In the days of legend, when the World Tree was but freshly sprouted, and many of the gods still newly born, they say the first sapient creatures began life upon the surface of the Earth. Among them were the creatures of Feyrie, who live a life eternal beyond the barrier of twilight that enshrouds their realms. Dying not, they live on unchanged through what, to mortals, would be many turns of time's great wheel.
Governed justly (although I shall not say beneficently) by the Feyrie Queen, the many species of faerie creature - the impish pixies, brave sprites and frankly rather odious goblins among them - were content with their unending existence. But the spiritual elves, those wise hunters and brilliant musicians, were not content. Something made almost the full complement of the elvish species cross the twilight barrier and join the ordinary mortal species (such as the dwarves, halflings and humans) in the world not sheltered from the ravages of ageing, and therefore render themselves mortal, although they remained relatively long-lived from a mortal point of view. As if this were not difficulty enough for the elves, those other mortal species no doubt at first feared and distrusted the elves, who were at that time strange to them.
Even then, during the Elder Days, the source of all the strangest things in our history, what could have driven so many elves to make such a great sacrifice - never once returning to the lands from which their people came? And who can say what, if anything, they hoped to gain in return?
Whatever the case, this much is clear: the elves live among us even now, in their hidden woodland abodes and secret coastal harbours. Although their number is not so great as that of the humans or dwarves, they number enough to be among the more populous species in the world. They bring sword and bow to bear against any who threaten their homes or lives, and they broadly fight fiercely against evil (although there are those who claim that elves are, on the whole, not so kind as their reputation might lead one to believe). They are also skilled in the Arts Magic, with a particular preference for druidic ritual and calling upon feyrie spirits.
Here are some additional constraints.
- Gunpowder and industrial technology have always eluded even the most skilled philosophers, and I have no reason to believe that the Elder Days were any different. Our world relies mostly on the work we can do with our hands, and of course the Arts Magical.
- The Feyrie peoples alone possess the knowledge of the reason for the elves' exodus, and it is never shared with mortals, even by the elves who left Feyrie.
- Not all the elves left Feyrie. A few remained behind and renamed themselves 'eladrin'. They became the honour guard of the Feyrie Queen, and remain immortal.
- 'Elf' must remain a compelling player option for a player in a tabletop roleplaying game. This means that each elf cannot be superhumanly powerful or incredibly weak, and they must be capable of choosing from a variety of professions (to enable a player to choose freely from a wide selection of character classes). They must also broadly be susceptible to the same infirmities - poison, disease, final death - as the other mortal species (otherwise they would be too powerful to allow a player to be one!).
