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General Information: Elves are one of the oldest of the mortal races in Furtasia. Long ago, when the world was new, and the Age of Chaos had just ended, elves were much like the true faeries; small in size, immortal, and possessed of much greater faerie magic. It was for the love of a human; an Atlantean; that Keldáno, the first elf, gave up his immortal life, and changed himself into the size and manner of being that elves are now. In time, other elves followed Keldáno, either because they also took mortal lovers, or because they were curious about how mortals lived. Many millennia later, Keldáno had come to be worshiped as the chief deity of the elves.

Elves still retain many of the characteristics of their ancient, faerie ancestors. They still have greater magic in their blood than most other mortal races, and so often pursue vocations in magic. Like all faerie creatures, they are given to flights of passion. Though much of the time, they can appear calm and stoic, when an elf feels something, they feel it with an intensity much greater than a human. When an elf is angry, their wrath is terrible. When they love, they love with all of their being; and it is possible for elves to die of a broken heart. When elves give their friendship and loyalty, the recipient will find no truer friend.

Most elves are taller (6'6" (198cm) on average), with more slender and athletic builds than humans.

Sylvan (or Wood) Elves: Sylvan elves are the original race of elves. They live deep in great forests, in harmony with nature, and as protectors and caretakers of the plants and animals. Though Sylvans do consume meat, they revere the spirits of the animals whom they consume, and see it as part of the circle of nature. Their homes and cities are built into giant, living trees. Besides learning elemental and nature magic, Sylvans often times become healers, or train in the elven arts of archery. Appearance wise, Sylvan elves have long ears (about 6 inches in length) that stick out diagonally from their head (like the ears on Link ). Their skintones and hair colors vary greatly; some have skintones like humans; anywhere from fair/caucasian to dark/black and everything in between; other Sylvans have more dramatic skintones, shades of green, or any shade of brown (like wood). Their hair can either be human-like browns or blacks, or shades of green, or wood-like browns. Sylvans almost all have green or brown eyes. Sylvan Elves also have their own language, Sylvan or 'Ancient Elvish', in addition to the standard, or 'Modern' Elvish Language spoken by High Elves, and the other elvish races.

High Elves: High Elves are the main race of elves, and most of the others are off-shoots of them. High Elves developed as a ruling class among the Sylvans, before leaving the forests for meadows and pasture lands where they built great cities of gleaming white stonework. High Elves developed the art of maca, elvish swordsmanship, and macar (elvish swordsmen) are some of the most respected and feared in all of Furtasia. Like all elves, High Elves are also renowned for their archery skills. When it comes to magic, High Elves are most likely to study arcane magic, and become wizards/sorcerers; forever studying and expanding their magical knowledge, like scientists of magic. Appearance wise, the ears of high elves are about six inches tall, and extend vertically up the side of their heads, like Blood Elves from Warcraft. For skintones and hair, high elves only have human-like skintones, with none of the more dramatic colorations of other elves. The eye colors of high elves include all of the human colors; light blue, green, brown, and gray, and also deep, ocean-blue, and vibrant purple/violet.

Dusk Elves: Dusk Elves were the next branch of elfkind to appear. Like the high elves, who had started as a sub-culture among the Sylvans, Dusk Elves started out as a sub-culture of nocturnal, moon-worshiping High Elves. Dusk Elves loved the starlight, and especially moonlight, so much so that they used their great magical knowledge to create pocket-realities in the cities of High Elves, which were in a state of perpetual twilight. Dusk Elves revere the Elven moon-goddess, Lunara, above all others. Dusk Elves tend to pursue the same vocations as High Elves; elvish swordsmanship and archery, and wizardry. Dusk Elves also are pioneers in the magical field of temporal magic; which is how they created their special twilight realms. Dusk Elves can see in near total darkness, as well as into the infrared and ultraviolet spectrums of light. However, their eyes are sensitive to visible light. Normal daylight or a well-lit room are rather painful to them, and long-term exposure to such light levels will damage their eyes. The magic used in creating their habitats also mutated the appearance of Dusk Elves. Dusk Elves have glowing, neon-like eyes; anything from pure white, shades of blue, purple, green, red, and gold. Their skintones are either light pastels, or deep, vibrant shades of pinks, blues, greens, or purples. Their hair colors are vibrant shades that range the entire color spectrum. Dusk Elves share the same, tall, vertically-standing ears as High Elves.

Sea Elves: Sea Elves also branched off of High Elves. This sub-group of elves lived near the sea, and began using magic to modify their bodies so that they could spend more time in and under the water. Eventually they developed the ability to breathe both air and water, as well as withstand the pressure of deep water. Though they can breathe in and out of water, Sea Elves need to stay hydrated more than other kinds of elves, and have little ability to withstand arid environments, such as deserts. Sea Elves also have better than average night vision, which enables them to see in the deep, dark waters. Sea Elves often act as go-betweens for the land-dwelling races and the purely aquatic races of Furtasia. Though Sea Elves do know Elvish, their primary language is usually the Aquian Trade Tongue; a composite language known to most water-dwelling races in Furtasia. Sea Elves also have the same vertical ears as High Elves. They also have webbed fingers and toes. Their skintones include all of the human range of skintones, as well as shades of blue, seafoam, and green. Some Sea Elves may have a mottled pattern to their skin, similar to many aquatic animals. Hair colors for Sea Elves, include all of the human range of hair colors, as well as vibrant gold, blues, greens, seafoam, and purples. The eye colors of sea elves include all of the human colors; light blue, green, brown, and gray, and also deep, ocean-blue, gold, and vibrant purple/violet.

Ice Elves: Ice Elves are yet another off-shoot of High Elves who used magic to alter their bodies so that they could survive in an extreme habitat. Living on the frozen tundras, glaciers, and ice-scapes of Furtasia's artic, Ice Elves construct magnificent cities of ice. Ice Elves can withstand temperatures well below freezing, but will start to suffer from heat exposure around 60 degrees F (15.5C). Ice Elves have polarized vision, which allows them to withstand blinding light (avoiding snow-blindness), as well as having excellent night vision. Ice Elves have the tall, vertical ears of High Elves. All Ice Elves, without exception, have pale, glowing ice-blue eyes. The hair of Ice Elves is either gleeming white, or pale, ice-blue. Skintones of Ice Elves are either human-like fair/caucasian, pure snow-white, or pale, ice-blue.

Kalimbar (Barbarian Elves): No one is really sure if the Kalimbar developed directly from Sylvan Elves, or regressed from High Elves, or a combination of both. Kalimbar have the same diagonal ears as Sylvan Elves, but they only have the same human-like skin, hair, and eye colors as High Elves; with a tendency towards fair skin, freckles, and red hair. Kalimbar live as simple hunter-gatherer barbarians in the wilds of Furtasia. They are very close to nature, but lack the sophisticated magical knowledge of the other elven races.

Half-Elves: Half Elves are hybrids of humans and any of the full elven races (most often High Elves). Half-Elves have no distinct culture of their own; they live as a part of the human, elven, or cosmopolitan societies into which they are born. The appearances of Half-Elves can vary greatly, depending on what sub-group their elven parent was a member of, and they may retain the dramatic colorations and/or special abilities of the elven parent's ancestry. The ears of half-elves are distinctive. They are only slightly larger than a human's ears, with small pointed tips, like LoTR elves.