Elves

The Elves (singular "Elf") are the oldest of the sentient races on Ulleria, claiming their origins to be tens of thousands, perhaps even hundreds of thousands of years ago in the planet's deep pre-history.

## Description

Elves are tall, slender-framed humanoids who tend to be strikingly beautifully and lithe but in return are occasionally plagued by a frail constitution. The average male Elf stands an about 6'1" tall and weighs roughly 130 pounds with Females not far behind them at an average height of 5'10" and weight around 110 pounds. Other than that Elves run the gamete of skin, eye, and hair color, though High Elves do tend toward a pale complexion with long, silvery blond hair. Elves also sport a pair of long, pointed ears, and boast of exceptional hearing.

Despite no longer being immortal the average Elf - barring accident or injury to cut life short, or magic to extend their life - can still expect to comfortably live to 550 years old. At the extremes Elves have been known to live as many as 750 natural years.

## History

For as long as anyone can remember the Elves of Ulleria have been much as they appear today; tall, slender, long-lived and aloof creatures who are much more attuned to nature than most but still very much mortal. Legends tell, however, of a time long ago - before the coming of man and his “civilization” - when the Elves were breathtakingly beautiful, timeless, and immortal beings who frolicked freely through the ancient forest of the primordial world. To these ancient Elves 1000 years could be like a day, and they used their time building beautiful cities in the trees, wholly one with the nature around them, and filled with bastions of art, culture, philosophy, and deep magic.

But then, in all his pomp and arrogance, came man. Mankind, with their “Gift of Mortality” saw the ancient Elves as frivolous layabouts who squandered their unceasing lifetimes in meaningless pursuits rather than focusing on progress. They sought to bring nature under their own civilizing control, and began to cut, burn, and conquer their way across the world.

Terrible wars were fought and lost, and the armies of men drove the ancient Elves from their forest kingdoms, and in their ignorance they cut down the great World Trees, severing the primeval magical bonds that granted the Elves their immortal bodies and cursing the Elves with mortality.

It is whispered, though, at the crib side of Elven children, that the last of these great kingdoms survived. In hushed voices mothers tell their children of how, in one final act of desperation, Faelon Drath, Sunlord of the great city of Suryerathar (Sur YER uh thar), used the power of the Sun Tree to seal his city away behind a magical barrier that no power of man could penetrate. It is said that somewhere out there, in the deep forests of Ulleria, the Sun Elves still reign in Suryerathar, immortal, wise, and beautiful as the dawn, and they will one day sally forth from their ancient homeland to reclaim the world.

## Modern Subraces

Even if the legends are true, it has been more than 10,000 years since the fall of the Elven kingdoms, and far worse things than man have risen to shape the history of Ulleria in that time. The Elves have had to come to terms with their experiences and build new societies, associations, and alliances. The millennia have given rise to roughly three similar but noticeably distinct varieties of surface Elves; the High Elves, the Wood Elves, and the Wild Elves. The Elves' fall, however, and the subsequent capitulation of the High Elves to Human civilization gave rise to another more sinister variety as well; the Drow.

### High Elves

Modern High Elves are largely integrated into human civilization. While they greatly prefer the company of their own kind, and in large cities tend to live in informal Elven sections, they still associate with members of other races and work alongside them. Even now the Elves still have strong ties to the foundations of arcane magic, and prominent High Elven families often produce wizards of great renown. In cities known for their universities and colleges of magic it is not uncommon at all to see several wealthy Elven families well-represented in the city’s affairs.

## Racial Ability

Dreams of Suryerathar: All Elven kind, even the most skeptical individuals, believe somewhere in their heart that the legend of the Sun Elves is true, and this belief fills them with determination and resolve, even in the darkest of circumstances. All Elves have advantage on saves against fear, as well as rolls made to resist being intimidated.