Earthdawn Revisited - Elves

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Appearance:
Elves grow to an average height of 6 feet 3 inches, and weigh an average 150 pounds. Elven facial features appear completely symmetrical, often flawless, and many of the other races of Barsaive find elves attractive. Elven skin colour varies wildly by tribe and region, but the most common are pure white, pink, tan, brown, and midnight black. Elves with skin of a pale green or iridescent, pearly colour called cetharel exist, but remain rare. Elves produce sparse body hair, but grow luxuriant facial and head hair, often in uncommon colours. In addition to white, blond, brown, and black, naturally occurring violet, blue, and even metallic colours have been seen.

Elves have elongated, sharply pointed ears and move with unmatched grace, but the slight build that makes that gracefulness possible also makes them vulnerable to injury. They have long legs for their height. Elves reach physical maturity in their twenties, and enjoy a natural life span of 300 years. Some records show individuals living up to 400 years. Legends speak of some elves rumoured to live even longer, perhaps even being immortal.

Mentality:
All Elves in Barsaive once held loyalty to a single monarch, who spoke for all elven-kind. However just before the scourge there was a schism with many elves retreating North to the area now known as the Blood Wood and the remainder seeking shelter within the settlements of other races with only a few making their own kaers. The Elves of the Blood Wood are famously isolationist and those venturing into the Blood Wood rarely return.

Elves give their primary loyalty to their family, rather than the tribe or nation, and consider blood ties the most binding relationship of their lives. Elves prefer to establish and live in small communities, and elven cities generally consist of a loose confederation of villages grouped into neighborhoods. Elves may also live in human or dwarf settlements, but rarely feel anything more than a congenial friendship for such a community.

Names:
Elven Surnames are never changed to adapt to the local tongue. They are always carefully pronounced in the original Sperethiel (Elven) tongue, even by Elves who have lived among dwarves their entire lives and don't speak their ancestral tongue. These are the names of prominent ancestors who themselves tended to be named for natural phenomenon. Waterfalls, stars, rivers, lakes, mountains, trees and so on. In practical terms their surnames are multisyllabic with lots of vowel sounds.

Background:
Elves prefer living in wilderness areas. Their height generally makes underground settings uncomfortable, and may experience a kind of claustrophobia in human or dwarf settlements.

Mechanics:

 * Agile: Start with D6 Agility instead of D4.
 * Low light vision: Can see in low light environments without penalty
 * Frail: -1 Toughness

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