The Elves

Subraces
Ability Score Increase
Drows' Charisma score increases by 1.

Drow Magic
Drows know the Dancing Lights cantrip. When they reach 3rd level, they can cast Faerie Fire once, and it recharges after a long rest. When they reach 5th level, they can cast Darkness once, and it recharges after a long rest. Charisma is their spellcasting ability for these spells.

Drow Weapon Training
Drows have proficiency with rapiers, shortswords, and hand crossbows.

Superior Darkvision
Drows darkvision has a range of 120 feet, instead of 60.

Sunlight Sensitivity
Drows have disadvantage on attack rolls and Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when they, the target of the attack, or whatever they are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.

**High Elf**
Ability Score Increase
High Elves' Intelligence score increases by 1.

Cantrip
High Elves know one cantrip of your choice from the Wizard spell list. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.

Elf Weapon Training
High Elves have proficiency with the longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.

Extra Language
High Elves can read, speak, and write one additional language of your choice.

**Wood Elves**
Ability Score Increase. Wood Elves' Wisdom score increases by 1.

Elf Weapon Training
Wood Elves have proficiency with the longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.

Fleet of Foot
Wood Elves base walking speed increases to 35 feet.

Mask of the Wild
Wood Elves can attempt to hide even when they are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.

**Snow Elves**
Ability Score Increase
Snow Elves' Consitution score increases by 1.

Elf Weapon Training
Wood Elves have proficiency with the longsword, shortsword, shortbow, and longbow.

Blood of Frost
Snow Elves gain resistance against cold damage, and suffer no effects from cold weather. However, they are more susceptible to warm weather, suffering effects as if the temperature was 10 degrees Celsius (or 20 degrees Fahrenheit) higher.

Mask of Snow
Snow Elves can attempt to hide even when they are lightly obscured by snow, ice or other cold-related phenomena

Abilities
Elves Dexterity score increases by 2.

**Darkvision**:
Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

**Keen Senses**:
Elves have proficiency in the Perception skill.

**Fey Ancestry**:
Elves have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put themu to sleep

Physical Appearance and Traits

- The Elves are believed to be more beautiful than the other races. The height ranges are usually absolute in elves though some differences may be seen on very rare occasions

- The lifespan of an Elf is typically a 1000 years. They reach maturity between the ages of 30-50 depending on the Elf.

**Size**:
Elves range from under 5 to over 6 feet tall and have slender builds. Their size is Medium. (4ft-8ft)

**Speed**:
Your base walking speed is 30 feet.

Languages

*[!]You can speak, read, and write Common and Elven.[!]*

Elf Lore

It is not uncommon to find an Elf filling any role in the social hierarchy. You can find them as peasants, nobles, warriors, political or military leaders in other kingdoms. Some have been known to join the Beastmen and Aborian tribes as they feel more at home amongst the wilderness.

The Elves worship the religion known as The Pantheon that teaches stories of the varying Gods.

Dark Elf / Drow Lore
*An excerpt from Tavule’s “The Negation: The Dark Elf as Object not Subject,” an essay that examines the history of Elven culture and the implications it carries for Dark Elven existence.*

“Where does the individual go that society denigrates? How does a lost man find himself again? If an individual is ostracized, what are they to do? What is to become of that which is consumed by the void? Is there an existence for these people? What are we creations of the dark, that which is denigrated by the world? My words ring true to that of the Dark Elf, we creatures who have been cursed by the will of the Blood Mages and guided by it simultaneously. We rambunctious creatures of nothingness that seek to negate this world yet break free from the curse that binds us. Often it is asked of us, what are we? How were we created? I shall tell you that tale and much more. I shall explore not just our very essence but why we even came into existence in this way. Why we are bound to a life beyond our will, to a certainty beyond our choice, to a structure that only uses us. It is only through this thought that we find ourselves, that we understand why we exist within the space that we do, we are nothing. We are the force that is meant to negate all else and assert itself while also bringing forth the greater void. Is that evil?

In truth, the Dark Elves were created just like any other race, we are descendants of the First Elves and cursed by the Blood Elves. The only difference is that the Blood Elves continued to intervene in our development historically, as they took the helm of guiding our people to the most wretched of places. It was there that they would torture, enslave and use us for their will. We were bound to them, for it was what was necessitated by the curse. We were found deep in the caves of the Estari Mountains of Astroth, and it was there that our people developed under the will of a single Blood Mage known to us only under the name of the Sanguine King. His guidance perpetuated our desire to be liberated, our desire to no longer be bound to this nothingness, yet the shackles still stood and there we were for so long. A pain that cannot be described, only felt… It was not until centuries after the Sanguine King’s rise that he simply disappeared, leaving no successor, no leader, no nothing. Rather, he left us there to struggle, as we were uncertain whether we should have left out of fear that we would die on the outside. Our dark (or tainted) skin, only a mark of the extended curse we were dealt for it is the trauma that binds each Dark Elf.

We found our value in his words and not in ourselves, we felt nothing in ourselves but a mockery for allowing ourselves to become subservient to such a buffoon. Those that retained lighter skin were denigrated to the lower orders while those with dark skin found themselves to govern society. Furthermore, worth was found in combat and in intrigue, as it was these two forces that defined our society… We were a lost people, without will, without guidance, without anything. Some escaped, some left the caves and found themselves in the land beyond the Caves. Yet those that stayed, those that found some hope in the caves knew not where to go, rather they just bound themselves to the menial labor that their forefathers may have done or to that which they were educated.

