Elf



Elves are a long lived race that excels in magic. In the past they had huge empires that covered the High Forest, the High Moor, Chult, and much of Aglarond. However, now they have mostly left Faerûn for the isle of Evermeet. Due to their long life, elves place great value in art and music, while almost no value is placed on money or wealth. Most surface dwelling elves worship the Seldarine, though some have been known to worship Eilistraee and deites of the Faerûnian Pantheon. The drow worship the Drow Pantheon, primarily Lolth. Aquatic elves worship Deep Sashelas.

Tel'Quessir
"Tel'Quessir" is the elven word for "the people" and it is used to refer to other elves. Likewise, "N'Tel'Quess" is the elven word for "not people" and is used to refer to other races. This often gives other races the impression that elves are elitist and condescending to other races, but most elves simply see these as words with no hidden meaning or agenda.

Relationship with other races
Although the other races sometimes believe the elves to be arrogant and condescending, elves don't hold any particular hatred for any races except the drow. Elves can seem distant and unfriendly because many of the other races, such as humans and halflings, have a much shorter lifespan. It is easier for an elf to avoid contact with these races, rather than befriend individuals who will live only a small fraction of the elf's life.

Dwarves and elves generally have a different problem in forming relationships. Dwarves favour hard work whereas elves enjoy relaxation. Dwarves enjoy carving homes from the rock and engineering unswerving straight lines, while elves prefer more natural, flowing shapes. Dwarves and elves can form strong bonds of friendship, but only when both agree to overlook each other's differences.

Gnomes and elves generally get along well due to their mutual love of life, combined with the gnomes' love of fine art and illusion magic. On the other hand, halflings and elves share only a lukewarm relationship. The elven trait of eating sparingly is not welcomed in halfling society, and elves can sometimes deem a halfling's curiosity as childlike and troublesome.

Elves regard humans with both fear and respect. Humans can grasp magic and adapt to many situations incredibly fast from an elven perspective, but elves are wary of the human tendency to claim lands as their own, often regarding them as greedy. It is quite possible for strong friendship to develop between humans and elves, but it is equally possible that hostilities might arise.

History
Elves are believed to have arrived on Toril from another realm tens of thousands of millenia ago. Their first empire was created in approximately -24000 DR by the gold elves although ancient texts suggest that the elves were present on Toril at around -30000 DR which was approximately when the draconic species established their first empires.

Elves reigned on Toril in relative peace until -12000 DR when the gold Elf nation of Aryvandaar invaded the dark and green Elf nation of Miyiertar, starting the first of five Crown Wars which, in total lasted for 3000 years.

At the end of the fourth war, the Ilythiiri were banished to the Underdark, becoming drow and finally the fifth war that followed resolved matters, ending the conflicts. The elves remained at peace with each other (with, of course the exception of the drow) and the dwarves had established themselves fully.

Subraces
The main subraces of the elves are the sun elves, moon elves, wood elves and drow, who exist in far greater numbers in Faerûn than the others. Other subraces include aquatic elves, the avariel (winged elves), wild elves and star elves.

Lesser known still are the lythari, a race of elves who can shapeshift into the form of a wolf and who have many properties of lycanthropes.

While not strictly a sub-race of elves, the result of a human and elven mating is a half-elf, whereas the offspring of an elf and a tanari is a fey'ri.

Elven Death
The elven term for dying is 'passing west' and while some elves actually do travel to the western isle of Evermeet just before they die, most elves just use it as a euphemism.

Most elves are buried rather than cremated, though an elf's body is always treated in accordance with the individual elf's wishes when possible. The only exception being when an elf has been slain by some form of undead. Due to the elven reverence for life they will never willingly permit their dead to rise as evil undead. To avoid this their bodies are cremated to prevent their "resurrection" as undead. If an elf who has reached the extent of their natural life wishes to live on there are four other options to dying.

Baelnorn
Experienced spellcasters can turn themselves into Baelnorn before they die. These good elven liches swear to protect their clan and the clan's territory until their phylacteries are destroyed. However, before the choice is made the elders of the clan must all agree to grant the spellcaster permission to become one, although on rare occasions the Seldarine themselves have granted their permission for an elf to become one.

Reverend Ones
Warriors can petition priests of Corellon or Labelas to allow them to become Reverend Ones. These fighters still die and go to Arvandor but whenever an Elven nation is under threat they return to Toril to protect that nation. These spirits spend little, if any, time enjoying their afterlives, instead they nearly continually hone their skills of the battlefield.

Treants
Elves more inclined towards nature can choose to be buried under the roots of a tree in Cormanthor and subject to a particular blessing of either High Magic or druidic magic. They are then transformed into a Treant. Female Elves can also choose to transform themselves into either a dryad or a nymph when they die through a ritual. These reincarnated Elves are then tied forever to the place where the ritual was performed.