Wood Elf
The Wood Elves live deep in the First Forests. They are the rulers of the Feywild and protect their sleeping god Crann Domhanda.
Dark-skinned, with amber eyes and flowing green hair is the popular stereotypes of stories and songs of Dain.
The Wood Elves live in the first forests, and are not native to Dain. The only few Wood Elves who visit Dain are those who walk the dreamways to see the world and protect the ancient forests where the Worldtree has its roots. They are a race more often spoken of in stories and songs, which paint them as mischievous and playful elves, a myth which is unfortunately entirely fictional. The Wood Elves are a cruel, fickle and dangerous people, much like the forests they inhabit and protect.
The Gold Empire has treaties with the Eternal King, which declares that they will respect the boundaries of the ancient forests, on the price that they may freely tear down young forrests, and that they can expect the aid of the Wood Elves should a great elemental evil rise against the empire. Even so the occasional alchemist and nobleman still enter the Ancient Forrests, and they always live to regret that decision, but not for long.
Dark-skinned, with amber eyes and flowing green hair is the popular stereotypes of stories and songs of Dain.
The Wood Elves live in the first forests, and are not native to Dain. The only few Wood Elves who visit Dain are those who walk the dreamways to see the world and protect the ancient forests where the Worldtree has its roots. They are a race more often spoken of in stories and songs, which paint them as mischievous and playful elves, a myth which is unfortunately entirely fictional. The Wood Elves are a cruel, fickle and dangerous people, much like the forests they inhabit and protect.
The Gold Empire has treaties with the Eternal King, which declares that they will respect the boundaries of the ancient forests, on the price that they may freely tear down young forrests, and that they can expect the aid of the Wood Elves should a great elemental evil rise against the empire. Even so the occasional alchemist and nobleman still enter the Ancient Forrests, and they always live to regret that decision, but not for long.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The wood elves have been changed, some would say twisted, by the influence of the wilds. They have grown taller than other elves, with only the extinct Twilight Elves and the Sky Elves rivalling them in height, and their skin has become coppery, brown and green to better help them stay hidden in their woodland realms. Most Wood Elves are no different than other elves at birth, with only their hair- and skin-color to separate them. As wood elves grow older however, their wanderings in the dreamways start changing their bodies.
As wood elves grow older, especially as they pass from adulthood into their twilight years, they take on a more and more bestial appearance. Some grow antlers, some begin walking on all four and howling at the moon and some stop moving altogether, their skin becoming bark and their hair taking on a leaf-like appearance. In the end the transformation will be complete, and the wood elf will rejoin nature, be reincarnated as a new animal for the Crann Domhanda's kingdom. For most wood elves this process will take centuries, and many choose to join the savage tribes once this process begins, but for those who are most blessed in the eyes of the Crann Domhanda it need not be so. Glade Knights, Tree-priests and Wildwalkers are given the ability to retain their minds and intellect and even gain some measure of control over the change, and may centuries longer with his blessing.
This change is known as the bringloídech, the dreaming.
As wood elves grow older, especially as they pass from adulthood into their twilight years, they take on a more and more bestial appearance. Some grow antlers, some begin walking on all four and howling at the moon and some stop moving altogether, their skin becoming bark and their hair taking on a leaf-like appearance. In the end the transformation will be complete, and the wood elf will rejoin nature, be reincarnated as a new animal for the Crann Domhanda's kingdom. For most wood elves this process will take centuries, and many choose to join the savage tribes once this process begins, but for those who are most blessed in the eyes of the Crann Domhanda it need not be so. Glade Knights, Tree-priests and Wildwalkers are given the ability to retain their minds and intellect and even gain some measure of control over the change, and may centuries longer with his blessing.
This change is known as the bringloídech, the dreaming.
Growth Rate & Stages
Wood elves, much like other elves, grow quickly but have exceedingly long lives, bordering on immortality compared to most other races. Ordinary wood elves live until about 400 years of age, before the bringloídech claims them. They grow at much the same rate as humans, reaching something that resembles adulthood at around twentyfive years. A wood elf's life can be categorized into:
Childhood 0-25 years
A wood elf's childhood consists of them growing up, being taught the skills they need to succeed in life by their parents or their tribe and mostly being sheltered from the worst of the world by their family. There are many stories among other races about Wood Elf children coming to play with or steal away their own children (normally both), but these have likely confused wood elf children with fey spirits.
