Elves

The elves are people who stand about three feet tall; they are lithe and slightly built and graceful. They have pointed ears and pale, greyish skin. Elves love to wear green and grey clothes, which enable them to stay well hidden in their woodland territories. They are creatures of the woods and forests, love the trees and are very comfortable climbing, hunting and even sleeping in them. It is said that elves worship some of the greater oak trees, whether this is true or no, I cannot say, they certainly hold these massive plants in great reverence.

Elves are far closer to nature than men, dwarves or goblins. They have a rapport with the trees, beasts and plants rarely seen in other races. This not only affects their woodcraft, which is famed, but also where and how they live. Men live on farms, in villages or towns and cities. It is often assumed that this is true of elves also. Nothing could be further from reality. In fact elves rarely build permanent residences of wood or stone. Since they are hunters and gatherers of natural fruits and foods they move from place to place and build shelters at each stop. These are called bowers and are often in the trees for safety and security. Elves are secretive people and would not want to be seen by other races so they disguise their tree houses with leaves and brush so that they cannot be easily detected.  

Although elves do not have farming or cities they are in fact advanced in other ways. They are magical and wise. Rather than chop or carve their materials into the desired shape they are far more likely to manipulate them or take advantage of the natural shape or characteristics of the object. A good example would be the way they tend plants and trees to grow the branches and stems into shapes that fit their purposes. So they have ‘bow trees’ where the branches are carefully tended year after year to get just the right shape for a bow stave. They also harvest another tree by pollarding the stump in such a way as to get perfectly straight arrow shafts time after time. Elves hate iron, which actually burns them if put against their flesh and so in battle men or dwarves who are armed with iron weapons have a distinct advantage over the more mystical and magical elves.

“The Fae elves are the aristocracy of the wild forest and are aloof and arrogant. Their glamour spells are the most powerful, enabling a Fae Queen, for example, to disguise a whole troop of several hundred fairies so that it appears (to a human for instance) to be no more than a breath of wind.”

Quote from; ‘The Adventures of Moleswind, Vol. VI, page 362’

Cornelius Clifford, at the Sign of the Fat Donkey