Elf

+2 Dex +2 Any Mental -2 Con	[Average] size [Humanoid] type
+1 (+1/8 levels) racial bonus to Nature [Ghostwise sight] 45 ft
Bonus Feats	By Will Sustained Arcantric Accuracy Summon Mote

Elves are most often found either in particularly lush corners of Hallow or in deserted areas that the elves intend to "improve". In most cases, this is one of the most welcome events in Hallow. After all, the process of improving wastelands increases the resources available to everyone, and there is time enough to fight over ownership after the elves have completed their work. The only real complication arises if the landscape being improved is owned by people who like it the way it is, though this scenario is less common than one might think.

As individuals, elves are tall (ranging from slightly below average human height to well above it) and thin, physically notable for agility unusual in creatures of that size and for some level of physical fragility. At any rate, engaging an elf in conversation can be either fascinating or unsettling, as elves tend to display an oddly specific insight into the growth and development of living things. While many elves exercise a certain level of tact when discussing such things, others tend to point out deeply unsettling facts about life and the creatures around them. This tendency is only reinforced by the unusually long life span of most elves, as many elves have had several centuries to learn disturbing things about their surroundings.

Elf Society

Elves are extremely long-lived, with a very low fertility rate, and somewhat vulnerable physically. No theories explaining these characteristics can be conclusively proven, since the elves originally introduced to Hallow had all three characteristics and, as far as memory records, always had. Theories aside, there is no doubt that elf society was profoundly affected by these characteristics. The elves brought to Hallow were among the last survivors of worlds consumed by cataclysm and war, and these long-lived creatures had every reason to want to make their new home a pleasant place to live for the next few centuries or so. After a few bargains with the fey courts, the elves were blessed with the ability to sense and alter the growth patterns of living things, which enabled them to create beautiful strongholds out of carefully-shaped trees.

Of course, the ability to shape and craft living things is not valuable simply for the purposes of ensuring the survival of a species or an ecosystem. It is also potentially quite lucrative; many of the great elven families have become fabulously wealthy through trading and selling their creations. Most of these families, of course, have a running unfriendly rivalry, and such feuds last even longer than the lifetimes of the elves carrying them on.

Typical elven names include Amargain Caeleon, Boadicea Ceallaigh, Reina Drawntracker, Weylin Elfael, Maura Emlin, Rhystion Kess, Caedemon Monsmoth, Riandur Rivatha, Sohali Sandskimmer, and Raelin Yael.

Elven Technology and Magic

It is easy to infer from the information above that most elven magic and technology centers on the modification or creative use of living material. If an elf wishes to create a suit of armor, he or she will likely build it from the exoskeleton of a creature bred and modified for the purpose of growing armor, not from steel. A staff of magical healing may well be made from a branch of living wood sustained by the magic imbued into it. Elves are famous for their tree cities, with individual homes and many of their furnishings shaped from and integrated with living trees. A tree house is understandably difficult to export, but some elves have constructed tree rooms inside human palaces.