Staying in the nest 25-150 years
After a wood elf has grown to adulthood, they will normally spend slightly more than a century with their family or tribe, aiding them in hunts, business and generally helping build up the community. These are very formative years for the young wood elf, as they get to grow alongside their parents and develop themselves as independent, thinking people. At some point however, the wanderlust will take control of the young wood elf, leading to the next stage of their life.
The wandering 150-200 years
When the wood elf has helped their tribe and family enough, and they feel ready to enter the world as an individual rather than part of the family, they will take to wandering the world. Normally this will be an era of great change, experimenting with many different lifestyles and skills and trying to figure out what the wood elf wants to do with their life. This era of wandering will eventually end when the wood elf is ready to settle down. Many wood elves return to their families or tribes in this age, but some choose entirely new ways of life.
Before a wood elf can truly settle down however, they must find a life-partner. This is a process that happens all throughout the wandering, where the wood elf spends time impressing potential suitors with feats of dancing, fighting, archery, art or craftsmanship. When a wood elf finally bonds with a worthy partner, they spend their life together.
The family 200-400 years
With a lifepartner to share a future and build a family with, the wood elf will settle down. Most wood elves return to either their own or their spouse's family, but some choose to fashion new lives for themselves in another part of the city or another forrest.
In this time the wood elves become parents, siring multiple children. They then take on the roles of protector, teacher and provider, roles most wood elves take to naturally. They spend most of this portion of their lives building their family and protecting their children. They see their children go through the same stages of life as they did, see them live their own lives, make their own choices and occasionally make mistakes, and they love them all the same.
Eventually however, all good things must come to an end.
The dream 400-600 years
After centuries of life, centuries of walking the worldroots in their dreams,the wood elf will start bringing back things from the Feywild. It will begin slowly, gradually, and the full transformation will take centuries to complete. But it will eventually be complete. Once those first promises of claws or fur arrives, most wood elves will be honest about it. This is a time of great melancholy for the family, but also a time for remembrance, thankfullnes and hope for the future. Most wood elves will wait until all their children have grown up, before travelling into the forrest, where they will walk into the Worldtree's dream and spend what remains of their life transforming into something else, eventually beginning a new life in the dreamrealm of the Feywild.
Childhood 0-25 years
A wood elf's childhood consists of them growing up, being taught the skills they need to succeed in life by their parents or their tribe and mostly being sheltered from the worst of the world by their family. There are many stories among other races about Wood Elf children coming to play with or steal away their own children (normally both), but these have likely confused wood elf children with fey spirits.
Staying in the nest 25-150 years
After a wood elf has grown to adulthood, they will normally spend slightly more than a century with their family or tribe, aiding them in hunts, business and generally helping build up the community. These are very formative years for the young wood elf, as they get to grow alongside their parents and develop themselves as independent, thinking people. At some point however, the wanderlust will take control of the young wood elf, leading to the next stage of their life.
The wandering 150-200 years
When the wood elf has helped their tribe and family enough, and they feel ready to enter the world as an individual rather than part of the family, they will take to wandering the world. Normally this will be an era of great change, experimenting with many different lifestyles and skills and trying to figure out what the wood elf wants to do with their life. This era of wandering will eventually end when the wood elf is ready to settle down. Many wood elves return to their families or tribes in this age, but some choose entirely new ways of life.
Before a wood elf can truly settle down however, they must find a life-partner. This is a process that happens all throughout the wandering, where the wood elf spends time impressing potential suitors with feats of dancing, fighting, archery, art or craftsmanship. When a wood elf finally bonds with a worthy partner, they spend their life together.
The family 200-400 years
With a lifepartner to share a future and build a family with, the wood elf will settle down. Most wood elves return to either their own or their spouse's family, but some choose to fashion new lives for themselves in another part of the city or another forrest.
In this time the wood elves become parents, siring multiple children. They then take on the roles of protector, teacher and provider, roles most wood elves take to naturally. They spend most of this portion of their lives building their family and protecting their children. They see their children go through the same stages of life as they did, see them live their own lives, make their own choices and occasionally make mistakes, and they love them all the same.
Eventually however, all good things must come to an end.
