Elves in Xyllomer

"The great forests - a work of art from our god Dualdin. There is nothing more peaceful than the sound of the wind through the trees of a cool summer evening. Of course, being the superior race of Xyllomer, and being the chosen race to preserve the purity of the forests is not easy. But our god has prepared us. Our enemies may try, but they will have trouble surprising us under the cover of darkness that they use to hide their evil deeds, and if they do manage to find us, they will have a hard time catching us. We may not be the strongest race of Xyllomer, but our slender bodies allow us to be among the quickest and most agile.

Physical description:

Elves look almost human with pointy ears, with a touch more grace and the ability to see in the night without a torch. The average elf is a bit smaller than the average human and also more slender. There are good elves and evil elves, elven mages, warriors and even thieves. Though they are as physically resistant as humans, they have a reputation for being less strong and a bit more dextrous.

Strengths and weaknesses:

The claim that elves are much wiser than humans and thus make better magicians strongly depends on the character of the elf respective the human.
All in all, elves appear a bit more graceful than any other races. People say elves seem to dance when they walk, and sing with their melodious voices when they speak perfectly normal - a fact that pretty often confuses travellers from distant worlds when they meet 'their first elf'.

Elves have an inborn ability to handle a sword a little, and, as stated above, they are able to see in dark places where humans are not. This means that elves can even see at night without needing an artificial light.

Other things to note:

Elves and humans are the most common races, and luckily, they still outnumber the ever increasing amount of dwarves, their enemies. Noone ever found out why elves and dwarves dislike each other. Probably because the dwarves claimed to have been the first race created, whereas the elves of course know better. But perhaps it is because the dwarves started cutting the trees of the elven woods and selling them or using them to build new mines. The only thing certain in the cold war between elves and dwarves is, that the dwarves, in an act of aggression, founded the Federation Against Elves (FAE) first, before the Elven Liberation Front (ELF) was ever mentioned. Nevertheless, the dislike is mostly limited to verbal insults and mockery, and there are even elves and dwarves who are friends.

Subraces:

Among the elves there are also subraces known, elves which come from certain areas, and have adapted the features and traits of their homes strongly enough to look different from the average elf. Those are the highelves and the woodelves, as well as the halfelves - come as offspring from a human-elf coupling.

Halfelves:

Halfelves are known as a subrace of the elven race. Somewhere among the line of heritage of each halfelf there has been a human. While other races do not mix, the coupling between humans and elves has proven to produce a race that combines the traits of both races. Also in physical size and appearance they tend to be between the two.

Halvelves are usually a little more graceful than humans, yet they are not quite as beautiful or agile as their elven parents, but they share their trait of improved vision at night.

Being of a mixed offspring is often seen as a fault, and it is not unheard of that a human or elven community would push the halfbreed from their social circle, giving them hard times. But just as often they may have grown up in the loving environment of a mixed family.

Many halfelves live in Tangradim, since they have found the city to be most accepting to their mixed heritage.

Despite their physical differences, halfelves are counted among the elves.

Highelves:

Highelves are known as a subrace of the elven race. Unlike most other elves, highelves have been known to dwell in cities for centuries. They tend have light skin and their hair is usually either white, black, silver-grey or fair. Brown is a colour that is never found in their eyes.

Most highelves rather turn to philosophy and the divine or magical arts, some have perfected their fighting abilities. They have perfected the magic of building in stone with a natural grace, and their cities are often protected by the combined magical energies of the citizens. Thus necromancy is despised by them all, and they will oppose it by all means.

The purest breed of highelves can probably be found in GarAinion, the elven city on Morisot.

Woodelves:

Woodelves are known as a subrace of the elven race. Unlike many other elves, woodelves live exclusively in cities on the trees. They often tend have tanned skin and their hair is usually mottled in the natural colours of the forest.

They are the elven people which is closest to nature and the creatures of the forest, and thus most of them despise the corrupting powers of necromancy.

It is rumoured that a treevillage can be found to the south of GarAinion on Morisot with the name of Naph'tal. Many woodelves call the seclusive dwelling it their home, but there are many other woodelves who have grown up in the sole company of their small family in the woods.

Special commands:

- rtell: Once an elf found his emerald ring, he is able to send mental messages with it. This is mentally very exhausting, though.

- rgreet: The way elves often greet each other. It, too, requires an elfring.