Elves

One of the three initial races of Kala, Elves have long been the most adventurous of the peoples of the World, only recently being surpassed by Humans and in spirit, if not accomplishments, by Minotaurs. They were unique in that before the breaking, they were a unified people under the Celestial Empire, only separating into different political groups in the chaos that followed the Breaking. 

A major point of confusion amongst many Humans and Minotaurs on Kala-Tir is that many of the ‘Elven’ communities known to them are actually populated by half-elves and more dilute decedents of Elves, these peoples having splintered from the Elven survivors that retreated into the Deeps to combat the beings that sought refuse in the the dark, and to atone for their contribution to the Breaking.

Elves sired four of the child races: Halflings (With Dwarves), Merfolk(With…well, no, with magic, jeez, perverts), Humans(with Orks), and Celianfai, the latter having left the world shortly before the Breaking. Elves….got around.

Okay: Spoilers:

HOW DO UNDERSURFACE ELVES EAT:

Industrial Light and Food Production: The most common form of food for the Lost Elves/Drow/Pale Ass gothy dudes is something not that far from vegimite/marmite, a yeast-based paste spread over toasted thin mushroom slices. Mmmmmm. There’s also a good deal of other foodsources:

1. Trade – the major cities do not rely on trade of any sort for anything; their design is that they completely independent and must remain so. Outposts, training camps, and smaller groups of socially approved outcasts do maintain a trade with the largest of the surface elven cities/nations, as well as with the larger wizard schools and major temples.

2. Offerings – kinda the same as trade – small groups do indeed rely of barter and gifts, even if the parties never meet face to face.

3. Agriculture – although they live in caves, a number of the areas the Elves inhabit were formerly the dwarven kingdoms,. which faced the same challenges. There are high mountain valleys, not reachable by any pass(and much work is taken to inure this) where cattle and quick-growing crops are farmed. Deep shafts to provide air and sunlight also illuminate underground greenhouses, with magically-grown crystal acts as a primitive fiber optic network to distribute light. Small stables are kept to make sure that equestrian skills are not lost, and smaller animals such as pigs, goats, and rippers(a boar-sized lizard) are kept underground.

4. Magic – while create food and water is not a sustainable way to feed a nation, magic is heavily leveraged to assist in food production. Food preservation, flavoring are frequent uses, and the emphasis is on creating reusable items – while water to wine may be out, urns enchanted to flavor their contents(often an oatmeal consistency yeast mush) or water skins that purify the water inside are some examples. Other spells are used to extend the growing season of the valleys and in warming and illuminating greenhouses.

The Elves, no mater how long they have lived undermountain, do not think of themselves as cave people. They are elves, people of the wood and field, and as such feel the loss of fruits and flowering blooms at a very low level. So you’ll find, in larger settlements, flowers, and potted fruit bushes, and all sorts of paintings and such to fake it. But even then…

So, in answer to the darkvision, while that would be nice, nope, it’s still low-light vision. It’s not as useless as it seems, since many of the creatures the Elves face cannot see in the ranges that low light amplifies, but it’s another reminder.