Homebrew Elvhen (Dragon Age) Species Details

Long ago, the elves were the dominant race on Thedas, and their advanced civilization was based on nature, the Fade and magic. After the fall of their great city of Arlathan and the empire of Elvhenan, plunder by the Tevinter Imperium and the subsequent generations of slavery, the elves lost most of their cultural heritage and identity. Now they remain scattered across the continent, making their homes with the forests-living clans of the Dalish, in human city slums, or amongst members of the Qun.

Ancient Blood

Elves were once a race comprised of beautiful, ethereal immortals who lived in harmony with nature and who never changed. They existed in a world without the Veil and called the Fade the "sky". Ancient memories tell of a city of blue glass spires and enormous green parks, with figures strolling along the pearly, glowing strips as if they walked on solid ground and bodies of lovers colliding in the air in an endless dance.

Elvhen sought both to explore the stillest roots of the Fade and to master the unchanging material world, delicate and stubborn when subjected to magic. Some of them manifested outside the Fade and built cities in the Waking world, waging war with the Titans and dwarves who ruled there and eventually coming out victorious. Elves at the time maintained close relationships with spirits, who acted as keepers of knowledge and teachers- some of which even took physical bodies and became elves themselves. Long-lived and blessed with a bounty of arcane ability, knowledge, and the power of titan heart, the elves enjoyed an expansive period of prosperity and affluence.

However, all great empires eventually crumble under their own weight, and Elvhenan was no different. Elvhen leaders claimed divinity and were recognized as gods, known as the Evanuris. They utilized powerful magic that allowed them to enslave tens of thousands of their kin, who were then branded with the symbols of the gods, the vallaslin. The Evanuris were arrogant and fickle and warred amongst themselves, causing great destruction and the deaths of the many forced to serve them. Seeing that the greed of the Evanuris would eventually lead to the ruin of their world, rebellion sparked. Led by the Rebel God Fen'Harel, the Evanuris were eventually sealed away behind the Veil along with the Fade, but the separation of magic from their world also spelled the final and complete destruction of Elvhenan.

In current Thedas, only scarce details remain from the ashes of their sundered world. The Evanuris were remembered as true divine beings, and the Dalish now wear the vallaslin as a show of devotion and pride. Fen'Harel is remembered as a trickster god and not the rebel leader that he was. Elvhen is now only spoken in broken pieces, a dying language passed on from generation to generation as a relic of old. Truth has been forgotten and replaced by legend. Elves age and die. Only ruins and artifacts remain.

Divided Peoples

After the destruction of the Dales at the hand of the Chantry's Exalted march, elves now live in fractured groups all across Thedas. Those that cling to the old ways are known as the Dalish, and travel the wilds as nomadic clans, isolated from the rest of the world in order to protect the scare remains of their culture they managed to salvage after years of death and slavery. Those who chose to assimilate into human culture are known as the City Elves, and live in crowded slums known as Alienages across most of Thedas. Often second hand citizens, they are treated poorly by their human neighbors, and are scorned by their Dalish breathren for willingly bowing to the will of the Chantry. Then there are those who still live in chains within the boundaries of the Tevinter Empire. Descended from the elves who were enslaved hundreds of years ago at the birth of the Empire, these elves are born into subjugation and often will never know freedom outside of their dreams. Those lucky few that do often live their life on the run from slave hunters, or turn to the protection and acceptance of the Qun to secure their freedom.

Regardless of their backgrounds, the elvhen people are nearly as splintered in spirit as in location. Rarely do any of these factions get along well and without friction. The Dalish often look down on those elves who live by the teachings of the Chantry or the Qun for abandoning their worship of the Elvhen gods, and maintain a wariness of escaped slaves for fear of drawing attention from their previous captors. While the City Elves are often more accepting of escaped slaves, their relationship with the Dalish remain strained due to misconceptions and the pervasive attitude of scorn from their nomadic brethren. They believe the Dalish to be alienated from and uncaring of the plights of other elves, and much anger exists between the two groups because of it. Lastly, the elves of the Qun typically only live amongst these other groups for one of two reasons- to convert others to their doctrine or to act as Qunari spies. Though all have experienced their fair share of hardships, these fractures in experience have regularly and repeatedly kept the elves from seeing eye to eye.

