Elf

Overview

Elves are long-lived people shaped by memory, lineage, and the problem of surviving more history than most people can bear. In present ELDRA, elven life is split among hidden inheritances, western courts, scattered urban communities, rural lineages, and religious traditions tied to philosophy as much as blood.

Historical note: Most elves descend from refugee communities that arrived after the loss of an earlier world. In the reconstruction age, elven memory is mostly inherited, archived, taught, and ritualized rather than personally remembered.

Appearance

Elves share an otherworldly presence, but their long lives and lineage philosophies shape them in different ways. Elven features are typically sharp and refined, with elongated ears, clear eyes, and deliberate movement. Age marks elves less through frailty than through stillness, composure, intensity, or distance.

Age and Lifespan

Elves are long-lived even by the standards of ELDRA. Most live 600–1000 years, and exceptional elders may survive longer if protected from violence, magical fracture, and political catastrophe. Elven adulthood is cultural as much as biological: an elf may be physically mature while still considered young by elders who measure responsibility across centuries.

Culture and Religion

Elven culture is shaped by time rather than urgency. Elves think in decades where others think in days, and this perspective influences every aspect of their society. Decisions are rarely made impulsively; instead, Elves observe, reflect, and wait until patterns reveal themselves. Action is taken only when the outcome is already understood.

Elves place great value on memory, continuity, and restraint. Knowledge is preserved through oral tradition, ritual practice, and personal mentorship rather than written record alone. Elders are respected not for authority, but for perspective. An Elf who has witnessed failure, loss, and change is considered wiser than one who has simply lived long.

Socially, Elves tend to be distant but deliberate. They form few bonds, yet those bonds are enduring. Promises are treated as long-term commitments rather than momentary agreements, and betrayal carries lasting consequences. To other peoples, Elves may appear aloof or emotionless, but among their own kind, subtle shifts in tone, silence, and timing carry immense meaning.

The Lineage Faiths. Elves do not have a single religion. The five Elven Lineages each correspond to a distinct religious orientation, and an elf’s lineage typically determines which tradition they participate in. Moon-Touched Elves practice the Moon Faith, venerating the moons as divine entities. Ashwood Elves practice the Wandering Way, a tradition of perpetual pilgrimage and integration with the natural world. High Elves practice the Crafted Word, treating magic as scholarship and language. Sunbound Elves practice the present Light tradition, which absorbed both surviving Sunbound rites and older refugee Light practices into a single reconstruction-age faith. Void Elves practice the Hollow Shadow, venerating emptiness, fracture, and the void itself.

The lineage faiths are distinct enough that elves of different lineages often have very different relationships with the religious life of ELDRA, even when they belong to the same community.

People-Specific Traits

Eyes of Ages. At the start of each scene, choose one enemy you can see. Beginning on the fifth round of the scene, you gain Advantage on all rolls against that enemy.

Unbroken Tempo. Once per round, after you successfully defend against an attack, you may immediately gain 1 Action Point. This Action Point must be spent before the end of your next turn. The gained Action Point cannot be stacked.

Memory of the World. Choose two distinct skills. Once per scene, after rolling one of those skills, you may replace the result with a fixed result of +3 before modifiers.

Elven Lineages

When you create an Elf character, choose one Elven Lineage.

Moon-Touched Elf

Moon-Touched Elves are attuned to memory, emotion, and celestial cycles. The loss of one moon has left their tradition permanently changed.

Appearance. Moon-Touched Elves are pale and softly luminous. Their eyes often reflect moonlight even in darkness, and many bear faint silvery markings on their skin.

Echo of Stillness. Once per scene, when you would take a Consequence, you may delay it. The Consequence is not applied until the end of the scene.

Moon-Touched Crafting Tradition

When crafting magical items, wards, or ritual objects tied to protection, memory, or mental effects, reduce the required Crafting Points by 25%, rounded down. In addition, once per ritual, you may anchor an emotional memory into the object. While carrying or using it, the bearer gains Advantage on one relevant Mental Defense or Resolve check per session.

