Credit is due to the original poster on the old forums, Scatterbrained. Original thread here!
The following is from Races of Faerun. I'll be adding more later describing each subrace in more detail, as well as some general information on psychology and culture.
Note: In Forgotten Realms, elves generally have the same height as humans. NWN got it wrong.
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Originally hailing from another realm far removed from Faerun in the distant past, the elves have proved to be one of the most successful and diverse races to appear on Abeir-Toril. They have taken to the lands, the seas, and even the skies of Faerun, colonizing and expanding through the ages. Today, the great elven realms may have retreated from the encroachment of humans and humanoids, but the elven influence in the world is unmistakable and pervasive.
Elves adapt and change dramatically to meld with their surroundings, so through the generations the various tribes of elves have become quite divergent in appearance and outlook. Despite this, all elves retain certain characteristics that set them apart from the other races of the world. Collectively, the elves know themselves as the Tel-quessir (translated into the common tongue, this means, “The People”). They refer to all other beings as the N-Tel-Quess, a less-than-diplomatic elven expression meaning “not-people.”
Elves are graceful, lithe, and beautiful. Regardless of their particular heritage, they are viewed by other races as a highly magical and wondrous people. This awe and respect has an unexpected corollary—many people view elves as haughty and shamelessly introverted as a race. The reasons for this are numerous, including jealousy, envy, and religious hatred. It is the nature of the elf to elicit such reactions from others, for it seems impossible upon first encountering the elves to react with anything resembling disinterest or apathy.
Elves
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Mayonnaise
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Re: Elves
Overview
Many of Faerun’s inhabitants believe there to be only six different subraces of elves, but there are at least seven. Most common on Faerun are the moon, sun, and wood elves. The drow are easily the most notorious. Less well known are wild elves and aquatic elves, who dwell in distant, remote, and inhospitable regions that see few human visitors. Beyond these six subraces stands a seventh—the avariels, or winged elves. Driven nearly to extinction in ancient times, the last tribe of avariels is only now rekindling ties with the outside world.
Despite the incredible diversity of the various elven subraces, all elves share a number of characteristics. Perhaps the strongest thing they share is their affinity for magic. The use of magic pervades elven society at every level. The most impressive examples of elven magic are the mythals, powerful fields of magical energy created by the ancient elves to cloak entire cities with protective and useful magical auras. The elves’ natural resistance to enchantment spells is likely due in part to the fact that every moment of their lives is spent immersed in such magical environments.
Elven cities, even without the common magical enhancements that many carry, are beautiful sights indeed. To an elf, a building is little different than a mountain or a tree. They strive to fashion their homes and structures in such a way that they blend completely with their natural surroundings, adding to the natural beauty and purity of the landscape rather than detracting from it. The squat, functional buildings constructed by most humans strike most elves as ridiculous and intrusive.
Elven doors are of particular interest. Traditional elven architecture tries to blend into nature, and as a result external doorways into elven structures are often disguised cleverly in the side of a large tree, as a large stone on the side of a hall, and so on. Elven children quickly become quite well practiced at finding and noticing doors, and this skill follows them into adulthood. Secret doors built by other races often amuse the elves with their crude attempts at disguise.
Unlike other humanoid races, elven don’t truly sleep. An elf needs only to rest and relax in a trance known as a reverie for four hours every day. Most elven “bedrooms” more closely resemble lounges or studies furnished with comfortable couches of divans. The elven reverie has another interesting effect: An elven town never really seems to change in activity level. The length of the reverie allows most elves to enjoy periods of activity approaching 20 hours in a single day. In combination with their incredibly long lifespans, the reverie means that elves can afford to take their time with their projects. If the elves had the humans’ bustling need to complete projects as soon as possible, there would truly be no limit to what they could accomplish.
Although elves are thought of as a peace-loving people, their racial history is filled with bloodshed and terrible wars to rival any other race. Even today, all elves spend their formative years training with the traditional weaponry of their kind. A proper elf should be ready to defend her home with magic and with steel should the need arise. Despite this, elves do not succumb to feral savagery in their training. They view combat and other martial activities as yet another face of the natural world, and no less deserving of their careful attention and respect. As a result, the elves treat combat almost as a masterfully choreographed dance.
Racial History
The elves, despite their long history, are not true natives to Faerun. They came to Faerun from the realm of Faerie twenty-five millennia ago, passing through fey crossroads and backroads that have long since been lost. The first elves to arrive were the Sy-tel-quessir (green elves), the Ly-tel-quessir (lythari), and the Aril-tel-quessir (avariel). Of these original three races, only the green elves, now known as the wild elves, survive in any number. The avariel are nearly extinct now, having fought many terrible wars with the dragons of the ancient world. The lythari have changed so far from their elven roots that they are regarded by most Faerunian scholars as a separate race from the Tel-quessir.
The second wave of elves to travel to Faerun included the Ssri-tel-quessir (destined to become the drow). They were the most successful, emerging from the southern jungles of Faerun and quickly establishing grand empires in their new home. At the same time, the Ar-tel-quessir (sun elves) and the Teu-tel-quessir (moon elves) arrived to the north. The Alu-tel-quessir (aquatic elves) appeared in the Great Sea not long after. The martial strength and magic prowess of the peoples in this second wave of elven immigrants brought the Time of Dragons to a close.
As the Time of Dragons ended, the First Flowering of the Fair Folk began, and the elves settled into five major civilizations along the west and south of Faerun. Along the Sword Coast rose Aryvandaar of the sun elves, Illefarn of the green elves, Miyeritar, Shantel Othreier, and Keltormir. To the south, in what is now the Vilhon Reach, rose the three green elf nations of Thearnytaar, Eiellur, and Syopiir, while two more realms rose in the forests that once covered the Shaar: Orishaar of the moon elves, and Ilythiir of the dark elves.
These elven nations each grew and expanded and developed in their own ways. Unfortunately, these idyllic times were not to last. Some provocation—the emerging cruelty of Ilythiir, the continued and often violent expansions of Aryvandaar (which had fallen under the control of the Vyshaantar family), or another long-forgotten transgression—sparked the first Crown War. Over the next several hundred years, the elven nations slowly tore themselves apart. Just as one Crown War ended, it seemed that some new affront sparked a new one.
Illustration by William O'Connor
The nations of Ilythiir and Miyeritar saw the worst of the fighting in the early Crown Wars, but as the Fourth Crown War dawned, the dark elves of Ilythiir raised the conflict to a new level. Ages ago, a faction of the Seldarine, led by Corellon’s lover Araushnee, turned on their kin in an attempt to displace the Seldarine. Corellon and his loyal kin defeated Araushnee and the other traitors, and banished them to the Demonweb Pits. Frustrated with their inability to eradicate their enemies, the Ilythiir elves committed an unheard-of crime: They called upon the traitor goddess Araushnee (now known as Lolth) and used the terrible might she granted to completely destroy Miyeritar.
(Or so the legends go. Skilled historians among the elves would know that it was actually the high mages of Aryvaandar that laid waste to Miyeritar, by creating a terrible magical storm referred to as "the Dark Disaster." The Ilythiir elves still began to worship Lolth at this time in any case. - Scat)
The decimated green elves never recovered, fleeing into the deepest forests. Some, hiding even from their own kin, become the wild elves; others merged with like-minded sun or moon elf refugees to become a new subrace, the wood elves.
Shocked and dismayed at the actions of the Ilythiir, the Seldarine intervened. By Corellon’s decree, the Ilythiir elves were cursed, transformed into drow, and banished from the surface world into the Underdark. After this, Corellon insisted that the elven elders come together in a great forest to the east to debate the cause of the divisiveness and strife at a place of decision and judgment. This place became the Elven Court in Cormanthor. After much debate, the Seldarine found that the Vyshaantar, the sun elf lords of Aryvandaar, were culpable. The Vyshaantar were destroyed in the fifth and final Crown War that followed this verdict.
In the ten millennia since the last Crown War, many other elven nations have risen and fallen on the island of Evermeet, in the Vale of Evereska, deep in the High Forest, in the great forest of Cormanthor, and in the distant Yuirwood. Although these newer nations all achieved great things in their own time, none of them ever equaled the might and power achieved by those first nations established during the First Flowering. As the humans began to raise their own empires, the elves found it beyond their abilities to check the rash expansion and arrogant power of lands such as Jhaamdath, Coramshan, and Netheril.
Confronted by vigorous human expansion in to the ancient forestlands of Faerun, the second-born realms of the elves once again faced the prospect of endless cycles of warfare. The elves began to talk of retreating from the world of humanity to somewhere they could truly call their own. In 714 DR, the fall of Myth Drannor galvanized the surviving elven realms to action, and elves began to travel westward to Evermeet, abandoning their ancient lands. As more and more elves grew restless and disillusioned with life on the mainland, they heard a mystic call from over the waves to the west of the island of Evermeet. By the Year of Moonfall (1344 DR), the Elven Retreat reached its peak. Persecuted by numerous savage races such as goblinoids and orcs, and equally put off by the invasive and often short-sighted expansion of humans, many elves decided simply to pick up and move. As a result, the elven presence on the mainland fell to the lowest levels since the arrival of the Tel-quessir twenty-five thousand years ago.
Recent events on Evermeet—not least of which was a destructive attack by the drow—have convinced the elves that they cannot just turn their backs on the world and expect to survive. The Retreat is now over, and elves are slowly beginning to establish a stronger presence in Faerun as a result. But it is clear that the day of elven empires sprawling over thousands of miles of forests is gone forever.
Many of Faerun’s inhabitants believe there to be only six different subraces of elves, but there are at least seven. Most common on Faerun are the moon, sun, and wood elves. The drow are easily the most notorious. Less well known are wild elves and aquatic elves, who dwell in distant, remote, and inhospitable regions that see few human visitors. Beyond these six subraces stands a seventh—the avariels, or winged elves. Driven nearly to extinction in ancient times, the last tribe of avariels is only now rekindling ties with the outside world.
