Written by Icicella Coldex
[Races Main] [General Races] [Elves] [Nymphs] [Elementals] [Spirits] [Ethereality] [Vampires] [Undead] [Fairies] [Werefolk] [Trolls & Goblins] [Angels] [Demons] [Golems]
It is a little known fact that Elves come in many, many different races. Although there are slight relations in genus, they are as related to each other as tigers are to housecats. They share few physical characteristics, save for the rudimentary pointed ears.
Any species with no asterisk next to its name is based on traditional myth or folklore.
* These species have been created in books or movies etc or by people outside of Lan Mesinsure.
** These species were created for the Atlantis series by Lan Mesinsure staff.
High Elves: High Elves are, sadly, extinct. High Elves looked like humans with pointed ears and endless wisdom and cunning. They were a highly evolved form of elf, and at the peak of their society, could very well have taken over the world. But they chose not to. They became artisans, and led relaxed and peaceful lives in a huge metropolitan city in a clearing in the middle of a massive European forest. They created beautiful works of art and wondrous novellas. A great tragedy befell the world when a large clan of Gargoyles raided and pillaged the defenseless city and wiped out all the High Elves. They were an awful tragedy that the Earth itself mourns over. If any High Elves remain, they keep secluded and hidden.
Wood Elves: Wood Elves are the classic interpretation of the Elven kind. Wood Elves look like humans, but shorter. Wood Elves live true to their name. They are forest-dwellers, and possess articulate knowledge of lumber and how to use and conserve it ecologically. Wood Elves live in small villages made of a complex network of treehouses. Wood Elves have had a long-standing alliance with the Sylvan and share their science and sorcery with their Elven brethren. Wood Elves can be found in the temperate regions of North America and Europe. They prefer boreal forests.
Water Elves
: Water Elves are amphibious creatures. Sometimes confused with the amphibious merpeople, Water Elves have blue skin and hair, if that's what you want to call it, although it seems to be a scaly cape sprouting from their scalps. Water Elves possess gills and so, can function under water, and quite well on land, with a few moments of transitional discomfort. Water Elves have had a long-standing alliance with the Pacific Kingdom of the Merpeople for countless generations, and it was the Water Elves who initially introduced the Merpeople into the Alliance. Although mainly water-dwellers, Water Elves do in fact have coastal villages. Water Elves can be found all over the world, but concentrations are around the Coral Palace, the Atlantic, and the east coast of Canada and USA.Desert Elves: Desert Elves stand at an average of around five feet, and have light brown skin and hair, making them virtually indistinguishable from the sand dunes which flood their native lands. Desert Elves are a biological miracle in water conservation, and can go several months, in radical cases a year, without water at all. However, this situation rarely arises. Uniquely in the history of Desert Elves has anyone ever died of dehydration. Desert Elves have loosely a tribal system, and are for the most part highly nomadic, and so have become the masters of developing camps that are quick to set up and take down and easy to carry. They are masters of camouflage, and can blend into the dunes of their home with little effort. Desert Elves are found in Africa and Australia.
The Sylvan: Apprentices to the High Elves, the Sylvan resemble humans with silver hair and glittering skin around the eyes. The Sylvan were not very eager to join the Alliance when they learned it was primarily run by Gargoyles, the race who destroyed their mentors. The Sylvan have a magical society, and have mastered the sorcery of the forest, knowledge that their longtime allies, the Wood Elves, were only too eager to accept. The Sylvan are master craftsmen, and are "one with the forest," in that they can understand the thoughts of trees. Sylvan are masters of the bow, and their accuracy and speed is only rivaled by the Dryads. They have never cut down a full, living tree. The Sylvan exist primarily in Europe.
** Grass Elves: Grass Elves don't differ much from Wood Elves, physically, save for the always bright green eyes of their race, but have the uncanny ability to burrow. Grass Elves were at one time at the bottom of their proverbial food chain, and so developed defensive mechanisms rather than offensive ones. Burrowing is this mechanism. Grass Elves can quickly launch themselves into the ground and remain hidden for a large amount of time. Later in evolution, Grass Elves began to attack prey from these burrows. Grass Elves sleep in burrows, and so became nomadic in early times. Grass Elves exist in temperate regions of North America and Asia.