Bearer of Old Truths. You gain Advantage on Lore (History) checks.

Ashwood Elf

Ashwood Elves value movement, awareness, and survival through change. Many are wanderers, scouts, druids, guides, or keepers of routes that official maps do not understand.

Appearance. Ashwood Elves are lean and weathered, with darker skin tones, bark-like scars, muted hair colors, and practical clothing.

Vanishing Step. Once per scene, when you successfully defend against an attack, you may immediately move up to half your movement speed without spending Action Points and without provoking reactions.

Warden of Paths. You gain Advantage on Survival and Stealth checks made in natural, ruined, or shadowed environments. You can always find a safe path through wilderness or urban ruins unless the area is magically sealed or actively altered to prevent passage.

Ashwood Crafting Tradition

When crafting weapons, armor, or tools in the field or without a permanent workshop, you suffer no penalties for lacking ideal facilities. When crafting items made primarily from wood, bone, leather, or salvaged materials, the required time is reduced by half.

High Elf

High Elves treat magic as language, scholarship, and disciplined authority. Their institutions preserve spellcraft, grammar, ritual notation, and the belief that reality can be understood through structure.

Appearance. High Elves are tall, refined, and immaculate in posture. Their eyes may glow faintly when focusing, and their clothing often incorporates sigils or arcane motifs.

Sustained Weave. Once per scene, when you cast a spell, you may declare it sustained. A sustained spell does not end when you lose concentration. Instead, it weakens:

• Damage is halved, or

• Duration is reduced by half, or

• One secondary effect is removed.

The spell continues in its weakened form until the scene ends.

Arcane Esteem. You gain Advantage on Influence and Lore checks when dealing with scholars, mages, cultists, or magical institutions. You may perform basic magical rituals without expending Mana, as long as the ritual does not cause direct harm or deal damage.

High Elf Crafting Tradition

When performing non-combat magical rituals, you may substitute Mana costs with preparation time. For every additional hour spent preparing, reduce the Mana cost by 1, minimum 0. High Elf-crafted magical items are always considered one tier more refined for purposes of detection, appraisal, or dispelling.

Sunbound Elf

Sunbound Elves reject detached inevitability. They believe long life must be shaped by decision. They often serve public religious, diplomatic, or martial roles.

Appearance. Sunbound Elves have warm skin tones, radiant eyes, and often bear golden or copper markings. Their posture is upright and commanding.

Final Certainty. Once per scene, after observing an enemy for at least two rounds, you may declare Final Certainty against them. Observing an enemy requires spending all your Action Points on observation. Your next successful attack or spell against that target ignores all armor resistances, and the target’s defend roll is made at Disadvantage. This attack cannot be redirected by reactions, but can be negated by immunities. After resolving this action, you gain one level of Exhaustion.

Voice of the Unyielding. You gain Advantage on Influence checks made to command, inspire, or issue ultimatums. Once per session, when you make a public declaration or vow, NPCs must treat it as binding intent rather than mere rhetoric.

Sunbound Crafting Tradition

Once per item crafted, you may declare its purpose aloud. When the item is used in alignment with that purpose, it gains a +1 bonus to a single relevant roll once per session. If knowingly used against its declared purpose, the item loses its special properties until reforged or ritually cleansed.

Void Elf

Void Elves carry the marks of fracture, absence, and dislocated time. Outsiders often fear them because their philosophy treats emptiness as something to study rather than something to deny.

Appearance. Void Elves may appear distorted or incomplete. Their shadows move incorrectly, their reflections lag, and their eyes may appear starless or hollow.

Fractured Presence. Once per scene, when you fail a roll, you may treat it as a success. If you do, you take a Mild Mental Consequence from the fracture forcing reality to make room for you.

Void Elf Crafting Tradition

When crafting or modifying magical items, you may incorporate unstable shadow-fragments. Such items gain one powerful additional effect, but the Game Master secretly assigns a hidden flaw or consequence tied to its use.