High Elves

## Description:

High Elves are often regarded as the most regal and dignified subrace of Elves, although their arrogance and general air of superiority often isolated them further than they isolate themselves. Elves are classified as being the oldest, subrace of Elf, and most High Elves ensure that all those around them know of their unimaginably long lineage and history of expert craftsmen, leaders, warriors, scholars, and mages. Physically, High Elves often range in height between five (5) feet ten (10) inches and six (6) feet six (6) inches, being generally taller and skinnier than the average human. In terms of weight, High Elves usually range between one hundred and twenty (120) pounds and one hundred and seventy-five (175) pounds. High Elves are usually very lean, lithe, lively, youthful, and toned, but not normally outright muscular.

High Elves often have eyes similar to those of humans, with the exception being the range and quality of gathered sensory data and the colors of the iris, which can be white, bright blue, gold, or bright purple. High Elf hair is usually rather thin and kept very long, even for males, and can range in color from white to bright golden blond, but never black, red, or brown. Facial hair on any High Elf is rare, and takes a very long time to grow properly. High Elves often have pale white skin, although various hues of tinged yellow or a light tan are not totally uncommon.

High Elves are often considered very physically appealing across the spectrum of races, minus to Dwarves, Orcs, Goblins, and Lizardfolk. Their features are elegant and bodies perpetually in the peak of their condition, although the personality of a High Elf is more often the negative aspect of a relationship. However, problems tend to present themselves when a non-Elf meets a High Elf, as it is almost impossible for a non-High Elf to determine the sex of a High Elf when the High Elf is clothed due to the similarity in physical features and similar styles of clothing and hair. High Elves learn to pick up on the slight differences that other races do not.

High Elves are considered, as an average, only slightly more intelligent than normal human beings, but due to their unending longevity, High Elves often appear to be far beyond anything capable by a normal human. High Elves are also known for their wisdom and knowledge of history and the world, but are more often than not also hypocrites who do not practice the wisdom they preach. Technologically, High Elves despise most forms of even simple machines and refuse to use any of them, preferring to make use of their almost total understanding of magic to accomplish most of the tasks of their daily lives. High Elf technology is inherently connected to magic more than conventional science, and the use or application of actual technology like that of man or Dwarf is considered ugly, barbaric, and annoyingly simplistic.

High Elves reproduce sexually, but at a much slower rate than most other races. It takes five (5) years for a High Elf pregnancy to come to term, and having more than two (2) or three (3) children within a few years of each other is often considered odd or annoying; High Elves often wait for one child to reach adulthood before having another. High Elf children are treated very well, but are held to a higher and higher standard the older their parents are, who expect more and more from their children as their own skills continue to grow over time. It is preferable to be born first than it is to be born tenth as a result of this. Children spend their time playing and learning amongst other High Elf children, and are rarely allowed to venture forth from their communities until adulthood.

High Elves are biologically immortal, and have no maximum lifespan. Elves mature to adulthood after one hundred and twenty (120) years, at which point those High Elves that remain in their communities often lose their understanding of the concept of the passage of time.

### Personality:

Most High Elves are known to behave a certain way, but the following criteria and characteristics are not indicative of the entire subrace. Many High Elves that grow up outside of their ethnic communities, or those who leave their communities, grow and adapt to have new values and different personalities than those who remain in their homelands.

To a High Elf, their general goal is simply to become the best at whatever it is they enjoy most, and then prove it to all the other races as often and as dramatically as possible. Usually, this concept manifests as the pompous and annoyingly arrogant High Elves that boast and brag of their mastercraft artisans and artists, but to a High Elf with an unlimited amount of time to accomplish whatever it is they want, short term goals are often not so short term. For example, a High Elf may declare that they want to become the best at architecture, and that their first goal on that path is to build their first house. The construction of that first house may take decades to complete, but to a High Elf adult with no concept of time and an immortal's unaging body, decades are but insignificant in the grander scheme of the Universe. High Elf society is structured according to this philosophy, with the most expert in a given field being the leader of their field and everyone else existing underneath them. Politics are very important to High Elves, who spend a majority of their time in adulthood managing alliances, seeking better opportunities, more power, and choosing spouses and children created to be better than their neighbors. This often leads to feuds and disagreements spanning centuries, if not longer, and creating very powerful factions amongst High Elf culture and in their countries.

High Elves are incredibly relaxed individuals with no sense of time and can sometimes be viewed as incredibly lazy or lethargic with their lack of initiative. In reality, High Elves possess plenty of drive and willpower, but prefer to spend their time and energy on their own personal pursuits for fulfillment and happiness, rather than waste it on the problems of the barbaric mortals they call "allies." High Elves are also exceptionally arrogant and egotistic, viewing their reputation equivalent to their power and influence within and outside of their given societies. High Elves view themselves at the top of the racial hierarchy and everyone else below them, greenskins and Dwarves especially. Insulting a High Elf is nearly equivalent to committing a serious criminal offense, and can either result in the death of the rude individual or the declaration of a test of skill to determine who truly deserves to be ridiculed. Despite this ferocious defending of their reputations and skills, High Elves rarely experience extreme emotions like rage, despair, madness, or grief, and as such can often come off to other races as emotionless or apathetic. High Elves also emote very little, and can even weep without moving the rest of their faces, further exaggerating the previous reputation for apathy and general discomfort felt by other races.

