Elf

Elven scout exploring the northern reaches of Jotunheim

Elves, sometimes called Dryadum or Alv, are a diverse race of slim but magically connected humanoids that inhabit the Dryadalis islands. Self proclaimed as the first inhabitants of the world and the only righteous wielders of magic, they now see themselves as the most prolific sailors of the land.

## Society

### Origins

According to Elven legends, the birth of the very first elf and the birth of the first continent are the very same event, one as the anti-thesis of the other. As the world, before it became the world, was simply two incredibly powerful forces; one symbolizing everything that is the norm, the basis - Nature; and the other symbolizing everything that is out of the norm, the supernatural - Magic.

The land of back then, was a very different beast compared to the one of modern days. Floating continents were common, Magic was a gift given freely to the Elves from their very first breath, and death was not yet a godly concept. In fact, the concept of a god does not register within elven mythos and that back then, everyone was equal and suffering had yet to lay it's sickly claws upon the world.

That is, until the fabled event of "Rapinam", when all elves felt the presence of Magic weaken from the air as the first godly being, Ymir, came to fruition and the continents came crashing down upon the earths; from Ymir came the dwarves, as the first elf came down with sickness; then, came the low born: the humans, dwarves, giants - each of their birthings signalled the time of the first elven deaths, as paragons millions of years old breathed their last. But the greatest sadness of "Rapinam" came upon when Odin, Villi and Vé stole the very essence of magic from the air, causing a shockwave upon the natural world and the elfs themselves felt their very beings scarred and torn apart as they felt their natural connection severed, their magic was no longer theirs...and now belonged to the thieving human gods...

### Culture

Ever since the great disaster of Rapinam, the Elves have been confined to the Dryadalis islands as the last haven of the magic inclined species. The Elves, however, still hold an amount of civility from their golden days as the most advanced governing nation present in the current days. All types of elves (High, Wood, and Dark) follow the same king, and each of them has been granted their own islands to which to grow their own subculture...

#### High Elves...

Sitting at the top of Elven hierarchy are the High Elves, previously a meagering clot of people in the Elven kingdom, these elves managed to hold tighly to a small spark of magic within their blood, granting them a large amount of power amongst their people as the hope for bringing magic back to the Elfs. The official duty of the High elves living in Altum, the largest of the elven islands, is that of control. They tell how much food their wooden relatives must produce, what target their dark-kin must strike at and they control the highly bureatrical side of Elven politics. They are also the only Elves capable of producing the Elven Sol Lapis, the elven empires key for long distance navigation.

#### Wood Elves...

Making home out of the dense wilds of the Lignum island, the Wood Elves are in charge of producing the rest of the kingdom's food needs, as such most wood elf villages in Lignum consist of large farm lands with their homes built off the side of the massive trees native to the island.

#### Dark Elves...

Once the reigning and most common type of elf, the Dark Elves now reside in Tenebris, the smallest island of Dryadalis as the kingdom's military force. Day to day life is hard for the Dark Elves, as they once sat a top the throne of the elf kingdom as the most magically inclined of their kin, they now rest as the weakest in the hierarchy. The shock that severed the magic away from the elves was a deeply wounding event for every type of elf, but Dark Elves suffered the most as their bodies now lay ridden with magical scars that make an activity as simple as standing in the sun a deeply painful experience for their people.

### Base Religion

Elven religion functions on a dualistic belief that everything that exists, from the earth itself to it's inhabitants, come and are influence by either the force of Nature, or the force of Magic. As such, the concept of worshipping gods and individuals is seen as a barbaric or even tyrannical approach to belief. The loss of Magic in the world, as seen in Rapinam, has influenced various religious beliefs and myths about how to bring about its return, usually these myths change from race to race.

### Racial Religious Beliefs

#### High Elves...

Believe that the act of Rapinam was brought forward by evil and tyrannical beings who tricked the lowborn humans into worship and admiration. As such High Elven belief dictates that Humans are not only innocent, but as much a victimized race as the Elves themselfs, and that the goal for their race should be to hunt down and kill these so called "human gods" of Odin, Villi and Vé.

#### Wood Elves...

The Wood Elves however believe that their dualistic beliefs require Nature and Magic to have something resembling consciousness. As such, Magic abandoning the Elves in favour for the Humans was simply a case of it choosing a more worthwhile race for it's power,and had the elves not grown complacent and weak in it's presence, that they would not have lost it in the first place.

#### Dark Elves...

On the other hand, Dark Elves believe that their dualistic nature instead mandates the opposing view point, that Nature and Magic are simply a force similar to that of a river that can be molded and corrupted, and that the Humans were simply the first to find a way to harness and isolate it's force for themselves. This believe comes with a great deal of shame, as they believe had the Dark Elves of past not simply watched the other races grow into flourish and instead acted to protect the forces of Magic and Nature, that they would not have to deal with the curses they deal with to this day. It is not uncommon for this belief to spark xenophobic tendencies in Dark Elves, though it does not propagate in the majority of the race.

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