Despite the incredible diversity of the various elven subraces, all elves share a number of characteristics. Perhaps the strongest thing they share is their affinity for magic. The use of magic pervades elven society at every level. The most impressive examples of elven magic are the mythals, powerful fields of magical energy created by the ancient elves to cloak entire cities with protective and useful magical auras. The elves’ natural resistance to enchantment spells is likely due in part to the fact that every moment of their lives is spent immersed in such magical environments.
Elven cities, even without the common magical enhancements that many carry, are beautiful sights indeed. To an elf, a building is little different than a mountain or a tree. They strive to fashion their homes and structures in such a way that they blend completely with their natural surroundings, adding to the natural beauty and purity of the landscape rather than detracting from it. The squat, functional buildings constructed by most humans strike most elves as ridiculous and intrusive.
Elven doors are of particular interest. Traditional elven architecture tries to blend into nature, and as a result external doorways into elven structures are often disguised cleverly in the side of a large tree, as a large stone on the side of a hall, and so on. Elven children quickly become quite well practiced at finding and noticing doors, and this skill follows them into adulthood. Secret doors built by other races often amuse the elves with their crude attempts at disguise.
Unlike other humanoid races, elven don’t truly sleep. An elf needs only to rest and relax in a trance known as a reverie for four hours every day. Most elven “bedrooms” more closely resemble lounges or studies furnished with comfortable couches of divans. The elven reverie has another interesting effect: An elven town never really seems to change in activity level. The length of the reverie allows most elves to enjoy periods of activity approaching 20 hours in a single day. In combination with their incredibly long lifespans, the reverie means that elves can afford to take their time with their projects. If the elves had the humans’ bustling need to complete projects as soon as possible, there would truly be no limit to what they could accomplish.
Although elves are thought of as a peace-loving people, their racial history is filled with bloodshed and terrible wars to rival any other race. Even today, all elves spend their formative years training with the traditional weaponry of their kind. A proper elf should be ready to defend her home with magic and with steel should the need arise. Despite this, elves do not succumb to feral savagery in their training. They view combat and other martial activities as yet another face of the natural world, and no less deserving of their careful attention and respect. As a result, the elves treat combat almost as a masterfully choreographed dance.
Racial History
The elves, despite their long history, are not true natives to Faerun. They came to Faerun from the realm of Faerie twenty-five millennia ago, passing through fey crossroads and backroads that have long since been lost. The first elves to arrive were the Sy-tel-quessir (green elves), the Ly-tel-quessir (lythari), and the Aril-tel-quessir (avariel). Of these original three races, only the green elves, now known as the wild elves, survive in any number. The avariel are nearly extinct now, having fought many terrible wars with the dragons of the ancient world. The lythari have changed so far from their elven roots that they are regarded by most Faerunian scholars as a separate race from the Tel-quessir.
The second wave of elves to travel to Faerun included the Ssri-tel-quessir (destined to become the drow). They were the most successful, emerging from the southern jungles of Faerun and quickly establishing grand empires in their new home. At the same time, the Ar-tel-quessir (sun elves) and the Teu-tel-quessir (moon elves) arrived to the north. The Alu-tel-quessir (aquatic elves) appeared in the Great Sea not long after. The martial strength and magic prowess of the peoples in this second wave of elven immigrants brought the Time of Dragons to a close.
As the Time of Dragons ended, the First Flowering of the Fair Folk began, and the elves settled into five major civilizations along the west and south of Faerun. Along the Sword Coast rose Aryvandaar of the sun elves, Illefarn of the green elves, Miyeritar, Shantel Othreier, and Keltormir. To the south, in what is now the Vilhon Reach, rose the three green elf nations of Thearnytaar, Eiellur, and Syopiir, while two more realms rose in the forests that once covered the Shaar: Orishaar of the moon elves, and Ilythiir of the dark elves.
These elven nations each grew and expanded and developed in their own ways. Unfortunately, these idyllic times were not to last. Some provocation—the emerging cruelty of Ilythiir, the continued and often violent expansions of Aryvandaar (which had fallen under the control of the Vyshaantar family), or another long-forgotten transgression—sparked the first Crown War. Over the next several hundred years, the elven nations slowly tore themselves apart. Just as one Crown War ended, it seemed that some new affront sparked a new one.
Illustration by William O'Connor
The nations of Ilythiir and Miyeritar saw the worst of the fighting in the early Crown Wars, but as the Fourth Crown War dawned, the dark elves of Ilythiir raised the conflict to a new level. Ages ago, a faction of the Seldarine, led by Corellon’s lover Araushnee, turned on their kin in an attempt to displace the Seldarine. Corellon and his loyal kin defeated Araushnee and the other traitors, and banished them to the Demonweb Pits. Frustrated with their inability to eradicate their enemies, the Ilythiir elves committed an unheard-of crime: They called upon the traitor goddess Araushnee (now known as Lolth) and used the terrible might she granted to completely destroy Miyeritar.
(Or so the legends go. Skilled historians among the elves would know that it was actually the high mages of Aryvaandar that laid waste to Miyeritar, by creating a terrible magical storm referred to as "the Dark Disaster." The Ilythiir elves still began to worship Lolth at this time in any case. - Scat)
The decimated green elves never recovered, fleeing into the deepest forests. Some, hiding even from their own kin, become the wild elves; others merged with like-minded sun or moon elf refugees to become a new subrace, the wood elves.
Shocked and dismayed at the actions of the Ilythiir, the Seldarine intervened. By Corellon’s decree, the Ilythiir elves were cursed, transformed into drow, and banished from the surface world into the Underdark. After this, Corellon insisted that the elven elders come together in a great forest to the east to debate the cause of the divisiveness and strife at a place of decision and judgment. This place became the Elven Court in Cormanthor. After much debate, the Seldarine found that the Vyshaantar, the sun elf lords of Aryvandaar, were culpable. The Vyshaantar were destroyed in the fifth and final Crown War that followed this verdict.
In the ten millennia since the last Crown War, many other elven nations have risen and fallen on the island of Evermeet, in the Vale of Evereska, deep in the High Forest, in the great forest of Cormanthor, and in the distant Yuirwood. Although these newer nations all achieved great things in their own time, none of them ever equaled the might and power achieved by those first nations established during the First Flowering. As the humans began to raise their own empires, the elves found it beyond their abilities to check the rash expansion and arrogant power of lands such as Jhaamdath, Coramshan, and Netheril.
Confronted by vigorous human expansion in to the ancient forestlands of Faerun, the second-born realms of the elves once again faced the prospect of endless cycles of warfare. The elves began to talk of retreating from the world of humanity to somewhere they could truly call their own. In 714 DR, the fall of Myth Drannor galvanized the surviving elven realms to action, and elves began to travel westward to Evermeet, abandoning their ancient lands. As more and more elves grew restless and disillusioned with life on the mainland, they heard a mystic call from over the waves to the west of the island of Evermeet. By the Year of Moonfall (1344 DR), the Elven Retreat reached its peak. Persecuted by numerous savage races such as goblinoids and orcs, and equally put off by the invasive and often short-sighted expansion of humans, many elves decided simply to pick up and move. As a result, the elven presence on the mainland fell to the lowest levels since the arrival of the Tel-quessir twenty-five thousand years ago.
Recent events on Evermeet—not least of which was a destructive attack by the drow—have convinced the elves that they cannot just turn their backs on the world and expect to survive. The Retreat is now over, and elves are slowly beginning to establish a stronger presence in Faerun as a result. But it is clear that the day of elven empires sprawling over thousands of miles of forests is gone forever.
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Mayonnaise
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Re: Elves
Sun Elf (Gold Elf)
The majority of Faerun’s sun elves live in Evermeet, having abandoned what remained of their ancient realms during the centuries following the falls of Illefarn and Cormanthyr. They are only now returning to the mainland to reestablish their presence there. The sun elves are famed for their command of both arcane and divine magic, which exceeds that of any other living race. Works of elven high magic thousands of years old still survive in the hidden refuges of the sun elves.
Sun elves are responsible for the majority of the great elven cities of legend, although other elven subraces aided the construction of many of these cities. Myth Drannor is perhaps their most famous creation, although probably not their most magnificent. Sun elf realms are the stuff legends are made of, an integral part of the history of Faerun for thousands of years. The sun elves certainly know this, for they distance themselves from nonelf races and often won’t let such “lesser beings” into their lands.
Sun elves have bronze skin, hair of golden blond, copper, or black, and eyes of green or gold. They favor contemplation, lore, and study over the quick games and light-hearted songs of other elves, but seem to embody the unearthly beauty, grace, and presence of the elven folk.
Sun elves dress in clothing that is at the same time magnificent and understated, favoring cool colors such as blue and green. They decorate their clothes with intricate gold- or mithral-thread embroidery in exacting patterns whose subtle designs are easy to miss at first. Jewelry is simple but painstakingly crafted.
Of all the elven subraces, sun elves are the most arrogant and haughty—even more so than the avariels, whose haughtiness is rooted in pity for the landbound races. Sun elves believe that they are the true elven race, the builders and the leaders of the elven realms, and that the other elven subraces fail to live up to the solemnity and dignity of their ancient stock.
Like most other Faerunian elves, sun elves are comparatively tall and thin, and they use the following random height and weight characteristics:
Sun elf, male 4’10” +2d10, 90 lb. x (2d4) lb.
Sun elf, female 4’5” +2d10, 70 lb. x (2d4) lb.
History
The sun elves migrated to Faerun at the same time as the moon elves and the dark elves. Although they were the least numerous of the three peoples, they nonetheless quickly established several great nations, including Aryvandaar and Othreier. Under the leadership of House Vyshaan, a dynasty of sun elves, the nation of Aryvandaar in particular soon became the most powerful elven realm of its time.
