Elves

The Elves are an ancient and long-lived race of intelligent, abmortal humanoids who believe themselves to be descended from Pyria Valeptor and a number of ancesteral gods, demigods, and denizens of Elysium, who have settled mostly on Wisteria's northwest coast and in the northern portions of the Atlas Mountains. Much like their nearest cousins in size and influence, the Humans, the elves of Wisteria are not represented in one homogenous polity, but have broadly seperated into two cultural groups - the Atarlie Empire and the Carcolie.

The Elves are a long lived (possibly, at least in some cases, abmortal) race with a suitably long view toward time, whose life cycles are also corresponding dilated year-over-year. While similar enough with the other sapient races of Wisteria to bear children, Elves have unique physiological, psychological and spiritual conditions not seen in the other races.

Origin

Most elves currently living - by vast margin - were born on Wisteria, but it cannot be said that that is where their race began. By their own annals, early in the Springtime of the Gods, the primordial deity Pyria Valeptor lead Rophalin Imperitor and a host of Elysian elves into Ahren and settled them at Amenhoptera, founding the Atarlie Empire. This means, for all intents and purposes, that the first generation of elves were actually outsiders originating on a remote plane of existence. Depending on your position on matters of scholarship, this implies that they are the oldest sentient race on the continent, second only to the Dwarves. Unlike the Dwarves, Humans, Orcs, Goblins, Gnomes, Halflings, and Skiitari, the elves are the only race on Ahren with an origin story that places their homeland on another plane - at least, explicitly.

However, this initial pool of settling "Elysian" elves is generally accepted to have been fewer than 500 individuals, or exactly 500 if the High Elven Pantheon is included, excepting the primordial mother of all, Pyria Valeptor. This means that the overwhelming majority of elves were born on Wisteria. Indeed, though a few rare examples report much higher ages, it is generally accepted that most elves on the planet were born after the beginning of the Age of the Summer of Mortals, though a few older holdouts remain in government positions, and even then are usually holdovers from the Age of Elvish Springtime. It is estimated that fewer than fifty elves remain whose memories would extend in any useful way into the Springtime of the Gods.

Culture

The elves are fundamentally split into two cultures, though by far the most common (and well travelled) of those cultures is that of the Atarlie Empire. These "Sun Elves" (sometimes known to other cultures as "High" elves) are the Ahrenic continuation of their original parent culture on Elysium, or as near as is possible in the fundamentally different nature of Wisteria.

By contrast, an offshoot culture of Carcolie or "Mountain Elves" are radically different. The Atarlie tend to think of their Carcolie cousins as barbaric. Carcolie culture lives closer to the land and places correspondingly less value on high art, engineering, architecture, and so on. The cultural split between the two cultures is said to go back to the divine intervention of one of the Elven divine ancestors, Feno Ilirel, in the Springtime of the Gods.

Physical Attributes

Lifespan

Elves do not appear to die of old age, under any circumstance. Beyond a certain, "senatorial" age (around a millennium), they reach a sort of physiological stasis and appear to move forward through time with no other ill effect. This property appears to be absent entirely in half-elves of any parentage, but as even half-elves live considerably longer than their mortal parent, it is not clear exactly what the balance is.

When a young elf is born, they age from absolute infancy to tolderhood at around the same rate as a human - roughly two years. From there, elven aging appears to slow down dramatically. Prepubescent childhood averages thirty years, followed by a fifty year period of rapid maturation and development, and a nebulous period of another ten to twenty years of mental and social maturation. Elves are considered to be "adults" developmentally at around a century of age. From there, aging proceeds forward on a very flat curve, but not necessarily linearly. Two elves a century apart in age may appear identical, or an elf three centuries another's junior might appear, to human eyes, a whole generation older. In this respect, adult aging (especially changes to skin, hair, and the sharpness of eyes) is as much about "lived stresses" as it is about the passage of time, if not more so.

Sleep and Quasisleep

Elves do not naturally sleep, except to dream (for pleasure). However, that is not to say that elves are not possessed of the need for rest. Elves must enter a period of "meditative" catatonia each day for a cumulative period of roughly 4 hours. During this time, they are effectively "dead" to the world, semi-lucid and unaware of their surroundings. However, this process is not a process which generates dreams. Instead, the elves' internal world becomes an extended narrative of reflection and rumination upon the events of the previous day, a problem on which the elf is stuck, or a similar idea they cannot dislodge from their mind.

This meditative period is as necessary for an elf as sleep is for a human and sleep is not an acceptable substitute for it.

Illness Resistance

Elves do not catch illnesses caused by pathogenic means. That is, they are immune to nonmagical illnesses. The common cold, various childhood infections, and influenza have no effect on elves. For this reason, elvish medicine tends to focus on correcting spiritual ailments instead, though as the Atarlie Empire becomes increasingly cosmopolitan, elvish doctors increasingly train to handle both kinds of illness.

Alcohol Immunity

Elves are not subject to intoxication by alcohol alone - though, some magical concoctions may still intoxicate them. Neither of the major elvish cultures appreciates alcohol intoxication and both tend to look down at it as a messy inconvenience. That being said, elves are still often fond of fermented beverages and will drink them for their flavour alone.

Spiritual and Mental Attributes

Source-Closeness

Elves are especially attuned to Source and have senses that allow them to perceive its abundance and behaviours - even if they are not otherwise mages. This tends to lead to the perception among other races that they are all mages, which is not normally the case. On the other hand, mages who practice by means of knowledge - such as those of the Ars Magica, are strongly advantaged by possessing these senses.

Elysian Binding

Elves souls are bound to Elysium by way of their indirect heritage to that plane. Psychologically, they tend to flourish during springtime, when the plane is in the sky. When elves die, their souls are transposed to Elysium unless some other, stronger force intervenes.

Vulnerability to Blights

Elves are subject to illnesses - as serious as any caused by a pathogen - caused by magic. While this includes being particularly prone to invoking some magical illnesses associated with curses, it also includes a tendency to fall ill due to defects in the local movement and concentration of Source.

"Long Eyes of the Elves"

Some elves periodically experience brief episodes of catatonic staring, during which they can perceive events transpiring anywhere on the continent of Wisteria. Often, these perceptions are cryptic and couched in symbolism.