Elves

Overview
Across the isles, there is seven main types of elf, in the form of :Wood, Aquatic, Dark, Snow, Celestial, High, and Winged Elves, while for the most part they share the same types and (with the exception of the winged) are easily able to interbreed, they do have minor differences that effect how they look and act. but what they do share is a trend towards being attractive, long lived beings (on average they will live a thousand years) with pointed ears and a gift for the arcane, although divine magic is hardly unheard of

Wood Elves:
the Most common type of elf by far. wood Elves can be found just about anywhere that even a scrap of nature can be found or so it seems. light and carefree, Wood Elves fit best the traditional image of an elf, with light skin contrasted by darker hair, often black or brown, but many dye their hair bright colors, however, exceptions to the rule exists, and some have adapted a dark tone naturally if they live closer to the equator. they tend to have blue, green, or grey eyes and minor pointed ears. whilst for their dimensions, they can be anywhere between five feet and seven feet tall and weigh between eighty and two hundred pounds, but those numbers are not concrete.

Their chief god is the Minor God Oberon, the Fae God in charge of the wilderness, and who rules as their eternal King, in addition to having, with Titania's help, created them, meaning most Wood Elf clerics gain their powers from him, in addition, seemingly at random, many Wood Elves, both male and female, will begin sprouting deer like antlers upon reaching their hundreds, with a new prong developing for every fifty years that they live. those who develop Antlers are often known as the Wild Elves and are expected to leave their villages and travel the world serving Oberon. While Wild Elfs answer to no one but Oberon, at times, a Wild Elf Lord will be crowned, while they might not be a wild elf themselves or even an elf, and their reign lasts for as long as they are needed, all Wild Elfs are expected to follow a Lord when one is so crowned.

Aquatic Elves:
the second most common type, Aquatic Elves, or Sea Elves can be found beneath the waves as a general role, but can surface for stretches of time as they are able to breath both air and water, but they need to keep their gills wet or else the sensitive tissue will break and cause them to bleed out, meaning its rare to see an Aquatic Elf going far from water unless absolutely necessary, many will have blueish skin but brighter more exotic tones are common among Sea Elves dwelling in the tropics, whilst many both in the tropics and in the deeps have also (most likely via magic) developed glowing patterns on their skin. as for their aforementioned gills, Sea Elves have gill slits down the sides of their neck to enable them to get oxygen from surrounding water by pumping it through their combination lungs and gills.

As for the political side of their existence, Sea Elves are the ancient enemies of the Triton, and the various kingdoms wage wars against each other frequently, however it is possible for the two to intermingle and produce a mixture of Triton and Sea Elf However for obvious reasons such couplings are the rarest of the different types of half elf.

Dark Elves:
Subterranean Elves, the Dark Elves have adapted to their world with out sunlight in a number of ways, most noticeably by a darker skin tone for ease of camouflage and also, large eyes made mostly of pupil, giving them an incredible ability to see in the dark, however that means they are forced to wear special googles when they must venture out onto the surface to prevent being blinded. they tend to be short and skinny, rarely being taller than five and a half feet tall in order to better fit into tunnels,with large pointed ears (a sign that they are relatives of the High Elves) enabling them to pick out even the faintest intruders to their underground homes.

While Dark Elf kingdoms can be found beneath many different islands, including at least one small settlement below the lands of Tevin, as is only proper, their greatest is in a massive cave deep below Valina, known as Vantam, this kingdom has rarely, if ever been seen by even non dark elves, much less a non fae! ruled traditionally by a Queen, Vantam has a matriarchal society (something not all Dark Elf kingdoms possess)

Polar Elves
found most prominently in the cold reaches to the center that is Uderon, the polar elf tribe have adapted to the extreme colds of their preferred home quite well, developing a near total lack of colour in their bodies and many have developed body hair of some sort to help keep warm, but the majority still only have eye brows and head hair like their cousins dispite the Lord Borealis, the minor god who created them's best efforts to perfect them.

High Elves
the guardians of the Fae Island of Valina, the ancient homeland of all the different Fae Races, and strict isolationists, it is rare to see High Elves off of Valina. however they have a tradition of their young travelling off of Valina and across the islands to sample the outside world when they turn one hundred, and after a decade, they are called upon to decide, will they return to Valima and their people (what most choose to do) or will they find their own way in the world? but even those who choose to leave, are always welcome to return to Valina at any time they so choose. Seven kingdoms are doted across the island that are controlled by the High Elves.

High elves tend to be light and airy almost but have the same dimensions as their wood elf cousins, albeit many are taller and they tend towards fairer hair colours than their more adventurous cousins.

While the wood Elves have Wild Elves, a high Elf can be turned into an Elhadrin however they are rarer and an Elhadrin's gifts lie more with magic as they will be better able to access their Mana and seem to glow with an inner fire although that particular gift can be toned down with enough practice.

Appearance

 * ranging between 5'1 & an even six feet tall, with solar elves tending towards the taller side, & although again Solar elves are an exception, most celestial elves have a more slender build with not even their leaders being especially well muscled or fatty.
 * High elven hair is often blonde however the opposite scale is common and black is common as well, especially amongst the star elves, however amongst young Celestial elves dying one's hair is common, usually a normal shade but many dye more unusual colours such as purple or green. This is in contrast with a celestial elves skin, most of whom having pale milky skin due to rarely venturing out doors but amongst the Sun elves darker hues are commonplace.

