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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Darklance" data-source="post: 158589" data-attributes="member: 289">One more....------------------------------------------------------------------------------------RPing an elfAssumptions:One of the biggest problems with making suggestions about rp-ing an elf is the fact that any such suggestion involves certain assumptions about what exactly an elf is. Elves differ from campaign world to campaign world, and these differences colour how they are played in each. Hence, while elves in this article (in game mechanics, at least) are essentially the same as elves in most campaigns, some specific assumptions are being made about their history, nature, etc. Some of these assumptions (longevity, for example) will be common to most campaigns and some will not. Provided below are a list of assumptions and ways in which these might affect the elven race in general, and elven characters in particular. Major changes in these kinds of assumptions will lead to a very different race being depicted and played. Longevity:Elves are remarkably long-lived, and some even claim that they never die. Unlikely as that may be, it is true that one very rarely sees an elf die of old age. This is at least partly due to the custom of the Retreat (see below), but may also be simply because an elf living in a dangerous world stands little chance of surviving the number of centuries which would need to pass before old age could claim him. This century-long lifespan plays a very important role in determining the somewhat unique manner in which elves view the world. To an elf, the passing of a week is the same as a day to a human. As a result, elves tend to be extremely patient, and place their emphasis on long-term goals much more than other races do. The elven love for nature and the world around them is based around this fact. Craftsmanship and created beauty appears transient (which is why literature and poetry - timeless as they are - are so popular to elves) and fades rapidly in contrast to the eternal glories of nature. Whereas a human will be able to appreciate only the most marginal changes in the landscape, an elf watches it over the centuries, as the land changes as gradually as he does. To an elf, his world and he are as one, changing and evolving at the same slow, deliberate speed. For an elf, there is often an awareness that he will eventually spend centuries in a state of venerable old age. This drives some elves to a frenetic (to them) search for all kinds of pleasures and experiences. Luckily, this is often a transient phase and the pleasures sought are usually those of a physical and active kind, since there is no greater hedonist than an elven hedonist. This is one of the prime reasons why elves go adventuring, as a way to explore the world they love while they still can. This is also the reason why many elves tend to be dilettantes, picking up some skill at wizardry, before moving to the use of the sword, before learning to be an alchemist, and so on. Of course, an elven dilettante will spend some decades at one task, before moving to another. Even for the most dedicated of elves, mastery of a particular discipline may pall after a century or more, and it is not uncommon to see an exceptional warrior decide that he has reached the pinnacle of his craft, and decide to become an apprentice in some other field. Although elves are interested in experiences of all kinds, the fact that they have centuries to experience these makes elves calm and phlegmatic about them. Whereas a newly adult human has less than a score of years of experiences to look back on, a similar elf has more than a century to look back on. He has seen and experienced so much that few things can amaze him. While his interest in his chosen field is no less, he is rarely as excitable about it as a human might be. In fact, an elf will often be ironical and even humorous about his own expertise in a given area, since he is aware of exactly how little of all experience he is dealing with. The possibility of a near-millennial lifespan makes elves particularly wary of death. To an elf, a human who is killed at the age of 50 loses (at most) half a century. But an elf slain at the age of 200 loses half a millennia of possible life. This constant awareness of both mortality and the value of what it claims is found especially in elves in dangerous professions (such as adventuring). They tend to be careful about placing themselves in danger unnecessarily, which is why many elven warriors prefer to use the longbow, and often pick up some proficiency in magic, which may be used at a distance. Of course, when it is necessary, many an elf will launch himself at his opponent, longsword in hand, with gay abandon, seemingly confident that his near-invulnerability to age somehow translates to protection from other causes of death. Similarly, elves tend to fear disease of all kinds, since these may eventually lead to centuries of suffering. Elven friendships and relationships are usually embarked upon after very careful thought, since these will be associations which may last for centuries. With other races, even more deliberation is needed, since the friend is almost certain to die before the elf does. And this is even more so in the case of lovers, since if one does not wish to see a friend grow old and die, how much less will one want to see the same for one's beloved? As a result of this, elven friendship (and enmity) is everlasting, sometimes extending beyond the original friend to his descendants. It is not unusual to hear of an elf being a great friend of a human, whose grandfather he first befriended. In rare cases, this leads to an elf constantly picking up and discarding non-elf friends and lovers, since he knows that there is always time to find more to replace them. In short, the length of their years gives elves a unique attitude to life in general. A human poet once said, "if we had world enough and time…". Unlike most species, the elves do. This allows elves to act at least somewhat freely of the constraints of time, while it simultaneously makes them completely and constantly aware of its power. Almost everything that is truly elven may be connected back to the influence of time on them. Trance:Elves do not sleep. Instead, they have a period of about four hours daily, during which they enter a trancelike state and meditate. This trance refreshes them as a good night's sleep does a human. During the trance, an elf relives memories of his life, as well as certain deep-seated racial memories. This revision is partly involuntary and partly under conscious control, and it is the rarest of elves who can pick and choose exactly what to see during a trance. This constant replaying is necessary due to the elven lifespan, since it serves to reinforce memories and knowledge which the elf might otherwise forget. The trance serves to define the elven race in many ways, both physical and mental. Since elves do not truly sleep, they gain an immunity to sleep-related magic effects. The reviewing of memories from one's own life serves to strengthen the elven sense of the self, which is already reinforced by the length of their lifespans. Hence, elves are naturally resistant to mental control and enchantments which might force them to act contrary to their nature. The existence of the trance also mediates the elven emphasis on the necessity for