High Elf Guide of High Elf Knowings: II

[latte 1310]

Spoiler

 

 

A HIGH ELVEN GUIDE OF HIGH ELVEN KNOWINGS: II

 

 

So, you want to play a high elf. But you have never played a pointy eared white person before, so you have a whole list of questions. What language do they speak? What should my skin look like? What is the culture like? Within this guide, you will see a scarce outline of the average updated Haelunorian high elf, so you too can fashion yourself a high elf and bring yourself to the great Silver City.

 

PART I: THE BASICS

 

Where do they live?

Within this map, the main group of high elves, often referred to as mali’aheral, is situated within the lonely city of Karinah’siol, Haelun’or, located right off of the east hub. Although isolated from the rest of the map, it is not hard to find one’s way, as the ferry to the nation is just one step off the port. Of course, those who wish to leave within other nations do so.

 

What Language Do They speak?
Like most of the elven sub-races, high elves speak common, or english with a touch of elven sprinkled within. While speaking the whole language is usually reserved for special events, high elven players will often have a small knowledge of elven during their character’s basic vocabulary.

 

Hello / Good day: Karin’ayla
Goodbye: Van’ayla
Good evening/ good night : Ker’ayla
Yes: Ti
No: ne
Sorry: llun 
Thank you: Ahern ito nae’leh
Thanks: Ahernan
Human: Valah
Elf: Mali’
Pure Elf: Mali’thill
Dwarf: Bortu
Orc: Uruk
Maehr’sae hiylun’ehya: Progress and health

 

Similarly but not so, elves also tell time differently than human nations do. While most human nations go by the regular time dating system (1800, 1820), elves, and high elves use the second age calendar. Refer to the in-game command /date to see the date.

 

What Should I Make My Skin Look like?

A lot of high elven players make their skin have skin usually on the paler side, although exceptions could be made with the right backstory. Hair usually ranges from a pearly white, silver, blonde, caramel, to even red hair, and eyes usually light hues such as blue, grey, green, even purple. It should be noted that pale high elves with darker colored hair might be accused of being mixed race. Fashion is usually light and flow-y, but can range between events and casual day to day life with some who opt for full armor all the time.. Currently, female high elves wear berets and headbands. Long pointy ears are common!  Elves can have beards but it is extremely uncommon. 

 

 

PART II: CULTURE

 

Maehr’sae Hiylun’ehya

The main driving culture behind Haelun’or revolves around the phrase Maehr’sae Hiylun’ehya. But what is it? What does it mean? and what does it have to do with Haelun’or? Why do high elves say it every five seconds? This phrase roughly translates into “The pursuit of knowledge and wisdom” , or more commonly, “progress and health”.

 

Progress (Maehr’sae):  Progress refers to the overall development of wisdom the Mali’aheral uphold as their ideal. A fulfilled life should be one filled with knowledge, arts and science. A Haelunorian high elf should strive to be masterful at at least one subject, if not multifaceted. This is typically where arrogance can stray from, as High Elves have a belief that they are overall of higher intelligence than the other races because of this incentive to advance and succeed.
 
Health (Hiylun):  The health part of Maehr’sae Hiylun’ehya is twofold. High elves hold a strong care for their own, and ensure that every one of their kin within their walls can live with proper dignity, with a house, proper clothing, education, food, healthcare, ect. They typically live away from others and even go as far to mali’aheral and other races within their residency neighborhoods to ensure this. The second part goes in line with purity culture, and keeping the mind and body pure. But what is purity exactly?

Purity Culture
 
"Purity" within the culture is defined by how closely a high elf follows the maehr'sae hiylun'ehya, and is arguably split into two forms -mental, and physical purity. 

 

Physical purity pertains to the "health (Hiylun)" of the mali'aheral in question. A bloodline untainted by non-high elven influences is essential for any high elf within the city. Great respect is afforded to those with records of their pure lineage dating back the farthest. Physical purity can be foremost sundered by affairs and activities with non-mali’aheral. Depending on the severity, this can lead to imprisonment, banishment, death, or (for the luckier ones) social ostracisation . And although all high elves have different fashion, most are somewhat modest and cover up during day to day activities. However, it should be noted that invasive jewelry and tattoos are very taboo.
 
Mental purity pertains to a high elf's self-discipline, as well as their personal demeanor. Mali’aheral that exhibit good form of mental purity are often calm and calculated, not letting their emotions get the best of them. This is not to say that they do not have emotions, but they don’t let it cloud their thoughts. High Elves who live outside of the silver city are also considered mentally impure, as they do not share the desires to heighten their kin. Simiarly, Pure high elves that live outside the city and do not follow the philosophy would be considered mentally impure. One can be physically pure, but not mentally, but not vice versa. 

 

PART III: CUSTOMS 

Fashion

Fashion was lightly discussed in an earlier segment- but here we go into depth about it! First, it should be mentioned that there is nothing wrong with a little bit of shoulder! Even a shoulderless dress can be made very classy. One way a ‘thill likes to express themself is through the way that they dress, and the current most common way to dress is a modernized chique! Things such as hats, headbands, dainty clip-on earrings, fine pieces of jewelry, and sashes are all very in right now! Colors that ‘thill often wear are all ranges of blue, gray, purples, gold (made with the exception that it was not gifted to you, more in depth later), some greens and even pinks! Women usually wear skirts with a small heel and a nice blouse, adorned with cute bags and bobbles. Men usually wear something with drapes, and many have taken a liking to toga-esque fashion, which is completely acceptable as long as the toga does not reveal too much! Even headdresses are making a comeback! 

 

Courting

Courting in Haelun’or is much different from what one would see in the valah communities or even other mali’ nations. Usually, relationships between ‘aheral are kept rather private, and public displays of affection are kept to a minimum. Do not let this confuse you- as the ‘thill are still very loving and affectionate! Oftentimes, one may first reveal their feelings in the form of poetry, gifts, events held in the honor of the one they fancy, the list can go on. Here in the Silver City, we do prefer to keep things more old fashioned. 

 

Gold

The legacy behind gold in Haelun’or is a long and winding one. Culturally, giving one gold is like handing out an insult - as if insulting their purity. This stems from the Mali language, where Gold, or Acal, also has a secondary meaning - cursed.

 

Religion

‘Thill do not have a religion. A common misconception about ‘thill is that they worship Larihei. This is simply not true. Larihei was a pure woman, who is regarded highly, but is not worshiped. Many ‘thill have conflicting feelings about religion as a whole - with many simply being agnostic or atheist, it is a wonderful idea to spark up a conversation about it! 

 

PART IV: EXTRA

 

There are so many parts of Haelunorian high elf culture that have been formatted into smaller posts. Below, I have provided a set of links that one might find helpful or interesting when playing a high elf.

 

LANGUAGE:
https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/200447-a-short-composition-of-elven-phrases/
https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/78799-elven-sentences/https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/19254-recovering-the-ancient-tongue-of-the-elves/

 

TIME:
https://wiki.lordofthecraft.net/index.php?title=Help:Times_%26_Dates#Almaris

 

REFERENCE POST: 

https://www.lordofthecraft.net/forums/topic/97527-the-ultimate-high-elven-guide-of-high-elven-knowings/

 

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CREDITS:

 

@Mithradites - who I ultimately modeled this post after
@TwistChunky - for writing the part III
@Kiiwi and @Gemini - editing