Wood elf

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Greyhawk Creature
Wood elf
Two wood elves, art by William O'Connor.
General information
Size:Medium
Alignment:Usually neutral
Type:Humanoid
Subtype:Elf
Patron deity:Corellon, Rillifane Rallathil, and the Seldarine
First appearance:Supplement I: Greyhawk

Wood elves are the most populous of the elven races. Wood elves see themselves as guardians of their forest homes, but unlike most elves they do not view themselves as a people apart from the rest of the world.[1]

Description

File:Wood and sun elves.jpg
A sun elf (top) and a wood elf shooting archery together.

Wood elves have fair skin[2][3] which is only "slightly darker in complexion than high elves".[4][5][6] Hair of wood elves in the World of Greyhawk™ is typically yellow-blonde to coppery red.[2][4][3][5][6][7][8], although hues browns and blacks are also found.[9]

Eyes are usually light brown (which is the most common),[10] light green, or hazel.[2][11][4][8] Bright green is not uncommon[6], and some cases of blue are known[5]. Hazel and blue are the least common, only being seen a handful of times in a generation.[10]

Wood elves are often stronger than other elves,[2][3][5][4][6][7] but are frequently less cerebral than grey elves, who put a greater value on education.[12]

Clothing of wood elves is not as elaborate as other elven cultures (such as grey elves) and they favor simple outfits. "Generally, males wear a blouselike shirt over close-fitting hose and soft boots or shoes, while females favor a frock with sash, or a blouse with an anklelength skirt. Hunting garments are typically in neutral colors like shades of brown, tailored for silent and easy movement."[13] They wear earth-toned clothes in shades of brown, tan, russet, green[4][5][7] and red[2] to blend in with their surroundings.[4][6][7] Tan and russet are most common in autumn[6] and winter finds sylvan elves wearing white leather so that they can hide in snow.[6]

Their cloaks, especially ones worn when traveling, are typically gray or gray-green,[13] green or greenish brown,[2]

Personality

As a people, wood elves are largely seen as calm and level-headed. Arousing strong emotions in wood elves is not something that is easily done, although many do have a strong aversion for large cities, having lost the passion for urbanization after the fall of Earlann. To wood elves, the trappings of civilization, including the mightiest of fortresses or tallest walls, are transient and impermanent things that are eventually be overcome by the long processes of nature. To many, this attitude seemed condescending, weakening the bonds between wood elves and other races.[14] Additionally, wood elves could sometimes seem off-putting compared to other Tel-quessir, with a gruff manner that made them less charismatic, despite their avowed compassion and humility.[12]

Wood elven romantic and sexual relationships are often polyamorous in nature, members of the race freely engaging or ceasing relations with new partners. Feelings of jealousy and possessiveness are as a result viewed by the race as reasons for teasing or mockery. As a result of these perspectives on love, high elves often believed that any relationships engaged with wood elves are be destined to fail from the start.[15]

Culture

Wood elves consider themselves the heirs of the ancient elven empires established in ancient times, but they share few of the cultural characteristics that marke such early realms as N and N. Although a proud people, wood elves feel compassion is a greater virtue than strength and wood elven realms are less concerned with expansion than they are with maintaining amiable relations with their neighbors.[14] Wood elves are not nomadic, however, as is common amongst the wild elves. Instead they are organized into scattered, carefully concealed villages united under a gerontocratic hierarchy composed of village councils consisting of the most distinguished families' eldest members. These councils are often advised by local druids, whose influence plays no small part in wood elven politics and who frequently serve as the webbing that bound any number of villages together as one realm.[14]

Compared with other elves, wood elves have a notable disinterest in the arcane arts. To a wood elf, the wizard's spells are little different from the mason's castle walls or the tiller's plow—a means of controlling the natural world, which is contrary to the common ethic of living in harmony with nature rather than trying to dominate it. As such, wood elven adventurers are more likely to take on careers which do not require the use of arcane magic. In particular, many are drawn to the path of the fighter, ranger, or rogue, relying on their natural-born skill to overcome obstacles. Compared with other elves, very few wood elves go on to become spellsingers or bladesingers. The one major exception to the wood elven taboo on arcane magic are the arcane archers, who count many wood elves among them. Other wood elves from more remote areas are drawn to the ways of the barbarian while many religious wood elves become druids with clerics often seen in much the same light as wizards. Those wood elves who do become clerics might eventually become hierophants.