pleasure and joy. Since one must replay the events of one's life on a daily basis, only a fool would fill that life with other than the most pleasant of emotions and thoughts. This also explains why elves who focus on a single emotion can quickly be consumed by it. An angry elf will continuously replay the event which contributed to the anger, until it becomes his sole and driving passion. Similarly, a contented elf will be even more so, due to his constant reviewing of the reasons and events which make him so. The trance also contributes simultaneously to the elven sense of individuality and community. As stated, the daily reviewing of one's life experiences serves to strengthen an individual elf's nature. However, since the trance also includes visions and experiences from the elven racial memory, it reinforces the elf's sense of belonging and community. An elf separated from his race remains internally in contact with them through the trance, and this is why many elves are happy to live solitary lives in lands far from their brethren. Their lifespan gives them time to return when they wish, and for the time being, the trance regularly renews their sense of elfhood. The elven trance is unique to the species, and serves to separate them further from the other humanoid races. While humans, dwarves, etc. all fall asleep at night, going wherever their dreams (or nightmares) may take them, an elf walks back down the long paths of his life and those of his ancestors, finding sustenance and support within himself in a way no other species can truly understand.The Retreat: Another elven phenomenon which is fairly unique is that of the Retreat (a term applying both to a particular place and the act of travelling to it). Aged elves (and some younger ones) periodically pass into a realm which is forbidden to the non-elven, to pass their final decades there. Some sages claim that this realm is a non-physical one, but it appears likely that it is set somewhere far in the ocean, since rumors speak of elven ships bearing such passengers passing into the great ocean, never to return again. The Retreat appears to be a purely elven kingdom, whose denizens exist in perfect peace, security and harmony - or so say the legends. The existence of the Retreat serves various purposes, and has numerous connected influences on the elven race. Every elf is aware of the fact that he has the option of turning away from the troubles of the world, and travelling to a realm which is the epitome of all that is elven. In many ways, this is tantamount to a human knowing that the paradise of his faith actually exists, and is physically attainable by him while alive. This makes the prospect of an early death even more unpalatable for an elf, since he not only loses the opportunity to live out the centuries he could otherwise, but the chance to do so in the happiest and best of circumstances. With the fears of decrepitude and loneliness in old age being non-existent, the prospect of old age becomes much more desirable to the elves than to most other races. The option of the Retreat also adds to the elven trait of simultaneously feeling a part of and separated from the rest of the world. The knowledge that they will eventually leave the land which they now inhabit serves to make some elves distance themselves from their surroundings, seeing the world they know as only a framework which they must change. Others choose to immerse themselves even more strongly in every aspect of the world (especially the natural), seeking to imbibe it in every way so that they never forget it, and have a store of memories to forever revisit through the elven trance. Some of the latter go so far as to eschew the Retreat, preferring to live out their days in the world they know. These elves are often wanderers (such as adventurers) and dwell in non-elven lands, since they have already begun to break with elven tradition and life. It appears likely that eventually nearly all elves will pass over to the land of the Retreat, and those who remain will slowly die out, partly due to their low birthrate and because many of those who choose to remain do take human spouses. This knowledge too adds to the elven sense of the gradual decline of their race (see History), and gives them a strange combined sense of racial mortality and individual longevity. Perhaps the reason elves take so much pleasure in the world and its wonders is the fact that they know that some day they will no longer be part of it.History:Elven history claims that there was an Age of the Elves, when mighty elven kingdoms spread across the world, between the Age of Dragons and the Rise of Man (which continues to the present day). That was the high-tide of the elven race, when they held sway over most of the planet, made great alliances (and fought wars) with the dwarves, fought back the evil creatures which proliferated across the world, and watched in wonder, amusement, and eventual dismay and then resignation as the race of humans rose to control the world. While it is possible that the elves over-emphasise their position during the period mentioned, there is little disputing that many powerful elven kingdoms did once flourish before the first large human realms had been formed. The reasons for their fall are manifold. The fact that they were rarely united cohesively, preferring to exist in loose alliances at best, when convenient; their role as the primary bastion against (and hence, focus for) the depredations of the dragons, giants, orcs and goblinoid races; the low birthrate of the elven race; the failure of alliances between elves and dwarves; and last, but most important, the lightning-like rise of the human race. The fact remains that just as the mighty dwarven kingdoms fought and fell in subterranean wars against overwhelming odds, so too did nearly all of the elven kingdoms eventually fall to the humanoid armies they had held back for millenia, falling into ruin even as they broke the opposing orc and hobgoblin nations (in some ways setting the stage for the rise of humanity). Abandoning their once-mighty empires, the elves retreated to the wilderness and the forests which they love, and remain there to this day. This knowledge of their fallen status remains with all elves, and the racial memories of the trance make sure it is never forgotten. Few elves will argue that their art, music or other crafts are any comparison with that which once existed. This nostalgia for days which they regard as no longer unachievable leads to a streak of fatalism in many elves, although it is rarely as strong as in the dwarves. An urge to achieve the best that one can, in an effort to recapture lost elven glories, and a simultaneous belief that this is in no way possible, wars in the minds of many elves. This further reinforces the common sense of themselves as a race whose best is behind them, and is one of the greatest factors in the rare melancholy which can grip and sometimes even slay an elf. Combined with the existence of the Retreat, elven history is perhaps one of the strongest deterrents to any possibility of the elven race achieving true greatness again in the affairs of the world. Ironically, the longest-lived of humanoid races seems likely to be one of the earliest to withdraw itself (which it has in some ways already, at least philosophically, done) from the daily struggle for survival which consumes most races.</blockquote>

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