Proto-Elves

Proto-elves were one of the first sentient species to develop on Eälendspar. They were created to populate the oceans, where humans were created to populate the plains and dwarves the mountains. There were created earliest of these, and their development was highly controlled, rather than natural evolution. They had the ability to extract oxygen from air directly. They were physically shaped for underwater propulsion with long powerful limbs and wide webbed hands and feet, but additional had the innate ability to push water out of the way, moving as if more hydrodynamic than their bodies would suggest. this same ability to control the water on them also protected them from extreme pressures. In addition to controlling the water around them they were also hypersensitive to currents and could sense currents even at a distance. This sensitivity to currents is what gives rise to the idea of elven grace in modern elves, and ability to sense currents at a distance is what assists modern elves in their excellent archery. Proto-elves are the ancestors of modern elves, though all known elves now live primarily on land. Proto-elves formed complex societies under the sea, primarily near the coast or at atolls where sunlight reached the ocean floor. In the transition between sea and land they would frequently build structures that extended from the ocean floor into the sky.