The Wood Elves

Kylreth had been traveling all her life. Throught the forests of her ancestors, the boughs of the grand oak trees of the Farsong Forest had sheltered her and her clan from prying human eyes. This was the life her forefathers choose to live, and their forefathers before them. Kylreth on the other hand, as much as she loved her clan and the shelter of the forest, longed for something more. Her body craved the sights of the outside world, but the young elf knew that leaving would be a decision which could never be undone.

Wood Elf Traits

Ability Score Increase: Your Wisdom increases by 1, Your Dexterity increases by 2.
Age: Although elves reach physical maturity at the same age as humans, the elven understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience. Wood Elves typically live slightly shorter lives than the Sun Elves. They typically reach adulthood at the age of 30, and usually live to be 200 years old. The druids of the Wood Elves that are most attuned to the Feywilds can live to be several hundred years older than this however, although this is somewhat rare.
Alignment: Elves love freedom, variety, and self-expression, so they lean strongly towards the gentler aspects of chaos. They value and protect others' freedom as well as their own and are good more often than not.
Speed: Your base walking speed is 35 feet.
Languages: You can speak, read, and write Elven. (Some individuals know common, speak to your DM) (https://lingojam.com/TheTelQuessirOnlineTranslator)
Vision: You have superior vision in dark and dim Conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in Darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in Darkness, only shades of gray.
Favored Time of Day: Day and Night. The Wood Elven clans move during the Day and hunt during the Night. Morning and Evenings are reserved to rest.
Favored Climate: Temperate, Lush
Favored Terrain: Forests, Jungles, Wildlands

Bonus Proficiencies (pick 2)

Lean and Agile: You have proficiency in the Acrobatics skill.
Light on Your Feet: You have proficiency in the Stealth skill.
Animal Friend: You have proficiency in the Animal Handling skill.
Medic: You have proficiency in the Medicine skill.
One With Nature: You have proficiency in the Nature skill.

Elf Weapon Training⁠:

Most young elves go through vigorous training before they can be considered adults, you have proficiency with the simple weapon: shortbow. And the martial weapons: longbow, glaive and spear.

Child of the Forest:

In deep forest areas you do not get the disadvantages which difficult terrain would give other races.

Mask of the Wild:

You can attempt to hide even when you are only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomena.

Fey Ancestry:

You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and against sleep spells.

Trance:

Elves do not sleep. Instead they meditate deeply, remaining semi-conscious, for 4 hours a day. The Common word for this meditation is "trance". While meditating, you dream after a fashion; such dreams are actually mental exercises that have become reflexive after years of practice. After resting in this way, you gain the same benefit a human would from 8 hours of sleep.

Appearance

With their unearthly grace and fine features, elves appear hauntingly beautiful to humans and members of many other races. Wood Elves are a bit shorter than humans on average, averaging at around 160cm for females and 165cm for males. They are slenderer than humans, with males being only marginally heavier than females.
Size and build. Wood Elves have slender builds. Your size is Medium.
Skintones: Wood Elf skin tones range from pale to tan but are usually on the warmer side with earthy undertones.
Haircolor: Wood Elven hair colours are most often a shade of brown or red. Though blonde and black hair isn't completely unheard of.
Eye color: Wood Elf eyes are most usually green or brown. Their eyes are sometimes described as sparkling pools of liquid colour, and they are often clear and bright. Wood Elves are also sometimes found with slit, cat-like eyes, and are generally better at seeing in the darkness than their Sun Elven cousins.
Ears: Wood Elven ears are considerably shorter in length than the High Elven ears. They range from medium to very short, only slightly pointier versions of human ears.
Extra: Wood Elves generally have sharper canines than humans and Sun Elves. This is believed to be due to their strictly meat-based diet.
Clothes and adornments: Wood Elves are a practical people with practical clothes. They are hunters by nature, and are often found wearing fur, leather, bone, feathers and hide. Most clans are indistinguishable from one another when it comes to their fashion choices, as many clans follow the same ancient traditions of how to craft durable and strong armours and weapons. Wood Elven traditions run deep, and they are extremely proud of their craftmanship skills.
Wood Elven designs are simpler than that of the Sun Elves, but they are far more durable and sturdier, as well as comfortable. The Wood Elves are also known as the best carpenters on Antreia, their woodworking skills unrivalled by anyone else on the continent. Most Wood Elven designs use beautifully carved wood from already dead trees to honour the spirits of the forest. The very forest is holy to the Wood Elves and cutting down any trees which are still living are considered a great sin towards Eyr, their patron deity.
Another famous technique used by the Wood Elves is their ability to meld the living wood to their will through a special branch of druidism. The druids of the Wood Elves can make intricate jewellery, buildings and bows by guiding the wood into living shapes of decoration. This is considered a holy practice, and the Wood Elven belief is that the weapons crafted in this manner contain forest spirits that grant the wielder magical powers of the feywilds.

