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Dyemelikeasunset — Fantasy Races: [2/4] Elves

Published: 2013-08-10 04:30:02 +0000 UTC; Views: 414289; Favourites: 9273; Downloads: 2103
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Description WOW THIS TOOK LIKE TWO WEEKS? Well maybe more like 4 days overall, since I only worked on them over the weekends.
BUT YO, REMEMBER THE FANTASY CHARACTERS I POSTED A WHILE AGO

I'll probably be making more (as well as environments and creatures), but first I wanted to explore the races I had in mind for the world me and *Ai-Bee are building for this.
This project is currently unnamed, but it's something I've wanted to do ever since I was in middle school.

A lot of High Fantasy is very overdone and all the designs are inbred, so as a kid I wanted to see a fantasy world that was more diverse, but used a lot of familiar things from the genre.
I realize I'm taking a lot of liberties with the typical interpretations of High Fantasy...but it's fucking fantasy, dude.
What's fantasy without imagination? I always thought the "rules" some people ascribe to were bullshit anyway.
(sorry any Tolkien/D&D-die-hards, this project probably isn't for you)



Disclaimers:
I reference a lot of cultures and plan to mix them with more typical fantasy elements, but if anyone who belongs to the cultures that inspired me, by all means please let me know if I've done anything seriously wrong or offensive and I will look into it and fix it as best as I can. And yes, I know where the names I'm using came from.

No body shaming will be tolerated. (ʘ‿ʘ✿)

So without any further ado, here is some thought-vomit on each of the races and sub-races!

Elves

Jotun: Famous for their mining, wrought iron, rich ore, and music, the Jotuns are a proud but crude people with hints of their Elven pompousness. Derogatorily known as the Dark Elves, the Jotun are on horrible terms with the Western High Elves, having never let go of a bad blood feud that split the two cultures apart just a century ago. The Jotuns were chased up north, where they developed a new capital city underground and developed surprisingly good relations with the native Ogres, who they currently coexist with peacefully. They have strong military prowess, led by a warrior king or queen who earns the throne through strategic superiority in battle.
Inspirations and notes: Traditional Russian mixed with Kazakh culture with influence from Medieval Gothic. Sleek and athletic, biggest elf race. Eastern European to Central Asian features.


Naiads: Elegant, sophisticated, and snooty, the High Elves are a technologically advanced nation that hold a majority of the influence in the West. While they trade freely with the Myr and Gnomes, they view themselves as culturally superior. They’re known for their alchemy and automated armors, which are employed for all menial jobs in their society. The Goblins were once heavily employed by the Naiads for lower level work, but ever since the invention of their mobile armors, they’ve since freed them, though their menial employment is still apparent in the western sector of the world. Lavish and peaceful, Naiads hold intellectual, magical, and philosophical pursuits in high regard, and are led by a council of elected officials.
Inspirations and notes: Art Deco era and Decopunk, American Roaring 20’s. Thin fashion-model bodies. White-American features.


Dryads: The Wood Elves are a carefree people living in the upper branches of the Eastern forest-marshes, which are known to many as a tropical paradise. Good-humored and creative, they’re famous for their artistry in painting, calligraphy, pottery, and sculpting. Over-indulgent in the fine arts and simple pleasures, they’re an open and polyamorous culture that values fun and comfort, earning them the nickname “Nymphs”. While their laissez-faire attitude can come across as insanely irresponsible, their playful, youthful nature makes it hard to dislike them individually. Other than trading with the Garuda, the Dryads tend to keep to themselves. Their expertise in magic is rivaled only by the Fae.
Inspirations and notes: Ancient Chinese culture, Qing Dyasty. Petite, skinny physiques. Central-to-East Asian features.

