Firstborn of the gods of Light, the elves of Ansalon are diverse. During the Age of Dreams, the high elven nation of Silvanesti was established but eventually split shortly after the Kinslayer War when the legendary general Kith-Kanan created the Kingdom of Qualinesti. Ansalon is also home to the wild Kagonesti and the water-dwelling Dargonesti and Dimernesti.

 

SILVANESTI  ELVES

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Silvanesti Elves were the first to organize an elven kingdom on Ansalon. They are descended from the Elder wild Elves (those elves who would later call themselves the Kagonesti) who chose to build cities, during the Age of Dreams, with in their forests. Silvanesti elves are proud, considering themselves better than all others, including other elves. The Silvanesti live within a strict caste system, represented by a number of Houses. Each House fulfills a specific role within Silvanesti society and are ruled by the Speaker of the Stars who is a member of House Royal.  Bloodline purity is a large part of the Silvanesti mindset. The Silvanesti try to avoid contact with those outside their borders.

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Silvanesti society only tolerates worship of the Gods of Light, Chislev and Zivilyn being the only exception due to their association with nature. The Silvanesti exile those found worshiping the Gods of Darkness.

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Silvanesti elves average five feet tall and weigh approximately ninety to a hundred pounds. They are fair-skinned, with hair ranging from light brown to white blonde. The Silvanesti possess an almost supernatural beauty and are considered by some the most graceful and lovely of the elves. They are fond of wearing flowing garments that are green or brown in couloring.

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QUALINESTI ELVES

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Qualinesti Elves make their home in the enchanted forests of Abanasinia from which they get their name. Ruled by the Speaker of the Sun, a blood descendant of their founder Kith-Kanan, Qualinesti was established due to a schism between the twin Silvanesti princes Kith- Kanan and Sithel Silvanos following the Kinslayer War. Kith- Kanan led his followers out of the nation of Silvanesti and formed a new nation in the west. From the beginning, the Qualinesti were far more open than their cousins, working and living alongside humans, dwarves, and other peoples.

Their kingdom has one major city, Qualinost, and a series of large towns and settlements scattered throughout their forested realm.

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While the Qualinesti people are ruled by the Speaker of the Sun, they are governed by the Thalas-Enthia, the senate whose members represent the leaders of Qualinesti’s most powerful guilds and communities. The Speaker has the power to overturn any decision made by the Thalas-Enthia to ensure his people are ruled wisely and properly.

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The Qualinesti elves average five feet tall and have a slender build, tanned skin, and hair that ranges from honey-brown to blond in color. Most Qualinesti elves have blue, brown, or green eyes and tend to be open and friendly in their manner to wards non-elves. They normally dress in fashionable and functional clothes of earthen hues.

 

KAGONESTI  ELVES

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Kagonesti Elves are the clan from which all other elves hail. During the Age of Dreams, they were simply known as Elder wild elves. When some of their number chose to build great cities, the Kagonesti chose to follow Kagonos, a pathfinder and the nominal leader of the wild elf factions who rejected the notion of “civilization” proposed by the Silvanesti. The Kagonesti are seen as primitive by city-dwelling elves.

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Kagonesti average a little over five feet tall and weigh between ninety and a hundred pounds. Due to their outdoor lifestyle, Kagonesti elves have deeply tanned skin and are lean and muscular. Their hair coulor ranges from light brown to black and they typically have hazel eyes. On very rare occasions, a Kagonestielf will be born with silvery-white hair, a throwback to an earlier Qualinesti or Silvanesti ancestor. Kagonesti commonly dress in leather clothing and decorate themselves with feathers, silver jewelry, and tattoos, which they believe deter evil spirits.

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Kagonesti are suspicious of most outsiders, including other elves. They are peerless hunters and considered among the most savage fighters of elven-kind. Kagonesti have an intimate knowledge of nature and the forest, and often form bonds with animals they encounter in the wild. They worship the gods of light and neutrality, but also give respect to the Beast Lords of Krynn who are often represented in their tattoos and totems. They show a healthy respect for the gods of darkness, but more out of practicality than devotion.  Any Kagonesti known to worship a dark god is deemed a dark elf and exiled.

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DARGONESTI  ELVES

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Dargonesti Elves, like their cousins the Dimernesti, originally hail from the land-dwelling elves but were altered by the passing of the Gray gem in the early ages of Krynn. The Dargonesti are a proud and haughty folk, with an attitude rather akin to the Silvanesti. The Dargonesti, or “deep elves,’’ are led by the Speaker of the Moon, who traditionally rules from the ancient kingdom of Watermere.

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Since first entering the sea, deep elves have built settlements across the sea floor. Near the DragonIsles are the two mighty Dargonesti cities of Darthalla and Dargonest and south of Ansalon is the Dargonesti city of Urione. Following the Cataclysm and the fall of Istar, Dargonesti elves claimed the ruins of Istar, and it has since become one of their chief settlements. In the years after the Cataclysm, the Dargonesti offered aid to the Dimernesti, as tidal waves and undersea earthquakes decimated their settlements. Their cousins refused the offer of assistance and they grew further apart.

 

DIMERNESTI  ELVES

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Dimernesti Elves, also known as the shoal elves, occupy the shallower waters of Krynn’s oceans. Like their cousins, the Dimernesti are known to be a proud folk and are led by the Speaker of the Sea, a position long held by the ruling matriarch of the Windspeaker clan, the royal line of the people.

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The shoal elves founded the great city of Dimernost and built a number of smaller settlements around their new capital and along the coast lines of Ansalon. The Cataclysm resulted in great tidal waves and undersea earth quakes that destroyed almost all of the coastal settlements of the Dimernesti, their capital the sole surviving city. With the exception of the residents of Dimernost, the Dimernesti elves became a nomadic people, living in small family groups moving from coral reef to kelp bed.

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Following the Cataclysm, the Dimernesti became embittered towards the Dargonesti, believing that their sea-elf cousins should have suffered as much as they had.

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Dimernesti average six and a half feet tall, females normally being slightly shorter than males, but considerably taller than their elven cousins on land. Dimernesti have light-blue skin and long webbed hands and feet.