eberron

Elves are a race of graceful humanoids known for their long lifespans. They originated in Xen'drik during the Age of Giants, where they were slaves of the Giants before rising up in rebellion. Modern elves are split into many distinct cultures: the Aerenal, the Tairnadal, the Khorvaire elves, and the Drow of Xen'drik. Many elven cultures partake in some form of ancestor worship, though the Drow and some of the elves of Khorvaire are exceptions.[6][7] They are also known as Faeryvar ("Children of Summer" among the eladrin of Taer Syraen, the Winter Citadel).[1]

Society

The elves of Eberron are known to be a strange and diverse people. Humans will often find elves to be as strange as they find orcs and goblins. The elves who live in Khorvaire have integrated with their human society and now have similar culture and ideology. The elves of Aerenal have an isolationist and perhaps even xenophobic outlook, rarely interacting with other races and caring little for affairs outside their borders. Despite their views of outsiders the Aerenal elves are willing to trade and interact with other nations, though neither of these elven societies is especially welcoming to visitors.[6]

Aereni Culture

Main article: Aereni

The Aereni elves worship their ancestors as Deathless, lifeforms much like undead but kept alive by the positive energy of Irian. The Deathless serve as advisors and defenders and are considered by those who worship them to be divine as a whole, in the form of the Undying Court.[6]

Tairnadal Culture

Main article: Tairnadal

Another group of elves found on Aerenal and Valenar are the Tairnadal tribes, a warrior culture that lives in the plains of northern Aerenal. Tairnadal elves do not worship the Undying Court. Instead, they follow the Spirits of the Past. By emulating the deeds of these ancestors, they believe the spirits can live again. They do not resurrect their fallen or beloved as Deathless. The most notable Tairnadal tribe is the Valaes Tairn, who founded the nation of Valenar in Khorvaire.[6]

Khorvaire Elves

The elves of Khorvaire are as diverse as the elf race as a whole. They divide themselves by nation or by dragonmarked house and often follow the local customs. A few still hold their own race's beliefs in ancestor worship, but not to the same degree as the Tairnadal or Aereni. Currently, there is one elven dragonmark present in Khorvaire - the Mark of Shadow. it is divided across two houses: House Phiarlan and House Thuranni.[6] The half-elven descendants of the elves, the Khoravar, have formed a separate community in Khorvaire.[6]

Bloodsails

Main article: Bloodsails

Long ago, another group of dragonmarked elves, bearing the Mark of Death, resided in Aerenal, but after being utterly destroyed -2,600 years ago, their closest allies fled the continent. The legacy of this house can still be seen in Khorvaire in the form of the Blood of Vol faith, and in the necromantic practices of the elven refugees and their descendants, now living in the Lhazaar Principalities.[6]

Drow

Main article: Drow

The Drow of Xen'drik don't worship their ancestors directly. Rather, they tend to hold to the preservation of their forebears' traditions. They believe nothing honors their ancestors more than by living as they did. Some Drow also worship the scorpion god Vulkoor, though some Khorvairian scholars suspect Vulkoor to merely be an aspect of The Mockery, a member of the Dark Six. Other notable tribes of drow include the Umbragen, who reside in the portion of Khyber that lies beneath Xen'Drik, and the Sulatar, who have mastered elemental binding techniques learned from the Giants.[7]

History

Age of Giants

The elves of Eberron are descended from the eladrin of the feyspire city Shae Tirias Tolai. During the Age of Giants the city was sacked by the giants of Xen'drik and its inhabitants were enslaved.[8] The years of enslavement changed the eladrin into the elves we know today, and allowed the elves to learn arcane magic from the giants.[6] After the fall of giant civilization, many elves fled to the continent Aerenal where the majority of them have remained to this day.[6]

Age of Monsters

During the Age of Monsters, some of the elves of Aerenal departed to Khorvaire and founded a colony in the region that is now Valenar. This colony was later abandoned, but during the Last War elven mercenaries of the Valaes Tairn cited this claim as justification for founding the nation of Valenar.[6] Throughout its history, Aerenal has had a great rivalry with the dragons of Argonnessen, resulting in multiple Elf-Dragon wars.[6]

