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Description
Put a lot of work in this but I finished my second Man After Man revisited piece. In this case it's the Plains Dwellers (which I call Elves here). Like in the original book, they were engineered to be herbivores inhabit grasslands, namely Africa. Some of their most distinct characteristics where their long legs, pointed ears, and hands equipped with sharp nails and calluses for cutting grass. They also had large teeth that are replaced when worn down. This is adaptation allowed the Elves to live longer than the other engineered humans as most primates (including early humans) often died from tooth related diseases. Longer lifespans allowed elders to survive longer and pass down more knowledge to younger individual. When their environment went through an extended famine (likely caused by the Yellowstone eruption mentioned when talking about the Orcs), populations of Elves adapted to consume various sources of protein, allowing larger brains to develop. This coupled with their longevity enabled the Elves to develop sophisticated culture relatively early. Cut to 10 million years hence, the Elves are nomadic tribes who practice strategic farming*, totem carving, weaving and pottery*. A recent development is the use of metals. Still hard to acquire, these metals are usually decorative though occasionally used for weaponry. The individual shown here sports bladed arm shields with gauntlets modeled after the Elves bladed hands as well as metal neckwear and clothing crafted from animals the Elves either hunted or semi domesticated.

Design wise the Elves are my favorite and it was a fun challenge designing the outfit for this warrior.
Original concept by Dougal Dixon.
As always comments and critiques are welcome.

*I define "strategic farming" as planting tubers and bulbs, leaving them for an extended period, then returning to harvest them.

*you get a better idea of the totem carving, weaving and pottery in an older piece: www.deviantart.com/aliencon/ar…

Edit: changed the time to 10 million years

Description
Put a lot of work in this but I finished my second Man After Man revisited piece. In this case it's the Plains Dwellers (which I call Elves here). Like in the original book, they were engineered to be herbivores inhabit grasslands, namely Africa. Some of their most distinct characteristics where their long legs, pointed ears, and hands equipped with sharp nails and calluses for cutting grass. They also had large teeth that are replaced when worn down. This is adaptation allowed the Elves to live longer than the other engineered humans as most primates (including early humans) often died from tooth related diseases. Longer lifespans allowed elders to survive longer and pass down more knowledge to younger individual. When their environment went through an extended famine (likely caused by the Yellowstone eruption mentioned when talking about the Orcs), populations of Elves adapted to consume various sources of protein, allowing larger brains to develop. This coupled with their longevity enabled the Elves to develop sophisticated culture relatively early. Cut to 10 million years hence, the Elves are nomadic tribes who practice strategic farming*, totem carving, weaving and pottery*. A recent development is the use of metals. Still hard to acquire, these metals are usually decorative though occasionally used for weaponry. The individual shown here sports bladed arm shields with gauntlets modeled after the Elves bladed hands as well as metal neckwear and clothing crafted from animals the Elves either hunted or semi domesticated.

Design wise the Elves are my favorite and it was a fun challenge designing the outfit for this warrior.
Original concept by Dougal Dixon.
As always comments and critiques are welcome.

*I define "strategic farming" as planting tubers and bulbs, leaving them for an extended period, then returning to harvest them.

*you get a better idea of the totem carving, weaving and pottery in an older piece: www.deviantart.com/aliencon/ar…

Edit: changed the time to 10 million years