Diet

All «true» Wood Elves follow a meat-based diet like their ancestors have done for millenia. This is in stark contrast from the Sun Elven traditions, and this difference can clearly be seen in the appearance of the sharper canines of the Wood Elves. The Wood Elves do occasionally eat fruit, vegetables, roots and moss however, and they often compliment their meat with spices and herbs, but the general assumption is that meat is where they get most of their nutrition from.
Wood Elf dishes are often served on large leaves native to the feywild called ure lasse. They reuse these leaves between meals, and they are highly poisonous if they were to be ingested.

History

Wood Elves are originally off-shots of the High Elven empire of Elvenhan, whom due to disagreements with the rest of their people, settled in the deep woods of Antreia sometime around the later parts of the first age. As elves are generally a resourceful people, the Wood Elves quickly adapted to life in the forests. They had some help however, when the Wood Elves, now living in nomadic clans, stumbled into the feywilds due to their newfound interest for druidism and shapeshifting, Eyr took notice of their people, and agreed to help teach them druidry in exchange for their devotion. Due to this pact, known as The Green Pact, almost all Wood Elves on the continent today call themselves devout followers of Eyr and the fey of the feywilds. This Green Pact has also changed their physical appearance. Some Wood Elves have greener coloured skin, slit eyes or sharper canines, which is believed to be because of their connection to shapeshifting and the feywilds itself. All Wood Elves have a magical connection to the feywilds, and the most skilled among their druids are exceptionally good at the art of shape changing.
After their break with the rest of elvenkind, the Wood Elves have lived secluded lives away from other races. Their lifestyle has changed remarkably little in the years since they started traversing the forest, and due to this they value tradition highly.

Personality and Reputation

As a people, Wood Elves are largely seen as calm and level-headed. Arousing strong emotions in Wood Elves is not something that is easily done, although many do have a strong aversion for large cities, having lost the passion for urbanization after their break with the High Elves in the first age. To Wood Elves, the trappings of civilization, including the mightiest of fortresses or tallest walls, are transient and impermanent things that will eventually be overcome by the long processes of nature. To many, this attitude seems condescending, weakening the bonds between Wood Elves and other races. Additionally, Wood Elves seem off-putting to the Sun Elves, with a gruff manner that makes them less charismatic.
Wood Elves are less arrogant than the Sun Elves, but they are no less distrustful of strangers. Living secluded in the grand forests of Antreia for millenia, Wood Elves have learned to trust no one but their own. If you happen to walk through a dark forest and meet an elven clan, there’s a large chance that they wouldn’t take kindly to this violation of their territorial borders.
Due to their territorial attitude many of the other races of Antreia have a bad relationship with the Wood Elves. Many view them as bandits, looters and poachers, while other see them as wild savages. This could not be further from the truth however, as Wood Elven clans have deep customs, lore, and knowledge, although they are hesitant to share this with others. The Elfin on the other hand have a mutually beneficial relationship with the Wood Elves, a relationship of trade and cooperation, and they are frequently found crossing paths when traversing the woods, they call home.

Society

Wood Elven society is based around your position in a clan. There are many such clans on Antreia, each with slightly different customs and traditions, but most of them share their devotion to the forest and to their patron; Eyr, as well as their migratory traditions. Almost all Wood Elven clans are nomadic by nature but individuals who spend shorter or longer periods inside wood elven settlements inside of Calen do exist. These cities, who are more numerous in western Calen, the area around the city of Calen, and most of those who live there permanently are either clerics in service to Eyr or Selune, guards of the cities, in direct service to the queen or, in some cases, weak, sick or feeble individuals who are unfit for the normal nomadic lifestyle of their people. In recent decades, city-life has become more common however, and many of the wood elven settlements have seen a boom in population as more people embrace the more comfortable and stable life as part of a larger society. The wood elves of the forested cities of Calen are no less proud of their traditions or skeptical towards outsiders however, and although some humans or half-elves live side-by-side with these wood elves, these individuals are few and far between.
All individuals in the clan are considered equal, no job is worse than another, but good fighters or magic users are generally held in higher regard than those without these talents. The clans travel between small outposts, settlements and ruins in the forest, while hunting game and trading with passing clans. This way of life has made the Wood Elves a freedom-loving people, they despise the limitations placed upon them in human societies, for example, and crave the outdoors. The clans can consist of hundreds of individuals divided into many families, but all whom consider themselves part of the same clan have a deep connection to one another.
When the Wood Elves travel they often bring tents and caravans with them. At the front of these caravans they have large brown elk called "oakhorn elks" which are as companions to the clan. The elks carry their tents, pull their caravans and are believed to watch over the children of the clan. When one such animal dies, the Wood Elves undergo a ritual in which they honour the dead by eating its meat and using its hide to create new armour and tents, but killing the elk unless it is deathly ill is strictly forbidden.
Wood Elves consider all the members of their clan their close family, and as such, are extremely tight-knit and loyal. Leaving the clan without permission from the elder is strictly forbidden, and any such elf is considered an outcast the rest of their life, never being allowed to return to their clan. The clans are led by one elder, almost always an exceptionally skilled druid, and important decisions about when to travel or when to stop, when to trade or when to fight, goes through them. Gender matters little, and there have been accounts of exceptional clan leaders of both genders. When the elder becomes old and weary, they will pick a successor among the children of the clan, most usually one that shows an exceptional aptitude for the druidic arts. When this new “elder” is chosen, years of training to become the next leader commences. This training involves years of meditation and honing of one’s skills as a druid, as well as excursions to the feywilds and study of the ancient Wood Elven traditions.