The Vyshaanti were aggressive expansionists, and their obsession with increasing the size of their empire at the expense of the other races it thought to be the major cause of the terribly Crown Wars of ten thousand years past. After the Fifth Crown War, the Vyshaanti were finally overthrown, and the sun elves returned to a less aggressive lifestyle that has changed little over the intervening millennia.
The next great nation founded by the sun elves was Cormanthyr in the year -3893 DR. This time they chose to build a realm founded on compassion, lore, and subtle magic instead of military might and great battle-mages. As a result, the nations was much kinder and more powerful in the long run, and the elves of Cormanthyr stood as the most powerful realm in northern Faerun, eclipsed only briefly by Netheril at its height. From their city of Myth Drannor in the heart of the forest, the Coronals of Cormanthyr checked for centuries the burgeoning strength of young human lands such as Cormyr or Sembia that rose in the years after Netheril’s fall.
The raising of the Standing Stone and the Dales compact of 0 DR, peaceful though they were, signaled the beginning of the end of elven might in Faerun. Although Myth Drannor achieved its greatest flowering in the years of peaceful human and elven coexistence, its days were numbered. Cormanthyr finally fell in 714 DR, when an overabundance of portals in the vicinity of Myth Drannor weakened the boundaries between worlds, allowing a disastrous invasion of fiends.
Today, the bulk of Faerun’s sun elves live in a third great nation, the distant island of Evermeet. First settled in -9800 DR by sun elves from Aryvandaar, the young realm’s remoteness protected it from the ravages of the Crown Wars and the ensuing rise of human power on Faerun. For more than ten thousand years, Evermeet has been the safest haven for elvenkind and the hidden refuge of elven civilization. From Evermeet came the call for the Elven Retreat in 1344 DR, and the sun elves of Faerun felt that call most deeply of all the sun elven peoples.
Now that the retreat has ended, the haughty sun elves are among the last to return to Faerun. Most sun elves still prefer to remain sequestered on their island nation, even though recent events have proved that Evermeet is not safe from harm. Today, the only large community of sun elves remaining in Faerun is the hidden city of Evereska, on the borders of Anauroch.
Outlook
The sun elves believe that they were selected by Corellon Larethian to be the defenders of elven tradition and history. They are also the most patient of the elven races, and they devote their time to perfecting a task rather than just merely completing the task. To a sun elf, rushing a job or finishing a project in anything less than perfection is betraying the elven ideal. As a result, they tend to have a much narrower range of skills than other elves, but they are the unrivaled masters of the skill, art, or craft to which they turn their efforts. The only exception to this rule is combat. Sun elves have no love for combat, but they are nevertheless well trained in its ways. They view combat as a necessary evil, and one that should be resolved quickly so the task can be done and one can return to more pleasant and constructive pursuits.
Sun elves are the least likely of the elven subraces to take up the adventurer’s path. They see little point in roaming around the wolrd and meeting other peoples, especially when any sun elf can enjoy as much comfort, study, and contemplation as she likes by remaining in one of the hidden sun elf realms. Most sun elf adventurers are more properly thought of as spies, dutiful scouts who make it their lifelong task to observe the other peoples of Faerun and keep a vigilant watch for the rise of any threats to the elven homelands. A few sun elves are also drawn to the mystery of ancient power and seek to add to the lore of their people by exploring ruins of ancient empires all across Faerun.
Sun Elf Characters
Sun elves favor the traditional paths of the elven folk: fighter and wizard. No sun elf could truly be described as a barbarian, although a sun elf raised among wilder kin might, on very rare occasions, choose to take levels in the barbarian class. They make good bards, and even if they are not noted for their light-hearted revels, the ancient songs and lore of a learned bard are worthy of a sun elf’s respect. Sun elves are also the foremost clerics and paladins among the elven races. The arts of stealth and archery are not widely practiced among sun elves, so rangers and rogues are relatively scarce among them.
Favored Class: Sun elf society and culture is steeped in a fascination with magic and learning. They often become incredibly talented wizards, and their natural intellect makes them powerful ones as well. Few sun elf adventurers do not take up the study of magic at some point in their careers.
Sun Elf Society
Sun elves are deliberate, patient, and solemn, and their society reflects this. Their buildings, while aesthetically beautiful and architecturally brilliant, tend to be ostentatious. Nevertheless, the sun elves take great pride in their buildings, believing that nothing less than perfection will do for the chosen defenders of elven tradition and history. Their art, poetry, and songs also reflect their deliberate and regal attitudes. They prefer tales of ancient battles, songs of the gods, and stories of great heroes beset with terrible tragedies.
Sun elves revere wisdom and learning. Even the humblest sun elf abode features a room or two filled with old scrolls, maps, and books. Sun elves have a strong tradition of rule by nobility, and most sun elf communities are ruled by a monarch who can trace his or her line back to the First Crown War. Where a human noble measures his power by the expanse of the lands under his rule and the numbers of soldiers at his command, a sun elf noble is known by the honor of her family name, the magical power and lore her family has accumulated, and the wealth and beauty of her palatial home.
Sun Elf Magic and Lore
The pinnacle of sun elf knowledge is elven high magic, spells that can ward an entire city against evil, conceal an invading army, of cause a forest to grow up overnight. Such magic is not without its risks, a fact that the sun elves are keenly aware of since the fall of Myth Drannor. While the sun elves still remember the secrets of high magic, they refuse to share such knowledge and are hesitant to use such power themselves beyond the borders of Evermeet.
Sun elves have another key advantage—an unparalleled collection of spellbooks, laboratory notes, and other accumulated lore. For ten thousand years, the sun elves have been practicing magic, and the libraries of Evermeet and Evereska are full of magic secrets too numerous to properly catalog.
Sun Elf Magic Items
Whereas the moon elves prefer to focus on smaller, easier to craft magic items, the sun elves view such things as wastes of time good only for young wizards to practice on. To a sun elf, a magic item must be powerful and perfect in all ways. Sun elves know that their magic items often find their way into the hands of lesser races, and as a result they view these items as the true legacy of their race. To craft anything less than perfection is to do a disservice to the lesser races—and the reputation of the sun elves.
Sun Elf Deities
Religion infuses every aspect of sun elf society. Sun elves believe themselves to be the chosen representatives of the Seldarine in the mortal realm, and are quick to offer prayers of thanks to their deities. These prayers and ceremonies are invariably long, drawn-out affairs during which loud voices, merry songs, or joyful worship are deemed disrespectful. Religion is a serious, solemn subject to the sun elves. They worship all the Seldarine equally, and most choose Corellon Larethian as their patron.
The sun elf devotion to magic, skill at arms, and the superiority of elven civilization means that they have a great and abiding veneration for the leader of the elven pantheon. Like their own nobles, Corellon is a wise, generous, and firm leader who brings forth beauty in the world, then defends his work resolutely. Clerics of the church of Corellon advise the rulers of sun elf communities, and Corellon’s clerics form the heart of a sun elf army when the sun elves must take the field to defend their lands.
Sun elves also venerate Labelas Enorath, the elven deity of longevity, time, and wisdom. While Corellon is seen as the divine leader and protector of the sun elves, Labelas is revered as a counselor and advisor, a source of wisdom in times of trouble. Clerics of Labelas are charged with the keeping of knowledge and records among the sun elves.
Relations with Other Races
The sun elves feel affection for the moon elves, although this affection is often unintentionally patronizing. They fear that their moon elven cousins are too flighty and irreverent, and they strive to help them return to the proper elven path with stern lectures and fatherly advice. They admire the wood elves and feel that they embody the elven spirit of nature. Relations are good between sun elf and wood elf, although the reclusive nature of the wood elves makes direct contact rare. Sun elves are a bit puzzled by the wild elves, and hope one day to civilize them. Aquatic elves are thought of as near-equals, and the sun elves believe that their water-breathing kin were placed in the world to bring to the seas what the sun elves bring to the lands above. The sun elves deeply regret the sufferings of the avariels, and occasionally send out explorers to seek out avariel aeries and offer them a place on Evermeet.
Sun elf prejudice toward other races (humans in particular) can be quite severe. Many sun elves won’t even deign to speak to a human and would rather leave a dying man to his fate than to save him. This attitude is somewhat understandable given the way humans have historically treated the sun elves and their lands, but it wins the sun elves few friends among their human neighbors.
If there is one race that the sun elves hold in absolute contempt, it is the drow. They view the dark elves as abominations and insults to the Seldarine, and often attack these hated enemies on sight. As word of the drow invasion of Cormanthyr begins to spread through Evermeet, it is likely that more and more sun elves will return to the mainland, if only to bring war to the drow and force them from the ruins of what sun elves still consider their lands.
Sun Elf Equipment
Two things are almost certain about any item of sun elf manufacture: it’s of the finest quality and it’s exceedingly old. Given their long lifespans and obsession with perfection, sun elves make their goods very slowly, throwing them out if even the slight imperfections are discovered. Their reverence for history encourages them to keep and treasure antiques. Even a beginning sun elf adventurer might wield a sword that’s several centuries old, and she can probably describe it history and the lineages of its previous owners in great detail.
Sun elves favor gold for decorative elements and mithral for anything that must be strong, such as weapons and armor. Sun elves also know how to make items from glassteel, although they have only used the transparent material on Evermeet and in the enclave of Evereska.
Sun elf weapons and armor are only rarely of less than masterwork quality. They are viewed as works of art in and of themselves and are carried or worn proudly into battle. Sun elves are known to make some of the most exquisite suits of chainmail armor in Faerun. Some suits of elven chainmail actually contain entire texts of ancient elven works, the words of the work carved with painstaking detail into the very links of the armor. Sun elves also fashion other suits of armor, including suits of streamlined, beautiful full plate. While the quality of this armor can rival the best work of the dwarves, the sun elves are so obsessed with perfecting every possible aspect of their creations that in the time it takes a sun elf armorer to build one suit of armor, a dwarven smith can crank out a dozen suits of equal quality.
