Re: Sex-neutral gender?

John Cowan wrote:

> Almaran Dungeonmaster scripsit:
>
> > The inhabitants are elves
>
> On this list, I traditionally ask what people mean when they say this.
> Do they live forever?  Reincarnate consciously into their descendants?
> Have pointed ears?  Or just tall and skinny _Homo sapiens_?
Welll, there are 5 races of elves on my world. The Malendilqe, the keepers
of the magic, left the known world and sailed west, after human pirates
raided the island of Vezaël, the vault of the elven magic. Their appearance
is unknown.
The Vaniëlqe, the original or magical elves, are between 130 and 150 cm
tall. They have four fingers and four toes, somewhat pointed ears, keen
senses and a strong innate magical ability. Their skin is lightly tanned and
they live mainly in the southern part of the Dalassian continent and on the
Flimparfil island range. They grow up to 700 years old.
The Tertëloqe, the "elves of the waves" are slightly taller than their
Vaniëlqe cousins. They have developed very keen senses, especially far range
eye sight. They are slender, agile and usually good swimmers and climbers.
Their skin is bluish pale and their voices are very melodic. Tertëloqe elves
are mainly found on the Quadrans continent, in the nations of the Tetril
Union. Their average maximum age is about 500 to 550 years.
The Feranilqe, or "Ferani elves" are the shortest of all elves. Often no
taller than 120 cm, they are very dextrous. They also have excellent senses,
including good smell. The traditional Feranilqe philosophy holds that all
living beings contain a natural force, the Ferani force. This force can be
used, but must also be protected at all costs. Therefor, the Feranilqe are
regarded as the protectors of the woods. Most of the mysterious Ferani
druids are Feranilqe. Feranilqe live in the Midawal woods in south central
Dalassia and grow approximately 600 to 625 years old.
Evanalqe, "city-elves", are most manlike in their appearance. They stand
over  150 cm tall, and are thus the tallest of all elves. These are the
elves that live in human communities. After the Sacking of Vezaël, with the
outbreak of the Second Almaranian War (War for Magic), many elves and humans
fled east to safer lands, in the end founding the Elf-Human Freestate, where
both races could live together. Although after a few thousand years, the
communities are still largely seperated, the long years of crossbreeding
between the two races has significantly altered the look of the Evanalqe.
Evenalqe are seen as the "least original" and their magical powers are
weaker than in any other elven race. They grow up to 350 years old.

What happens to these elves when they die? This is a cause for much
speculation, and will also depend on the religious beliefs of the various
elves. Ferani elves believes that their Ferani will flow back into nature,
and that their spirit will reincarnate into a different being, be it an
insect, a tree or again a Ferani elf. That's why these elves respect and
value life even more than any other elf. Evenalqe elves usually share the
beliefs of the community they live in. Note: some of these mixed elf-huamn
communities are dominated by elves, the latter sometimes forming as much as
80% or 90% of the population.

Maarten