Religion

Most known Wood Elven clans follow what is called Fey worship religiously. This is in part due to their connection with the Goddess of Life; Eyr, but is also crucial because of their traveling habits, where many clans encounter fey creatures in the deep woods on the daily.
There are many rituals which the Wood Elves follow to honour what they call the spirits of the forest, and much of their spare time is used on reflection and meditation to get closer to their patron deity Eyr. Wood Elves consider themselves the chosen people of the Goddess of Life, and thus aspire to strictly follow her teachings all their life. To cast away Eyr and the fey is to cast away everything it means to be elven in their eyes, and thus there are extremely strict rules for what is and isn’t allowed.

ONE WITH THE WOOD

In keeping with their naturalistic inclination, most Wood Elves are not particularly fine metalworkers and have no interest in developing any such skills. However, Wood Elves are among some of the world's finest carpenters and stoneworkers, masters in the crafting of bows and arrows as well as in leather tanning. Wood Elves have even developed a number of specialized arrows, including those that fly further than usual as well as some that are used as signal devices. So carefully guarded are Wood Elven crafting secrets that even experienced fletchers from other races have difficulty emulating Wood Elven designs. Wood Elven leather armour also often double as camouflage, disguising a Wood Elven hunter from potential enemies.

DRUIDISM

Wood Elves are generally uncomfortable with most forms of magic, viewing wizards and other arcane spellcasters with no small amount of distrust. However, Wood Elves are largely at ease with the ways of the primal magic used by Druids, Barbarians, and Shamans, which they feel is the truest expression of supernatural power—or rather, a reflection of nature itself, used to protect the wilderness. However, Wood Elves are not completely averse to arcane magic and Wood Elven bards, sorcerers, and wizards re far from unknown, although Wood Elves as a whole have no particular tradition of the Art.

BORN HUNTERS

While Wood Elves feel it better to have a minimal impact on their surroundings, the race has no particular aversion to meat-eating and are passionate hunters. Many hours of a typical Wood Elf's life are spent on the hunt, which is both a practical activity and a pleasurable one. Most of the time that the Wood Elves are not hunting they are enjoying themselves at ease within the highest branches of their forest homes. Wood Elves donot, however, commonly keep pets, but instead form bonds with local wildlife in a manner like those of a ranger. The exception to this rule are the giant deer which they use to pull their caravans, but these deer are also more clan members than pet.

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

Wood Elven romantic and sexual relationships are often polyamorous in nature, members of the race freely engaging or cease relations with new partners. Feelings of jealousy and possessiveness are as a result viewed by the race as reasons for teasing or mockery. As a result of these perspectives on love, humans often believe that any relationships engaged with Wood Elves are destined to fail from the start.

Classes

Magic: As the Wood Elves are a people are less trusting to the arcane arts than their Sun Elven cousins, less wizards, sorcerers and clerics exist among their race. Druidism is very common however, due to their relationship with the feywilds.
Mix: Some Wood Elves prefer to play on the strings of the weave, becoming potent and skillfull bards. Paladins are less frequently found, however.
Non-Magic: Most Wood Elves are rangers or rogues, but many also find themselves studying the talents of the barbarian or fighter to protect their clans.

Wood Elf Names

Wood Elven names use a combination of given and clan name. These names are always of Elven origin. In the chance that a young elven individual is given away to another clan, they will change their clan name to the new clan, and all future offspring will be born with the new clan’s name. There are some regional differences between Wood Elves born in the North or in the South, but these are fairly insignificant.
Female Wood Elf names: Eilbella, Fadi, Dathyra, Leolen, Inastina, Jophine
Male Wood Elf names: Leolen, Elneiros, Amadal, Elkas, Delaran, Vadan
Wood Elf last names: Faelar, Levos, Elenshaer, Taanyth, Paeral, Sharian

Related Organizations

• The Fate