"We plant trees we will see grown. Humans plant trees for their grandchildren. I have never decided which of us is the more patient." — attributed to an elder of Sylvaris
Elves live for centuries, and they think in centuries. Where humans rush, elves wait, and they often outlast both the problem and the people who caused it. That long view makes them patient, deliberate and slow to forgive, since an elf may still remember a wrong that every human involved has long since forgotten.
Names
Elves carry a personal name and a family name. Old noble houses join the two with a word such as "Ru," as in Elarion Ru Sarion, and the joining word marks a lineage of long standing. Most elves instead carry an earned name, one their family became known by for a craft, a song or a deed, as in Elowen Thornsinger. Elves raised outside elven lands often take on the naming customs of their homeland.
Elves by Kind and Homeland
- High elves (Sylvaris, Aetheria): artists, mages and keepers of old traditions. In Aetheria they are artistic elites and often serve as senators.
- Sea elves (Tidegate, Aetheria): navigators as at home on the water as on land, tied to canal and sea trade.
- Eladrin (Aetheria): mystics touched by the fey, whose moods shift with the seasons.
- Astral elves (Sanctara): rare, otherworldly scholars who study the Aetheric mists.
- Drow (Ravus Empire): raised in the Empire's factory-cities and shaped by its harsh, militarised ways.