Elves

Elves came to this world when their mothership crashed into the planet. For their own safety, they scattered far away from the crash site, and their origins soon became lost to living memory.

### **Elder Tribe Ravers**

Deep in the deserts of the Cursed Wasteland is a large stone platform where a small, isolated tribe of elves is said to gather around once a month to ingest hallucinogenic substances, play loud drums and horns, and dance the night away. Illusion magic and barely functional ancient technology is used to add to and amplify the noises as well as add pyrotechnics and flashing lights.

Aside from these monthly parties, or "raves" as they are known, the Raver Elves keep a low profile, travelling alone or in small groups to collect food, water, and tech. They typically have heavily tanned, often sand encrusted skin, and untamed hair bleached by sun exposure. They have a fondness for crude piercings and tattoos, and wear a mix of homespun and looted clothing.

### **First Elves**

The First Elves are the elf tribes who stayed closest geographically to their downed ship beneath the Crystal Spire, as well as the closest culturally to their original off-world culture. They settled in the thin temperate zone between the Central Plains and Northedge.

Never a numerous people, they relied on traps and illusion magic to defend their clan holds. Rather than fight to the death, they usually use their magic to hide or safely leave the area.

The clan holds have been occupied by various human nations countless times in the past. The Khanate are the latest conquerors, however, some of the First Elves continue to fight a guerrilla warfare campaign. Others have simply gone into hiding or have moved north to live with their Nananuit cousins. However, a few have gone mercenary and joined the Khanate as mages.

The First Elves have albino features, with white skin, white hair, though eye color varies greatly. They often tattoo their skin the same color as their eyes.

### **Solendor**

Commonly known as “Sunset Elves” both for their westerly whereabouts and their perpetual state of decline, the Solendor of the present day are little more than an ethnic minority in the Westrasi region.

#### **Physiology**

The Sunset Elves are not a particularly tall people, with an average height of five and a half feet for both men and women. Their bodies are naturally slender and tend towards slim builds, with a hard time acquiring a significant amount of body fat or muscle. Though their skin is naturally fair, the majority of them have become naturally tanned due to a lifetime under the warm sun of the Westrasi Sea. Masses of freckles is a common consequence of this exposure, and are typically found on specimens from the lower classes.

The hair of the Solendor is naturally fair and in specimens untainted by human blood, any colour darker than a sandy brown is impossible. Similarly, brown eyes are not found in Sunset Elves of pure blood, as their irises tend to be blue, green, amber or some other bright colour. Their faces are typically quite narrow and angular, with high cheekbones and sharp chins. The one feature that clearly separates them from humans has to be their ears, which are long and naturally taper to acute angles.

#### **History**

When the First Elves fell from the heavens so long ago, many of them were horrified by their predicament. The thought of dying in a strange land so far away from home was too much to bear. Upon their discovery of pre-Dawn civilisation, a faction formed. This coalition of elves vowed to scour the world for technology that they could use to repair their ruined vessel and return to the stars. Despite the protests of their comrades, these seekers ventured out into the world in search of advanced technology.

Their journey took them west, along the coast of the Cursed Wasteland in a ramshackle fleet. When they passed the foreboding mountains of Itzil, some of the expedition remained to investigate the bunkers found there. When they passed the dense forests of Goldland, another contingent stayed behind to examine the god-machines that slept there. Both of these offshoots were ill-equipped to face what they uncovered in those lands. The explorers of Itzil earned the ire of the Molemen and were exterminated without mercy, while the pioneers of Goldland were ruthlessly hunted down by the T'lc-Kha hives.

The last of the elven wayfarers made landfall at the Belaran Sound. By this point, the Westrasi hunter-gatherers had ventured forth from the Uorosian forest and were spreading throughout the region. As the elves made their way inland and scoured the area for ancient technology, the natives multiplied and seized more territory. It took centuries for the expedition to conclude that there was nothing of value to be found in the Westrasi region but by that point, the land was swarming with territorial savages who blocked their path to the sea. They were trapped, with no way of returning to their kin.

