Elf

Physical Description

Elves are a diverse race unlike any other. As one of the oldest races in Thrae, there is a strange realm-touched appearance about them. Long ago, the elves were the dominant race on Meryndan, and their advanced civilization was based on magic, ritual, and the cycles between the sun and moon. The story of their arrival is one masked in mystery, and some whispers tell of a horrifying tale in which they were cursed with vanity by the ancients, leading them to become possessive and ugly within the inside. While beautiful, they are also incredibly dangerous. They typically possess long pointy ears that either point upwards or downwards, and acute senses and keen sight in the darkness. Male elves are generally athletic looking, with thinner torsos and shoulders, indicative of their agile nature. Female elves are generally more curvaceous than other races and carry most of their muscle within their legs. Elves have a strange affinity for devout worship of the ones they consider leaders, and most elven women and men will attempt to replicate their allure.

Elves have a soft language of long vowels and generally speak very softly. Typically, words end in "-as" and "dou". Phrases such as "Hello, how are you?" ("Nasa, menehas?") sound almost melodic in nature. It is said that most elves can speak with just their eyes.

Elves prefer to dress in revealing attire. Unlike the dwarves and humans who value modesty above all else, Elves believe that most clothing is a cage. Women often wear very little if anything at all besides sheer fabrics and ornamental jewelry. Men also wear very little, sporting bear torsos and typically only wearing some form of pant or skirt. While clothes mean little importance to elves, jewelry and charms are a display of superiority. The larger the ornaments, the more exquisite one appears. When in battle, elves of non-magical capability will wear light or medium armor, while elves with arcane training will wear robes of high value.

Race	Bonus	Ancestral Origin	Population	Average Lifespan
Elf	DEX +2 CON -2	Malnathas	Ubiquitous	350 Years

Racial Traits

Size: Medium

Base Speed: 30 feet per turn

Languages: Elven, Common (if from Caros, Carosi)

Low Light Vision: Elves have low-light vison, allowing them to see twice as far as humans in dim light.

Elven Immunities: Elves are immune to magic sleep effects and gain a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.

Keen Senses: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.

Racial Traits

Elven Magic: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance. In addition, elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Arcana skill checks made to identify the properties of magic items.

Vanity: The eerie beauty of some elves cannot be denied. Elves receive a +1 racial bonus on Bluff and Diplomacy checks against humanoids and a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against transmutation spells and spell-like effects.

Optional Traits

Players may replace one of their racial traits in favor of the following.

Arcane Focus: Some elven families have such long traditions of producing wizards (and other arcane spellcasters) that they raise their children with the assumption each is destined to be a powerful magic-user, with little need for mundane concerns such as skill with weapons. Elves with this racial trait gain a +2 racial bonus on concentration checks made to cast arcane spells defensively.

Creepy: For some elves, their long, slender limbs and large pupils evoke not attraction, but unease in other humanoids. Non-elf humanoids take a –1 penalty on saving throws against spells these elves cast that cause confusion or fear. In addition, elves with this trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Intimidate checks to demoralize.

Woes of the Black Forest: Some elves grow up in secluded, isolationist communities where generations-old slights and quarrels linger as eternal blood feuds. Elves with this racial trait receive a +1 bonus on attack rolls against humanoids of the human, dwarf, and orc subtypes because of special training against these hated foes.

Slender: Elves often appear unnaturally thin by other races’ standards. Elves with this trait gain a +2 racial bonus on Escape Artist checks, on combat maneuver checks to escape a grapple, and to CMD against grapples.

Relations

While the past has proven otherwise with the elves of Meryndan frequently entering wars in desire of conquering, elves recently have strayed far from the fields of battle in favor of harmony and peace between races. They are neutral to all parties and Malnathas welcomes all races with open arms.

Culture

Known for beauty and grace, elves live lavishly in glorious homesteads and citadels of ivory-white marble. Their cities involve pendulous creations of curves and columns, its designs traced within colored glass, and borrows much from the Indo-Islamic art style. While their cities are also composed of a conglomerate of races, they generally remain akin to that of the elven style. Colors like purple, magenta, green, and turquoise are popular throughout the culture and the color black is viewed as a bad omen.

Many blood elves are sorcerers or wizards, though some become rangers, rogues, or fighters. Druids and barbarians are seen as uncivilized and boorish as the manipulation of nature is seen as bizarre. Paladins and clerics are also viewed as strange as they do not Elves do not follow a religion of their own. Warlocks are viewed as harbingers of darkness and unless they follow beneath the moon, are viewed as untrustworthy.

Society

Elves also have an appreciation for the written word, magic, and painstaking research. Their naturally keen minds and senses, combined with their inborn patience, make them particularly suited to wizardry. Arcane research and accomplishment are seen as both practical goals, in line with being a soldier or architect, and artistic endeavors as great as poetry or sculpture. Within elven society, wizards and sorcerers are held in extremely high regard as masters of an art both powerful and aesthetically valued.

Elven society is rooted in a desire for candor and flexibility, and dissimilar to any other society upon Meryndan; marriage is illegal. Elves are encouraged to have multiple partners and not to limit themselves with the barriers of natural relationships. With the underlying xenophobic view of superiority when in comparison to other races, they view jealousy as a crime in itself.

Due to the flighty nature of relationships such as these, it is not uncommon for a child to be raised by a single parent. This also applies when elves crossbreed with other races such as dwarves, humans, and even orcs. Elves will generally up and leave the binds of a relationship with a fear of commitment. Half-breeds made of elven parentage typically grow up without their respective elven parent. This harbors a feeling of neglect and internal hatred for the child to fester and grow.

Alignment and Religion

While welcoming and seemingly courteous, elves are one of the most selfish creatures on Thrae. They typically lean towards neutral positions and greed only for what they long for. Personal freedom is a sacrifice no elf is willing to take. Chaotic and neutral alignment is typical.

There is no dedicated religion among the elves of Meryndan. Carosi individuals feel as if the elves of Meryndan are no more than a bastardization of the elves of Caros, as the elves of Meryndan honor the cycles between sun and the moon much like the worship of Sól and La Lúa.

Adventurers

Cyrida is an elven member of The Wild Hunt.

Male Names: Vaughn, Mirawin, Elemaris, Yinmaris, Andulin, Heridas

Female Names: Ysmyrelda, Lorareli, Artawyn, Olaphine, Wyndove