Around -3,200 years, the Mark of Shadow and the Mark of Death appeared on elven families of Aerenal. Around -2,600 years ago, House Vol and the Mark of Death were wiped out by the aereni for the crime of creating a half-dragon offspring. In response to this, House Phiarlan left Aerenal for Khorvaire, though the Mark of Shadow still occasionally appears amongst aereni elves. Aereni elves with the Mark of Shadow are inducted into the Cairdal Blades, an Aereni society of elite warriors. In 972 YK, in the midst of the Last War, an intra-house feud caused House Thuranni to break off from House Phiarlan.[6]

During the Last War, elves of the Valaes Tairn were used by the nation of Cyre as mercenaries. In 956 YK these elves, under the leadership of War Leader Shaeras Vadallia, turned on their Cyran employers, conquering a large region of southwestern Cyre. Vadallia crowned himself High King and founded the nation of Valenar. However, much of the population of Valenar is still made up of former Cyrans, with elves making up less than half of the total population.[6]

Elven Dragonmarked Houses

Notable Elves

Appendix

Trance, gender, and the Blessed of "Corellon"

In 5th-edition, Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes presented a character option, the "Blessed of Corellon", that allows elven characters to change their physical bodies at the end of each long rest, so that they present themselves as men or women as they wish (the same way Corellon and the primal elves themselves did).[10] When asked about this in his blog, Keith Baker confirmed that this option can be used for the elves of Eberron, but instead of tying it to a rare divine blessing, it is an ability any elf can potentially use through trance. During a long rest the elf's body, due to its remaining fey ancestry, restores itself by leaning into their sense of self and identity; this causes them to heal injuries in less hours than other humanoids, and also make some cosmetic changes to their appearance, including their physical gender.[11]

External links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Keith Baker (November 2011). “Taer Syraen, the Winter Citadel” (PDF). In Steve Winter ed. Dungeon #196 (Wizards of the Coast) (196)., p. 33.
  2. ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (2014). Player's Handbook (5th edition). (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 21–25. ISBN 978-0-7869-6560-1.
  3. ↑ Rob Heinsoo, Andy Collins, and James Wyatt (2008). Player's Handbook. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 40. ISBN 0-7869-4867-1.
  4. ↑ Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook, Skip Williams (July 2003). Player's Handbook v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 15–16. ISBN 0-7869-2886-7.
  5. ↑ Jeremy Crawford et al. (2024). Player's Handbook 5th edition (revised). (Wizards of the Coast), p. 189. ISBN 978-0-7869-6951-7.
  6. ↑ 6.00 6.01 6.02 6.03 6.04 6.05 6.06 6.07 6.08 6.09 6.10 6.11 6.12 6.13 6.14 6.15 6.16 6.17 6.18 6.19 Keith Baker, Bill Slavicsek, & James Wyatt (2004). Eberron Campaign Setting. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 14, 210–212, 216–219, 236, 238–239. ISBN 0-7869-3274-0.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Keith Baker, Jason Bulmahn, & Amber Scott (2006). Secrets of Xen'drik. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 51–52. ISBN 0-7869-3916-8.
  8. ↑ James Wyatt and Keith Baker (2009). Eberron Campaign Guide. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 143–144. ISBN 0-7869-5099-4.
  9. ↑ Keith Baker & James Wyatt (2004). Sharn: City of Towers. (Wizards of the Coast), p. ?. ISBN 0-7869-3434-4.
  10. ↑ Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford (2018). Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes. (Wizards of the Coast), p. ?. ISBN 978-0786966240..
  11. ↑ Keith Baker (2024-11-11). IFAQ: What Is Elven Trance? (Blog). IFAQ. keith-baker.com. Archived from the original on 2024-11-12. Retrieved on 2025-07-01.

Connections


Races
Player's Handbook Races: Aasimar | Dragonborn | Drow | Dwarf | Elf | Goliath | Gnome | Half-Elf | Half-Orc | Halfling | Human | Orc | Tiefling
Eberron Races: Bugbear | Changeling | Goblin | Hobgoblin | Kalashtar | Shifter | Warforged
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Outsiders: Angel | Archon | Daelkyr | Demon | Devil | Elemental | Genie | Githyanki | Githzerai | Inevitable | Mephit | Quori | Slaad