Larian Studios Forums Baldur's Gate III Baldur's Gate III - General Elves are not Elven - Tel-quessir feed back ;)

OK. So seriously. Not trying to be a pain to the OP or anyone who agrees with them, but I am seriously having a problem finding descriptions that match the OP's - and others' - descriptions of elves in Forgotten Realms. This is what the OP described:

"Narrower chins and jaws, shifted, widened and slanted eyes, high and prominent cheekbones, an unsettling, inhumanly haunting beauty about them; these qualities aren't being reflected as well as they could be.

Many of us who have always have a soft spot for elves would be very happy if we could get at least a couple of heads that look more 'traditional', that is, less human and a little more like they belong to a different race. Elves are beautiful, yes, but key words in their description are often overlooked and not given much tought. They are not described as breath-taking, or captivating, although they might be. They are described with words such as unsettling, unnerving, haunting, when it comes to their beauty. This is no casual choice of wording, it clearly states elves are simply not meant to be or feel relatable."

Now, I remember reading descriptions of D&D elves that stated they had almond-shaped eyes, were of course beautiful, men often looked almost feminine as well, slanted eyes, narrower chins and jaws, etc. But I can't find anything from any materials that actually says these things. All I'm finding right now is:

Although individual Tel-quessir races exhibit a number of unique traits, there are some features which are common to all of the races. Tel-quessir tend to be fair, beautiful and graceful, though they are very often frail as well.

Sun Elves
Like all of the Tel-quessir, the sun elves were close to the height of humans, but with notable differences. Sun elves had bronze-colored skin and hair most often of copper, golden blond, and black, with red more uncommon but not unheard of.[5] Sun elves typically had green eyes, though golden ones were also common[7], often with a liquid appearance, and silver, black, hazel, or copper hues had also been heard of.[5] Like their moon elven brethren, male sun elves were typically taller and heavier than females, sometimes by as much as five inches or twenty pounds.[8]

Sun elves had a reputation for being stronger but less durable than other elves.

Moon Elves
Like all elves, the Teu-tel-quessir were tall, close to humans in height, but more slender and beautiful. Moon elf skin was pale, often with an icy blue hue. Moon elf hair was commonly black, blue, or silvery white, although human-like colors were heard of as well, though very rare. Moon elf eyes, like those of other elves, were very commonly green, although some were blue as well. All exhibited a characteristic best described as golden flecks speckled through the iris. Male moon elves were typically taller than females.

Star Elves
Star elves looked similar to moon elves, with light skin and hair of gold, red, or silver[2]. They had violet or gray eyes with occasional gold flecks in them. They were tall for elves, being about 5 1⁄2 to 6 ft (1.67 to 1.83 m) tall, and had a slender build. They liked to wear elaborate tunics but in neutral tones, so as to better remain unseen in the forest. They were strikingly handsome by human standards, even more so than other elves.

Wood Elves
Wood elves were easily identifiable by their coppery skin and green, brown, or hazel eyes. Wood elven hair was usually black or brown,[1] although hues such as blond or copper red were also found. Wood elves tended to dress in simple clothes, similar to those of the moon elves but with fewer bold colors and a greater number of earth tones that blended into their natural surroundings. Accustomed to a harsh, naturalistic lifestyle, wood elves loved to wear leather armor, even when they were not under immediate threat. Wood elves were roughly identical to other elves in height and build, with males larger than females.[4]

Wood elves were often stronger than other Tel-quessir, including other elves, but were frequently less cerebral than moon and sun elves, who put a greater value on education.

Wild Elves
Wild elves had darker skin than other elven subraces, in a range of light brown to dark brown. Males were usually larger than females, sometimes by as much as 5 inches or 20 pounds, but wild elves differed little in size from other elves. An average male was 5 feet 8 inches (173 centimeters) in height and weighed 150 pounds (68 kilograms), while an average female was 5 feet 3 inches (160 centimeters) and 130 pounds (60 kilograms). Their hair could be anything from black to light brown, and it grayed and turned to white with old age.[5] Wild elves, like other elves, were nimble and agile in body, but they were commonly thought of as less intelligent than their elven brethren, due in part to their aversion to civilization.[1]

They preferred to wear as little clothing as possible and chose instead to adorn themselves with other decorations like tattoos, feathers, or body paint. They could make and wear complicated and intricate beadwork.

