Sylvan

*For the background, see Sylvan Elf.*

The **Sylvan** are nomadic elves that seek to recover, inherit and preserve the knowledge and sacred treasures of their two fallen kingdoms, the Sylvandale and Elveshaal.

They still revere the elven gods, and lead nomadic lives, wandering throughout Morgaea. Their clans date back to the independent kingdom of the Sylvandale, of which the Sylvan themselves are descendants. Many Keepers are descended from the nobility who governed the Sylvandale. The Sylvan are considered to have the "purest" blood from the time of Elveshaal.

## History

### The Founding of the Sylvandale

During the centuries of slavery, after their ancient civilization of Elveshaal fell to the Adamantium, the elves lost most of their language, history, and lore. However, after Sibylla, and her husband Thetsoll, led their Drahanim army against the Adamantium in **-180D**, the elven slaves led by Febrion rose up and joined the fight against their former masters.

While Febrion was killed attempting to save Sibylla when she was betrayed by Thetsoll to the Adamantines, in **-165D**, Thetsoll gave the elves the Sylvandale as a reward for their part in the war. At that time, the Sylvandale was on the fringe of Adamantine territory, and was barely populated, with only the Lyriane people to the east, and the Drahanim of the Nordish Valley on the other side of the White Spine. The freed elves set off for their new home from the Adamantium on foot in what would come to be called "The Long Walk". Many perished along the way, but those who survived founded the city of **Aerasala**; meaning "journey's end" in Elder Speech. They were joined by elves from across Morgaea, and began the task of restoring their lost language, religion, and lore.

### The Fall of the Sylvandale

*Main article: Second Crusade*

In their new homeland, the elves attempted to rebuild the culture they had lost after generations of slavery in the Adamantium, and returned to the worship of the elven gods. As they laid the foundations of Aerasala, the elves vowed that no human would ever set foot on their lands, possibly out of a desire to regain the immortality they believed had been taken from them due to prolonged contact with humans. An elite order of warriors dedicated to the elven gods, the Verdant Knights, was established to ensure the Sylvandale's continued independence.

Relations with humans were strained from the beginning, and only worsened after Caecilius Volantus, first Emperor of Maudet, forcibly unified the disparate cults of the Watcher, stamped out belief in other deities, and made Sibyllism the official religion of the newly formed Maudesian Empire. The Sylvandale presented a significant obstacle to Volantus' dreams of expanding Maudet further to the south and to the west. Furthermore, elven rejection of the Watcher drew the ire of the Ministry, as it confounded their core mission of spreading the Holy Tome throughout Morgaea to ensure the Watcher's return to the world. The Ministry sent missionaries to the Sylvandale, then templars when these were turned away.

In response to these human incursions, the Sylvandale became increasingly isolationist, posting Verdant Knights on their borders, and rejecting diplomatic and trade overtures. When the Second Scourge spread across Maudet, the elves refused to lend aid as fiendish hordes nearly destroyed the nearby human city of Montelleu. Rumors that the elves sacrificed humans to the elven gods further fueled border tensions. An elven attack on the human town of Rhett's Crossing in **2A09** led to open conflict. Accounts differ significantly between human and elven sources. Ministry sources state that the elves attacked the defenseless village of Rhett's Crossing unprovoked, and committed atrocities that enraged humans across Morgaea, while elven sources state that it was an attack made in anger by a small raiding party, and point to the Ministry's anger at the rejection of their missionaries.

By **2A10**, elven forces had captured Montelleu, and advanced to the doorstep of Ducailles. In response, Matron Rayne I called for a Crusade against the elves; the Second Crusade. While the elves sacked Ducailles in **2A14**, and pushed well into human lands, Aerasala was conquered, and the elves were completely crushed by **2A20**. The Sylvandale were appropriated by the Maudesians, who uprooted elven settlements, and forbade worship of the elven gods. Elves who accepted the Ministry's offered truce, and converted to the worship of the Watcher, were sent to live in enclaves, walled-off slums within human settlements, becoming the city elves.

Some elves, however, refused to give up their worship, or their dream of a homeland. They became the nomadic **Sylvan**, retaining the name of their second lost homeland, and vowing to keep the elven language, history and religion alive.

## Culture and clan life

The Sylvan travel around the more remote reaches of Morgaea in renwyls, large wagons used as mobile homes. In addition to being pulled by Elote, renwyls use magic to move through the forests quickly and easily.

﻿The Sylvan are familiar with many natural remedies humans have forgotten or ignored, such as chewing pieces of bark from certain trees to cure a headache.

For food, the Sylvan rely mostly on hunting and foraging. They also make use of elote milk and related dairy products such as butter and cheese.

﻿Roles among each clan are clearly defined. A keeper serves as a leader and spiritual guide, and working in tandem with them is an *arhren*, who reiterates the Elven lore and tends to the children. Other important positions are being the designated warleader, hearthmistress and crafter. There is also a designated Elote-Keeper. Elves can also be a Hunter or a Healer. Each position has an apprenticeship stage, an example being how an elf must kill and present a beast of the forest all by themselves to become a fully-fledged hunter.

