Aetheican Elves are a very odd, yet interesting subrace of Elves. Born from what some would define as perfect beauty, these elves are cursed with their lack of physical variation, coupled with their long lifespans, it makes it very hard for them to be able to tell each other apart, causing them to, no matter the culture, wear masks as a way to identify themselves.
Physical Appearance
Aetheican elves tend to have very similar faces to the point where variation from individual to individual tends to be almost null, because of this, regardless of the culture, Aetheican elves wear masks as a form of identity. They are slender humanoid creatures that could seem almost alien in their very thin figures and long, pointed ears.
Average Height: 6’4 to 7’10
Average Lifespan: 800 to 1000 years
Psyche
It is important to remark that an Aetheican Elven psyche is very different to other races around the continent. These elves center their whole identity on the masks they wear, and while they do have replacements for them, the idea behind the mask or the decorations tend to be exactly the same between these replacement masks. An Aetheican Elf without a mask is a naked one in the eyes of these elves, and this behavior extends towards other races as well, which is why some people view these elves as ‘stuck up’ or the like, as most tend to be somewhat uncomfortable around other races that don’t wear a mask due to their ideal of feeling naked without a mask, they usually see those “unmasked” races as if they were naked. With this all said, taking one of these Elves’ masks off in public feels much like if their pants got pulled down, and breaking such is definitely not advisable either.
In short, it’s almost impossible for an Aetheican elf to live without having a mask on, it’s not a cultural thing but rather an inherent biological hard-wiring, as well as a matter of identification. These masks have to be seen as not only masks, but the Elf’s whole identity in their mind
Culture
The Culture in Aetheica is quite a rich one, a land of good winemakers and magic, the culture of the native Aetheican elves is one deeply rooted in a society which runs by magic in its veins. When it comes to mask motives, these wildly vary in style depending on where these Elves live. Traditional Aetheican masks picture a lot of white and golds, all with a smooth varnish, while an Aetheican Elf who has been born in a society like in Lusnesh may have their masks with a more wooden motif. Magic is kept to high regard in Aetheica, and its knowledge is heavily guarded by those who possess it.
Historical Presence
Aetheican elves have had their presence in Vahrenian history. Having had their first contact with The Kingdom of Rhenus by Commander Luftven Nahlfeimmir roughly 233 years ago. The Aetheican isles have always been an area of intense magical research and breakthroughs, an area which was home to many powerful mages and researchers. They were one of the areas of the continent that was annexed to the Kingdom of Rhenus willingly through diplomacy rather than war, finding the vast resources of the empire at the time quite beneficial for their own endeavors. King Tillious, who negotiated the annexation. would have been about 24 at the time. Nowadays the School of Rhenus employs Aetheican elven mages to deal with areas of high concentration of mageburn, as their natural resistance coupled with the right enchantments and wards allows them to survive in these infected areas much longer than other races.