So it seems a lot of elves in a lot of lore have a sort of "mystic" one foot in two worlds sometimes literally sometimes figuratively vibe (current D&D and UA elves being a sort of multiverses diaspora over the prime material, fey wild, Shadowfell, Astral plane and wherever the Elven pantheon hangs out these days) which is often associated with a sort of ascetic physiology ... also not needing to sleep means they don't have the rest state of other humanoids and there are probably some metabolic implications there. Of course the ascete build is only one expression of an "enlightened" or "transcendent" life style, plenty of spiritual traditions, that tend to acknowledge a bit more worldliness, tend to allow for "jollier" builds. In my game, the elves that are more tuned in to their cultures' toes in multiple dimensions tend to be more ascetic in bearing, whereas there are plenty of more worldly elves that run the gamut of more typical human physical expression. So elves more involved with their spiritual traditions actual get more sustenance from their trances and see food more as ceremonial or symbolic role in their lives (almost like Catholic sacraments, but sort of reverse in that the food and drink indicates however ethereal their spirit may aspire they are still beings of a world and exist in curated harmony - in my game Elves are never "native" to prime material worlds, their story is always one of "arriving" and "departing" from other planes) but plenty of elves eschew that way and live amongst other humanoids in a much more carnal world so gaunt builds would indicate malnourished, and pleasantly plump elves live high on the good life. And yes the more "sacred living" elves can starve or dehydrate but it's more an enactment of losing their connection to the world through starvation and thirst, so a similar but not identical experience to more worldly bound humanoids.
Drow have a similar split between those involved in broader Drow cosmic schemes as well as Drow who live more profane existence.
All that said, the world logic is intentionally rough to 1.) assure that nothing pronounced in the world lore is absolute and 2.) allow physical build to stand for other things as well. You could have Santa like Eladrin if they were in touch with Domain of Delight that celebrated indulgent foodways and the like, they'd probably come off as more Cherubic, but I think the pictures makes sense.
So it seems a lot of elves in a lot of lore have a sort of "mystic" one foot in two worlds sometimes literally sometimes figuratively vibe (current D&D and UA elves being a sort of multiverses diaspora over the prime material, fey wild, Shadowfell, Astral plane and wherever the Elven pantheon hangs out these days) which is often associated with a sort of ascetic physiology ... also not needing to sleep means they don't have the rest state of other humanoids and there are probably some metabolic implications there. Of course the ascete build is only one expression of an "enlightened" or "transcendent" life style, plenty of spiritual traditions, that tend to acknowledge a bit more worldliness, tend to allow for "jollier" builds. In my game, the elves that are more tuned in to their cultures' toes in multiple dimensions tend to be more ascetic in bearing, whereas there are plenty of more worldly elves that run the gamut of more typical human physical expression. So elves more involved with their spiritual traditions actual get more sustenance from their trances and see food more as ceremonial or symbolic role in their lives (almost like Catholic sacraments, but sort of reverse in that the food and drink indicates however ethereal their spirit may aspire they are still beings of a world and exist in curated harmony - in my game Elves are never "native" to prime material worlds, their story is always one of "arriving" and "departing" from other planes) but plenty of elves eschew that way and live amongst other humanoids in a much more carnal world so gaunt builds would indicate malnourished, and pleasantly plump elves live high on the good life. And yes the more "sacred living" elves can starve or dehydrate but it's more an enactment of losing their connection to the world through starvation and thirst, so a similar but not identical experience to more worldly bound humanoids.
Drow have a similar split between those involved in broader Drow cosmic schemes as well as Drow who live more profane existence.
All that said, the world logic is intentionally rough to 1.) assure that nothing pronounced in the world lore is absolute and 2.) allow physical build to stand for other things as well. You could have Santa like Eladrin if they were in touch with Domain of Delight that celebrated indulgent foodways and the like, they'd probably come off as more Cherubic, but I think the pictures makes sense.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
i completely agree elves can be 9099999999999999 lpoudnds