Desert Elves

Those who raised the stake.

Physical Description

There is little variance among the desert elves in their height, the majority of them stand somewhere between 5’8 to 6’2, with very little deviance beyond that mark. The color of their skin ranges from a faint, sandy brown to a deep, dark and toffee brown hue. A desert elf lacks the slenderness and litheness of frame that most elves possess. Instead, they are often closer in build to humanity in the shape of their forms. Their skin is often tough and leathery not just in appearance but also in texture from years beneath the roaring heat of the sun.

Lifespan

375 years of age.

Society

Desert elf society is less structured than that of other races, largely comprised of roaming caravans rather than a single united state. These large groups are generally comprised of three to five extended families that often form together to establish temporary communities and then break apart if needed. Moving across the arid wastes the desert elves stop at oases, taking what they can before moving on. In addition to foraging, desert elves regularly trade with other races, exchanging goods for produce, and vice versa. However, within larger communities and gatherings of desert elves, trade is often made solely through bartering rather than the exchange of currency. While the tradesmen of a caravan may come and go, the core unit in Desert Elf society is the family, which only separates upon marriage or death. Such families often occupy a single caravan train, the size of which varies depending on their own personal status.

Culture

Language:

Far isolated from the vast majority of the land, few Desert Elves know anything but their native Elven tongue and variations thereof. While it is not uncommon for one of their kind to pick up another tongue or two if they venture into the world beyond, their general inexperience with all other languages will often leave them with some near permanent accent roughly denoting their place of origin.

Traditions:

It is customary that desert elves set aside a small portion of their morning meal to burn as an offering to Sol in hopes that the scalding sun might be satiated and cooled. Water is considered holy, and to spill it upon the sand is considered a slight to Bahari that must be immediately corrected by salting the dune lest it boil away beneath Sol’s gaze. To do otherwise is considered to have invited misfortune and drought upon yourself and kin.

Celebrations:

Once every Quadrianno when the cacti begin to bloom is the date that each desert Elven community comes together to celebrate their survival and endurance throughout all the horror that the world has hurled at them. When the first blooming cacti is found begins a festival that lasts until their flowers wilt again, where excess and festivities become the norm. Each night during the festival’s course, the collective light of their many lanterns will only be doused with water intermixed with offerings of blood, a reminder of and a ward against the Arid Dragon.

Diet

In the sparse and empty southern wastes of Aoressa, food is scarce. Though to a roaming caravan of desert elves, this poses little issue. Commonly a caravan will keep preserved meat and fruit as a reserve, though their nomadic lifestyle is complimented by an enhanced digestive system. Countless years of wandering through the sands have left them uniquely adapted to subsistence off the strangest of foods. A desert elf is capable of eating quite almost anything as long as it possesses some semblance of nutrition. In desperate times, some are known to even consume boiled leather.

Settlements

Permanent settlements among desert elves are rare, though in the past they could be found nested on the fertile banks of rivers, and within the sanctuary of oases. As a largely nomadic people, the majority of desert elves take upon great treks that straddle the continent, stopping at foreign towns and cities to do their trade and craft. These roaming towns of elves can range from great wagon trains as long as city streets, to smaller more amateur trains of overburdened camels.

Religion

Faith among the desert elves is a vast and varied thing, but among them a particular interpretation of the Pantheon has grown to encompass the religious views of the majority of their race. While as a whole they recognize the existence of the entirety of the Pantheon, Sol and Bahari are worshiped with the greatest reverence. It is often thought that a desert elf’s life rests entirely in the hands of Bahari in whether or not they might have the water to survive another day, or the rains and flooding necessary to nourish crops. Sol is considered both caring and as well a cruel taskmaster, responsible for whether a community might flourish or burn away beneath the sun’s gaze. Prayers almost entirely consist of offerings of appeasement to the duo in hopes that they might live and thrive another day. Oklamat also sees a great deal of worship among their kind in hopes that they might face good fortunes and a safe journey. Other gods see far less devotion and respect. It is not unknown for the occasional heretic cult worshiping the Arid Dragon to arise among the desert elves, but few such groupings last long.

Mechanical Differences

• The digestive system of a Desert Elf is quite unlike any other race. They are capable of digesting and eating practically anything that possesses even the slightest semblance of nutrition. As an extension of this, the interior of their throat and mouth is especially leathery and inured against pain and damage from acidic substances.
• A Desert Elf is naturally resistant to all poisons and toxins of the desert to the point that they do little to affect them, although this resistance barely alters the potency of substances foreign to them.
• Desert Elves are possessed with not just one pair of eyelids, but two. Beneath their outer eyelid is a second pair of lids that can be operated independently of the first. This membrane is partially transparent, reducing their vision to approximately fifteen feet, but it protects their eyes from the harsh and blowing grains of sand caught within the desert winds, as well as other airborne dangers.
• The harsh conditions of the wastes have left the Desert Elves a slow and careful kind, valuing the thought put into each and every movement and deed. Over time, even their natural characteristics have come to express this gradual adaption in part. The Desert Elves lack the grace of their kin, instead they are only as agile as a human, although they have stamina far surpassing any other race.