Elves
On the race of Elves, their Origin, Culture, and Spirituality
Elves are one of the few fey ancestral species on Pangea. Having migrated to Pangea, they are not native to our world. In general, they are strongly kindred with the weave of magic, and so the various subraces, are all known to have their origin mixed with their specific relation to arcana.
Usually, elves are taller and fairer than Humans. They walk and talk more gracefully, and often carry themselves to a higher standard. They are seen as a bit arrogant, as they share a certain pride in their manners, depending on the elf, as they live 8 - 9 times longer than any Human. Despite all this, they have lived among us for 3 ages or almost 4000 years, and so are as entwined with human-dominated customs and cultures, for better or worse, as any other Pangean race.
The politics between Elves and other races have always been of high tension, and so it is never an easy subject.
There are lots of tells Older than Time, describing the Fey ancestry. How fey spirits traveled the many planes of existence, changing form to suit the needs of the realms they would temporally inhabit, like the various elemental planes. Until they for one reason or another settled down for a long while in the chaotic ooze of twilight, slowly forming it into the place now recognized as the Feywild. Here they took the familiar shapes, that we now know as Elves. Long ears, fair skin, elegant, and graceful, but also somewhat off.
It is said, that this form was inspired by the king of Twilight himself, Astraeus, who took the Fey under his banner until they one day migrated once more onto Pangea.
Somewhere along this timeline, the elves - or rather the Fey - learned to wield magic. It is said, that they came across the very seed of magic hidden away by its maker and source the goddess Mystra. Now, Mystra was at that time being courted by Astraeus, who was transfixed by her alluring power, and as she became pregnant, the child created an imbalance in the scales of arcana. Spilling away some of the secrets of the weave, giving the Fey a mere moment to gaze behind the horizon learning a fragment of its potential.
Astraeus himself gained a large portion of this power, said to have been part of the reason that the Fey was able to morph into the shape of various strange creatures, the elves being among them.
These secrets remained with the fey people for many years, until they shared it with the people of Elisiat when they first arrived on Pangea.
The first elves were simply known as High Elves, the fairest and most beautiful of their kin. For a long time, these were the only kind of elf. They worshipped Mystra and followed Astraeus. They guarded and protected the knowledge of magic, and built cities inspired by the crystalline shapes, oval orifices, and oblong symbolism of early magic. It is rumored that their entrancing visage is inspired in truth by Mystra herself, a reflection of the now long-gone goddess of magic and mysteries.
Astraeus was a God of - among other things - chaos, freedom, and love. And so when he first laid eyes on the beauty of Pangea he fell hard. He immediately plotted to make the very earth, the goddess Gaia, his.
Despite her many rejections, she slowly succumbed to his advances, but his unfaithfulness would soon be discovered. Upon doing so, Mystra became furious. She summoned a great wealth of power, and with all her magic she tore a scare in the very face of Gaia, leaving behind a hideous scar of black unfertile terrain, an entire continent on which nothing could ever grow.
Gaia turned away from Astaeus, seeing her error, and feeling only guilt. Crying for 50 years, she filled an entire ocean separating the dead continent, today known as Sheol, from the central land of Zenith, hiding away her shame.
Astraeus turned to Mystra and said: ‘’If I am not free to love, then there is no love at all. You may have smothered the love I sought, but by so doing you have killed all. I shall not be with you, for freedom is my only love, and that is not a love we share.’’
Mystra then said to Astraeus: ‘’That which you call freedom, I call abuse. That which you call love, I call an excuse. So go now, proud Astraeus, the child of whom I carry within by weave. For as long as I live, this child remains. For a child born in the chaos of this world, shall only know pain, tainted by her father’s excuses. Go now! Because I shall no longer satisfy thy hunger, or that which you call freedom.’’
And so, the two went their separate ways. In so doing, the elves that stayed loyal to Mystra, The High Elves, walked her path, guarding her weave and womb on Pangea. While those who remained with Astraeus, soon found the blessing of Mystra gone. Their visage changed into something more wild and primal, darker more earthy skin tones, they transformed into that which we now know as Wood Elves.
The Wood Elves found solace and peace in the embrace of Gaia, seeing her as kin and mistress. Here they learned all they could of her ways, protecting her from the harm of all that might threaten her.
At the end of the Dusk wars, when Selene the Goddess of the moon had cast the world into a deep slumber, she conspired with a High elf known as Endymion to reveal to her the secrets of the arcane promising him love eternal. As he agreed, he and his closest kin were suddenly transformed into a new kind of elf, the Astral Elf. More ethereal in nature, with a slight shimmer to their skin and hair in direct moonlight. They became kin of the moon and stars, forever bound to their secrets. Their kin and culture, as it expanded, consisted of moon-weavers and true guardians of secrets, weaving the very fabric of magical essence into cloths and silks.
