An Extract from ‘On the Sapient Species: An Anatomical Primer’, by Senior Gosiah of Ithular:
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Elves are a horned, bipedal type A1 species with pointed ears. They are the most beautiful of all species, and age not a day past their prime.
Truly, that is all which can be said of them with any surety and safety. While I have spoken on many controversial and even taboo subjects within the bounds of this work, I have no doubt that the subject which shall bring me the most troubles in the coming days is this very entry.
For you see, dear reader, while you are undoubtedly familiar with the concept of the civilized High Elves and the savage Low Elves, inferior to the High Elves in every way, I wish to disabuse this falsehood. There is in truth no difference betwixt the High and Primal Elves (as the ‘Low’ Elves call themselves) save where they live.
I do not say this to disparage either of the two primary races of elves, but it is a simple fact. You shall never find a Moon Elf living in the blistering deserts of Kaishan, nor a Desert Elf in the bustling city of Vis’Feror unless they are merely a visitor.
For you see, dear reader, if you were to take a Primal elf from their home and place them within a city, within just a few years you in theory would find them almost indistinguishable from a High Elf born and raised within that very city (1). For all elves hold true the simple fact that they are capable of adapting to even the harshest climate or the most luxurious one, and each elf is perfectly suited for the situation they find themselves within. Where a human changes their environment to suit themselves, an elf changes to fit their environment.
To be an elf is to change, and to be perfect.
This is why they possess such beauty and such agelessness. An elf looks as they wish, and has a body which acts precisely according to their truest desire.
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HIGH ELVES
High Elves, also known as (approximate and mildly censored translations) Mongrel Elves, City Elves, Rubble Elves, and Gossamer Elves, are the elf most familiar to my audience. They are found in more civilized areas, predominantly those founded by the other species.
Their frames are tall and willowy, their horns are elegant and usually multi-pronged. Their minds are keen, and usually possess great mental prowess and a powerful aptitude for magic. This aptitude is what frequently shapes their race, and is why you may see distinct races of elves living within the same city. Indeed, elves are particularly susceptible to magimorphosis, and there are some scholars who believe that all elven races are in fact the result of environmental magimorphosis (your humble author remains skeptical).
Some of the more populous races of High Elf are as follows:
Noble Elves are perhaps the most alluring of all elvenkind. Golden horns rest upon their brow like a crown, their usually violet eyes shine with a mesmerizing light. Their hair is fine, long, and straight, usually light in color, and while they lack significant amounts of strength and stamina, their fingers are quite adroit and nimble with incredible coordination. About half of all Noble Elves are ambidextrous, with the remainder equally split between dominant hands.
Noble Elves are predominantly tied to mental magic, and even those who do not delve into their use are very in-tune with the mental state of others, due to a very low level of Empathic prowess present. This also leads Noble Elves to being particularly receptive to various mental enhancements of their own making, and curiously enough, enchantments and items based on the shape of Noble Elf horns have increased sensitivity to various mental magics.
Silver Elves (occasionally known as Lunar Elves in locales with a moon) are slender even by High Elf standards, with silver horns framing their head like laurels and silver eyes which may dim or brighten according to the mood of the elf. I must take a moment to dispel a common myth, and that is that Silver Elves do indeed have eyelids, though it is a curious quirk of the race that many do sleep with their eyes open. Controlling the shape and luster of their eye color is apparently a sufficient replacement in many circumstances for the actual satisfaction of closing one’s eyes. Their hair, while silver as well, does not change color.
Silver Elves have a particular gift for artifice magic, and their horns usually take a shape reminiscent of whatever enchantment they are most fond of, though only rarely do their horns actually become independently enchanted. While Silver Elves frequently do have enchanted horns, this is a matter of culture and not a natural process.
Golden Elves, sometimes also called Copper, Brass, or Solar Elves, have their most notable feature of course being the large copper-to-brass-colored curling horns representing one of the few High Elven horns which do not branch out. Despite their shine and luster, they are actually quite low in actual metal content. Instead, they are iridescent in a manner similar to a butterfly’s wing. By contrast, their more mundanely reddish-brown colored hair and golden eyes are substantially more mundane. Their skin tone is usually slightly metallic in shades reminiscent of their horns, but lack the same iridescent properties.
Like other High Elves, Golden Elves have a form of magic they are most adroit in, and for Golden Elves this is healing and life-enhancing magics. Thus, while their stature is not substantially different from other High Elves, they are usually substantially stronger and hardier than them, but this is not a biological change and merely a magical one (and thus shall not be explored in-depth at this time).
