Tolkienish.
To quote the book:
[quote]Elves are slender, attractive, long-lived humanoids easily recognizable by their pointed ears. Most live in loosely organized small tribes of 20 to 100, far from humans – usually in small villages deep in the woods, especially in the Great Forest. Indeed, as humans have colonized new lands over the centuries, elves have typically retreated deeper into the woods.
However, elven settlements are scattered across most of the continent, and some dwell in human cities; many seem to quite like humans, even marrying them and having children together. They apparently built great cities of their own thousands of years ago, but their way of life changed long before the Banestorm. Most elves seem content with their current existence and either don’t know about or don’t care to discuss their distant past.
Elves, who naturally think in the long term, practice a very subtle kind of “garden agriculture,” planting and tending trees and shrubs that keep their forests hospitable – for the native tribes if not for other folk. They cultivate many useful plants such as fayflax, whose fibers can be woven into cloth and even paper; bread oak, which looks like Earth’s oak trees but for the plump, edible acorns; and several excellent sources of dyes. Hence, their defense of their forests has practical as well as aesthetic reasons.
Since elves consider age to bestow wisdom, a tribe or community will refer serious issues to a council of elders. The elders will meet, talk, listen to any other elf who wants to say something, and make a decision . . . which the elves involved will almost always treat as a mandate, though the community has no police to enforce council decisions.
Elves have little apparent political clout in modern Ytarria, and don’t appear to seek it. But there is no doubt that many elder elves are capable of playing political games with great skill, among other races as well as their own. A human ruler with elven subjects will almost always have at least one old and valued elven adviser. Most elves treat members of most other races as individuals and have few prejudices. However, they are dismayed by the dwarves’ persistent dislike; some have come to return it.[/quote]
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[quote]Elves are slender humanoids with pointed ears. Their skin can be any color found in humans. Hair is usually gold, silver, black, or red, and eyes are usually gold, green, or blue. Most humans believe elves are literally immortal; in fact, there are few active elves over 700. Some become hermits, others seek out one adventure after another until they fall, and many simply seem to vanish. On the other hand, some elves, especially wizards, have remained active for thousands of years, and take careful precautions to protect their long lives.
Elven societies are egalitarian, with work split as equally as possible between male and female. They multiply slowly at best; children are rare, and seem to belong to the community as a whole. Some elves bond with a single mate for life; others are polygamous. They value creativity in all its forms: music, poetry, dancing, and storytelling. Individual status usually depends solely on age, although a talented bard or artist, or one who is well attuned to nature, will gain a wide reputation.
Elves get along very poorly with dwarves and worse with orcs. They are friendly with gnomes and halflings, and most elves agree that many humans are civilized. Elves are incensed by needless harm to trees or animals. It is a point of honor among elves to always behave with elegance and style. Many people think this is snooty, and they’re not always entirely wrong.[/quote]
Same height and weight as a human of equivalent strength, but since they’ve got a racial -1ST that means they tend to be a bit shorter and lighter than most humans. Aronn is about six foot tall when he isn’t stooped over, but he’s very skinny.