Djinni: A gender-segregated but matriarchal society, the Djinni are a generally peaceful, scholarly culture. Djinn women are the spiritual leaders, politicians, and scientists, while Djinn men are kept to physical work, like smithing, dancing, and military. They believe the female mind is the greatest asset, promoting them to be physically modest; their men, on the other hand, are visually flamboyant and beautiful. Nationalistic and proud, they also greatly value families, and healthy births are celebrated for days on end. The Djinni live in harmony with the Giants, and are well-known traders throughout the world.
Inspirations and notes: Ancient Persian and Indian culture, mainly Mughal-era India. Lithe but pronounced/curvy bodies. South Asian/Middle Eastern features.


The other races:


To see more of this world, please visit this gallery !
Related content
Comments: 462

JucchiShepherd [2022-12-24 13:14:40 +0000 UTC]

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to JucchiShepherd [2022-12-28 15:39:15 +0000 UTC]

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Ocansini [2022-11-18 19:40:12 +0000 UTC]

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to Ocansini [2022-12-01 19:33:33 +0000 UTC]

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giblerish [2021-12-21 02:17:08 +0000 UTC]

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to giblerish [2021-12-22 19:53:43 +0000 UTC]

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PlasmaDragonite [2021-10-19 20:54:46 +0000 UTC]

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to PlasmaDragonite [2021-10-22 20:07:38 +0000 UTC]

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Burksaurus [2020-10-01 01:30:59 +0000 UTC]

Awesome variety of elves. I like the different skin colors and body types on them

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VesaiasTheValiant [2019-11-07 15:47:10 +0000 UTC]

I must admit: as a huge fan of high fantasy elves, this is oh so delightful and wonderful.
I love everything about these elves, the physiology, the cultures, the lore, etc.
Splendid work, fellow deviant!
A deviation totally 'd!

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

Dyemelikeasunset In reply to VesaiasTheValiant [2019-12-08 05:43:05 +0000 UTC]

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VesaiasTheValiant In reply to Dyemelikeasunset [2019-12-08 15:04:31 +0000 UTC]

You're welcome!

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talkingtoiletking [2019-08-22 09:20:33 +0000 UTC]

I'm glad to see genies represented as a standard mortal race instead of a type of elemental beings. So why did you decide to combine the Jotun with the Dark Elves? 

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to talkingtoiletking [2019-08-22 22:57:28 +0000 UTC]

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Redlight47 [2019-07-24 19:01:17 +0000 UTC]

Incredible work here, but I have a question. So, for the Naiads. Their whole decopunk is more "fantastical" yes? Like while the influences are there, they're more colorful and magical for fitting in with the magical world?

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to Redlight47 [2019-08-21 18:46:53 +0000 UTC]

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jetstar19 [2019-04-26 18:26:26 +0000 UTC]

Hey Dye it's been awhile, I hope everything is going good, Question, How far are Jotuns able to see?

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to jetstar19 [2019-05-17 21:40:09 +0000 UTC]

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well-hello-stranger [2019-03-16 12:20:49 +0000 UTC]

Hey this is probably a weird question but do the races in the universe still have albinos?

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to well-hello-stranger [2019-03-16 21:47:40 +0000 UTC]

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GalacticNightSky99 [2019-03-09 16:06:30 +0000 UTC]

Based on this trope: tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php… What kind of race-type would you consider elves and the other races? They can be a combination.

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GalacticNightSky99 [2019-02-16 17:43:31 +0000 UTC]

Elves are my favourite race and I really like how you designed and described them? How long do they live?

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to GalacticNightSky99 [2019-03-08 19:39:49 +0000 UTC]

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well-hello-stranger In reply to Dyemelikeasunset [2019-03-16 12:50:05 +0000 UTC]

Would you say that hybrids would be in the middle of their parents' lifespans? Like for Constance that would be 85 - 95.

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to well-hello-stranger [2019-03-16 21:47:51 +0000 UTC]

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GalacticNightSky99 In reply to Dyemelikeasunset [2019-03-09 15:30:18 +0000 UTC]

Good

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DeadKnight1 [2018-12-29 02:53:39 +0000 UTC]

Usually there's some sort of description for what the race [Humans, Elves, Halflings, Orcs] as a whole basically is, what makes them different, and what makes them similar to one another. Stuff like their abilities vs other races, etc. Yet I don't find that in your descriptions for the races. How come?