The majority of Faerun’s sun elves live in Evermeet, having abandoned what remained of their ancient realms during the centuries following the falls of Illefarn and Cormanthyr. They are only now returning to the mainland to reestablish their presence there. The sun elves are famed for their command of both arcane and divine magic, which exceeds that of any other living race. Works of elven high magic thousands of years old still survive in the hidden refuges of the sun elves.
Sun elves are responsible for the majority of the great elven cities of legend, although other elven subraces aided the construction of many of these cities. Myth Drannor is perhaps their most famous creation, although probably not their most magnificent. Sun elf realms are the stuff legends are made of, an integral part of the history of Faerun for thousands of years. The sun elves certainly know this, for they distance themselves from nonelf races and often won’t let such “lesser beings” into their lands.
Sun elves have bronze skin, hair of golden blond, copper, or black, and eyes of green or gold. They favor contemplation, lore, and study over the quick games and light-hearted songs of other elves, but seem to embody the unearthly beauty, grace, and presence of the elven folk.
Sun elves dress in clothing that is at the same time magnificent and understated, favoring cool colors such as blue and green. They decorate their clothes with intricate gold- or mithral-thread embroidery in exacting patterns whose subtle designs are easy to miss at first. Jewelry is simple but painstakingly crafted.
Of all the elven subraces, sun elves are the most arrogant and haughty—even more so than the avariels, whose haughtiness is rooted in pity for the landbound races. Sun elves believe that they are the true elven race, the builders and the leaders of the elven realms, and that the other elven subraces fail to live up to the solemnity and dignity of their ancient stock.
Like most other Faerunian elves, sun elves are comparatively tall and thin, and they use the following random height and weight characteristics:
Sun elf, male 4’10” +2d10, 90 lb. x (2d4) lb.
Sun elf, female 4’5” +2d10, 70 lb. x (2d4) lb.
History
The sun elves migrated to Faerun at the same time as the moon elves and the dark elves. Although they were the least numerous of the three peoples, they nonetheless quickly established several great nations, including Aryvandaar and Othreier. Under the leadership of House Vyshaan, a dynasty of sun elves, the nation of Aryvandaar in particular soon became the most powerful elven realm of its time.
The Vyshaanti were aggressive expansionists, and their obsession with increasing the size of their empire at the expense of the other races it thought to be the major cause of the terribly Crown Wars of ten thousand years past. After the Fifth Crown War, the Vyshaanti were finally overthrown, and the sun elves returned to a less aggressive lifestyle that has changed little over the intervening millennia.
The next great nation founded by the sun elves was Cormanthyr in the year -3893 DR. This time they chose to build a realm founded on compassion, lore, and subtle magic instead of military might and great battle-mages. As a result, the nations was much kinder and more powerful in the long run, and the elves of Cormanthyr stood as the most powerful realm in northern Faerun, eclipsed only briefly by Netheril at its height. From their city of Myth Drannor in the heart of the forest, the Coronals of Cormanthyr checked for centuries the burgeoning strength of young human lands such as Cormyr or Sembia that rose in the years after Netheril’s fall.
The raising of the Standing Stone and the Dales compact of 0 DR, peaceful though they were, signaled the beginning of the end of elven might in Faerun. Although Myth Drannor achieved its greatest flowering in the years of peaceful human and elven coexistence, its days were numbered. Cormanthyr finally fell in 714 DR, when an overabundance of portals in the vicinity of Myth Drannor weakened the boundaries between worlds, allowing a disastrous invasion of fiends.
Today, the bulk of Faerun’s sun elves live in a third great nation, the distant island of Evermeet. First settled in -9800 DR by sun elves from Aryvandaar, the young realm’s remoteness protected it from the ravages of the Crown Wars and the ensuing rise of human power on Faerun. For more than ten thousand years, Evermeet has been the safest haven for elvenkind and the hidden refuge of elven civilization. From Evermeet came the call for the Elven Retreat in 1344 DR, and the sun elves of Faerun felt that call most deeply of all the sun elven peoples.
Now that the retreat has ended, the haughty sun elves are among the last to return to Faerun. Most sun elves still prefer to remain sequestered on their island nation, even though recent events have proved that Evermeet is not safe from harm. Today, the only large community of sun elves remaining in Faerun is the hidden city of Evereska, on the borders of Anauroch.
Outlook
The sun elves believe that they were selected by Corellon Larethian to be the defenders of elven tradition and history. They are also the most patient of the elven races, and they devote their time to perfecting a task rather than just merely completing the task. To a sun elf, rushing a job or finishing a project in anything less than perfection is betraying the elven ideal. As a result, they tend to have a much narrower range of skills than other elves, but they are the unrivaled masters of the skill, art, or craft to which they turn their efforts. The only exception to this rule is combat. Sun elves have no love for combat, but they are nevertheless well trained in its ways. They view combat as a necessary evil, and one that should be resolved quickly so the task can be done and one can return to more pleasant and constructive pursuits.
Sun elves are the least likely of the elven subraces to take up the adventurer’s path. They see little point in roaming around the wolrd and meeting other peoples, especially when any sun elf can enjoy as much comfort, study, and contemplation as she likes by remaining in one of the hidden sun elf realms. Most sun elf adventurers are more properly thought of as spies, dutiful scouts who make it their lifelong task to observe the other peoples of Faerun and keep a vigilant watch for the rise of any threats to the elven homelands. A few sun elves are also drawn to the mystery of ancient power and seek to add to the lore of their people by exploring ruins of ancient empires all across Faerun.
Sun Elf Characters
Sun elves favor the traditional paths of the elven folk: fighter and wizard. No sun elf could truly be described as a barbarian, although a sun elf raised among wilder kin might, on very rare occasions, choose to take levels in the barbarian class. They make good bards, and even if they are not noted for their light-hearted revels, the ancient songs and lore of a learned bard are worthy of a sun elf’s respect. Sun elves are also the foremost clerics and paladins among the elven races. The arts of stealth and archery are not widely practiced among sun elves, so rangers and rogues are relatively scarce among them.
Favored Class: Sun elf society and culture is steeped in a fascination with magic and learning. They often become incredibly talented wizards, and their natural intellect makes them powerful ones as well. Few sun elf adventurers do not take up the study of magic at some point in their careers.
Sun Elf Society
Sun elves are deliberate, patient, and solemn, and their society reflects this. Their buildings, while aesthetically beautiful and architecturally brilliant, tend to be ostentatious. Nevertheless, the sun elves take great pride in their buildings, believing that nothing less than perfection will do for the chosen defenders of elven tradition and history. Their art, poetry, and songs also reflect their deliberate and regal attitudes. They prefer tales of ancient battles, songs of the gods, and stories of great heroes beset with terrible tragedies.
Sun elves revere wisdom and learning. Even the humblest sun elf abode features a room or two filled with old scrolls, maps, and books. Sun elves have a strong tradition of rule by nobility, and most sun elf communities are ruled by a monarch who can trace his or her line back to the First Crown War. Where a human noble measures his power by the expanse of the lands under his rule and the numbers of soldiers at his command, a sun elf noble is known by the honor of her family name, the magical power and lore her family has accumulated, and the wealth and beauty of her palatial home.
Sun Elf Magic and Lore
The pinnacle of sun elf knowledge is elven high magic, spells that can ward an entire city against evil, conceal an invading army, of cause a forest to grow up overnight. Such magic is not without its risks, a fact that the sun elves are keenly aware of since the fall of Myth Drannor. While the sun elves still remember the secrets of high magic, they refuse to share such knowledge and are hesitant to use such power themselves beyond the borders of Evermeet.
Sun elves have another key advantage—an unparalleled collection of spellbooks, laboratory notes, and other accumulated lore. For ten thousand years, the sun elves have been practicing magic, and the libraries of Evermeet and Evereska are full of magic secrets too numerous to properly catalog.
Sun Elf Magic Items
Whereas the moon elves prefer to focus on smaller, easier to craft magic items, the sun elves view such things as wastes of time good only for young wizards to practice on. To a sun elf, a magic item must be powerful and perfect in all ways. Sun elves know that their magic items often find their way into the hands of lesser races, and as a result they view these items as the true legacy of their race. To craft anything less than perfection is to do a disservice to the lesser races—and the reputation of the sun elves.
Sun Elf Deities
Religion infuses every aspect of sun elf society. Sun elves believe themselves to be the chosen representatives of the Seldarine in the mortal realm, and are quick to offer prayers of thanks to their deities. These prayers and ceremonies are invariably long, drawn-out affairs during which loud voices, merry songs, or joyful worship are deemed disrespectful. Religion is a serious, solemn subject to the sun elves. They worship all the Seldarine equally, and most choose Corellon Larethian as their patron.
The sun elf devotion to magic, skill at arms, and the superiority of elven civilization means that they have a great and abiding veneration for the leader of the elven pantheon. Like their own nobles, Corellon is a wise, generous, and firm leader who brings forth beauty in the world, then defends his work resolutely. Clerics of the church of Corellon advise the rulers of sun elf communities, and Corellon’s clerics form the heart of a sun elf army when the sun elves must take the field to defend their lands.
Sun elves also venerate Labelas Enorath, the elven deity of longevity, time, and wisdom. While Corellon is seen as the divine leader and protector of the sun elves, Labelas is revered as a counselor and advisor, a source of wisdom in times of trouble. Clerics of Labelas are charged with the keeping of knowledge and records among the sun elves.
