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Quite likely, and I imagine Kyra thinks it's sexy.
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Headcanon accepted
Kyra?The iconic cleric. In the comics, she and Merisiel (the iconic elf rogue) are a couple. ^_^
Sort of.. last I looked it was still at the sit-com level.
Had a thought while looking for references for a tiefling character's eyes (more feline-like than human, if you were curious) and got to wondering - would an elf's eyes be reflective in very low light?
You might be familiar with this trope, The Darkness Gazes Back, where a predatory animal's eyes are the only thing visible in the shadows. Apparently that's a real thing - the details are in the Real Life spoiler on that page; predatory animals who have good night vision have a part of the eye called the tapetum lucidum. It's reflective and light from the right angle can visibly reflect off it while still being too dark to reveal the animal itself.
So could elves and other creatures with low-light vision have this trait. Because if so, I have to wonder what Kyra's woken up to at times. :P
It's not so noticeable that elves receive a stealth penalty at night. And probably a good deal less when the eyelids are closed.
Seems to me a sentient, ancient species would have learned long ago to angle their heads down slightly to at least mitigate the amount of light reflected.
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It's not so noticeable that elves receive a stealth penalty at night. And probably a good deal less when the eyelids are closed.Had a thought while looking for references for a tiefling character's eyes (more feline-like than human, if you were curious) and got to wondering - would an elf's eyes be reflective in very low light?
You might be familiar with this trope, The Darkness Gazes Back, where a predatory animal's eyes are the only thing visible in the shadows. Apparently that's a real thing - the details are in the Real Life spoiler on that page; predatory animals who have good night vision have a part of the eye called the tapetum lucidum. It's reflective and light from the right angle can visibly reflect off it while still being too dark to reveal the animal itself.
So could elves and other creatures with low-light vision have this trait. Because if so, I have to wonder what Kyra's woken up to at times. :P
Just a note about tapetum lucidum, you only get the glare when there's some sort of light to reflect. In total darkness you'd get nadda.
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Yeah, they should totally have it. Interestingly, a lot of animals have a tapetum lucidum; with humans being a notable, and unfortunate exception. It's basically a flap of blueish, reflective skin on the back of the eye. I've always wondered why human's don't have this...but my understanding is that our eyes are functionally quite different; very good at discerning colors and shapes, but kind of bad when it comes to spotting movement or seeing things in the dark.
But yeah, if you encountered an elf in the dark, their eyes should have kind of an eerie glow to them. Not sure what color it would be...Golarion elves kind of have all black eyes. Maybe blue or green? Now, the real question is about dark-vision, as that doesn't seem to really be based on anything real. I imagine that goblin and orcs eyes would glow red in the dark, but that's just because it would look cool.
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Cool observation!
be...Golarion elves kind of have all black eyes.
No they don't. They have eye colors - they're just solid, whiteless orbs. 8D
Now, the real question is about dark-vision, as that doesn't seem to really be based on anything real.
For what it's worth, it used to be "infravision," i.e. many races could see into the infrared spectrum and hence be able to perceive most living things by their heat energy...wouldn't do a damn bit of good against most undead, though, which would have made them all the scarier.
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No they don't. They have eye colors - they're just solid, whiteless orbs. 8D
I remember reading that, but then I was thinking of Merisiel's eyes, which look all black. But then, I went back and I looked closer at some of the art, and I guess they are actually mostly blue, with a (black?)sclera. They do have some elves in their artwork with the all white eye thing, but it hasn't been too consistent on that point (not that it matters).
For what it's worth, it used to be "infravision," i.e. many races could see into the infrared spectrum and hence be able to perceive most living things by their heat energy
Yeah, I remember that from second edition, and then they changed it to "darkvision" and "low-light" going into 3rd. I guess darkvision is easier to adjucate...the GM doesn't have to decide which creatures have heat signatures and which don't..but it doesn't make much sense from a scientific perspective. That being said, I don't really know anything about physics or optics...not a scientist.
... and give all those nightvision-challenged humans a nice spot to aim their arrows at too! :)
I thought about that...but I still think that functionally they would have full concealment, if the only thing you could see are the eyes. Shooting things in the dark is hard, even if you can see their outline (for some reason, people have a tendency to shoot high in low-light conditions). It would let you target them without Perception checks, which is helpful though.
Re: The eyes - Other than Wayne Reynolds the only artist I've seen drawing Pathfinder elf eyes "right" is Carolina Eade.
The eyes are supposed to be coming in way more colors and shades than solid black.
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