Elves

The two species of elves are two of the largest groups of sapient people on the Continent. While there are almost dozens of races of elves, a majority of elves are members of one of two races: Northern Elves and Southern Elves. Northern Elves have light green skin, silver hair, and amber eyes. Southern Elves have purple skin, black hair, and orange eyes. Both groups are generally tall, with tails, and of course, long and pointy ears.

A Northern Elf

A Southern Elf
The ancestors of the elves are the Puryole, a species which lived near the sea and had long ears that could be used like sails. At some point, members of this species journeyed inland for unknown reasons. There, they evolved into elves, Goblins, and orcs. At some point before 3000 BB, a group of Northern Elves left their cold boreal forests and travelled southward, ending up in tropical rainforests where they slowly evolved into the Southern Elves.
The Northern Elves greatly outnumber The Southern Elves. In days long since passed, there was a massive kingdom of Northern Elves in the land that is now Agavarot, but a massive event known as The Shattering struck the kingdom in the 1400s. The only elves who survived were those who lived on the fringes of this kingdom, all of whom immediately scattered. For the next thousand years, the elvish diaspora unfolded, the Northern elves facing persecution wherever they went. Currently, one can find Northern Elves in The Diquin Empire, Talamh-Draoichta, Ferodrill, Balan, Triberol, Strapoda, Akawa, and Nokotu.
The history of the Southern Elves is less known. It appears there were once two large kingdoms of Southern Elves which underwent war that led to the destruction of both. Shortly after, both kingdoms were conquered by The Liayona empire, leading to a diaspora of Southern Elves.
The culture of the elves has changed somewhat since The Shattering, and it differs based on where the elves are dwelling. For instance, elves in Talamh Draoichta have adopted their own system of tattooing to match the traditions there. However, there are certain consistencies.
To make things simpler, we will discuss Northern Elves first.
A large variety of rituals govern a Northern Elve’s life. One of the most important of these rituals is meditation, which is done once a week on Saturday night. This meditation can either be done with a group of people or individually. The night before Saturday, the Haunton flowers will be crushed in a special ritual bowl and mixed with water to create a dark orange paste known as Sthau. Before meditation occurs on Saturday, Sthau will be applied to the meditators face. One last step before meditation is the lighting of a Lyanth Root. Lyanth Root burns with a purple flame that can not be controlled by fire magic. This purple flame is also known as liquid flame as it does not spread, but instead flows like liquid. The Lyanth Root will be placed in a special clear vase to spread a purple glow around the room.
Once the Sthau is applied and the root is lit, meditation can commence, with the elf “cleaning their mind” of all thoughts. When the root has burnt out, it unleashes a scent which signals the meditator to stop.
Flowers are very important to elven culture, with different flowers having different meanings. Lilacs are generally worn in the hair of both the bride and the groom at an elven wedding. At a funeral, people are expected to wear ghost flowers in their hair. A petunia is a perfect gift to give to new parents. In general, flowers are a key feature of elven art, fashion, and religious practices.
There was even once a practice among some Northern Elves of making cuts in their skin and placing seeds in, with these seeds eventually sprouting into plants, usually a flower such as a Hoanton. Plants are especially important to Northern Elves, as they are traditionally vegetarians, even though some have abandoned that tradition.
Another important aspect of elven culture is names. All northern elves are given two names, a true name and the name they present to others. Their true names are only shared with spouses. Northern Elves will bear lockets that contain special scripts with their true name. This locket will be buried with them upon death.
Speaking of burial practices, while this tradition is extinct, in olden days, when a Northern Elf died, their spouse would be expected to kill themselves and be buried alongside them. This stems from the Northern Elve’s beliefs that when two people marry, their souls are joined together. Divorce is unheard of in Northern Elf culture, and adulterers would be killed in the old days.
There is a stereotype that Northern Elves are lazy, but the truth is that Northern Elves do not place as much of an emphasis on work as humans do.
As for religion, the Northern Elve’s worship The Winged One, a being similar to The Entity worshipped by the Shebans. The Winged One is an omnipotent, benevolent being with a dozen wings and a hundred eyes. Certain factions of the elven religion also worship The Twelve Angels of The Winged One, including The Winged One’s wife, La, the goddess of nature.
The Northern Elves' practice of worship involves praying in front of idols of The Winged One, and potentially also The Twelve Angels. These idols are usually simplified, only giving The Winged One six wings and six eyes.
In opposition to The Winged One is the wicked Asmodean. His children, the Asmodites, are evil spirits to be warded off. Elves put inscriptions on their houses to protect them from Asmodites. Infants are often placed in veils with these inscriptions on them, and the inscriptions are also put on ceremonial necklaces and painted on the bellies of pregnant elves..
The North Elven creation myth claims that the world used to be nothing but an endless abyss, until The Winged One stretched out from some higher realm and created the earth, the sun, and the moons, as well as a form of companionship, La, the spirit of the earth. However, this made Asmodeun jealous, who began trying to destroy everything. In order to protect the universe, The Winged One separated the boundaries between his world and our own, leaving La behind. However, as he did this, a drop of his blood fell, where it impregnated La. She then gave birth to The Tree of Life.
From the Tree of Life grew multiple fruits, out of which came plants, animals, and the various different sapient species. Four fruits became the first four elves: Tzamon, Illthea, Atzea, and Elatz. Tzamon and Illthea had four children: Illthas, Thnan, Ablenas, and Drod. The oldest, Illthas, was corrupted by Asmodeun, and from her were born the Asmodites. Drod would run through a fire, burning him and turning his skin purple. As such, all of his children would be the first southern elves. Atzea and Elatz birthed three children: Euthas the Clever, Tanzania the Beautiful, and Nyaetzon the Strong. Tanzania would be wooed by Thnan, and from them would come the dynasty of elven kings.
Nyaetzon tried to woo La, pleasing her by trying to capture the fifth moon with a rope. However, this led to the moon crashing onto him. Apparently, he still lives beneath the debris to this day.
Shortly after this, La would travel to the bottom of the ocean, where she would fall asleep.
These stories have been passed down for thousands of years mostly through writing, with traditional elven books containing both words and stylized, colourful pictures. As elven storytelling is done mostly through writing, elven music is often purely instrumental, usually constructed out of both string instruments such as fiddles as violins and woodwinds such as flutes and Ptathpipes.
While the culture and religion of the Northern Elves is fairly consistent, the Southern Elves have a large amount of variance, and are often divided into different ethnicities.
The Southern Elves who dwell in areas such as Ranja and Premadesh, often called Lilac Elves, are known for wearing ear and nose rings and for being skilled fighters.
The Southern Elves of Cy’urukando, often called Amethyst Elves, have more extensive piercings, often having them all throughout their body. These piercings are usually visible, as these elves usually only wear clothes when it is cold.
The Violet Elves live in both Cy’urukando and Laroda, and they are known for doing a large amount of rituals with fire and using ash body paint. Ear rings are also a common trait of theirs.
There are many other groups, but they will be discussed along with their respective regions.
The Southern Elves don’t seem to have one specific religion, with most of them following the religion of the place they live in.