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An elf-like race I am working on; can be seen in my drawings, etc.

On the origin of the elf creatures of Escher IV little is known. By the time humans reached the solar system, the elves - nicknamed so because of their long ears in similarity with mythical humanoids of Earth legends - had colonized both Escher IV and its two moons, Eo and Iastre. Their culture is prosperous, usually peaceful but divided in smallish tribes or family clans nonetheless. Regional languages differ extremely, but elves are known to make themselves understood to any other elf, regardless of its origins. The speed with which they have picked up on human languages was by some deemed worrisome. It can thus be concluded that the elves, in spite of their seemingly primitive technological advances, are quite intelligent and should not be underestimated. Scientists suggest that the race originates on the smaller moon, Eo, even while many elves regard its sphere with suspicion or outright fear; even human explorers believe the place to be "haunted". (Attempts to build anything worthwhile were abandoned within the first decades of colonization.)

Physical appearance

The elf is a humanoid, mammalian, creature, standing upright. Their appearance, especially in young individuals, is deceptively human-like, but with longer proportions (eunuchoid) in the limbs, large hands and feet, smaller skulls. As the elf ages, some will grow into much sharper, wirier, even scaly, creatures. A young elf is usually perceived as androgynous and slim, the features that separate them most easily from humans is their pointed, often elongated ears. A newborn elf is white, but soon gains a skin colour (earth colours, white, dark blues), sometimes very human-like but with a peculiar tint, such as purplish. Colours are not hereditary, but are thought more linked to environment factors. Coarse hair is seen on the scalp, back of the neck, eyebrows, and on some forearms and lower legs and feet, this having large variation depending on climate as much as individual variation. The rest of the body is covered in thin, usually colourless, hair. Their hair and nails grow at an accelerated rate, and elves seem to regenerate wounds quite fast if given enough nourishment. Many tissues reform almost without error, but loss of entire organs is not reversed without help.
Common variations:

• Elves have from four to five toes; while the most common form is four toed, many genetic strains seem to be five toed - it even seems a little random whether the gene is expressed or not.
• Tails; a more rare mutation, the elf will have a hairless tail, up to a foot long and fully articulate, usually resulting in a little friendly teasing from their peers.
• Markings; many elves have stripes or dots on their skin in a different colour than the rest, this always congregates in patterns that follow the Field, but is not necessarily symmetric or consistent.

Sexuality

Elf genitalia develop in a sack in their crotch region, which separates gradually during late childhood and puberty to form a phallus and the opening of a birth canal. Until separation, urine is emitted through a small slit at the back of bulge. The bulge is somewhat more sensitive than their general skin, but only mild erections usually happen because the phallus is so restricted. The skin layers enclosed in the sack are thinner and more sensitive, and usually of different, richer colouration than the outer skin which now forms the outer lips of the opening, as well as the backside of the phallus. The skin of the phallus is quite loose and elastic to allow for erections (and even when erect it is still motile), and might have a slight ridge where the skin separation took place. Upon sexual excitement, this colouration can become more pronounced. Usually, adult elves carry the phallus tucked back between the lips and held in place with skin musculature, hiding the colours and protecting the more sensitive skin layers. The birth canal is muscular and coated inside with a mucous layer, a clear gel. At the top end, a muscular band forms the entrance to a womb, usually underdeveloped in younger individuals. The womb and cervix are held in place by ligaments, and rest on top of the core sack, usually curling around it. On each side of the core is a set of glands curled around each other, which produce and secrete a fluid containing a kind of gametes (stem cells?) and associated auxiliary cells. These glands connect to two ducts running in the surface of the vagina's outer layers and finally exit to the urethra to allow ejaculation.

The core

In the lower abdomen of any elf, is an organ whose name the elves describe as the core. The Core is a spherical bulb in the elves' genital organs, located behind the posterior vaginal wall immediately under the cervix. It is kept in a sack along with some fluids where nutrients are dissolved from several glands around the core, and supported by two rigid, half-moon shaped bodies which cup the anterior direction. However, there is very little tissue separating the core sack from the vagina.

Reproduction.

The species is entirely hermaphroditic, some have reported sequential hermaphroditism, but simultaneous is thought more likely. Elves do not often produce offspring, in their long lives few give birth to more than 3 children, and it would seem they so "elect" when to be male and female. Thought similar to the Iastren deer ("moon doe"), this has sparked further investigation of their reproduction. The exact father of a child is in places considered unimportant, but if the couple stays together for longer time, he is of course as responsible as the mother in the raising of the child. Pregnant individuals are treated with lots of care and respect by the clan, and the pregnancy often makes the elf frail for the duration, disabling them from joining in hunting or fighting. This marks a time of peace and reflection for the mother, and in many cultures, pregnant individuals are greatly responsible for the forming of art and writing, that others may not have the patience for. Though after birth they pick up on this again after a few years as the child weans - as soon as the mother feels fit enough, she may bring the child along on hunts. Lone elves seem significantly less crippled by pregnancy if they are forced to take care of themselves, but the child may not be born in as well-fed a condition as otherwise.

Life expectancy

Unknown. A fully grown elf is seemingly unaffected by the progress of age, at least physically their powers do not diminish. Moreso, the elf typically grows increasingly in mental skill with age. Individual elves progress quite differently in their ages; some may seem adult already at 20 years old, but typically later; 30-40 years, while some still look childlike much later than this. They describe this as that "one ages when one is ready".

Magic, religion

Elves believe gods to exist; they are not mystical about this, rather, they are very factual. The main pantheon seems to revolve around 3 gods who together created the elves;

• A childish creator god portrayed as a small, white elf with a bead or horn in its forehead. Portrayed with a smooth, sexless body, it is thought to represent abstract thinking as distanced from the physical world. Is considered a little foolish and forgetful, despite its power.
• A wild, striped beast called the Hunter, upholding the balance of life and death. Is often referred to as Mother, rather than the more loose 'guardian' or 'parent' titles. The striped beast woman figure may be related.
• A thin figure relating to meaningless death and destruction, the warm and scaly desert soil that nurtures no life, represented by a black sword.