Day Elf
The day elves of Alfheim grow very old, but are not, in fact, immortal. Their innate ability is Creation, so naturally they are tenders of all things green and living in their forests.
In the beginning, they were most drawn to the day and the gold spark, but in mourning for the fallen lands of their cousins to the north, some factions walk under the day, and some under the night.
These are the most outwardly mobile of the elves, traveling all throughout the Realm, especially by sea.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Similar to Humans, but more lithe, slim and refined.
Growth Rate & Stages
Like the northern elves, Day Elves are infants for a short time, in a year or two they are generally roaming the forests by themselves, and finding their own food. Even still, they are more directly guided by a parent, often both. They are full grown by 10, although still considered in their youth until they reach 100 years old.
While they are able to have children all their adult lives, most Day Elves are done with family life by their early 300s. They spend their next few hundred years exploring, learning and building before moving into the elder years of their lives, reaching an average of 1000 years of age.
Ecology and Habitats
Day Elves have a deep connection with the sun, and love warm temperatures. Like the rest of the elves, they can tolerate the cold and even freezing temperatures,, but the Day Elves will NOT be happy about it.
In the early days of the Realm, the Day Elves lived by day in their forests and meadows, by the rivers and lakes and streams, resting by night. After things went wrong in the north and the rot came to Svartalfheim, many Day Elves became walkers of the night instead of the day in solidarity with their Night cousins, a bridge between the kingdoms.
They treasure their forests more now than they did before, seeing how they can be taken away so quickly.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Day Elves come from lands of plenty, and have some of the most highly varied diets in all the Realm. Thousands of things that grow, fruits, vegetables, herbs, roots, flowers and fungi, each prepared hundreds of different ways, some meats and bounty of the seas and rivers, but sparingly, architectural baking and some of the most intoxicating wines and cordials to be sampled anywhere.
Biological Cycle
Each spring, the Day Elves perform a ritual that ushers in the spring on the coast, which then expands out to the rest of the kingdoms, plants growing and pollinating and seeding themselves with abandon. Without the intervention of the Night Elves with a similar ritual of autumn, the green would take over rather quickly, as they once found out.
Day Elves age more as Gods do than their fellow elves, showing some wear and tear in their late middle to elder years, and most will go to great lengths to preserve their youthful looks, by magical or practical means.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Day Elves are exceptionally social and frequently congregate in large settlements and cities. The Day Elves who make great works are universally respected in society, but those in power are usually the most complex magic users.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Day Elves stick to sunny and temperate places like their homeland of Alfheim, the Human lands of Midgard, and the sandy shores of Asgard. The western third of the kingdom is far more populated than the east, with cities scattered througout, especially toward the north, nearby their elven neighbors.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Day Elves, as all elves, have heightened perception in hearing and eyesight, especially hearing, handy in the woods.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
The mortal elves, like many other species, are given a nickname in their youth, but no surname, instead stating a reference to ones parents for introduction, for example, "Moonbeam, of Calelwen and Calaerdaer" who would grow to be named Calithildir Brightmoon.
Some Day Elves who find a specific calling for themselves may instead choose a title of a surname, such as Calelwen of the Dawn or Calaerdaer of the Waters.
Beauty Ideals
Day Elves spend so long with an ageless look that that youthful glow is highly desired, but lithe types are looked upon favorably in the cities, athletic bodies are found desirable in the woodlands, and graceful curves are coveted in the rural regions.
Gender Ideals
Gender is given little thought amongst the elves in general, but perhaps influenced by their Human neighbors, Day Elves are slightly more likely to cleave to the binary, but fluidity is not uncommon.
Relationship Ideals
Day Elves are by no means into long-term monogamy as a rule, it is far more common here than in the northern elves. As the Humans and Gods do, those of high rank or status in society are sometimes joined for the consolidation of power or cooperation, but most relationships are more fluid, with multiple partners, casual or serious, not being uncommon.
Average Technological Level
The Day Elves have a way of stewarding nature through magic to create great cities that seem to spring from the land itself, and produce incredible quality in their textile work, and unbelievable bounty in agriculture. The coastal elves are some of the most advanced shipbuilders in the Realm.
Historical Figures
The first of the Day Elves was Calelwen of the Dawn. She was closely allied with her cousins of the night to the north. After the blight came to Svartalfheim she was instrumental in bringing their people closer together in aid efforts, sharing magic along the way. In her later life she gave up her corporeal form to transform into the Light of the Night Butterflies.. To this day she is remembered for her open heart and the light she brought to dark places.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
The most social of the elves, Day Elves are considered the lowest amongst their own kind due to how frequently they interact with Mortals. The Day Elves themselves think of the Vanir think with a mixture of reverence, aspiration, and an occasional eyeroll over how seriously they take themselves and everything.
The Night Elves, despite not seeing much of each other and not particularly understanding each other, are their equals and partners in the turning of the seasons.
While the Gods to the south are immortals, and also quite social, the Day Elves have a typical elven sense of propriety that the Gods do not, and the Day Elves attitude toward those Gods ends up somewhat dented.
They find the Fire Elementals abstractly fascinating, they are far more attracted to water than fire. The Water Elementals are just over their river border, however, and kindred spirits, but nearly god-like to the Mortal Elves.
The Day Elves trade most frequently with the Humans, who they think of as industrious friendly children. So long as they're well behaved, they tend to like humans quite a bit.
Dwarves are a bit rough for their tastes, but they do have the best ore, they just try to have the Humans be the middleman.
Giants are nearly mythic to them, in their frozen, far northern lands, and a source of some fascination.
Day Elf Stats
Type: Mortal • ElfAbility Score Increase: Plus 2, Plus 1
Size: Medium
Speed: 30 ft
Species Element Affinities: Creation & Life
School of Magic Affinities: Conjuration
Prime Traits
Forest Ancestry: You have resistance against radiant damage, and magic can’t put you to sleep.Trance: Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) While meditating, you can dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive through years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.
Forestcraft: You can make flowers, vines and other plants grow from nothing, up to a plant's first year growth size.
Legacy Trait
Of the Land: Due to their ties to the element of Creation, Day Elves have a knack for living in harmony with nature, and making use of it for healing. You have advantage on your choice of Medicine (Wis) and Nature (Int) checks (in regards to plants).
Genetic Descendants
Origin/Ancestry
Elf
Lifespan
1000
Average Height
5-6 feet
Average Physique
Shorter than their northern cousins, Day Elves, like most elves, are usually tall and lithe, occasionally softer and a bit more rounded, but never bulky and muscular.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Day Elves skin tones range from pale as mist to deep as rain-soaked earth with undertones of pink or gold, with hair the colors of sun and silver and chestnut and deepest oceans.
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