Elvic

The **Elvic peoples** or the **Elvics** are a group of peoples identified by their use of Elvic languages, by shared cultural and societal traditions, and - for the most part - by the Elvetan religion. Elvic people are generally thought to belong to a common Elvic civilisation - though there is substantial diversity within this civilisation, and some Elvic peoples are outliers defined by the fact they do not belong to Elvic civilisation.

The name Elvic is sometimes confused with Elvish or Elfkin, but these latter terms strictly refer to specific races, whereas the broader Elvic group encompasses several races of Elfkin as well as Humans. Though the Elvic languages, culture and civilisation originated amongst Elfkin, Elvic Humans have far outnumbered their Elfkin brothers since approximately 400 BC, if not earlier.

The Elvic peoples are typically broken down into three categories; Eshérian, Saverian and Outlier (also called Fringe). The Eshérian category refers to those who derive from the ancient Eshérian Elves; this not only includes their direct modern descendants, but also the Nesarian Vampires and all Elvic-speaking Nesarians (which is, to say, every Human Nesarian). Likewise, the Saverian category derives from the ancient Saverians, and also includes the Librarians and the Elvic-speaking Epsilucians and Avamoricans - but it distinctly does *not* refer to the notable population of Saverian Elves living in Roulonne who have been "Roulified" - that is, they adopted the local language and customs. The Eshérians and Saverians together make up the overwhelming majority of Elvic peoples in modern times, and evidence suggests they have always been the most populous groups.

The Outlier or Fringe Elvics are essentially all those who cannot be classified as Eshérian or Saverian, either because they do not share a common cultural heritage with them or because they are an extinct nation with too little written or archaeological evidence about them to properly classify them. The most significant of the Outliers is the Black Elves, who are the only Outliers to actually still exist. Dark Elves, Gold Elves and Wind Elves were all Outlier Elvics before their extinction, and it is generally assumed that the Roulonnais Vampires and Sand Elves were also Elvic prior to their total assimilation into other cultures.

## Elvic Civilisation

The concept of an Elvic civilisation is generally nebulous and poorly defined even by those who believe in its existence, though in a broad sense it refers to a set of cultural, political, aesthetic and moral traditions that are commonly held between a significant subset of Elvic peoples. In the popular imagination, it is frequently conflated with adherence to the Elvetan religion, or at least to Elvetan morality; specifically, it is often associated with opposition to slavery.

The idea of a shared Elvic civilisation was promoted by the Nesarian Empire in an attempt to rally the diverse Elvic peoples together under the Imperial banner, but it was not a concept invented by the state; Saverians in particular seem to have recognised the Elvic Nesarians as belonging to the same civilisation almost instantly upon meeting them.

Though there is substantial debate over the specifics of what Elvic civilisation actually *is*, there is general agreement within both the popular and academic spheres as to which peoples belong to Elvic civilisation - namely the Eshérian group, the Saverian group and the Black Elves. The Dark Elves decidedly did not belong to Elvic civilisation, having a highly distinct society, religion and moral system, and the Dark Elvish language was far removed from other Elvic languages, having many distinct differences and unique quirks that set it apart.

The Gold Elves - from what limited evidence is available - were linguistically fairly similar to Saverians, but their material culture had essentially nothing at all in common with other Elvic peoples. While there is some evidence to support Gold Elves generally sharing the same moral system as other Elvic peoples, they were Nakkalites and not Elvetans (some historians have speculated, but have been unable to prove, that they were actually the creators of Nakkalism), and they certainly did not share the anti-slavery beliefs of their cousins.

The Wind Elves have even less archaeological and written evidence than the Gold Elves, but what does exist strongly suggests that they did not belong to Elvic civilisation. They may have practiced some early form of Elveta - it is generally thought they followed the teachings of the first prophet Yalvon, but either never learnt of or consciously rejected the subsequent two prophets - but they do not appear to have abhorred slavery. Their mentions in Asmukharian and Raskevite sources do not concern slavery in any capacity, but historians have argued that if the Wind Elves did not keep slaves then this would have been something worth remarking on in the written records, and the absence of any such comments indicates they practiced slavery.