Lhûren

The Celestial Elves or as they are called in their language, Lhûren (Celestial People) or sometimes Dragon Elves (Lûnren) are elves that are the most populous residents of the Aurlûnor Velande. Commonly referred to as the "High Elves", the Celestial Elves consider themselves to be the most cultured out of all the other Elven kinds. As a result, they tend to be closed off to the outside world, and do not seem all too keen on outsiders in their territory, nor all that trustworthy.

With a population of over 57 million people, Celestial Elves are by far the most numerous of the Elven species in terms of total population count of other elves.

History
According to records in Aurlûnor, the Celestial Elves believe themselves as children of the stars and the scales of dragons, and refer themselves as "Lhûren", believing that they are the first born children in the universe that inhabited a plane known as the Vale. They would be cosmic wayfarers in primordial forms, constantly travelling in the universe, finding a place to call home. The original form of a Celestial Elf is said to be that of a star-looking substance, with a figure that looks akin to an elf, except the form is that similarly patterned of the sky. Their mouths being that of flames of stars, their eyes being piercing bright white, and having a bald head with flames that seer out of them which resembles solar flares of the stars that they were birthed from. They would say to have descended into the world they call Celeia over 11,000 years ago, and would settle in the far western regions of Rathnir, where they would deem the perfect continent and this world to be the perfect world for their new home.

Fossil records, remnants and ruined scriptures however, diverge from the mythological aspects. It is actually unclear where the Celestial Elves actually come from, but it is said that they were apart of the Elven Migrations from the west of Rathnir that occurred around 11,000 years ago. First settlements of these Elves had been discovered in the Western Jungles around 6,300 years ago in a site south of Talhûnar, one of the older cities in the Empire. Prior of the Elven arrival, multiple Human tribes and minor kingdoms existed in the region. Due to the lack of poor records, it is not really known what happened during the period of their arrival up until the final Human bastions were wiped out 2,500 years ago, but wars had been seen between these elves and humans constantly, asserting dominance over these peoples. Rusted bronze slave shackles and humans with broken bones showed the brutality of these Elves in the early years before the establishment of Twin Dragon civil code.

Although mythical records showed that the whole population converted to Twin Dragon by the arrival of Sareariel Lelya-Earcala, evidence of this religion and philosophy being practice actually stretched back much further, with it first making an appearance with the first Kingdom of Almador. This was where the reduction of the harsh brutality of the various Celestial Elven city-states ceased, but saw humans of the region become slowly a minority, and more subjugated into Almadorian laws. Though, the Celestial Elves were quite unruly, craving their own ambitions, and when the power of Almador weakened with more corruption and disunion, they would later fragment into multiple kingdoms, starting the Warring States period. This would last until the unification of these states by Sareariel, who is known as the "Immortal Dragon Empress". Since her ascension to power over 400 years ago, the Celestial Elves had seen themselves grow in lifestyle, and living, as well as building magnificent structures of magic and technology. However, this would increase their xenophobia, and would make them more paranoid of the outside world, where they would see them as a threat to their society and culture.

Religion
Many Celestial Elves are worshippers of the Twin Dragon religion, as it is the state mandated religion of their majority population's nation. However, there are those who do worship other religions if born in other regions, and some having local religions which are usually kept secret, or isolated enough to worship, which mostly consists of Ancestral Worship, or worship of different Pantheons. These days, it is rare to find a Celestial Elf who is not a worshipper of Twin Dragon, as it accounts to 97% of the population of all Celestial Elves.

Culture
Celestial Elven culture is quite odd to other cultures. Unlike other cultures, they do not seem to eat with silverware, but with chopsticks, usually seeing the practice of silverware as barbaric, and quite rude. They have a strong etiquette on respect, and how one should properly respect others, such as higher-ups, elders, soldiers and other sorts, and have various ways of showing respect, such as fist-palm saluting, bowing and kowtowing. Dragons are also held in high respect as guardians and wise beings, rather than malevolent beings, and even see it as heretical if someone demonizes a dragon. Celestial Elves are quite superstitious, and if anything happens of major sorts such as a drought, flood, or sorts, they beg to Vale to be merciful, and usually feel that it is always a curse caused by the divines due to their lack of respect.

Celestial Elves are agrarian, and usually have mostly farming communities, in which they plant wheat, millet, cabbages, soybeans and rice as their primary staple crops, with rice being the more commonly eaten foods due to how plentiful it is, and it's fullness that it can provide. Wheat is usually seen as more of a food for peasants, as it is more common, and can grow practically anywhere, whereas Rice can only grow in warmer regions. Celestial Elves eat various amounts of food that is usually prepared carefully, with fruits as appetizers, and main courses served with steamed, roasted or fried food. Food such as beef is seen as higher class dish due to how expensive it can be and the way it is treated.

Celestial Elves are also known to be extremely xenophobic to other races, and usually see them as barbaric, and generally think they are up to no good whenever they visit their nation or home. They also enjoy scoffing the appearance of foreigners, and usually have distain toward their grooming habits. There are very few examples of Celestial Elves actually seeing any other race as their equal, but one of them is the the Soleannan Empire, and only one of it's successor states, Theiónikos, which they see them as an equal in terms of strength and culture. They are also quite intolerant of other religions, and it is usually rare for Celestial Elves to even get themselves into a different religion other than Twin Dragon, though it is possible, it is a very small minority.

Celestial Elves also get offended whenever they are referred to as an "Elf" by a foreigner, although due to many years of foreigners coming and going, they had got more used to the term being used, and usually give a huff toward foreigners about it. A more respectful way to greet a Celestial Elf in terms of diplomacy, is referring them as "Lhûren", "Celestialkin" or "Star People".

Appearance
Celestial Elves are one of the tallest humanoid races in Rathnir, with their heights usually averaging from 5'6 to up to 6'5 at the most. Male Celestial Elves can grow to be all the way to 6'8, though this is usually rare, and this usually is seen with them being stocky as well. But at the most, a normal male can grow to be 6'4 or 6'3. A female can grow to a similar height but up to 6'6, with the average female growing to at least 6'2 to 6'1. Female Celestial Elves tend to grow very fast at around their preteen years, while male Celestial Elves grow later at around their later teenage years.

Celestial Elves are a long-lived people, and can grow to be around 300-350 years old, with their age of maturity coming at around 50 years of age. It is considered to be middle-aged at 240. However, this does not apply to all Celestial Elves, as the current leader of the Aurlûnor Velande is well over 931 years old, with very little signs of aging. It is rumored that some Celestial Elves practiced immortality, and some go through immortality rituals and even journeys to achieve it, but only four people so far, had even achieved such feats.

Often, accounts would portray the Celestial Elves as short people, which is why that some cultures mock them, as well as make up various of negative stereotypes.