Relations with Other Races
The sun elves feel affection for the moon elves, although this affection is often unintentionally patronizing. They fear that their moon elven cousins are too flighty and irreverent, and they strive to help them return to the proper elven path with stern lectures and fatherly advice. They admire the wood elves and feel that they embody the elven spirit of nature. Relations are good between sun elf and wood elf, although the reclusive nature of the wood elves makes direct contact rare. Sun elves are a bit puzzled by the wild elves, and hope one day to civilize them. Aquatic elves are thought of as near-equals, and the sun elves believe that their water-breathing kin were placed in the world to bring to the seas what the sun elves bring to the lands above. The sun elves deeply regret the sufferings of the avariels, and occasionally send out explorers to seek out avariel aeries and offer them a place on Evermeet.
Sun elf prejudice toward other races (humans in particular) can be quite severe. Many sun elves won’t even deign to speak to a human and would rather leave a dying man to his fate than to save him. This attitude is somewhat understandable given the way humans have historically treated the sun elves and their lands, but it wins the sun elves few friends among their human neighbors.
If there is one race that the sun elves hold in absolute contempt, it is the drow. They view the dark elves as abominations and insults to the Seldarine, and often attack these hated enemies on sight. As word of the drow invasion of Cormanthyr begins to spread through Evermeet, it is likely that more and more sun elves will return to the mainland, if only to bring war to the drow and force them from the ruins of what sun elves still consider their lands.
Sun Elf Equipment
Two things are almost certain about any item of sun elf manufacture: it’s of the finest quality and it’s exceedingly old. Given their long lifespans and obsession with perfection, sun elves make their goods very slowly, throwing them out if even the slight imperfections are discovered. Their reverence for history encourages them to keep and treasure antiques. Even a beginning sun elf adventurer might wield a sword that’s several centuries old, and she can probably describe it history and the lineages of its previous owners in great detail.
Sun elves favor gold for decorative elements and mithral for anything that must be strong, such as weapons and armor. Sun elves also know how to make items from glassteel, although they have only used the transparent material on Evermeet and in the enclave of Evereska.
Sun elf weapons and armor are only rarely of less than masterwork quality. They are viewed as works of art in and of themselves and are carried or worn proudly into battle. Sun elves are known to make some of the most exquisite suits of chainmail armor in Faerun. Some suits of elven chainmail actually contain entire texts of ancient elven works, the words of the work carved with painstaking detail into the very links of the armor. Sun elves also fashion other suits of armor, including suits of streamlined, beautiful full plate. While the quality of this armor can rival the best work of the dwarves, the sun elves are so obsessed with perfecting every possible aspect of their creations that in the time it takes a sun elf armorer to build one suit of armor, a dwarven smith can crank out a dozen suits of equal quality.
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Mayonnaise
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Re: Elves
Wild Elf (Green Elf)
The wild elves of Faerun are insular and savage, and as a result are rarely seen outside their forest homes. In ages past the wild elves (or green elves, as they were more commonly known) raised great kingdoms in the forests and fielded armies to defend their homes, but with the march of time they have abandoned the trappings of civilization, becoming a furtive, reclusive race. The wild elves were always close to nature, even more so than other elves, but they have forgotten many of the high arts and lore of their people, choosing stealth and survival over building and book learning.
Wild elves are stocky and strongly built for elves. Their skin tends to be dark brown, and their hair ranges from black to light brown, lightening to silvery white with age. They are quiet around anyone except their own kind, and quickly become hostile in these uncomfortable situations. Clothing is kept to a minimum among the wild elves, although they make up for this with body decoration of all sorts—tattoos, war paint, feathers, and beaded jewelry that shows a surprising streak of complex and beautiful artistry. Wild elves share the height of their moon and sun elf kin but are more heavily built. They use the following random height and weight characteristics:
Wild elf, male 4”10” +2d10, 100 lb. x (2d4) lb.
Wild elf, female 4’5” +2d10, 80 lb. x (2d4) lb.
History
The wild elves were not always the feral creatures they have become today. Ages ago the green elves, as they were then known, were the first elven explorers (along with the lythari and the avariels) to discover Abeir-Toril, and they quickly became entranced with the wondrous young world. Of this first migration of elves, the green elves were easily the most successful, and they established several territories destined to become great nations: Thearnytaaar, Eiellur, Syopiir, Miyeritar, and Keltormir.
Unfortunately, with the coming of the Crown Wars, these nations were among the first to fall. Eiellur fell to the Ilythiiri (the dark elves) in -11,400 DR, and Thearnytaar in -11,200 DR. The realm of Miyeritar, located where the High Moor now lies, was utterly consumed by the Dark Disaster in -10,500 DR, and the other green elf realms fared little better. The peaceful green elves proved to be relatively easy prey for the cruel dark elves, and by the time the Crown Wars ended in -9000 DR, the idyllic world of the green elves had been shattered. Their great nations razed in centuries of relentless warfare, the green elves began a time they refer to as the Wandering. They never recovered fully from the setbacks of twelve thousand years ago, and raised no more great cities in Faerun.
The Wandering of the green elves lasted for many long elven generations. Forced to live for centuries as fugitives, slaves, or rootless vagabonds, the surviving green elves receded further and further from elven society, withdrawing to the deepest forests and mountains of Faerun. While the other subraces raised the second generation of elven realms in places like Evermeet and Cormanthyr, the green elves placed their trust in secrecy and stealth instead of walls and might, remaining hidden within their forest homes. By the time of Jhaamdath’s rise around -5800 DR, the green elves had settled into several places that are still their ancient homelands: the Chondalwood, the Forest of Amtar, and other great old woodlands of southern Faerun.
Over the course of many years, the green elves forgot more and more of their ancient lore and skill, focusing on the only skills that mattered: stealth, survival, hunting, and hiding. They became first a clannish folk, then a tribal culture, and finally a primitive people. They remained elves, of course, creatures of nobility and magic, but they lost the arts of crafting mighty spells and forging magic weapons. Their fleeting contacts with the rising human empires of the day reinforced the green elf reclusiveness, driving them deeper into the wilds and further from their old ways. Today, the green elves are more widely known as the wild elves, a race lost in time in the sweltering forests of southern Faerun.
Outlook
The tragic history of the wild elves has left them untrusting of outsiders. Their tactics for dealing with intruders vary from tribe to tribe. Some simple hide and allow the trespassers to go by unknowing, while others attack to capture such interlopers. They rarely kill those they capture, preferring to use magic to alter their memories and carry them far away before releasing them. They make friends slowly, and most nonelves simply don’t have the lifespans required to gain the trust of a tribe of green elves. They excel in combat and often revel in its chaos and primal fury. Little can match the fury of an enraged tribe of green elves.
Wild Elf Characters
More so than any other elves, wild elves value the martial skills. Barbarians and rangers are very common among the wild elves. The wild elves do not feel close to the Seldarine and do not often become clerics, instead venerating nature itself as druids of Mielikki, Silvanus, or Rillifane Rallathil. Wild elves have no written tradition and little patience for hours of study in any event and so rarely become wizards. Unlike other elves, they prefer the sorcerer’s arts.
Favored Class: Despite their lack of learning and skill, wild elves are just as naturally talented at arcane magic as most other elves. Their favored class is sorcerer, a path of power that rewards spontaneity and creative energy instead of hours of dry study in ancient, moldering tomes.
Wild Elf Society
Among their friends and kinfolk, wild elves are pleasant and outgoing, somewhat like the moon elves. Their feasts and celebrations are events of great joy, with singing, dancing, and all manner of merry-making. One of the most beloved ways to celebrate is to engage in a hunt. Hunts are tribal affairs in which all elves, young and old, have a part. The actual hunt itself is sometimes only a small part of the everall event, which also includes a religious ceremony and a tribewide festival.
The scattered, tribal nature of the green elves also means that no two tribes are exactly alike. Some have settled in permanent villages with crude huts, while others are nomadic, dwelling in tents and wandering over vast wilderness territories. Gender segregation is common; some tribes are exclusively matriarchal, while others are patriarchal.
Although they have a great interest in music and art, wild elves create few permanent works of art. To the wild elf, the joy of art lies in the creative process, the spontaneous creation of song or dance or effects. They with distaste attempts to “capture” this process by making permanent works of art, recording songs or stories in writing, and so on, maintaining that to do so imprisons the ever-changing beauty of the world.
Wild elves also believe that each of their kind is born with a spirit animal, a guide of sorts that serves as a combination of guardian angel and advisor to the natural world. All young wild elves undergo an involved ritual that demands several hours (often in excess of a day) in an enclosed area filled with steam and the smoke of burning herbs. At some time during this period the elf receives a vision of his spirit animal, and for the rest of his life he feels guarded and protected by this animal.
Wild Elf Magic and Lore
Although in ancient times the green elves were one of the key developers of elven high magic, their days as practitioners of this potent art are long gone. Today, their spellcasters are almost all druids or sorcerers.
Wild elf magic is often tied closely to nature. Although the theory behind their spells may be identical to that practiced by other races, wild elf spellcasters often add additional verbal, somatic, and material components to a spell simple to make it seem more naturalistic. These additional components do not significantly increase the actual casting time of the spell.
Wild Elf Magic Items
Wild elves eschew even the most powerful magic items if they appear to be too far removed from the natural world. They have a particular aversion to forged metal and to most clothing. Their own magic items appear to be crude and primitive, but they are just as effective as their more civilized counterparts. They are particularly fond of magic tattoos.
Wild Elf Deities
The wild elves worship the Seldarine, in particular Rillifane Rallathil, but this worship does not approach the regimented, organized structure of the other elven subraces. Rather, the green elves worship individually when the urge takes them. They commune constantly with a pantheon of nature spirits, each representing an archetypal member of an animal or natural phenomenon.
Relations with Other Races
The green elves do not seek out relations with others, and the ydo their best to remain unseen and unknown. Nevertheless, wild elves have been known to interact with adventurers, explorers, and lost travelers. Usually, these people are captured, their memories magically erased, and then let go somewhere far from tribal lands. Rarely, the elves allow a wanderer to visit their camp, usually in times of dire peril when they are forced to call upon outside aid. Those who manage to impress and even befriend a tribe of wild elves find that their friendship is strong and loyal, and such individuals are often gifted with wild elf tattoos or spirit animals.
