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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Haldrik" data-source="post: 8089891" data-attributes="member: 6694221">Scottish ElvesIn Scottish traditions, the elf is often called a "sith" (relating to Irish sidhe) and is a kind of "fairy" (relating to French faie). However, where there are many kinds of fairy creatures, the "elf" specifies the kind that looks human and is human-sized. These elves often live invisibly alongside human communities.The Scottish belief in elves emerges during the Medieval Era from a fusion of earlier nature spirits, including Celtic sidhe, French faie, and Norse alfr. The belief in "elves" (specifically by name) ends before the 1800s. But the Scottish belief in other kinds of fairies persists, especially the tiny sprites and large spooks. Scots continue to sight human-like fairies. In more recent times, Scots sometimes use the terms "fairy", "sith", and "elf" interchangeably for any kind of these later fairies. Here in this post, the earlier sense of "elf" to mean the human-like "sith" is in use.There is information about Scottish elves from Scottish folklore, songs, and poems. Some concepts seem to survive in the later folklore about other kinds of fairies. Analogous concepts from neighboring ethnicities are sometimes useful, if cautiously compared while mindful of differences.The Scottish witch trials include legal documents that record interviews of accused witches about their belief in elves. The Scottish witch seems mainly shamanic, learning their spiritual skills from encounters with elves, who are a kind of nature spirit.A recurring theme is the awakening of latent magical powers, while a witch has a lucid dream (or a waking vision) that encounters an elf. The dreamy encounter is often enchantingly sexual or spookily terrifying, or both. This links the concepts of nightmare, succubus, incubus, and wetdream, with spiritual experiences, and shamanic practices and elves. (Some speculate, the father of Merlin, that is called an incubus is actually an elf, relating to this shamanic practice.) The witches and the elves may be male or female.Like the Norse elves, the Scottish elves appear as superhumanly beautiful humans, stunning, and enchantingly charming. The hair of the sith is often red or black, like the Scots themselves.The Scottish elves are spiritual beings, and are compared to "shadows" that have no substance but do have form. These spirits roam incorporeally, thru the landscape and thru dreams.Yet these "shadows" can be insanely strong. Their superhuman strength is precisely unnatural. Supernatural.The prehistoric flint blades that are found across Scotland and Ireland, were understood to be the products of elven invisible spiritual arrows, called an elfshot. Elves would shoot cattle with these arrows, to injure them with illness. Among humans, elfshot associates with mysterious sudden pains and even a paralyzing cerebral stroke.The relationship between the elves and the fairy courts remains unclear to me, but it appears the Scottish elves divide themselves into the "seelie court" (blessed) and the "unseelie court" (unblessed). If so, the unseelie court includes beautiful human-appearing spirits. The seelie court is called "good", and the unseelie court is called "wicked". This resembles the Norse distinction between elves (light elves) and dwarves (dark elves). The seelie court is credited with the helpful aspects of nature, such as giving the resources for food, shelter, and comfort, as well as teaching humans healing and magic. The unseelie court is credited with the more harmful aspects of nature, such as illnesses, natural hazards, and eerie hauntings. Some traditions suggest the unseelie court includes malevolent undead humans among them. In this way, the evil actions of elves such as harming cattle appears to be blamed on the unseelie elves.Generally, the Scottish elf tends to be the "good" helpful kind of nature spirit. But it can be vengeful if offended. Some traditions view the elf as neutral, neither good nor evil. Compared to the Christian concept of angels, the Scots admitted that the elves are less than perfectly ethically good. Indeed, some elves were cruel. But the Scots likewise denied that elves are truly evil, and often rejected their identification as demons or devils or fallen angels, which speculative Christian theology sometimes suggested. One theology suggested the Elf Queen is a feminine form of the satan, in an effort to connect Scottish elven witchcraft to German devilish witchcraft. But the Scottish witches themselves denied such an identification. And even this speculation seemed to admit that the other elves besides the queen were not evil. One theology suggested, in the war between angels and devils, elves were formerly angels that declared neutrality. And so on with other attempts to reconcile the Christian worldview versus an animistic worldview that defied such ethical polarization.The Scottish elven government is a monarchy, ruled by the Elf Queen. Presumably, she is identical to the Fairy Queen of the seelie court. Indeed, the Fairy Queen is usually visualized as being the size of a human, hence is an elf. A legal formulation is that if the Elf Queen divorces her king, it is she who remains queen. This clarifies that it is she who is sovereign, not her husband. The human monarchies of the British Isles are mostly patriarchal. The matriarchal monarchy of the Scottish elves is notable. The legal clarification, along with the sexual nature of many elven spiritual encounters, sometimes assumes the Elf Queen has many consorts.The sith are land spirits who especially associate with fairy mounds near areas of vigorous plant life, such as thickets of trees. Sith tend to live near humans, albeit invisibly within the spirit realm. These elves are nature spirits of the soil surface, and dwell in the "between" space, between above ground and below ground. Each in its own way, a mound and a cave are simultaneously above and below ground. Thus these two landscape features are entrances where the elves can enter the material world of humans.For D&DSith elf (Medium Fey Humanoid)The sith elves are spirits of the immaterial Feywild Plane, especially as a realm of dreaming. Often they dwell near where the Feywild overlaps a human community in the Material Plane. Sith are typically active nocturnally, while humans are dreaming. They possess darkvision able to see at night and underground without illumination.The sith elves are magically beautiful, but otherwise resemble humans.These elves tend toward high Charisma and Strength. Charisma skills include charming Persuasion and spooky Intimidation.All sith are mages, wielding magic, teaching magic, even awakening latent magical abilities. Most sith seem to be Charisma fey warlocks. A powerful sith can be a patron for an other fey warlock. Sith are known for healing abilities, and along with their Strength, are fine "green knights", paladins of the ancients. Most sith are loyal to the seelie court. A hexblade seems thematically appropriate for an unseelie elf, albeit dedicated to the unseelie court, rather than the Raven Queen.Sith elves are typically Neutral alignment, but are often Neutral Good or Neutral Evil if members of the seelie court or the unseelie court, respectively.ElfshotEvocationLevel: CantripCasting time: 1 actionRange: 1000 feetComponents: SDuration: InstantaneousYou wield an invisible bow and arrow, inflicting mysterious pain on impact. Make a ranged spell attack at a creature within range. On a hit, the target takes 1d8 psychic damage. If the targeted creature is reduced to 0 hit points and dies, it becomes paralyzed instead, and stabilizes at 1 hit point. A flint arrowhead appears on the ground near the paralyzed creature.At level 5, you can shoot two arrows.At level 11, you can shoot three arrows.At level 17, you can shoot four arrows.You can aim the arrows at the same target or different ones, make a separate roll for each.</blockquote>

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