The Elves

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay First and Second Edition Rulebook and Aprocrphra Now Chapter 9

The Elves were one of the first servitor races to be introduced to the world by The Old Ones and thus consider themselves the true Children of the Gods.
The Elves were chosen because of their natural ability to see and control the flow of warp energy used by The Old Ones to terraform the planet and they were taught to enhance these abilities to assist the Old ones in their work. On other worlds where the Elves have had millenia to evolve since their initial seeding this skill in the control and distribution of Warp Energy has been utilised to develop vast transportation networks called 'Web Ways' which can be used to move whole ships and vehicles across large distances.
However, on this world, the terraforming project was interrupted before the Elven species had fully evolved and so whilst they retain their natural affinity for the manipulation of warp energy their technical knowledge of the distribution technology is incomplete and remains relatively basic. They understand what it does but not how it works and like most races on the planet today they view these ancient technologies as wondrous and magical rather than scientific like their Eldar kindred.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Elves look similar to humans but are normally slightly taller with fragile perfectly proportioned features. It is commonly accepted that there is no such thing as a fat ugly elf and one of the common myths is that they can control their appearance and never age or even get dirty. However, their most striking feature is their ears which are tall and finely pointed.

Biological Traits

Elves frequently live for more than two hundred years not that an Elf believes in death at all. Rather than death Elves believe in a form of transcendence in which they evolve to a higher form of life once their time on the mortal plane is ended. Sleep meditation and 'Bran Wa Shin'

Genetics and Reproduction

Elves reproduce in much the same way as humans by a coupling between a male and female.

Growth Rate & Stages

Gestation and growth rates are also similar to humans though once mature Elves seen to fail to show any obvious signs of ageing.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Elves are not naturally vegetarian but do have an aversion to decayed food and are obsessive about everything they eat and drink being absolutely fresh. This effectively makes them very fussy eaters and very suspicious of anything prepared or served by other races.

Biological Cycle

As stated above Elven children mature at about the same rate as human children. However, once mature they seem to show little sign of growing old. The theory being that once Elves have fully mastered the manipulation of warp energy they are able to use its power to control their own appearance. This would also explain why they rarely seem to look anything but perfect and never seem to get dirty.
However, one side effect of this affinity to warp energy is that an Elfs appearance tends to change to reflect its personality. Whether this is a natural reflection of how the Elf feels, or whether the Elf personality is affected by its appearance is difficult to determine. But it is noticeable that the same Elf can change both its personality and appearance by embracing the worship of different deities within its pantheon. For example, Elves frequently pray and meditate to their god of war before going into battle and in doing so not only become much more aggressive but also much paler in complexion and harder in their features. Even their hair appears to become darker and their hands more claw-like in appearance.
Such variations become most noticeable in the case of the Druchii or Dark Elves who worship Khaine almost exclusively.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Elves live in social groups called kindreds usually based on a common community location and led by an Elven Noble.

Facial characteristics

As already stated Elves seem to change their appearance to reflect their personality. This has led other races to label different Elven cultures according to their outward appearance and to assume that an Elf's appearance reflects its personality. Thus, for example, the so-called 'Dark Elves' tend to be vicious cruel and aggressive and usually appear very pale skinned with dark hair and angular facial features. Whilst the much rarer 'Light Elves' with their pinker complexions and light coloured hair tend to be placid and peaceful by nature and the 'Wood Elves' who spend almost all their time in communion with nature and the forests have a distinctly greenish parlour and even seen to grow twigs and horns in their hair. How much of this is cosmetic and cultural and how much is actual physical transformation is hard to determine and probably a combination of both.

Average Intelligence

Elves tend to be highly intelligent and perceptive.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Eyesight and Initiative. Elves have highly advanced optical abilities which not only allow them to see the flow of Warp Energy in the environment around them but also allow them to see remarkably well even in semi-darkness. They are also remarkably perceptive and quick-witted giving them distinct advantages over humans when it comes to spotting dangers or opportunities and reacting to them.
Magical Attunement. Elves are highly attuned to the manipulation of Warp Energy which is amongst other things the main power behind all magical ability. They, therefore, make excellent magicians and sorcerers.