The dream 400-600 years
After centuries of life, centuries of walking the worldroots in their dreams,the wood elf will start bringing back things from the Feywild. It will begin slowly, gradually, and the full transformation will take centuries to complete. But it will eventually be complete. Once those first promises of claws or fur arrives, most wood elves will be honest about it. This is a time of great melancholy for the family, but also a time for remembrance, thankfullnes and hope for the future. Most wood elves will wait until all their children have grown up, before travelling into the forrest, where they will walk into the Worldtree's dream and spend what remains of their life transforming into something else, eventually beginning a new life in the dreamrealm of the Feywild.
Ecology and Habitats
Wood elves live in the ancient forrests, forrests from the First War where the Worldtree still has roots. Through these forrests they wander, fashioning themselves cities and outposts from living bark and sacrificing to gods and fey spirits. The biggest realm of the Wood Elves is Chéad Cathair, the city founded around the sleeping form of the Crann Domhanda. It is here that the Eternal King holds his court, and here wood elves come to worship Crann Domhanda. It is the capital of the wood elf nation.
Other first forests have cities and outposts, but all these bow down before the Eternal King. The only known such settlement in Dain is Cathair Salann in the wyrmstail archipelago, but there is only ever rarely contact between the gold empire and the wood elves of that city. The only times such a thing does occur is when a wood elf hunting party travels through gold empire waters looking for elemental spirits or robbers that have affronted their holy forrest.
Some wood elves live truly in the forrest. These are known as the "savage" tribes, and they live their lives as nomads, travelling between different semi-permanent settlements in the forrests.
Other first forests have cities and outposts, but all these bow down before the Eternal King. The only known such settlement in Dain is Cathair Salann in the wyrmstail archipelago, but there is only ever rarely contact between the gold empire and the wood elves of that city. The only times such a thing does occur is when a wood elf hunting party travels through gold empire waters looking for elemental spirits or robbers that have affronted their holy forrest.
Some wood elves live truly in the forrest. These are known as the "savage" tribes, and they live their lives as nomads, travelling between different semi-permanent settlements in the forrests.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
The largest concentration of wood elves can be found in their home city of Chéad Cathair, in the Primordial Forrest on the far-away continent of Maeril, but wood elves can be found all around the world, as they have journeyed to many first forests on the dreamways.
So wood elves can be found most anywhere, but it is rare that they wish to be found by outsiders. Mostly they content themselves with protecting their forrests, and woe be to anyone who tries to cut them down or uproot the ancient roots.
So the vast majority of wood elves are concentrated in Chéad Cathair, while a few live in the other cities of the woodland realms. Some of the savage tribes travel between several different forrests, having sworn oaths to fey princes to protect them.
So wood elves can be found most anywhere, but it is rare that they wish to be found by outsiders. Mostly they content themselves with protecting their forrests, and woe be to anyone who tries to cut them down or uproot the ancient roots.
So the vast majority of wood elves are concentrated in Chéad Cathair, while a few live in the other cities of the woodland realms. Some of the savage tribes travel between several different forrests, having sworn oaths to fey princes to protect them.
Civilization and Culture
Major Organizations
The Eternal King's Court
The Eternal King rules the woodland realms from the Amber Palace. He commands the loyalty of all wood elves, and many fey princes are also bound to him by powerful and ancient magic. He rules to protect the woods and the sleeping form of the Worldtree from all who would disturb it. He also commands the Glade Knights, great paladins who are sworn to protect the Worldtree and its roots.
The Tree-priests
The Hunters
The Eternal King rules the woodland realms from the Amber Palace. He commands the loyalty of all wood elves, and many fey princes are also bound to him by powerful and ancient magic. He rules to protect the woods and the sleeping form of the Worldtree from all who would disturb it. He also commands the Glade Knights, great paladins who are sworn to protect the Worldtree and its roots.
The Tree-priests
The Hunters
Beauty Ideals
The wood elves are a pragmatic people who have little time for superficial beauty. Anyone can be born beautiful. No what wood elves consider beautiful are skills, skills that have claimed time and energy to master. There is nothing more beautiful than someone who can fire an arrow at a small bird of prey more than 300 feet away. Wood elves are ecstatic when they see someone braid or sow. They love seeing a woodcarver make weapons, arrows or buildings.
True beauty comes from the hands, not the face.
