Wood Elf

Wood elves, also known as copper elves, or Or-tel-quessir were the most populous of the elven races. Wood elves saw themselves as guardians of the forest homes that were largely abandoned after the Crown Wars and before the Retreat, but unlike most elves they did not view themselves as a people apart from the rest of Gendos.
Wood elves were easily identifiable by their coppery skin and green, brown, or hazel eyes. Wood elven hair was usually black or brown, although hues such as blond or copper red were also found. Wood elves tended to dress in simple clothes, similar to those of the moon elves but with fewer bold colors and a greater number of earth tones that blended into their natural surroundings. Accustomed to a harsh, naturalistic lifestyle, wood elves loved to wear leather armor, even when they were not under immediate threat. Wood elves were roughly identical to other elves in height and build, with males larger than females.
Wood elves were often stronger than other elves, but were frequently less cerebral than moon and sun elves, who put a greater value on education.
As a people, wood elves were largely seen as calm and level-headed. Arousing strong emotions in wood elves was not something that was easily done, although many did have a strong aversion for large cities, having lost the passion for urbanization after the fall of Earlann. To wood elves, the trappings of civilization, including the mightiest of fortresses or tallest walls, were transient and impermanent things that would eventually be overcome by the long processes of nature. To many, this attitude seemed condescending, weakening the bonds between wood elves and other races. Additionally, wood elves could sometimes seem off-putting compared to other Tel-quessir, with a gruff manner that made them less charismatic, despite their avowed compassion and humility. Wood elven romantic and sexual relationships were often polyamorous in nature, members of the race freely engaging or ceasing relations with new partners. Feelings of jealousy and possessiveness were as a result viewed by the race as reasons for teasing or mockery. As a result of these perspectives on love, high elves often believed that any relationships engaged with wood elves would be destined to fail from the start.
Wood elves considered themselves the heirs of the ancient elven empires established prior to the Crown Wars, but they shared few of the cultural characteristics that marked such early realms as Aryvandaar and Ilythiir. Although a proud people, wood elves felt that compassion was a greater virtue than strength and wood elven realms were less concerned with expansion than they were with maintaining amiable relations with their neighbors. Wood elves were not nomadic and instead they were organized into scattered, carefully concealed villages united under a gerontocratic hierarchy composed of village councils consisting of the most distinguished families' eldest members. These councils were often advised by local druids, whose influence played no small part in wood elven politics and who frequently served as the webbing that bound any number of villages together as one realm.
Compared with other Tel-quessir, wood elves had a notable disinterest in the arcane arts. To a wood elf, the wizard's spells were little different from the mason's castle walls or the tiller's plow—a means of controlling the natural world, which was contrary to the common ethic of living in harmony with nature rather than trying to dominate it that so many wood elves espoused. As such, wood elven adventurers were more likely to take on careers that did not require the use of arcane magic. In particular, many were drawn to the path of the fighter, the ranger, or the rogue, relying on their natural-born skill to overcome obstacles. Compared with other Tel-quessir very few wood elves went on to become spellsingers or bladesingers. The one major exception to the wood elven taboo on arcane magic was the arcane archers, who counted among their number several wood elves. Other wood elves from more remote areas were drawn to the ways of the barbarian while many religious wood elves became druids with clerics often seen in much the same light as wizards. Those wood elves who did become clerics might eventually become hierophants. Many wood elven adventurers also became Harpers.