Elves

A congregation of Wild Elves hunting trespassers.

“
*Although they can be haughty, elves are generally gracious even to those who fall short of their high expectations—which is most non-elves.*
”
— The Adventuring Adventurer's Guide to Adventure.
**Elves** are a humanoid race in Vosel. A tall, graceful, and refined people, elves are known to be skillful fighters, powerful wizards, and peerless scholars.

## Biology

### Appearance

With their unearthly grace and fine features, elves appear beautiful to most other races. They are slightly shorter than humans on average, ranging from well under 5 feet tall to just over 6 feet. They are more slender than humans, weighing only 100 to 145 pounds. Males and females are about the same height, and males are only marginally heavier than females.

Elves’ coloration encompasses the normal human range and also includes skin in shades of copper, bronze, and almost bluish-white, hair of green or blue, and eyes like pools of liquid gold or silver. Elves have no facial and little body hair. They favor elegant clothing in bright colors, and they enjoy simple yet lovely jewelry.

### Stages of life

Elves, even by the standards of Dwarves and Gnomes, have especially long-lived lifespans. Most elves live to be more than 600, with some even living as many as 800 years or more. Elves mature slower than humans. Elves will appear child-like even until they are 40-50 years old, when they will enter adolescence; subsequently, they many only become adults when they reach 80-100 years of age. Once Elves attain their adult appearance, it changes little until their death. The physical differences between an elf of 150 years and an elf of 750 are incredibly minor--usually, the older elf will have lighter-hued eyes and hair, while younger elves will have saturated and vibrant hair and eye colors.

## Culture

### Immaterial Origins

All elves are believed to have originated outside of the Material Plane (with the exception of the Wild Elves): Deep Elves are native to the Deepfell, High Elves native to the Highfell, Shadow Elves native to Penumbra and Sylvan Elves native to Sylvania. Such origins often color an elf's entire worldview and paradigm: High Elves tend to dedicate themselves to the study of magic, while Sylvan elves feel a certain affinity for the forest.

### Rivalry with Dwarves

“
Two **elves** in conversation:
—What's the difference between male and female dwarves?
—I don't know!
”
— A joke in the Aagta.

Elves have a deep-set rivalry with Dwarves. Both species claim to be the oldest of the races, with none being able to substantively prove its point. Dwarves refer to Elves as milk-drinkers and tree-huggers while Elves refer to Dwarves as beard-goblins and other such slurs.

There is no scholarly agreement on the root causes of the Elven-Dwarven rivalry. Some posit that this friction is the result of the rivalry between the competing aims and efforts of Tzulft and Sinvariol, or the bitter relationship between Mzund and Nerevariol. Others, that it can best be attributed to the rivalry between Mzundelft and Corvandor in the Fourth Age. Finally, some posit that the seeds of this rivalry were planted by none other than Noldorant himself, doubtless in an effort to poison the relationship between both races.

## History

### Pre-Godfall

The Elves took an important role in the First Age and Second Age to help the Divines and the Divine Empires to rise to power. In particular, Elves flooded to the banners of Sinvariol, who embraced the chaos of their extraplanar heritage. The elves fought for Sinvariol in many conflicts against the other divines, such as Tzulft and even Soros; however, these conflicts were usually short, and rarely did they escalate into anything other than brief confrontations or altercations.

### Godfall

Elves formed the rank-and-file of many Gods and their armies during the Godfall. This is especially true for Sinvariol and Nerevariol, ranks to which the magically-gifted High Elves flocked to.

### Post-Godfall

A great amount of Elven Empires rose in Nivelor following the Godfall. Ever in conflict with each other, and with Mzundelft and the Dwarven prospectors and colonizers of Nivelor, and with the Coldbloods of Uxalon, and with the Ratmen and Greenskins and other such menaces.

### The Imperium

The rise of Noldorant and the Draconic Imperium led to the downfall of most of the Elven Empires of Nivelor and elsewhere. Most elves became refugees, traveling primarily to Erideon and, to a lesser extent, to Vantion. It is thus that much of the human population of Erideon acquired some degree of Elven blood or ancestry.

### Mortal Empires

With the overthrow of the immortal dragons, the Elven diaspora, dispersed throughout the world, now dreams of a Second Founding of their ancestral home. Dozens of organizations now champion the restoration of the ancient Nivelorian realms, and even now, many thousands of Nivelorian refugees have begun to re-establish the ancient kingdoms of Nivelor.

## States

* Erideon: The reaches of the Steadfast Continent are home to many Wild Elves, as well as Nivelorian refugees.
	+ Issel: An primarily wild-elven woodland realm in the center of Erideon.
* Nivelor: Nivelor was the site of most of the Elven countries of the past.
	+ Avaras: A primarily Star Elven city-state on the southeastern coasts of Nivelor. One of the few cities of Nivelor to remain populated, the city hosts the famous Avaras College, where the arcane arts are taught.
	+ Ollinas: A ruined city-state on the easternmost tip of the continent. Ollinas was the site of the final holdout of the anti-divine Mortal Pact.

## Subraces

### Deep Elves

The Deep Elves, occasionally known as the Drow and the Dark Elves, are a subrace of elves native to the Deepfell. Life therein is dark and dangerous, for which reason these elves are often warriors and mages of great prowess.

### Half-Elves

*Main article: Half-Elves*
Walking in two worlds but truly belonging to neither, half-elves combine what some say are the best qualities of their elf and human parents: human curiosity, inventiveness, and ambition tempered by the refined senses, love of nature, and artistic tastes of the elves.

### High Elves

High Elves, occasionally known as Star Elves and Arcane Elves, are elves native to the Highfell. The Highfell itself, along with most of Nivelor, were largely destroyed by the Draconic Imperium; thus, High Elves are now very rare in the world. The original servants of Sinvariol, these were the first people to acquire the use of magic. In the present, most High Elves have some degree of natural aptitude for the arcane arts.

### Shadow Elves

*Main article: Shadow Elves*
Shadow Elves, also known as Umbadrin, and ocassionally as Penumbran Elves, are elves native to Penumbra, also known as the Shadowfell. Often mistaken for the Deep Elves, Shadow Elves typically have black hair and white or grey eyes, while Deep Elves most typically have light-colored hair and red or purple eyes.

### Sylvan Elves

Sylvan Elves, also known as Eladrin, and occasionally as Fey Elves, are elves native to Sylvania, a realm of beauty, unpredictable emotion, and boundless magic.

### Wild Elves

The most diverse of the Elves, Wild Elves, also known as Wood Elves and Green Elves, are the most numerous of the Elves in the Sixth Age. They inhabit the wildlands of the world, where they frequently become rangers and druids. These elves are believed to be the only elves fully native to the Material Plane, and frequently guard its boundaries against incursions from the other Inner Planes.

## Appendix

The Common Peoples
**Dwarves** (Deep, Hill, Mountain) • ****Elves**** (Deep, High, ShadowHB, Sylvan, Wild) • **Gnomes** (Deep, Forest, Rock) • **Halflings** (Lightfoot, Stout) • **Half-Elves** (Half-Elf, Quarter-Elf) • **Half-Orcs** • **Humans**

### References

1. ↑ Player's Handbook.
2. ↑ Player's Handbook.
3. ↑ Player's Handbook.
4. ↑ PHB, with some revisions
5. ↑ Player's Handbook.
6. ↑ PHB, with some revisions
7. ↑ Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes.