Elves of Largitas

Elves are the longest-lived ancestry in Largitas, with life expectancies easily surpassing 600 years, and some individuals known to have lived over a millennium.

• Physical Maturity: Elves do not consider themselves adults until they reach at least 80 to 120 years old, with formal adulthood ceremonies often occurring in the final decade of their first century.
• Physical Traits: Slender, graceful builds with elongated limbs and features. Skin tones range from bark-brown to leaf-green to pale moonlight, depending on the subculture or region.
• Regenerative Aging: Their bodies age so slowly that changes are often imperceptible from decade to decade.

Elves of Largitas reproduce rarely and slowly, with the average Elf choosing to have children perhaps once every few centuries, if at all. This slow rate of reproduction is counterbalanced by a unique and deeply spiritual process:

Litter-Births and Soul Selection

When an Elf becomes pregnant, they nearly always give birth to a litter of 3 to 6 genetically identical infants—a phenomenon that baffles even the most dedicated non-Elven scholars. But among Elves, this is accepted as a natural reflection of spiritual truth.

• Only one infant usually survives, with the others perishing within the first few weeks due to frailty, illness, or simple fading.
• Elven belief holds that all infants share a single soul, which must choose the strongest vessel to inhabit fully.
• The others, though physically present for a short time, are viewed as empty echoes—bodies awaiting the soul's decision.

This leads to deep reverence for the surviving child, who is seen as soul-chosen or “Vael’Sarien” — “the One Held by Spirit.”

Twins: A Rare and Powerful Omen

On the rare occasion that two infants survive, they are considered a sign of incredible spiritual force. Twins are thought to be:

• One soul too powerful for one body, or
• A soul that split by divine will, perhaps to fulfill a great purpose.

Such twins are raised with care and caution. Some cultures fear them as omens of change or strife, while others revere them as spirit-bound leaders or fated guardians.

“The body is grown from earth and water, but the soul must choose its stone.”

— Elven birthing wisdom

Elven Sustenance & Magical Absorption

Unlike other ancestries, Elves require remarkably little physical food to survive. This is due to a unique biological-magical trait often referred to as "Aetheric Resonance."

Elves can absorb ambient magical energy—from sunlight, moonlight, ley lines, and even the life force of growing things—directly through their skin and breath. This passive intake sustains their bodies in a low-energy state, allowing them to fast for weeks or even months without harm, so long as they remain in environments rich in natural or arcane energy.

• Meals for Elves are ceremonial, not caloric. They eat to honor ingredients, not to survive.
• In dead zones or areas corrupted by The Bloom, Elves may weaken visibly, becoming pale, brittle, or faint.
• Many of their traditional rituals and dwellings are designed to focus and amplify ambient magic, ensuring constant nourishment.

This trait contributes to their immense longevity, stillness, and slender physiques, and is often misunderstood by other races as either mysticism or arrogance.

We do not feast as you do. We listen, and the world feeds us.”

— Elven phrase

The Tongue of Subtlety

Elves possess extraordinarily sensitive palates, to the point where most food and drink consumed by other ancestries are considered overpowering, chaotic, or offensive.

• Their sense of taste is so refined that subtle variations in soil, rainfall, or sunlight can be detected in a single leaf or root.
• As a result, Elven cuisine favors:
• Single-ingredient dishes presented with reverence
• Infusions, teas, and broths made from flowers, bark, and dew-harvested herbs
• Minimal to no seasoning beyond light minerals or leaf oils
• Many outsiders consider Elven meals "plain" or even "tasteless", not realizing that Elves are tasting entire landscapes in a sip of soup.

“To cook is to shout. To infuse is to whisper.”

— Elven culinary proverb

Cultural Values & Traditions

Elves are traditionalists, bound tightly to ancient rites and inherited ways of living. This conservatism is spiritual, cultural, and practical.

Core Values:

• Harmony with Nature — Not as masters, but as participants in the living world
• Ritual and Precision — Every act, from pruning a tree to speaking in council, has its form
• Memory and Legacy — The past is not dead; it is ever-present and must be honored
• Slowness as Strength — The Elves believe speed breeds error; to be deliberate is divine

Due to their long lives, Elves plan in centuries. Projects, relationships, and grudges are all measured in lifespans. This makes them appear aloof, calculating, or slow to act to other Ancestries.

Subcultures of the Elves

While united by core philosophies, the Elves of Largitas are divided into distinct subcultures:

High Elves (The Elostairë)

• Elitist, ritualistic, highly structured
• Dwell in alabaster towers or marble glades
• Deeply devoted to beauty, etiquette, and memory

Wood Elves (The Thornroot)

• Live among the boughs and roots of ancient forests
• Earthy, wary of outsiders, and protective of Bloom-free wilderness
• Practice old rites and bonecraft magic

Plains Elves (The Wanderseed)

• Nomadic orchard-tenders, tea-singers, and herbalists
• Found near Halfling villages and Bloom margins
• Generally friendlier and more open-minded

Winter Elves (The Frostborn)

• Live in the harsher northern parts of Largitas
• Less attuned to nature than their other kin
• Some Elves see them as lesser beings due to their differences

“We were not made to rule, but to remember. Let the others sprint forward. We will walk with the world, long after their feet have failed.”

— Verolyn of the Silver Reeds, Elven Elder