Half-Elves

Language:	English  • magyar

Half-Elves

Total population
c. 702,040
Regions with significant populations
	c. 440,000
	c. 85,000
	c. 66,000
	c. 51,200
	c. 25,000
	c. 17,000
	c. 14,000
	c. 3,840
Languages
various Mainly Wood Elven in Artaburro Local languages elsewhere: High Elven in Froturn, Wood Elven in Dragoc, Etrandish in Etrand, etc.
Religion
various Mainly Church of Titanius in Artaburro Local religions elsewhere: Church of Titanius in Froturn and Etrand, Cult of Nature in Dragoc, etc.

Half-Elves are products of interbreeding and subsequent hybridization between the various Elven races (High Elves, Wood Elves, Dark Elves) and Humans or Orcs (overlapping with Half-Orcs).

Humans and elves sometimes marry and crossbreed - a human is typicaly attracted by the elf's beauty, while the elf may be attracted by the energeticism and eagerness of the human. Tragically, these marriages are always short-lived by elven standards, due to the obvious differences in lifespan: however, the fruit of the marriage, the Half-Elven offspring still remains. Prior to the foundation of Artaburro, the childhoods of half-Elves tend to be sad and tragic: unable to fit in within either Human or Elven society - too isolated, emotional and sensitive for humans; too energetic, impatient and hyperactive for elves. Prior to the Exodus of the Half-Breeds, the best they could do was to keep their heads down. In fact, this problem with integration still exists today, as there are still a large number of Half-Elves who insist on living in the Human Etrand, the High Elven Froturn or the Wood Elven Dragoc rather than the Half-Elven Artaburro.

Terminology and biology

Human-Elf hybrids

Elf-Orc hybrids

Half-Elves have a long lifespan (albeit not as long as that of true Elves), ageing roughly at fifth of the speed of humans after the age of eighteen, meaning that a 50 year old Dark Elf is biologically equivalent of a 24 year-old Human, a 100 years old Elf is essentially 33 years old, and so on. This extended lifespan however can be spent in agony and ostracism for many Half-Elves, as while attitudes towards mixed-species individuals may have grown more relaxed compared to the last six centuries, they still can't quite fit in within either Human or Elven societies - hence why they founded the Principality of Artaburro in the aftermath of the Exodus of the Half-Breeds.

Simplified model

It is also important to know that the intermediary state between an Elf and a Human/Orc is an unstable one, hence when Half-Elves breed with other races, the other race tends to dominate the offspring's genetical expressions:

• When two Half-Elves breed, the end result tends to be another Half-Elf, albeit (due to the fact that the intermediary state is unstable) two Half-Elves somehow breeding a full elf or human isn't unheard of either.
• When a Half-Elf and a full-Elf breed, the end result is always, without exceptions, an Elf.
• When a Half-Elf and a Human breed, the end result is always, without exceptions, a Human (although some elven traits may still surface, such as dolichocephaly, slightly pointier ears and tendency towards old-age depression).
• When an Orc-Elf hybrid breed, the end result is always, without exception an Orc.

Extended model

The aforementioned model of Elf-Human breeding is oversimplified, and does not accurately represent their biology. In reailty:

• Those with an Elven ancestry between 45% and 55% (implying that the remainder is Human ancestry) are scientifically classified as "clean crossbreeds", the true Half-Elves. They are coloquially known as Half-Elves, as they exhibit both Human and Elven traits in a half-half ratio: their lifespan is five times that of a human (as opposed to the ten-times-that-of-a-human that a full-blooded Elf would have), their eyes are slightly pointy (but not as much as full-blooded Elves), they are taller than Humans but shorter than full-blooded Elves. They are typically dolichocephalic, just like full-blooded Elves, though mesocephaly is not unheard of.
• Those with an Elven ancestry below 45% or above 55% (implying that the remainder is Human ancestry) are scientifically classified as "dirty crossbreeds". Colloquially, they aren't distinguished from full-blooded Humans and Elves, because pretty much anything other than a perfect 50-50 mixture (or rather, between 45% and 55%) results in a strong tendency towards the dominant side.
  • Elves with some Human ancestry (below 45%) are typically indistinguishable from regular full-blooded Elves, though they may be shorter and have slightly shorter lifespans.
  • Humans with some Elven ancestry (below 45%) are typically indistinguishable from regular full-blooded Humans, with the exception of the dominant Elven dolichocephaly. Among the typically brachycephalic humans, dolichocephaly is usually a telltale sign of Elven ancestry.

Native populations

Artaburro

See also: Demographics of Artaburro#Race

Half-Elven diaspora

Dragoc

See also: Demographics of Dragoc#Race

Etrand

See also: Demographics of Etrand#Race

Etrancoast

See also: Demographics of Etrancoast#Race

Neressa

See also: Demographics of Neressa#Race

Froturn

See also: Demographics of Froturn#Race

Gabyr and Keldorn

See also: Demographics of Gabyr#Race

See also: Demographics of Keldorn#Race

Attributes (FRPG)

Enabled aligment: any

	Minimum	Maximum
Strength	8	18
Agility	8	18
Intelligence	8	18
Wisdom	8	18
Endurance	8	18
Charisma	8	18