Elves
With their unearthly grace and fine features, elves appear hauntingly beautiful to humans and members of many other races. Elves can live well over 700 years, giving them a broad perspective on events that might trouble the shorter-lived races more deeply.
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​Subraces
Sand Elves
The sand elves (also called gold elves or sun elves by other parts of the world), originated in the Fire Region through the first generation of elves born into slavery by its cruel nation. They have long since evolved in appearance since the first forigen elves set foot in the wastes, now having bronze skin and hair of copper, black, or golden blond while their eyes are golden, silver, or black to reflect the conditions of their homelands. Their ears are often scared from the Elven Locks placed on them in captivity, or sometimes the locks are still in place, needing assistance to get them off.
Not much is known about the first elves brought to the fire region, only that they were foreign to the lands before Azrel Smith, the founding father of Azmuth, smothered their futures with fire and blood. It would be the sand elves you see today that were born from the first elves' wedlock, born into chains. Its taken generations of scholars and bookkeepers to try and trace back the Sand elves' origins, but have had no success.
A sand elf outside of the Fire region is often assumed to be an escapee, having found some miraculous way to break their chains of slavery and make it to the new world.
Wood Elves
Wood elves’ evolved within Eren, the earth region, and commonly live in smaller communities among themselves and away from other races. They take up residency atop great tree homes, houses made of wood and brush covered roofs, blending in with the canopy of leaves that make up the forest ceiling. They feel no special duty to anyone beyond their own folk, and its rare to see a wood elf stray far from their home, let alone by themselves, as they are fiercely protective of their kin. They often avoid the drama of the other creatures in the realm, choosing to keep to themselves, and troubles beyond their borders are best kept there. In some cases however, some families of wood elves can be seen mingling within the dragonkin Empire within Eren, as their life spans make them perfect partners for their reptilian friends.
Wood elves also use the gates' enormous power to foster the growth of plants and animals, utilizing automatons as gardeners and herders, and employing elaborate, nearly invisible systems controlling heat, water, and nutrients into their settlements. Their societies are nearly completely self-sustained aside from the more rare herbs from other regions that require them to venture out for trade when the season is right.
Visually, wood elves tend to be copperish in hue, while their hair tends toward browns and blacks, but it is occasionally red-colored. Some adorn their skin with face paints, some tie beads and feathers into their hair. Their eyes are green, brown, or hazel.
Moon Elves
Moon elves, also known as Silver elves, are most commonly from Marilune of the water region and are more tolerant of humans than most other elven subraces due to their nation's melting pot of peoples and their own mingling with humanity. Because of this, they are the leading drivers of most half elves.
Moon elves are more impulsive than the other elves, and dislike remaining in one place for any significant amount of time, making Marilune, the home of the Quetzal vessels of Suna, the perfect settlement. Most moon elves are happiest when traveling, especially across the expanses of untrodden wilderness and open seas. This is probably the single greatest reason why they are so much more friendly and accommodating to other races than many other elves. They do not isolate themselves from the human lands behind impervious defenses.
Moon elves often appear fair skinned, sometimes tinged with blue, and hair of silver-white, black, or blue; humanlike colors are somewhat rare. Their eyes are blue or green, with gold flecks. Hair is worn in braids or ponytails, twinned with wires or beads. Moon elves sometimes wear body paint or tattoos in mystic patterns.
They also follow a common tradition most elves are aware of, with adorning their ears in jewelry that represents their successes and failures.
Dark Elves
Otherwise known as Drow, although that is more of a derogatory term. The Dark Elves are an exiled race that originated from the Earth region, now forcefully relocated into the Magma region due to their aggressive and deceitful nature. It made it all the more easier since Zul has no established government, so there wasn’t really anyone to stop them. Although the people of Zul distaste people of the Earth region for making the Dark Elves their problem. The Dark Elves refused to fall in line and repent for their sins, as they stood their ground instead of succumbing to another’s whim.
Dark Elves are a race that is very much in love with itself, as they perceive themselves as something to be admired and incomprehensibly beautiful. And are not above thieving from others and their trinkets to make themselves appear more valuable, or have it just to compare themselves to it. Their varying features and complexions is something no other race could deny as being exotic and fascinating. Dark elves can often be depicted by their dark, purple-black skin, black and silver hair, and gray, yellow, purple or red eyes. It can be alluring and enticing. Though one should take precaution when approaching too closely to a Dark Elf, as they are dangerous just as much as they are beautiful. Because their beauty is so tied to how they are as a race, this is how a hierarchy system is established among them. With the most beautiful and perfect among them ruling above the rest.
Without much to do in the Undergrounds of Zul, the Dark Elves figured they might as well make use of all that free time and resources provided to them in the caves. However, taking already prepared tools and resources from Dwarves and Goblins was an option they resorted to as well. Although when confronted as whole about their misdeeds, the Dark Elves always stood together out of pretentiousness. It wasn’t out of love for one another, but just because they felt like an attack on one of them feels like an attack on all of them, and not standing against that would wound their pride as a race.
