Elf
In times past, the elves, longest-lived of the mortal races, lived in a racially stratified society.
The highest racial caste, known as High Elves, lived in cities or agricultural estates and competed amoungst one another almost compulsively. An individual who wrote a particularly influential academic paper, or bred a noteworthy new crop, or created a distinctive piece of art stood to gain huge boosts in standing in the social order.
The next caste down, the drow, lived mainly in nomadic wagon trains (some large enough to be almost cities in and of themselves) known as Night Caravans. Being the main point of contact between elves and other races, the largest business of the Night Caravans was business. Matched only by the dwarves in mercantile prowess, the wagon trains of the drow were known far and wide as places where anything could be found and bought for the right price. The fact that some of these things were not, strictly speaking, legal made for an unfortunate stereotype that often persists to this day.
The racial caste at the bottom of elf society were the wood elves. Living in forests and other wilderness areas, wood elves were (and still are in less progressive quarters) looked down on by both high elves and drow, and were forced to create their own culture which still survives, although not without some modifications (today these adaptations are often decried by older wood elves who fear the loss of their unique cultural ways to the relentless march of so-called progress).
As time went on these racial boundaries and elven society in general became more rigid and might have stayed that way if not for the continual expansion of the human nations. Brave leaders of all three elven subraces realized that they needed to forge closer ties and undo the caste system or be subsumed into cultural oblivion by the quicker, relentlessly innovating humans. The result of this breaking down of societal walls was the unification of the race into a single political entity, Nestia, which is proudly one of the original signitories of the Nineward Pact. The elves are currently undergoing something of a vibrant cultural renaissance, although unfortunately the old prejudices still rear their ugly heads from time to time.
The highest racial caste, known as High Elves, lived in cities or agricultural estates and competed amoungst one another almost compulsively. An individual who wrote a particularly influential academic paper, or bred a noteworthy new crop, or created a distinctive piece of art stood to gain huge boosts in standing in the social order.
The next caste down, the drow, lived mainly in nomadic wagon trains (some large enough to be almost cities in and of themselves) known as Night Caravans. Being the main point of contact between elves and other races, the largest business of the Night Caravans was business. Matched only by the dwarves in mercantile prowess, the wagon trains of the drow were known far and wide as places where anything could be found and bought for the right price. The fact that some of these things were not, strictly speaking, legal made for an unfortunate stereotype that often persists to this day.
The racial caste at the bottom of elf society were the wood elves. Living in forests and other wilderness areas, wood elves were (and still are in less progressive quarters) looked down on by both high elves and drow, and were forced to create their own culture which still survives, although not without some modifications (today these adaptations are often decried by older wood elves who fear the loss of their unique cultural ways to the relentless march of so-called progress).
As time went on these racial boundaries and elven society in general became more rigid and might have stayed that way if not for the continual expansion of the human nations. Brave leaders of all three elven subraces realized that they needed to forge closer ties and undo the caste system or be subsumed into cultural oblivion by the quicker, relentlessly innovating humans. The result of this breaking down of societal walls was the unification of the race into a single political entity, Nestia, which is proudly one of the original signitories of the Nineward Pact. The elves are currently undergoing something of a vibrant cultural renaissance, although unfortunately the old prejudices still rear their ugly heads from time to time.
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