Noteworthy Factions: Sol, Lundra, Ilumev-ov, & Celium

History

 * When celestial elves were newly born, they lived for millennium amidst the forests and meadows in simple tribes rarely exceeding one hundred members, but in time civilization came for them from the High elves who spread their ways of metal working and farming to both the celestials and wood elves, and although the wood elves did not like the ideals the high elves had discovered, the celestial elves saw the benefits in such arts, especially seven tribes of celestial who names have been lost but who eventually formed the three major factions of the celestial elves. But for now, these seven tribes managed between them to sway smaller tribes into joining with them until they were the sole factions of celestial elf.
 * However while these seven tribes were content to battle one another for land and power, one day the great Wizard Luun visited their lands and traveled amongst the different tribes to teach the ways of magic as he knew them, the people of the Sun elves were too prideful and arrogant to learn much about the arcane, even than preferring divine magical sources to arcane ones, the tribe that would later become the star elves were too few and too interested in the work of their own hands to see much value in magic beyond as an occasional tool, but the Moon elves were the perfect students, it is said that whenever Luun stopped in a village, hordes of elf would arrive and beg him to teach them more magic, and so he did, and amongst the Moon elves of today he became a god, not just a demigod and herald of his mother, but a god worthy of veneration.
 * But over time as the tribes grew they came in conflict and when the celestials came to find new car takers for their old islands, the three tribes that would later became the sol elves split from the rest of the celestial elves and claimed the island as their own, however one of the three tribes disappeared from the record at this time leading many to speculate where they went. But in time, the remaining four tribes worked in Harmony with one another, the lands formerly claimed by the sol elves being claimed by the Moon elves in addition to their old lands meaning they rarely would come into conflict with the star elves.
 * However a thousand years ago the  young moon elf, Moondancer, who dispite his parents uncreative naming abilities, became a sort of leader, and took a tribe of moon Elves on an epic exodus from their ancient homeland to settle on the island of Ilumev-ov to form a new kingdom with the same name. Which would later on become a founding member of the Cidel Empire.
 * However although at first rumours and insults were spread about Ilumev-ov, the tribes hearing of the success the kingdom experienced began forming the kingdoms as we know them now, grand conferences were Held to determine new kings, the grandsons and granddaughter of whom still rule today.
 * Two hundred years ago the Moon kingdom and Star elves went to war against one another, needing more land to ease their burgeoning over population, requested to buy a strip of land from the moon elves, however they refused and so the star elves claimed it as their own, causing a series of skirmishes across the river the star elves chose as the new border, hundreds ended up dying, and in the end seeing the futility and wastefulness of the war the moon elves reluctantly gave up the land, which the star elves gladly settled, a sore event even now as many of the youths of both sides were raised by veterans of the war.

Culture:

 * Sun elves: martial might is the strongest value held amongst the Sun elves, but loyalty to ones family is also highly valued with sun elves being expected to be more loyal to their family than to their kings. As for names, Sun elf names are made of a personal name and a familial name, with personal names being four to six letters long and tend towards the use of Ks & and Ss.


 * Moon elves: amongst the Moon elves the goal of the individual is to become as powerful as possible no matter the costs, with many elves resorting to mastering arcane magic in order to reach the apex of what they are meant to be. However dispite being expected to be as powerful as possible, it is a social faux pa to do so at the cost of others and the wealthy and powerful are expected to help those less fortunate than themselves in the expectation that in another century or four the ones they help will repay the favour. But as for names when a Moon elf is born their parents take the infant to a seer who sees a vision of their future and names them according to the vision, this name is usually but not always paired with a family name of some kind.
 * Star elves: amongst the star elves the individual is supposed to dedicate their centuries of life to bettering themselves and their chosen trade, be it artist or farmer, Although it's common for individuals to change paths as their life goes on and they learn more about themselves. Coming off from this, most Star elves choose their own name when they reach adulthood at 100 years of age, although beforehand their parents will give them a simple childhood name that they will use even in adulthood amongst friends and other loved ones.

Favoured classes:, paladins/clerics to the Archangels for sun elves, & wizards for moon elves but bards are common amongst the star elves.

Winged Elves (Avariel)
Blessed of the gods themselves are the winged elves, the youngest of the seven clans, but they are the highest of the seven both figuratively and literally, seeing as how as their names imply, they are gifted with large feathered wings attached to their backs with colours in every colour of the rainbow. From pure white to midnight black, However those same wings are their Downfall as due to them, Winged Elves have caused them to need to birth to fragile eggs (which also prevents the birth of half-Avariels) which are easily broken by predators and monsters that manage to make it up to their roosts on the tallest point of Vanor, which is Mount Vanor itself. If one is fortunate enough to find an Averial Skeleton, they will find it light and airy, the bones themselves sponge like with pockets of air meaning an Averial weighs much less than an elf their size would be expected to weigh, however magic strengthens their bones from being easily damages, they also have "anchor bones" on their backs to attach the thick bands of muscle needed to fly.