Excerpt from: ''On Humanoids: A Primer on the Humanoid Species of Temar'' by Dr. Pomira.
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Elves in Temar are among the most striking and enigmatic of the humanoid species. Standing between 1.85 and 1.90 meters tall for men, and 1.70 to 1.80 meters for women, they are surprisingly lightweight—60 to 65 kg for men and 50 to 60 kg for women. Renowned for their beauty, elves are often described as the most attractive of all humanoids. They possess delicate yet striking features, smooth skin, straight noses, defined jawlines, delicate yet firm hands, long fingers, and their iconic pointed ears. Elves tend to have a lithe physique, lanky and tall yet muscular and lean.
As there are four different races of elves, their hair and skin color can vary as much as in humans, from the shades of blonde hair, pale skin, and light eyes of the Royal and High Elves to the darker skin, brunette and black hair, and brown or orange eyes of Dark Elves, to even the pallor skin, white or grayish hair, and icy blue eyes of Ice Elves.
Elves are the oldest of the humanoid species both historically and literally, with their notoriously long lifespans of 180 to 220 years for non-awakened individuals and up to an astonishing 260 years for the awakened.
The mystery of elves has kept scholars of old up late at night for centuries. Their incredibly long lifespan, inexplicably lightweight bodies despite remaining as strong as the average human, and other peculiarities have intrigued many. Fortunately, most—but not all—of these mysteries have been solved and can be traced back to one distinct factor in elven evolution:
Their environment.
Elves originate from the Eldrean Forest, which is and of itself a marvel of magic that deserves (and has) its own books describing it in detail. For reference, I will provide a simplified description here:
Eldrea is a region in the northeast of Aldion, the size of a continent, almost entirely covered by the Eldrean Forest. The region, especially the forest, has some of the highest ambient mana readings on the continent, for reasons not entirely understood. This has had a number of effects on the region, particularly the forest, where the amount of ambient mana rises exponentially deeper into its heart. This makes the Eldrean Forest the largest magical forest on Aldion, featuring one of the largest magical ecosystems on the continent.
Mana's tendency to cause biothaumical mutations in biological lifeforms—especially at such high exposure levels—has had a massive impact on the evolution of all creatures in the region, including elves.
Elves possess a number of biothaumical traits courtesy of their environment, which makes them a type of quasi-awakened being from birth. I like to call them "proto-awakened" (Note: this is not official terminology used by the Institute, but rather my own, personal term for the strange quasi-awakened state of elves). Essentially, this means they are close to being awakened but not quite.
The trait responsible for their lifespan is their peculiar life force. Elven life force is unique among humanoids as it is unusually potent and abundant. The exact reason for this remains unknown, but it is the building block for all their other proto-awakened traits, acting as "fuel" for them.
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LIFESPAN AND LIFE FORCE
Elven life force fuels constant and efficient cellular repair and regeneration, countering the effects of aging by fixing cumulative DNA damage, maintaining telomere length, and regenerating tissues. This also gives elves the ability to heal wounds faster and bolsters their immune system, providing better resistance to diseases and illnesses (though not to the level of orcs).
Additionally, elves have slower metabolic aging. By sustaining their biological processes, their abundant life force enables elves to operate at a slower, more efficient metabolic cycle that minimizes cellular stress.
Their long lifespans have also forced elves to evolve a unique neurological structure, which helps them retain memories and maintain mental stability.
However, these positives are bound to their life force, and as such, when their life force inevitably runs out with time, they suffer a number of drawbacks:
1. Slow Maturation and Growth
To support their long lifespan, elves have a prolonged childhood and adolescence, leading to slower physical, mental, and emotional development compared to shorter-lived humanoids. Elves reach full physical and mental maturity at 45–50 years old, leaving them vulnerable in their early years. Additionally, while they may enjoy a long physical prime and remain youthful and healthy for a long time, they become frail in their old age due to cumulative cellular damage, which even their potent life force cannot counter. This makes elves more susceptible to illness and disease in both youth and age.
