Michael Morris
First Post
Before any meaningful discussion about elven culture and attitudes can begin we must cover the physical nature of the elven race. While very similar to humans, elves are still a distinct race with different physical aspects that shape how they view the world and affect how they behave. Much of these physical aspects have a direct bearing on their culture.
While physically closer to humans than any other race on Carthasana, the elves are upon close examination more alien than any other race. While grotesque in visage, goblins, orcs, ogres and the like share humanity’s frailties of disease and mortality. Elves are free of these concerns, and this freedom shapes their very psychology on a level that is not easily appreciated or understood.
As has been said many a time in Telzoa, appearances deceive – the elves are not like us.
[h2]Longevity[/h2]
"Who want’s to live forever? to never be free of the burdens of time? to never rest and never be released from pain.” – Sirrom.
The most dramatic difference between elves and humans is longevity. Elves live to approximately 300 years, though individuals over 400 years old aren’t unknown. To human eyes elves seem to live forever and seem to have all the time in the world to explore the nuances of this or that craft.
In addition to a naturally long lifespan elves are immune to all diseases that affect humans. Elves however do have to contend to diseases unique to their species – most of which are at least partially magical and difficult to treat. They also are in danger of dying from an ailment called the ashtasila sundre, or “weary death” where an elf becomes so depressed from his memories and experiences that he goes into a catatonic state and starves to death.
[h2]Senses[/h2]
“We all see the same world through different eyes which make the world different for all of us.” – Telsindria.
Elves are generally believed (and they frequently brag) of having better senses all around than a humans. This is mostly true.
The elven eye is about twice as sensitive to light as a human’s having a far more dense concentration of rods than a human’s. It is also about a quarter size larger than a human eye. Elven eyes have a much more reflective timpanic membrane behind the retina that reflects unabsorbed light back to the retina for a second try at absorbtion. Some of this light escapes though so an elf’s eye shines in the dark just as a cat or dog’s will.
This visual acuity comes at some price. The muscles that move the eye are less developed in an elf than in a human. This means that an elf cannot look out of the corner of their eyes or cast a sidelong glance at someone. To follow most objects an elf must move her entire head just an owl does (which can’t move it’s eyes at all). Elves also have a greater likelihood of being born colorblind than humans.
Elves have a functioning and transparent third eyelid that protects the eye from flashblindness (the lack of this third eyelid by goblinoids is why they are vulnerable to flash blindness and elves are not).
Elves have a more sensitive and higher hearing range than humans. An elf can hear a “dog whistle” and it isn’t uncommon for elven scouting parties to use such whistles as signals their foes can’t intercept. Despite this advantage, elves are no better at discerning the direction of a sound than humans are.
Elves have about the same sense of smell and taste as humans, and their sense of touch is actually weaker at picking up temperature changes than humans.
[h2]Extrasensory[/h2]
“Beyond and not before the eye lies the truth” – Telsindria.
Elves have an almost instinctual sense when it comes to magic. Even those with no training whatsoever can feel the presence of a spell if they enter its area of effect (and with most spells by then, it’s too late).
Elves also have the ability to feel the emotions of those they touch. Two elves holding hands know the emotions of the other and they, as a rule, find physical contact more desireable at all times than humans. Elves like to touch and be touched and they don’t discriminate sexually in this regard. A typical elf would prefer to have someone else groom them or to groom another than to groom themselves. So great is this need for contact that those who capture elves frequently have learned that solitary confinement works wondered on the elven resolve.
[h2]Physical Build[/h2]
“The greatest mind is still the servant of the house that holds it.” – Telsindria.
Elves have a much less dense bone structure than humans. Though their bones are about the same size, they are more hollow. Major bones such as the femur (legbone) and hip have strips of cartilage intermingled with true bone to give added flexiability. This comes at a price, elven bones break easier than human ones though usually they will bend first.
Elves do not weigh and indeed cannot weigh as much as humans – their skeletons would collapse under the weight. Elven muscle tissue is stronger per pound than human muscles, but there is less of it in most individuals adding to their frail look. These highly dense but light muscles take a long time to grow, adding the immature period most elves undergo.
Elves therefore have much more flexiable bodies on average than humans, but at a price of being more easily injured – hence their ability statistic adjustments in the Player’s Handbook.
[h2]The Reverie[/h2]
“I remember that which I choose and that which refuses to be forgotten.” – Telsindria.
