Elf
Elves are an inherently magical race, often influenced by the Feywild throughout their well-kept history. Their unique perspective of time due to their near-immortality gives them a very otherworldly character, as they're often less phased by worldly happenings than shorter-lived races. Some see this and say their hearts are as cold as their polar homelands in Slehea, but elves still care deeply about the welfare of the world. When they set their minds on a goal or task, little can sway them. Their multiple-century-long lives are often dedicated to one or two focuses such as a study or profession, a series of master projects, or the upkeep of a certain site. They tend to avoid violence for its long-lasting consequences, but should elves realize the need for force, their martial prowess and dedicated skill is almost unmatched.
For the wild elves, having darkvision and not needing to sleep works well for their wandering lifestyle. Their coloring tends towards warmer, earthier hues, from gold to reddish to slightly green. Swift and tuned in to nature, they are the equivalent of wood elves in your player's handbook.
The arcane elves are more prone to settling down, and run magnificent cities of stone and timber, saturated with magic. They are the equivalent of the high elves in your player's handbook.
Basic Information
Genetics and Reproduction
Elves do not fully mature until they reach over a hundred years of age. Living for so long with their parents creates an unusually strong parental bond. They can only give birth every 20 years at the very least, but most take around a 50-year gap between having children, making birth a rare and important occasion. Extended families living all around the globe will reunite for the occasion, holding a family festival. During the their child's years of infancy, a couple often goes dwell in a temple so that the baby and mother can be strengthened by the energy of life after the stressful ordeal of childbirth.
Additional Information
Average Intelligence
By virtue of living a very long time, elves tend to amass a lot of intelligence. An elf may not answer a question quickly, but their response will be well thought out.
Civilization and Culture
Beauty Ideals
Elves are widely considered to be beautiful by many races, but their own standards of beauty are strict, even if they have great variety to them. Besides the universal appreciation for long, pointed ears, some prefer more defined features, while some prefer softer. Elves have a wide range of heights because either extreme is seen as attractive. There is also a great variety of colorful undertones under their usually pale skin, as well as of hair colors and eye colors which can combine in many ways.
Some of these color combinations are seen as unattractive if they don't coordinate visually, especially since any well-to-do elf could afford ways to alter their appearance. Common magic items in the form of jewelry can change eye, skin, or hair color to suit different looks. Makeup is also a popular and accepted way for any elf to alter their appearance, accentuating unique features rather than hiding or changing them.
Gender Ideals
There is very little distinction elves make between men and women. No fashion, passion, or rationality is expected to differ between them. Elven lives are so long that both a mother and a father can follow their own careers and ambitions while also dedicating ample time to support their children.
Courtship Ideals
Just like how young elves are expected to try out a variety of arts, studies, or causes, they are expected to mingle with and court a lot of different people their age. To dedicate themselves to one person before they're a hundred years old, or before they've known each other for at least a decade, is seen as a very rash decision.
Average Technological Level
Elves are often attuned to the ways of magic, and favor using its solutions instead of technology's. Magic items that can be taken wherever an elf needs to go are preferred over mundane solutions that require excessive infrastructure to work. Elven arcane scholars usually develop several useful spells over their lifetime, and their arcane artisans make durable and exquisite magic items that hold high value everywhere in Kyre. The most complex of these are sentient items that become one with a family or community.
Culture and Cultural Heritage
Elves value individualism, dedication, beauty, and passion.
Food
Favoring a subtle interplay of flavors, and relying mainly on local vegetables or fruit, elven food is hard to replicate. Elf chefs like to put their own twist on food they've tried before and are constantly experimenting, leading to an enormous variety of foods where the same dish may never be repeated twice.Arts and Architecture
Elves seek to fill their long lives with beautiful things, and so artists and craftsmen are given all the time they need to perfect their pieces, in some cases even longer than other humanoid's lifespans. Visual themes in art often include natural elements such as plants or the forms of animals. Elven jewelry, clothing, and architecture is visually delicate but designed to last, ornate but practical, and uniquely made. The nomadic wild elves, however, don't tend to build buildings, and even the arcane elves build few things themselves. Whether built from stone or timber, their few permanent structures are exquisite and ethereal, with natural motifs even if their purpose is to shut out the elements.Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Elves meet together for regular festivals around celestial events like solstices, eclipses, and comet appearances. There are also traditional gatherings and celebrations for special events like weddings, births, funerals, and coming-of-age ceremonies.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Given that an elf lives so long, they have a broader perspective on the passage of time and relationships. They learn from experience with the shorter-lived races that minor provocations aren't worth getting offended over; they learn to save their grudges for truly egregious abuses. When those occur, they aren't prone to forget them.
Genetic Descendants
Origin/Ancestry
Red moon, fey
Lifespan
650
Average Height
5'2"
Average Weight
110 lbs
Average Physique
The average elf is shorter than the average human, but they have more variation. One elf may be over 6 ft tall, another just under 4 ft in stature. Their musculature is very lean.
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