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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lackhand" data-source="post: 6603999" data-attributes="member: 36160">My wood elves are the druidic remnants of what was once an Empire of Elves, their clans living within, and in harmony with, the slumbering groves which were once the One Wood, stretching across the land.Humanity, in the form of a viking-like raiding culture, broke the spine of the empire and turned Woodland to farmland. Wood elves are those who chose to embrace the remains of the Wood and make their home there; their culture places a high importance on being able to communicate with the dormant Wood.So! For the most part their houses are simple, portable and quickly assembled. There are a very few large wood elven cities that are more permanent settlements, in citadels which never fell to Humanity, stone and glass and wood woven together and old as mountains. These city-states house colleges of lore and skill, while the wandering tribes raise hunters and Wood-spirited to defend the grove. An easy communication between these two modes of life accounts for the tendency of elves to be classed adventurers.Let's talk a Woods clan's intrigues first, since an outsider is more likely to deal with them.The First Mark is their chief in all things. They must defend the Wood first, and the elves in their charge second. This suicidal priority enables conflict with the party and provides an easy foil, but once they can prove their good intentions, it also ensures an easy ally and source of quests. The tension between these duties is also a source of drama: perhaps a First Mark decides that some duty outweighs the needs of The Wood, or is unwilling to risk a conflict between their needs, their clan, and The Wood?If the clan has a spiritual leader, it is likely to be the forestal. These druidic oracles know much, but less than others think. They are the keepers of secrets and lore, and are easily given to hubris: as they are the speakers for the Wood, and continue to enjoy their powers beyond the Wood, it is tending and preserving this mental communion which holds their highest priority. So, they might send the hunters of the clan to investigate a ruin on the premise that what they learn there could aid the wakening of the Wood, or leave a battle (triggering a swift retreat!) due to personal danger.Forestal keep apprentices, who are only very loosely beholden to their master, and frequently part company. There is no sharp dividing line between those who claim the title and those who claim to be mere apprentices, though in any group the eldest (and therefore wisest?) is accorded the title. One may only be forestal to the clan when confirmed by previous forestal or popular assent. Perhaps an apprentice begrudges newly-installed forestal or clan for being passed over; perhaps a forestal is playing multiple apprentices against each other with the promise of some private revelation of wood-sense.The forestall is likely the spiritual leader of a clan, and selects the First Mark from among the Marks, hunters who have been recognized by the fellowship of other Marks for their skill and bravery.Thus, a group with a forestal creates tension between the First Mark and the Forestal; the Mark likely believes the forestal to be a loose ballista and a risk to clan and Wood; the forestal believes the Mark shortsighted and (ultimately) dispensable.One final member of the clan pecking order is the totem and its support staff. Not every tribe, but many, have relations with fey or magical beasts. The creatures and their handlers, servants or riders (often one elf fulfills all three roles!) are the stewards. These are selected by the creature (blink dog, unicorn, cooshee, giant eagles, giant owls, old-school eladrin; I also use oni, hags, and will-o-wisps) as lifelong companion, and those elves who choose to present themselves as steward treat it as a holy calling.A tribe with a body of stewards multiplies its politics, since an inhuman (unelven?) intelligence now has a dramatic voice in running the clan. The First Mark heeds the counsel of their stewards to avoid voiding a fey compact and losing an alliance for the entire race.Cities only if you want: too many words already <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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