Character Crunch: Snow Elves, Under-Elves, & Mud Elves

The iaurdin (high elves) and sylvanar (wood elves) are the most common elf subraces in Sublanarya. But they are not the only subraces of elves in Sublanarya. There are three other subraces known by the elves, distant cousins and long-lost kin, that are found in isolated places throughout the realm. They are so rare or rarely seen by the common folk that, to the masses, they wouldn't be recognized as separate or distinct races.

Far to the east, in the mountains of the Hold, the reclusive snow elves, also called "olossar" were once iaurdin. When the giants invaded the iaurdin kingdoms and enslaved millions, some iaurdin managed to escape slavery by hiding in the caves on the peaks of mountains that were difficult for all but smaller creatures to scale. Over centuries of hiding in the mountains, the olossar seperated themselves from the iaurdin and adapted to their new environment.

Olossar live in tribal units made-up of a few families and spend most of their time scouting their territory for threats, gathering materials, and keeping their cave homes warm. Inside their caves, snow-elves have cozy lives where they keep themselves occupied with crafts such as sculpting stone or making ornate jewelry or by practicing music that often fills their caves during the colder months. They mostly keep to themselves, even to this day, and are somewhat legendary among settlements near the Hold. They are often called"ghosts".

They do have a particular hatred for under-elves who hunt olossar to sell into slavery. While isolationists who generally avoid conflict, the olossar have been known to go to war against cliques of under-elves.

Olossar are shorter than most elves, standing at 5 to 5 1/2 feet tall, as an adaptation to help them withstand the cold. They have pale white to bluish skin with blue eyes eyes and white hair. These adaptations are to help camouflage them in the snow. Their hair tends to be thicker and less moisture absorbent than that of their cousins, allowing them stay warm and dry out faster, and the darker whites of their eyes help aid against being blinded by the snow.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Winter's Child. You’re acclimated to high altitude, including elevations above 20,000 feet. You’re also naturally adapted to cold climates, as described in chapter 5 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide.
White Walker.  You can walk on water, snow and ice as if they were harmless solid ground without making a sound. You can cast the Water Walk spell on yourself as a level 3 spell. You regain this ability on a short rest. Constitution is your spellcasting ability for this spell.

Elf Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the long sword, short sword, long bow and short bow.

The under-elves of Sublanarya, also called the "grey elves", are another subrace that are descended from iaurdin. Not to be mistaken with the drow and other "dark elves", under-elves were created by giants experimenting to create better slaves for their mining operations. They proved to be more cunning than the giants could imagine and they escaped into the "world below".

This harsh environment has transformed the elves into that which they once hated. Slavers.

Under-elves, who call themselves the Haan or "the shadows", have adapted to the World Below by becoming harsh survivalists, cunning opportunists, and merciless adversaries. The haan are mostly known for raiding dwarven and gnome underground settlements, taking valuables and prisoners to either ransom later or sell into the World Below's nightmarish slave market, but attacks on other settlements are not unheard of.

Not many specifics are known of the Haan as those captured have either escaped or killed themselves before they would give up valuable information. It is known that each under-elves is part of a Haan group, called a clique, ruled by a matriarch. The matriarch is usually the eldest female in the clique. She gives the other members of the clique roles, most often showing preference for female haan, who are given roles as priestesses, healers and guardians of the clique's nursery where all the haan are raised as siblings by committee. The males are usually raised as warriors, hunters and scouts and have little say in clique affairs. The matriarch also acts as the clique's head priestess. As with so many elves who have abandoned Iaur, as they bear a deep bitterness towards their cousins, they have found comfort and guidance in the lies of Gwath-Yara.

The Haan have a grey skin tone with white hair and red eyes. They often dye their hair and tattoo themselves to signify their alliance to a clique.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Superior Darkvision. Your darkvision has a radius of 120 feet.
Sunlight Sensitivity. You have disadvantage on attack rolls and on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on sight when you, the target of your attack, or whatever you are trying to perceive is in direct sunlight.
Under Magic. You can cast the invisibility spell on yourself as a level 2 spell. You regain this ability on a short rest. Charisma your spellcasting ability for these spells.
Elf Weapon Training. You have proficiency with the long sword, short sword, longbow and shortbow.

The madha or "mud elves" are the descendants of the fallen Ondo civilization. The Ondo were elves who built incredible stone structures in their colonies in the islands of Nuar but, after a great catastrophe destroyed their civilization, the survivors, most likely a slave caste, escaped to the jungles and devolved into a culture that is even more primitive than wood elves.

The madha stand between 5 and 6 feet tall with lean muscular builds, earth color skin, red and brown colored hair, and fierce yellow and green eyes.

They are a hunter-gatherer culture that worship natural gods like Sylvanis but also tend to fall easily for cult-worship. They are suspicious of outsiders and are extremely territorial as they tend to compete for survival against lizardfolk and other denizens of the jungle.

Ability Score Increase. Your Strength score increases by 1.
Hunter's Lore. You have proficiency with one of the following skills of your choice: Animal Handling, Nature, Stealth, and Survival.
Claws. Because of your claws, you have climbing speed of 2/3 your base walking speed rounded down (minimum 20 feet). Your claws are natural weapons, which you can use to make unarmed strikes. If you hit with them, you deal slashing damage equal to 1d4 + your Strength modifier, instead of the bludgeoning damage normal for an unarmed strike.