* Dark Elves: Dark Elves are the secretive sect of Elves with grey skin, hair, and dull grey clothes. The only thing that isn't grey is their eerily contrasting bright red eyes. Dark Elves have a society which revolves around "dark sorcery." Precisely what differs "dark" from "light" sorcery is yet to be discovered, as many of the spell forms they practice are used by the sorcerers of Atlantis. Dark Elves have been known as practitioners of deep necromancy, far from the minor dabbling of speaking with the dead, and are master summoners. Dark Elves live in various swampy areas in Europe.
** Winged Elves: The cunning and dangerous Winged Elves have pale skin, and the females have crimson wings sprouting from their backs. The men have odd attacking limbs with serrated edges. Not much is known of the Winged Elves, only that they are deadly and hateful towards anyone who aren't their own. Winged Elves travel in massive flocks from place to place, pillaging and wreaking chaos. They are not to be trusted.
Snow Elves: Snow Elves are short, and have an uncanny tolerance for cold, as well as white skin and hair, making them variably indistinguishable from the slopes of their native land. When they move to temperate regions however, their skin will take on a light shade of blue, purple, or green. Snow Elves mastered the art of tobogganing and dog-sledding early on in their history, and have honed their skills of such maneuverability. Snow Elves, earlier this century, actually built the first snowmobile, which is on display at one of their museums. Of course, their models runs off of snow. Snow Elves joined the Alliance because they were commonly mistaken for Ice Witches of Malkedor by the murderous Pyres. Snow Elves are very cheerful and friendly and many villages can be found in parts of Peru, China, Canada, and Russia.
The Drow: The Drow are a highly secluded race of Elves with tanned skin and white hair. The Drow are a warrior race, and it is by reputation that they do not ally with anyone they know of. Also, the Drow are very, very sexist, and no women have any place outside of their homes, or in their negotiations, which made interacting with them particularly difficult for Atlantis, as well as many of the Drow's Elven brethren. Although they bear no distinct animosity towards the Alliance, they absolutely refuse to join.
Mountain Elves: Mountain Elves are the epitome of what everyone thinks Elves are not. Male Mountain Elves can grow to eight feet tall, and their strength excels that of even the mighty gargoyle. Female Mountain Elves still tower over humans at well over six-feet, and are extremely quick and agile. Paired together, this force is a deadly combination to enemies of the Mountain Elves. The Mountain Elves exist as an Empire, and have an Emperor who leads all colonies all over the world. They all have green pigmentation, and live in large caves and caverns in the mountains they dwell in. Mountain Elves are primarily situated in the Himalayans in Asia, the Rocky Mountains in North America, and the Andes in Chile.
** Fire Elves: Fire Elves have red skin and black hair. Fire Elves have incredible tolerance for heat, as heat is what primarily makes up their native homes. Fire Elves, contrary to popular belief, do not have any form of pyrokinesis in their biology. Fire Elves live in subterranean caverns built deep under the earth, and whole villages will exist in these caverns, many surrounded by rivers of lava. It is very important to note that Fire Elves are not Fire Nymphs, and Fire Elves will quite certainly die if thrown into a volcano. Fire Elves are all over the world, except for arctic regions.
Jungle Elves: Jungle Elves usually have fair hair and violet eyes, and are one of the less numerous Elven races. Jungle Elf society revolves around Shamanistic beliefs and many Jungle Elves are seers and fortune tellers and the like. Jungle Elves are excellent astrologers, meteorologists, and botanists. Many potions and elixirs have come from Jungle Elves, as a result of the wide variety of flora and fauna at their disposal. Jungle Elves live in complex villages mounted in the canopy of the rainforests and jungles they inhabit. Jungle Elves can be found in Guatemala, India, and Brazil.