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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mark Plemmons" data-source="post: 2880078" data-attributes="member: 1287">Well, it's not free, but I have to pimp <a href="http://www.kenzerco.com/product_info.php?cPath=25_28_44&products_id=166" target="_blank">Friend and Foe: the Elves and Bugbears of Tellene</a>.  Incredibly detailed cultural info for the elven subraces, that you could use for any setting.Here's two short samples from the wood elves:Tactics and Strategy"Never fight on your enemies' terms." - Wood elf saying.Wood elves, like their wild kin, rarely fight pitched battles in the traditional sense of two armies facing each other over an expanse of open ground.  The forest is their battleground and ally, with stealth and mobility their strategies.  However, if their high elf allies plan to fight in a pitched battle, then wood elves will accompany them.    Lacking the heavy armor of their kin, and generally inexperienced at facing row after row of foes, they are normally utilized as skirmishers, operating on the flanks to stop outflanking maneuvers and rain arrows on advancing foes.  Unless they are fighting in deserts or in high mountains, their druids and clerics can turn nature against their foes, giving the elven army a second magical resource of which to draw.    The hardest task for any high elf commander is keeping wood elf troops in formation.  Their preference for operating in small groups and using hit-and-run tactics is of little use on the battlefield, where concentrated missile fire is far more effective.  Wood elf units are usually given a high elf "liaison officer," placed to make sure the aralarai stick to the game plan.  Few commanders are pleased when they see their flanks disintegrate into small groups operating independently of each other.    Unless a foe takes up residence in a ruined building or a cave, wood elves rarely use siege warfare.  Foes ensconced within their territory are a heavy drain on resources, for they force the use of sentry groups that are needed elsewhere.  The usual tactic is to hire forest gnome mercenaries to attack them, or use druids and clerics to pound them with spells - especially ones that weaken walls or collapse roofs.  If all else fails, a controlled forest fire is used to flush them out, though this is the last resort of a desperate community.    Communication is maintained through bird and animal calls, limb runners (see Prestige Classes in Chapter 7: Elf Characters for details), and animal messengers.  Druids employ the animal messenger spell or simply convince creatures to help them through speak with animal spells and kind words.  Aralarai have fewer wizards than high elves, but when available they use message and whispering wind spells to relay information over distances.  Druids of sufficient skill can interrogate the trees and plants, gaining useful information on approximate directions and distances of travel of intruders.  Screecher arrows are rarely used; most wood elves prefer to use their arrows for killing, not signaling.      Many wood elf rangers and druids, not to mention infiltrators, are fluent in the forest gnome language of shonbrith, and use it to leave messages for each other and their gnome allies.  This common tongue allows ranger bands of both races to leave warnings for other rangers operating in the area without needing to locate them.    Supply lines are rarely needed, for wood elves are skilled at finding edible plants and hunting small game.  Wood elves fear long battles, for any enemy that can survive their repeated ambushes and still be eager for a fight is a danger to their communities.  Wood elf rangers can operate for almost a week without food or water by chewing nijimphal.DIETWood elves live primarily by tending orchards and groves and practicing limited hunting, rather than intensive agriculture and animal husbandry.  Their skill as horticulturists, combined with clerical and druidic magic, ensures that they do not need to plow the soil or live extensively off wild crops.  In this respect, they are similar to both wild elves (who live solely off the land) and high elves (who grow vegetable gardens).    All manner of fruits, berries, and nuts grow in wood elf lands, even those not normally found in the climate.  Much of their diet is based around these crops, which are eaten raw.  One should not think of elven meals of just being bowls of unpeeled fruit, however, for they are skilled at making a variety of dishes.  Fruits and berries are also used to make preserves, made sweeter by adding honey, or dried for snacks or in bread making.    Bees are one of the few creatures wood elves domesticated in large numbers.  The honey is used in food, medicine, and to create mead, a popular drink among the aralarai.      Wild grains are collected to make bread, or else wheat and barley are traded for with friendly neighbors.  Wheat is ground to make flat bread, seasoned with fruit, berries or crushed nuts.  Few wood elves ever eat plain bread, for they consider it bland.  Bread receives different names depending on what other ingredients are used, but the most popular is cholileff, or "apple bread," which they value because of its texture.  It is often flavored with spices, such as nutmeg.    Wood elves do grow vegetables, but not to any great extent.  Most communities have small areas set aside for this purpose, but produce only enough to pick once or twice a week, usually for a thin stew seasoned with herbs.  Extra vegetables are imported as needed, but they do not form a large part of their diet.    Though wood elves do not practice large-scale animal husbandry, most communities have small numbers of goats and sheep.  These tend to be wild varieties rather than domesticated ones, the elves rounding them up when they need milk or wool.  Milk is used as a drink or to make cheese.  Wood elf cheeses tend to be very strong, the most notable of which is olovphinoss ("rich aroma"), jokingly referred to as "dwarf's breath."    Few of these animals are eaten for food, for wood elves prefer to hunt.  As with all elves, hunting is a way of life and not a sport.  Typical prey includes rabbit and deer, though wild pig may be killed during the fall, when its flesh is particularly succulent.  Meat is always well cooked or preserved.  Typically, it is roasted over hot coals, for wood elves dislike meaty stews, finding them too thick for their taste.  Rarely is meat eaten without herbs or fruit sauces, for wood elves enjoy varied tastes and textures.  Preserved meat may be smoked or simply left to dry, though the former is much more flavorsome.    Wood elves drink wine, made from succulent grapes and fruits, and mead rather than beer.  The best wines are norninanelith ("summer meadow"), a pale golden wine noted for its fruity bouquet, theltheno ("fading sun"), a deep red wine of some potency and a fruity taste, and cernholli ("nut wine"), a dark wine made from acorns and an acquired taste.  Mead is drunk by all members of society, and is commonly known as, "golden field," for its crisp yellow color.  Wood elves are quite happy to trade this wine with those they trust, for it has a good exchange rate in terms of raw goods and foodstuffs.  They drink water, which is collected from springs or streams.    A typical breakfast consists of fruit bread dipped in weak wine, perhaps with a small bowl of barley porridge in the winter to warm the blood.  Lunch may consist of a small amount of preserved meat, more fruit breads and a handful of dried fruits or nuts, washed down with wine or mead, but rarely in large quantities.  Dinner is the main meal and comprises cooked meat, perhaps a small bowl of vegetables, plenty of fresh fruit, berries, and nuts, preserves served with bread (usually so the flavors contrast slightly), and copious amounts of wine or mead.    Wood elves eat from wooden bowls or plates, often decorated with leafy motifs, and use knives and spoons.  Drinks are drunk from wooden goblets, or more rarely, leather tankards made waterproof with pitch.  Vegetables are cooked in small metal pots, suspended over fires, whereas bread is baked in specially prepared bread ovens.  As mentioned before, meat is cooked over hot ashes, much like a barbecue.    Wood elves do not own individual orchards, but tend them for the good of the community.  Food is divided by the clerics of the Raiser, who ensure that all families receive equal amounts.  The same applies to meat, but in this case the clerics of the Great Huntress are responsible for dividing it evenly.  Access to the community stores is forbidden to non-clerics of these deities, though few elves suffer from gluttony as a rule.</blockquote>

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