ELF

"I have never imagined such beauty existed," Goldmoon said softly. The day's march had been difficult, but the reward at the end was beyond their dreams. The companions stood on a high cliff over the fabled city of Qualinost.
Four slender spires rose from the city's corners like glistening spindles, their brilliant white stone marbled with shining silver. Graceful arches, swooping from spire to spire, soared through the air. Crafted by ancient dwarven metalsmiths. they were strong enough to hold the weight of an army, yet they appeared so delicate that a bird landing on them might overthrow the balance, These glistening arches were the city's only boundaries; there was no wall around Qualinost. The elven city opened its arms lovingly to the wilderness. - Margaret Weis & Tracy Hickman, Dragons of Autumn Twilight

Elves are a magical people of otherworldly grace, living in the world but not entirely part of it. They live in places of ethereal beauty, in the midst of ancient forests or in silvery spires glittering with faerie light, where soft music drifts through the air and gentle fragrances waft on the breeze. Elves love nature and magic, art and artistry, music and poetry, and the good things of the world.

Slender and Graceful

With their unearthly grace and fine features, elves appear hauntingly beautiful to humans and members of many other races. They are slightly shorter than humans on average, ranging from well under 5 feet tall to 6 feet. They are more slender than humans, weighing only 100 to 145 pounds. Males and females are about the same height, and males are only marginally heavier than females.

Elves’ coloration encompasses the normal human range and also includes skin in shades of copper, bronze, and almost bluish-white, hair of green or blue, and eyes like pools of liquid gold or silver. Elves have no facial and little body hair. They favour elegant clothing in bright colours, and they enjoy simple yet lovely jewellery.

A Timeless Perspective

Elves are one of the most long lived among the mortal species, being able to live a little over 250 years on average. However, their perspective on the world is far more timeless, because unlike every other race elves harbour the memories of nearly every elf that came before them. Due to this outlook, 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. They can be slow to motivate and difficult to encourage. Despite this when an elf is driven to accomplish a goal they can be focused and relentless, and with their above average talent for magic as well as memories that could potentially give insight in any situation there is very little that could stop them from achieving their goals.

Like the branches of a young tree, elves are flexible in the face of danger. They trust in diplomacy and compromise to resolve differences before they escalate to violence. They have been known to retreat from intrusions into their woodland homes, confident that they can simply wait the invaders out. But when the need arises, elves reveal a stern martial side, demonstrating skill with sword, bow, and strategy

Sleepless Dreams

Regardless of whether they allowed into Reverie, banished to the Shadowfell or sentenced The Nine Hells all mortal souls must eventually be returned to the Crucible. Where their memories and experiences will find their final rest and be erased so that the soul’s energy may be woven back into the weave. All except for the elves. Arawn the god of the elves keeps every soul separate and gives the souls of deceased elves to every new-born elf without ever cleansing them of their memories or experiences. Due to this, elves never truly sleep or dream rather they meditate focusing on the memories and actions the previous bodies of their soul. The price of this is an extremely low birth rate as there can only ever be so many elves alive at a time. 

Exploration and Adventure

Elves most often take up adventuring out of wanderlust and boredom. Due to being able to experience most of life’s joys and pleasures every night through their trances, many elves grow melancholic and bored with much of life. Some of these will take up adventuring and other dangerous professions in hopes of creating new memories for themselves and for the next body that will host their soul.

Elf Traits

Ability Score Increase: Your Dexterity score increases by 2

Age: Although elves reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, the elven understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience. An elf typically claims adulthood at 45 and can live to be 190 years old

Size: Elves range from under 5 to 6 feet tall and have slender builds. Your size is Medium

Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet

Darkvision: Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Keen Senses: You have proficiency in the Perception skill

Fey Ancestry: You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can’t put you to sleep

Trance: Elves don’t need to sleep. Instead, they meditate deeply, remaining semiconscious, for 4 hours a day. (The Common word for such meditation is “trance.”) After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit that a human does from 8 hours of sleep.

Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common and Elvish