Elves of Arton

[Tvtyrant]

The Elves of Arton show passing similarity to the elves of other worlds, but are in fact the descendants of a trapped group of Fey. Eons ago they invaded Arton on a point of honor opaque even to the modern EoA, and found their forms quickly degenerated on the world.

Many fled back to the Feywilds, but the remnant used the last of their otherworldly magic and bound themselves to Arton in a cycle which would protect them from further degeneration. This transformed their original bodies into souls, and created new lesser bodies for these to inhabit. As a result of this schism of body and soul, EoA can not reproduce as mortals. Instead when one dies their soul is reincarnated into the body of another Elf, who thereby becomes pregnant. The Elves number roughly one million at all times, reproducing in litters if there is many deaths or rarely in times of peace and plenty.

All Elves of Arton are biologically female while pregnant and nursing, and androgynous while living their normal lives. They have three personalities which their society treats much like a gender, and the individual is placed in based on their personality before the age of 14 (when they begin to remember their hundreds of previous lives.)

EoA live the same lifespan as an average human. They are incapable of seeing their previous lives until age 14, at which time they retain their current bodies' personality but remember the lives before this one over the course of 20 years. By age 40 they are in effect hundreds of years old, although their personalities are vastly different between lives as well as their roles. An old elf has lived lives as a weaver, a warrior, a mage, a carpenter and a farmer but only luck allows them to build on their old class. Mortal races are kept unaware of the nature of Elven souls and society, it is a foundational secret.

The castes of the Elves:

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Austere are melancholy, slow to laugh, and raised to maintain the order and safety of elven society. They are often Wizards, paladins, and Monks. They can be lawful or neutral in personal disposition, but are raised to believe their role is as the keepers of their less reliable sisters. Austere wear tight fitting clothes and cover the majority of their bodies in public, exposing their skin leads others to see them as flighty and unreliable. Austere crafts are considered inferior to those of Opulents or Tempereds, and they are encouraged to be militant or scholarly.

Opulent are giddy, emotional, and flighty. They are raised to believe their role in elven societies is to produce art and culture. They are often Bards, Druids or Rogues. They are chaotic or neutral in personal disposition, and are encouraged to act chaotically and selfishly. Opulents wear loose fitting sheer clothes, designed without sleeves to allow them to play instruments or craft goods unencumbered. A covered arm on an Opulent is a sign of laziness and a lack of creative focus. Opulents are largely blocked from religious or political positions, being too flighty and emotional.

Tempered are grounded, earthy, and accommodating. They are raised to provide Elven society with its laborers and grunts. A Tempered is often a Fighter, Barbarian, or Cleric. They are raised to be neutral and balance the needs of their siblings; they take orders from them or act as soothing influences to prevent them from making mistakes. Tempered wear utilitarian clothes, breaches and tunics or simple robes, but in bright colors to signify their separation from the Austere. A Tempered with long hair is considered vain and insubordinate. Tempered are blocked from scholarly roles as scholars guide society using intelligence, while Tempered are relied on for their wisdom.

Demi-Elves:

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Elves are physically human with pointed ears and a lack of secondary sex characteristics. As a result they can reproduce with humans; their children have human souls in every case and are in fact simply pointed eared humans. This means that male "elves" seem to exist to other species, but these are invariably humans with elven ancestors and are not considered elven in any way by elvish society. Humans have difficulty distinguishing between elves and demi-elves, as the pointed ears are a dominant trait and there are far more demi-elves than true elves.

Many Demi-Elves hate their elven relatives in a way no human can, and the most viciously anti-elven wars were waged by Demi-Elven nations.

Elven Factions

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The Elves cannot control which individual will carry their reincarnated soul when they die, and so wars between elven factions are rare. Individuals would be warring with themselves in a generation or two, and having memories of each other elf in existence makes personal feuds common but wars rare. There are three factions large enough to be noticeable, the others are very small enclaves within other societies.

The Isolationist Faction, known as the Elves of Dryant, have moved several times to ever more remote and dangerous wildernesses in order to avoid relations with outsiders. They seek to reproduce the Feywild on Arton, crafting the woods around them with dedicated pruning and breeding to appear like their ancestral memories. Elves that tire of the outside world often flock to the Isolationists, a few lifetimes as an Isolationist often lift the exhaustion of immortality and then they return to the outside world. This is the largest and most concentrated faction, 400,000.

The Immersive Faction is an integrative faction which sees Humans as the perfect way to dispense with the drudgery of everyday life. Every elf is immortal and so has hundreds of years of experience; why waste that farming when humans can do the drudge work while they perfect laws, magic, culture and religion? Supremacist factions are the most common for other races to see, and appear haughty but willing to work with their larger partners. They can be found in groups of 10-20 in courts, colleges and churches across the world. This is the most seen faction and second largest, 300,000.

The Supremacist Faction is a small empire ruled by elves directly. They agree with both the Isolationists and the Immersives, but seek to combine them by creating a Fey Empire which will let them live life like the Fey Wild but better. The Supremacists have 200,000 Elves, and have gone through periods where many elves simply left them and others where they were much larger and stronger. The Supremacists are widely hated by other species, and have lost several major wars in the last few years.

The Perfectionist Faction is a sub-faction within other factions. They seek to create a spell which will allow for more true elven souls to be created, thus increasing their population and so allowing them to become a true participant in the world.

The remaining 100,000 elves are present are parts of small factions that are considered eccentric. One favors a return to the Feywild and true immortality of form, another embraces Vampirism as a way to maintain bodies much longer, etc.