Elves (Eó)

The Elves of Eó are known by most as the Child Folk, as they are a slight, slender people, rarely exceeding five feet in height.

The Elves sprang into being at a holy site known as "The Well of Life", a glimmering spring deep within their woodland home. It was there that the first elves emerged as fully matured adults.

One of the curious traits of the elves is that there are a constant number of them, 50,000 to be exact. At the precise moment an elf dies, a new elf emerges from the Well of Life as a fully grown adult, fluent in Elvish, but otherwise a blank slate. When asked, the elves state they remember nothing of the time before their "birth".

Because of the strange nature of their reproduction, elves are genderless, and typically androgynous, though exposure to other races often influences their expression and identity. They also do not have a  family based heirarchy, instead ruling themselves based on seniority, with the ten oldest elves acting as members of the Council of Elders. Because of this societal structure, most elves tend to be aloof and withdrawn.

Elves can live to nearly 1,000 years old, though achieving such a lifespan requires regular bathing in the Well of Life, at least once per year. Over time, the bathing process has become so ritualized that only the most esteemed elves can schedule regular bathings. For the lower ranking members of elven society, the waiting list to bathe can reach years in advance. For the elves that either cannot schedule baths, or choose not to, their average life span is 500 years.

Elves are slow to rouse, and pacifists by nature. Very few choose the adventuring life, and those that do are often considered to be addled by their fellow elves. Elves wield great prowess with magic, though are unable to use ritual magic, which has confounded them since their creation.

Not even the elves themselves know for sure why they sprang to life from the Well, though they typically credit their patron deity. Of all the sentient races, they alone do not reproduce naturally.