Wild Elf Equipment
Wild elves prefer weapons and tools they can make and fix in the middle of a battle or hunt. Despite their disdain for “civilized” goods, wild elves are adept at crafting things in harmony with nature. Their treetop villages, for example, are inextricably part of the healthy trees that support them—an engineering feat that would baffle the best gnome architect.
Wild elves prefer using simple weapons that can be crafted from materials found in the wilderness: bows, crude bone daggers and knives, and clubs. They have a particular fondness for bows and halfspears. Wild elves prefer to wear hide armor, if anything at all. For the most part, wild elves find armor too restrictive, relying on concealment and agility for defense.
The wild elves of Faerun are insular and savage, and as a result are rarely seen outside their forest homes. In ages past the wild elves (or green elves, as they were more commonly known) raised great kingdoms in the forests and fielded armies to defend their homes, but with the march of time they have abandoned the trappings of civilization, becoming a furtive, reclusive race. The wild elves were always close to nature, even more so than other elves, but they have forgotten many of the high arts and lore of their people, choosing stealth and survival over building and book learning.
Wild elves are stocky and strongly built for elves. Their skin tends to be dark brown, and their hair ranges from black to light brown, lightening to silvery white with age. They are quiet around anyone except their own kind, and quickly become hostile in these uncomfortable situations. Clothing is kept to a minimum among the wild elves, although they make up for this with body decoration of all sorts—tattoos, war paint, feathers, and beaded jewelry that shows a surprising streak of complex and beautiful artistry. Wild elves share the height of their moon and sun elf kin but are more heavily built. They use the following random height and weight characteristics:
Wild elf, male 4”10” +2d10, 100 lb. x (2d4) lb.
Wild elf, female 4’5” +2d10, 80 lb. x (2d4) lb.
History
The wild elves were not always the feral creatures they have become today. Ages ago the green elves, as they were then known, were the first elven explorers (along with the lythari and the avariels) to discover Abeir-Toril, and they quickly became entranced with the wondrous young world. Of this first migration of elves, the green elves were easily the most successful, and they established several territories destined to become great nations: Thearnytaaar, Eiellur, Syopiir, Miyeritar, and Keltormir.
Unfortunately, with the coming of the Crown Wars, these nations were among the first to fall. Eiellur fell to the Ilythiiri (the dark elves) in -11,400 DR, and Thearnytaar in -11,200 DR. The realm of Miyeritar, located where the High Moor now lies, was utterly consumed by the Dark Disaster in -10,500 DR, and the other green elf realms fared little better. The peaceful green elves proved to be relatively easy prey for the cruel dark elves, and by the time the Crown Wars ended in -9000 DR, the idyllic world of the green elves had been shattered. Their great nations razed in centuries of relentless warfare, the green elves began a time they refer to as the Wandering. They never recovered fully from the setbacks of twelve thousand years ago, and raised no more great cities in Faerun.
The Wandering of the green elves lasted for many long elven generations. Forced to live for centuries as fugitives, slaves, or rootless vagabonds, the surviving green elves receded further and further from elven society, withdrawing to the deepest forests and mountains of Faerun. While the other subraces raised the second generation of elven realms in places like Evermeet and Cormanthyr, the green elves placed their trust in secrecy and stealth instead of walls and might, remaining hidden within their forest homes. By the time of Jhaamdath’s rise around -5800 DR, the green elves had settled into several places that are still their ancient homelands: the Chondalwood, the Forest of Amtar, and other great old woodlands of southern Faerun.
Over the course of many years, the green elves forgot more and more of their ancient lore and skill, focusing on the only skills that mattered: stealth, survival, hunting, and hiding. They became first a clannish folk, then a tribal culture, and finally a primitive people. They remained elves, of course, creatures of nobility and magic, but they lost the arts of crafting mighty spells and forging magic weapons. Their fleeting contacts with the rising human empires of the day reinforced the green elf reclusiveness, driving them deeper into the wilds and further from their old ways. Today, the green elves are more widely known as the wild elves, a race lost in time in the sweltering forests of southern Faerun.
Outlook
The tragic history of the wild elves has left them untrusting of outsiders. Their tactics for dealing with intruders vary from tribe to tribe. Some simple hide and allow the trespassers to go by unknowing, while others attack to capture such interlopers. They rarely kill those they capture, preferring to use magic to alter their memories and carry them far away before releasing them. They make friends slowly, and most nonelves simply don’t have the lifespans required to gain the trust of a tribe of green elves. They excel in combat and often revel in its chaos and primal fury. Little can match the fury of an enraged tribe of green elves.
Wild Elf Characters
More so than any other elves, wild elves value the martial skills. Barbarians and rangers are very common among the wild elves. The wild elves do not feel close to the Seldarine and do not often become clerics, instead venerating nature itself as druids of Mielikki, Silvanus, or Rillifane Rallathil. Wild elves have no written tradition and little patience for hours of study in any event and so rarely become wizards. Unlike other elves, they prefer the sorcerer’s arts.
Favored Class: Despite their lack of learning and skill, wild elves are just as naturally talented at arcane magic as most other elves. Their favored class is sorcerer, a path of power that rewards spontaneity and creative energy instead of hours of dry study in ancient, moldering tomes.
Wild Elf Society
Among their friends and kinfolk, wild elves are pleasant and outgoing, somewhat like the moon elves. Their feasts and celebrations are events of great joy, with singing, dancing, and all manner of merry-making. One of the most beloved ways to celebrate is to engage in a hunt. Hunts are tribal affairs in which all elves, young and old, have a part. The actual hunt itself is sometimes only a small part of the everall event, which also includes a religious ceremony and a tribewide festival.
The scattered, tribal nature of the green elves also means that no two tribes are exactly alike. Some have settled in permanent villages with crude huts, while others are nomadic, dwelling in tents and wandering over vast wilderness territories. Gender segregation is common; some tribes are exclusively matriarchal, while others are patriarchal.
Although they have a great interest in music and art, wild elves create few permanent works of art. To the wild elf, the joy of art lies in the creative process, the spontaneous creation of song or dance or effects. They with distaste attempts to “capture” this process by making permanent works of art, recording songs or stories in writing, and so on, maintaining that to do so imprisons the ever-changing beauty of the world.
Wild elves also believe that each of their kind is born with a spirit animal, a guide of sorts that serves as a combination of guardian angel and advisor to the natural world. All young wild elves undergo an involved ritual that demands several hours (often in excess of a day) in an enclosed area filled with steam and the smoke of burning herbs. At some time during this period the elf receives a vision of his spirit animal, and for the rest of his life he feels guarded and protected by this animal.
Wild Elf Magic and Lore
Although in ancient times the green elves were one of the key developers of elven high magic, their days as practitioners of this potent art are long gone. Today, their spellcasters are almost all druids or sorcerers.
Wild elf magic is often tied closely to nature. Although the theory behind their spells may be identical to that practiced by other races, wild elf spellcasters often add additional verbal, somatic, and material components to a spell simple to make it seem more naturalistic. These additional components do not significantly increase the actual casting time of the spell.
Wild Elf Magic Items
Wild elves eschew even the most powerful magic items if they appear to be too far removed from the natural world. They have a particular aversion to forged metal and to most clothing. Their own magic items appear to be crude and primitive, but they are just as effective as their more civilized counterparts. They are particularly fond of magic tattoos.
Wild Elf Deities
The wild elves worship the Seldarine, in particular Rillifane Rallathil, but this worship does not approach the regimented, organized structure of the other elven subraces. Rather, the green elves worship individually when the urge takes them. They commune constantly with a pantheon of nature spirits, each representing an archetypal member of an animal or natural phenomenon.
Relations with Other Races
The green elves do not seek out relations with others, and the ydo their best to remain unseen and unknown. Nevertheless, wild elves have been known to interact with adventurers, explorers, and lost travelers. Usually, these people are captured, their memories magically erased, and then let go somewhere far from tribal lands. Rarely, the elves allow a wanderer to visit their camp, usually in times of dire peril when they are forced to call upon outside aid. Those who manage to impress and even befriend a tribe of wild elves find that their friendship is strong and loyal, and such individuals are often gifted with wild elf tattoos or spirit animals.
Wild Elf Equipment
Wild elves prefer weapons and tools they can make and fix in the middle of a battle or hunt. Despite their disdain for “civilized” goods, wild elves are adept at crafting things in harmony with nature. Their treetop villages, for example, are inextricably part of the healthy trees that support them—an engineering feat that would baffle the best gnome architect.
Wild elves prefer using simple weapons that can be crafted from materials found in the wilderness: bows, crude bone daggers and knives, and clubs. They have a particular fondness for bows and halfspears. Wild elves prefer to wear hide armor, if anything at all. For the most part, wild elves find armor too restrictive, relying on concealment and agility for defense.
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Mayonnaise
- Posts: 260
- Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 1:49 am
- Location: Michigan, USA
Re: Elves
Wood Elf (Copper Elf)
The wood elves are among the most numerous of Faerun’s elven people, a young and confident folk who hold the old elven forest homelands in strength. Heirs to the second generation of elven nations, the wood elves see their realms as the natural successors, to lands such as Eaerlann and Cormanthyr. Where the old empires expanded with strength and pride, the realms of the wood elves hope to grow with compassion and humility. The wood elves do not view their homelands as a land apart from Faerun; they understand better than their kindred that for better or worse, their fates are bound up with the fates of the humans, dwarves, and Halflings around them.
