Elves have distinct pointed ears and are generally smooth-faced and skinned, having no body hair. They are longer-lived than other kin, sometimes reaching ages around 600 years. Elves have no need to sleep, but instead go into a state of cognizant trance marked with an immersion in memory or meditation.
Elf Traits
Creature Type: Humanoid
Size: Medium (about 5–6 feet tall)
Speed: 30 feet
As an Elf, you have these special traits.
Darkvision. You have Darkvision with a range of 60 feet.
Fey Ancestry. You have Advantage on saving throws you make to avoid or end the Charmed condition.
Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Insight, Perception, or Survival skill.
Trance. You don’t need to sleep, and magic can’t put you to sleep. You can finish a Long Rest in 4 hours if you spend those hours in a trancelike meditation, during which you retain consciousness.
Elven Lineage. You are part of a lineage that grants you supernatural abilities. Choose a lineage from the Elven Lineages table. You gain the level 1 benefit of that lineage.
When you reach character levels 3 and 5, you learn a higher-level spell, as shown on the table. You always have that spell prepared. You can cast it once without a spell slot, and you regain the ability to cast it in that way when you finish a Long Rest. You can also cast the spell using any spell slots you have of the appropriate level.
| Lineage | Level 1 | Level 3 | Level 5 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wood Elf | Your Speed increases to 35 feet. You also know the Druidcraft cantrip. | Longstrider | Pass without Trace |
| Water Elf | You have a swimming speed equal to your walking speed. You also know the Ray of Frost cantrip. | Create or Destroy Water | Blur |
| Plains Elf | Your Speed increases to 35 feet. You also know the Elementalism cantrip. | Expeditious Retreat | Gust of Wind |
| Civic Elf | You know the Prestidigitation cantrip. Whenever you finish a Long Rest, you can replace that cantrip with a different cantrip from the Wizard spell list. | Detect Magic | Misty Step |
| Mycelium Elf | You have advantage on saving throws against poison and resistance to poison damage. You also know the Poison Spray cantrip. | False Life | Ray of Enfeeblement |
Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma is your spellcasting ability for the spells you cast with this trait (choose the ability when you select the lineage).
Elven Context
The environment into which an elf is born is highly influential on their life. At birth, an elf’s life-force forms a bond with the surrounding environment. Known as the elf’s “Rooting,” this bond is a symbiotic sharing of magical forces between elf and environment. It is elven instinct to defend the ecosystem in which they are Rooted. Among most elf cultures, there is a deep tradition of becoming guardians of their Rooting and, sometimes, assigning the Rooting a spiritual or religious aspect.
When an elf is enveloped by their Rooting, their Rooting lends them the benefits of long life and a magical source unavailable to other kin. The ecosystem in which the elf is Rooted also gains benefit in the form of a greater life-energy. A forest Rooted to many elves can produce trees that soar like skyscrapers, or a marsh might have colossal lotus pads and cavern-like networks of mangrove roots. The capital of the Emerald Empire, Ma Rida, itself, is a city built atop the Rootings of thousands of elves.
Both the elf and the ecosystem gain from the relationship. It may seem that elves might find little reason to leave their ecosystem of birth, but nothing could be further from the truth. Whether it be stories of the Great Beyond, answers to the Unknown, love for another person, or even spreading of their home ecosystem, it is common for an elf to leave home to put down roots elsewhere.
But all elves are cognizant that distance weakens their Rooting. Periodic pilgrimmages are enough to ensure a renewal. However, if a Rooting is neglected for decades, the elf may find they become less elf and more human, and their birth ecosystem becomes that much less than it was.
Elven History
Some say elves were the first of the kin, but this has more to do with their long collective memory than anything else. Along the Sunfall Coast, they were once the lords of the Emerald Empire, but a great plague that began with the invasion of the northern Mammoth People, left the empire wreaked and the elf population decimated.
Today, the majority of elves along the Sunfall Coast come from immigrant families, hailing from the Tír Glaeith Islands beyond the Saltwash Sea, where elves are still the dominant kin.