Sea Elves

Sea Elves, Aear'dorei in the elven tongue (pron. eye-ar'doray; trans. "Children of the Waters"), are a race of elves native to the seas surrounding the Misty Continent. Like all elves, the Sea Elves were once Eladrin who were dispossessed from their homeland, they journeyed east and landed on the shores of Xhaan where they sought to build a new homeland for themselves. These Eladrin built their settlements along the coasts of Xhaan amongst the coral beds and many coastal sea caves, and just as all Eladrin change to adapt to their environment and lose their immortality when they are parted from the World Tree, these Eladrin began to change to adapt to an amphibious sort of lifestyle, becoming the Sea Elves. Some of the Eladrin ventured across the continent, through the jungles of Xhaan, where they found their own places to settle, but they also found creatures, beings ancient and horrible to imagine and eventually fell under the sway of these eldritch horrors. A great civil war broke out between the two groups of Eladrin settlers, and in the end, terrible magics were unleashed which sunk massive sections of the continent beneath the waves on both sides. Now forced into the fully aquatic existence, the Sea Elves eventually became what they are today, and their corrupted kin became the dark and twisted Sahuagin (meaning Flesh Eater in the Elvish tongue).

Sea Elves are a militaristic race who live in the seas along the eastern coast of the middle of the Misty Continent. They live primarily aquatic lives, some Sea Elves never breathing the air of the surface world, though they are capable of it. They consider it an honor to serve in their Marine Guard, and military rank has a significant influence on social position and reputation. Most Sea Elves deplore dishonesty and fighting without a just cause, but they are paradoxically capable of duplicity and will actively seek reasons to make preemptive strikes on their enemies. Unlike other Elves who will aggressively defend their homes without warning, Sea Elves will actively raid ships or tribes who even appear to be encroaching on their territory. They tend to be deeply emotional, passionate, and even aggressive; not typically known for their charity or sympathy to outsiders. They do place a high value on family, and can be fiercly loyal to friends and comrades.

For a more detailed account of their history, see sidebar: History of the Sea Elves

Play a sea elf if you want...
 * to be a member of a race which values duty and military service
 * to play a character who is emotional, passionate, and aggressive
 * to be an amphibious creature capable of living in two worlds.
 * to be a member of a race that favors the sorcerer, warlock, paladin, ardent, rogue and bard classes.

Physical Qualities
Most Sea Elves are blue or green-skinned, with cool-colored hair. There is a small subspecies of Sea Elf who have white skin and hair called the Shei'nar or Deep Ones. Their eyes are large and black with extremely narrow irises that are barely visible amongst the inky sclera and pupils of their eyes. Extremely bright light bothers them, having developed to be able to see in dark and murky conditions. Their fingers and toes are webbed, making them excellent and natural swimmers. Sea Elves have gill slits on their necks, usually just behind their ears which resemble fins more than they do the ears of other elves, but they also have lungs, meaning they can survive both underwater and on land. Average Height: 5’6” – 6’2”

Average Weight: 130-180 lb.

D&D 4e
Ability Scores: +2 Charisma, +2 Dexterity or Constitution

Size: Medium

Speed: 6 squares, Swim 6

Vision: Low-light, Echolocation

Languages: Common, Elvish

Skill Bonuses: +2 Nature, +2 Perception

Fey Origin: Your ancestors were native to the Fae Isles, so you are considered a fey creature for the purposes of effects related to creature origin.

Trance: Rather than sleep, Aear’dorei enter a meditative state known as trance. You need to spend four hours in this state to gain the same benefits other races gain from taking a 6-hour extended rest. While in a trance, you are fully aware of your surroundings and notice approaching enemies and other events as normal.

Sea-Elf Weapon Proficiency: Sea Elves gain proficiency with all simple and military spears.

Aquatic: An aquatic creature can breathe normally in water and ignores rough water while swimming. It never needs to make Athletics checks to swim.

Echolocation: While underwater, Sea Elves have Blindsight 10.

Racial Feats
Improved Echolocation

You have honed your senses to better sense your surroundings when in the pitch black of the depths of the sea.

Your blindsight gained from Echolocation is increased by 5 squares.

Submerged Senses

You gain a +5 to Perception checks and initiative checks when under water.

Marine Guard Discipline

You gain a +5 racial bonus to saving throws against fear effects and a +2 racial bonus to your Will defense against fear attacks and powers.

Flow with the Tides

Prerequisite: Sea Elf, Sorcerer, Water Elementalist specialty

Benefit: You gain one additional use of the Elemental Escalation (Water) power per day.

Sea Elf Deep One [Bloodline]

You are one of the mysterious Deep Ones; blind albino Sea Elves who have telepathic abilities.

You have all the normal statistics as Sea Elves, except Low-light vision. You are permanently Blinded, and gain Telepathy as a language (you can communicate with any other creature that shares a language with you and is within line of sight and within range of you; this allows for two-way communication). The range of this telepathy is equal to the range of your Echolocation. 

Telepathic Echolocation [Bloodline]

You have honed your telepathic abilities to grant you a kind of sight when not in your native underwater environment.

Requires: Sea Elf Deep One Bloodline

You may use your Echolocation when not underwater to gain blindsight equal to your echolocation range minus 5 squares.

One with the Waters 

Prerequisite: Sea Elf, Sorcerer, Water Elementalist specialty, Epic Tier.

Benefit: You gain the One with the Waters class feature at 23rd level instead of the Swim feature. Your swim speed increases to your speed + 4. You gain a +2 bonus to all attack rolls against nonaquatic creatures. When underwater, this bonus increases to +4.

D&D 5e
Sea Elf

In addition to the basic Elf traits listed in the Player's Handbook, Sea Elves receive the following traits.

Ability Score Increase: Your Constitution score increases by 1.

Sea Elf Weapon Proficiency: You have proficiency with tridents, spears, nets and crossbows.

Aquatic: You can breathe normally underwater. You have a swim speed equal to your walking speed.

Echolocation: While underwater, Sea Elves have blindsight out to 60ft.

Deep Sea Elf

A further subrace of Sea Elf exists known as the mysterious and reclusive, Deep Ones. In addition to the traits granted to Sea Elves, Deep ones recieve the following traits.

Blind: You are permanently blinded. This effect cannot be healed or removed by any means.

Telepathic: You can telepathically communicate in any language you know to any creature within 60ft of you.

Telepathic Echolocation: You can utilize your telepathic abilities to sense your surroundings. When not underwater, you gain blindsight out to 30ft, so long as there is at least one other creature with a mind within that range.