Elf

The elf (pl. elves) is a species of people recognized by the Intergalactic Federation. According to IF Census records, elves are the third most common race in the known universe making up roughly 18% of the inducted population of the IF.

History and Origins
The first recognized tribe of elves in the IF were the founding tribe of Nimmik. The oldest tribe, however, would be the Denethin elves from Denay orbiting Liel whose historical records predate the founding of the IF by several thousand years and the Nimmik by nearly two centuries. The elves are widespread throughout the Universe and each individual tribe can trace it's own history and origin, but there is no clear linkage between tribes. The only connection across all elves is the recognition of elvenkind as "The All."

Elves in Earth FIction
The elves depicted in Earth high fantasy stories are very similar to the elves of the IF due to the unauthorized actions of several Developmental Agents. During the timeline of Earth, several agents wrote literature featuring the elf and even began spreading the idea through culture. This has, unfortunately, led to many stereotypes of elves by humans familiar with these writings, such as that they are skilled huntsman, live in trees and can live for thousands of years. While some elves can hunt and the Orsey elves do build settlements in and around forests, the average lifespan of an elf is no greater than a human.

Appearance
Relative to Gibson's Theory of Human Consistency, all elves bare similarities to humans. Elves are slightly taller than humans with the average height for a male being 6 feet 5 inches, and for a female 6 feet 0 inches. They have extremely high metabolisms and more compact skeletal structure than humans resulting in almost all elves being thin even when not healthy. It is very rare to see overweight elves, although some diseases that affect the metabolism can cause this. The staple feature of many elves is their elongated ears which come to a pointed tip, but many also have narrow eyes instead of wide ovals. Other anatomical differences include their lack of a pinkie finger (except the Bodeke which exhibit this) and their slightly inwards pointing feet.

List of Elf Tribes

 * Bodeke (Bodeka)
 * Denethin (Denethene)
 * Dorin (Dorese)
 * Kakkal (Kakkala)
 * Nimmik (Nimmika)
 * Orsey (Orsene)
 * Shake (Shakese)
 * Shansa (Shansene)
 * Sheth (Shethan)