Stellar Elves, contrary to what their name may suggest, have fairly subdued skin tones, hair colors, and even eye colors. When combined with their relatively subdued ear shapes, they are the most likely to be mistaken for human in general, were it not for their ivory-like horns and utterly sparkling eyes. In fact, in those lands without stars, they are still known as Crystal Elves due to the impression their eyes are liable to make on the viewer. Their horns, meanwhile, are likely to take on shapes which loosely correspond to locally recognized constellations (if any exist, of course). They are most skilled with divination and prognostication forms of magic, though are interestingly not the only elves with an affinity to that particular branch of sorcery.
Tower Elves are perhaps substantially more uncommon than the other High Elven races I have thus far spoke upon, but are nonetheless interesting enough to warrant their own entry. They look rather akin to humans, but possess small horns which bear a striking resemblance to carved and polished wood (despite, of course, not actually being made of such) and their ears, while substantially less prominent than Noble Elves, still retain their characteristic shape. They have a strong tie to divination magics, but are predominantly found in towers of knowledge (which is what leads to their secondary name of Library Elves) and while they have particularly keen minds are among the most physically frail of elves.
Dock Elves are the exception which proves the rule for High Elves being more magically adept and less physically powerful. With goat-like horns and a powerful build, Dock Elves may on occasion be mistaken for satyrs or fauns if their legs are obscured. Their eyes are often gray, and their hair is usually a stone gray color. There is even some debate as to whether they are not just Primal Elves who happen to live in cities, on account of their magic aligning quite strongly with the local Tapestry and general distinction from most High Elven traits, but to truly settle the matter would require a far more stringent exploration of the difference between High Elves and Primal Elves which this work shall not attempt.
Drake Elves, while occasionally possessing some draconic heritage (see my discussion on Half-Elves later in this entry) do not have such as a requirement. Their distinctly draconic horns look directly metallic despite once again containing very little of actual metal, but come in all colors which True Dragons do (see my entry on Dragons earlier in this work). These elves often have truly prodigious magical strength and even a fair amount of physical strength, but do not have scales save for very, very few situations.
Ruby Elves have ruby-red eyes and sleek, almost fluid-looking horns to accompany their general affinity for blood magic, and their hair is often black or a nearly-black dark red in color. However, despite their overall similar appearance to devil-blooded humans or elves rarely if ever possess any actual infernal ancestry. True to their race’s nickname of ‘Blood Elves’ they have a strong affinity for blood magic. This manifests in a number of ways, the most curious of which is in their lungs, which, like aquatic elves, are filled with a gel-like liquid instead of air which doesn’t inhibit their ability to breathe air, only enhances it. Unlike aquatic elves, they remain incapable of breathing water.
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PRIMAL ELVES
Primal Elves, otherwise known as Low Elves, Savage Elves, Wood Elves, Pure Elves, and Natural Elves are the other primary and indisputable group of elven races. Unlike their city-dwelling bretheren, Primal Elves have bodies substantially more adapated for their native environment and accordingly have a substantilly differentiated elven races. Indeed, there are some scholars which argue all High Elves are merely variations on a single type of Primal Elves. Such individuals usually name High Elves as City Elves (or the closest translation).
In general, Primal Elves are shorter and possess substantially more muscle than High Elves. Their horns usually appear similar to that of animals within the area, and their eyes are even more likely to show no white, with a moderate chance of having a different shape for their pupils than as seen in humans or High Elves.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
They are no less magically gifted, but their abilities usually manifest more in attunement to and connection with their surroundings. Indeed, some Primal Elves have mana which is utterly indistinguishable from the Tapestry of the environs which they make their home. This, yes, does not lend itself quite so well to more traditional displays of magic which I would wager you, dear reader, are most accustomed to, but to decry it as mere ‘pedantic superstition’ is so laughably incorrect that it is a disgrace to even consider such a thing. It is in fact this very feature of Primal Elves- that their mana imprint is synchronized so perfectly with their surrounding- which allows them to perform their High Weaves (2), predict the weather, vanish from most senses, sense danger, and more besides.
