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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Afrodyte" data-source="post: 2175528" data-attributes="member: 8713">For whatever other flaws of the series, Mercedes Lackey's Halfblood chronicles (Elvenbane, Elvenblood, and Elvenborn) are frighteningly human in a lot of ways but still retain their elvishness (magic, long life, pointy ears).  Their society combines the worst elements of imperial Rome and the antebellum South, with magic added in to boost the atrocity level a few notches.If you want to get away from the ideas of elves being a dying race, innately good, or incomprehensible, you can look at the traits you associate with elves and then bring them down to earth (or rather, the gutter).  I know you said that you wanted to avoid Tolkien, but if you look at the writings beyond LotR (and, to a lesser extent, The Silmarillion), some interesting ideas emerge that could be fertile playground for revising the elves of your world.  For instance, Tolkien mentions in the preface of The Silmarillion that elves are innate "embalmers" in the sense that they like to preserve things rather than let nature and time take their course.  Taken in another direction, you could have this craving for stability translate into a rigid social structure something along the lines of the Hindu caste system.  Here's something off the top of my head:1.  The highest caste belongs to spellcasters.  They are the emissaries of the divine.  Their duty is to discern the will of the gods and to preserve the moral order of the places over which they preside.  The most powerful amongst them are often thought to be descended from the gods or to have particular favor with them.  They wear white and are forbidden to cut their hair (split ends excepted).2.  The next highest caste belongs to rulers and warriors.  They preserve social by making and enforcing laws.  As long as their rules do not contradict the divine will, their rule is absolute.  When in public they must wear their symbol of office (usually a sword for a warrior, scepter for a non-royal ruler, and a crown for a royal ruler).  They wear violet (rulers) or red (warriors).3.  Artists, agriculturalists, and tradesmen are the middle caste.  They feed, entertain, and provide goods and services for the community.  This is the most diverse of the casts, ranging from farmers to musicians to courtesans.  While they cannot change their caste, those within this class have great potential for economic mobility, for better or worse.  They wear yellow or blue.4.  Slaves form the lowest caste.  They perform duties which no decent human being would.  These are the common prostitutes, the gutter-cleaners, the street sweepers, the morticians, and pest control.  Those of the upper two castes may have slaves put to death for any reason whatsoever without so much as a reprimand.  Killing them for sport is not unheard of and it is a favorite pasttime to use them as pieces in a live-action chess game between rulers.  They wear black, and their heads are always shaved.</blockquote>

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