Aesiri

Aesiri
Race
Pronunciation	Ay-see-er-ee
Archetype	Elven
Nicknames	Book Elves, Lexi-elves, Lexi
Languages	Elvish
Vampiric Conversion	Possible
Aetherial Affinity	Class A - Gifted at Casting Magic
Roleplay Difficulty	Moderate
Racial Traits
Aetheriality	Physical
Max Age	800 Years
Strengths	Gifted at Magic, Steady Hands, Cold Resistance
Weaknesses	Weak, Pessimistic, Magic Reliant
Height	5' to 7'
Weight	80 to 160 lbs
Eye Colors	Sky Blue, Brown, Hazel, Green, Blue, Purple, Lilac, Magenta, Amber
Hair Colors	Blonde, White, Silver, Gray, Brown
Skin Tones	Ranging from Porcelain to Cream
Average Physique	Slender to Average
Aetherial Limit	Power IV - Control VI
Significant Demographics
While this doesn't mean your character has to come from one of these places, it's recommended they do. Council of Elin'Torai

The Aesiri are a scholarly race, dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and understanding. Despite their insatiable appetite to learn about other cultures and ideas, they are often very pessimistic towards the other races of Amestria. Magic is the cornerstone of their society, everyone knows it, and everyone uses it. The Aesiri are often hosts to prestigious magic academies that train disciples in the aetherial arts regardless of race, usually from a very young age well into adulthood. They rely so heavily on magic in their everyday life that aetherial disabilities discovered at an early age could result in the child being exiled from Aesiran society. It remains to be seen whether the Aesiri's penchant for magic keeps them ahead of the competition, or prevents them from reaching their true potential.

Physical Characteristics

Aesiri are considerably weaker than humans, and also take much longer to heal wounds. Their skin tones favor lighter colors, usually from cream to porcelain. Their hair is predominantly golden blonde, but depending on the bloodline they may have hair colors in the same range as humans. They can have a range of eye colors such as sky blue, brown, green, purple, and amber. The average Aesiri is anywhere from 5 to 7 feet tall and can live up to 800 years, the longest lifespan of any elven race. Their childhood is longer than that of humanity, being fully recognized as adults at age 90. They tend to have a very tall but narrow build and are unlikely to possess any visible muscle definition. Despite having the shortest pointed ears of any elven race, the aesiri have very sharp hearing and are in fact very sensitive to loud noises, often avoiding noise all together. They also possess superior motor skills, which often results in very steady hands. Their resistance to the cold is second to none, being able to survive temperatures that would quickly kill other races. They fall under Elven Physiology, please visit the link to learn more.

Mental Characteristics

Aesiri spend a lot of time analyzing a situation before acting. They withhold any emotions or actions until after they have reached a conclusion, resulting in them appearing pensive or very reserved. They look down on other races for their impulsive and brash behaviors. Aesiri are always comparing their own competence with those they interact with, and tend to be very judgmental on an internal level. They won't always express this openly as they usually want to maintain a sense of esteem among their peers, but have no problems speaking their mind to strangers or people they dislike. Aesiri are very selective about who they form close bonds with, and will usually stay acquaintances with almost everyone they meet. On average Aesiri are a bit more intelligent then humans and other races, which furthers their ability to study. Most Aesiri are not very interested in small talk and prefer to discuss matters of importance or relevance, which furthers their innate desire to accumulate knowledge.

History

The Aesiri hail from the Elin Islands located northwest of their Exodius Continent city of Ellanorei. There is evidence that they migrated to the islands many thousand years ago from a land that was until recently thought to be unknown. In the year 1796 AE skeletal remains were found while digging on the coastline of Dendrassil near Davytown. These remains were identified to be aesiri, leading to the speculation that they might have once lived on the Dendrassil continent.