Art and Leisure

Wood elves commonly feel they are in harmony with their natural surroundings and an examination of their art helps to justify this belief.[citation needed] While wood elves do not wander like wild animals as the wild elves do, wood elves do their best to have a minimal impact on their natural surroundings, a fact reflected in their architecture.[citation needed] Frequently, wood elven homes are made of natural fieldstone or carefully furnished wood, but on occasion wood elves are known to do without even these creature comforts, living in the limbs of mighty trees or sheltered caves, rejecting furniture or any possessions they could not carry with them. So close do wood elven villages resemble their surroundings, humans are occasionally known to wander through one without even noticing. Increased contact with other races ... caused some of these cultural practices to come into question, but for the large part the wood elves of the [X century] live much the same as their ancestors do.[14]

In keeping with their naturalistic inclination, wood elves are not particularly fine metalworkers and have little interest in developing any such skills. However, wood elves are among some of the world's finest carpenters and stoneworkers, masters in the crafting of bows and arrows as well as in leather tanning. Wood elves even developed several specialized arrows, including those that flew further than usual as well as some that are used as signal devices. So carefully guarded are wood elven crafting secrets, even experienced fletchers from other cultures have difficulty emulating wood elven designs. Wood elven leather armor also often doubles as camouflage, disguising a hunter from potential enemies. Compared to wild elven designs, wood elven crafting often looks surprisingly elegant, although they are often made of the same materials and used similar methods, reflecting some of the differences between the two elven subraces.[14]

While wood elves felt it better to have a minimal impact on their surroundings, the race has no particular aversion to meat-eating and are passionate hunters. Many hours of a typical wood elf's life are spent on the hunt, which is both a practical activity and a pleasurable one. Most of the time that wood elves are not hunting they are enjoying themselves at ease within the highest branches of their forest homes. Wood elves do not, however, commonly keep pets, but instead formed bonds with local wildlife in a manner similar to those of a ranger. Wood elves are particularly fond of mountain lions, pumas, and leopards.[14]

Magic and Religion

Wood elves are generally uncomfortable with most forms of magic, viewing wizards and other arcane spellcasters with no small amount of distrust. Clerics and other divine spellcasters fared little better in wood elves' eyes, who saw their prayers as a useless call to distant and alien gods.[citation needed] However, wood elves are largely at ease with the ways of the primal magic used by druids, barbarians, and shamans, which they felt is the truest expression of supernatural power—or rather, a reflection of nature itself used to protect the wilderness.[citation needed] However, wood elves are not completely adverse to arcane magic and wood elven bards, sorcerers, and wizards are far from unknown, although wood elves as a whole have no particular tradition of the Art.[14]

Like other Tel-quessir, the wood elves largely worship the Seldarine, but unlike their kin, they do not do so exclusively. Many wood elves has a special place in their heart for the gods X and Y, whose protection of the wilderness is something the wood elves themselves tried to espouse. Among the elven gods, the wood elves most commonly worship Solonor Thelandira and Rillifane Rallathil, who, like[X] and [X], have connections to the untamed wilderness. Solonor, as the god of archery, is perhaps the most popular god amongst the wood elves, who will sometimes invoke him as their protector and patron deity just prior to a battle.[14]

Relations with Other Races

Although a proud people themselves, wood elves often feel their kindred too often put on an air of superiority and xenophobia which is ultimately detrimental. Wood elves look to the examples of the ancient elven empires and, seeing failure after failure, feel their aim should be compassion and humility, rather than political or military strength. Unlike many of their kin, wood elves feel their fates are inextricably tied to those of Oerth's other races and they make no effort to pull away or isolate themselves. Ironically, so reclusive are wood elven settlements that, despite their open nature, wood elves rarely actually see people from outside their race.[14]

Of all the humanoid races of Oerth, the ones most familiar with the wood elves are humans and dwarves, who often live within the vicinity of the fey. Still, few humans or dwarves ever actually meet a wood elf and when they do it is often largely by chance. However, when meetings do occur, they are largely friendly and, like the moon elves, wood elves see themselves as allies and teachers of humanity, rather than as rivals.

Wood elves also felt a kinship with sapient giant owls, with whom they formed a symbiotic relationship. In return for the elves acting as protectors for the owls, the birds of prey often acted as advance scouts for wood elven warriors.[14]

Gnomes and halflings are less frequent guests among the wood elves, but they are generally seen favorably. Conversely, wood elves, like most other elves, have a strong contempt for orcs, as well as for gnolls, though their reasons are less about the ancient enmity between Corellon and Gruumsh and more out of the devastation that raiding parties often brought to the forests that wood elves held dear.[14]

History

Homelands

Wood elves are the most common of the elves in [N] and could be found in many scattered groups across the continent. Many could be found in the [N]] ([N], and the old Elven Court itself), the [N], [N], the [N], the N Forest, the N woodland, and the [N].

