Elves
High, Wood, and Dark
The Elves are not the most populous race in the world, yet they are the only race to have always been listed as one of the Three Major Races, a ranking of the most powerful and influential races in the world. They have often been joined on said list by the likes of the Kenku, the Dragonborn, the Humans, and the Dwarves, yet none have been as consistent as the Elves.
Basic Information
Growth Rate & Stages
Elves mature at the same rate as humans to adulthood, reaching maturity at about 18-19. It is then that their biological clock is thought to freeze, or at least slow down immensely.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Most Elves are herbivores, subsisting off of a diet of plant-based foods. High Elves eat only vegetarian foods, while Wood Elves are known to hunt on occasion for food. Dark Elves are the only exception, as they normally eat meat due to the lack of vegetation in their caves. Aside from the rare mushroom, Drow eat animals.
Additional Information
Facial characteristics
Elves often have thin, angular faces and thin angular eyebrows to match. This has been called by some humans that met them "Resting Bitch Face."
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Elves only live on the continent of Elone. There are three major locations in the world where Elves live, each of which holding a different variation of Elf.
Camor
Camor is the capital of the Elven Empire, and the only major city of the High Elves. The City of Gold, Camor is a ringed city with three rings. The Outer Ring is surrounded by the first wall, which was named Hal Tas. This is Elvish for Weak Wall, as this wall is often considered to be decoration by most High Elven nobles and royals. The true first line of defense to the nobles is the outer ring of the city itself, the districts of commoner High Elves that live in Camor. To the nobles, the commoners are "the strongest defense" that protects their lives. The Middle Ring is a mixed ring. Mostly, it is populated by nobles, which is what gives it the title of the noble districts, however there are sparse districts within the Middle Ring that have commoners living in there. However, these commoners are almost only commoners who provide a good or service necessary for the nobles. Most notable among these is the Valhana Tavern in the southern district of the Middle Ring. The wall around the Middle Ring is Ik Tas, or Strong Wall. The nobles believe Ik Tas to be impenetrable, which is untrue. The Inner Ring is the Royal District. It, unlike the other rings, is home to only one, large, district. The wall around it is simply called Za Tas, the Royal Wall. It is considered the grandest wall in the world, which keeps the King and those around him safe. The Royal District is filled with both those of the royal Elven family as well as those nobles of higher status. A famous example of a noble family that earned its place in the Royal District is the family of the Elven Hero Heiven.The Elven Forest
The second major residence of Elves is the lands around Camor. The land of the Wood Elves is the Elven Forest, a large forest that spans the entirety of central Elone. Within the Elven Forest are many villages where the Wood Elves reside. There is also the Temple of Sehanine, the Goddess of the Elves. Yet it is a dangerous place, as there are many creatures that live in the Elven Forest that are of an unknown and lethal species. It is also the home of the Green Dragon Lord, Fraeton the Usurper.The Drow Cave
The Dark Elves, or Drow, live within the Drow cave. The Drow Cave sits below the mountain Erkatam Silath (Dwarven Mountain) in Dwarven territory, which in Dwarvish is known as the opposite, Olv Urngor (Elf Mountain). Within the cave spans a gigantic city. The Drow arbitrarily divide this one, large city in the cave into smaller cities, yet any visitors have found themselves lost due to the interconnected nature of the cities in the cave. At the center of these cities is the Temple of the Stemine, where Drow will often go to visit.The Depths
On the edge of the Drow city, within a branching part of the cave, is the Depths. The Depths are not the home of any Drow, but instead begin with the lair of the Dragon Lord of Purple who the Drow also revere, Jarrur Lord of the Dark. Heading deeper into the Depths will lead you to the residence of the remaining Mindflayers and other abyssal creatures that made their way to Totania. It is believed that there may even be a gateway to the Abyss in the outer reaches of the Depths.Average Intelligence
Elves consider themselves the smartest race on Totania, yet this honor is held by the Dragonborn. Despite this, the Elves certainly hold a place up there alongside Dragonborn, with a very high average intellect.
Much to the despair of the High Elves, it has been found that Dark Elves even have a higher average intelligence than they do. Yet both are incredibly high relative to many other races in Totania.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
"Elves have the best eyes. If they stood on the edge of the Magic College, all the way in the sky, they could see to the edge of the world."This is a common phrase used to exaggerate the power of Elven eyes, but it is not as farfetched as one may believe. Elven eyes have an immense radius of sight, seeing far beyond the horizon a normal eye would be able to see. Elves are also known to be incredibly magically adept, often considered the second most powerful race of mage (first being Dragonborn). Elven mages are known to have certain affinities, and there is a rarity among some of them. The Elven affinities, in order of rarities, are as follows:
- Wind
- Water
- Light
- Fire
- Earth
- Dark
Civilization and Culture
Beauty Ideals
In Elven society, beauty is everything. If someone is not beautiful, then many Elves will scorn them, and they could even be thrown out of society or cast down to the slums of Camor, even if they were a noble. Due to this, surgery is common in Elven society, and it is also why Elves try to dress as nice as possible, to accentuate their beauty, or to distract from their potential bad looks.
Average Technological Level
Elves have not always been focused on achieving new discoveries, instead relying on things that Dwarves, Humans, or Dragonborn find instead normally. Despite this, there are some things that Elves have found themselves wanting to discover.
