life that was starting to blood needed to leave the Wyld Realm, for the realm was in ruins, and a phenomenon known as the Darkness would be corrupting some parts of the Wyld Realm. Thus Teclican and Ira would create the other realms, and gods and other sentient creatures to inhabit and look over the realms. Teclican would send these pure souls to the Mortal Realm, on the Island of Iadith. These souls would land on the island, and become the first elves
The elves would grow. and then come into conflict, as demons and corrupted dragons inhabited the island. As they struggled to fight, one elven ruler, Varhun the Warrior, would beseech a great Silver Dragon named Gurdanon to aid the elves in their quest to vanquish this threat before it spreads across the world. Gurdanon would relent and soon would unite many other dragons in the liberation of Iadith, raising Varhun as leader of the Empire of Iadith and Gurdanon to be known as "champion of the heavens". This would result in dragons to quickly become a endangered species, as the remaining dragons spread across the world to make homes for themselves.
At some point after the founding of the Elven Kingdom of Iadith, many would split off from the island, either from disagreements or simply struck with wanderlust. This would be known as the Great Exit, and would come to form the various other sub races as they adapted to their natural environments. Soon after the Moon Elves would form after the Elves living in the Night Woods on Iadith would look up to the moon and see a magical comet cross the sky over the moon. This combined with their strong connection to the Goddess of the Moon, Yulla, would bathe them in magical moonlight, and thus turn into the Moon Elves.
So it has been that the Elves have been apart of the world for countless years, and they show no signs of going away anytime soon.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Elves views on other races will vary widely. Those on the island of Iadith will see themselves are better then any of the other races. High elves and moon elves consider themselves the rightfull rulers of the world and that one day their empire will come to rule over the lesser races once more. The Drow have historically seen the other races as lesser and thus needing to be put to work under their rule "for their own good". However with the Cataclysm of the Underdark, those unlucky Drow not able to join in the sparse Drow surface settlements find it hard to keep this attitude when they depend on others for their food and water. Many of the other elven subraces view themselves as equals to the other races, save for the Sea Elves who think they they are owed the title of "protectors of the world."
Genetic Descendants
Lifespan
1000 years
Average Height
5-6 ft (1.6-1.8m)
Average Weight
130-170Ib (59-77kg)
Average Physique
Most Elves are of slender form, but they are stronger then this lithe form looks
Related Organizations
