The Ethnicities of the Elves

There are four major species of the Mundane Realm: Humans, Dwarves, Elves, and Fey. Each of them has ethnicities, or subspecies in the case of the Fey. Most of them are based on geographic locations, but the Elves had a unique distinction that requires further explanation. The elves divided themselves by the Sun and the Moon. Wild, I know. Allow me to explain here in this blog post.

As expected, the Elves were of Faerie origin, making their lineage and how they were born to this world influenced by magic. Their magical birth is how the light strikes upon the surface of this planet. This spawns three distinct groups of Elves: Sun Elves, Moon Elves, and the Sylvan Elves. All of whom have unique characteristics that allow them to survive in their environments. Let us start with the ones that readily populate the Iounese desert: the Moon Elves.

Moon Elves

Where the other two ethnicities were birth by the light of the Sun, the Moon Elves were born thanks to Lune’s light. Thus, each one born reflects Her lunar phase. New Moons are completely pitch black on their skin and hair, Gibbous Moons (or Waxing Moons) have pale skin with black hair, Crescent Moons (or Waning Moons) have black skin with white hair, and Full Moons have pale skin and pale hair. Bagheera from Angloria is a Full Moon elf. Drake, who helped remove the rubble in the book, is a Crescent Moon elf.

Many would think that if one type, say a new moon, had a child with another of the same group, it would produce another of the same group. And many would be wrong! Even though they broke away from the Fey to live the mundane life, they’re still creatures of magic. Thus, every moon elven child will be born based on the lunar phases. They’re even born to the Sun Elves and Sylvan Elves. If the child was born by night, it always creates a commotion to the tribe if it was their first.

Besides the stark color palette, they tend to be more intuitive than most elves and magic comes to them more easily. Most Moon Elves born in Sylvan tribes become diplomats between them and the Fey because of this extra sense. Bagheera is one such famous elf, who became a guide to Ruth’s company. They’re also more easily overwhelmed by any high sensory stimuli, a notion understood commonly among humans. Thus, they tend to gravitate to the quieter parts of nature: a lake, a cave, or the night-time sky when everyone is asleep. Because of this need, most moon elves eventually settle in open tundra environments, such as deserts, the Mongolian Steppes, or the icy tundra of the North.

Half-elven children are either born from a moon elven parent, or a solar elf and born at night. They’ll take on the stark palette and will be more magically sensitive but will share some of the physical characteristics of the non-elven parents.

Sun elves

The Sun elves are born from the sun’s light. But not from the light that strikes the land. They are born from the seas and oceans. Much of the mundane realm is filled with oceans. Leagues and leagues of it. Thus, Sun Elves are the most populous of all the elven ethnicities. Yet, they hardly ever land or venture onto continental lands. Because of this, they’re considered an enigma to those who were landlocked. But to Pirates and Islanders scattered across the globe, they’re fairly common to encounter. This is because the Sun Elves can create their societies on nomadic rafts.

Sun elven societies follow the migrational patterns of whales and other oceanic herds. They use all parts of the animal as most nomadic humans would. But instead of building ships to sail continuously across the oceans, they craft floating towns and villages out of a kind of bamboo that could manage the salty waters. Each family would have their own house built to their specific needs and there are community centers made out of this precious bamboo. The most precious are their reeds farmed from their collective gardens. They would anchor at the prime hunting waters for that season and then relocate when the herds move. Most follow a path that had been made in place by their ancestors and thus hardly venture beyond their route. They commonly trade with anyone willing to dock at their rafts. Thus, they become major hubs for pirates to offload their treasures and any islander merchant willing to brave the distant journey.

Because they reside out in the oceans and hardly step on land, they have unique features that distinguish them from their elven cousins. For one, they’re fairly buoyant. They could never sink far below the ocean’s surface like most other species could. Hunters usually must tie stones about their waists to sink below and drop them when they’re ready to surface. They also have a thicker hide and can withstand life’s many hardships. It’s possible it’s an evolutionary adaptation to survive hurricanes and tsunamis since they consistently live out on the ocean’s surface. They also have excellent underwater vision, as well as hearing to help foresee dangers coming their way. Their colors are like most who live among the islanders in all shades of clay and sand.