Meditation and 'Bran Wa Shin'

An essential part of a young elves training consists of learning to control their dreams.
This is vital in assisting them to control their emotions as not only are dreams dangerous in allowing uncontrolled emotions to surface and stimulate Aethyric energy to produce unexpected effects and manifestations, but the dreams themselves can leave trace emotions that can affect an elves mental state even after they awake.
Thus uncontrolled dreams and unregulated sleep are considered to be a risk both to personal and community safety and once the discipline of ‘Bran-Wa-Shin’ has been mastered elves never truly sleep again.
That does not mean that Elves do not need to rest their bodies just like any other mortal being but rather than surrender themselves to sleep an elf will consciously enter into a deep trance-like state where they sit comfortably and review their memories rejecting those which they no longer wish or need to keep.
Elves must complete a period of at least eight hours meditation in every three days and are extremely vulnerable when doing so. During ‘Bran-Wa-Shin’ an elf is in a deep trance and cannot be aroused by anything around them even if they were shaken or physically attacked. Normally they will make sure that they were well-protected during this vulnerable time and will usually share this time with trusted friends or family who will watch over them whilst they dream.

Selective Memory

Whilst in this dream state an elf will review its memories and erase any that it considers dangerous or redundant.
The aim is to clear their minds of dangerous thoughts and emotions that might interfere with their control of Aethyric energy. They also use this opportunity to re-organise their eidetic memory structure to make their wakeful control easier to maintain.
An unfortunate side effect of ‘Bran-Wa-Shin’ is the risk of discarding a memory that an Elf would find embarrassing to forget and one of the secondary duties of their watcher is to keep a memory of any key facts their kindred might want to remember and to deal with any questions they may have when the awake. Nevertheless, elves do have a tendency to discard trivial memories along with their recollections of major traumas and horrific experiences.

Resistance to Disease and Insanity

One of the more positive aspects of the elven affinity with Aethyric energy and their compensating techniques of mind control and Bran-Wa-Shin is that not only do elves seem to be naturally self-cleaning in that dirt and grime seem to simply fall off their skin. But they seem able to simply shrug off and forget any trauma they suffer during the period between each period dream review. Thus whilst other species may be haunted for the rest of their lives by a growing history of traumatic experiences an elf will wake from their meditations apparently refreshed and with no recollection of the incident whatsoever. A situation which can be quite disturbing if not annoying to other allied races.
Furthermore, they seem to be self-healing at least when it comes to infections and disease and even minor scratches and bruises. The theory being that their bodies are so infused with Aethyric energy and their minds so controlled in its use that they can literally will themselves to heal.
Psychological Traits

Civilization and Culture

Culture and Cultural Heritage

Gifts and Appreciation Lack of Coinage

Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals

Elves are fastidious by nature with highly refined sensibilities and a love of good music and food.
This appears to be a common trait amongst all Elven species and ethnicities and presents itself as an aversion to physical labour and a tendency towards self-indulgence. Basically, Elves don't like getting their hands dirty either literally or figuratively and if physical labour is unavoidable then they will delegate the task to one of the lesser races either by enslavement or by negotiation.
However, the Elven knowledge and affinity with Warp Energy can make most tasks less burdensome and Elves have become extremely efficient at the exploitation of magic and sorcery in the manufacture of almost all of their day to day necessities they are even said to grow their own ships out of magically manipulated Starwood.
Nevertheless, this trait towards self-indulgence and aversion to physical labour does make the Elven species naturally susceptible to temptation and corruption and undoubtedly played its part in the Eldars role in The Birth of Slaanesh

Common Taboos

Fear of Open Spaces Fear of Enclosed Spaces

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Elves find most other races to be dirty, smelly, brutish and repugnant reserving their greatest contempt for Dwarves who they consider particularly vulgar and destructive. They tend to consider these lesser races as ignorant uneducated savages and are usually patronising or disgusted by them and their lack of culture.

Genetic Ancestor(s)

• The Eldar

Origin/Ancestry

The Eldar

Lifespan

100-215 years

Average Height

Male 5' 6" to 6' 6" (1.68m - 1.98m) Female 5' 4" to 6' 4" ~ (1.62m - 1.93m)

Average Weight

140 lbs - 63.5 kilos

Related Organizations

• Messengers of Mathlann

Related Ethnicities

• Druchi