Wood Elves

The Wood Elves tribes religiously practice a “Natural” life, refusing the comforts of cities or intensive agriculture. They believe this life style keeps their people strong and their fierce warriors and cunning scouts are testaments to this fact.

## **Appearance**

Blonde hair, fair skin, very long pointed ears and blue/green eyes are common to the wood elves. Red hair is fairly common as well. Wood elf men are some of the tallest and most muscular in Convergence. Both men and women wear their hair long and braided. The men often maintain short beards. As with all the elves, the wood elves possess great physical beauty.

Green is the most popular color and some people go so far as to wear cloaks of leaves or integrate plant life into their outfits. Scouts are known to craft especially camouflaged outfits. Wood elves seem to prefer minimal clothing, but are happy to wear more when it is cold. Women wear skirts, blouses and dresses, the men wear tunics and pants or kilts.

It is assumed for Wood Elves to carry knives on them most of the time. They are often seen with a long or short bow. Curved swords and spears are popular equipment as well. It is rare to see a Wood Elf wearing any armor more heavy than leather if that.

Wood Elves are by far the most stealthy folk. Their movements are easy and gentle yet powerful and directed. Stories about the Wood Elves love to depict them appearing from nowhere to the utter surprise of the protagonist, and unlike many fables, this one is true.

Streams and rivers are respected sources of wellness and cleanliness. Even in the winter Wood Elves will bath in freezing streams. This seems to be part of some endurance ritual as well as a bathing one. Otherwise Wood Elves prefer gentle, neutral scents of nature over perfumes. Some communities are known to enjoy lavender, sandal wood, mint and other oils.

While "Wood Elf" is a racial distinction, anyone inducted into a wood elf tribe truly becomes one of them. They do not make special efforts to define themselves racially or to maintain any sort of racial purity, though they are mostly of a specific bloodline. Outsiders may be confused and won't identify someone of orc or human bloodlines as "Wood Elf", but this is solely the mistake of the outsider. The Wood Elves value fitness and hardiness, and will gladly accept those worthy of respect into their families and bloodlines.

## **Culture and customs**

The Forests of Return are entirely dominated by the wood elf people and culture. They sustain hunter-gatherer customs, consciously rejecting what they see as the sickly and unhealthy indulgence of civilization, only taking on what technology they find sustainable and vital such as metal smithing. They entirely refuse to plunder their forests the way Sothos folk do. They intentionally exist in small, nomadic populations that do not over strain the resources of the forest. Despite this intentional self restraint it is suspected that the Wood Elves are the most populous peoples in Convergence as they inhabit the largest, habitable land. Though they do not grow great fields of grain or build permanent settlements but they are regardless quite fecund and make up the majority of the population on the Northern lands.

It is a common misconception, or exaggeration that the wood elves will not cut down any tree. While it is true they find any harm to a tree within a druid consecrated Sacred Grove a deadly offense, they take from the trees what they need, with the same respect they take from the rest of nature for their needs. Trees are always cut in a sustainable way and is nothing like the clear cutting or burning the people of Sothos practice.

### **Governance**

The Wood Elves govern themselves entirely within the context of close knit, high trust familial communities. More aggressive, war like clans tend to be man and war chief led, with a focus on raiding, while more peaceful clans tend to be women led with a focus on developing protective alliances with neighboring clans. Even at their most violent, these clans never manifest the horrific slaughter and pillaging in Sothos. War for the elves is more like a testing and communicating between clans stating "We are strong and worthy of respect!" and clans found lacking are, in the perspective of the elves, rightfully absorbed by stronger clans. They do not cast these conflicts in the frame of "Good versus Evil" but simply as a natural process. Therefore within this context the governance of the elves is determined by strength, of the men martially, but also of the clan's function as a family unit.

### **Faith**

Cerdar is utterly loved among the Wood Elves who believe He sacrificed himself on the Cinder Tree to restore the forest to life after the devastation of the Great War. Shedded stag antlers are sacred objects within the tribes and crescent moons are honored moments in the night as they both are symbols of Him.

Nature is worshipped directly. Many nature spirits are honored and made offerings to with the aim of maintaining a good relationship with the Forest. It is important that taking from the woods is seen as a natural act as one creature of the forest rather than an act of petty domination or greed.

### **Economy**

Wood Elves will occasionally trade with outsiders, but refuse to plunder their forests to any extent that would be required for a profound trading economy. However, when other regions are bare from over harvesting the Forests of Return can provide a small amount of quality goods should the elves allow it.

