Elf

Elf

(Creature)

Type

Humanoid
(elf)

CR

By class level

Environment

Any

Alignment

LG	NG	CG
LN	N	CN
LE	NE	CE

Adjective

elven

Images of elves

Source: Core Rulebook, pg(s). 507

More information about this subject might be available on PathfinderWiki.

Elves are a race of pointy-eared, long-lived, xenophobic humanoids native to Sovyrian, one of four continents of Castrovel. A significant population of elves also lived on Golarion before its disappearance during the Gap.

Appearance

Elves are lithe humanoids whose most distinctive features are long pointed ears and giant pupils that make their eyes look monochromatic. Thanks to their bond to nature, elves tend to subtly adapt the colours of their surroundings over years. Most elves stand 5-1/2 to 6-1/2 feet tall and weigh 100–150 pounds.

History

In their early history, elves discovered a series of unfathomably ancient portals, made by unknown builders, which led to other planets in the Golarion system. Driven by curiosity and an urge to explore, elves visited and settled on the more habitable planets like Akiton, Verces, Triaxus and especially Golarion.

The secrets of the portals' function were discovered by Candlaron the Sculptor, who managed to build his own portals called aiudara. The most important aiudara hub was Telasia, which connected most of the aiudara that the elves constructed all across Castrovel. On Golarion, which had diverse biomes and was similar to Castrovel in gravity and atmosphere, the elves established an empire  as big as Sovyrian itself, while the portal to Golarion became particularly important and the surrounding city El became the elven capital.

With the aid of the aiudara network, roads became obsolete, interplanetary travel happened every day, information spread almost instantly, and even the most distant outposts can easuly be resupplied. While Sovyrian and Kyonin remained their seats of power, the elves settled countless environments and met numerous peoples, diversifying their appearance and cultures. One such culture was the Oatia scholar-priests, who left Sovyrian for Ukulam, where they established the city of Loskialua, lived a life of cosmic contemplation, and accomplished great breakthroughs in astronomy. When the Oatia fractured, the different sects abandoned Loskialua for different worlds, closer to the sites they wished to study. As this process repeated countless times, the elves spread to distant worlds like Astevint, Preluria, the Tabori Cluster and Weydana-4.

The Golden Age of the ancient elves came to an end when Earthfall  devastated Golarion, resulting in a refugee crisis in Sovyrian, especially as most elves felt safer there instead of fleeing to other places across Castrovel. Soon after, they were forced to leave Triaxus by draconic conquests, and entire communities on Akiton mysteriously vanished alongside the rescue parties sent to investigate their fates. In order to protect Sovyrian from Akiton's dangers, the elves had to destroy many Akitonian aiudara, which brought them great pain, as the knowledge to build them had been forgotten for millennia. When they returned to Golarion millennia after Earthfall, they found that humans, among others, had moved in during their absence, and were forced to cede great swathes of territory to them, while some holdings were locked behind aiudara whose keys were lost.

The development of space travel brought many outsiders to elven lands, while elves enjoyed visiting foreign lands but disliked foreigners visiting theirs. Most of the time, they were cautious and protective of their lands; some went further and restricted outsiders to their outskirts. A small minority called Ivaria embraced interstellar travel and built a starship caravan that toured the galaxy.

In the Pact Worlds system, elves were the race hit hardest by the memory-erasing effects of the Gap. The sudden disappearance of Golarion and its elven population, estimated to be at least half of the whole species, was devastating, for almost every elf knew someone who vanished. Those who settled on other worlds forgot their motivations and purposes; most fell into chaos and were abandoned, while the rest are still trying to identify their purpose and remember who might have been their kin. One such location is the small colonies on Triaxus; the inhabitants suspect that they cut ties with their home but do not recall why, and collectively raised their half-elf progeny, who have long since died. Other settlements include the moons of Liavara and Bretheda, the Marixah Republic and Daimalko.

As the generations went by and the new members of the shorter-lived races, who weren't personally affected by it, moved on from the Gap, the elves lived on, broken and confused by the gaps in their memories. When piecing together pre-Gap history, elven leaders discovered that their race were betrayed by another during the Gap, yet the true culprit can never be pointed out.

The angry elves across the system gathered in their ancestral homeland of Sovyrian and shut themselves off from outsiders, determined to never again be caught unaware. This sudden flood of refugees led to chaos, upheaval and resentment among many families on Sovyrian.

Ecology

Elves mature at 100 and naturally live up to 750 years.

Society

Elves are aloof, xenophobic and little understood by other races. Those that do not live in Sovyrian inhabit predominantly elven communities elsewhere. Elven starships almost always carry all-elf crews, who consider interacting and trading with inferior races a necessary evil and try to do so as little as possible; this stigma is not extended to half-elves, who are still accepted as Sovyrian citizens and serve as liaisons between elves and outsiders. The rare elves that live among other races are called Forlorn, and tend toward melancholy because of the extraordinary imbalance in life expectancy between them and their adopted families. The Forlorn are often treated with a mixture of pity and mistrust by other elves.

Elves are whimsical and passionate among themselves but cold and unyielding towards outsiders, resolutely guarding the shores of Sovyrian. Among those without elven blood, only gnomes are allowed to live among them due to an ancient arrangement. Elves uncomfortable when interacting with outsiders are allowed to wear masks to hide their personal identity and transfer any dishonour to the masks; this practice is especially popular in official businesses outside Sovyrian, as it helps diplomats and soldiers present a unified elven state.

Elves have embraced technology while keeping their traditional magical affinity, usually becoming mystics, operatives or technomancers. Many of the Pact Worlds system's strongest spellcasters are elves. Elven adventurers usually do so to recover lost magical lore or strengthen Sovyrian's strength.

Elves are ruled by the High Families of El, who focus on defence and economic security, and impose strict export quotas on unique magical technology, Sovyrian's chief export, to ensure that elven goods remain rare and expensive. Individual settlements are allowed to self-govern, and many elves enjoy great freedom.

Elves despise their drow cousins. While the Sovyrian government tries to maintain its neutrality, supposedly-rogue elven terrorists have occasionally assaulted Apostae to 'cleanse the corruption', leading to sanctions from the Pact Council.