Also known as copper elves or sylvan elves, these people have coppery skin tinged with green, and brown, green, or hazel eyes. Hair is usually brown or black, occasionally blond or coppery-red. Wood elves prefer to dress in simple clothing, similar to the moon elves, but not quite so colorful. They favor a simple cut to tunic or dress, set off by common embroidery in natural designs. They are particularly fond of leather armor, and they often wear lovingly tooled and well-crafted suits even when they do not feel endangered. Their clothing, leather armor or not, is usually in dark shades of green and earth tones to better blend with their natural surroundings. They are a humble race and only rarely do they enhance their appearance with jewelry or similar accessories.
Wood elves are as tall as most other Faerunian elves but more heavily built. They use the following random height and weight characteristics:
Wood elf, male 4’10” +2d10, 100 lb. x (2d4) lb.
Wood elf, female 4’5” +2d10, 80 lb. x (2d4) lb.
History
The wood elves are the most recent addition to the various elven subraces of Faerun, although the history of their civilization still exceeds that of many other races of Toril. They also have the unusual distinction (often thought of as an honor by copper elves) of being the only subrace of elves to be actual natives to Faerun. The first copper elves did not appear at once; their race coalesced slowly over the course of several centuries after the last Crown War, blending several of the older elven kindreds.
The Crown Wars brought down most of the great nations of the First Flowering. In the wake of these terrible wars, thousands of elves were left bereaved and homeless. Families were torn apart, and for many centuries (a time known to the elves as the Wandering Years) these elves simply led the lives of nomads. Some of Faerun’s elves retreated to their ancestral homes and started to build anew, but on a small scale, raising the second generation of elven nations. But a significant portion of elves never felt the need to do so. These elves (mostly moon, sun, and green elves), vowed never again to let internal strife tear their kind apart, retreating to the deepest woodlands to seek shelter from the madness of the world.
Unlike the green elves, these self-imposed exiles did not slip into barbarism. Rather, they formed tightly knit societies that stayed in touch with other like-minded elven communities hidden away in other forests. Over time, these secluded elves grew closer to the natural world and further apart from the high magic and ancient lore the elves had brought from their first home, and become a new subrace of elves apart from their kin: the wood elves.
While the sun elves and moon elves founded realms such as Evermeet and Evereska after the Crown Wars, the great realm of the wood elves was ancient Eaerlann, a realm founded in the eastern High Forest around -4700 DR. The elves of Eaerlann engaged other young empires of the North in peaceful trade and diplomacy, befriending the dwarven realm of Delzoun soon after its establishment in -3900 DR, and tutoring the early Netherese in magic around -3830 DR.
The human empire of Netheril soon eclipsed its elven neighbors, growing in martial and magical might at an alarming pace. In -3533 DR the Netherese uncovered the Nether Scrolls in the ruins of Aryvandaar, eagerly exploiting magic so powerful and terrible that even the sun elves of the First Flowering had not dared to employ it. For centuries the wood elves of Eaerlann sought to quietly check Netheril’s pride and expansionism, but in -339 DR, the Netherese destroyed themselves as Karsus sought godhood and instead brought cataclysmic destruction down on his people. The elves of Eaerlann took in many Netherese survivors, allowing them to settle in the city of Ascalhorn.
The elves and humans of the North lived in peace for a time, but Ascalhorn too was doomed to fall through the folly of mages. Careless summoning of powerful fiends led to a sudden, terrible assault by an army of devils who overthrew the proud city in 882 DR. This time, Eaerlann did not survive the destruction of the neighboring human realm. Already gravely weakened by a year of battling against ferocious orc hordes, Eaerlann fell soon after Ascalhorn become Hellgate Keep.
In the years since the fall of Eaerlann, the wood elves have not raised any more great realms, choosing to put their trust in stealth and vigilance instead of castles and cities. Although they felt the call of the Elven Retreat, the wood elves did not respond. With the end of the Retreat, the wood elves have emerged from their secret homes in the depths of Faerun’s woodlands as a strong and confident people whose wariness is tempered by compassion. The wood elves of the High Forest dream of reestablishing old Eaerlann, but this time their realm will be a realm of reclusive villages and watchful foresters, not walled cities and proud warriors.
Outlook
Wood elves are calm, serene, and difficult to surprise. Their patience is legendary. They are at one with the world of nature, and are not comfortable in areas of heavy civilization. They have lost the urge to build and replace nature with walls and palaces; even the cities built by their elven kin seem to be foolish to the wood elves. They have come to believe that buildings of stone are transitory in nature, and that in time, the forest returns to overgrow the greatest of cities. Other races interpret this attitude as fatalistic or condescending, and as a result wood elves find it hard to understand anyone who isn’t a wood elf.
Wood Elf Characters
Of all the elven subraces, the copper elves have the least fascination with arcane magic. They understand its power and a number of their folk study its was, but ultimately the artifice of arcane lore is simply one more way of expressing dominion over the natural order of things, and the wood elves view it in that light. Wood elves make excellent fighters, rangers, and rogues, relying on their natural strength and quickness to meet challenges. Wood elves from particularly remote forests sometimes become barbarians. Clerics are somewhat rare among this people, but druids are very common and are the most prominent spellcasters of the race.
Favored Class: Wood elves are master hunters, and most train enough to possess at least one level of ranger. Favored enemies usually include orcs, gnolls, outsiders (planetouched), and other savage races that dwell near the traditional homelands of the wood elves.
Wood Elf Society
Wood elves live at ease with nature, using what naturally occurs in the world to shelter or defend themselves. They are not nomadic, and claim large territories in the deepest woodlands of Faerun. Some wood elves choose to do without houses, furnishings, and any possessions they can’t carry, using the high branches of great trees or natural caves in their roots for shelter and storage. Most wood elves instead prefer to dwell in small villages of permanent homes of natural fieldstone and lovingly carved wood, so carefully concealed among the surrounding wilderness that a human hunter might walk through the center of a wood elf village and not even notice that he had done so.
Wood elves adhere to a tradition of leadership by their oldest and most experienced druids, although most villages form a council of elders selected from the wisest and most experienced elves of each family to handle day-to-day affairs. The druidical hierarchy serves to unite wood elves of different villages and weld all the wood elves of a particular forest into a common realm. The druids do not presume to tell the elders how to run a village, but the elders generally give great weight to anything a druid chooses to say.
Wood elves excel in the hunt. They spend much of their time stalking their chosen territory on the search for food or intruders into their realm. The rest of their time is spent frolicking among the branches; in this regard, they are quite similar to moon and wild elves. With the end of the Retreat, wood elves are quickly coming back into contact with the civilized world. Although they are reluctant to allow others into their lands, wood elves understand that times are changing. If they are to survive as a people, it may be time for the copper elves to change as well.
Wood Elf Magic and Lore
Among the wood elves, magic finds its truest expression in the power the druid is able to coax from the natural world. Wizardly magic is suspect—all that time among tomes divorces the spellcaster from the surrounding world—and clerics need to call on distant gods for help. By contrast, druids use the power of the forest itself. More importantly, druids use that power to protect and nurture the forest, and wood elves are pragmatic enough to judge magic by its end result.
While the wood elves are as magical as the other elven subraces, they have for the most part abandoned their interest in arcane magic. Most wood elf spellcasters are druids and rangers, and although wood elf bards, sorcerers, and wizards are far from unknown, they have developed no specific magical traditions of their own.
Wood Elf Magic Items
Wood elf magic items are invariably crafted from materials found in nature, much like those created by the wild elves. Unlike the work of wild elves, these objects are not primitive in appearance; wood elf magic items are often quite beautiful and graceful. Druidic magic is most commonly used in their society to fashion magic items.
Wood Elf Deities
Wood elves worship the Seldarine, but they hold a special respect and reverence for the ancient forest powers of Faerun, Silvanus and Mielikki. Among the Seldarine, the wood elves hold a particular reverence for Solonor Thelandira, the Great Archer, and Rillifane Rallathil, the Leaflord. Solonor, as the deity of archery and the hunt, is viewed as the special patron of the wood elves, and before battle a wood elf will often invoke his name.
Relations with Other Races
In the five hundred years since the fall of Eaerlann, the wood elves have been forgotten by most of the other peoples of Faerun. Only those humans and dwarves native to the North and familiar with the borders of the High Forest have seen copper elves, and even then, they most likely met a solitary hunter or ranger. While the wood elves shelter deep inside forbidding forests and are therefore inaccessible to their neighbors, they are ironically among the more compassionate and understanding of the elven subraces. Like the moon elves, they accept the power of humankind and seek to live alongside their human neighbors and guide their expansion instead of seeking ways to deter or intimidate the human lands.
Wood elves have a long history of cooperation with the shield dwarves, whose realm of Ammarindar stood alongside their own realms of Eaerlann for many centuries in the vale of the Delimbiyr River. By extension, they look favorably on most other dwarves, too. Gnomes and Halflings are both greeted as friends and potential allies. On the other hand, the wood elves have a cold place in their hearts for creatures such as orcs and gnolls, who bring axes, fire, and slaughter to the forests the wood elves have sworn to protect.
Wood Elf Equipment
Wood elves do not often work with metal, but this is not because they lack the skill or knowledge to do so. Rather, they simply have no interest in working with metal. They prefer to fashion their weapons of wood and stone.
Wood elves are masters at building armor and weapons. In particular, they seem to have a knack for building bows of all kinds (but not crossbows). The wood elves have developed a large number of specialized arrows as well, including arrows that fly farther than normal or serve as signal devices.
These arrows are not generally sold to visitors because wood elves have little use for outside money in their society, but they often give these arrows to allies as gifts. Of course, the majority of wood elf arrows make their way into the world after they are shot at intruders.
The wood elves are among the most numerous of Faerun’s elven people, a young and confident folk who hold the old elven forest homelands in strength. Heirs to the second generation of elven nations, the wood elves see their realms as the natural successors, to lands such as Eaerlann and Cormanthyr. Where the old empires expanded with strength and pride, the realms of the wood elves hope to grow with compassion and humility. The wood elves do not view their homelands as a land apart from Faerun; they understand better than their kindred that for better or worse, their fates are bound up with the fates of the humans, dwarves, and Halflings around them.
