Physical Characteristics
The Sylvan Elves are immediately distinguished among the peoples of Landorya by an appearance that seems to straddle the boundary between the mortal and the elemental. They stand taller than most humans — typically between six and six-and-a-half feet — with slender, lightly muscled frames of remarkable strength and agility. Their bones carry an unusual density despite their apparent slenderness, a physiological adaptation of millennia spent moving through forest canopy and responding to the physical demands of life among ancient trees.
Their most striking features are their eyes: luminous and unnaturally vivid, ranging in color from emerald green to deep amber, silver-gray, and occasionally a rare violet that legends associate with particularly strong attunement to the dream-weave. Their elongated, tapered ears are far more than an aesthetic distinction — they are physiologically attuned to the subtlest environmental signals, capable of detecting vibrations in tree roots and changes in air pressure that warn of approaching weather or distant movement through undergrowth. Sylvan Elves possess a sixth sense for the health of the forest around them, a form of perceptual awareness that sharpens with age.
Their skin shimmers faintly in moonlight due to trace bioluminescent compounds produced by a unique symbiosis between their body chemistry and the spores of certain ancient fungi found only in the Eldris Forest's deepest groves. Hair colors range across silver-white, autumn gold, chestnut brown, and midnight black, and is invariably adorned in daily life with woven leaves, spider-silk braids, and small flowers or seeds that carry personal significance. Sylvan Elves live between 800 and 1,200 years, maturing slowly and entering full adulthood near age 60. Fertility is low, with most elves bearing only one to three children in their entire lifespan. Prolonged separation from the Eldris Forest produces the Fading — a progressive dimming of vitality, magical acuity, and spirit that can prove fatal if unchecked.