Courtship Ideals
When a wood elf seeks to woo someone, they will commonly do so by demonstrating their skills. A craftsman may make a beautiful and rich piece of jewelry, a hunter may fell a particularily dangerous beast and a singer may perform a soul-moving song. The person who is proposed to in courtship will then have to perform a similar gesture for a would-be suitor if they wish to accept.
This gift should come at the end of a long and fruitful friendship, where both parts have grown to love and respect one another as friends.
Relationship Ideals
Wood elf is a culture of powercouples and strong families. Relationships are expected to heighten both parts, to strengthen the foundations of wood elf society by strengthening each individual member. Spouses should work together, should form bonds that will make them both better people, in their own ways.
Average Technological Level
The wood elves have had much the same technology for the past ten millenia, as they have seen no need to improve. They barely use any metal in their armour, as the forrest gives them everything they need.
Generelt kan ein sei at dei basicall har ekstremt komplisert nanokjemi, men fantasy.
History
The First War
During the First War, the wood elves aligned themselves with Crann Domhanda. There are few written or objective sources from this period, and the wood elves' own sources from this time are mostly songs passed down generation through generation. These songs speak of a time of great upheavals and battles, where the first wood elves fought valiantly against all who dared oppose Crann Domhanda. They fought against creatures of madness that bled shadow and sin, they fought against oceans rising up from the deep, they fought against great birds of storm and thunder and devastating wildfires. The wood elves grew to become the most faroved of Crann Domhanda, and they formed its elite guard in all the battles of that long war.
The wood elves were among the few who were saddened to see the primordials go. One by one the primordials dissappeared from our world. Some were imprisoned, some were killed, some were tricked and some simply fell asleep. Crann Domhanda was one of the last, settling in the First Forrest from which it had sprung and falling into a great slumber, as there were no more primordials to challenge it.
The wood elves took it upon themselves to protect Crann Domhanda, to guard its great sleeping form from intruders and those who would wish harm unto it. Not all others were of a same mind with them however. The green dragons began carving out territories to rule within the forrests, and the fey princes began fighting among themselves. Some even had the gall to question whether the wood elves had the right to be custodians of the Worldtree, as many others had fought just as fiercely as they. The wood elves took all this criticism and complaint from the other children of the forrest with stoic and dignified resignation, simply ignoring their petulant cries.
At some point however, enough would be enough.
When the fanged father of jesters tried to steal some of Crann Domhanda's creating power for himself, he unleashed the wood elves upon the fey wild.
The Dream War
When the fanged father of jesters, he who runs in moonlight, tried to steal Crann Domhanda's divine power of creation, the wood elves were affronted and angry. Rather than simply accept it however, they went to war against their fey kin. They walked into Crann Domhanda's dreams, and they tore down the fortresses of the fey princes. They wandered through the dreamways, finding their paths to the woodland kingdoms of green dragons and thorn giants, and they demanded subjugation or annihilation.
When that dreadful war came to an end, the wood elves had shown their teeth, and the rest of the fey chose to accept them as the guardians of Crann Domhanda. The fey princes who remained were bound by powerful rituals and spells, so that they could never again conspire against Crann Domhanda. Many of the dragons had been driven out of their ancient forrests, and were forced to find new forrests to make their own. The few who remained swore to serve the wood elves in war. The thorn giants were beaten, and also swore to stand as guardians of the forrest, rather than rulers.
The wood elves had won, and truly become the greatest children of the fey. But in doing so they had permanently changed themselves.
The feywild is a land of dreams, of mirages. It is a land where time moves strangely, when it moves at all. Tens of thousands of wood elves walked into the feywild, only to return second later having aged centuries and fought thousands of battles against all manner of strange creatures. Those who returned from long exposure became more and more bestial, the very dreams of their god changing them into its own image.
To conquer this challenge, king Aéil the Dreamer entered Crann Domhanda and communed with its ancient, sleeping form. No mortal knows exactly what happened in those moments, but when Aéil left he was changed. He was infused with the power of a god, and he spoke with authority that could command the trees to rise, the rivers to run backwards and the sun itself to drop to the ground. He led his people in battle after battle against the fey princes, and wherever he set foot in the feywild it shaped and formed itself to suit his whims. He won many battles for his people.
