Elf

### Average Lifespan

Usually up to 400 years, physically an adult at 18 but culturally an adult at 100. Does not suffer infirmities or show effects of age, except for their eyes.

## Appearance

### Skin Color

Varied. Pale to very dark like human skin tone ranges

### Hair Color

Varied (rare colourful hair colours like pink, silver and green suggest lineage from ancient pre-Landing nobility)

### Eye Color

Varied, natural eye colours. Eyes get cloudy as elves age.

### Distinctions

Pointed ears, sparse body hair, slim but athletic build, insightful, keen senses

**Elves** are a long-lived race famous for their beauty and affinity for magic. Originally hailing from Aelantir, their civilisation collapsed in an event known as the Day of Ashen Skies leading to a diaspora of their race to Cannor.

## Appearance

Elven appearance, like humans, are varied, but they have the unmistakable identifier of having elongated knife-shaped ears. For full-blooded elves, these ears are usually the length of an average hand from the longest finger to the end off the palm.

## Biology

### Long-livedness and Infirmity

Elves are famous for being the longest-lived race amongst the civilizations of the world, living up to 400 years. They age naturally at the same rate humans from infancy until their mid-twenties (give or take). After that, elves no longer show signs of aging such as wrinkles, sagging skin or graying hair - that is, except for their eyes, which seem to be bear the brunt of their age, often becoming dull and even cloudy at extreme ages.

In addition to not showing the visible signs of ageing, elves also do not suffer any sort of infirmities that comes with old age such as weak joints, deteriorating organs and being susceptible to certain diseases. An elf of 300 years will be just as sprightly as an elf of 30, perhaps even moreso due to skill and training.

### Fertility

Elves, in general, are not as fertile as humans, with a loose ratio of one elven child per seven humans.

Fertility and childbearing as a whole functions the same as humans, with elven women losing fertility around their 300 year mark, and men a few decades after. They do, however, have pregnancies and reach sexual maturity (the ability to reproduce) at the same time as humans. Due to cultural differences, however, elves often wait until they reach the age of 100 years or more before having children. Losing the ability to reproduce often marks the beginning of the final stage of elven life, known as *Eldership*.

*Jay's Note: fact check the actual ages*

### Resistances to Disease and Affliction

Elves are also naturally resistant to most natural diseases and illnesses, from cancers to flus. While there is agreement that a large part of this resistance is due to elven biology, it should also be noted that a great many afflictions hold age as a large factor, and as discussed before, elves do not suffer from infirmities caused by age.

A notable example of this was during the White Pestilence which saw much of Cannor afflicted with a zombie plague. The elven population, as a whole, while still affected by the pestilence, were less likely to catch the disease and had an easier time of recovery if they did catch it. This raised suspicions amongst the human purists at the time, causing several pogroms across Cannor, but this event also inadvertently allowed the rise of the recently created half-elven to positions of nobility.

### Magical Affinity

Jay's Note: make this into actual sentences

* elves have natural affinity. magical affinity can be inheritable so half elven kids have better chance of affinity
* not all elves have magical affinity
* elves are more resistant to some forms of magic like enchantment and sleeping BUT UNLIKE DND THEY DO NEED TO SLEEP IN ANBENNAR

## History

Elves once ruled the Precursor Empire before it was destroyed by their own hands in a civil war. The Precursors who stayed on Aelantir became Ruinborn through time and radiation, while others travelled to Cannor in the Great Wander and split into various groups.

## Society & Culture

### Eldership and Life Stages

Due to their long lifespans many elves

While elves do mature at the same rate as humans, traditional elven societies like elfrealms or isolationist families and clans have a more strict definition of cultural maturity depending on one's age.

#### Childhood (Birth - 16)

Elves from birth to the human equivalent of puberty are treated as children. Elves during 'childhood' have little expectations upon them but to learn about the world and society.

#### Adolescence (16 - 100)

Despite reaching sexual maturity and this stage encompassing most species' entire lifetimes, elves younger than 100 are treated merely as teenagers by traditional standards. They are expected to still be learning their place in the world, and not hold in positions of authority within the elven realms. Even elves who have lived their entire lives in human societies treat those in this life stage with little seriousness or respect, even if the elf in question had established themselves in human societies.

For a lot of elves they use these years to explore and experience the world, following their own path across and learning more about themselves in the process. Elves usually try various careers and live in various locations during this time, and it is this age where a great many elves begin a life of adventuring. This goes to the point that elves often take different names and guises during adolescence. To some elves, this period is a time of embarrassment best left unspoken, to others, it is regarded as another life completely, one that is often left behind.

#### Young Adulthood (100 - 200)

Elves in this stage are expected to be moving towards their desired path of paths of choice, such as what craft to follow or career to pursue. An elf's identity should consistent by the end of this stage compared to the more tumultuous years of adolescence. This is also when elves often pair up with non-elves on a serious basis, becoming husbands and wives and bearing half-elven progeny rather than one-off flings and abandoned children.

#### Adult (200 - 300)

Adulthood is when elves are at their prime and expected to be most prominent in their craft and society. This is the age where great elven leaders and masters emerge, and is equivalent to later adulthood in terms of human culture.

#### Elder (300 - 400+)

Elven elders are expected to be leaders (if not already) but almost certainly guides within the elven community, giving back their knowledge and experience to the benefit of the race as a whole. Some elders become tired of the short-lived affairs of the rest of the world, and retreat inwards, retiring to a simpler life within the quieter and isolated elfrealms, within their own abodes, or even to elven monasteries like the Silent Repose to live amongst elders of their own kind in peace.

## List of Elven Cultures

* Moon Elf
* Sun Elf
* Sea Elf
* Wood Elf
* Desert Elf
* Sunrise Elf