Wood Elves are the most well-known Primal Elf, for reasons which I shall not delve into for this volume, and are accordingly what most imagine when attempting to picture a Primal Elf. Their skin tones usually match the wood or bark color of their native forests, their hair is usually a dark brown, their eyes the same color as native foliage, and horns strongly reminiscent of cervidian (most commonly deer) antlers. It is worth noting that despite rumors to the contrary, elves with unicorn-like horns do still possess two horns, and they have none of the normal purification properties of a unicorn’s antler.
Coral Elves are the most common aquatic elf, due to the warm, often tropical waters in which they usually make their home being particularly hospitable to life. Like most aquatic elves, they possess relatively large, flat feet, and a membrane connecting their fingers up until approximately two-thirds of the way up to their first knuckle. Many are bald, but those who do have hair usually are quite dark in color. Coral Elves have slightly warm pink skin, wide, turquoise eyes, and ears substantially smaller than even most humanoids, let alone elves. Their horns usually look like coral, with drastically distinct forms in each enclave. As they dwell relatively close to the surface, most Coral Elves are amphibious, their lungs filled with a gel-like substance equally capable of breathing in air as water.
Arctic Elves make their home in the coldest parts of the world; where the Tapestry ties itself closer to Ice or Void and snow covers the ground. To combat the cold, their body is covered in a very fine fur or hair coating which makes them look white, despite their actual skin being pitch-black. The hair on their actual head is thick, but more colorless than actually white. They are one of the few elven races which are likely to grow facial hair. Curiously, some Arctic Elves possess none of these attributes, but for the sake of clarity I have given them their own section (see Polar Elves). Horns are most commonly have the appearance of tiny, curved icicles hidden by their hair, and their eyes are nearly entirely black to the point it is difficult to see their pupils are slitted.
Polar Elves may be mistaken for a race of High Elf upon first appearance, for all that their light blue skin gives the illusion of an eternal chill. Their icy horns take on forms distinctly reminiscent of Royal Elves, and unlike the Arctic Elves they dwell among, possess no fur covering their bodies. Instead, their bodies are infused with ice magic such that even the icy chill of their homes is no more uncomfortable than a barely chilly day to you and I. Indeed, they possess a mastery of their home’s element which rivals even the mightiest High Elves in their specialties in turn. Their eyes are the same slitted black as Arctic Elves, though their hair is properly white instead of colorless.
Plains Elves are the closest to human of all elf races. While the color of their skin and hair varies with the type of plains they frequent, they possess nearly the same level of endurance as a human. Their legs are particularly long and powerful, with bottoms of their feet almost akin to Nemean hide, and their ears are large and particularly pointed even by elven standards. In fact, their ears are so long and so sensitive that the ear itself, in addition to the normal internal structure and eardrum, provides a secondary auditory function that can hear sounds too faint for most creatures to notice. Their horns are usually long and pointed straight up, which when combined with their ears, can look as though they possess four horns from afar.
Jungle Elves are occasionally included as simply another subrace of Forest Elves, but to do so is a great disservice as they are as distinct as any other elven race. Their horns often look akin to natural tree branches or bushes, though only the most magically inclined in life magics ever have any buds or leaves grow upon them (there are no reliable reports of Jungle Elf horns ever bearing fruits, though some may produce small flowers whose color matches the eyes of the elf which bore them). Their eyes can be any color, but their hair still tends to be light to dark brown in shade. Most interestingly are their feet, which while not fully prehensile are still significantly more dexterous than most humanoids, and are capable of easily providing additional leverage when navigating the hazardous branches of the jungle.
Thalassic Elves are the other primary aquatic race of elves, and live substantially further beneath the waves. Their skin is blue or green and occasionally slightly scaly, and while they possess the same gel-filled lungs as their Coral and Blood Elf brethren, their lungs double as a form of biological buoyancy control, allowing them to easily ascend or descend in the far ocean they dwell within at the expense of no longer being able to breathe air. Their feet are even wider and flatter than Coral Elves’, nearly to the point of being flippers, and their hands are webbed past even their first knuckle. Some Thalassic Elves even have a small measure of their torso able to open up akin to gills, exposing more of their lungs to water for enhanced breathing; however this particular trait seems rare even among scaled Thalassic Elves.
Their horns are fairly squat and stubby, often appearing as a pair of barnacles or other shellfish stuck to their foreheads, but rarely one will have something significantly more substantial, though with little apparent pattern or reasoning.
Perhaps some other time we shall discuss the Winter Elves, Night Elves, Desert Elves, Ethereal Elves, Dream Elves, Summer Elves, Crystal Elves, Tundra Elves, or more besides, but there are alas far more races of elves than there exist quills in all of Ithluar and I must thus stop eventually.
