Honestly? I'd say just let them worship the Haffun pantheon. Instead of a Greco-Roman pantheon, you've got a Haffun-Ratfolk counterpart.
I don't see why they would have any truck with gods. They know how they were created, and that there was nothing divine about it.
If they have clerics, they might follow some of the more physical manifestations of divine power, but generally they seem a very grounded race. A ratfolk seeking power from another entity is more likely to be a warlock, but it sounds like they prefer to thrive on their own merits.
Hmm... You've both got good ideas here. What about combining them? Most ratfolk are atheistic, and thus more likely to be Celestial Warlocks than Clerics, but those Celestial Warlocks are most likely to draw power from the Haffun gods, whom they view as most likely to take an interest in their race, and there is a small minority of genuinely religious ratfolk.
As to the "Great Clans" thing... I may have some idea seeds there, but they're underformed.
But that's something to consider for another day. I present to you all, for your dissection, a breakdown of the Sun Elf race:
History:
The past of the Sun Elves is a strange thing, obscured by the generations and the shifting of cultures. Separating myth from fact is difficult, even for those few scholars in a position to compare the lore of the elven peoples of Sun and Moon, but a general consensus as to the origins of the Sun Elves have arisen.
In the beginning, during the days of the Ur-Elven Empire, the sun elves were a colony of botanists, healers and alchemists that had been founded in the jungled islands to the south of the Dark Continent - the place known today as the Gardens of Zyn. When the Netherstorm erupted, the colony was stricken two-fold; its resident began to die or go insane from the Netherstorm itself, and it was completely cut-off from the rest of the Empire.
This was a scientific research outpost; it wasn't meant to survive on its own. But, miraculously, it did. The healers began experiment with the indigenous plants, hoping to create elixirs that would cure the "plague" they believed was destroyed them - they had looked to the physical world, unaware the ailment lay in the metaphysical realms. Whatever concoctions they came up with, the colonists managed to undo the damage the Netherstorm had done to them... or, at least, to the women. The female elves thrived on the medicines they produced, but to their horror, they only seemed to affect women; the females grew strong and healthy again, but the men just died quicker, and soon only elven women inhabited the colony.
Uncertain of when, or even if, relief would come to them from the outside world, and with half their population destroyed, the future sun elves had no choice but to adapt. Broken infrastructure, dearth of knowledge and the simple priorities of daily survival led to a culture that began to simplify, focusing on the day-to-day practicalities of life instead of esoterica like etiquette. It was a descent into barbarism, yes, but it granted them the keys to surviving.
But, this would have only delayed the inevitable, if it weren't for First Mother Zyn. Her true origins, identity and goals lost in the mists of myth, what is fact is that it was she who discovered the distilled nectar of the Golden Sun Orchid became a potion that would spontaneously impregnate any woman who drank of it. With this, she found the key to the elves survival as a people, and not just individuals.
And so, fueled by alchemy and tempered by the harsh jungles around them, the old ways fell, and the new ways rose. The sun elves have come to dominate their part of the world, and they don't intend to be swept away any time soon.
Physiology:
The sun elf race, like its lunar cousins, does not look fundamentally different from humanity; it is their distinctive ears - elongated, almost knife-blade like triangular appendages - that are the most blatant shift from the human norm in terms of physiology. Sun elves are taller than humans, if not to the same extent as their towering kinsfolk; they average within the 6ft to 7ft range, a full foot shorter than moon elves.
Through a combination of genetics and lifestyle, sun elves tend to be impressively fit specimens; they do not become enormous hulks of bulging muscle, but streamlined, graceful and visibly defined. More like gynmasts or swimmers than bodybuilders. The fact that they can achieve such a build without overtly impeding the womanly fullness of breasts, buttocks or hips earns a certain level of aggrieved admiration from many human women, but most likely this has its roots in the alchemical origins of these amazons.
In contrast to the pallor of the moon elves, sun elves are a dark-skinned people, ranging from onxy or obsidian black through myriad shades of brown to a bronzed hue. In contrast, their hair and eyes tend to be brightly colored, more like the feathers of exotic jungle birds or the shells of tropical insects; reds, yellows, pinks, blues, oranges, purples, and so forth. Certain colors are considered signs of a sun elf's destiny - coppery orange-red eyes marking a future "sunsinger", for example.
