A Brief Encyclopedia of the Chronicles of Sacrifice

Elves

Elves look nearly the same as humans, the primary difference being the pointed ears. They have the same body types, the same health issues and standards, and the same general variances. Where the subgroups differ most will often involve skin, hair, eyes, and anything else with color. The shape is the same, but the shade always differs.

Long ago, the precursor to elves was separated from the precursor to humans and the two groups grew separately for a long time. It is believed that in those times, they could reproduce together, though that time has long since faded, as magical influence on genetic differences increased over time and created a separation between races. For this reason, there are no elf-human hybrids, though there are plenty who have tried. These relationships, if they make it to marriage, tend to end in divorce, as the couple cannot conceive and it drives a wedge in the relationship.

There are three major types of elves, with variations and combinations existing in between. They are as follows:

1. Botanik: "Forest Elves"; These elves, after the Great Separation, further split from the others when they went to live in the forests of their lands and be closer to nature. Over time, they came to have darker skin of a brown tint, like tree bark, with green tints or patches added for camouflage. These elves built many of the forest cities around the world, using environment-friendly techniques to prevent monsters from noticing or attacking. Their eye colors will typically vary between green, brown, and gray, and their nails and/or teeth will appear as tree bark.

2. Juwel: "Gem Elves"; These elves immediately went to start building great cities, beginning the process of mining ore to create buildings and walls. As they did this, they would often find gem deposits, such as rubies, sapphires, topaz, emeralds, diamonds, and more. The magical connection the land had came to influence their appearance over time, making their nails, teeth, and eyes all appear like the different gems they mined. Their skin has a generally gray tone like the stone of their cities.

3. Kosmich: "Cosmic Elves"; Though they are called cosmic, they are not believed to actually be connected to the newly discovered magical field, and instead have some connection to the sky and possibly wind. They got this name from the way their hair, nails, and eyes are able to resemble the uninterrupted night sky; deep shades of blue, purple, even green, and sparkling glints like the stars above, the galaxies out of reach save for these rare few with these traits. They have a light blue tint to the skin that all have, though the cosmic traits are actually fairly uncommon, as ancient beliefs held them special and people tried to breed them. The traits, however, were recessive, and many were lost over time. Most societies gave up trying to force the traits out. It is believed that these appearances came from the magical connection of the mountaintops these elves inhabited, giving them an appearance like the night sky they strove ever so much to be near.

Elves tend to stay where they are from, resulting in more elf-dominated populations, though they welcome humans all the same. They participate in every aspect of regular society, interacting with others in their pursuits as one might expect. While they have a more flashy appearance compared to humans, the normalcy of it has resulted in few caring enough to notice.