Also known as copper elves or sylvan elves, these people have coppery skin tinged with green, and brown, green, or hazel eyes. Hair is usually brown or black, occasionally blond or coppery-red. Wood elves prefer to dress in simple clothing, similar to the moon elves, but not quite so colorful. They favor a simple cut to tunic or dress, set off by common embroidery in natural designs. They are particularly fond of leather armor, and they often wear lovingly tooled and well-crafted suits even when they do not feel endangered. Their clothing, leather armor or not, is usually in dark shades of green and earth tones to better blend with their natural surroundings. They are a humble race and only rarely do they enhance their appearance with jewelry or similar accessories.
Wood elves are as tall as most other Faerunian elves but more heavily built. They use the following random height and weight characteristics:
Wood elf, male 4’10” +2d10, 100 lb. x (2d4) lb.
Wood elf, female 4’5” +2d10, 80 lb. x (2d4) lb.
History
The wood elves are the most recent addition to the various elven subraces of Faerun, although the history of their civilization still exceeds that of many other races of Toril. They also have the unusual distinction (often thought of as an honor by copper elves) of being the only subrace of elves to be actual natives to Faerun. The first copper elves did not appear at once; their race coalesced slowly over the course of several centuries after the last Crown War, blending several of the older elven kindreds.
The Crown Wars brought down most of the great nations of the First Flowering. In the wake of these terrible wars, thousands of elves were left bereaved and homeless. Families were torn apart, and for many centuries (a time known to the elves as the Wandering Years) these elves simply led the lives of nomads. Some of Faerun’s elves retreated to their ancestral homes and started to build anew, but on a small scale, raising the second generation of elven nations. But a significant portion of elves never felt the need to do so. These elves (mostly moon, sun, and green elves), vowed never again to let internal strife tear their kind apart, retreating to the deepest woodlands to seek shelter from the madness of the world.
Unlike the green elves, these self-imposed exiles did not slip into barbarism. Rather, they formed tightly knit societies that stayed in touch with other like-minded elven communities hidden away in other forests. Over time, these secluded elves grew closer to the natural world and further apart from the high magic and ancient lore the elves had brought from their first home, and become a new subrace of elves apart from their kin: the wood elves.
While the sun elves and moon elves founded realms such as Evermeet and Evereska after the Crown Wars, the great realm of the wood elves was ancient Eaerlann, a realm founded in the eastern High Forest around -4700 DR. The elves of Eaerlann engaged other young empires of the North in peaceful trade and diplomacy, befriending the dwarven realm of Delzoun soon after its establishment in -3900 DR, and tutoring the early Netherese in magic around -3830 DR.
The human empire of Netheril soon eclipsed its elven neighbors, growing in martial and magical might at an alarming pace. In -3533 DR the Netherese uncovered the Nether Scrolls in the ruins of Aryvandaar, eagerly exploiting magic so powerful and terrible that even the sun elves of the First Flowering had not dared to employ it. For centuries the wood elves of Eaerlann sought to quietly check Netheril’s pride and expansionism, but in -339 DR, the Netherese destroyed themselves as Karsus sought godhood and instead brought cataclysmic destruction down on his people. The elves of Eaerlann took in many Netherese survivors, allowing them to settle in the city of Ascalhorn.
The elves and humans of the North lived in peace for a time, but Ascalhorn too was doomed to fall through the folly of mages. Careless summoning of powerful fiends led to a sudden, terrible assault by an army of devils who overthrew the proud city in 882 DR. This time, Eaerlann did not survive the destruction of the neighboring human realm. Already gravely weakened by a year of battling against ferocious orc hordes, Eaerlann fell soon after Ascalhorn become Hellgate Keep.
In the years since the fall of Eaerlann, the wood elves have not raised any more great realms, choosing to put their trust in stealth and vigilance instead of castles and cities. Although they felt the call of the Elven Retreat, the wood elves did not respond. With the end of the Retreat, the wood elves have emerged from their secret homes in the depths of Faerun’s woodlands as a strong and confident people whose wariness is tempered by compassion. The wood elves of the High Forest dream of reestablishing old Eaerlann, but this time their realm will be a realm of reclusive villages and watchful foresters, not walled cities and proud warriors.
Outlook
Wood elves are calm, serene, and difficult to surprise. Their patience is legendary. They are at one with the world of nature, and are not comfortable in areas of heavy civilization. They have lost the urge to build and replace nature with walls and palaces; even the cities built by their elven kin seem to be foolish to the wood elves. They have come to believe that buildings of stone are transitory in nature, and that in time, the forest returns to overgrow the greatest of cities. Other races interpret this attitude as fatalistic or condescending, and as a result wood elves find it hard to understand anyone who isn’t a wood elf.
Wood Elf Characters
Of all the elven subraces, the copper elves have the least fascination with arcane magic. They understand its power and a number of their folk study its was, but ultimately the artifice of arcane lore is simply one more way of expressing dominion over the natural order of things, and the wood elves view it in that light. Wood elves make excellent fighters, rangers, and rogues, relying on their natural strength and quickness to meet challenges. Wood elves from particularly remote forests sometimes become barbarians. Clerics are somewhat rare among this people, but druids are very common and are the most prominent spellcasters of the race.
Favored Class: Wood elves are master hunters, and most train enough to possess at least one level of ranger. Favored enemies usually include orcs, gnolls, outsiders (planetouched), and other savage races that dwell near the traditional homelands of the wood elves.
Wood Elf Society
Wood elves live at ease with nature, using what naturally occurs in the world to shelter or defend themselves. They are not nomadic, and claim large territories in the deepest woodlands of Faerun. Some wood elves choose to do without houses, furnishings, and any possessions they can’t carry, using the high branches of great trees or natural caves in their roots for shelter and storage. Most wood elves instead prefer to dwell in small villages of permanent homes of natural fieldstone and lovingly carved wood, so carefully concealed among the surrounding wilderness that a human hunter might walk through the center of a wood elf village and not even notice that he had done so.
Wood elves adhere to a tradition of leadership by their oldest and most experienced druids, although most villages form a council of elders selected from the wisest and most experienced elves of each family to handle day-to-day affairs. The druidical hierarchy serves to unite wood elves of different villages and weld all the wood elves of a particular forest into a common realm. The druids do not presume to tell the elders how to run a village, but the elders generally give great weight to anything a druid chooses to say.
Wood elves excel in the hunt. They spend much of their time stalking their chosen territory on the search for food or intruders into their realm. The rest of their time is spent frolicking among the branches; in this regard, they are quite similar to moon and wild elves. With the end of the Retreat, wood elves are quickly coming back into contact with the civilized world. Although they are reluctant to allow others into their lands, wood elves understand that times are changing. If they are to survive as a people, it may be time for the copper elves to change as well.
Wood Elf Magic and Lore
Among the wood elves, magic finds its truest expression in the power the druid is able to coax from the natural world. Wizardly magic is suspect—all that time among tomes divorces the spellcaster from the surrounding world—and clerics need to call on distant gods for help. By contrast, druids use the power of the forest itself. More importantly, druids use that power to protect and nurture the forest, and wood elves are pragmatic enough to judge magic by its end result.
While the wood elves are as magical as the other elven subraces, they have for the most part abandoned their interest in arcane magic. Most wood elf spellcasters are druids and rangers, and although wood elf bards, sorcerers, and wizards are far from unknown, they have developed no specific magical traditions of their own.
Wood Elf Magic Items
Wood elf magic items are invariably crafted from materials found in nature, much like those created by the wild elves. Unlike the work of wild elves, these objects are not primitive in appearance; wood elf magic items are often quite beautiful and graceful. Druidic magic is most commonly used in their society to fashion magic items.
Wood Elf Deities
Wood elves worship the Seldarine, but they hold a special respect and reverence for the ancient forest powers of Faerun, Silvanus and Mielikki. Among the Seldarine, the wood elves hold a particular reverence for Solonor Thelandira, the Great Archer, and Rillifane Rallathil, the Leaflord. Solonor, as the deity of archery and the hunt, is viewed as the special patron of the wood elves, and before battle a wood elf will often invoke his name.
Relations with Other Races
In the five hundred years since the fall of Eaerlann, the wood elves have been forgotten by most of the other peoples of Faerun. Only those humans and dwarves native to the North and familiar with the borders of the High Forest have seen copper elves, and even then, they most likely met a solitary hunter or ranger. While the wood elves shelter deep inside forbidding forests and are therefore inaccessible to their neighbors, they are ironically among the more compassionate and understanding of the elven subraces. Like the moon elves, they accept the power of humankind and seek to live alongside their human neighbors and guide their expansion instead of seeking ways to deter or intimidate the human lands.
Wood elves have a long history of cooperation with the shield dwarves, whose realm of Ammarindar stood alongside their own realms of Eaerlann for many centuries in the vale of the Delimbiyr River. By extension, they look favorably on most other dwarves, too. Gnomes and Halflings are both greeted as friends and potential allies. On the other hand, the wood elves have a cold place in their hearts for creatures such as orcs and gnolls, who bring axes, fire, and slaughter to the forests the wood elves have sworn to protect.
Wood Elf Equipment
Wood elves do not often work with metal, but this is not because they lack the skill or knowledge to do so. Rather, they simply have no interest in working with metal. They prefer to fashion their weapons of wood and stone.
Wood elves are masters at building armor and weapons. In particular, they seem to have a knack for building bows of all kinds (but not crossbows). The wood elves have developed a large number of specialized arrows as well, including arrows that fly farther than normal or serve as signal devices.
These arrows are not generally sold to visitors because wood elves have little use for outside money in their society, but they often give these arrows to allies as gifts. Of course, the majority of wood elf arrows make their way into the world after they are shot at intruders.