Artifacts recovered from deep within the forests are occasionally recovered and sold by some clans.

Some secretive communities produce a medicinal honey widely valued all over Convergence. Indeed many of the best herbs and restoratives come from the Forests of Return.

### **Language**

Elvish is the native language. Some who live close to the Blue Forest speak Aquan.

### **Culinary customs**

The Wood Elves love freshly foraged or hunted bounty of the forest. Most are traditional in their sensibilities and do not fuss over complex dishes.

### **Structures**

Housing varies widely on its size and make. There are stories about marvelous homes built into massive, mossy trees. The Wood Elves love their trees and are loath to fell them into logs and planks. Druids will shape the tree naturally into a home. Folk deeper in the wood without access to a druid make simple lean-to's or use tents. Some clans will winter in large cave systems as they have for generations beyond memory.

Other communities build houses similar to those in the Kingdom, though even here the emphases is on harmony with nature rather than domination over it.

### **Settlements**

No settlement can truly be labeled permanent for the Wood Elves as they move on from any location eventually, but they do have sites they will return to in cycles. Various stone circles, sacred groves, caves, and a few sustained structures are always returned to.

### **Marriage, sexual relations, and childbirth**

Contest is at the heart of Wood Elf mating ritual. Various tests, duels, and competitions determine marriage pacts. While many couples come together without any dramatic display, most women will not take a man's interest seriously if he is unwilling to fight and risk his life for her. Fights to the death over one woman or more are common, though these are organized events in view of the community so that the marriage won is understood to be lawful and not murder.

Wood Elf women are known to be proud, sassy and tend to test their potential mates in ways that might infuriate him. It's thought that these sort of games are intended to discover the true nature of the man before any long term commitment is made. There are stories about women gifted with the great speed of the Gods requiring their suitors to be able to catch her to claim her hand in marriage, thus only similarly gifted men ever marry such women and very gifted generations of children are produced.

Like many cultures that live close to the harsh conditions of the wilderness Wood Elves are known to mercy kill any sickly or deformed infants as soon as such a thing can be determined, to spare them a life of pain and dependency. Even healthy individuals often perish in the harsh conditions of the wilderness, is it considered cruel and misguided to put precious resource and energy into a life that would be short and miserable, no clan takes this mandate lightly.

### **Death**

It is extremely important to the Wood Elves that they die within the Forests of Return, thus no war tribes have been formed to invade outside the Forest and they as a people seem entirely uninterested in the organized conquering displayed in Sothos cultures. They believe they must die within the forest to join their ancestors within the trees. Bodies are buried in lose soil near trees so that the corporal form may return to the earth and the spirit may travel through the roots and limbs.

It is a great honor to be buried beneath the Cinder Tree of Kestral Run where Cerdar gave His life for ours. Great and highly honored individuals are invited to travel to Kestral Run when their time is near so that they may be buried in the Aurablooms beneath the tree who's color is determined by the character of soul the deceased has.

### **Military**

Wood Elves prefer to attack from stealth whenever possible. Movement through the forest, positioning and group coordination are the key components of assault. The longbow is the favored weapon as most Wood Elf scouts are able to fire and reposition quickly enough to not be engaged martially.

Teams of forest scouts patrol the woods for intruders and are known to slay anyone suspicious, it is not recommended to enter anywhere in the Forests of Return without permission even with it being nearly the entire continent.

Invading forces from Sothos are surprised to encounter the occasional woman elf scout and losing men to these women's arrows is said to be especially demoralizing. Women elves thus capture the Sothos people's imagination, being contrasted to the more passive Sothos women.

Units of fighters sometimes referred to as "berserkers" make up the front lining, shock troops of the Wood Elves. They are truly terrifying to see in the battle field, some even fight naked and just shrug off strikes that would kill lesser men. This animalistic martial tradition can be found in many cultures in Convergence, but they are always ones to live in the wilderness, to better connect to the wilderness God Cerdar and their empowering spirits of either bear or wolf.

### **Other beliefs and superstitions**

The Forests of Return are considered the nearest one can get to the Feywild. A number of stories and cautionary tales about the strange, wild and sometimes helpful fey creatures exist all over Convergence.

Wood Elves take promises very seriously believing great misfortune falls on oath breakers from some unpredictable source.

There are some rumors that Wood Elves enter a sort of "heat" or mating frenzy that trigger ritualized duels. While it is true that the Spring is the most common season for conception and duels for marriage rights do take place, there is not a specific time of year for this event to occur.