Elves
Elves were not born to be mortal. Before The Desolation and the Exodus they were all wholly immortal; now their lives last roughly a thousand years, though some, such as Lady Nemarin and Lord Fangol Silvarel, still carry eternal life within them.1
Nature
Their unhurried lives show in the movements and habits of the elves, and the outlook of an elf who lives through ten human lifetimes is shaped accordingly. Elves are much lighter than they look, so that they do not sink in snow, and their bodies produce almost no waste. Horses and seafaring birds understand well-spoken ancient Elvish to some extent.1
Elven peoples
The High Elves are like a relic from before the Desolation. They are rarely seen in imperial cities, and they are met there with curiosity rather than hostility; they possess a unique elegance and beauty.1 The Wood Elves share much of the forest with the badgerfolk, whose respect for the forest and the mutual benefits often make the two peoples allies.2 Beneath Caligran lie the labyrinthine cities of the dark elves.3
The Da’fat Federation
South of the Calinor-dal lies the Da’fat Federation, where only elves live. In its cities traditional trade hardly exists: elves rarely use money among themselves, and long-term debts, mutual favours and social benefits count for more in trade than coin.1
The lands granted to the elves came from the agreement made with the people who fled the great catastrophe, written on a Palanthor tablet and guaranteed by the Order of Palanthor. Most knights of the order in the Lands of Exile are human, but members of allied races such as elves and dwarves can be among them.4
Elves and the Empire
In The Empire elves are seen as allies.5 Elvish is widely learned and spoken by the imperial elite. Yet the idea that elves live long lives free of troubles can sometimes stir envy and racism among humans.1
When the Empire and the elves come into conflict, the badgerfolk usually side with the elves, and their help goes beyond supplies: the disputes are mostly over land, and harm to the forest leaves them no other choice. The badgerfolk also carry the goods of the wood elves to the human world, and human goods back to the elves.2
Craft and memory
Elven ringmakers in particular prefer to enchant their silver by artificy, passing magic steadily through a material over a long time.6 Among all weaponsmiths, elven ones are held to be the best.7 Ithalon Blue, an elvish wine, is a silvery-blue wine that glows faintly in the dark and is said to be a gift from the moon.8
The legendary Starseeker Academy is named after the elves who navigated by the stars as they fled the Desolation.9
Notes
- ↑BookLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide, p. 43
- ↑BookShadow Over Vansreik, p. 45
- ↑BookLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide, p. 2
- ↑BookShadow Over Vansreik, p. 33
- ↑BookLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide, p. 34
- ↑BookBook of Dead, p. 41
- ↑BookMercenary Compendium, p. 194
- ↑BookLands of Exile: Starter Setting Guide, p. 47
- ↑BookBook of Dead, p. 42
Sources
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PeopleBadgerfolkA small, fur-covered people from the Blue Forest who resemble badgers standing on two legs. They are skilled craftsmen and archers, build wooden towns they can move with the seasons, elect their mayors, and often stand with the wood elves.
EventThe DesolationThe cataclysm that ended the First Age, when the Dark One attacked Teneris. Gods and whole civilisations died, the two continents were parted and more than half of Caligran became desert.RegionDa’fat FederationThe elven federation south of the Calinor-dal, founded in the Second Age by elven tribes who fled north after the Desolation; every surviving elven people lives there, and Lady Nemarin is its spiritual leader.OrganisationOrder of PalanthorA prestigious secular order of knights, older than the Empire itself, founded after the Exodus to oversee the refugees and guarantee the agreements made with them, and known for its holy standard and its tablets.EventExodusThe flight north of the survivors of the Desolation, who escaped the hungry sands and sought refuge among the humans of the lands now called the Lands of Exile.PeopleHumansThe people who lived in northern Caligran long before the Desolation, sheltered the long-lived races after the Exodus and remain the greatest power in the Lands of Exile, at the heart of which stands their Empire.
PeopleCapraA tireless, goat-headed nomadic people of the Yellow Sea beyond the forest frontier, led in herds by their strongest warrior, the Shepherd, and divided between herds bound to nature and herds touched by dark gods.
PeopleDroomA rare people born from the heart of an ancient forest, whose bodies of bark, leaves, vines and resin make them resemble walking, talking trees. They have no parents, do not age, and turn back into trees when they die of natural causes.
PeopleForgottenThe dead who walk with their souls and their memories intact. Unlike the mindless dead, a forgotten remembers everything, looks as they did in life but paler and cold, does not age, and must hold to a purpose or slowly lose their mind again.
PeopleVenerethPeople born to any race with enigmatic writings on their bodies, a legacy of sages who sought to save the knowledge of the world before the Desolation. Each is born with a gift for one field of learning, and many are feared or hunted for their marks.