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ELVENKIN
While I believe an unbiased study of the matter would conclusively prove that High and Primal Elves are equally Elven, I now wish to take this opportunity to briefly study elvenkin, other elf-like individuals, whose status as members of the elven species are even more controversial despite remaining fully capable of siring offspring with High Elf and Primal Elf alike.
Rejected by and in turn rejecting High Elf and Primal Elf alike, the Dröh (or Drow, in more common parlance) are those who do not allow their race to be passively changed by their environment or magic. Instead, they take an active hand in shaping themselves according to their own desires (3).
Dröh have the greatest variance in appearance among any of single elvenkin, as their appearance is wholly determined by the whims of the individual. Skin tones of dark blue, violet, or even black are not uncommon, eyes oftentime silver or white, and horns similar to that of High Elves’. They are masters in whatever magic they so desire, have incredible innate resistance to hostile magics, and may possess even some innate magical abilities depending on their form and the skill of the individual Dröh as they sculpt themselves.
They retain much the same biology as most elves, and indeed some even have some minor reflections of their surroundings akin to their kin. However, in many circumstances they either willingly or unwittingly lock their form in, preventing further adaptation once their transition to Dröh is complete.
Elves, with such incredible diversity in potential biology, are thus unsurprisingly one of the species capable of cross-breeding with other creatures and accordingly leads to the relatively common sight of the half-elf. Humans are the most common cross-breed, followed by draconic ancestry, but there are (possibly untrue) records saying that crosses with orcs, gnomes, and shaiar (4) are all possible without additional magic.
Human half elves look mostly human, though while they do not grow horns their ears do tend to reflect their elven heritage. Though not quite so physically hardy as pure-blood humans, human-elf crosses do retain the magical strength of their parents in a curious way. Being human, their magic does not conform to that of their surroundings, but being elven their magic does conform to themselves. This is why human-elves are so gifted at magics which affect the self, and also why they are nearly as susceptible to magimorphosis as elves.
Draconic half elves, like most dragonborn, look more like drakelings, though their horns are usually substantially larger than that of most drakelings, let alone dragonborn. Indeed, some possess horns on par with dragons themselves. Their draconic attunements are predominantly based on the environs which they grew up in (in contrast to most dragonborn whose attunement is set by their parentage, of course). Once this attunement is set, it is set into a self-contained loop wherein their elven heritage changes their magic back to their body’s natural state, making them substantially more resilient to magimorphosis than most species.
The third and final elvenoid I shall study today are that of the High Fae. While I do not fully ascribe to the theory that all High Fae are elves who were affected by and caught within Faerie, there are undoubtedly some which were. The Court of Horns is perhaps the most obvious example, but so too are the Courts of Hunt, Song, and Fruit. Furthermore, there is decent evidence to suggest that the King of Rain was once an elf. While other High Fae do bear a strong resemblance to the Faerie-claimed elves, there is strong scholarship to suggest that this is mostly due to influence of the Astral and Faerie Reflection, and of course the Court of Meadow is made of former devils.
There exists of course a nigh-infinite amount to learn from the elves and their kin, and thus for further reading, I advise seeking out Consider the Elf, by Senior Arthial of Ithular, which does a masterful work of exploring the various races of elves and the particular pressures within their surroundings or magics which shape them into their forms, as well as some of the cultures and traditions which have sprung up around their peculiar nature.
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1 This is, of course, something of a convenient fiction. At a minimum, the woodland-raised elf would have substantially different mannerisms than a city-raised one, but as elves maintain some subconsious level of control over their appearance, immigrated elves usually retain some facet of their original appearance, most often the horns, which they deeply associate with their self-identity.
2 Those unfamiliar with the practice of Weaving, and High Weaves in particular, may wish to refer to Foreign High Magics by Archmagi Illson, which does an excellent job of outlining the various feats which are accomplished by enclaves of Primal Elves through that discipline.
3 For those seeking a more in-depth look at the philosophies of the Dröh, I would advise the curious reader to seek out Meshu’s A Study of the Dröh, as he delivers a far superior explanation than I ever could on the intricacies of the elven traditions surrounding this complex topic.
4 Who the Shaiar are is a mystery, as their description does not seem to perfectly cleave to any modern species despite their mentions appearing in multiple older manuscripts. Some scholars believe they may be apocryphal, or possibly an archaic name for Primal Elves.