Elven Lore Questions

[Aerinyes 402]

I've been playing on LotC for about two weeks now. But like any good story, and any good community, the more you learn, the more you find you don't know. Rather than spamming chat asking questions (and having most unheard since OOC scrolls fast when there's a number on). I figured I'd ask here and have it a bit more organized.

I'm actually going to compile the answers so that it could even be posted on the wiki for others to see and read. So if you could, when you answer the question, quote it with its number and section. That way I know which question is getting answered and I can file it a little easier.

Also specify if it is speculation and not lore. Ideally I want actual lore. But I understand that not all of it is written down or even known (otherwise it'd be on the wiki right?). So I will accept answers that are just commonly observed (as in most elves do follow said guideline without it being written down. Though if the answer is only speculation, I will accept it too, but please identify it as such. Tag the answer with "Official Lore", "Player Lore" (unwritten, but commonly done by the players), or "Speculation".

So here are the questions I have, and there is a bit :mrgreen:

I. General Elven Lore:

1. Immortality.

Elves are immortal or near immortal in lore, living very long lives. Are elves subject to natural diseases and illnesses? Its understandable that they are hurt by mundane means, and can be killed like any other race, but do wounds scar, or eventually heal with time? In some other fictions, elves do not have permanent scars, and in some tales they can even regrow lost members(over a long long time), so this is why I ask.

2. Ancestors.

Even though elves are not the most prolific race, they are still able to bear children for the first 500 years. This combined with the fact that they live along time means that elves live amongst their ancestors. Do they revere those older then them? Or do they see them as peers just a bit more experienced? Do they build monuments (think burial stones, or statues for heroes and notable members)? Is it uncommon for elves to court those of much different ages (a 200 year old and an 1800 year old)? To be friends of vastly different ages (see each other as peers as described above)?

3. Nobility.

Is the elven princedom a meritocracy? Do the elves have equivalent noble titles to that of humans (Lord/Lady for landowners, Baron/Baroness, Count/Countess)? I know that there is supposed to be Viscounts to aid the princes/esses. If there is nobility does it differ between the subraces? Is it hereditary?

Also more specifically when one VIP's to Gold, Diamond, or Bedrock level they get the attribute Lordship. If the character is an elf, how does this affect them? I ask since I do plan to donate as much and would like to have a small backstory to explain how Sythra earns such a position. Not looking to instantly become a princess of the elves, but what exactly does Lordship mean in elven terms.

4. Disposition.

Elves are not human, so I ask, what is their concept of honor? Are they supposed to fight over small slights or are they more inclined to shrug off words, taking action only when there is a clear and eminent threat? When they fight do they do so honorably or fight to win? For example, if faced against smaller odds, do they quell their attackers, or even it up? In other elvish lores, its not uncommon for elves to not fight toe to toe but to use bow and arrow combined with mobility and stealth as well as numbers. So do elves leave 'honor' to the humans in that sense?

5. Swordplay and Archery.

In other fictions elves receive training with bow and swords as part of their normal education (think of it as their driver's ed). Do the elves here in LotC do the same?

6. Education.

In other fictions, elves mature as fast as humans, but do not become adults (think US standards, can't drink or own property till 21, can't rent a car till 25, even though you're physically and legally an adult at 18) until after their first century. This is due to their educational system being honed and practiced for a long time. Do the elves here do the same? Or is it similar to the humans and you see elves in their third decade (20s) on their own?

7. Modesty and Fashion.

Elves in other fictions don't have modesty as a concept, sort of like the ancient Greeks and Romans. Showing skin wasn't an issue. Is that the same here? Not asking if we should go nude, but it is uncommon for elves to show more skin than other races? Do they see it as an everyday thing or are they going to raise an eyebrow like a human may?

Anything distinct about elven fashion? How do they wear their hair, what styles of clothes do they wear? What fabrics do they prefer? Any designs that are popular?

8. Craftsmanship.

Elves can live a long time. Does this make them excellent craftsmen? Will an item made by an elf take longer then a human but of much better quality and be more ornate?

9. Naming.

Does an elf call another elf an elf? Do elves call males and females, men and women? In some fictions elves sometimes use fay(fae,fey, ect) to refer to themselves. In EQ they use Tier'dal, Fier'dal, and Koada'dal. WoW uses Kal'dorei, Quel'dorei, and Sin'dorei. Do the elves of LotC have a similar naming scheme for their subraces? Do elves identify themselves as a people, or a land? How do elves refer to their own people? I've personally been using terms like kin, sylvan folk/kin (wood elves), dark kin (dark elves), ect.

10. Courtship.

How do elves go about marriage? Do they shy away from it? Do families have arranged marriages? Any particular means that this goes about (such as rituals, customs, ect). Are they married by the nobility, religious order, or some other authority? Does adultery occur? Is it common? Or even accepted? Or perhaps is it punishable?