2. Low Fertility Rates
To avoid overpopulation, elves have naturally evolved to not only have fewer offspring but also to experience "Youth-Bound Fertility." Essentially, elves are only fertile for a short window after reaching full maturity. This, paired with their naturally low fertility and the extended time necessary to reach maturity, exacerbates their low birth rate, making the elven population in Temar surprisingly small compared to humans or gnomes.
3. Nutritional and Environmental Demands
Since their long lifespan is tied to their life force, elves require a diet rich in mana-infused fruits, plants, or meat, which is found abundantly in the Eldrean Forest but is much harder to find and more expensive outside it. Elves who do not regularly consume mana-rich food can suffer from a variety of adverse consequences, including:
* A shortened lifespan.
* Life Force Depletion Syndrome.
* Mana Poisoning.
4. Psychological and Neurological Changes
Due to their long lifespans, elves have evolved a unique neurological structure to retain memories and maintain mental stability over their lives. While elves are renowned for their sharp memories, in their later years they become more susceptible than other humanoids to neurological conditions like dementia and Alzheimer's. They often develop issues with short-term memory creation and forgetfulness. Additionally, their long lives make them more susceptible to mental health issues like PTSD, depression, and anxiety disorders.
5. Difficulty Adapting – Elves, both as individuals and as a society, are notoriously averse to change. This resistance stems for their long lifespans and slow maturation.
* Individual Resistance:
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Elves often procrastinate and shy away from change, especially as they grow older. Elven elders tend to be conservative and reclusive, holding onto traditions and grudges for decades. This makes them slow to adapt to personal or external challenges.
* Societal Resistance:
Historically, elven societies have struggled with internal and external changes. Their longevity hinders recovery from external threats like war, environmental disasters, or pandemics, as slow generational turnover and societal inertia limit swift action. Internally, elves face cultural and technological stagnation, as their long lives discourage rapid innovation.
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SKELETAL SYSTEM
Elves are unusually lightweight compared to other humanoids, despite possessing strength on par with the average human. This is attributed to their unique skeletal system.
Elven bones are hollow, much like those of birds, dramatically reducing their body weight. This trait is complemented by an intrinsic enchantment, Osteo Mana Kinetium, fueled by their Life Force, it covers their entire skeleton and allows it to absorb and distribute energy more efficiently.
Their lightweight bones, yet still comparative strength to humans, paired with the intrinsic enchantment, allows elves the capability of far greater feats of acrobatics and grace, jumping higher, running faster, higher agility, and the ability to survive falls from heights which would be lethal to most other humanoids. This makes them prolific climbers, which is an important ability for survival in environments like the Eldrean Forest.
Due to this intrinsic enchantment, the elven skeleton has a tendency to bend instead of break when exposed to high stress. This may seem good, but is in actuality not, as a bent bone will stay in that position and not heal naturally, which without immediate medical intervention can permanently cripple an elf.
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AUDITORY SYSTEM
To survive in an environment rife with many predators, elves have evolved incredibly sensitive hearing.
The elven ears highly differ from other humanoids as they have evolved specialized internal and external ear anatomy, neurological, behavioral, and physiological traits.
Ear Anatomy:
1. Elves have elongated and flexible pinnae – The pinnae (outer ear structures) are larger and mobile in elves. This allows for better sound collection and focusing. Their cartilage is both rigid enough to maintain shape and flexible enough for controlled movement.
2. Musculature for Independent Movement – Like cats, elves have a set of specialized auricular muscles. These muscles allow for precise, independent movement of each ear to focus on specific sound. Additionally, they allow for subtle adjustments, such as cupping the ear forward or flattening it back to filter out background noise.
3. Enhanced Inner Ear Function – Their inner ears also exhibit advanced adaptations for sensitivity and frequency discernment.
* Expanded Cochlear Structure: The cochlea (spiral structure in the inner ear) is longer and more finely tuned, allowing elves to detect a broader range of frequencies, including very ultrasonic (high) and infrasonic (low) sounds.
* Additionally, the elven ears have more sensory receptors in the cochlea, which enable finer sound resolution and greater sensitivity.
