The Moieties of Aspectist Elves

[WuHanXianShi14 0]

The Moieties of Aspectist Elves

The principal people group in the young Princedom of Irrinor are the Aspectist Elves, a tribal culture defined by its worship of the Elder Gods of Nature- the Aspects and the Mani. Unlike the other Elven races, the Aspectist Elves have a lot of internal diversity, with different creeds, faith variations and tribal identities between them. This post will be a brief guide to the different Wood Elven moieties that inhabit the forests of Irrinor and beyond, and introduce you to their unique cultures.

 

There are two main moieties of Aspectist Elves. The Alder Folk, and the Irrinites.

 

Shared Beginnings

It is important to understand that Alder Folk and Irrinite peoples share common history and a common pantheon of the Aspects and the Mani (collectively referred to as the Gods of the Forest), as well as many overlapping rituals and traditions. These all largely stem from the first Kingdom of Malin, and the Era of the Nomadic Seeds that followed it.

 

At the beginning of the Elven history was the first Kingdom. This Kingdom was ruled by the elven forefather Malin himself, and thus retroactively referred to as the Kingdom of Malin. This Kingdom existed before a time of any sub racial divide between the Elven people. Malin was a lover of nature, and promoted the worship of the Aspects, the gods of Nature, and the Mani, immortal beast lords, among his people. Although rebellious soon came to his lands, in the form of an uprising led by the warrior Lathledan. Lathledan was defeated and exiled, and his followers retreated into the deep woods, these would become the first of the Alder Tribes.  

 

Soon after, the unity of the first Kingdom began to crumble upon the still-unexplained dissapearance of Malin. As a result, schisms formed resulting in the genesis of the Dark Elven and High Elven peoples, who both made their exoduses to new homelands, leaving the ancient city of Malin a depopulated husk.

 

Those elves that remained true to the old rite of the Aspects and the Mani soon too would make their exodus from the old Kingdom, and adopted a simpler, nomadic lifestyle. They became known as Irrinites, named for the huntress Irrin Sirame- who led them into the deep woods. They separated into many different Tribes, called Seeds. They evolved into the Wood Elves, and even though they were divided into many clans, they retained a common identity apart from the other Elven Subraces by virtue of their shared Gods and tribal identity. These Irrinite tribes soon came into contact with the Alder tribes, and over the centuries would develop many shared customs and rites between the two moieties.

 

And so the Era of the Seeds began in earnest, with dozens of tribes, big and small, all roaming nomadically in the deep woodslands and plains of old-Aegis. While Irrinite clans and Alder tribes would interact on a fairly regular basis, two distinct sects of the faith of the Forest Gods still developed, Ichorianism and the Emerald rite. This led to the further development of two main moieties of Tribes. The Alder Folk, and the Irrinites, two peoples mainly divided along religious lines.

 

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The Irrinites

The Irrinites are thus named due to their reverence of the prophet Irrin Sirame, considered by them to be the progenitor of the Wood Elven people.

 

Irrinite Wood Elves are generally shorter in stature, and have darker skin tones, ranging from olive to dark brown. It is said their skin was darkened by the Aspects themselves to help them blend in the deep wilds. They commonly take roles as craftsmen, musicians, artists, scholars, and nature ascetics. Many undergo Druidic trials to become Priests of the Forest Gods.

 

Irrinite Wood Elves are not naturally warlike, but practice martial discipline to defend themselves. They favour the bow in combat and wear light armour or silk garments.

 

Irrinite Wood Elves principally follow the Emerald rite of the Aspectist faith. This sect personifies the Aspects as a great Mother and great Father of nature. The Aspects are often depicted in humanoid form in Emerald shrines and prayed to above the Mani. Emerald Aspectism emphasizes oneness with the wild, and the balance of nature.

 

The current Irrinite Tribes are as follows:

• Caerme’onn
• Aureon
• Torena
• Csarathaire
• Terin

 

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The Alder Folk

The Alder Folk are named from the Alder trees they would pray to, due to the belief that the gods of the Forest watched over them through their trunks.

 

The Alder Elves are taller and more broad shouldered in stature than the Irrinites. Where the Aspects darkened the skin of the Irrinites, no such thing happened to the Alders, who maintained the traditionally paler hue of their Malinite ancestors. The Alder Folk have a warrior culture, so commonly take roles as tribal warriors, smiths, and mercenaries. They wear pelts, wools, and heavy plate armours.

 

The Alder Elves actually made their exodus from old Malinor before the Irrinites, and thus owed no loyalty to the Prophet Irrin. Nevertheless, they shared the same Gods and tribal traditions as their Irrinite counterparts so considered the Irrinites to be their Wood Elven cousins, as opposed to a different race entirely.

 

Later in their history, the Alder Tribes’ faith evolved from traditional Emerald Aspectism, forming into the Ichorian rite. Ichorian Aspectism favours war, strength and conquest. Unlike the Emerald rite, it does not personify the Aspects, depicting them as omnipotent energies in all living things. Instead, they directly worship the Mani, the animal Gods that roam the world.

 

The current Alder Tribes are as follows:

• Ithelanen
• Vanlethan
• Aeldinic families

 

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Shared Customs

Be it Alder or Irrinite, all Aspectist elves are organized into separate Tribes called Seeds. In ancient times, as well as modern, each Seed had a distinct culture and identity. Thus there developed core requirements to be recognized as one.

• All members of a Seed must share a common Tribal Tattoo, known as the ilmyumier, to indicate themselves as a member of that Seed.
• All members of a Seed must worship the the Gods of the Forest.

 

The Seed was the principal way in which the Wood Elves organize themselves politically, and both the Alder Folk and Irrinites are split into many different Seeds.

 

The act of ritual tattoos extend beyond Tribal indicators. Alders and Irrinites both ink themselves with the same set of status tattoos. These tattoos almost all bare the likeness of a particular Forest God and indicate ones role within society. For example, the Beaver’s mark is that of the craftsman. The Wolf’s mark is that of the warrior, and the Snake’s mark is that of the traitor.

 

The full list of status ilmyumier is here.

 

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Closing Notes

Nothing is ever black and white. This is doubly true when talking about history and culture. Not all Alder Tribes are Ichorian, and not all Irrinite Tribes follow the Emerald Rite. The Irrinite Torenas are Ichorian. The Caerme’onn, despite being principally of Irrinite blood, are partially descended from Alders.

 

It is important to see this guide as just that, a guideline, not a set of concrete rules. However, it should help you contextualize the different flavours of Wood Elven RP.

 

We encourage all new wood elf RPers to come to Glaedwynn so you can encounter these cultures yourself, and learn more about them in RP!

[Rusty Derringer 1182]

Informative and concise! Really appreciated, considering I am still largely ignorant when it comes to Elven history and culture.

[osumanduas 1442]

Moved to The Great Library. It shall be sorted into the appropriate category shortly.

 

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