It is well known that elves not only don’t sleep, but can’t. Their minds are always active on some level and they are always aware of their surroundings. However, elves do have to enter a state called the reverie. While in many respects this is an advantage, sometimes it can be a weakness.
During reverie the elven mind accomplishes what the human mind does with sleep – discarding unneeded memories and strengthing those that are desired. However, for an elf this is largely a conscious process.
Elves need to spend at least four hours a day in this state though they can spend more. Elves who fail to reverie the proper amount of time don’t suffer the same kind of fatigue as humans, though the game effects are the same. As the period between reveries increases the elven mind becomes increasingly disoriented until finally it collapses in on itself and the elf enters a coma. These comatose episodes are about the only time an elf experiences unconsciousness and it is frightening to them in the extreme despite the fact that it is in this state that most elven infants linger in on and off until their minds are developed enough to begin to reverie.
[h2]Birth & Childhood[/h2]
“To be a child once more! To be free of burdens of time and weakness of age. And to suffer to make the same old mistakes all of us make anew.” – Telsindria.
Elven females, unlike their human counterparts, are only capacle of becoming pregnant once a year. This phenomena is known as an “eustral cycle” and is seen in deer and other prey animals. Even when the chance of pregnancy is present it is fairly rare – most elves only successfully get pregnant five or six times in their lifetimes. Since elven females need not fear unwanted pregnancies as often they tend to be more promicscuous than human females, and elven society is certainly more tolerant and unstructured where sex is concerned.
When an elf does become pregnant she undergoes a year long pregnancy that delivers up two infants of three to four lbs. In almost all instances one of the infants is stillborn and it isn’t unusual for both to be. Elven infants are born even less developed than human babes with their eyes closed. They will not open their eyes at all until around six months old. They also have no hair at all and lack fingernails and toenails.
The babes must suckle for the first year, their digestive system being unable to handle anything more complicated than mother’s milk. Elven milk isn’t especially nourishing either, but it is reflective of the slow developing process that is the racial achillies heel of elves.
Another elven weakness from a physiological standpoint is that once an elven female has bore a child –successfully or not – it will be some ten to as long as twenty years before she can bear another. During this time her body doesn’t ovulate at all.
Elves take around 24 years to reach physical maturity, and around considered adult until 30 years. Human musing of elves requiring a hundred years to reach adulthood are largely false though elven society doesn’t confer full adult rights to anyone less than a century in age.
While physically closer to humans than any other race on Carthasana, the elves are upon close examination more alien than any other race. While grotesque in visage, goblins, orcs, ogres and the like share humanity’s frailties of disease and mortality. Elves are free of these concerns, and this freedom shapes their very psychology on a level that is not easily appreciated or understood.
As has been said many a time in Telzoa, appearances deceive – the elves are not like us.
[h2]Longevity[/h2]
"Who want’s to live forever? to never be free of the burdens of time? to never rest and never be released from pain.” – Sirrom.
The most dramatic difference between elves and humans is longevity. Elves live to approximately 300 years, though individuals over 400 years old aren’t unknown. To human eyes elves seem to live forever and seem to have all the time in the world to explore the nuances of this or that craft.
In addition to a naturally long lifespan elves are immune to all diseases that affect humans. Elves however do have to contend to diseases unique to their species – most of which are at least partially magical and difficult to treat. They also are in danger of dying from an ailment called the ashtasila sundre, or “weary death” where an elf becomes so depressed from his memories and experiences that he goes into a catatonic state and starves to death.
[h2]Senses[/h2]
“We all see the same world through different eyes which make the world different for all of us.” – Telsindria.
Elves are generally believed (and they frequently brag) of having better senses all around than a humans. This is mostly true.
The elven eye is about twice as sensitive to light as a human’s having a far more dense concentration of rods than a human’s. It is also about a quarter size larger than a human eye. Elven eyes have a much more reflective timpanic membrane behind the retina that reflects unabsorbed light back to the retina for a second try at absorbtion. Some of this light escapes though so an elf’s eye shines in the dark just as a cat or dog’s will.
This visual acuity comes at some price. The muscles that move the eye are less developed in an elf than in a human. This means that an elf cannot look out of the corner of their eyes or cast a sidelong glance at someone. To follow most objects an elf must move her entire head just an owl does (which can’t move it’s eyes at all). Elves also have a greater likelihood of being born colorblind than humans.
Elves have a functioning and transparent third eyelid that protects the eye from flashblindness (the lack of this third eyelid by goblinoids is why they are vulnerable to flash blindness and elves are not).