The Aesiri have spent most of their recent history in isolation, preferring to pursue the aetherial arts over expanding their borders. There are a few historical accounts of conflicts between the aesiri and Exodia during humanity's golden age, but these conflicts were short lived. In every instance, the elves lost against Exodia and the exodians would steal their aetherial research and promptly leave without any further aggression.

After the fall of Exodia, the aesiri expanded onto the Exodius Continent and formed the settlement of Ellanorei. This settlement has since become a hot-spot for aetherial research and many aetherial academies. The elves have invested a significant amount of resources into exploring the world in search of artifacts which may assist them in their research.

The elves have recently started to loosen the restrictions on trade within their borders, allowing the Kingdom of Rivera to form trade routes. They continue to reject any attempts from the dwarves to form trade routes to their cities, primarily due to bad opinion and prejudice.

Society

Aesiri society revolves around education and aetherial knowledge. From a very young age Aesiri are subjected to academic study, and as a result they usually have little actual experience with the outside world. Most Aesiri spend many decades within magic academies, a necessity given their extreme dependency on magic for everyday life. Many Aesiri never leave these academies, instead choosing to become professors or conduct aetherial research. Most Aesiri are not only well educated in general academics but often have achieved mastery in more then one branch of magic and a functional understanding of most the other branches. Aetherial affinity is so important in Aesiri culture that any child born who displays lesser magical ability is very likely to be exiled from Aesiri society. The law is absolute in Aesiri culture, breaking even the smallest of laws has serious implications. Individuals who commit more then one offense are usually imprisoned for decades and in serious cases up to a century. The upper echelons of Aesiri society are dominated by entrenched noble families that have been in power for centuries or even millennia.

Politics

The Council of Elin'Torai maintains a neutral attitude towards other nations. They tend to be very cautious and reserved when making any decisions which may affect neighboring nations, largely trying to avoid unnecessary conflicts. In the past they had conflicts with humanity, but in the present day they remain neutral and in some cases friendly towards them. An example of this is the aesiri allowing gifted humans to attend their magic academies.

The elves despise dwarves in general due to their seemingly uncouth nature, and have barred them from conducting any formal trade in their nation. This decision has caused the elves to fall behind technologically due to the lack of ideas being exchanged via trade, and as a result they must compensate using their advanced knowledge of magic.

Culture

The aesiri are exposed to magic at a very young age, witnessing it from the time they are born. At five years old they are expected to be able to cast their first spell, and while they aren't expected to do anything extraordinary, it can be very challenging to cast any form of magic from such an early age. This display of magic at 5 is actually a cultural tradition, a test so to speak. This test is to judge whether the child is normal in terms of aetherial affinity, and if they fail the test they are often exiled from aesiri society and forced to grow up in an orphanage and later be subjected to a non aetherial career.

Once the child reaches 7 years old, they are expected to gain entry into one of the many magic academies present. Gaining entry is not easy, and often requires displaying an above average affinity for casting magic. Once they are in the academy, they will spend the next 3 decades learning their first branch of magic. Most aesiri will remain in the academies for far longer, learning up to 3 branches. After they reach adulthood at 90 years old, they usually graduate and proceed to either become a professor or a researcher. Students which fail exams are kicked out of the academy and subjected to a less than ideal career.

Professions which do not involve the utilization of magic are very few in aesiri society, the elves have attempted to integrate magic into every possible area of their lives. Elves which do non aetherial work are looked down upon and considered "exiled" from their society. This divide between the two groups has served as a warning to young aesiri, prompting them to do their best so they can continue to live the good life.

The majority of aesiri traditions are kept in place by an entrenched nobility which set the standards on aesiri society.

Magic

The Aetherial Arts is everything to the aesiri. They have spent millennia trying to unveil the secrets of magic, and are responsible for most breakthroughs made throughout the ages. The vast majority of their research only dates back to the fall of Exodia, likely due to the fact that exodians would frequently steal their research along with their most experienced mages. after humanity's fall, the aesiri were able to study uninhibited. Despite their desire to explore all branches of magic, the branch of machina has remained largely untouched by them. This is mainly due to the vast amounts of aether required to test any machina devices, which usually drains the mages to the point where they cant do anything else. This has made any research they do regarding machina to be painfully slow, and they have since dropped official support of researching the branch after tensions grew between them and the Holy Cardinal Pontificate. Presently they have hypothesized many theoretical branches of magic which they intend to pursue over time.