Marriages between Sun elves and Islanders occur often and most half-elven children are accepted in both communities. Sometimes, couples will break away from their home village to seek out a new community to start their family. They can travel long distances until they finally find a place to call home. If it wasn’t for the storm that crashed that boat, Sister Rhyllae would’ve been raised in another raft village somewhere in the Shining Sea.

Sylvan Elves

At last, we come to the Sylvan Elves, a solar species that was born on land.

The lands usually were filled with trees or other high-canopy plants. Thus, they have striking dabbled skin that mimics how the sun filtered through the leaves. It’s similar to human vitiligo, but it’s not exact. Human vitiligo is caused by an auto-immune system attacking and destroying melanocytes, creating patches of milky-pale color. These tend to grow and change throughout the human’s lifetime. Sylvan vitiligo doesn’t change over time. It’s due to a genetic feature inherited from their chromosomal makeup when they left the Fey and submitted to the mundane matter. Still, humans with vitiligo who were bullied over their condition tend to seek out their communities. After rigorous trials and testing, they can be accepted into their tribe. It wasn’t out of discrimination. Most Sylvan Elves are at war over territory.

Humans build their homes out of mud, straw, and wood. They use wood pulp to make their paper and for their furniture. They even fashioned shoes, weapons, and utensils out of the resource. Thus, this makes the forest their prime target for their needs. Sadly, most humans never learned from the mistakes of their ancestor’s folly and tend to deforest the lands, hardly planting any trees for renewal. The sylvans, to protect their homes, attack to defend their forests. Most clashes between the sylvan and humans are brutal, and the land is scarred from their destruction. Currently, there is one brewing between Töska and the Eastern forest. The Anglorian Forest has several patrolling sentries to prevent any that come from the Iounese desert or the Chessentari Empire. Because of these conflicts, many are trained for battle.

Red, orange, yellow, and green are common colors that pop up in the Sylvan Elves’ hair. Their skin is all ranges of brown and grey that resemble bark, with pale patches that mimic sunlight. Because they look like miniature trees, most poetics would describe their characters based on the season or tree they resemble. They live in the high canopies of the forest, and many are lighter than others and are excellent jumpers. This, however, doesn’t prevent falling to their doom, which is by far the leading cause of death among them. A few families will teach their young the magical incantations to levitate to prevent such a fate. Sylvans were the ones who started the revolution to break away from the Fey and tend to dismiss the use of magic out of pride.

Shared Characteristics

All elves have enlarged ears, as is commonly depicted in human literature of yore. What was not accounted for was their shape. Many perceive elves to have it pointed skyward in an elegant sculpt. Most of them have some sort of point, but they trumpet outwards and with minimal cartilage. They are also mobile, allowing them to pick out sounds from a wide range of angles. It’s used to hear other elves.

Most elven families don’t live in close quarters, preferring to have yards of space between them. Even Sun elves will detach their family rafts if they wish to spend time away from the village. To compensate for the distance, elves can easily project their voices. They don’t tire and sustain notes for a longer duration. Because of this, many become the town criers in mixed communities. Others are pressed to be in choirs, not understanding that being loud doesn’t make them musical.

Last, but not least, many can tap into their faerie heritage and use magic. There’s a wealth of incantations and rituals that were created by elven mages. Many of these were taught to those of the Holy Order or willing to learn outside the norms of the Faerie Court. Their collages used to be taught across the land alongside the Faerie collages, though many don’t see them as highly accredited due to bitterness from them leaving the Fey.

Despite their differences, most of them don’t war among themselves. They may have territorial disputes and skirmishes, but they never escalate to the degree of severity that humans do. Even though they have the capabilities to live a long life, most don’t. Many choose the adventurous life or get too involved with the affairs of others. Combined with the long-distance relationships held within their community, they don’t tend to be populous. Thus, seeing another elf would be a pleasant surprise for most, no matter their ethnicity. A point of view we could all learn to have.