Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="mmadsen" data-source="post: 3574236" data-attributes="member: 1645">The discussion would probably be more productive if we discussed what elements would help or hurt an elf society and why we find them plausible or implausbile, rather than taking sides.For instance, if an elf society tried to survive in the woods as a tribe of hunter-gatherers, it would presumably fail to thrive -- unless it managed to do something quite different from real-life hunter-gatherers, who succumbed to encroaching agrarian societies or fled to some inhospitable corner of the world.I find it perfectly plausible to assume that the elves have devised permaculture "farming" techniques in their hidden groves, so they can maintain an advanced agrarian society without amber waves of grain.If elves live for hundreds of years, mature slowly, and reproduce rarely, then they certainly cannot recover quickly from a war or other disaster, but they also presumably invest a tremendous amount in their offspring, and they have a society of wise yet energetic adults who can benefit from education or training for hundreds of years.A culture with such a vast investment in "humanoid capital" should be much, much more productive than a typical medieval society, in the same way that our modern society is much, much more productive than medieval Europe.Even if such a society is not particulalry war-like, it has the resources to dedicate to its own defense.</blockquote>