Left with no choice, the isolated elves settled some of the forests that bordered the Westrasi Sea and focused their efforts on survival. As the millennia passed the details of their history were forgotten, until all that they remembered was that their ancestors fell from the stars long ago. Their name, the Solendor, was tied to this origin. In their language it meant “the fleeting ones,” a reference to their desire to leave the world behind and return to the heavens. Though this yearning for the sky defined their culture and their traditions, the Solendor had come to accept that they were bound to the earth forever more.

There were times when they prospered. During the period of Antiquity, some of the Westrasi Sea's most influential countries belonged to the Solendor. Selaron, Tilanar and Sonwë are all examples of elven states that flourished during that time. However, the Sunset Elves lacked the ambition of humanity. They never ventured far beyond their forests and never saw any reason to take more than they needed. It simply wasn't a part of their culture.

So when the Verani Empire united all of the men of the Westrasi Sea and turned them against the Solendor, the Sunset Elves didn't stand a chance. Their cities were razed and their people were enslaved, forced to serve the empire's elite as artisans and domestic servants. Even after the Verani Empire fell, the Solendor continued to suffer. In some countries they remained slaves, while in others they were exterminated for their inhuman nature. Even in the modern era, only a handful of nations allow them to have any dignity or civil liberties.

By this point, almost all of the Sunset Elves have been assimilated. Most of them speak Westrasi languages, wear Westrasi fashion, follow Westrasi traditions and bear Westrasi names. Only a few bitter elders have resisted this cultural annihilation and refuse to abandon the ancient ways of the Solendor. In time, even they will fade away.

### **Nananuit Elf**

The Nanauit Elves are arctic dwelling elves found in Norvia, Grendarrym, Ruskata, the Kingdom of Skrug, parts of the Khanate, and Yugr, but are mostly found in Sanukinuiq. More information can be found on the Sanukinuiq page.

### **Drow**

The drow are a little known elf subspecies found in Komjátina. It is believed that their form is a byproduct of being forced to adapt to life in almost perpetual darkness by magic. They are not an evil race, but rather one that has a pessimistic and melancholy look on like. For drow living in one place or doing the same thing for too long, each day becomes monotonous, drab, and boring. This can often drive a drow to mental problems, with the most common one being depression. To fend this off, drow form bonds with other mortals by talking with them. Drow will most often be seen in a group, talking amongst themselves about any topic that comes to mind. Spend enough time around a drow, and they will soon know everything about you and you everything about them. A drow can also sate their boredom by adventuring, but drow are rarely seen outside of the Duchy because they believe that life is more or less the same everywhere so there is no point in going anywhere.

Drow skin ranges from grey to jet-black. Hair is either black, grey, or white, although other colors are possible for drow half elves. Like most elves, they do not grow bodily hair such as bards or arm hair. They have very large eyes to soak up the light rays of their environment, and can come in the same colors that elves have. Most commonly blue, silver, and amber. Because they are adapted to a sunless environment they have difficulty seeing in the sun, finding it nearly impossible without cover for their eyes. They are slender like other elves, and usually range from 5 ½ - 6 ½ feet tall, but other heights are sometimes achieved.

### **Wood Elves**

Wood elves are servants of the Treant Empire, generally higher on the pecking order than the human vassal tribes, but lower than the dryads and treants. Most are well versed in nature magic, and a few are dryads in disguise. Much like the human vassal tribes, they are a diverse people who are split into many different tribes with different roles to play within the Treant Empire. Appearance wise they are also diverse. Relatively pure blooded elves have pale skin, and hair that varies from light reds and blondes, to vibrant brown, to pure black. Those with some human blood tend to have darker skin. Those who have been altered by Treant magic come in a wide range of forms, with green or bark like skin, and other dryad like feature not uncommon. The line between dryad and wood elf is sometimes blurry.

### **Other Elven Groups**

Other important elven groups include Clan Yssret.