High Elves treat everyone in their society as equal, unless you are proven to be inferior to even the least skilled citizen. For non-High Elves, treatment is often suspicious, demeaning, and rude if not outright racist or xenophobic. While High Elves are usually polite and always willing to take in a guest, this does not mean all guests are treated equally. However, due to the levels of luxury being to heavily skewed in High Elven society, even the worse conditions available to most High Elves far surpasses the available options for most other of the mortal races.

Most High Elves surround themselves with the greatest in luxury items, food, artwork, and people. Imported goods from around the globe always find a suitable home in one of the massive mansions of a High Elf nobleman, and are frequently them copied and improved upon by High Elf artisans, but few High Elves fall from decadence and into hedonistic behaviors. Due to the High Elven metabolism preventing most forms of mundane addiction, it is rare for any High Elf to fall from their disciplined nature. The arts are also incredibly important to High Elves, who all learn to play at least one instrument over the course of their lives in a High Elf community. Every item in High Elf society is seen as an opportunity to create some new ludicrous standard of luxury and mastercraft workmanship, from paintings and sculptures to blankets, pillows, clothes, and toiletries. The High Elf language and unique literature are often considered to be of a particularly special quality; the High Elf language is entirely sung, and is so complex and empathic that is can be difficult for High Elves to adapt to and pronounce the more conventional languages of the mortal races. High Elf language also lacks tenses, reflecting the subrace's lack of understanding in regards to the passage of time. High Elf literature, which exists in the form of circular pages woven around a central wooden spine, also reflects the distinct lack of the signs of the passage of time through their unending and cyclical nature. High Elves do have a dangerous penchant for jealousy when it comes to the arts, and will go to war or resort to covert espionage to take or destroy the greatest works of other races in order to maintain the superiority of the High Elven reputation.

High Elves are often fair to one another, and are generally quite trusting and always polite with one another. With those of other races, however, High Elves are still polite, but the kindness is purely surface-level and can be knocked aside to reveal the disdain, pity, and occasional unknowing racism.

Those High Elves who leave their communities at an early age, or are raised outside the influences of their ethnically-uniform communities, often develop into individuals with the same values and common traits as any other normal sentient race.

### Abilities:

Despite their physical appearance, High Elves are far stronger, faster, more durable, and outright superior to most other races. It is rare to find a weak High Elf, as their hobbies often include some form of physical labor or martial training, and all High Elves are required to be experts in at least one form of combat. Even compared to other Elves, High Elves tend to stand out as superior due to their longevity. The sight of a High Elf is such that they can see individual flecks of dust in the air, study a snowflake as it falls to the ground, and appreciate the finest complexities of nature in such detail that High Elven artwork is often confusing or headache-inducing for a human to gaze upon. High Elf hearing is far more complex than that of humans, so much so that High Elf music is created according to a 33-note scale, making it sound alien and unintelligible to non-High Elves. It takes even the most legendary of bards years to properly convert a High Elf song into the more conventional 12-note scale. High Elf smell is exquisitely acute, and allows for the appreciation of fine cuisine and the smells of nature unlike any other mortal race. High Elf senses of taste are similarly accurate, and provides a pleasure for food that is further complimented by the enhanced metabolism of a High Elf. High Elves also possess an enhanced sense of touch, which lets them appreciate every sensation in great detail. High Elves need only enter a form of extreme meditation for four (4) hours a day that acts as their sleep, and as such High Elves cannot have dreams or be influenced by spells or other such effects that influence sleep or influence a person during sleep. During this meditation, High Elves think back on the day, recall events, and may even possess the skills to train all in their minds.

High Elves are naturally resistant to all forms of damage. Physical weaponry has a difficult time finding purchase against a quick, agile, lithe, and tough High Elf, while magic works at a similarly diluted level. High Elves are resistant to magical enchantments, and possess an innate resistance to psychic intrusion and moral/mental corruption.

## Culture:

The ultimate goal of High Elf culture is to maintain its grip of power over itself and over other races, as well as continuously declare and demonstrate its own superiority over those cultures and societies of non-High Elves as frequently as possible. High Elf culture is organized as a feudal society from the European Middle Ages, but with an emphasis on meritocracy alongside the inheritance of titles. The feudal hierarchy is often only used to establish authority over the mortal races, while it is only ever used when absolutely necessary inside the culture.

High Elf cultures and societies try their absolute hardest to maintain racial uniformity, and will outcast those of other races and even half-Elves if prompted to do so in order to maintain their purity. Those nations that suffer from multicultural High Elven countries often suffer from an extreme case of systemic racism and discrimination that prevents non-High Elves from rising too far in the ranks. High Elves, particularly in multicultural settings, are known to be very xenophobic and isolationist, treating those of other races as second-class citizens.

### Hierarchy:

High Elf culture abides by the usual feudal system of titles and ranks, and is used primarily to establish the lineages of incredibly old families, many of whom got back millennia.

### Religion:

The organized High Elf religion is considered to be henotheistic, or the organized worship of one god out of a wider pantheon. The religion is very inward-focused, and places a heavy emphasis on the worship of one's ancestors. The High Elf faith believes that true divine interaction is very limited and occurs primarily during the celebration of major holidays. All High Elf holidays begin the night before the actual day and end the night after the final day as a reflection of the unending nature of High Elves. For High Elves, the Afterlife is simply a form of Enlightenment achieved upon reaching one's total fulfillment through the mastering of one or more fields of study and/or careers; the highest ranking High Elf religious and political figures are believed to have reached this level of enlightenment after living for millennia. For High Elf religion, the existence of the supernatural comes in the form of ancestral spirits. The most common form of worship is solemn individual prayer, usually conducted in the home. Holidays are fairly often joyous celebrations of prophets, martyrs, and the ancestors that came before.

The following is a list of the High Elf gods and their associations:

1. Syndaril Corelleth: Leading deity of the pantheon, associated with leadership, honor, immortality, and master craftsmanship; worshipped by the High Elves.
2. Lunanine Crescentil: Wife of Syndaril, associated with the moon, night, secrets, journeys, magic, and charged with the protection of the Elven deceased and their spirits; worshipped by the Moon Elves.
3. Solaris Dawnwake: Sister of Lunanine, associated with the sun, heat and summer, day, new life, joy, and love; worshipped by the Sun Elves.
4. Ludrah: Outcast sister of Lunanine and Solaris, associated with darkness, spiders, coldness, mutation and transformation, greed, and evil; worshipped by the Drow.
5. Mother Nature: Non-Elf Great Martyr known to take the appearance of an Elf who oversees of all nature and life across the Multiverse, associated with the natural world, forests, life, and the positive aspects of death; worshipped by Wood Elves, possibly unknowingly.
6. Fomorians: Evil nature deities that represent the chaotic, destructive aspects of nature; tricked by the ancient Irish humans and banished to The Unbeheld. Worshipped by the Fomordrin.
7. Tuatha De Danann: "Good" nature deities that represent the most benevolent aspects of nature; tricked by the ancient Irish and banished to the Faewild, mutating into the Archfey over time. Worshipped by the Eladrin.

#### Clergy:

There are no anointed clergy in the High Elf faith, as High Elves believe themselves to be direct descendants of their god, and as such need no additional guidance in how to worship others/themselves. Some High Elves that demonstrate an aptitude for holy magic are not apart of any specific organization within High Elf culture or society, but are still said to be given special powers by the gods.

#### Cultural Aspects:

The primary symbol for the High Elf variations of the Elven pantheon is a doorway surrounded by stars, set into a circle. The holy color for High Elves is white. Learning is passed down via one (1) holy book and the many interpretations of that holy book, said to have been saved by the original High Elves when they entered the Material Realm. The common creation myth for the High Elves is that the original Faewild was shattered and dismembered, creating the various Realms of the K2 Universe and the Elven pantheon, while the origin for High Elves according to their myths is that High Elves were created as a form of revenge committed by Syndaril against his wife and step-sisters.

The deadliest sins according to High Elves are recklessness, thoughtlessness, and inferiority. The greatest virtues, in contrast, are thoughtfulness, honesty (bordering on rude bluntness), abstinence (within reason), and temperance.

All forms of art are associated with High Elven religion so long as the art is of unmatched quality and complexity.

The coming of age year for High Elves is one hundred and twenty (120), when a High Elf child reaches biological maturity. The rituals for coming of age include a dual of wits and skill between the rising adult and their teacher, to test the child's skill in their favorite field against a master; the point of the task is symbolic, and the rising adult is not meant to succeed, but instead meant to try their best and learn from the experience.

Marriage for High Elves is considered as sacred as it is a political tool, and the rites for marriage are many speeches and toasts that can, in the case of royal weddings, take months or even years to complete.

High Elves view death as a solemn end to one's potential and fulfillment in life, as they do not abide by the conventional ideas of an Afterlife. As such, High Elves cremate their dead.

Major cultural taboos for High Elves include mental illness or corruption, and mixed racial backgrounds. For a High Elf to fall victim to excess or moral corruption is, for a race of immortal superhumans, equivalent to physical death for mortal beings.

Most High Elves make use of their ancestral belief system, and the religion itself is feared by other races, even those of other Elfen subraces, for its xenophobia and emphasis on magic.