The High Elf is recognized by their high brow, in general, pale complexion, and graceful stature. They were followers of Mystra, shaped in her graze. Their cities are often built around schools of magic, and their worship and culture regard the teaching and guarding of the tenets of magic.
After Mystra’s passing, the High Elves became even more protective of her weave, marking themselves as inheritors of her will and testament. They desire magic to be taught right, and see themselves as magical purist, standing against corruption.
The high elves have had many seats of power, in and around human settlements of lesser or equal power. Today as their number dwindles, these places remain but ruins and whispers upon the face of the earth.
The Wood Elves were formed as they abandoned Mystra and her blessings, to worship Gaia the goddess of nature. By doing so they lost a lot of the grace that previously defined their race, to become more wild and primal in their general appearance. Earthier tones of skin, darker more vibrant hair, and more aligned with the vibe of nature.
Their cultural norms consist of the protection and keeping of nature, and so most of their towns and cities are built in and around nature in ways that best morph with the natural landscape. They keep to themselves more than other elves and are often found in smaller groups and villages, with very few exceptions. It is believed that Gaia gave them a new blessing in the absence of Mystra, allowing them a fragment of her powers, and forming the first few Druidic Circles.
The Astral Elf was shaped by the Moon goddess Selene because of a promise of eternal love from her in exchange for some of the secrets of magic, that the high elf Endymion then knew. The love and blessing of the goddess changed him and his people into silver-haired, fair-skinned, and with stunning, almost crystalline eyes, like stars, elves, now known as Astral Elves.
They were tasked with guarding these secrets tightly, not allowing them to be passed down to anybody but those of the inner circle. Between them and the high elves, the eternal war of secrets began. While the High Elves saw it as a necessity to teach magic in the right way, as so the world would not fall into chaos. The Astral Elves of Selene wanted to guard this power and make it so that no one else could share in it.
The Astral Elves are known for their seamstresses, weaving the very fabric of stars and magic into their silks, making them legendary.
They herald from Lunarion, formed after the Ethereum Pact, and here Endymion and his people reign under the eternal watch night.
A place long since lost.
Usually, elves are taller and fairer than Humans. They walk and talk more gracefully, and often carry themselves to a higher standard. They are seen as a bit arrogant, as they share a certain pride in their manners, depending on the elf, as they live 8 - 9 times longer than any Human. Despite all this, they have lived among us for 3 ages or almost 4000 years, and so are as entwined with human-dominated customs and cultures, for better or worse, as any other Pangean race.
The politics between Elves and other races have always been of high tension, and so it is never an easy subject.
History
Origin
The Elves are known to have migrated onto Pangea from the Feywild sometime around the Era of Arcane Twilight during the second age. Their true origin, and life before the Feywild, are largely obscured - even to themselves.There are lots of tells Older than Time, describing the Fey ancestry. How fey spirits traveled the many planes of existence, changing form to suit the needs of the realms they would temporally inhabit, like the various elemental planes. Until they for one reason or another settled down for a long while in the chaotic ooze of twilight, slowly forming it into the place now recognized as the Feywild. Here they took the familiar shapes, that we now know as Elves. Long ears, fair skin, elegant, and graceful, but also somewhat off.
It is said, that this form was inspired by the king of Twilight himself, Astraeus, who took the Fey under his banner until they one day migrated once more onto Pangea.
Somewhere along this timeline, the elves - or rather the Fey - learned to wield magic. It is said, that they came across the very seed of magic hidden away by its maker and source the goddess Mystra. Now, Mystra was at that time being courted by Astraeus, who was transfixed by her alluring power, and as she became pregnant, the child created an imbalance in the scales of arcana. Spilling away some of the secrets of the weave, giving the Fey a mere moment to gaze behind the horizon learning a fragment of its potential.
Astraeus himself gained a large portion of this power, said to have been part of the reason that the Fey was able to morph into the shape of various strange creatures, the elves being among them.
These secrets remained with the fey people for many years, until they shared it with the people of Elisiat when they first arrived on Pangea.
The first elves were simply known as High Elves, the fairest and most beautiful of their kin. For a long time, these were the only kind of elf. They worshipped Mystra and followed Astraeus. They guarded and protected the knowledge of magic, and built cities inspired by the crystalline shapes, oval orifices, and oblong symbolism of early magic. It is rumored that their entrancing visage is inspired in truth by Mystra herself, a reflection of the now long-gone goddess of magic and mysteries.