﻿Along with their large renwyls, the Sylvan elves are also known for being the only race capable of forging ironbark, a unique substance stronger and lighter than steel, used to make their weapons and certain other items of clothing. For a typical hunter's armor, ironbark plates are combined with leather. The material can also be enchanted. For weapons, Sylvan use daggers, arrows, and nets. Ironbark weapons, along with carved elote horns, are highly valued and are used to trade with humans for things they cannot make on their own.

Sylvan elves tend to keep to their own and avoid humans whenever they can, but will occasionally encounter human travelers, or venture near human settlements to trade. At the threat of these encounters becoming violent, a Sylvan clan will likely withdraw before any real force of humans gets involved, but they will often still be willing to stand their ground. In the long run, hostilities with humans will likely end badly for the elves, especially if a human settlement decides that a certain clan has become more trouble than it's worth.

The Sylvan clans themselves can also be quite different from each other. Some clans will get along fairly well with humans, and might even camp outside of settlements for long periods of time. Other clans are more infamous, living by banditry and hiding like guerrillas in the mountain passes. In particular, the Sylvan clans in Lysadore are said to be more secretive and violent than the rest. They often build "forest marionettes" that are mistaken for sylvans or unquiet spirits to scare humans away from their clans.

### Marriage

*See also: Sexuality and marriage*
The Sylvan version of marriage is referred to as 'bonding'. Sylvan vows are said in elvish.

### Funeral

*See also: Funerary rites*
When Sylvan elves die, their clan will bury them and plant a tree over their remains. The dead are provided with an oak staff to help them along the path of the afterlife, and a cedar branch to scatter the ravens of Fear and Deceit who were once servants of Shandalar. If a clan is able to, they will bury their dead in a sacred burial site known as Dor'gyrth, which is located in the Emerald Plains.

### Lore-keeping and education

Both the Sylvan and city elves have an oral tradition in which much of their knowledge and tradition is passed along, but never actually written down. Arhrens instruct through the use of lore and storytelling. There are some books to preserve history, however, but are few and precious. Children are highly valued among the clans.

Sylvan clans rarely encounter each other in order to protect themselves; their dispersion is as much of a blessing as it is a curse. Only once every decade or so do the Sylvan clans all meet together, and their keepers, the elders and leaders of the Sylvan who are responsible in keeping elven lore and magic alive, will meet together and exchange knowledge in a meeting called the Govanneth.

During such a time, the clans will recall and record any lore they have relearned since the past meeting, along with reiterating what lore they know already to keep their traditions as accurate and alive as possible. During such time, the clans will exchange relics dating from the two elven nations for safekeeping. The Sylvan believe that all the relics they've preserved from the Sylvandale and Elveshaal belong to all the Sylvan; such trades are seen as much of an act of sharing as it is a matter of trade, and the same is true even for talented elves.

A clan's "First", an apprentice mage under a Keeper, studies history and magic, and attempts to preserve elven lore. As magic becomes more rare among the Sylvan, children with the gift of magic may be moved between clans to ensure than every Keeper has a successor. To avoid the inherent dangers of magic and invoking the ire of Templars, individual clans may limit the number of magically-gifted elves they have. Once that limit is reached, those additional elves may be abandoned to the wilderness.

### Philosophy

Many Sylvan live by goddess of the hunt Almithara's code known as the **Teo Feredir**, meaning "Way of Three Trees" or "the Ways of the Hunter." It is made of three parts, taught by Almithara herself, which are:

* **Teo Pilindi** ("Way of the Arrow") - fly straight and do not waver. *"Be swift and silent," Almithara taught. "Strike true; do not waver. And let not your prey suffer."*
* **Teo Peng** ("Way of the Bow") - bend but never break. *"As the sapling bends, so must you. In yielding, find resilience; in pliancy, find strength."*
* **Teo Taurel** ("Way of the Forest" or "Way of the Wood") - together we are stronger than the one. *"Receive the gifts of the hunt with mindfulness. Respect the sacrifice of my children. Know that your passing shall nourish them in turn."*

The three parts of the philosophy are often strung together as a sort of mantra, which the Sylvan will often end with the phrase, "We are the last of the People, and never again shall we submit." A rite of passage for hunters is to bring back the pelt of a creature the hunter has killed.

Seldom spoken of, however, is a fourth way: the **Teo Gwath'ren**, the "Way of Shadow." Sylvan hunters assume it when a debt of blood must be repaid. Such hunters dedicate themselves to vengeance, and nothing else. Thus were born the legends of Sylvan assassins.

A few follow a different path, Anoreth's code known as **Teo Senda**, the "Way of Peace": Sylvan following this calling learn the arts of the healer and the mender.

When dealing with one another, Sylvan elves may invoke **Teo Suleva**, a bargain by which an elf will complete a given task for another in return for something, such as a valuable clan item. Though the recipient of this bargain may dissent, they cannot reject an offer of Teo Suleva. Similarly, the elf offering the bargain must agree to the task set to them, whether it's desirable or not.

### Naming customs

Clans are named for the nobles from the Sylvandale who originally founded the clan. Every Sylvan surname preserves a lineage from someone, though not necessarily a clan founder. One noble clan founder could start a clan with some Verdant Knights, who would also pass on their names. As the Sylvan often trade people between each other, not everyone in a given clan is a descendant of its founder, and as such doesn't necessarily bear their name.