Elves, Wood

## Description

Hailing primarily from the Thuja Forest, Wood Elves are the most elusive of the three elven races. They are rarely seen outside of the Thuja Forest and other densely-wooded areas. They are also the shortest of the Elven races, averaging 5’6 in height. Their skin is fair and sometimes yellow or green-tinged. Their hair comes in various shades of yellow, green, and brown, and their eyes tend towards earth tones. The Wood Elves are also typically overlooked by the Dark and High elves due to them not living in Estor and being a foot shorter than their Elven cousins. Wood elves sometimes grow magical mutations such as antlers, leaves, feathers, or scales depending on location and upbringing. This serves to further alienate the wood elves from the rest of elvenkind, and makes them freakish to Humankind.

Wood Elves primarily worship the nature god Pan. There are schools of thought in Wood Elf society that call Pan the “Father of all Elves.” Because of this, Wood Elves, especially those who reside within the Thuja Forest, often have fanatical or zealous devotions to Pan. This devotion extends to all of nature, as nature is Pan’s domain. To wage war against nature is often the same as waging war against Pan and all of his servants. Many Human communities have strong negative opinions of Wood Elves due to a history of bad blood caused by human expansion into the wilderness.

Nature’s resources are valuable. Greedy people of nearly every species are a constant threat to the world’s ecosystems. Because of this, Wood Elves are naturally wary and often hostile to outsiders. Wood Elves are known to go to great lengths to scare people away from the patches of ancient nature that they protect. Methods range from pranks, to traps, and even to pure violence in order to protect the sanctity of the lands that Pan holds sacred. Sentient creatures that show a genuine devotion to nature are sometimes befriended by Wood Elves. This is most commonly seen amongst Humans and Hobbits who are dedicated to nature and who also worship Pan.

As Wood Elves are inextricably tied to nature, they will begin to sicken and wither if they spend too much time away from it. This typically comes from spending too much time in cities or dungeons. In order to recover from this withering, Wood Elves need to regularly spend time in nature, particularly green spaces. A Wood Elf won’t supernaturally wither in places like mountains or deserts, but they won’t be restored there either. They are best-off in places like forests, swamps, jungles, wetlands, or plains. Places with lots of vegetation are always best.

Wood Elves have a high ratio of magical potential. Some even say that they all have some form of magical potential to a greater or lesser degree. Wood Elf magic users can be adept at any kind of magic, but they tend to lean toward elemental or divine magic. Studied magic is the least common amongst Wood Elves, and psionic magic is somewhere in the middle. For Wood Elves, nature magic and divine magic are one in the same. A Human can spend months studying the “entangle” spell, but a Wood Elf or a devoted follower of Pan can cast it through divine means.

## Bonuses

“Protectors of the Forest“ +2 Bonus to Hunt, Animal Handle, and Climb.

“Earth-Tones” +2 Bonus to Stealth/Disguise in forested, grassy, or hilly environments.

## Penalties

“Primitive Technology” Wood Elves suffer a -3 penalty to any checks involving technology that is beyond what they would normally encounter.

“Faeblood” Wood Elves are more deeply connected to nature than any other playable species, and will begin to grow sick from being away from it for too long.