The elf is a humanoid creature, by which I mean it stands upon two legs and two arms, and is possessed of a torso, head, and a typical array of senses. It is notable first and foremost in its affinity with magic of the arcane sort - it is typically prudent to approach an unknown elf traveling outside the Heartlands as though it is at least a semi-proficient wizard or similar. Secondly, it is notable for its excellent low-light vision (in the case of non-desert elves, whereas the desert elves possess the opposite virtue) and thirdly its perspective granted to it by its relative longevity to the other humanoid races. The main thing to remember when dealing with an elf or elves, in allegiance or opposition, is their pride, which is their main flaw that seems to be poorly tempered by time.
Beginning with the elf's biological characteristics, it is most distinctive for its ears, which are pointed. Dissection reveals an internal organ arrangement similar to humans, lizardfolk, kobolds and similar, tending closer to a human's ability to regulate its own heat. Notable is elvish blood. It bears the similar reddish hue of creatures that sustain themselves on clean air, but tinged a darker shade. It also flows with a consistency nearer to sap than the blood of other organisms.
The elf requires food and rest as any other organism does, but is specifically notable for the manner in which it takes its rest and the manner in which it reproduces. Starting with the first, the elf does not require the eight hours of sleep needed to restore one's functions that other humanoids do. Instead, it enters a meditative "trance" for four, with the supplementing four hours being filled with light, non-intensive activity. I have known elves to lightly stretch or read pulp novels. Because of this, they make excellent watchmen and guards, and surprising an elf unaware is more difficult (as the four hours of light activity can be split between before and after the trance.) Elves proclaim this time to be filled with sorting through their recent and earlier memories, in a manner similar to dreaming, though psionic examination during trance reveals a much more intentional way of going about it, granting each elf a sort of weaker perfect recall, as it can only be accessed at rest.
Moving to reproduction, the elf is closer in this manner to a plant than an animal. Unlike most other humanoids, they bear no sex characteristics, and indeed bear no genitals. Due to this, elven society lacks gender roles. Elves removed from their homes usually accept whatever gender designation a given person might assume for them, but some assume gender identities and adhere to them even on their return to elven society, where they are treated as curious but not especially strange. Elves, like some plants, can either reproduce asexually or with a partner. Again like plants, elves reproduce by budding and flowering. Elves only flower every 2 to 3 centuries, and rarely more than twice over the course of a natural lifespan. The flower grows from the scalp or, more rarely, from the armpits or crotch. The flower often takes the appearance of a plant common to the region. Once the flower is visible, the elf has roughly a month before the induction of labor and childbirth. During this month-long period, the elf must procure adequate accommodation for the birth, as well as determine whether they will take a partner. Married elves typically take their spouse as their partner, be it another elf or a human in a border settlement or political marriage. A week of this month, if a partner is taken, is then devoted to an ancient elven ritual that results in the partner contributing its bloodline to the birth. After the month, labor is induced. Labor is especially arduous for elves, and lasts roughly a week as the child emerges from the flower and it withers away. An alternative to this is for the elf to procure a spot in an elven chamber of genesis. These chambers render the birth relatively painless and reduce labor to roughly six hours. The creation of these chambers is a closely guarded secret, and they are tightly guarded.
Moving to elven culture and civic life, elves live in cities like other races. In the Heartlands, these cities are typically built in the shade of massive hearttrees. Elves tend towards sheltered civic centers, weaving nets of kelp to float overhead or building under naturally forming archways. Desert elves, again, are the exception, living largely nomadically and carrying their tents and dwellings on the backs of their giant scorpion mounts. Local centers of elven government are nearly always located either in the hearttree or in a similarly prominent structure, rendering it an obvious first target for any sort of strike.
Continuing to engaging elves in warfare, elven military strategy centers typically on the manipulation of darkness, magical or otherwise. When fighting non-elves, they tend to strike at nightfall to maximize their biological ability to perceive well in darkness. If they must battle under sunlight, elven casters typically employ the darkness spell or similar variations, while shock troops rush in with magically enhanced darkvision. Their estranged kin, the desert elves, employ a curiously parallel strategy, striking at times where the sun might obscure their approach or blind their foes. To contribute to this, desert elves wear bright reflective jewelry and polish their armor and weapons to a sheen. Desert elf casters employ the daylight spell, typically, counting on it to disorient their opponents. A battle between desert elves and their kin is a spectacle. Beyond the vitriol they spit at their kin, the battle can be charted from afar by the rolling waves of darkness and daylight lapping against each other. I recommend trained but mindless troops who do not rely on sight, such as shield guardians or trained oozes, before sending in infantry to clean up.
When sieging an elven citadel, one may note that they or other tactically valuable elven establishments are bathed in a perpetual twilight to grant a combat advantage to elven bladesingers, as many of them rely on the spell shadow blade. This is typically accomplished either by building under natural shade and repeated casting of the darkness spell, or in the case of larger settlements, by opening massive portals to the Feywild overhead. These portals are kept open by tactically arrayed charms and other magic objects placed at defensible positions around the city. The elven government keeps these areas in a perpetual twilight on the other side of the portals by means of a long-standing trade deal with the fey noble Night-Artist, whose court views the sunlight they receive in exchange as a curio and a currency. A cunning foe begins a strike against an elven stronghold by negating this advantage, either through ground troops also equipped with darkvision and the shadow blade spell, or disrupting the portal by removing or destroying the charms or bribing Night-Artist and his court to look the other way. This method may be more effective despite its higher difficulty, as elven arrogance typically leads to the casters stationed there preparing spells that take advantage of the darkness rather than spells that replenish it.
I spoke earlier of bladesingers, and I feel that the elven hierarchy warrants a mention here. Elven government in the Heartlands is a magocracy, where arcane prowess is equivalent to political power in most cases. Noble elf lines intentionally curate powerful wizards, and elvish policy is either decided by appointed bureaucrats or a council of archmages. High ranking wizards are typically guarded by one to three bladesingers, depending on rank, importance, and perceived risk. Bladesinging itself is an elvish invention, and they have it refined to a science. Bladesingers are assigned either to active military duty or guarding a noble upon their certification from an elvish magic school. It is hammered into a bladesinger that loyalty to the elven government and, more specifically, their wizard, is the greatest purpose of their life. Bladesingers are more than willing to die at their post. Noble wizards typically outfit their bladesinger(s) with magic items or spells befitting their area of expertise. Often, targeting a bladesinger and separating them from their wizard allows a would-be assassin both a variety of useful magic items and the element of surprise upon the wizard in question.