Religion

In ancient times the aesiri were believers of a religion which shared some aspects with humanity's Olde Faythe, however they have since turned away from their ancient traditions and have embraced rational thought. In present times they consider their former religious texts and traditions to be mostly superstitious nonsense, only utilizing it in historical context.

Military

The aesiri are not known for having large standing armies, but are more then capable of fighting intense battles. The elves have advanced magic that is able to counter the magic used by defensive mages in human armies who protect soldiers from magic assault. They also can work together to form spell arrays that can cause massive damage to the battlefield. If the aesiri were ever forced to fight without magic, they would quickly lose. While aesiri might have an advantage in land battles, they are at a major disadvantage in naval battles due to their lack of any cannon technology and instead relying on elemental magic to cast projectiles (which are relatively weak compared to human mages). Combine this with the fact that the majority of their nation is based on several islands, and it's no wonder why they have avoided any conflicts in recent times.

Military (1850 AE)

What the Aesiri lack in conventional weaponry, they make up for in the aetherial arts. Due to the fact that all aesiri attend magic academies for the first few decades of their lives, it is no surprise that the average aesiri is far more dangerous than the average human. Aesiri have no need for conventional weaponry, as aetherial knowledge and skill is abundant and widespread in their society and capable of replacing conventional weapons completely. The only drawback is that most aesiri are not trained for combat or conflicts, and may be susceptible to the phycological effects of warfare and conflict if they are not a soldier.

The aesiri military is dominated by mages, with almost every soldier employing magic as their primary weapon. Many consider the Elin'Torai military to be the finest in the world due to their superior aetherial skill and knowledge, however the aesiri do have some downsides to this approach. The most obvious weakness in the aesiri military is their navy. The aesiri employ a fleet of medium sized wooden sailing vessels that are designed to be powered by wind magic. In addition to this, the ships do not possess cannons and solely rely on the crew's bombardment magic as firepower. Another weakness of the aesiri is seen when they are forced to fight en-masse in chokepoints. Due to the limited amount of aether in any given location, only a certain amount of it may be used at any given time, limiting the aesiri's effectiveness under certain conditions.

Economy

The aesiri economy has stagnated over the course of many centuries. Population growth is minimal within the Council of Elin'Torai, which has left industries which supply the aesir economy with no room to expand. This has been compounded by the aesiri's stance against dwarven trade, eliminating any potential remedy to their economic stagnation. Foreign invitations to their magic academies has been the only thing preventing a complete economic collapse, and as such the prices to attend said academies has risen significantly over the years, barring everyone except the wealthiest from attending.

Technology

When it comes to non-aetherial technology, the aesiri are slowly falling behind everyone else. Their adamant stance on not conducting trade with the dwarves has inhibited the circulation of foreign ideas within their borders and as such has prevented any significant technological breakthroughs. They also lack any form of cannons on their naval vessels, putting them at a major disadvantage from a military standpoint.

Interbreeding

Human + High Elves will result in a person that has less pointed ears and features between a human and an elf. They live up to 180 years and can have elven eye colors. They can cast slightly more intricate magic then humans but they cannot use as powerful spells. It is very easy for them to learn magic and they require little discipline to sense it.

Assorted Info

• Aesiri are kind and courteous to their wealthy patrons, but tend to look down on anyone they deem ignorant and uncouth.
• Contrary to popular belief, the Aesiri do not use magical toothbrushes to brush their teeth every morning.
• While the Aesiri have tried hard to retain a positive public image, their pessimism and arrogance often gets the better of them eventually.