Publishing History

In first edition, both subraces are separate. Wood elves are "sometimes called sylvan elves"[2][3], wild elves are "grugach", and each have their own stats.[3]

In second edition, "sylvan elves are often called" wood elves[6] and vice versa.[16][5] "The grugach are much like sylvan elves", but are more "savage".[17]

In third edition, wood elves are "also called sylvan elves", but wild elves (grugach) are not.[18] Each has its own subrace and has its own stats.

In fourth edition, wood elves and wild elves are revised to become separate cultures of the single race known as "elves", with only Racial Feats distinguishing them. The single "elf" race in the Player's Handbook is the "wood elf".[19] Grugach are not found in fourth edition. Other elven subraces are categorized under other labels such as eladrin and X.

In fifth edition, the Player's Handbook consolidates both wood elves and wild elves in its description of wood elves—"this category includes the wild elves (grugach) of Greyhawk ... as well as the race called wood elves."[9] It only describes three elven subraces—dark elves (drow), high elves, and wood elves.

References

Notes

Citations

  1. ↑ Races of Faerûn, p.45-47.
  2. ↑ a b c d e f g Monster Manual (1977), p.40.
  3. ↑ a b c d e Unearthed Arcana (1985), p.10.
  4. ↑ a b c d e f MC1 Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989).
  5. ↑ a b c d e f Player's Option: Skills & Powers (1996), p.29.
  6. ↑ a b c d e f g h PHBR8 The Complete Book of Elves (1992), p.19.
  7. ↑ a b c d Monster Manual (Oct 2000), p.87.
  8. ↑ a b Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000), p.8.
  9. ↑ a b Player's Handbook (2014), p.24.
  10. ↑ a b PHBR8}19.
  11. ↑ Unearthed Arcana (1985), p.40.
  12. ↑ a b Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting third edition, p.15.
  13. ↑ a b Living Greyhawk Gazetteer (2000), p.9.
  14. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j k Races of Faerun, p.45.
  15. ↑ The Summoning/Paperback 2001, p.?.
  16. ↑ Monstrous Manual (1993), p.109.
  17. ↑ PHBR8 The Complete Book of Elves (1992), p.26.
  18. ↑ Monster Manual (Oct 2000), p.104.
  19. ↑ Dragon #405 (Nov 2011), p.4.

Bibliography


This page uses Creative Commons Licensed content from Wood elf on the Forgotten Realms Wiki (view authors.

Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index

The Encyclopedia Greyhawkania Index (EGI) is based on previous work of Jason Zavoda through '08, continued by numerous other fans. The EGI article has a list of sources, product names, abbreviations, and a link to the full, downloadable index.

Topic Type Description Product Page/Card/Image

Elf, Valley Monster Reference SEE Valley Elf
Fnast Dringle Non-player character Elf, wood, Pre-gen [F4/M8], D1-2 Descent into the Depths of the Earth 21, 22
Glenola Oaktree Non-player character Male, Elf, wood, [War7/Rog8], 1992 TSR Trading Cards - Gold Set 357
Grenowin (Duke) Non-player character Male, Elf, sylvan, [3e M11/F2], From the Ashes: Atlas of the Flanaess 40
Grenowin (Duke) Non-player character Male, Elf, sylvan, [3e M11/F2], Living Greyhawk Gazetteer 117
Grenowin (Duke) Non-player character Male, Elf, sylvan, [3e M11/F2], Living Greyhawk Journal #1 16
Grenowin (Duke) Non-player character Male, Elf, sylvan, [3e M11/F2], World of Greyhawk boxed set (1983) 39
Grenowin (Duke) Non-player character Male, Elf, sylvan, [3e M11/F2], World of Greyhawk boxed set (1983) 17
Katrin Non-player character Elf, wood, I9 Day of Al'Akbar 18
Lindarfin Lightbreeze Non-player character Male, Elf, wood, pre-gen [Clr6], Expedition to the Barrier Peaks: Original Adventures Reincarnated #03, D&D 5e 333
Rillifane Rallathil Non-player character Elf, wood, [C4], Dragon magazine #208 58
Rillifane Rallathil Non-player character Elf, wood, [C4], Ivid the Undying 79
Rillifane Rallathil Non-player character Elf, wood, [C4], Unearthed Arcana, AD&D 1e 112
Seenia Non-player character Elf, wood, [F6/M6/T6], Dragon magazine #056 20
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