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Elvelover [2018-12-18 14:18:33 +0000 UTC]

Beautiful

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to Elvelover [2018-12-24 04:35:32 +0000 UTC]

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NintendoMLPSapphic [2018-12-08 02:04:09 +0000 UTC]

The Dijini remind me of the Gerudo from Zelda in a way

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HandsomeGamerGuy [2018-05-08 19:43:47 +0000 UTC]

Elves have a hole in the Back.
Weren't you the Artist who draw them that way or do I missremember again?

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to HandsomeGamerGuy [2018-05-17 21:18:59 +0000 UTC]

i have no idea what you're talking about

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HandsomeGamerGuy In reply to Dyemelikeasunset [2018-05-17 21:22:18 +0000 UTC]

Huh.
Someone stole your Art then.
Because I saw your Persons and someone draw the back version of the Elves and telled his folk that Elves have a Hole in there Back.

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to HandsomeGamerGuy [2018-05-17 21:57:48 +0000 UTC]

if you ever find the link of the stolen art, please show me!

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HandsomeGamerGuy In reply to Dyemelikeasunset [2018-05-18 13:49:56 +0000 UTC]

Well I remember your Awesome Style on the Backstory of those Characters.
But I aswell remember that someone was talking about the Back of Elves having a fleshlikehole on there Back.
And I saw an Art which was identical to your's.
But I couldn't find it, so I was looking for the Artist I thought did it.

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AstraStars [2018-04-07 19:04:30 +0000 UTC]

OMG G O R E G E O U S!

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to AstraStars [2018-04-15 01:53:05 +0000 UTC]

thank you!!

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skyeries [2018-04-03 18:04:28 +0000 UTC]

nicely done!

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to skyeries [2018-04-04 18:06:47 +0000 UTC]

thank you!

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skyeries In reply to Dyemelikeasunset [2018-04-04 23:58:43 +0000 UTC]

❤️🙏🏼

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NintendoMLPSapphic [2018-03-25 20:27:35 +0000 UTC]

I want to see a female dryad in a hanbok.

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Alyrus [2018-03-11 08:52:09 +0000 UTC]

interesting!

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to Alyrus [2018-03-18 01:27:39 +0000 UTC]

glad you think so, thanks!

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OrganicFantasy [2018-03-11 03:43:45 +0000 UTC]

I may be a Tolkien die-hard but this entire project is fucking amazing. Keep up the good work!

👍: 1 ⏩: 1

Dyemelikeasunset In reply to OrganicFantasy [2018-03-18 01:27:32 +0000 UTC]

I'm so happy to hear that, thank you very much!

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Triskeleon [2018-03-06 09:07:20 +0000 UTC]

This is really cool and inspiring to my inner writer. It makes me want to worldbuild too! Unfortunately, I have... like... three series I have to finish before I can even touch high fantasy. Sadface. But you've earned yourself a watch! I look forward to seeing this world of your creation grow!

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to Triskeleon [2018-03-10 23:06:34 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much! Hang in there and good luck with your other story! I'm sure you'll get to your fantasy epic in time

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LionsDisciple [2018-03-06 01:44:22 +0000 UTC]

I absolutely love this, especially the Jotuns and Nymphs, and having looked at the other parts of this series, I really like most of the elements that you use, and the different spins on how you use them.

I do have a little mental tick about calling the northern elves "Jotuns". Coming from someone who is very well versed on nordic mythos and culture, as well as someone who is a incorporates a few Jotuns into my own pagan practices, Jotuns are not "frost giants" or elves, or even nature spirits like Naiads and Dryads. They are an entirely separate tribe of Gods along with the Aesir and Vanir. They have their own rulers and heroes on the same level as Odin or Thor. Many Jotuns become Aesir as well, because they're functionally the same thing. They're just focused on the overwhelming forces of nature, rather than the elements of civilization like the Aesir or agriculture and accessible and life-providing elements of nature like the Vanir.

