Races: Elves
The elves originated during the war of the gods. They were spirits of the air and water summoned by Falis and the gods of light as soldiers. The elves fought well for Falis, but a faction was seduced by darkness and sold their souls to Falaris to fight on his side. This was how the elven races was first split in two.
At the war's end, the elves were left scattered across the battlefields of Alecrast and the new continent of Lodoss. Some gave up their physical bodies and returned to the spirit realm, while others chose to remain mortal. The elves who stayed found homes in the forests of Forcelia. In Lodoss, the light elves settled in the Forest of No Return, the Mirror Forest, and the Glassy Woods, all of which had ancient trees. A few elves made homes in smaller forests as well. The dark elves went to the island of Marmo, where Kardis' soul rested and found an ancient tree for themselves deep in the Dark Forest. With the help of the ancient trees and spirit king, Ento, the elves sealed their forests.
Yet there was further dividing amongst the elves to do. Those who chose the forest that would come to be known the Forest of No Return found that their new home had become a portal to the fairy realm. This caused time to flow very strangely, and nearly stop in the case of aging. Children still grew, as did trees, but it appeared that once an inhabitant of the Forest of No Return reached maturity, they aged no further. Thus, these elves effectively became immortal and came to be called the high elves, while their cousins in the other forests lived for around a thousand years before passing on. The other elves became the “common” elves, who still live thousand year lifespans.
Elves are very spiritual beings and care deeply for all things that live. While they may not be friendly with all races, they do their best to preserve the lives of others while protecting themselves. They will kill if it is the only option to defend themselves and are not entirely pacifistic. Elves are also vegetarians. They will eat nothing that cuts short the life of another animal or plant. Their diet consists of mostly fruit, vegetables, and grains. Elves gather their food from the forest and most homes have a small garden. Dark elves may not follow such stringent diets.
Each elven clan is ruled by it's eldest members, though most decisions are voted on by the public before going to the elders for advice. Elven forests generally have only one village, though homes are often spread apart.
Elven senses are more acute than humans', in hearing and sight. The hearing of elves is naturally better than that of humans, and it is helped by their long ears. Their eyesight over distance is better as well, though their near sight is about the same as humans. Elven hand-eye coordination is naturally better than humans as well. In the area of strength, elves lack in comparison to humans, but they make up for that in their agility and speed.
With such long life spans, elven women come into estrus far less often than humans¹. An elven woman can only conceive once every ten years. At some point in her twentieth decade, a female elf will have her first estrus, then the cycle begins, with every consecutive tenth year bringing a new chance to conceive. However, elves that chose to have children often wait until they're over two hundred years of age, and then after marriage. Most elven couples have only one child, and after that, the mother's libido decreases. This is usually the case, but not always, and it happens less often among dark elves. Few elves have siblings, but keep in mind that if they do, they will have to be at least ten years apart in age (or 20, 30, 40, etc.). Twins are almost unheard of among elves and often ill-fated among dark elves. When dark elf twins are conceived, they must split a single soul, and this often leads to their death before their first year.
Physical AppearanceElves are quite similar to humans in height, but tend to be lighter and slimmer. Due to high metabolisms and a vegan diet, elves seem incapable of gaining body fat. Their musculature is lean, and can never quite compare to the potential strength of a human. What elves lack in physical strength they make up for in agility. While most light elven women are slim, dark elven women tend to be more voluptuous with larger breasts and hips, though they still lack in body fat.
Probably the most notable feature of elves is their long, slender, tapered ears. These long ears extend outward from the head five to seven inches and can move to denote emotion and promote better hearing. Long ears mainly help the naturally superior hearing of elves, creating a greater surface area to catch sound.
As a general rule, elves are beautiful to human standards. Their features are somewhat sharp, yet delicate and often androgynous for males. There are hardly any deformations or birth defects among elves, and those defects that have been observed are often minute. Adult elves appear ageless, and their apparent aging ends in their mid-twenties. Signs of age don't return until the final few decades of an elf's life when their thousand year life spans finally catch up to them². Elves also have very little body and facial hair; some elven men grow mustaches, but they can't grow a full beard.
Light elves have a rather uniform appearance, especially when considering their coloration. Almost all have porcelain fair skin, a shade of blonde hair, and blue or green eyes, though violet eyes are not unheard of. Most elves have straight hair, but a few have wavy hair, though curly hair is unheard of. Dark hair or eyes that are a different color from the norm might be evidence of human or dark elven interbreeding. Dark elves are a little more varied in their coloration; their skin can range through a broad number of shades, though it is often a dusky brown shade. Their hair is commonly silver or white, though blonde is a little less common. Dark elven eye color includes the same shades of blue and green as light elves, but are most commonly red or gold.
MagicAll elves have the ability for shamanism, it is a trait left over from their spiritual roots. Shamanism is cultivated from early childhood in elven society, so virtually all elves are proficient in it's use. Half-elves have the same potential as full elves, though whether or not it's cultivated often depends on their parents.
An elf could learn sorcery, but their shamanism is powerful enough. Sorcery is regarded as a human school, so elves would have little to do with it. Considering their tense history with Kastuul, not many elves would care to learn sorcery. We will not allow elven sorcerers in the game.
Few elves chose to become priests, but some do. It's more likely that a half-elf would become a priest than a full elf, though. Common elves would gravitate more towards Falis or Marfa. In the case of dark elves, many have served as Falaris priests. Elven and half-elven priests would be able to use both shamanism and clerical magic.
Elven Races
High Elves | Common Elves | Dark Elves | Half-Elves
Humans | Elves | Dwarves | Grassrunners | Centaurs
¹ This information is not canon, it was merely created to control the birthrate of elves.² This information is not canon, it was merely fabricated to fill out the life cycle.