And so, the Dark Elves decided among themselves that they would also take away Zul’s most valuable resource away from the Dwarves and Goblins, the Earth Star. They would join the power struggle in who has a rightful claim to it with their crafting skills. However, the Dark Elves would have their own unique spin when it comes to crafting by applying magic into their smithing tactics. Enhancing the tools and weapons they’ve created by engraving runic magic passed down through their generations before they were exiled. Something that is frowned upon by Dwarves and Goblins, as they believe a good tool has no means for magic to be better, and the craftsmanship should speak for itself.
However, what the Dark Elves have in store under the wraps is much more devious and revenge driven. Their ploy is to claim rights to the Earth Star, even if it means that they have to wipe out the other races with force. The Dark Elves inherently have destructive magic, something that could aid them in this act. And when they do have the Earth Star for themselves, they’ll craft weapons unlike others, and then they’ll focus their attack towards those that banished them to Zul. They wish to make an example out of the Earth region, a telltale sign of those that wrong the Dark Elves will be at their mercy. And it will not be kind
Snow Elves
Snow elves, though sometimes referred to as Ice Elves, are a race of elves that live entirely within the Ice region, Eiri. This subrace of elves have adapted over time to a natural resistance to cold, allowing them to thrive in one of the harshest environments the realm has to offer-- where most would perish to the extreme cold, Snow elves are rather comfortable. They have established their own city of Eirilys in order to avoid dealings with the outside, staying rather isolated within their own tight-knit community.
Their professions among their ranks can be read by the colors of paint they apply to their skin, red for hunters, green for gatherers, blue for builders, and so on. One job is not greater than the other, as all are a necessary need in order for them to survive in the harsh region of Eiri. They thrive in tight knit communities and believe in family above all else, for the lone wolf dies but the pack survives.
Snow elves are often characterized by their snow white skin and even paler hair colors. Some Snow elves take on deep blue skin colors that much resemble the Shards of Eiri, and are often referred to as Ice Elves due to the special trait. They are often quite tall, some of the tallest in the elven subraces. They are often dressed down in the thick furs of their prey, the many layers they wear gives them a much bulkier appearance.
Half Elves
The union of human and human creates a genetic cocktail-mix offspring wherein one parent has a particular hair and bone structure while the other may have a different set of eye and hair colors, as well as a genetic illness. The union of Elf and Elf is much the same… Even the union of Human and Elf involves the mix-and-match of these same genetic traits, but added to the jumble of inheritable genes are those that dictate lifespan. The usual outcome is a genetic ‘splitting of the difference’ that results in a fairly predictable range of ages (roughly 180 to 220 years).
Half-Elves already exist culturally as an outsider to both Human and Elven societies. This is both their biggest strength and their greatest tragedy. Similarly their lifespans exist in between these two things, and this leaves them mentally isolated in a completely different manner.
To avoid the risk of isolation, one of the first things a Half-Elf must come to a decision on is which world they will walk in. Will they wander on the side of their human blood and outlive those they may grow closer to? Or will they try to integrate into elven societies despite how much shorter they may live compared to those around them? Perhaps Half-Elves intentionally seek each other out, creating pseudo-societies that exist concurrently alongside the other societies of the world to avoid the very real and very harsh reality of being stuck in an inbetween where their lives are both too long and much too short.
Elven Earrings
Tradition
Elves live for a long time. Many things happen in their lifetime, many things change, pages turn, their age is met with growth and events that symbolize who they are becoming. In an attempt to preserve memory, and wear their victories and chapters of their lives to help define who they are in this vast, everchanging realm, the tradition of the elven earrings was born, as though it were a dazzling form of book keeping.
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Colors
Color brings the most important meaning into the earrings an elf might wear. Simply looking at the material used to create the jewelry can paint a picture of the life that was lived by the wearer. It tells of relationships, successes, battle, failure, and loss, creating intricate storytelling about their lives through the pieces on their ears. ​
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â– | Copper
Often symbolizes failure. It means your attempt has been soiled. It means things have gone sour and wet. Ready to be buried in the dark brown of the soil. Brown is an un-colour; it is formed when you mix a primary and its opposite complementary colors on pigments. Blue-Orange, Red-Green, Yellow-Purple. But brown is also the color of Earth, the soil and the new growth. The failure, unless it is devastating and completely disruptive, is always a basis for a new try.
â– | Silver
Often symbolizes an important event in one's life. Silver is believed to be a mirror to the soul, helping us to see ourselves as others see us, telling the truth in its color, a notable chapter that has taken place.
â– | Gold
Often symbolizes wealth or victory. The color gold is the color of extravagance, wealth, riches, and excess, and shares several of the same attributes of the color yellow. The color gold is a warm color that can be either bright and cheerful or somber and traditional. The color gold is cousin to the color yellow and the color brown, and is also associated with illumination, love, compassion, courage, passion, magic, and wisdom.
â– | Cobalt
Often symbolizes loss or death for a wearer, and is unique in color compared to its three counterparts. The deep blue is not just for sadness and depression, as mourning does not just include weeping, but hope and conserving memory.
Ornaments
Often depicted as a symbol of wealth, status, and tradition. Many high class elven nobles decorate their ears with gems to show off their wealth while those of low class would not have access to such luxuries.
Elven Locks
Also called gauges in real life, are worn by those who are enslaved or have been enslaved in the past. As cruel as it may be described, they were created to hook a chain into for leading or for “shelving” the individual. Locks are often worn in the conch.