Elves have a more sensitive and higher hearing range than humans. An elf can hear a “dog whistle” and it isn’t uncommon for elven scouting parties to use such whistles as signals their foes can’t intercept. Despite this advantage, elves are no better at discerning the direction of a sound than humans are.
Elves have about the same sense of smell and taste as humans, and their sense of touch is actually weaker at picking up temperature changes than humans.
[h2]Extrasensory[/h2]
“Beyond and not before the eye lies the truth” – Telsindria.
Elves have an almost instinctual sense when it comes to magic. Even those with no training whatsoever can feel the presence of a spell if they enter its area of effect (and with most spells by then, it’s too late).
Elves also have the ability to feel the emotions of those they touch. Two elves holding hands know the emotions of the other and they, as a rule, find physical contact more desireable at all times than humans. Elves like to touch and be touched and they don’t discriminate sexually in this regard. A typical elf would prefer to have someone else groom them or to groom another than to groom themselves. So great is this need for contact that those who capture elves frequently have learned that solitary confinement works wondered on the elven resolve.
[h2]Physical Build[/h2]
“The greatest mind is still the servant of the house that holds it.” – Telsindria.
Elves have a much less dense bone structure than humans. Though their bones are about the same size, they are more hollow. Major bones such as the femur (legbone) and hip have strips of cartilage intermingled with true bone to give added flexiability. This comes at a price, elven bones break easier than human ones though usually they will bend first.
Elves do not weigh and indeed cannot weigh as much as humans – their skeletons would collapse under the weight. Elven muscle tissue is stronger per pound than human muscles, but there is less of it in most individuals adding to their frail look. These highly dense but light muscles take a long time to grow, adding the immature period most elves undergo.
Elves therefore have much more flexiable bodies on average than humans, but at a price of being more easily injured – hence their ability statistic adjustments in the Player’s Handbook.
[h2]The Reverie[/h2]
“I remember that which I choose and that which refuses to be forgotten.” – Telsindria.
It is well known that elves not only don’t sleep, but can’t. Their minds are always active on some level and they are always aware of their surroundings. However, elves do have to enter a state called the reverie. While in many respects this is an advantage, sometimes it can be a weakness.
During reverie the elven mind accomplishes what the human mind does with sleep – discarding unneeded memories and strengthing those that are desired. However, for an elf this is largely a conscious process.
Elves need to spend at least four hours a day in this state though they can spend more. Elves who fail to reverie the proper amount of time don’t suffer the same kind of fatigue as humans, though the game effects are the same. As the period between reveries increases the elven mind becomes increasingly disoriented until finally it collapses in on itself and the elf enters a coma. These comatose episodes are about the only time an elf experiences unconsciousness and it is frightening to them in the extreme despite the fact that it is in this state that most elven infants linger in on and off until their minds are developed enough to begin to reverie.
[h2]Birth & Childhood[/h2]
“To be a child once more! To be free of burdens of time and weakness of age. And to suffer to make the same old mistakes all of us make anew.” – Telsindria.
Elven females, unlike their human counterparts, are only capacle of becoming pregnant once a year. This phenomena is known as an “eustral cycle” and is seen in deer and other prey animals. Even when the chance of pregnancy is present it is fairly rare – most elves only successfully get pregnant five or six times in their lifetimes. Since elven females need not fear unwanted pregnancies as often they tend to be more promicscuous than human females, and elven society is certainly more tolerant and unstructured where sex is concerned.
When an elf does become pregnant she undergoes a year long pregnancy that delivers up two infants of three to four lbs. In almost all instances one of the infants is stillborn and it isn’t unusual for both to be. Elven infants are born even less developed than human babes with their eyes closed. They will not open their eyes at all until around six months old. They also have no hair at all and lack fingernails and toenails.
The babes must suckle for the first year, their digestive system being unable to handle anything more complicated than mother’s milk. Elven milk isn’t especially nourishing either, but it is reflective of the slow developing process that is the racial achillies heel of elves.
Another elven weakness from a physiological standpoint is that once an elven female has bore a child –successfully or not – it will be some ten to as long as twenty years before she can bear another. During this time her body doesn’t ovulate at all.
Elves take around 24 years to reach physical maturity, and around considered adult until 30 years. Human musing of elves requiring a hundred years to reach adulthood are largely false though elven society doesn’t confer full adult rights to anyone less than a century in age.