Astraeus was a God of - among other things - chaos, freedom, and love. And so when he first laid eyes on the beauty of Pangea he fell hard. He immediately plotted to make the very earth, the goddess Gaia, his.
Despite her many rejections, she slowly succumbed to his advances, but his unfaithfulness would soon be discovered. Upon doing so, Mystra became furious. She summoned a great wealth of power, and with all her magic she tore a scare in the very face of Gaia, leaving behind a hideous scar of black unfertile terrain, an entire continent on which nothing could ever grow.
Gaia turned away from Astaeus, seeing her error, and feeling only guilt. Crying for 50 years, she filled an entire ocean separating the dead continent, today known as Sheol, from the central land of Zenith, hiding away her shame.
Astraeus turned to Mystra and said: ‘’If I am not free to love, then there is no love at all. You may have smothered the love I sought, but by so doing you have killed all. I shall not be with you, for freedom is my only love, and that is not a love we share.’’
Mystra then said to Astraeus: ‘’That which you call freedom, I call abuse. That which you call love, I call an excuse. So go now, proud Astraeus, the child of whom I carry within by weave. For as long as I live, this child remains. For a child born in the chaos of this world, shall only know pain, tainted by her father’s excuses. Go now! Because I shall no longer satisfy thy hunger, or that which you call freedom.’’
And so, the two went their separate ways. In so doing, the elves that stayed loyal to Mystra, The High Elves, walked her path, guarding her weave and womb on Pangea. While those who remained with Astraeus, soon found the blessing of Mystra gone. Their visage changed into something more wild and primal, darker more earthy skin tones, they transformed into that which we now know as Wood Elves.
The Wood Elves found solace and peace in the embrace of Gaia, seeing her as kin and mistress. Here they learned all they could of her ways, protecting her from the harm of all that might threaten her.
At the end of the Dusk wars, when Selene the Goddess of the moon had cast the world into a deep slumber, she conspired with a High elf known as Endymion to reveal to her the secrets of the arcane promising him love eternal. As he agreed, he and his closest kin were suddenly transformed into a new kind of elf, the Astral Elf. More ethereal in nature, with a slight shimmer to their skin and hair in direct moonlight. They became kin of the moon and stars, forever bound to their secrets. Their kin and culture, as it expanded, consisted of moon-weavers and true guardians of secrets, weaving the very fabric of magical essence into cloths and silks.
Culture and Spirituality
There are four main cultures of elf: High Elf, Wood Elf, Astral Elf, and Drow All four have formed and changed primarily in the early eras of the world, while later ages have dealt more with the hybridization and integration of these four initial cultures, which all in one shape or another exist today.The High Elf is recognized by their high brow, in general, pale complexion, and graceful stature. They were followers of Mystra, shaped in her graze. Their cities are often built around schools of magic, and their worship and culture regard the teaching and guarding of the tenets of magic.
After Mystra’s passing, the High Elves became even more protective of her weave, marking themselves as inheritors of her will and testament. They desire magic to be taught right, and see themselves as magical purist, standing against corruption.
The high elves have had many seats of power, in and around human settlements of lesser or equal power. Today as their number dwindles, these places remain but ruins and whispers upon the face of the earth.
The Wood Elves were formed as they abandoned Mystra and her blessings, to worship Gaia the goddess of nature. By doing so they lost a lot of the grace that previously defined their race, to become more wild and primal in their general appearance. Earthier tones of skin, darker more vibrant hair, and more aligned with the vibe of nature.
Their cultural norms consist of the protection and keeping of nature, and so most of their towns and cities are built in and around nature in ways that best morph with the natural landscape. They keep to themselves more than other elves and are often found in smaller groups and villages, with very few exceptions. It is believed that Gaia gave them a new blessing in the absence of Mystra, allowing them a fragment of her powers, and forming the first few Druidic Circles.
The Astral Elf was shaped by the Moon goddess Selene because of a promise of eternal love from her in exchange for some of the secrets of magic, that the high elf Endymion then knew. The love and blessing of the goddess changed him and his people into silver-haired, fair-skinned, and with stunning, almost crystalline eyes, like stars, elves, now known as Astral Elves.
They were tasked with guarding these secrets tightly, not allowing them to be passed down to anybody but those of the inner circle. Between them and the high elves, the eternal war of secrets began. While the High Elves saw it as a necessity to teach magic in the right way, as so the world would not fall into chaos. The Astral Elves of Selene wanted to guard this power and make it so that no one else could share in it.
The Astral Elves are known for their seamstresses, weaving the very fabric of stars and magic into their silks, making them legendary.
They herald from Lunarion, formed after the Ethereum Pact, and here Endymion and his people reign under the eternal watch night.
A place long since lost.
Origin/Ancestry
Fey Ancestry
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