Sun elves are a robust and hearty people; all but indifferent to the heat and resilient against the ravages of poison and disease - which is truly important in the Gardens of Zyn. They may not be as scholarly or as quick-witted as their moon elf kindred, but they are stronger and possess a far greater vitality... which makes it odd that they live such short lives by comparison.
What few know is that the typical sun elf, assuming she does not fall in battle or when on the hunt, will probably expire around the age of 300; all elves may retain their youthful appearance and fecundity throughout their lives, but their vitality does ebb away as they age, and no sun elf, even the most respected and sheltered Crone, has ever lived past her 600th year. In comparison, the moon elves easily live 600 to 1200 years, double the length of their jungle-dwelling cousins. When questioned on the matter, both races tend to brush it aside; moon elves with the philosophical attitude that "the race that burns twice as bright burns half as long", sun elves with the contemptuous statement that what moon elves do is less "live" and more "prolong their deaths".
Sages of the Republic have formed the opinion that this may be due to some inherent imperfection in the elixirs that transformed the sun elves into what they are now, which seems a logical argument, but the truth will probably never be known.
Psychology:
The study of sun elf psychology is a facinating one, to those who concern themselves with such things, for like the jungles they call home, these elves are a contradictory race. Savage and yet civilized, warlike and yet loving, beautiful and yet deadly. More than anything, they exemplify the great difficulty of such studies; how does one define the impact of nature vs. nurture?
After all, is the legendary sun elf savagery merely a feral rage, or is it born of their cultural praise for war and acceptance of death, or does the answer lie between the two? Questions like these occupy the minds of many gray-haired sages throughout the Republic.
So, one must always remember that whilst sun elves exhibit certain characteristics, every sun elf is an individual in her own right, and how she thinks, feels and behaves is her matter alone.
Sun elves are a bold and fearless race, who live by the ideologies "eat, drink and make merry, for tomorrow we may die", and "death comes for us all; be not afraid". But they are not as a rule, rash, impulsive or suicidal. Sun elves are taught to be brave, but also to not be foolish; the hunter that charges into the herd and scatters it, or who runs blindly into danger, earns only shame - not glory.
They are a proud race, culturally fixated on glory, and most relish the chance to boast of their deeds, in order to highlight their achievements. But they are not chattering idiots, and even the most braggadocios sun elf can move with shadow-like silence when stealth is of the essence. Likewise, although they seek glory, that does not mean they will leap into harm's way without a second thought, or deliberately cripple their ability to fight.
And sun elves do love to fight. They do not back down readily when challenged, and it is custom amongst their people to settle things physically and call it done - two elves who have a dispute will fight it out right there and then, either wrestling or using daggers, with the victor having the right of it and the loser graciously accepting her defeat. Thanks to their race's mastery of medicine, sun elf fights can get quite bloody, but end with two living elves bearing at most tasteful scars of their battle.
If there is one thing that sun elves are known for, though, it's their loyalty. Sun elves fight for individual glory, but will die for each other. All sun elves are sisters in the same tribe and cousins to the rest of their race, and as family, know that they can count on each other to support them, and to never allow the quest for glory to interfere with that bond.
Fearless, but not foolish, assertive but not overbearing, aggressive but not bloodthirsty, loyal and true and never jealous; that is the epitome of the sun elf. At least... such are the ideals that sun elves try to live up to. Not every individual succeeds in every single facet, but that doesn't mean they don't strive for perfection.
Culture:
The Sun Elves are a fundamentally tribal people; whilst the various city-states will cooperate against external threats, they are a people that glorify war and feats of strength, valor and skill, and so regularly do battle with each other when the forces of the external world give them no common enemy to unite against. That said, such fights are more for show and pomp than lethal duels to the death - but they are serious enough to hone their skills for when the Flower War gives way to the Blood War.
All sun elf tribes are ultimately a rough caste system, dividing the population into three groups; Maiden, Mother or Crone. However, their social system is also meritocratic, meaning that they move up the ranks - or at least have the potential to do so.
Maidens are the youth of the tribe, those who have not yet managed to earn a true niche in the settlement as a whole. They are not allowed to own their own properties, or to have a say in the leadership of the running of the tribe. Their primary purpose is to learn and grow; they serve the tribe mostly as a pool of unskilled labor, training in all of the different roles that the tribe has need of - builder, farmer, warrior, hunter, healer, lorekeeper, etc - until they finally find the role they wish to pursue and distinguish themselves. Then they are promoted to Mother, leaving the barracks-creche behind and taking on a role as a skilled adult member of the tribe.
