Elves

Societies

Elves are tribespeople by nature. They live in tribes of varying sizes; some tribes may have less than twenty members, others well over a hundred. The tribes generally don't have any leaders or chiefs, but every tribe has a shaman who is the tribe's spiritual guide and healer -- though as a whole, the elves have one king and two queens:

Lysanthir, King of the sun elves.

Kaylinna, Queen of the moon elves,

Ayda, Queen of the sea elves.

The three different people can be summed up thus:

Sun elves

Sun elves are on the whole the tallest of the thee elf-kinds, and are also said to be the most open and hospitable to strangers, as they worship Eleon and follow his teachings of friendship and generosity, Their skin tones tend to vary from a deep green to a light bronze, with hair in many different colors. As they follow the sun, they tend to be most active during the day, as opposed to their moon elf cousins.

Moon elves

Moon elves are the most numerous of the elves, and the smallest in size, and their skin tend to be various nuances of blue. They are on the whole the shyest and most reserved of the elves, preferring their own company to anyone else. However, get them to open up and they can prove themselves to be quite intense and passionate; it is for example a well-known fact that moon elves are the best singers in the world and can spellbind just about anyone with their beautiful song. They worship Fenwyn and Senella, and as such they follow the two moons and are most active during the day.

Sea elves

Sea elves are the least numerous but most nomadic of the elves. They don't, contrary to popular belief, live under the sea -- it's true that they swim like dolphins and can hold their breaths for an incredibly long time, but they make their homes on floats and rafts, occasionally on small islands or by the seashore, where they live on fish and anything the sea gives them. They sing almost as beautifully as the moon elves, which has led to a few wild seafarer tales of sirens and seductive mermaids. Not surprisingly, they worship Nenaya.

Families, breeding and children

Elven births are rare. Since elves don't age and die, they don't need a huge birth rate, and about sixty percent of all elves are completely sterile and can never have children (not that this necessarily hinders them in trying!). Children being so rare, they are extra precious to the elves, and one of the oldest elf laws says that all children belong to the entire tribe and not just the parents. From a very early age, elven children are looked after, raised and played with by all the adults of the tribe, That way, everyone can feel that they have a family. All elf children who grow up in the same tribe and at the same time are automatically counted as siblings, even if none of them have the same parents.

Elves reach their Hotblood stage around their fiftieth year, though this varies a lot from elf to elf; some start developing already in their forties while others don't become Hotbloods until they're almost ninety. When they start showing signs of becoming adults, though, they are given a Teacher -- usually an older member of the tribe, whose task it is to teach the young elf everything about life as an adult elf; what rights, responsibilities and duties they have, as well as anything else they might need to know as independent adults. Elves call these the "Learning Years," the time when the youngsters learn about the world and themselves, boundaries are tested and new things are tried.

There aren't a set number of Learning Years; how long they last depend just on how thorough the teacher is and how quickly the student learns. But when the teacher decides that the student is ready, a huge coming-of-age party is held, and the student receives an "adult" name. After this, a lot of elves leave their tribe for a while -- it's not compulsory to do so, but many elves are eager to see more of the world and learn even more. Most elves encountered outside the Elven Forest tend to be just-come-of-age elves out on their first "adult" adventure.

Most elves never marry, and since births are so rare and children are all raised by the tribe anyway, elves have no concept of "unlawful" children; a child is a blessing no matter if the parents are married or not. Occasionally, though, you do run into a couple of elves who wish to get married. (Or in some cases, more than two -- elves don't necessarily think that marriage should be limited to two people, or people of the opposite genders for that matter.) Marriage is a big step, though, especially for immortal elves who don't recognize the concept of divorce, and so to keep impulsive Hotblood elves from going off and marrying their first crush, it's a strict law that anyone who wish to be married have to be engaged for at least three hundred years. It's generally agreed that if they still want to get married after a three-hundred-year-long engagement period, it's probably true love.

While elves don't die from sickness or old age, it is possible for them to get killed, or to decide to leave this world. When this happens, they simply cease to be; their bodies vanish and their spirits go off to the spirit world. This is why there aren't very many left of the original elves; some were killed in accidents or battle, while others simply decided they had enough of life and left for the spirit world.

Names

Elves have a distinct naming custom, where the number of syllables in an elf's name says something about said elf's life situation. All elves, when born, are given a one-syllable name by their parents, and then when they come of age their Teacher gives them a new, adult name, that's two syllables. If they ever get married, the wedding will involve giving the spouses new names of three syllables, to symbolize their new life.

Relationships with the other People

On the whole, elves are friendly, yet reserved towards the other People -- the sun elves are by far the most eager to welcome the company of others, but even they tend not to form very deep relationships here. The fact is that elves know they are immortal while humans, dwarfs and wights aren't, and not all elves are comfortable making friends with people they know are going to die. While dragons have the same technical immortality as elves, dragons tend to be even more reluctant than elves when it comes to establishing relationships there.