* Improved Basilar Membrane: The basilar membrane, which vibrates in response to sound waves, is highly specialized with variable stiffness, allowing elves to discern minute differences in pitch and tone.
* Enhanced Vestibular System: The vestibular system (responsible for balance) is integrated with their auditory sensitivity, allowing elves to detect subtle vibrations in the ground or air that correspond to sound waves. Additionally, their enhanced vestibular system gives elves greater, almost superhuman, balance and aids in their agility. The semicircular canals and otolith organs are more finely tuned, capable of detecting even the smallest changes in head position or motion. This enhanced sensitivity allows elves to perceive subtle shifts in gravity, making them incredibly steady on their feet, even on uneven or moving surfaces.
Neurological Adaptations – To process the vast amount of auditory information, elves have developed significant neurological adaptations.
* Larger Auditory Cortex: Elven brains have a larger auditory cortex to process sound data more efficiently and accurately. Their neural pathways are optimized for multitasking, allowing them to focus on multiple sound sources simultaneously.
* Elves also have faster signal transmission between the vestibular system to the brain, which provides near-instantaneous adjustments to posture and movement. Reflexes like the vestibulo-ocular reflex (VOR), which stabilizes vision during head movement, are hyper-efficient in elves. This allows them to maintain stability while running, leaping, or engaging in combat.
* Directional Sound Mapping: Elves have a highly developed ability to map sound sources in three-dimensional space, akin to echolocation relying on environmental sounds. They are also able to triangulate sound origin points by using subtle time delays in when sound reaches each ear. Additionally, the vestibular input is also integrated with the proprioceptive (body position) and visual input, which allows for seamless awareness of their surroundings.
* Active Noise Filtering: Elves have developed neural mechanisms to “filter out'' background noise, allowing them to focus attention on specific sounds of interest.
Behavioral and Physiological Traits – Due to their unique ear anatomy and neurological changes, elves have developed a number of unique physiological and behavioral traits.
* Rotational Ear Movements: Like cats, elves can rotate their ears almost 180 degrees to track sounds behind or beside them. They are also capable of rapid, precise ear movements, which allow them to react instantly to environmental cues, aiding in survival or combat situations.
* Dynamic Hearing Adjustment: Elves are able to ''dampen'' or ''heighten'' their hearing sensitivity in loud environments, preventing overstimulation or damage to their ears (similar to the stapedius reflex in humans).
* Improved Balance, Agility, and Coordination: Due to their enhanced vestibular system, elves possess almost preternatural balance and grace, akin to felines or acrobatic birds. Allowing them to stand or walk effortlessly on narrow ledges, tree branches, swaying ships, or other precarious situations. This, paired with superior reaction times, as their bodies adjust instantly to unexpected shifts in terrain or environment, makes rapid and precise movements, such as dodging, climbing, parkour, or aerial acrobatics, almost natural for them.
* Spatial Awareness: Their enhanced vestibular system, paired with their acute hearing, gives elves almost uncanny spatial awareness. Being able to sense objects around them even in complete darkness or disorienting environments, allowing them to respond and adapt instantly to environmental changes. This makes elves famously hard to sneak up on.
* Social Communication: Beyond hearing, ear movements have evolved as a secondary mode of expression for elves, with subtle shifts and changes in position and motion signaling emotions or intentions. Additionally, their acute hearing enhances elven communication, allowing them to detect subtle vocal tones. This is exemplified in their languages, as Elvish languages are all tonal languages, which are notoriously difficult to speak.
Though there are a number of drawbacks to their incredible hearing. Their sensitivity to sound and movement can make sudden, loud, or sharp noises and excessive movement (e.g., earthquakes or explosions) very painful and disorienting.
Maintaining such a complex ocular system requires a significant amount of energy, which is supplied by their Life Force, and will lead to more issues with their Life Force in old age as mentioned before.
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Elves are only capable of an affinity for the Water, Air, Light, Earth, and Force elements, with Water and Air being the most common.
Elven Arcanoception is often tied to their hearing, allowing them to hear sound, which makes vocal casting methods more comfortable for them.