Drow
In many ways, the drow resembled other elves[22] or eladrin.[23] Their bodies were wiry and athletic,[22] while their faces were chiseled and attractive,[23] though they were shorter and thinner than other elven sub-races.[9][24][10] Due to a process of selective breeding that lasted for several generations,[9] the drow (especially nobles)[24] looked attractive[23] even in comparison to other elven subraces.[25] Though their alluring appearance could be used for seduction, it was more often utilized to instill fear.[23] According to the goblin Nojheim, the beauty standards of the surface races made them prone to turn a blind eye to the deeds of the drow, showing them greater leniency and acceptance.[26]

Reports varied on the physical differences between the drow sexes. Some purported that females were generally bigger and stronger than males,[22] while others claimed the males had superior strength.[27] Both sexes varied in height from 4 feet and ​7 inches​ to ​5 feet and ​5 inches (140​ to ​170 centimeters), averaging at 5 feet (150 centimeters). Males weighed between 87​ to ​157 pounds (39​ to ​71.2 kilograms), averaging 109.5 pounds (49.67 kilograms), while females were a bit lighter, weighing between 82​ to ​152 pounds (37​ to ​68.9 kilograms) and averaging 104.5 pounds (47.4 kilograms).

Avariel
Avariel were more delicate than their earth-bound cousins, with hollow bones to aid their flight. They had pale skin, often porcelain white. An avariel's wings were usually white, but could be black, brown, or speckled.[5] Avariel were also known to practice the dyeing of wing tips.[citation needed] Their eyes were slightly larger than normal and ranged in color from brilliant blues to green or purple. Their hair color was normally a silver-white or black.


Ah! Finally. Something mentioning eye size, but this is one minor sub-race that says their eyes were slightly larger than normal.

And there is nothing in D&D Beyond about elves having pointed ears or almond-shaped eyes or elongated faces. Again, I'm seriously trying to find out why anyone has this concept of elves in mind. Where is this description found? I've gotta just be missing it. Even on just plain old Wikipedia, I can't find a description that matches the OP's or those who agree with the OP.

And seriously, we can't go simply based on art, because I've seen a WIDE array of elf art that ranges from frankly scary alien looking to humans with pointy ears - like Lauranna from Dragonlance, for example.

https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/d...p/width/360/height/450?cb=20200731182704


or Gilthanas



And whoa! I remember those images now... Is that supposed to be Drizzt, and are those drow? They look like old men with dark gray skin and pointy ears. Am I wrong?

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQKxMO6PSZF1KRuv7PApnisvr3LiQPEFF5Fyrx5H_y5-jjALhqSD-Vp_CylFz6IDLsGJkc&usqp=CAU


And here's some artwork for elves that are both D&D and Forgotten Realms. They look pretty humanish to me:




I'm actually now wondering if somewhere along the way, someone decided that elves needed to look more alien-like, so they decided to draw some elongated faces with bigger almond-shaped eyes, and the next thing you know people started all saying that that was the basic description and traditional description of an elf when, in reality, there never was such a description. Even in Tolkien's work, it actually never says elves have pointed ears and almond-shaped eyes and elongated faces.

Now I'm not saying that I don't agree with the OP that I'd like to see more faces for elves and faces that look more like what the OP is calling "traditional" elf faces, but I'm just saying that I myself, after really delving into this, am kinda blown away that what some of us believe are "traditional" elves are actually, in fact, not "traditional" elves. "Traditional" elves are, in fact, subject to interpretation, it seems, for many just made them humans with pointy ears, many made them look more alien, and many have done something in between - and none of the descriptions I can find actually detail elves as being as "traditionally" described.