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Hey - I have "elves" in the setting I am typing up. I call them Elendi and they are green (technically plant people), but thats no never mind. They're elves.

I have elves in the skies and I have elves on what I call the Bottom Lands. The elves of the skies are your classic "holier than thou - we are the ancient race" type of elves that I am familiar with from classic D&D settings like ferune and krynn. Or the "half angel" beings of LotR.

The elves of the Bottom Lands are quite different however. They are the caretakers of a secret. The elves are not the ancient race. Their elders have access to what I call "The Pure Lands." Those Elendi that are allowed to visit the Pure Lands return with a newfound humility. Because they have seen the actual elder race - and it isn't the Elendi. These are more laid back and relaxed about everything. They greatly respect the ability of mans to maintain "civilized societies" despite their "dreadfully short" lifespans. They attribute any failures of a culture to the fact that they are rushing to accomplish that which an elf has the equivalent of a dozen lifetimes to accomplish. Instead of being superior about it - they tend to think humbly regarding how much easier is is for them compared to the Mans. Admiring their ability to learn in years what their children require decades.

I even came up with a "saying" that the Bottom Lander Elendi will use when speaking to a Mans.

"Run Mans Run - You have very little time to live your life."

Not sure if thats what you were looking for (is this "take that?" ) but its what stormed out of my brain regarding the subject.

now I read others stuff.
---> neat - heh - My Elendi are vegetarian (considering that they are plants thats kinda makes it full circle back to the moral quandary of eating meat ... of ... well I think you see what I mean - "flesh of my flesh" and all that)

I really like the "multi-sex" thing. Using a dual male system Tri-Sexual thing. Requiring two "males" (of two different types) to impregnate the female ... or perhaps .. hmm (strong biology background .... ) If you have two types of Male then you get into the question of how do you tell those two genders apart and do they have "societal roles" that differ or are they just "men" of which you require two of them to "get things done" ... on the other hand you could go to a double female system ... like ... say ... Males can impregnate certain types of females - but there is a vital element that must be given to the "mother" gender on a monthly basis (say elves with their extended lifespan also have extended gestation - 2 years) during a pregnancy to keep the baby alive. Then - both the mother and the other could have the ability to feed the infant.

OOh ... heres a better one. The mother gender is able to have but there is a third gender (the one most people would recognize as the female) that is able to feed the child during extended elves infancy (at least 5-10 years considering). Basically Male impregnates Mother. Mother carries fetus to birth. Female (or feeder? ) nurtures infant until its able to eat adult food. Three genders ... Male/Mother/Feeder.

Thats three genders without the messy (an pretty non-selective "takes two males" to get a girl pregnant thing (which is odd .. and hard to conceive of biologically). Having a "female/mother" that is then incapable of rearing the child is however allot more conceivable (pun intended). Particularly when you consider that with most tri-sexual species (mostly insects) the third is baseline female with some wonky that makes it unable to have children.

Considering insect statistics the feeders would be the vastly more common than either the males or the mothers.

I'll give this a try. I can't promise a completely original and different elf.. but I don't think you're looking for that.

Origins: The Elves were once part of the Celestial Choir. However, they became enamored with the mortal realm. When the great heavenly war transpired they were locked out from the heavenly realms. The forged for themselves the feywyld.. and nearly became lost to madness. The oldest remembered what they once were.. and it drove them insane. The Feywyld was a paradise for a time, until these mad ancient elves basically decided that the elves deserved annihilation.. so they corrupted the feywyld driving the elves/eladrin out. Another step down the evolutionary ladder.. and these "all powerful" spiritual beings.. were, for the first time, like the mortal beings they had once been so flippant about abusing and using.

Most elves, after this, drove themselves toward an austere life and away from madness. They believe that this control will one day return them to their ancient ancestry as members in the heavenly order. Only the rarest of them accept that this is the place fate needs them to be in.

My elves take life as slowly as they live it. They follow, quite closely, the mindset of Buddhist thoughts on the importance of focus. When an elf commits to a task, be it basket weaving or forging a sword, it is time to commit to that task and little else. Perhaps conversation is permissable if it is not too distracting, but any mistake made while talking would be percieved on a philsophical level as a kind of "karma" leveled against them for not having focus in their task.