Elf Gold
Chief among these discoveries is Elf Gold, also known as False Gold. Elf Gold is a cloth-like material that looks identical to gold. The only external difference between Elf Gold and true gold is the texture, as Elf Gold is soft like cloth, and much easier to wear. It is also much more abundant. Elf Gold was created due to the High Elven love of gold. There was an immense demand for gold clothing, and while some Elven nobles didn't mind wearing real, heavy metal gold, many hated it and refused to pay such exorbitant prices for something that they couldn't wear. It wasn't until Zenzion Gentoris, a High Elven commoner who had spent some time in his life in Dwarven mines stealing Gold for the noble High Elves. Zenzion went to his brother, Paefros Gentoris, a fashion designer, with an idea. The two began a study on the properties of gold and cloth, eventually finding some similarities in their structure. After 300 years of research, Paefros passed away. Yet Zenzion lived. And soon after his brothers death, he cracked the code. He created Elf Gold, which the Dwarves who were incredibly familiar with metals called False Gold. Yet it was a hit, and is still one of the most common thing to see Elven nobles, and especially royals, wear.Common Dress Code
Outfits decorated with precious metals, like gold, silver, and other such metals, are incredibly common among High Elven nobles. Even clothes mimicking these metals are traditional for the nobles, with Elf Gold as its base material. Outside of that, High Elven nobles wear the fanciest things they can find.
High Elven commoners have a slightly different form of dress. Some attempt to mimic the outfits of nobles, while others simply dress in whatever they can find. Still, they attempt to look good.
Wood Elves wear green. This is something that is true for almost all Wood Elves, as it is used to help them blend in with the forest around them. Some may wear browns or other common colors in the forest, but often they will wear some kind of green.
Dark Elves often wear darker colors, such as purples, which are used to represent their loyalty to Jarrur, Lord of the Dark, the Purple Dragon Lord they all revere.
Historical Figures
Elven Historical figures are incredibly well known in the world. As figures that have had immense impact on not just Elven society, but the shape of the world as it stands in every era, these names are common for children of nearly every race to learn.
- Meiriris Nerifir- The First Elven Queen, Meirirs Nerifir is the founder of the Nerifir Dynasty that has continued to rule over the Elves as Kings and Queens for generations. She was the one to defeat the Mindflayers, and is considered by many as the first historical Hero to walk on Totania.
Meiriris Nerifir
Meiriris Nerifir by JarhedA statue of the first Elven Queen, Meiriris Nerifir, which sits at the center of Camor in the Royal District. - Galgeon- The inverse of Meiriris, Galgeon is considered a monster by most. Galgeon was Meiriris's guard, who was the one to drive the "filthy" Orcs out of Elone. He was also the one to chase the Wood Elves when they escaped Camor, and is the main reason for the existence of both Wood and Dark Elves due to this. His name is a popular one among Elven supremacists, who agree with many of his actions. Everyone else in the world views him as a repulsive and horrid man, which he was.
- Chadzar Dalarune- A victim of Galgeon's terror, Chadzar was among the escapees of Camor. He discovered the Stemine in the Elven Forest, which led to him and many other Elves going to the Drow Caves and becoming Dark Elves.
- Daelana Fendrer- The first Wood Elf, Daelana Fendrer, was another escapee like Chadzar. Unlike Chadzar and his future Drow, she managed to escape Galgeon's clutches by their own agility and merit, settling deep in the Elven forest.
- Sarnfris Krisleth- One of the first Elven mages, Sarnfris was a High Elf that eventually moved to Waire. It was there that he developed a spell to create a pathogen, which he used to kill the first Dragonborn Grand Wizard, Kilprax Ildial.
- Daeric Nerifir- Daeric was the Elven King beginning in 540 at the age of 10. A weak and frail boy, Daeric compensated for his stature by surrounding himself with women and gold. Daeric is believed to have had quite a few bastard children, though few survived very long with Daeric's weak genes. Daeric was considered a good king by the Elves, yet those that knew of what he truly did to keep up this front know that Daeric was actually a terrible person. He would have his followers cause trouble in the city, wait for it to grow enough for everyone to know about it, and then he would send his guard in to deal with the problem swiftly. Then, everyone would praise him for dealing with the problem.
- Anaskis- An Elven woman proficient in the arcane, Anaskis managed to get her hands on the lamp of a Djinn, yet found that the Djinn could not grant wishes. Yet he used this to trick Anaskis, disguising himself as King Daeric, and she bore the first Genasi born of Elven parentage, Taixire.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Elves think badly of every race in the world, believing themselves to be better. While in most cases, people would think this only applies to High Elves, it is actually true of Wood and Dark Elves as well. It is just that High Elves think themselves better than the other Elves as well, Dark Elves believe that High Elves are terrible while Wood Elves and themselves are equal, and Wood Elves believe that all Elves are equal but all other races are beneath them.
Worst among these views is the Elven view of Half-Elves. Half-Elves are scorned in every form of Elven society, as mixing with the blood of a species that is not Elves is frowned upon. Half-Elves are not welcomed anywhere in Elven society for this, whereas other races could find a way to survive in the land of Elves.
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