The Forest Realm

An afforested valley at the foot of our mountan fortress is home to a community of goodly wood elfs. Of course we must cull the population from time to time ( why break the habit of a role playing life time ). But those few we leave alive, the not sooooo goody goody ones, have a wealth of folk and forest lore to depart to any strangers who wander through their idilic dell. If the stranger does not get the info he needs from them he may try an interview with other Elfs in our highly esteemed academy of Rough Tickling ( our Torture chamber ).

FOREST LIFE

One must wonder what exactly Elfs do in their forest for a couple of hundred years at a time. Are they bored out of the pointy eared heads perhaps? Or is lounging about in tights drinking rain water and berries more exciting than we humans understand? The truth is alot more interesting. Any society which spends its time in forests must have a very well balanced approach to the eco-system. Elfs are adept at survival in the forest and as a duide line the AD&D foraging rules that apply to PCs should be modified for Elf characters. Multiply the foraging yield to give twice top three times that a human froester could do.

Elfs are adverse to agriculture as this would destroy the forest. However it may be assumed that Elfs do encourage the growth of bushes and trees that provide food with their tribal area. Concentrations may exist such as orchards within hidden dells or deep in the forest. A proliferation of edible plants may indicate to the stranger that Elfs are present even if they cannot be seen. "Cultivated" areas would yield the same food volume ( per pound ) per 1 acre field in an area of 10 acres. I feel this is accurate as acorns and other eatable stuffs can form the basis for flour etc from which other things can be made.

Hunting is another source of food which the Elfs use. It is to be assumed that wild herds of deer and othre creature existing in a forest are owned by the Elfs who hunt them. This ownership is reinforced by the tending of the herd so it is always bountiful.

THE ELF HOME

All Elfin people are assumed to live in forests and as such use the materials they have a hand. Elfs are renouned as master craftsmen in wood ( as dwarfs are in stone ) and mentals. Elfs make their homes not from planks of wood primarily but sheets of bark, making sturdy structures whose design reflects the Elfin desire for elegence. Wood if also used but mainly as a support material. All these types of structures are built to be permenent but are readily portable if necessary.

Nearly all the Elfin communities must have a center of worship. This will be a naturally ocouring structure in the form of a tree or trees that have been patiently grown into the form of a building. Throne, council and meeting rooms will be built like this and for the centre of any community. A temple on the other hand may be underground amid the roots of very large trees. These places may also form a burial chamber to nurish a particularly sacred tree.

There must of course be more substantial settlements such as cities. These will have as their centre piece usually a large natural rock formation or copse of very large trees about or in which most of the important buildings of the city will be built. If a city is quite large then any root catacombs (churches/shrines) may be huge. Although we picture the Elfs as living exclusivly in the forest that does not mean every structure they own or build will be in this environment. If you are a Tolkien fan than you may know that the Elfs in middle earth ( trhe precurser to the oppular Elf ) were based on the "She", an ancient race who in Irish mythology inhabited Ireland before the arrival of the Celts. They retreated underground to hidden kingdoms and this is probubly linked to the Celtic belief that the bog holes and pockets of deep water were in fact the door ways to the other world. An interesting story because it also illustrates that entrances into the after life can be something other than floating into the sky.

RICHES OF THE ELFS

Wealth in the Elfin realms is measured much in the same way as in Human and Dwarfen realms. Good is valued equally but in Elfin society it is not for exchange except with outsiders, rather it is crafted into objects of beauty to be admired and passed to other generations, as they may commerate vistories, great Elfs or just just be amazing creations.

Elfs also measures their wealth by the size, number and quality of the herds they maintain or patches of forest they posess which yield foods that are particularly good. Herds of really high quality may indeed be famed in Elfin circles and the leading herd animals , both male and female are woth their weigh in gold sometimes. A measure of their appreciation is given in their songs by the Elfs and a right of manhood may involve the hunting of one such animal ( a prize elk fore example ).

ECO WARRIORS

As you can see all of these things, along with a workable and credable Elfin society open up a whole new area for adventures. It may be possible to run once a off adventure(s) of an entirely Elfin group. It may help to flesh out an important part of the AD&D world ( it helps when you look at the maps and those green blobs are interesting places).

What is important to realise is that the Elfin kingdoms that exist often do so without the knowladge of man ( one the reasons that they can ). Hidden in deed forests makes it hard to persecute a war against Elfs and their ability to uproot makes them a hard target. Only if their is a holy site a risk or something else equally important will an Elfin army field a force for a streight battle. The reasons for this are good. The numbers of men combined with human heavy infantry and horse are more than a match for an elfin force of equal size and training on the battle field. On average the Elfs make a more skilled soldiers than the average human for the reason that their way of life demands it, but a well trained, heavily armed human army is a force to be reckoned with, so Elfs step lightly in human affairs ( maybe because forests are like tinder boxes in summer ).

MAGIC IN THE MUSHROOMS

Elfs must have specific spells to protect their life style. Druids would have a larger part to play in Elfin society then magic users. Clerics are of course essential in any society. Here are some spells useful for Elfin Druids.

Tree Water

Duration: 1 month

Range : 1/2 mile

Components : Hand full of ash, water and wooden rod ( a stick )

This spell effects one square mile of forest when cast. It has the effect of making the forest more moisst and immune to large fires. This is used often by Elfin druids choose when and how burn the forest for renewal.

Green Eyes

Duration : 1 hour

Range : 1/2 mile

Components : Wood sliver from Tree Ent, rain water and tree leaf

A useful scrying spell for use by druids. The druid may summon an Tree Ent spirit and use it as a vehicle. The druids pressence will then be allowed to travel from tree to tree and see what is in the vacinity of his current host tree.