Elves

> "The Elves are a race of powerful magic users with a rich history and (comparably) exotic culture. As a result of their long lives, they have accumulated great knowledge of magic and extraordinary wealth; they are arguably the most magically advanced race of beings on the planet. As a result, their army is extraordinarily powerful despite the fact that they themselves are a peaceful race that vows not to ever strike a blow in anger- preferring only to defend themselves. Although they typically live out their lives in Emala, some elves have traveled to other nations in search of personal truths, power, adventure or to enlighten others and are not usually prone to prejudice towards the other races."
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## General Physiology

Compared to humans, elves have more slender and agile builds. They have efficient metabolisms and high resistance to natural diseases and many toxins. Similar to fairies, they have a high hearing range and sharp vision, leaving their color and nightvision to be slightly better to that of humans. Elves are magical creatures so almost all of them possess some natural capacity to harness and use magic, mainly arcane magic but a significant number with nature or elemental magic as well. The also hold an enchanting grace and beauty that draws many humans to them. Though they rarely mate with those outside of their race, elves have been known to stray from their kind and have offspring with humans and fairies.

> Average Height of Mature Adults
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> Average height varies depending on age, gender, and genetic lineage. Woodland Elves tend to be on the shorter side compared to the 'city' and 'high' elves.
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> Females - 5'7" [5'5" -  5'8"]
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> Males     - 6'0" [5'8" - 6'1"]
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Other features, such as eye and hair color, widely vary but certain features are more common among specific groups. Skin tone ranges from pale all the way to a deep bronze, but tends to average between fair to medium-olive.

> Eyes Colors
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> **Common:**Green, Hazel, Orangey-brown/Amber
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> **Rare:**Red, Blue, Purple, Bright Golden/ Hazel
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> Hair Colors
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> **Common**: Blonde, Copper, Dark Brown, Auburn
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> **Less Common**: Jet-Black, Off-black, Orange, Silvery blonde (white)
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### **Gestation**

> The average pregnancy (assuming both the parents are elves) lasts about 11 months from conception. However, the elven woman will not begin to appear obviously pregnant until the 8th month. After the 8th month the fetus rapidly grows making the "baby bump" more clearly visible.
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> Pregnancy is detectable by subtle physical changes at 2 months. After 4 months, the metabolism rapidly increases and the mother is required to eat nearly 2.5x the normal amount of food. (Up to 3.5x during the last month).
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> Expecting mothers tend to ‘feel’ the presence of their child by mid 6th month (when it is believed that the child’s soul awakens for the first time). Natural miscarriage is extremely rare after the 6th month. Twins are very rare but occasionally occur. More than triplets is considered physically impossible.
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### **Aging**

Within the first few years of life Elves rapidly mentally mature but puberty doesn’t begin until 20 and that physical maturation process can continue until the age of 54. They reach their physical peak and full height by 105. At this stage they are considered to be in young adulthood. By 153 elves stop physically aging entirely but continue to mentally mature with experience.

> Note: For humans, it may be difficult to tell the difference between an elf of 30 and an elf of 140. There may be ramifications for any ‘adult’ bedding an elf that is younger than 47.
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 Child - "Youngling"
 “Season of Blossom”
(Echuir ned Edlothia)
 Emerging / Young Adult
 Adulthood
Senior Adult
 Venerable

## **Death**

Elves are ageless magical beings which do not succumb to old age and are rarely affected by illness. They have a high resistance to natural diseases and tend to heal from wounds quicker compared to humans. They are not easy to kill but are still susceptible to death via magic, mortal wounds, and even heartbreak / grief. It is also possible for an death to occur after expending too much magic.

### Natural "Death"

> Though elves cannot die of old age itself, it’s rare to find a living elf over the age of 4,000. After reaching 2,950 years of age, elves begin to feel a strange compulsion which calls them to make a great pilgrimage through Emala that ultimately ends in Shain Cemar. Every 370 years a somber yet joyous ceremony is held. The ceremony ends with the small group of elders sailing out, passing through the sacred cove in a final journey home to the great mother. Upon contact with the veil of the cove, a golden light is emitted right as the elves and their ship disappear. After their passing they almost never return to the mortal world. These elves have physically and spiritually ascended to ***Vanalas Menelessian***, which is their version of paradise. One must hear the call first in order to pass the veil.
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> After feeling the initial compulsion, the pull of the call becomes stronger every additional 150 years. Some may choose to ignore it, whether due to fear, stubbornness or unfinished business, but after a certain point, they risk becoming one of the “lost”.
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> Due to their long lives, Elves typically do not fear death itself, they in fact respect it and usually welcome their calling when the time naturally arises. What they tend to fear is an unnatural death.
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### Unnatural Deaths