The Mothers are the majority of the tribe; those sun elves who have come of age and distinguished themselves by proving they can successfully contribute to the survival of the tribe. They are the skilled laborers, the backbone of society. They live in their own houses, they voice their concern to the Crones, they keep the tribe running through the endless string of days. Although the hunters and warriors (who are often one and the same) are seen as the most glamorous, sun elves know that all of the roles needed by their society are vital, and champion none by denigrating others. For most sun elves, they will take the rank of Mother and climb no further, settling for a well-lived life.
The Crones are the elite of the tribe; the special few, the 1%, its unmatched leaders and experts. Queens, archmages, generals, master architects, only the most exceptional sun elves ever attain this title. They are the few and the proud, the most cherished champions of their people. For small tribes, only the one Crone - the queen - will exist, but larger tribes may have several. Still, though their political influence is great, they are always the least common caste, and most tribes will have a ruling council dominated by Mothers, ensuring the Crones never have unmatched power.
As a people, the sun elves are a weird mixture of hunter-gatherer and agrarian. Most build permanent settlements, although individuals may choose a nomadic pseudo-hermit's life in the jungle, and they cultivate extensive gardens of plants for food, medicinal and alchemic purposes. But most of their meat is obtained through hunting, which emphasizes the importance of the hunter in their culture.
Sun elf culture is seen by some as "primitive" or "archaic", because as a people they apply on a mixture of muscle-power and sorcery to achieve their tasks, rather than the more pseudo-technological structures used by human culture. Sun elves live in trees shaped to become living homes by magic, and tend fields by hand, rather than using the enchanted tools wielded in the republic.
In fact, sun elves are not particularly adept at creating enchanted items at all. That skill has been all but lost to them over the generations, a result of their origins and their surroundings - even their metal-working abilities are limited, and mostly restricted to the relatively available and malleable mediums of copper, bronze and gold. Their forte in the arts of physical arcana lie in the field of alchemy - specially, alchemic botany. Rather than fashion heavy metal armor (which would just cook them anyway), sun elves instead produce tattoos made from magical ink, which instead grant them protection against various forms of attack.
It helps, of course, that the Gardens of Zyn are abundant in certain arcane forms of stone, wood, ivory and bone, which can make perfectly serviceable weaponry even when pitted against the steel of other races.
Sun elf theology is a strange, piecemeal affair that has grown over the years. It is, at its foundation, based on the worship of the Sun as a mother-goddess and appeasement of the Moon as her sinister sister/lover. From their union sprang the Great Spirits, beings who are responsible for the various aspects of the world around them. To this motley pantheon are added ancestor-spirits and totem beasts, creating a surprisingly large and deep theology. Sun elf priests are an equally motley lot, with different kinds of caster representing different gods. Pyromancer and divine soul sorcerers, celestial warlocks and clerics of the Forge, Life, Light and Trickery are all equals in the eyes of being god-speakers of the sun elves.
These elves associate glory with prowess; feats of strength, fitness, courage and wits are all prized as the highest of virtues by the sun elves. Indeed, attaining glory is essential to reproducing, as is covered in greater detail below.
The ethos of the sun elves can perhaps best be summarized as "work hard, play hard". They are a vibrant, passionate race who relish displays of physical prowess. They readily celebrate, and some foreigners consider them a hedonistic people; they will seize any opportunity to praise the gaining of glory or earn more glory for themselves. They play many kinds of sports, often based on running, jumping, climbing, swimming, wrestling, and the use of spear and arrow, and such competitions are practically sacred. Many revels feature sports, or are held to celebrate victory after sports.
Once per decade, in fact, all sun elves gather for the Great Games, a chance for every tribe to put forth their greatest to challenge each other in sports. These Great Games honor the Sun Goddess and the founding of their people, and great glory can be earned through participation in them.
Reproduction:
The details of sun elven reproduction are strange indeed, sufficient to warrant a longer examination.
Most have heard the story that the sun elves do not need men, but instead sup a precious elixir made from the legendary Golden Sun Orchid. And, in fact, this is true. But it's only telling a fragment of the whole story.
