Elves

The Elves are a race that once dominated the World of Many Names. However, they fell after the Cataclysm, an assortment of events in 1 AC that led to the demise of the Archaian Empire. Since that disaster, the elves have retreated into hiding, for fear of persecution. Many fled established organizations, instead opting to pursue their own destiny far from their old homes. Others, however, stuck together, for their own safety. The largest concentration of the young elves, or the Wood Elves, is within the Absentwood, in the cities of Lednikaar and Ziezynsil.

Basic Information

Anatomy

Elves have pointy ears that stick out from their hair, which is usually blond. Their eyes tend to be the cooler colors, blue, green, and purple, and they also tend to have irises that are elongated, like a cat's or lizard's.

Ecology and Habitats

Although elves can inhabit any land, they have all been restricted to inhabiting the Absentwood, a dark, deep forest where they are safe from Humans.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Elves are omnivores, and they often hunt for animals such as boars in their home forest, or, Xaggdra, as it is within their language.

Additional Information

Facial characteristics

Elves do not grow facial hair. For this reason, Teleucian monarchs aspire to constantly shave their facial hair, so as to look more like the ethereally beautiful elven monarchs of old.

Geographic Origin and Distribution

Although elves can be found all over the world if one has a keen eye, they are most concentrated in the Absentwood, in the cities of Lednikaar and Ziezynsil.

Average Intelligence

Elves are an intelligent people, gathering much wisdom over their centuries of life. However, as they retreated into the Absentwood, their innovation greatly decreased. Now, they really on old technology, living a banal, stagnant existence in hiding from the humans for fear of persecution.

Civilization and Culture

Average Technological Level

At the height of their technological expertise, they owned many contraptions, and simple technologies, like the Plough, were common-spread.

Major Language Groups and Dialects

Archaid was the most common language group, and it included Agorean, Archaian, Dionysian, Hestian, and High Teleucian, which is the only human language in the language group.

History

The first elves settled around the city of Hephaest in 816 AC, when it was founded. Other elves lived in Mem or in other areas, such as around the Agor River Valley. Either way, the elves formed multiple nations, the Agorean Empire, the Archaian Empire, the Grand Duchy of Dionys, and the Hestian Freehold. These nations frequently fought, but the Archaian Empire proved themselves, by far, the strongest. They conquered or subjugated their neighbors until there were none left. Then, they expanded their borders. Most notably this occurred in The Splinterlands, where many barbarians were trampled upon, their institutions replaced by newer, Archaian ones.
Although the Archaians spread far, that only made their collapse all the more destructive. Barbarians who had been brutalized under the Archaian yoke fought to liberate their people, and trampled on the rights of the elves. This forced them to flee, and many of them fled into the Absentwood, following a mystical path known as the Emberflow. There, the cities of Lednikaar and Ziezynsil would serve as their home for the rest of recorded history.

Historical Figures

The most famous elven historical figures are all the Archaian emperors. These include Emperor Androtion I, Emperor Oeronas II, and all their ancestors and descendants.

Common Myths and Legends

The most famous elven myth is the Hestian Myth of Deucal and Pyrr. It involves two immortals, in love, who threw pebbles between the sea that kept them apart. When they came into contact with the water, they expanded, creating stepping stones that enabled the two lovers to meet each other, in the center. It is said these pebbles still stand in the form of the Pebbles.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

After the Cataclysm, the barbarian Humans greatly persecuted their elven neighbors. This resulted in them fleeing into the Absentwood by following the Emberflow to preserve their freedom.

Lifespan

433 years

Conservation Status

Conservation Dependant

Average Height

1.73 m

Average Weight

68.12 kg

Average Physique

The average elf has cool eyes, smooth skin, and flowing blond hair. However, there have been sightings, in both elves and half-elves, of black and, in even fewer cases, brown hair.

Related Ethnicities

• Wood Elves