> Death by any other means than the passage to Vanalas Menelessian is considered a true and unnatural death for the elven race. When the physical body is slain the soul is released without a host to contain it on the Earthly plane. This prevents the Elf from making the physical passage necessary to willfully ascend to paradise and can leave them trapped as a Earth bound spirit until their body is consecrated in Emala. Once the consecration is complete, they are no longer bound to the realm and may either ascend or be reborn in a new form. In the case that an elf is killed by demonic/horrid magic, stabbed by the undead, or dies in an unnatural place, their soul is ripped from the body in a way which destroys it.
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> As a whole, Elves are creatures which long for companionship and are connected to nature. When kept in isolation, and/or confined away from the land they may grow inconsolable and hopeless in depression.If they entirely lose their will to live, or truly rather die than live, they can force their own death, without the use of any instrument or weapon. It is unknown the exact mechanism of how this process occurs but it is referred as I ber -o Mithalas (The Promise of Mithalas).
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See - The "Lost" Legend

See - Reverend Undead Warriors

## Sleep

Elves do not need or sleep the same way humans do. When it comes to rest they generally only need 3-5 hours of adequate rest or deep meditation. During this period of slumber/meditation, the elf's consciousnesses enters into a dream-like state. They call this process I'Lórloamaurea or unelmointi (common Elvish). In Bastian, this translates to "the reverie".

During the nightly reverie, elves tend to relive past memories in vivid detail. Sometimes the reveries may not be memories, but instead may be prophetic dreams. Not everyone believes in the legitimacy of prophetic visions but dreams in generally are considered highly symbolic and give insight into one's’ own character.

## Diet

Elves can eat a variety of vegetation, cheese, meat, and fish, but their primary diet consists mainly of fruits, nuts, and vegetables. Although their typical diet consists of various types of roots, berries, fruits, potatoes, nuts, mushrooms, and a wheat-like plant native to Emala which is used to make bread. Consuming meat is relatively rare in most parts of Emala as it is considered more of a delicacy since animals are selectively hunted and never raised with purpose to later kill.

Generally elves do not require much to feel satiated and they can easily live on very small amounts of food. The average elf has 2 small or one large meal a day. The only exception to this need being elven woman who are pregnant, and the young (elves under 45 years of age). All elves tend to require water at a similar rate to humans.

In the northern regions, it is common for elven households to eat a full and extravagant meal only once a week. The feast begins after mid-day and is several hours long. Usually food and drink are consumed in excess with several friends and family in attendance. Such feasts are held on either Anarya, Menelya, or Earenya (Sunday, Wednesday, Friday).

## Magical Ability ☀

As mentioned earlier, almost all elves are born with some innate ability to cast magic and most have at least one particular ability or branch of magic which comes more naturally to them. To master magic that does not come naturally to the user often requires years of study and practice. Skill level and natural ability advance as they age, allowing older elves to develop more innate abilities and access greater amounts of magic.

There are very few Elves who are unable to cast even the most rudimentary of magic. Such inability usually indicates some problem from within the Elf that blocks their ability to establish a connection to their nature.

"The Lost" Legend:

There is a legend that when an elf has lived long enough, or when they have refused to answer Mithalas’s call for too long, they may begin to lose their sense of identity and eventually their will to live on. At that point their spirit begins to consume their very body. Slowly fading them from the physical world, their soul empties itself, releasing its 'contents (memories and experiences). As of now this is just a myth, but there have been incidences of senor elves found to have been acting strangely before mindlessly wandering into the forest never to be seen again. As there is no body to recover, and their spirits cannot be invoked, they are called "the lost" and it has become an unspoken taboo to openly say the name of any of "the lost".

Alternatively, when the elf begins to lose their identity but the will to live persists, their physical being shifts entirely, and their elven nature is abandoned permanently. This is how it is believed that the rare dryads and wispmothers are created.

Alternative Path:

* The Reverend Undead Warrior Spirits
* The Earth-realm bound souls, the 392 Elven warriors who pledged their souls to the protection of the people, and lie in a deep reverie until called upon by a grand priest/priestess during a time of great need.

## Subspecies

Drows -

Wispmother -

Dryads -