Moon Elves
looks/traits
Hair: Silver or black.
Generally long and kept loose.
Eyes: grey, silver, black, or
very dark blue. Wide and luminescent.
ears: Prominent and upswept,
they go beyond the top of the head and curve forward only slightly.
Height: Small to middling.
5'7" at tallest, more commonly 5'3"
build: Slim and not muscular at
all. Females tend to be small chested. The least muscular of
the elves.
colouration: pale
personality types
Moon Elves are the most serious elves. They find meaning in
everything and are always careful of their place in the scheme of
things. They rarely have fun or play games. In contrast,
they are also very good listeners and very patient and forgiving.
dress style
Make: flowing robe type clothes
of plant material. Colours are dark and patterned with mystical
patterns.
Top: loose, sleeves widen toward
the wrist. Some wear similar style to the Dark elves, others to
the High Elves.
pants/skirt: Most generally
skirts on both sexes because of robe style. Again, mostly dark
coloured.
shoes: slipper type soft
shoes. Never anything heavier.
overclothes: Long full cloaks.
underclothes: all wear
loincloths.
sleep clothes: loose nightgowns
similar to their day clothes.
accessories: loose sashes and
silver jewelry. Jewels most common are moonstones.
powers
Spirit magic. Moon elves also create magic amulets, wands,
etc. Raise magical animals like unicorns.
home/family
Moon Elves live in enclaves. They have little contact with blood
relations, being placed in their enclaves shortly after birth. The
enclaves are chosen based on horoscopes and other mystical means.
They have next to no contact with outsiders, especially
non-elves. All trade is done through Dark and Wood Elves.
They sometimes have long-term relationships, but more often form short
term ones that break off after conception. Moon elves live in a
large, barracks style building. They have few windows, but large
skylights on the highest levels. Beds and seats are firm and thin.
Eating habits
Vegan at all times. Little grain is eaten. Diet is mostly
fruits and vegetables. Drink is water or fruit juice, never
liquor. Infants are given special formulas and don't drink
milk. All meals are eaten in together at specific times.
Infants are the only ones who don't follow this, and once they are able
to they are expected to.
Social Structure
There are two leaders; a male and a female. In each enclave,
there are similarly one male and one female leader. Moon Elves
don't have particular social classes. Each one's rank is decided
at birth, and nothing can change that, but the status of one is
specifically his or her own.
religion
Very complicated and mystical. It cannot be discussed with
outsiders. It involves nightly surveying of the sky for
portents. Detailed horoscopes and predictions are made for each
elf at birth based on the stars and the horoscopes of his or her parents
and the leaders of the parents' enclaves and the place of birth and
other important things and this guides the child throughout life, in
the first important aspect choosing his or her place to grow up.
One of the things of greatest importance is achieving balance.
There are a few who find complete balance within themselves. They
go out into the world as sages/hermits to promote balance in others.
taboo
Not abiding by the rule of the leaders are frowned on.
Deliberately going against a foretelling or changing one to another are
the highest wrongs that a Moon elf can do.
law
Once a year extraneous children are sacrificed or sent to places where
they are needed. Those who decline to die or be given away are
written out of the books of the people and are treated as nonentities
who were never living to begin with. Other laws involve choosing
of new leaders and where people go. All are religious and/or
mystical. Disputes are settled always by one woman and one man,
and all cases have this pair of judges.
language
Incredibly formal. Moon elves use flowery language and long
descriptions. There seems to be an unwritten rule that when you
can use more then one term you should. It is also always very
formal. If there is a title to give someone it is always used.
Naming
Moon elves are given a name at birth. At adulthood they choose a
name. They are also known by the number of their birth to their
gender and by the name of the enclave they live in.
ie: Judith Mynamia, 2nd girl of
New Paltz.
Arts, music, and literature
Moon Elf art is mystical, mostly depicting the sky at various times or
the myths associated with constellations. Their rooms have the
stars of their birth. Their music is mostly atonal chants without
instruments. Moon elves have very little written literature.
Most of it is star charts, horoscopes, and myths.
Education and play
From the time they're old enough to understand, Moon Elf children's
lives are one class after another on reading, writing, math, astronomy,
history, religion, magic, and meditation. Once they reach the age
of twenty, some of them are also given classes in animal raising or
magic item making. Once they become adults, Moon Elves' time is
taken up in meditation, teaching the young, creating horoscopes and
watching the sky, making items, and/or raising animals. They
rarely or never have time for play. Play includes riddles and
tongue-twister competitions.
Economy
money: Moon Elves don't have
money of their own. Dark Elves or Wood Elves sell their items and
buy necessary goods for them. Extra money is left in the enclave's
treasury.
consumer sense: Moon Elves don't
buy anything for themselves, so they don't have a consumer sense.
imports: food, paper and raw
materials
exports: magic items, magic
creatures
trade style: none. Dark
elves and Wood elves pick up their exports without any negotiation on
how much they cost and don't tell them what the price they got was.
relationship with outsiders
Moon Elves don't like outsiders. The only outsiders they deal
with at all are the Wood Elves or Dark Elves who carry on their trade,
and the slaves who take care of their homes and do the cooking and
cleaning. These slaves are bought at a young age and raised
entirely by the older slaves. Moon Elves have no interaction with
them.
companions
Aside from others, Moon Elves only have contact with the magical
creatures they raise.
transportation
Moon elves don't travel, so their transportation is all by foot.
The sick are dragged in two-wheeled carts.
medicine
Moon elves go by magic and spiritual medicine only.
Differences
Moon Elves are prone to Obssessive Compulsive Disorder and
perfectionist tendancies. Because Moon Elf stresses perfection,
these are traits that are encouraged rather than discouraged.
Physically disabled Moon Elves are accomodated, often having a
non-disabled elf "partnered" to them to help them through
everything. Those with greater skill are often the ones partnered
with the disabled as a balance. Male and female fraternal twins
are revered and do everything together, including mating with the same
person. A mating between two sets of male and female twins is
especially sacred.
manners
Because Moon Elves are very concerned with protocol, they have a very
strict code of manners. The leaders are always deferred to.
These two start everything. Neatness is required.
sex/reproduction
Like all elves, Moon elves reach sexual maturity around the age of
twenty. Females know as soon as conception occurs, and gestation
is somewhere between nine and twelve months. Moon elves become
sexually active around the age of seventy and stop after their second
child, generally by the age of 500. Sex isn't considered
casual. A pregnant female is taken care of by other females, with
no special relationship with the father of her child. Unless a
multibirth occurs, Moon Elves always have two children.