Elf

An Elf huntsman of the Royal Foresters.

Elves are one of the four civilized races native to Arginium.

Overview

History

During the First Age, elves branched away from the ancient Vai and began to build their own culture and society over the successive centuries. As the Vai began to die off and their birth rate plummeted - an intentional situation devised by the Precursors, it is believed - the elves supplanted them as the prevalent race of the Continent.

In the early years of the Second Age, the empire of Delthoridan was established. It directly controlled the Westlands and the majority of the Midlands, and heavily influenced much of the rest of the world via a network of satraps. In this period, the other civilised races first appeared. The Humans spent the imperial period as labourers and farmers, their homeland in the controlled by imperial puppets that governed satraps within the Eastlands. The origins of the Orcs are more shrouded in mystery, but the two most popular legends of their origins intertwine them with the elves - one story claims they are the product of a curse placed upon a group of elves as punishment from the ancestors, while the other suggests they were twisted by experiments by arcanists of the now-illegal society known as the Pale Tower, who experimented upon prisoners of the servitor races while under the influence of Anathema.

When the Elven Civil War brought down the empire and the majority of elves were slain in the conflict, humans were by far the most organised of the other civilised races, and as such rose swiftly in the following centuries to take their place as the preeminent race of the Continent. It is estimated in current year that approximately 15% of the population of the Grand Commonwealth is elven.

Description

Elves vary in height and build, but are always taller than humans or orcs. Males average between 5’10” and 6'7” in height and mass between 190 and 250 pounds, depending on height. Females average between 5'6" and 6’ in height and mass between 150 and 180 pounds, depending on height. Their hair colour varies, and can be shades of copper, bronze, or black. Their eyes colour also varies, and can be shades of green or gold. Their skin is almost universally light reddish shades.

Magick ability in elves is much more common than the other races, with 1 in 500 having the ability to wield it. Magick is highly revered in elven society, but their near extinction after the Elven Civil War has seen them adopt a more cautious outlook. All the same, those elves are capabable of wielding magick have a tendency to look down on those who don't, viewing them as being "inferior". Elves, on average, live upwards of 400 years.

Reputation

Elves are renowned as some of the world's most skilled marksmen, and as highly talented arcanists. They are likewise acclaimed as artists, musicians, and are experts in naturalist pursuits. They were initially highly resistant to the campaign to absorb their lands into the Commonwealth, but assurances of no campaigns to purge elven kind from the Continent and a guarantee they’d be permitted to worship freely their own faith ultimately helped negotiate their inclusion.

Society

A complex hierarchy binds the various elven houses together, and an ever-shifting structure of wealth and rank influences everything. Societal competition is a cornerstone of the elven culture, and some elves spend their entire lives advancing the interests of their house. This complexity is well-known to the Commonwealth, and a special group within the Foreign Office, the Western Affairs Section, is dedicated entirely to monitoring these shifts, and to maintaining the state’s relationship with the elven people.

The vast majority of elves who are religious worship the Circle Celestial of the Communion of the Circle. A small minority continue to maintain the ritualistic traditions of the Way of the Ancestors, which venerates the spirits of their ancestors, and predated the first Exemplars. Their largest settlement is the city of Ormindy Do (population 21,700), located in the central Westlands.