Sea elf (playable)

Sea Elf female by Dean Spencer (Cerulean Seas).

The long-lived elves are children of the natural world, similar in many superficial ways to fey creatures, though with key differences. While fey are truly linked to the flora and fauna of their homes, existing as the nearly immortal voices and guardians of the wilderness, elves are instead mortals who are in tune with the natural world around them. Elves seek to live in balance with the wild and understand it better than most other mortals. Some of this understanding is mystical, but an equal part comes from the elves' long lifespans, which in turn gives them long-ranging outlooks. Elves can expect to remain active in the same locale for centuries. By necessity, they must learn to maintain sustainable lifestyles, and this is most easily done when they work with nature, rather than attempting to bend it to their will.

However, their links to nature are not entirely driven by pragmatism. Elves' bodies slowly change over time, taking on a physical representation of their mental and spiritual states, and those who dwell in a region for a long period of time find themselves physically adapting to match their surroundings, most noticeably taking on coloration that reflects the local environment.

Elves value their privacy and traditions, and while they are often slow to make friends at both the personal and national levels, once an outsider is accepted as a comrade, the resulting alliances can last for generations. Elves take great joy in forging alliances with races that share or exceed their long lifetimes, and often work to befriend dragons, outsiders, and fey. Those elves who spend their lives among the short-lived races, on the other hand, often develop a skewed perception of mortality and become morose, the result of watching wave after wave of companions age and die before their eyes.

As for the sea elves? Well, they are not that much different. They still have long lives and arrogant attitudes. They do have something in common with dwarves. They are boisterous and loud, and tend to party a lot, and take their personal pride more seriously.

Physical Description

Sea elves resemble their land cousins with their slender bodies and exceptional grace and beauty. They have lustrous blue-grey skin, ranging from pale to dark. Their hair is typically green, silvery, pale blue or white. Eye color is usually dark, from deep blue or green to black. Their ears are delicately pointed like those of land elves. Sea elves have webbed fingers and toes and strong, lithe bodies adapted to swimming. They usually wear clothing woven from undersea plants, decorated with coral, shells, and pearls.

Relationships

Sea elves often see it as their duty to look after the other races, feeling a sense of obligation to those creatures with the shortest lifespans. They get along well with most races, with nommo and sebek-ka being the exception. Many speculate that this tension arises because all three races feel that they are the oldest and therefore superior to the other races. Other feykith believe that elves are too structured andd rigid.

Seafolk and sea elves tend to get along very well, and the two have even been known to become romantically intertwined. While children of this union are naturally impossible, sea elves often seek a magical remedy to this; which usually involves giving up their long lifespans to transform into a sea folk.

Adventurers

Sea elves are natural explorers with a healthy wanderlust. Many go in search of answers to the many mysteries of the sea. Some are searching for lost lore pertaining to arcane magic or power. Sea elves tend to gravitate towards wizard and mariner classes, as this works well with their physical and mental characteristics. Their love of nature can lead them on the path of the kahuna, as well, but few sea elves have the insight to set aside their egos long enough to truly embrace the true majesty of nature. They tend to see nature more as a beloved tool than as a sentient force.

Names

Male Names: Himaram, Hoviroth, Nicola, Naieh, Noirak, Omih, Riomaht, Soilevi, Solaine, Stau

Female Names: Ailisu. Anairsana, Annalai, Apanax, unitna, Ethali, Ethana, Ikalissa, Lia, Liasola

Sea Elf Racial Traits

• +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, –2 Constitution: Elves are nimble, both in body and mind, but their form is frail. Sea elves are no different.
• Medium: Sea elves are Medium creatures and receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Type: Aquatic Humanoid (Elf)
• Normal Speed: Sea elves have a base swim speed of 30 feet.
• Buoyancy: -50^A, Depth Tolerance: 600 ft.
• Low-Light Vision: Elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light. 
• Amphibious:  Sea elves are amphibious and can breathe both air and water. 
• Swim: Sea elves have a swim speed of 30 feet and gain the +8 racial bonus on Swim checks that a swim speed normally grants. 
• Elven Immunities: Elves are immune to magic sleep effects and gain a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
• Elven Magic: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on caster level checks made to overcome spell resistance. In addition, elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Spellcraftskill checks made to identify the properties of magic items.
• Keen Senses: Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
• Weapon Familiarity: Elves are proficient with longbows (including composite longbows), longswords, rapiers, and shortbows (including composite shortbows), and treat any weapon with the word "elven" in its name as a martial weapon.
• Languages: Elves begin play speaking Common and Elven. Elves with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Celestial, Draconic, Gnoll, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Sylvan.