Elves

The Elves, or Zhe'dun in their tongue, are a mysterious and resentful race. They have held grudges against every race for centuries and although many of the details of these grudges are lost, even to them, they have yet to move on. Elves hold themselves to a higher standard, always believing that what they do is better than others and anything another race can do an Elf certainly can. Elves call Meruvia their rightful home and believe that the other races stole it from them millennia ago in a grand war, commonly known as The March of Mankind. After The March, the Elves were forced to retreat from their land; the retreat caused a great divide between the Elves, the High Elves, Wood Elves, and Dark Elves were all spawned from this catastrophe.

Elves are an ancient race that have brought many of the passions of mankind to their attention, magic being the most important and valued. The Elven race was far beyond what the humans could have imagined and the Elves, being the kind and compassionate race they were, helped along their progress and made them what they are today.

In appearance, Elves are quite similar to Humans in terms of variety, but the true distinctions are between the specific subraces.

High Elves
Vanna (Home) Elves: A group of Elves that were content to watch the world crumble around them and retreated back to their home of Ansrivanna to perfect themselves for when their time to rule comes once again.

Arivae (Sunlight) Elves: A group of Elves that defected and sought to spread their beliefs to the "lesser" folk, they made their home in the area that is now the Holy Meruvian Empire and have been helping their rise from the background.

Wood Elves
Arvandor (Forest) Elves: A group of Elves that stayed behind along with the Vanna but rejected their cause and are trying to find a way back to their "True Home."

Armathor (Defender) Elves: A group of Elves that went along with the Arivae, but along the way they bickered and fought about the "correct way" to deal with the "lesser" folk, they now find themselves cloistered on a small island in the middle of Meruvia biding their time...

Common Elves
Aethen (Plain) Elves: A group of Elves that made their way to the mainland after the Arivae and Armathor; they tried to join with both groups and were rejected, reluctantly finding their place among the "lesser" folk in the area of Ostrana and Cuskena.

Dark Elves
Sumezh (Stray) Elves: A group of Elves that are said to be direct descendants of those that fled underground after the March of Mankind, they now are a secretive race that only venture above ground when necessary. Some say the Sumezh venture above ground at night and slaughter villages for fiendish rituals, others say they open portals to other realms allowing all manner of creatures to pour through, though the smart say that they sneak above ground just to look and venture through the villages or cities.