It is probable that nobody will ever know what went through the minds of those poor lost elfin maidens in the ancient days when the first generations of sun elf were born. But what is clear, if shrouded in mist, is that they realized that to encourage rampant, thoughtless breeding would devastate the jungles and, in short order, spell doom to the elves. So, those ancient elves passed on warnings to control and regulate the use of the Kindling Elixir, that precious syrupy serum that the sun elves use to breed. As myth replaced history and the jungle took the elves to its heart, those teachings changed, mutated, and became inextricably intertwined with the new meritocratic social systems of the sun elves.
In short, access to the Kindling Elixir is not a right, but a privilege. It must be
earned.
This, then, underpins the caste system - especially its naming structure. A Maiden is too young, to untrustworthy, too green to handle the responsibility of supping the Kindling Elixir. Only when they prove themselves worthy, of having the maturity to handle such a responsibility and the strength that their daughters will benefit the tribe, are they allowed to drink. Thusly, all sun elf Mothers are mothers in truth; it is only after they have given birth to their first daughter(s) that they leave the creche and move into their new home, their growing belly serving a reminder to their unchosen sisters and cousins the rewards that glory takes.
But even once a sun elf has become a Mother, that does not mean she has free access to the Kindling Elixir. Glory is so valuable in sun elf society because Glory determines further access to the Elixir. Every great deed that a sun elf accomplishes allows her the right to take another draught of that precious fluid, and bring forth more children to sustain the tribe.
But... not every Mother earns the Glory to do so. Some choose to hold their draughts in abeyance, and may end up slain before they can claim their prizes. Others simply don't feel interested in bearing more than their initial daughter. Thus, the Crones.
The Crones are the elite of a tribe, the champions of champions, those whose value is inescapable; by the logic that gave rise to their practice of controlling access to the Kindling Elixir, such she-elves are clearly superior specimens and thus valuable breeding stock. Crones therefore have unrestricted access to the Elixir, and may become pregnant whenever they wish.
Indeed, for tribe queens, it is actually encouraged that they become pregnant as often as possible, especially when the tribe needs to replenish its numbers. Fortunately, the magical mature of the elves matched with plain common sense keeps these queens healthy, whilst the hazards of the jungle and war play their own part in managing sun elf populations.
When it comes to the... mechanics of reproduction, things are fairly simple. At its base, the Kindling Elixir instantly impregnates any woman who drinks it with a clone-daughter, but the sun elves have learned to modify the mixture; by adding blood from one or more other individuals, the children born from a given draught of Kindling Elixir will be genetic hybrids of the mother and the blood's donor(s). This helps ensure greater genetic diversity amongst the sun elves, as it provides randomized offspring rather than an endless generation of clones. Furthermore, this aspect has had its own effect on sun elf culture - whilst only a worthy sun elf may trade their glory for the right to a draught of the elixir, they may freely invite others to share their blood and "father" her daughters. This is a great honor, and is used to strengthen bonds, show trust, highlight friendship, or even seal alliances - it is pretty much the norm, when queens broker a deal, for one or both to offer blood to produce a daughter who will symbolize that pact. Likewise, the queen's personal guard are often the fathers of her daughters, to heighten their desire to protect her.
One strange side effect of the elixir is its sheer potency: almost a quarter of sun elven pregnancies are twins or triplets, although the births of quadruplets or even more are not terribly uncommon. Fortunately for sun elves, their innate robustness allows them to cope incredibly well with the strain of such broods, which are seen as a blessing from the gods - the more daughters born in a litter, the more blessed the mother is. Still, it's one of the reasons why sun elves are so strict about restricting access to the elixir to all but those who have proven themselves of great value to the tribe.
Traditionally, sun elf mothers raise their daughters until the age of five, whereupon they are sent to the tribe's creche to begin their schooling as Maidens - in time, these young ones who survive (for the jungle is harsh, and many young elves succumb to its dangers as they grow) will go on to become Mothers in turn.
Since the salacious invariably turn their minds to such matters, a brief divergence; as an all-female race for whom sex and reproduction are not linked, sun elven sexual mores are alien to humans, and contribute to the race's perception as being deviant and hedonistic. Homosexual congress is normal, indeed considered a healthy bonding activity between sun elves, and they have no taboos about incest - either sexually or reproductively.
