> *“They are cruel, capricious creatures who care nothing for those shackled to death by age. They use their beauty and charms to accumulate all they might desire and pluck the wings from anything that challenges them, just to watch it squirm.” -Vassa Ithrennyn* ### Overview Mysterious and dangerous, there is a reason many races warn that the Elves are beautiful the way knives are—fascination and deadly peril bound up as one. Born to an intuitive grasp of [[Magic]], elves consider themselves the firstborn children of [[Aimti]] and thus the inheritors of [[Creation]], with little time or patience for other races. They tend towards mercurial, sensitive, ever-changing natures and hunger for novelty above all else, with lifespans that stretch beyond comprehension, ending only in blood or magic. It is said that the oldest of the elves existed before [[Godfall]], but their secretive and cloistered society has not shared that knowledge with the world.  ### Physical Characteristics Most elves stand from 1.5 to 1.9 meters (5 to 6.5 feet) fully grown and are built considerably more delicately than [[Humans]], both males and females tending to be slender and wiry rather than bulky or densely muscular. This leads to something of a fragility, though sometimes falsely so given certain elves can compensate through magic. Elves tend to be long limbed and long-fingered. Their features are sharper and more angular than humans, with ears that come to a point at the top. Their almond-shaped eyes are usually green, though blue has been observed more commonly in the Autumn and Winter Courts. Skin tone tends to be fair, though there are exceptions in elven populations beyond [[The Vale of the Undying]], and hair colors vary widely, though lighter shades (platinum blond, silver, and white) are more common. Their hair is usually very fine and straight.  Notably, elves are almost universally much more symmetrical in their bodies than the other races. This is the origin point for their reputation for uncanny beauty. They also tend to be quite graceful and ambidexterity is the rule rather than the exception. The elven lifespan is unknown, as even the average elf will reach an age where they no longer count the years. Some are theorized to have lived more than 1000 years based on extant stories among the elves and marking age by centuries or important events rather than years or even decades is common. Elves do not grow infirm of body with age or show any signs of physical aging past maturity, though they all must contend with Nintara at one point or another. ### Special Abilities It is said that every true-born elf inherits the gift of magic, and the few half-breeds that exist also tend to express magical gifts of one variety or another as well. [[Elf-Magic]] is complicated and mysterious given how little is shared about it, but one thing well established is the elven ability to cloud and warp the minds of those around them, an ability referred to as “glamor”. In addition, elves seem to universally possess the ability to cross short or long distances by interacting with the threading of reality, moving both themselves and sometimes even non-elves instantaneously. While a few [[Blood Magic]] practitioners in [[The High Kingdom of Leus]] have achieved this effect with a coin across a room, it is generally extremely destructive to the coin. How elves are able to “far-step” in this fashion is a mystery to scholars.  ##### Nintara No discussion of elves would be complete without touching on Nintara. With lives that are not bordered by the dawn of birth and the dusk of old age, elves consider themselves living in an eternal sort of twilight, removed from the circles of the world’s natural course. The burden of living a life without such an ending comes to greet every elf in the end, however: a point in the elven lifespan referred to as Nintara. It is the calling to eternity and to rest, expressed through growing nihilism and numbness that often culminates in a self-inflicted or chosen death. Interestingly, the exarchs and oldest elves seem much more resistant to the call of Nintara than the successive generations, leading to younger elves succumbing before their elders do. Naturally, this poses a significant risk for the future of their people and the solution is very much uncertain. ### Language The elven language is distinct from, but the closest modern relative to, [[The God Tongue]]. It is a fluid, almost musical tongue with an incredibly intricate lexicon, particularly with regards to specific emotions or experiences. Very few things in the language are literal and it is generally regarded as poor form to speak directly and concretely about most matters. Intimation, metaphor, and poetic license are a core part of everyday speech among the elves, which some scholars have noted is somewhat similar to the tongue of [[Orcs]], though both peoples would probably be incredibly offended by the comparison. Elven relies on common roots to denote relations between words. For example, “book” is “*nihran*” (lit. “voiceless voice of the fallen tree”), “library” is “*ahnihra*” (lit. “forest of silent voices”), and “page” is “*enihr*” (lit. “soundless breath of meaning”). Thus, understanding the grammar of Elvish is only half the battle: one must also understand nuance and the thousands upon thousands of common roots that form the backbone of the language. Fortunately, if one knows the root, one can sometimes intuit the most basic meaning of the word. Elvish makes use of a 31-character alphabet, each only representing consonant sounds. Both long and short vowels are marked embellishments added to the characters of the consonants, typically on the underside of the letters. It is a cursive script, meaning that the letters have varying forms depending on where they are in the word, and special “bridge” marks are used to connect words into compounding thoughts for specific metaphors. Elves maintain that their language itself has power and many who interact with the lesser races for any amount of time will take a particular word or metaphor they like to use in place of their name.  Elven names, somewhat paradoxically, are relatively straightforward. An elf bears a given and a family name, tracing their lineages through their mothers even though inheritance rules vary from Court to Court. It is not uncommon for them to earn or be given epithets or poetic names, which some elves use to replace their family names if they are either marks of high respect or they have fallen into disfavor with their family.  ### Ethnicities Elves are essentially divided into five realms, though the last is something of a hodgepodge collection rather than a cohesive structure. These divisions are more a reflection of the character of those who inhabit them, but nonetheless have both physical and magical differences observable between them. Each is ruled by one or more exarch, elves who have been chosen by the goddess Aimti to lead their people. Her favor is evidenced in their resistance to Nintara, though some have succumbed to it over the course of centuries all the same.  ##### The Spring Court A rare bright spot amongst the elves, the Spring Court was a relatively open and welcoming place for non-elven fae and some outlanders. Its inhabitants were noted for being particularly curious and collected knowledge of the First World extensively. Most inhabitants tended towards the smaller side of the elven norm, with unusually common red hair. It was notably close to the Summer Court as well and tended to side with them, located near the Dawning Sea in the eastern verge of the Vale of the Undying. Guarded by illusion magic of particular potency for more than a thousand years, the Spring Court could only be reached by magic until its eventual decline with the death of its last exarch in 623 RY. Most of its elves either faded as well, like flowers on a cut vine, or were subsumed into the Summer and Winter Courts, though a notable few chose other paths. The title for exarchs of the Spring Court was once “Your Grace”.  ##### The Summer Court Large and populous, the Summer Court is the best known of the elven courts by outsiders after their participation in the Great War (1001-1002 RY). It is perhaps the most representative sample of the elven people and considered the foremost bastion, as it contains [[The Elentári’s Sepulcher]] (reportedly the last resting place of the goddess Aimti and her wall of prophecies). The Court is both a physical place, a great city of white stone overgrown by nature, and a symbolic binding among many, many elves. It is strictly traditionalist and very hostile to non-elven presences, southernmost in positioning and thus most likely to come to blows with any influences attempting to spread north into the Vale. However, it is also the most accessed of the Courts by non-elves, with notable visits paid in the 850s by a group of Leyan mages and spellguards accompanied by an Eth fire-speaker and again in 1000 RY by [[The Divine Imperatrix]] prior to her ascension. A place of ruinous, almost mournful glory, the Summer Court is often in opposition to the Winter Court, though never directly. The formal title for exarchs of the Summer Court remains “Your Eminence”.  ##### The Autumn Court Certainly the most unusual of the Courts, Autumn is considered “lost” by its sisters, existing not on the surface in the Vale of the Undying, but far into the earth in [[The Deep]], below even [[The Lands of Tek]]. Its neighbors know little of its origin or nature, referring to the fey of the underground typically as “the Dark Folk”. They have a striking difference of appearance from some of their kin, with grey-mottled skin and piercing blue eyes capable of perceiving in the darkness. The Autumn Court associates closely with [[Nessa]], the goddess of death, for children of Aimti and are unique in their use of their inborn gifts for the creation of revenants: living spells possessing the corpses of their fallen and animating them with new life tied to singular purposes. Few Autumn elves ever attempt to return to the Vale of the Undying and those who do tend to settle in the Winter Court, somewhere more hospitable to their somber and sometimes twisted view of the world. The formal title for exarchs of the Autumn Court remains “Your Radiance”.  ##### The Winter Court High in the boreal mountains just south of [[The Frostmarch]], the Winter Court is essentially removed from the world and even the politics of its fellow courts for most of the year, with occasional visits made every few centuries between the courts when something of import occurs. Cloaked in furious storms, it is the best preserved and largest of the elven courts. Blue eyes are much more common here, though green is still seen, and the eldest of its elves maintain eyes that are almost colorless. Once the sole domain of [[Lysaerys Thenala]] (???-857 RY) Queen of Winter, its leadership has undergone evolutions with the rise of another exarch chosen by Aimti herself. Much of the magic practiced here is dark even by elven standards and the punishments meted out by those who rule are legendary even among the elves as cruelty incarnate. The elves who make their home here tend to be serious and solemn in their presentation, and are no friend to the outside world. The formal title for exarchs of the Winter Court remains “Your Majesty”. ##### The Spurned Ones (Dúath) Scattered across the world on the outside of the Vale of the Undying, the Spurned Ones—better known to elves as the Dúath—consist of those banished or born outside the Courts, unwelcome beneath the limbs of the eternal forest. Most blend as much as they are able to into the cultures surrounding them, but some set themselves apart and retain as much elven haughtiness as they are able. It is this population primarily responsible for the negative reputation of elves since they have the most interaction with other races, but anyone who has had to deal with the Courts knows that they are representative of their people of origin. Physical characteristics and magics alike vary wildly among the Dúath, though every elf possesses both glamor and far-step. Only the foolish or the brazen tend to approach them. Most tend to congregate in forests, sometimes going so far as to imitate the structure of the Courts they hail from, and all of them are dangerous. Elves will sometimes also lump “feylings” (elf-blooded mixed-breeds) into the Dúath, but this is relatively rare, as the pollution of blood from other races strips them of their elven nature to true-born elves, even if they possess some legacy of Elf-Magic. The Dúath have no true exarchs, though every elf among them might try to claim that title when contending with non-elves. ### Geographic Ranges Most elves are concentrated within the borders of the Vale of the Undying, with the exception of the Autumn Court and the Dúath. It is not impossible to encounter an elf beyond the Vale, also known as Erynaira (lit. “The Timeless Wood"), but it is very unlikely. Some exist in [[The Imperium]], though purebloods are exceptionally rare there and usually extinguished on sight due to their “heretical” gifts of magic. In [[The Lands of Tek]], the presence of the Autumn Court below is virtually unheard of, despite their relative proximity. Thus, there is little interaction between them and the [[Dwarves]].  ### Religious Practices ##### Belief in the Gods Elves typically honor Aimti to the exclusion of all other gods, though the Autumn Court makes perfunctory nods to Nessa with their borderline necromancy. Typically, elves come from the perspective that the gods are anything but dead: they hold out desperately for the return of their goddess, who they claim sacrificed so much of her power to save them after Godfall that every tree growing in the Vale of the Undying has a droplet of Aimti’s blood at its roots. In the past, they have actively made moves to awaken their crippled deity, but as of the modern era, such attempts have essentially petered out for the moment. They consider themselves direct children of Aimti’s power and honor her as their mother goddess as well as creator of all life.  There is also a somewhat antagonistic stance most elves take towards the other gods for their abandonment of Aimti, but whether the claim is true or merely elven justification for prejudice is harder to parse out. Whatever happened in Godfall, the elves consider themselves and their patron deity to have lost the most and have little love for those who made it out better.  ##### Funerary Rites Elven deaths are not commonplace given their lifespan, and so they are treated with the utmost gravity. No outside scholar has ever been permitted to attend an elven funeral, so much of the ceremony remains cloaked in mystery, but it is rumored to be an intensely magical experience, where the body is given over to the earth and a tree planted above it, connecting it symbolically to Aimti’s sacrifice that created the Vale itself. Rumor has it that the tree is then enhanced with magic, allowing it to grow to tremendous size and perhaps even carry the memories of the one interred in its roots. These trees, called *Mia’tha’al* (lit. “whispering ancestors”), are said to sing the most ancient of dirges when the wind blows through their leaves and branches. The most famous of them are the *mia’tha’ali* called “the Lovers”, a pair of rowan trees that twine together at the center of the Winter Court over the bodies of two fallen exarchs who were linked in life by love, Varithan Thenala and Zestari Qivaris.  ### Relationship with Magic The elven world is inextricably a magical one. Indeed, most elves cannot even conceive of what it would be like to experience the world without the ability to reshape reality to their will. They often do not understand questions about their abilities, just as a fish could not articulate the concept of water or breathing it. They understand [[The Threads]], [[The Sight]], and so much more about magic at an instinctive and inherent level. However, this does not mean they have not borrowed from and adapted other traditions to suit them, particularly the chants of orcish [[Elementalism]] and certain rituals taken from [[Blood Magic]].  Interestingly, elves have not been able to draw from external sources since Godfall, perhaps due to their close connection to the damaged Aimti’s power. In the records there exist stories of elves who could pull from the external world just like a blood mage, referred to as “the Kindly Ones”. That said, there has not been a pure-blooded elf born since Godfall who possessed the ability, and certain elves have obsessed before about trying to recapture that spark. The world should tremble at even the notion of their success.  A special note should be made of a uniquely elven practice of bonding between individuals, typically only used between an exarch and their chosen agent(s), called *zhendai*: the famous *vestali* or *vestalië* of story and song. This bond is supposed to be a literal blending of the threads between individuals, allowing for connection and communication across any distance instantaneously. Elves bonded so can share memories with their other half, divine their location, and even offer their own vitality up to serve the magical needs of their partner. These bonds are considered sacred to the goddess Aimti, and the effect of both forging and breaking one is profound. Human stories tend to make this connection romantic to serve narrative purpose, but that is ultimately a gross oversimplification of a much more complicated phenomenon.  ### Notable Cultural Practices ##### Agriculture and Diet With the ubiquitous nature of elven magic, most elves have no need to tend herds, hunt, fish, or work the fields to obtain the basic necessities of life. However, both hunts and gardens are quite common in the different courts as a form of enjoyment and supplement to foods cultivated magically or tended to by lesser fae. In the northern Winter Court, magic allows food to grow all year despite the weak sun and endless storms, sustaining a vibrant and significant population. Plant-based foods are more common and spices are relatively rare, with most food seasoned by salt from the Dawning Sea or pepper grown in the ruins of the Spring Court where it was brought by some enterprising elf prior to the collapse of that court. Elves tend to view the work of a hunt or fishing or gardening as leisure rather than necessity and famine is not a problem they have had to contend with.  ##### Clothing and Crafts While fashion and available materials vary widely based on which court an elf lives in, it is said that elven weaving and woodworking are beyond compare. Elves make full use of metals, though their craftsmanship is very different from dwarven artifice: they rely on magic to give strength and sharpness to blades and prefer to use blends of more unusual metals than simple steel. There is always a great emphasis placed not only on function, but form: elves craft to make beautiful things, whether a bow of living wood, a blade of moonlight and shadow, or a complicated tapestry hanging on the wall. Even the smallest things show great attention to detail and an artistic eye. Rumor has it that they will even sometimes steal great craftsmen from other races if their work is fine enough, just to add more beautiful things to their collection, but this is generally regarded as an old wives’ tale putting the fear of gods into artisan husbands.  The elves are also the originators of *jhalriss*, more commonly known as wizard’s chess, a game of strategy and betrayal. Much like chess, it has numerous pieces with different rules governing their movement, but one piece of the opponent’s is called the Traitor and the player can maneuver it on alternating turns. The game is divided into two halves, Love and War, and the rules change according to which season it is in.  ##### Architecture Elves build with harmony with nature in mind, allowing their great cities to be essentially overtaken by green growth. They surround themselves with gardens, ponds, meadows, and places of natural beauty—even indoors, through clever use of windows and magic alike. They don’t seem bothered by the natural decay of structures, choosing to inhabit even ruins if they suit the temperament of the elves within. That said, they tend to adapt and mold rather than construct themselves, whether that means shaping wood with magic to grow themselves a forest home or repurposing old stone buildings to allow nature in. ##### Music and Literature The elven courts are perhaps the one place in the Revealed World where literacy is the rule rather than the exception. Scholarly pursuits and the enjoyment of the written word are a natural part of life to most elves, though few turn themselves to the study of things humans typically focus on, such as magic or history. More often, poetry and stories call to elves, who sometimes spend decades or centuries compiling their experiences and compositions in various forms. Music also occupies a special place in the elven soul, with a strong tradition of bardic musicianship running as a throughline through every court. Competitions between storytellers and singers are commonplace, ways of passing the endless time at their disposal, and the rewards for the best are often significant, up to and including boons from the exarchs themselves. Elves adore music, even styles not their own, and will frequently seek out anything they can find of it from even far away lands, such as notation or new songs from traveling minstrels beyond the Vale. Sometimes a non-elf might even do well enough to inspire some level of kindness from their hosts, and if they’re exceptionally good, even their release. ##### Rites of Passage Aside from funerals, it is customary for young elves to prove their maturity and worth to sit among their elders by performing a task set by their exarch. Usually this is straightforward, such as contending with a foe, composing some new story or song, or recapturing some piece of lore, but for those who hope to be chosen by an exarch as *zhendai*, usually much more is required: competition directly with their peers, with only the best being selected. These challenges might set several rivals hunting the same monster, directly combating each other in a tourney, or seeking to out-do each other with magic. Sometimes it is a combination of all three.  ##### Love and Family Elven families tend to be small, with few children and little in the way of extended family other than direct ancestors. With a dwindling number of those with the resistance to Nintara to become exarchs, the elves know that most of them will live to bury their children before they themselves succumb, and the toll it has taken on them as a people is extreme. They tend to find solace in love, though there is no unified elven perspective on love. Most elves view it as something that flowers and then withers in its time, attaching no ceremony like marriage to it, while others seek out a fire that will burn for as long as they live, a viewpoint much more common in exarchs and *zhendai* than the average elf. This may be a consequence of the closeness of a *vestali* or sometimes directly a manipulation of an exarch seeking to keep their *zhendai* loyal as they fight their shadow-wars with each other.  ##### Fate and Omens If anyone believes in the supremacy of Fate, it is most assuredly the elves. They chart their course as a race by the prophecies of Aimti that still play out across the walls of the Summer Court, though those who are severed from that connection forever often find themselves fumbling through life. The Autumn Court, for its part, relies on the visions of its exarchs granted to them even in the Deep by their damaged goddess, pursuing agendas every bit the equal in grandeur and length of their surface relatives. Every elf feels the call and push of Fate and many recognize it in the other races, though they may not give voice to what they know.  ### Taboos and the Forbidden Though elves take a very, very casual view of the violence they do to other races, it is absolutely forbidden for an elf to shed another elf’s blood without the direct intervention and blessing of Aimti.  [[The Vessemë]], as this governing set of laws is called, promises fates worse than death to those who violate it. Thus, conflict between elves and the Courts themselves are usually games played in favor and reputation or fought in the shadows in an effort to steal knowledge or agents from each other. Additionally, it is forbidden to shelter or aid the Dúath without the express permission of the exarchs, as they are essentially regarded as a) no longer elves and b) unclean, as if their very presence can contaminate one. Aiding non-elves harbors a similar penalty and risk to the elf doing so.  ### Reputation and Relationships with Others The elves have a fairly nasty reputation with virtually everyone they interact with, and with good reason. It is not uncommon in human lands to see horseshoes or iron hung up to ward away elves, though the truth of the matter is it really only has an effect when shaped into a weapon and brought to bear on the elf in question. The orcs stay well out of elven woods for the most part and warn their children of the deceitful nature of elven plots. In the Lands of Tek, the Dwarves are basically ignorant of the Autumn Court and thus have little opinion about them, which is probably the most positive reaction an elf can expect to get. By the same token, however, their beauty and power sometimes overwhelm the natural caution of those who approach them—something that virtually never seems to end well for the non-elf.