Ardi (High Elves)

High elves have left their tribes to settle in with the humans. Over many years, they lose their close bond to nature, but it is easy to pick out which elf has just left their circle, as they keep their wood-elven traits for ~30 years. High elves are still highly intune with magic, often turning to becoming sorcerers or wizards. When high elves fully lose their natural attunement, their eyes become closer to that of a human, often carrying vibrant colors, and second generation high elves have smooth skin and gain blonde, and rarely darker hair colour.

## Geography and Locations

Majority of high elves live mixed in with various mainly-human settlements. They tend to stick to more populated areas, where they are warranted safety. Even then, they stick to living in their own enclaves.

Not all high elves live in mixed society. Somewhere between Mercia and the western coast of Wajintiji lies an island eternally concealed by mist. This island is called Alnethea, which literally means the “Island of Fog”. The location of this island is revealed only to a few chosen high elves, and only those who still follow their old elven pantheon, as the existence of the island is shown in a dream, where Aisli herself shows the elf the path to Alnethea.

## Government

High elves of Alnethea have a magocratic/gerontocratic system, where the oldest, wisest and most capable of manipulating the Astral Weave watch over the city, and decide who goes in and out - they are deemed the Archmagos. As elves have extremely long lives, it is rarely seen for the ruler to be changed, but in their old age even the elves lose their faculties, at which point a new ruler is appointed. The possible runner-ups (Weavemasters) for rulers usually watch over smaller districts of the city, or command parts of the army.

## Customs and Culture

High elves are seen as quite arrogant, but their arrogance stems from their extremely long lives. Their timeless perspective on the world is not even understood by most dwarves, who live only a 3rd of their possible lifespan. Centennial elves are rarely seen though, as most become quite reclusive in their old age.

### Attuned to the Weave

Elves, with their long lifespans, tend to become great warriors, with most being capable of some form of Weave manipulation. With a lot of time on their hands, most of them become academics or wizards, but a lot of them are innately bound to become sorcerers.

Being descendants of the wood elves, they are still extremely in tune with nature and the Fey.

### Elven Arts

Elves are also masters of fine arts, with their music and song being famous all over the world, but their true arts are quite exotic, as their performances last literal days, if not weeks.

### Origin Seekers

High elves have a difficult time with uncovering their past, as most of their history is passed through word of mouth, meaning a lot of knowledge that was carried by the Fiaini elders was extinguished with their lives during the times of the Great Hunt. When they have discovered an ancient ruin belonging to Artus, they’ve been searching for more ever since.

## Technology and Warfare

Technologically, high elves are similar to humans, but they heavily abstain from gunpowder and machinery - they make this up with their sheer amount of spellcasters. Even without magic, they can easily outperform any other army, as an elven soldier has enough lifespan for a 100 human lifespans worth of training.

Unlike the wood elves, the high elves pride themselves in the fine art of smithing, and forge weapons and arms equal, if not greater than the dwarfs’.

## Beliefs, Religion and Festivities

See; Elven Pantheon.

High elves that stay true to their gods follow the same pantheon as the wood elves, with minor differences. After uncovering some of the Artus ruins, they have uncovered stories of gods, and with the recovering of their knowledge, those gods have been revived and reign over their domains once again, but are far weaker than the main 8 gods.

### Bright Gods (Ghrianadi)

* Dúlru - A god without form, the stag and the wolf, the hunter and the prey, symbolizing the constant change in nature
* Gaoth - A god of magic, which according to Artus was way purer than the Weave of today. He is said to have created the stars, which he has weaved to create magic.
* Sciath, the Sun - A goddess of protection, but also retribution - as those who dare tarnish the name of the Fian would know the wrath of Sciath.
* Aisli, the Moon - A goddess of dreams, nightmares, and most importantly, prophecies - as some elves are blessed by Aisli herself, turning them into Soothsayers.

### Dark Gods (Ghealadi)

* Marh Coimeádaí - Also called Marha, Marha is the guide and keeper of souls of elves that die. She leads them to the Temáspéir trees, where their souls may rest. She is of fickle nature, and sometimes, if she deems an elven soul unworthy, she will either feast on it, or lead it to a small shrub, creating one of the Livingwood entities.
* Scrios-éag - God of war and destruction, depicted as a titanic forest dragon, which supposedly helped the elves fight their earliest of wars.
* Nimh - Mother of Murder, Venom and Poison. Depicted as a beautiful woman with pale skin, with the body of a spider. Commonly known to common folk as Venena.
* Léiriú - Goddess of shadows, but also just darkness inhabiting great caves.

### Renewed Gods (Nuadi)

* Anbair - God of metals, forging, and stalwart defense
* Ceolia - Goddess of art and music
* Folangeth - God of sin, suffering, atonement and vengeance

## Opinions on Other Races

High elves don’t trust other races with shorter lifespans, mostly because of their different perspective on life.

They treat wood elves as distant relatives, but their degree of primitiveness makes creating positive relations near impossible.