To generalize, Elves are a race who hide their dark deeds behind a façade of beauty and pride. Stuck up and unaccepting of other societal standards they find other people’s beliefs and hang-ups bothersome. Put with grace, to be an elf is to struggle against the chains and fetters of the ancient mind. The flexible nature of almost all other sentient life on Attovia is a fleeting portion of the Elvish life, and most find after centuries of it, that its sights and sounds become drab and gray. For this reason Elves become seekers of experiential novelty, thrill seekers, the flesh obsessed, or the substance saturated.
Unique Features
Two Minds in One
Elves have a split mind, meaning they are capable of parallel processing. They do not sleep, the same way normal races do, instead they rest one side of their brain at a time allowing them to stay alert at all times.
Tears of Memory
Tears of Memory
One of the rarest sights on the continent is to see the tear of an Elf fall. They are an emotive species to be sure, but for some reason, this more extreme response is as rare as once a century. It was early in the lifetime of the first Elves when the Nirnaeth o Rénë ritual was created. An efficient but powerful Meyda-work which transformed one’s fallen tear into a pearl like sphere. Almost every Elf can be seen wearing these small adornments, turned into earrings, embedded as piercings, or for the very old, chained together for bracelets or necklaces.
Macabre Collections
There are always individuals with wealth who take to acquiring and collecting oddities of living origin. Often intriguing like the commonly stuffed and presented Kaktaa, but occasionally sinister or unsettling such as the unique skull of a Krest or the skin of a Biaban regularly doused in Geal Essence to keep its circles alight. Among these individuals no item is more prized than an Elf’s Tear. Their rarity and beauty drive incredible prices and a terrifying black market filled with dangerous killers, con men and cutthroat thieves. The envy to all other collectors is the complete set, the Elvish skeleton with its Tears of Memory embedded or hanging where they would have in life. A grizzly trophy for the rich and favored.
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Life Tied to the Tree
Not many know that the real source of Elven longevity is their Tether to the Ambar Tree. When cut off, their remaining lifespan shrinks drastically to a relative human scale. If their regrets are true and strong, and they leave the world feeling wronged they often fail to properly leave, instead manifesting as a Naegra thûl.