Nergal Pendragon
First Post
Here's what I've come up with on my personal efforts to redo the elven races for my homebrew setting:
1. High Elves- Highly militaristic, very technology-oriented race. Between the drow, the dwarves, the Wood Elves, humanity, and the orcs High Elves have spent the past few thousand years going from one war to another. High elves produce some of the best military units on the planet, and often hire out battalions as elite mercenaries to other races as well as creating innovative alchemical items that can be used in warfare. In particular, High Elves are known for both alchemist's fire and firearms, the second of which are commonly called "elf staffs" or "elf wands" for how frequently High Elven soldiers make use of the weapons.
2. Dark Elves- Dark Elves, or drow, are a bit of a mystery to the rest of the world. The oldest of the mortal races, drow myths and legends recall the events that led to the rise and fall of empires that no other race's history even remembers. The drow themselves reside in a vast, ancient forest-jungle that has a canopy so thick no sunlight reaches the ground. It is inside of there that the drow cultivate magics practiced since before the dawn of even the giants, and there where they raise the mushrooms and harvest the spider silks they are so famous for. Trade with the outside world remains constant, as the drow appreciate a number of products that require the sun to cultivate but cannot stand direct sunlight themselves.
3. Wood Elves- An offshoot of the High Elves, Wood Elves are a group who got tired of the constant warfare with the drow and chose to make peace with their brethren. The drow were so surprised that peace would even be offered that they accepted it without even giving it due consideration; otherwise, they would have noticed the rest of the High Elves were not happy with this splinter group making a deal like this. After what was one of the worst military clashes between the High Elves and the Dark Elves, the Wood Elves gained their independence and settled lands of their own. They live in forests, cultivating the woods carefully and being careful to try not to upset the natural balance, and for the most part only faced the occasional war with the High Elves for centuries. And then they met a new elf-like species as it arrived from the East, expanding westward and totally of the ancient races it was stumbling upon...
Basic summary of the intended history as it currently exists: The split between Dark Elf and High Elf is ideological, due entirely to events that happened so long ago that they pretty much exist at current only in myth. The elven races even share some of the same deities, the head of which actually stopped granting spells to elves because of the constant fighting between the Dark Elves and High Elves.
The Wood Elves are the elves humanity has the longest history with, and generally the elves humans are actually friendly with; High Elves war with all of their neighbors and the drow simply don't talk much with outsiders. As such, most half-elves are descended from Wood Elves.
1. High Elves- Highly militaristic, very technology-oriented race. Between the drow, the dwarves, the Wood Elves, humanity, and the orcs High Elves have spent the past few thousand years going from one war to another. High elves produce some of the best military units on the planet, and often hire out battalions as elite mercenaries to other races as well as creating innovative alchemical items that can be used in warfare. In particular, High Elves are known for both alchemist's fire and firearms, the second of which are commonly called "elf staffs" or "elf wands" for how frequently High Elven soldiers make use of the weapons.
2. Dark Elves- Dark Elves, or drow, are a bit of a mystery to the rest of the world. The oldest of the mortal races, drow myths and legends recall the events that led to the rise and fall of empires that no other race's history even remembers. The drow themselves reside in a vast, ancient forest-jungle that has a canopy so thick no sunlight reaches the ground. It is inside of there that the drow cultivate magics practiced since before the dawn of even the giants, and there where they raise the mushrooms and harvest the spider silks they are so famous for. Trade with the outside world remains constant, as the drow appreciate a number of products that require the sun to cultivate but cannot stand direct sunlight themselves.
3. Wood Elves- An offshoot of the High Elves, Wood Elves are a group who got tired of the constant warfare with the drow and chose to make peace with their brethren. The drow were so surprised that peace would even be offered that they accepted it without even giving it due consideration; otherwise, they would have noticed the rest of the High Elves were not happy with this splinter group making a deal like this. After what was one of the worst military clashes between the High Elves and the Dark Elves, the Wood Elves gained their independence and settled lands of their own. They live in forests, cultivating the woods carefully and being careful to try not to upset the natural balance, and for the most part only faced the occasional war with the High Elves for centuries. And then they met a new elf-like species as it arrived from the East, expanding westward and totally of the ancient races it was stumbling upon...
Basic summary of the intended history as it currently exists: The split between Dark Elf and High Elf is ideological, due entirely to events that happened so long ago that they pretty much exist at current only in myth. The elven races even share some of the same deities, the head of which actually stopped granting spells to elves because of the constant fighting between the Dark Elves and High Elves.
The Wood Elves are the elves humanity has the longest history with, and generally the elves humans are actually friendly with; High Elves war with all of their neighbors and the drow simply don't talk much with outsiders. As such, most half-elves are descended from Wood Elves.
