Elf

Elf Feats
Elf Heritages
Medium Elf Humanoid

A long-lived and graceful people, elves are wanderers among the stars, forever seeking a lost home while clinging to the ancient traditions of art, magic, and honor that define them.

The Elves of the Core Worlds are a displaced people, having long ago abandoned Riadus in a grand exodus to find their true, forgotten homeworld. Their exodus ended not with a homecoming but with the quiet realization that their destination was lost to time, leaving them adrift. Now, they reside within the Chrysanthemum Fleet, a nomadic nation of gargantuan, city-sized starships that drifts through the cosmos. Here, they strive to retain their ancient traditions under a wandering feudal monarchy, led by the Twilight Emperor who is both sovereign and high priest of a dwindling faith. Their society, a complex feudal system reborn out of necessity, is often seen by other ancestries as tragic, revered, and aloof, their endless search having instilled in them a deep melancholy and patience that shorter-lived peoples can’t fully comprehend.

You Might…
  • Carefully curate your relationships, knowing you will likely outlive most of your companions.
  • Adopt specialized or obscure interests, dedicating decades or even centuries to mastering them.
  • Act with a formal sense of honor and duty, viewing your actions as a reflection of your people.
Others Probably…
  • Focus on your graceful appearance, either admiring it or seeing you as physically fragile.
  • Worry that you are privately judging them, mistaking your natural reserve for condescension.
  • Believe you possess otherworldly powers and ancient, forgotten knowledge.

Physical Description

Elves are slender, lithe humanoids, possessing a fragile grace that is accentuated by their long features and sharply pointed ears. Their physical traits can subtly adapt to their environment over years or decades. Most elves living aboard the Fleet have skin as pale as porcelain or alabaster, with dark hair and eyes that are nearly black. They love to alter their appearances with cosmetics; it is common for elves of all genders to style their characteristically long hair in elaborate fashions, dye it vibrant colors, and use makeup to accentuate their features. Elves living outside the Fleet tend to have less pale skin and a greater variety of hair and eye colors, often shifting to shades more common among the native populations they live with. Elves reach adolescence around the age of 30 and physical maturity near 60, but are often not considered true adults by their peers until they are 80 or 100 years old.

Society

Elven society aboard the Chrysanthemum Fleet is structured by Seikando, a rigid code of honor, obligation, and privilege that dictates the life of every elf. Though largely abandoned before their exodus, this feudal system was reinstated out of necessity to maintain order and function within the nomadic nation. Society is broadly divided into three primary castes, with other specialized groups existing outside the main hierarchy.

At the top of this hierarchy is the Meiyo, or Honorable Caste, the privileged ruling class composed of warriors, artists, and priests who are expected to uphold Seikando’s tenets to the highest degree. The Meiyo is subdivided into four distinct classes. The Bushi are the noble warriors in direct service to a lord or the Twilight Emperor, possessing the authority to punish commoners but bound by honor to formally challenge any peer. Supporting them are the Ashigaru, a wider warrior class serving as soldiers, law enforcement, and a reserve force in times of war, held to the same exacting standards of honor. Elves value art so highly that the Geinin, or artist class, are granted immunities from the authority of the warrior classes and enjoy freedoms of expression forbidden to others. Finally, the Kanbei form the priestly class, a group that includes not only clerics but also doctors, scientists, and other learned intellectuals; those who can wield divine magic are afforded the same status as the Bushi.

Below the Meiyo are the Chonin, the townsfolk caste of merchants and landowners. They are a step above commoners and have limited protections under Seikando to ensure they can perform their duties, but they are often viewed with less respect than the Meiyo. At the bottom of the main hierarchy are the Hekimin, the common laborers who make up the bulk of the population. They have no formal rights under Seikando and live by the authority of their local lord, but in practice, valued Hekimin are often well-treated and protected. Operating outside this structure are the Shugo, the appointed bureaucrats and governors who manage the Fleet’s daily operations, and the Kasai, an outcast class of “unclean” workers who perform sanitation and other vital but dishonorable tasks, expected to remain unseen and unheard.

Language

The elven language, Elven, is a complex and nuanced tongue with a flowing, musical cadence. It has an extensive vocabulary for art, magic, astronomy, and philosophy. Most Fleet elves also speak Common to interact with other ancestries, but they consider their own language a vital part of their cultural identity.

Names

Elves of the privileged castes, such as artists, warriors, or nobles, possess both a high name and a low name. The high name is their family or clan name, used as a formal address. The low name is their personal name, given at birth. Elves of lower castes typically have only a low name.

Example Low Names: Aoi, Haru, Hikari, Izumi, Kaede, Kaito, Natsumi, Ren, Shizuka, Sora.

Example High Names: Itou, Nakano, Satoro, Suzaki, Takanashi, Tanako, Wataru, Yamato.

Beliefs

The elven faith, known as Akasoga, is a dwindling and melancholic philosophy centered on the memory of their lost sun goddess, Triceal. Legends claim she sacrificed herself to save Reality during the ancient Chaos Wars, an act that saved the universe but left her people spiritually adrift. With their goddess gone, the faith has transformed into a code of conduct that blends reverence for ancestors, a duty to the state and one’s superiors, and a deep, personal quest for inner purity and enlightenment. The Twilight Emperor serves as a living link to their divine past and the ultimate arbiter of the faith’s tenets. They act with honor not just for social standing, but as a form of spiritual worship in memory of their goddess’s ultimate sacrifice.

Popular Edicts: act with honor, accept any challenge, demonstrate your superiority to a rival.

Popular Anathema: show disrespect to your family or superiors, betray a friend.

ELF MECHANICS

Hit Points

6

Size

Medium

Speed

30 feet

Attribute Boosts

Dexterity, Intelligence

Attribute Flaw

Constitution

Languages
  • Estrali
  • Common
  • Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it’s positive). Choose from Aklo, Disirean, Draconic, Sylvan, Verdantic, and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).
Low-Light Vision

You can see in dim light as though it were bright light, and you ignore the concealed condition due to dim light.

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