It was not until two centuries ago that someone arose, moreso returned to the Caves. This paragon sought to revive the Dark Elven people. To answer our prayers that had left us in a physical space of nothingness, as the Caves themselves symbolically represented just that. This saint, Xyrion de Lamor, a Dark Elf who had traversed all of Astroth, explored the Sylvan Forest and came to hold a critical knowledge of the Blood Elves provided us with answers. Not just for our existence and purpose, but also for what we must do as a means of reversing our condition. It was here that the Cult of Lamor bore forth.”

High Elf Lore
*An excerpt from “The Fallen First,” a self-reflective ethnography by Elder Guadamir, a High Elven historian, that examines the culture and deep connection that the High Elves carry with the First Elves.*

“Where does arrogance lead one? What roads does one take to prove their worth? Lost yet faking supposed awareness. I speak solely of the notion of arrogance and pride, as they perpetuate a supposed truth that might not be there. This being the determined fate dealt by the Blood Mages onto this portion of First Elves [those that came before the division of the sub-races of elves], as they were to face the neverending God complex that was a critical piece of the First Elven culture. Due to this, the High Elves carry an ingrained belief that they carry the will of the First Elves, as they even choose to refer to themselves as First Elves rather than High Elves. This cultural choice also provides some understanding as to why High Elves have such a strong affinity towards the arcane, since they have convinced themselves that they carry the will of the First Elves.

The prosperity of the High Elves is notable. Hailing from Astroth as many of the other races, they chose to establish their cities near the Sylvan Forest as a means of furthering their claim of being the First Elves. Their cities retain a desire to achieve the scope that the First Elves managed with their architecture, yet limited by the lack of technology that current society seems to have. Structurally, High Elven society is sustained by a Magochracy, as their society is structured around magical education and lack thereof… It is through an engagement with magic to a more powerful extent that an entrance into the government is possible, which is what causes such a great value in practicing magic… Those that fail to ultimately become notable mages within the eyes of the Magocracy take on these other roles, which is to say that magic still manages to drive how work is done within this society. Rather than debilitating themselves via not using the arcane, the arcane has become a normative reality within the eyes of High Elves.”

Wood Elf Lore
*An excerpt from Deremil Eben’s essay, “Spiritual Materialists,” which examines the Wood Elven people and their known interaction with the world after the division of the First Elves.*

“What does care do to an individual? The answer is quite simple, it is the deep dedication predicated on concern for an entity or object. But what does care do to an individual who retains a deep reverence for that which they care for? The nuance of such an answer garners the life that defines Wood Elves, bound to care for that which they are taught to care: the natural world. Bound to the reality which was established by the First Elves [those that came before the division of the sub-races of elves] in their deep reverence for nature and their connection to the natural world. This created their affinity towards transcendence as they found in their mystical engagements that answer, for they saw nature as an entrance to the world beyond from which they stemmed... A race that valued the materiality of the natural world, while simultaneously serving the mystical value yet at a loss since they no longer knew the spiritual technologies of escape that were once their salvation.

Wood Elves held no written accounts until recently, rather the previously written accounts on them were by other races. Wood Elves kept to a strict oral tradition that defined their culture, as they pass history down from parent to child. Their styles of society were extremely nomadic, as they always moved with nature hence they never bound themselves to a set location. Furthermore, their culture was decentralized and governed not by a set leader but by those who spoke to the world: shamans. Traditionally shamans would be the ones who carry the greatest known history of their respective band of Wood Elves. Hence, there is no singular comprehensive Wood Elven history, but rather respective nomadic histories that define how a band of Wood Elves came together and what serious threats their bands have faced. Those threats could be other races, spiritual threats, great beasts, strange discoveries and even mystical journeys.”

Snow Elf Lore
*During the great crises of the Undead in Astroth, many great and powerful noble houses fought to protect the lands they claimed in the name of their causes. Ultimately, all fell to the endless and ever-expanding hordes of the Undead as all powers in Astroth fled to what is now known as the Kingdom of Varia. Varia was created when the son of Queen Quinn married the Princess of Idos. King Eldrilion, the son of Queen Quinn, soon learned of his mother’s manipulations and hunger for power, leading him to exile her from the capital city and to the far north where her and the rest of House Rainguard reside.*

*King Eldrilion was furious of what he viewed as a betrayal and stripped her of the Royal title of Queen. Lady Quinn began to experiment on her fellow High Elves, her goal to make a new Elven subrace that was adaptive to the new cold environment and in addition, would possess hearts of ice. After many failed experiments, she eventually obtained exactly what she wanted- she created the Snow Elves with exactly the two traits she wanted, resistance to the cold and stone cold hearts to the point where they have little empathy.*

*Snow Elves can one second be very unemotional and often uncaring of other people, but the next second be highly emotional and passionate to the point they’re seen as irrational by those of other races and even fellow Snow Elves. Though this does not mean Snow Elves are incapable of forming bonds and relationships with each other and those of other races, they tend to find it more difficult when compared to other Elves and races. Once you do gain the loyalty or true friendship of a Snow Elf, it thankfully tends to stick.*

*Obviously due to their subraces resistance to the cold you can find Snow Elves preferring to live in cold environments, especially in the northern regions of Astroth where they were conceived, with some turning into more savage raiders. Snow Elven Raiders have become enough of a problem for those in the north that a name has been given to them, that being the Krya.*