Elves and their varieties

Some types of Elf for your games. Are these species, ethnicities, cultures, dispositions? Whatever feels right for you!

Crest Elves. High Elves, Silvanesti. The Crest Elves are primarily responsible for the impression that elves are elitist and bigoted narcassists. Each Crest Elf believes themself the center of the universe, the peak of intelligence and culture, and the perfect product of centuries of evolution. It is their leadership that spearheads elvish crusades and empires, and they are capable both of great works of intellectual advancement and terrible acts of hatred. The most hated of the Orcs, by far.

Wild Elves. Wood Elves, Grugach. All the Elves are spirits of the wild, but the Wood Elves exemplify this. The Wild Elves are plentiful in forests, and most common folk who are told to imagine an elf bring images of these wardens of the natural order into their minds. Often, Wild Elf settlements are led by a single Crest or Dusk Elf acting in a leadership role, as the WIld Elves naturally settle into cooperative and holistic structures instead of hierarchies.

Sun Elves. Ink Elves, Oathborn. Long ago, the Sun Elves allowed living tattoos onto their skin. Each clan swore an oath, or a Shaal-al’Quiir, and the tattoos were a mark of their promise. As their clans propagate, each generation receives the tattoos from their elders, along with an unbreakable promise to follow their Shaal-al’Quiir, else the tattoos would ravage their forms. The Sun Elves are widespread, dedicated, and philosophical, sharing their knowledge with any traveler who wishes to hear from the Ink Elf clans.

Dust Elves. Sand Elves, Embers. Dwellers in the hot desert sands, the Dust Elves have the hardest lives and shortest lifespans of the Elves. Elves on the whole have difficulty finding beauty in such barren and messy locales as deserts, and as such, the Sand Elves are driven, at least partially, by a resentment for their lot in life. Their societies are simple and utilitarian, but they know much, and a Dust Elf is a nearly peerless navigator among the dunes they call home.

Harvest Elves. Fey Elves, Eladrin. Their emotions rule them, in a visceral and tangible sense. When a Harvest Elf is joyful, their form reflects the spring. When a Harvest Elf is filled with wrath, their form reflects the summer. When a Harvest Elf is lamenting, their form reflects the fall. When a Harvest Elf is filled with despair, their form reflects the winter. Like their Fey ancestors, an Eladrin feels no emotion in moderation: strong elation immediately turns into terrible rage, volatile disgust or terrible depression at the drop of a hat. The most hated by the Dwarves (“where’s th’ stability?!”).

Raven Elves. Death Elves, Shadar-Kai. Progeny is not the right word, cultist is not the right word, extension is not the right word, servitor is not the right word, but it’s undeniable that the Shadar-Kai have a deep inherent relationship with the Raven Queen. She guides them, like pawns, and they execute her ineffable will. They are creatures partially composed of Sorrow, and as such, shadows are in their blood.

Moon Elves. Star Elves, Mithrali. The Mithrali take their name from the Elvish myth that these Astral dwellers were the first to pull mithril from the motes they settled. The Moon Elves are filled with a childlike sense of wonder with all that exists outside of their Astral demesne, and since they’ve been isolated from the Elvish zeitgeist and cultural attitudes, they have few qualms with cultural (and genetic) transfer. Most half-elves carry traces of the rainbow-braided and lavender-skinned Star Elves in their blood.

Gold Elves. Mountain Elves, Shimmerglints. Their skin is wrought from precious metals and irons, their unblinking eyes glimmering like gems. A Shimerglint is a walking masterpiece, halfway between biologic artifice and construct. The secret to carving these beautiful denizens of the mountains is well lost to time, so a Shimmerglint is a rare and breathtaking sight indeed. The Mountain Elves are favorites of the Dwarves, being “tolerable companions” instead of “pitiful paper-wills like the rest o’ your lot”.

Pale Elves. Pallid Elves, Painborn. Any Elf who undergoes great tragedy or who live miserable or shadow-touched lives will over time turn into a Pale Elf. Bloodlines of Pale Elves exist in places suffused by shadow or evil, like the barony of Visloch. Their snow white skin and hair betray their pain. Pity the Pallid Elvish child of parents without the mark of the Painborn…

Dark Elves. Demon Elves, Drow. Skin painted dark by the caverns they hid in, the Drow were cursed by Aarnatho when the first of the Matron Mothers turned to the worship of Lolth. Not all Dark Elves are evil, in fact, the Drow of Aaranumbral are a notable exception, but the Matron Mother’s skill in propaganda and societal control result in generation after generation of Dark Elvish children to despise the light and worship the Mother of Spiders in brutal sacrifice. A surface-born Drow and an Underdark-born Drow are very different people…

Dusk Elves. Corpse Elves, Baelnorn. An elf who exceeds a century of living begins to break down. While their mind remains as capable as ever, their body becomes a walking corpse, becoming harder and harder to sustain until all motor function shuts down around 1500, leaving crypts full of barely-living Dusk Elves being waited on by clergy of Barathari. Almost every elvish settlement has at least one Dusk Elf, and their word is treated as sacred. That is, before the madness sets in.

Sea Elves don’t exist. Play an Oceanborn like everyone else.