So seeing the Jotuns (gods) be used in the same context as Naiads and Dryads (lesser nature spirits who are only marginally outside the realms of humanity) or Djinni (higher spirits and powerful beings, but still well below the level of gods) feels weird to me.

It isn't really a big deal. I think the only reason it stands out to me is because of how you seem to really want to naturally incorporate mythology into so many other elements of your world building, and because of that it feels out of place. It doesn't bother me in Marvel movies how the Aesir are just super-advanced aliens and the Jotuns are barbarians living in a frozen wasteland, because Marvel makes to illusions of trying to be true or genuine to its mythic roots.

Of course...since the Jotuns are my favorite out of all 16 sub-races you've designed, and the one I would almost certainly be a part of if I lived in this world you've created, maybe I should just take it and use it to hold my elven pride above the dirty Naiads "Ha! We're named after gods and you're just named after cute little nature spirits!".

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Dyemelikeasunset In reply to LionsDisciple [2018-03-10 23:06:00 +0000 UTC]

Hm, yeah several people haven't jived with the name Jotun for my northern elves. Admittedly it was based on an interesting alternative backstory of Loki I had read in a mythology book before-- which claimed he was a Dökkálfar / Dark Elf instead of a Jotun. I know most people would outright disagree, but I always feel that alternative versions of myths and legends exist for a reason (like maybe a sect had a different take for a reason, or the myth was changed later to suit those in power, etc). Personally, even in my own religion, I really enjoy seeing alternative versions of myths and common religious stories. There are so many interpretations out there and I find value in them.
Unfortunately, I still haven't been able to find that book again or find more information on it, but the mystery stayed with me. 

I know most modern-day pagans treat Jotun as part of a god class, and I'm aware that they're not "just" Frost Giants, but I guess I kind of conglomerated that story I had read with the fact I wanted an "icy" feeling to my northern elves. Since each elf race's name was intentionally linked to a type of powerful or elegant/beautiful magical nature being-- whether forest spites or gods-- Jotun was the name that stood out to me most for these reasons.

It might also be my Chinese background too, where a lot of nature spirits ARE gods. For example, the Dryads are named after a Greek Myth, sure, but in a lot of Chinese mythology, the idea of a Dryad would probably be a god-like being, so I didn't think grouping Jotun and (a more Chinese-flavored) Dryad seemed out of place to me.

Thanks for your feedback either way! I hope that all made sense to you!

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LionsDisciple In reply to Dyemelikeasunset [2018-03-11 02:48:13 +0000 UTC]

I also really like alternative myths and stuff like that, and I didn't mean to imply that everything has to be always the same all the time. One of my favorite quotes from a movie that I attribute to mythology and paganism is from Tia Dalma in Pirates of the Carribean "Different version, same story and all are true."

The only time I dislike alternate myths is when they are used to minimize or degrade some figure. As such, having never read the version of the mythos where Loki is re-branded as a Dark Elf, I suspect that I would be frustrated with it. Just because I have a lot of experience of people who claim that Loki isn't an Aesir because they don't like him and don't want to give him those credits due. Now, maybe this Dark Elf Loki story had nothing to do with that, but such is my knee-jerk reaction because of what I have known.

This is not at all what your Northern Elves do, since they are not meant to be a rewrite of Heathen Jotuns and are an entirely different world. And in fact, I really do think that the name fits them very well, evoking the right ideas of what they are meant to be like in a sense while also just sounding cool and hearkening back classic myths and legends. It's a great name. I just had to get past my initial reaction of "Wait, does this try to reduce the level of Jotuns to the level of these other things? Hmmmm...no, no it doens't. Not at all. Totally different thing. Carry on!"

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