This gives elves their fabled "perfection". But, it comes at a price of extremely narrow beings. Elf 1 may make the most beautiful baskets in the world.. and elf 2 might wield his sword like no other.. but, the two of them would never be able to do the other's task.

There are also times to "Celebrate" or "Sit down to eat" these, of course, aren't necissarily excelled at. During a celebration time elves would commence with whatever they thought was fun.. this "focus" on it however could devolve into something reminsicent of their time in the Feywild. Raucous acts of debauchery.. even bording on the perverse, unwelcome, and seemingly insane.

Human, Halfing, Dragonborn, Tiefling, etc. opinion on these elves: When a human encounters these elves. They are often asked to wait for hours on end for a meeting. This is because, it is not "Meeting Time" it could very well be "Bathing Time" or "Eating with Family Time" (The titles are just examples of actions of course.) There is also a set time for "Meeting Time" and when it is over.. it is over.

Dwarves: Dwarves would be more familiar with this aspect (my dwarves are different as well) of focused time, but they are far more moderate. Even to the stoic dwarves.. the elves are too rigid.. too unbending.. or, in times of celebration are borderline psychotics.

Social status is not something these elves consider at all. When a elf who has devoted his life to taking care of the stables.. meets an elf who is a noble.. the two simply act as a stableman and a lord 'ought' to act. The noble has absolutely zero disdain for the stableman.. and the stableman has zero jealousy of the lord. There is extremely little (and exceedingly disruptive) mobility between the classes.

Elves striving for the same focus will almost always come to a rivalry. Two people devoting their lives to gem cutting will want to prove who is the more focused, by proving who is the greater gem-cutter. Elves are not above being petty and many are the elves who undermine thier fellows to prove they are the most focused. Clearly, if their fellow succumbed to distraction (even death is a distraction) they were not committed enough to the task.

As adventurers: this gives rise to elven wizards/warlords/warriors/etc. often developing rivalries with fellows where, it will be understood, eventually one will prove the greater. This will usually end in the death of the other (as far as players go, this could be understood to be hundreds of years after the actual campaign if it doesn't want to be dealt with)

Elves simply do not discuss these rivalries. However, many are the elves who commit themselves to blood feuds as their goal. This has exacerbated into family feuds where one or both families is almost completely wiped out by the other. Often, a duel will decide the one on one feud before it gets out of hand.

How elves perceive other races:

Humans, halfings, etc.: These races are too short lived to understand much of anything. They're also rarely more intelligent than animals. Elves, living hundreds of years, possess large foundations of facts, knowledge, and understanding that other races simply cannot. These "animals" however are far too dangerous to simply ignore. So, much like the noble and stableman... the "elf" and "other" approach is almost universally observed. Among elves.. this is disdain.. when among other races.. it is largely aloof and parenting placation.

Dwarves: Dwarves "get it" and because of this.. elves don't trust dwarves. The race is longer lived and wiser than elves believe they should be. They have valid claims to being an older race (elves being from the Feywild experienced almost total annihilation in my campaign world do to the culture shock of the "Mortal Realm") and their civilizations have waxed and waned for millienia. While the other races largely are in awe of the elves.. the dwarves aren't impressed and this both infuriates and impresses the elves. More than a few have decided they have finally found a mortal race that can stand beside them.

On half-breeds: ALL half-elves are called humans. Only a pure elf.. is an elf and any elf who is too "humanized" is under extreme suspicion of racial mixing. This is beyond taboo. Some families have been exiled at best.. annihilated at worst. The Feywild in my world is a bit of a ulta-spiritual plane.. and the elves remember being members of this otherworldly order.. they are not mortals and expect one day to return to the feywild. They must be kept pure for that day. The Feywild, while able to be reached, is not inhabited by anything friendly.. so, the elves (and Eladrin) are exiles themselves.

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So, is it a hundred percent different? Not even close.

But the traits that I have displayed here.. as I portray them in my campaign.. create a VERY different elf than people are used to.