After almost a century of such fighting, Aéil quickly returned to Chéad Cathair. There, on the grand plaza before the sleeping body of the Worldtree, he explained what would happen. Aéil was merely the carrier for a small part of Crann Domhanda's essence, and that this essence would allow the chosen king to serve as a conduit for the Worldtree's power. The king was given power and became a conduit og Crann Domhanda. The first sacrifice of the Eternal King gave the wood elves their connection with the Worldtree's dreams, allowing them to travel through them. When the Dream War ended, the fey princes accepted the Wood Elves' position, provided they could be demi-gods in this pantheon. The wood elves agreed, and some took to worshipping them. Crann Domhanda always has priority over the Fey Princes however.
The wood elves were among the few who were saddened to see the primordials go. One by one the primordials dissappeared from our world. Some were imprisoned, some were killed, some were tricked and some simply fell asleep. Crann Domhanda was one of the last, settling in the First Forrest from which it had sprung and falling into a great slumber, as there were no more primordials to challenge it.
The wood elves took it upon themselves to protect Crann Domhanda, to guard its great sleeping form from intruders and those who would wish harm unto it. Not all others were of a same mind with them however. The green dragons began carving out territories to rule within the forrests, and the fey princes began fighting among themselves. Some even had the gall to question whether the wood elves had the right to be custodians of the Worldtree, as many others had fought just as fiercely as they. The wood elves took all this criticism and complaint from the other children of the forrest with stoic and dignified resignation, simply ignoring their petulant cries.
At some point however, enough would be enough.
When the fanged father of jesters tried to steal some of Crann Domhanda's creating power for himself, he unleashed the wood elves upon the fey wild.
The Dream War
When the fanged father of jesters, he who runs in moonlight, tried to steal Crann Domhanda's divine power of creation, the wood elves were affronted and angry. Rather than simply accept it however, they went to war against their fey kin. They walked into Crann Domhanda's dreams, and they tore down the fortresses of the fey princes. They wandered through the dreamways, finding their paths to the woodland kingdoms of green dragons and thorn giants, and they demanded subjugation or annihilation.
When that dreadful war came to an end, the wood elves had shown their teeth, and the rest of the fey chose to accept them as the guardians of Crann Domhanda. The fey princes who remained were bound by powerful rituals and spells, so that they could never again conspire against Crann Domhanda. Many of the dragons had been driven out of their ancient forrests, and were forced to find new forrests to make their own. The few who remained swore to serve the wood elves in war. The thorn giants were beaten, and also swore to stand as guardians of the forrest, rather than rulers.
The wood elves had won, and truly become the greatest children of the fey. But in doing so they had permanently changed themselves.
The feywild is a land of dreams, of mirages. It is a land where time moves strangely, when it moves at all. Tens of thousands of wood elves walked into the feywild, only to return second later having aged centuries and fought thousands of battles against all manner of strange creatures. Those who returned from long exposure became more and more bestial, the very dreams of their god changing them into its own image.
To conquer this challenge, king Aéil the Dreamer entered Crann Domhanda and communed with its ancient, sleeping form. No mortal knows exactly what happened in those moments, but when Aéil left he was changed. He was infused with the power of a god, and he spoke with authority that could command the trees to rise, the rivers to run backwards and the sun itself to drop to the ground. He led his people in battle after battle against the fey princes, and wherever he set foot in the feywild it shaped and formed itself to suit his whims. He won many battles for his people.
After almost a century of such fighting, Aéil quickly returned to Chéad Cathair. There, on the grand plaza before the sleeping body of the Worldtree, he explained what would happen. Aéil was merely the carrier for a small part of Crann Domhanda's essence, and that this essence would allow the chosen king to serve as a conduit for the Worldtree's power. The king was given power and became a conduit og Crann Domhanda. The first sacrifice of the Eternal King gave the wood elves their connection with the Worldtree's dreams, allowing them to travel through them. When the Dream War ended, the fey princes accepted the Wood Elves' position, provided they could be demi-gods in this pantheon. The wood elves agreed, and some took to worshipping them. Crann Domhanda always has priority over the Fey Princes however.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Other species are generally frowned upon by the wood elves. They are either greedy, conceited, ignorant or all of those combined. The wood elves believe that only the fey are wise enough to protect the world, and that they themselves are the most exalted among the fey.
Origin/Ancestry
Elf
Lifespan
600 years
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