Still though, there are factions that have not been deterred by this history of tension and strive for understanding between the People; hoping that one day, through a unified force, they may see actual change in the treatment of elves.

The Dalish

The Dalish are nomadic elves that seek to recover, inherit and preserve the knowledge and sacred treasures of the two fallen elvhen kingdoms, the Dales and Elvhenan. They lead nomadic lives, wandering throughout Thedas using land boats called aravels and surviving off the land. The Dalish are considered to have the "purest" blood from the time of Arlathan and they still revere the elvhen pantheon, going so far as to have the symbol of their chosen god tattooed on their face upon reaching adulthood.They live in isolated clans across the whole of Thedas, each led by a single mage known as the clan's Keeper. Traditions and cultures vary widely between clans, but they are all united under the combined goal of ensuring the survival of their People.

They distrust humans and human civilization greatly, and most only risk interacting with with them when trade is absolutely necessary for the survival of the clan. These tensions are born from age-long feuds and a extensive history of blood shed and oppression, and continue to worsen as time progresses. Even now, any outsider that walks amongst the Dalish is likely to be met with skepticism and an arrow trained at their heart.

Alienages

Alienages were established by Divine Renata I following the Exalted March of the Dales, as a space within a human settlement set aside for those of the elvhen people who submitted to human rule. In modern Thedas, these alienages are home for a majority of the city elves. Though elvhen enslavement is an uncomfortable memory in most parts of Thedas, the lot of city elves is far from equal in these ghettos. While there are rarely laws which strictly prohibit elves and humans integrating, an elf who moves into a human area from the alienage is likely to be subjected to insults, torment, and in many cases, violence. The alienages exist as a place for elves to mix among their own, where they do not stand out as much.

However, the consequence of this isolation is that humans tend to let the elves in the city fend for themselves, at times to their detriment. During riots and uprisings, these parts of the city are often sealed off by human forces, leaving the elves inside to either starve or be purged until they relent to governing rule. This regular subjugation makes action for change difficult, and often elves are simply forced to deal with their lot in life as a consequence, never striving for more.

Appearance

Elves stand as slightly shorter than the average human, typically ranging from 5'0 to 5'5 feet tall. They are known to have regularly slender, lithe builds, with large eyes that reflect light and long, pointed ears. They have a wide variety of different hair, skin, and eye colors, similar to humans with a few exceptions. Their style of clothes varies greatly between different factions— city elves often wearing clothing appropriate for the cultures they live amongst, while Dalish elves have their own unique style that consists heavily of dyed fabrics, leathers, and furs, as well as going around barefoot. They are also easily recognizeable by the bold facial tattoos they take upon reaching adulthood— the vallaslin. This vallaslin comes in various colors and designs, but they are almost always distinctive and visible. Other elves lack these specific markings.

Elf Names

Below are common, traditionally Elvhen names. City elves often adopt names specific to the region they live in, with slight elvhen touches.

Common Name Examples: Ilen, Varathorn, Velanna, Gisharel, Yevven

Clan Name Examples: Alerion, Virnehn, Sabrae, Morlyn, Tillahnnen

Elvhen (Dragon Age) Traits

Your elf character has a variety of natural abilities, the result of their ancient blood.

Ability Score Increase

Your Dexterity score increases by 2 and your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Age

Although ancient elves were capable of living for thousands of years, modern day Thedas elves reach maturity at about the same age as humans, and live to an average age of 90 years old.

Size

Modern elves of Thedas range on average from under 5 to 5'5 feet tall and have slender builds. Ancient elvhen range from 5 feet to over six feet tall. Your size is Medium.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 35 feet.

Darkvision

Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Keen Senses

You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Natural Alacrity

You have advantage on initiative rolls and Dexterity (Acrobatics) to escape from being grappled.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and broken Elvhen. As Elvhen is a dying language, rarely any elves speak it fluently anymore. However, bits and pieces of vocabulary have managed to make its way in to many elvhen cultures.