Desert Elves are a tough people of a painful world, living in the world but not entirely part of it. They live in places of arid climate, in the roughness of the mountains, but mostly in deserts. Desert elves are a nomadic people that live in tight-knit communities. Desert Elves love strength and safety, art and artistry, music and poetry, and the tasteful things of the world.
Slender and Tough
Desert elves share the typical height and weight but differ from other elves by having unusually dark, olive skin. Their eyes are pools of liquid bronze or silver and their hair ranges earthy browns and auburn to black and have no facial and little body hair. In line with their quiet nature, desert elves dress in muted earth tones most of the time, save for times of celebration. Traveling clothes are usually fairly plain and both men and women cover their hair in varying styles, but they always enjoy gold jewelry like hooped earrings, looping necklaces, and thick rings.
A Forgotten Perspective
Elves can live well over 700 years, giving them a broad perspective on events that might trouble the shorter-lived races more deeply. They are more often amused than excited, and more likely to be curious than greedy. They tend to remain aloof and unfazed by petty happenstance. When pursuing a goal, however, whether adventuring on a mission or learning a new skill or art, elves can be focused and relentless. They are slow to make friends and enemies, and even slower to forget them. They reply to petty insults with disdain and to serious insults with vengeance.
They are supposed descendants of ancient high elves, with their commonly known origin story as they were elves who disagreed with the nobility structure and decided to leave, after trying to abolish the classist hierarchy and failing. However, desert elves claim their where exiled by the nobles when they heard of their plans.
Nomadic Tribes
The distrust for desert elves comes from years of slander calling them petty thieves and tricksters. While they do make nimble rogues with their quiet, cat-like grace and smooth bards that pick up illusionary magic with ease, they aren't any more nefarious than a typical elf. On the contrary, desert elves go from town to town seeking honest work and asking for humble pay. The bad rap is mostly do to their perceived shyness. They typically don't converse freely with others outside of their clan, instead choosing to keep to themselves.
Exploration and Adventure
Elves take up adventuring out of wanderlust. Since they are so long-lived, they can enjoy centuries of exploration and discovery. They dislike the pace of human society, which is regimented from day to day but constantly changing over decades, so they find careers that let them travel freely and set their own pace. Elves also enjoy exercising their martial prowess or gaining greater magical power, and adventuring allows them to do so. Some might join with rebels fighting against oppression, and others might become champions of moral causes.
Desert elves rarely willingly abandon their tribes, except for times of extreme hardship and strife where survival is slim. Some may take up traveling for a short time as a rite of passage, heading out to trade and barter with other nearby clans or even rarely venture into cities. Those that unwillingly leave their clans may seek vengeance against the source or even atonement for some perceived failures.
| Ability Score Increase | Increase Your Wisdom score increases by 1. |
| Desert Elf Weapon Training | You have proficiency with the double-bladed scimitar, scimitar, spear, and sling. |
| Eyes of the Desert | Your eyes are tempered by the sun giving you experience against desert mirages. You have advantage on ability checks and saving throws against illusions. |
| Sound of the Sands | You have proficiency in Survival and a Musical Instrument or Gaming Set of your choice. |