Wood Elves
looks/traits
Hair: A variety of browns and
greens, often multiple. Many keep it short to be out of the
way. Those who wear it long pull it back in braids or ponytails.
Eyes: Green, almost
unanimously. Shades vary. A few have brown eyes, and fewer
have any other colour.
ears: Smaller, little curve to
the point.
Height: Generally between 5' and
5'6"
build: More solidly muscular
than many elves. While never bulky, they have obvious muscles.
colouration: dark tan skin, both
from genetics and from outdoor work.
personality types
Wood Elves are the most sensible of the elves. They have down to
earth personalities and tend to think of most situations
practically. This doesn't mean that they have no imaginations or
flights of fancy, but they know how to keep it in check and know when
and where it's appropriate.
dress style
Make: Wood Elves make use of
whatever is available to them. They use any type of plant fiber as
well as animal hair and hides. Leather is common. Colours
are generally that of the material and range from pale cream to dark.
Top: Simple, strong shirts with
many pockets. On special occasions, more elaborate clothes are
worn.
pants/skirt: All wear pants
because of common sense. Often leather, always wears well.
shoes: Stout boots
outside. Lighter shoes indoors. All leather.
overclothes: Nothing long.
Jackets, often leather. They also have over pants made of the same
materials for their legs.
underclothes: Males wear a
jockstrap loincloth, women wear breast bands and often loincloths.
sleep clothes: Generally short
pants and women wear a loose shirt with it so they can run out at a
moment's notice.
accessories: Few
ornaments. Some have amulets. Belts are worn to carry
necessary items as well as knives. Bows are also common
accessories.
powers
Earth and nature magic. Wood Elves have the powers that deal with
plants and the forest creatures. They protect the forests that
they live in.
home/family
Wood Elves live in or near forests. They live in treehouse style
dwellings in clans. Within a single home there will be mothers and
their children. Wood Elves make lasting relationships but don't
live with their significant other in most cases. Children are
raised by both parents and the rest of the clan. Wood Elves are
the best known to humans and there are many halfbreeds.
Halfbreeds tend to be raised by the non-elf parent, but there are still
many in the families. Wood Elf homes climb trees, with the largest
rooms on the ground and the rooms getting smaller as they climb.
Windows and doors are wherever there is room and round, wuth secure
latches to create many entries. Furniture is all wood, but well
padded. Beds are made of a wood frame and has a pallet of
grasses, fur, and down.
Eating habits
Wood Elves eat anything they find in the woods. They will
cultivate certain plants and raise certain animals specifically for
consumption but will also hunt and forage. Animals killed will be
eaten and as many parts of the creature used as possible. They
drink water, juice, milk, and liquor. The main meal is early in
the day and after that each one will make something simple for
him/herself.
Social Structure
Matriarchal. The Wood Elves don't travel far out of their forests
in general. In each village, there is a Grandmother who watches
over things and decides arguments. Under the Grandmother, women
have higher status than men for the most part. Anyone with
particular talent is highly respected and considered to be high class,
whatever their parents and family is.
religion
nature worshippers. They keep a very careful balance in their
lives and regard anything with any form of life as a living creature
worthy of respect. They always thank things for giving their lives
so they can live
taboo
Pointless destruction, especially that of living things. They
hate game hunters and poachers and people who deforest to make grazing
land. Littering, strip mining, and general rape of nature is taboo.
law
Things under the taboo list are dealt with harshly. Wood Elves
think nothing of frightening, running off, and stealing from poachers
and hunters in their forests. Other elves doing that, especially
other wood elves, are simply exiled. More civil cases, like
disputes, are dealt with by the matriarch of the forest. If one or
more parties are unsatisfied they can take it to grandmothers/fathers.
language
practical. Generally not overly flowery and they get annoyed with
people who do that overly much because it gets in the way of the point.
Naming
Wood elves are given a name at birth. Some choose a second name
at adulthood. In addition they are known by their relation to the
leader of the group. If outside her immediate family, they take
the relation of "cousin," "aunt," or "niece" and the male
equivalent. The leader is known by the name of the forest.
ie: Judith Mynamia, Evergreen
Knoll daughter
Arts, music, and literature
Wood Elves enjoy subtle art. Simple, clean lines that show great
care and suggest a pattern or picture without spelling it out distinctly
are prized. Their homes aren't painted, although they are
generally sanded and varnished to smoothness. Furniture and food
are their favorite art forms, although painting and wood sculpture are
also well practiced. Wood Elves can imitate the sound of most
forest animals and many of their instruments enhance this. Their
music, while often based on animal sounds, makes subtle variations and
harmonies with these sounds. Their literature is often in the form
of manuals. They also enjoy theoretical books on any number of
subjects.
Education and play
A Wood Elf learns about the forest and the ways of living things from
birth. Through childhood, s/he learns about engineering and math
and other crafts through practice in building additions to homes or
learning cycles of plants or animals. As major interests develop,
adults will take it upon themselves to train the child until s/he is
self sufficient and able to contribute. Sometimes children do not
develop special interests in childhood. In these cases, they will
continue childlike helping with any job while learning more theoretical
skills more intensely than those who have a chosen path to see if their
skills are elsewhere. Wood Elves enjoy physical play. Races,
tag, and marksmanship games are favorites. Games of cunning, like
Hide and Seek, are also encouraged. Many times, adults get as
much entertainment as children out of these games.
Economy
money: Wood Elves don't feel a
need for money except when trading with outsiders. Most money they
get from hunters or poachers who have come into their woods.
consumer sense: Wood Elves
prefer smooth, uninterrupted lines, so they don't often buy
adornments. Most of their purchases are things that they need or
that will make a unified, balanced whole.
imports: cultivated food, some
fabrics, books
exports: wild foods, woodwork
trade style: Wood Elves prefer
to conduct business with a minimum of haggling. They will haggle
if they have to, but if they can get a good deal quickly they don't feel
the need to prolong negotiations.
relationship with outsiders
Wood Elves can be intimidating to outsiders within their forests.
They suspect any strangers of being hunters or poachers and talk to them
from beyond the end of a knife or arrow, often with a large group of
others who have similar weapons as backup. Once convinced of
outsiders' good intentions, they are considerate hosts and
friendly. Outside their forests, they can be charming on first
acquaintance and get along well with outsiders.
companions
All forest animals are companions to Wood Elves. Animals listen
to them and feel free to enter and leave the Wood Elf village at
need. They have horses for travel and treat them as part of their
family. Animals are often treated better than outsiders who come
into the forest.
transportation
The main form of transportation for Wood Elves is walking. They
also enjoy riding and have wagons and carts. Anything that keeps
them in touch with the earth.
medicine
Wood Elves mostly use herblore and physical forms of medicine, with
magic being a backup.
Differences
Wood Elves take care of all of their people. Those with
disabilities are at a disadvantage, but useful work is always found for
them. Multibirths are considered lucky, but treated no differently
than anyone else.
manners
Wood Elves are very casual. They don't stand on ceremony with
anyone, no matter where they're from. Wood Elves think that
everyone is as good as everyone else. Slavery is intolerable to
them.
sex/reproduction
Like all elves, Wood 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. Wood elves are
sexually active throughout life. They have sex casually, but
there are often long term consequences. They generally have three
or four children, but more than that isn't uncommon. Children are
often from different fathers.