II. Subraces:

So far this is what the lore is on subraces:

The Dark Elf

You are of the Dark Elves, the dusty skinned brothers of the Elves. Although more cunning and physically stronger than your brothers, you lack their patience and skills in archery.

The Dark Elves receive + 20 Swordsmanship - 20 Archery

The High Elf

You're a High Elf, the most graceful of the Elves and most educated. You attend the councils of Malinor and make sure the ways of your ancestors are passed on.

The High Elves receive - 10 Swordsmanship - 10 Archery + 50 Herbalism

The Wood Elf

Ah, a Wood Elf, a nimble creature of the forests of Malinor, shorter but more agile than your Elven kin. You are known to be the best archers in all of Aegis!

The Wood Elves receive - 20 Swordsmanship + 20 Archery Also basic woodland magicks.

Not very much to work with, but its a start! Now I'll go into specific questions.

A. Dark Elves.

1. Disposition.

Its said that dark elves lack he patience to learn archery as well as their fair skinned kin. Does this mean they are more prone to act than other elves? Do they allow passion to guide their actions rather then logic in some cases? If so, would this make them more friendly to humans (or orcs) then other elves?

2. Skin Color.

Dark elves are named for a reason. They have dusky skin colors. In other fictions this is due to where they live. Why do dark elves have dark skin? High Elves have pale skin due to their scholarly nature, wood elves tan because they are in the outdoors. It is said that elves have adapted to their surroundings. So what surrounding did the dark elves adapt to?

3. Relations.

How do dark elves treat other dark elves? As they do other elves? Better then other elves? What about other races? Are they typically snobby? Friendly? Dispassionate? How do other elves see them? Equals? That cousin they don't like to speak about?

4. Alignment.

Are dark elves compassionate? Will they sacrifice life, limb, injury, or station to help someone they don't know? If not, do they have qualms about hurting an innocent?

5. Education.

I notice dark elves have a +20 in swordsmanship, marking them amongst the best of fighters in Aegis. Since all dark elves get this stat (when it works), does this mean they are trained as part of their schooling? Anything else they learn differently then other elves?

B. High Elves

1. Disposition.

Am I correct to assume that these are the most patient of elves? What would it take to get a typical High Elf to fight?

2. Relations.

How do they see other elves? How do they see other races? How do elves see them in kind?

3. Ancestors.

They make sure their words are passed on... couldn't the ancestors do this themselves? XD

4. Alignment.

Are High elves compassionate? Will they sacrifice life, limb, injury, or station to help someone they don't know? If not, do they have qualms about hurting an innocent?

C. Wood Elves

1. Disposition.

In most fictions, wood elves are cunning little hunters. Pose a threat and you sprout arrows out of your back and then they ask questions. Is that the same here (obviously no non-RP kills of course)? Are they overprotective of nature?

2. Relations.

Same as High elves, how do they see other elves. How do they see other races? How do other elves see them?

3. Alignment.

Are wood elves compassionate? Will they sacrifice life, limb, injury, or station to help someone they don't know? If not, do they have qualms about hurting an innocent?

4. Education.

Are wood elves less educated than other elves? Are they all taught archery as part of their schooling? Basic woodland magic? Is that like growing saplings and healing small wounds?

Modifications:

Also for the general subrace questions. Is there anything different in those by subrace? Do they have different views on modesty for example, or terms for nobility (like maybe a High Elf or Dark Elf would call noble Lord/Lady, where a Wood Elf would use Dryad or something of the sort). Again I don't know otherwise I wouldn't be asking :)

[Dio Astóre 69]

Having played for approximately the same amount of time as you have I am also rather keen on the Lore of LotC, although I have not seen any elaborate texts explaining in-depth the unique attributes of each sub-race.

If the Lore itself has yet to be developed I would more than willingly work on writing something up and would also thoroughly enjoy collaborating with others; brainstorm ideas, balance story elements, submitting progress reports to peers and getting feedback on it. I'll refrain for now until we get an 'official' word.

[Elindor 666]

Many of these things have been purposefully left open to allow players to have the game experience that they want. The server having been only around since May means much detail hasn't had time to be thought out and the Game Masters are more often working on things for LotC 2 (after notch's new release of MC) than writing out Lore. There are a few players who have the authority to walk in here and answer just about everything, but there is a lot to be tackled in your post.

I may answer some more things later, as I've been away for a few days I want to get up to date on events. To assist in answering some things though, the Dark Elves once lived in the Forests of Inwe and their civilization was almost completely killed off. Read about it HERE.

[Petyr 485]

Many of these things have been purposefully left open to allow players to have the game experience that they want. The server having been only around since May means much detail hasn't had time to be thought out and the Game Masters are more often working on things for LotC 2 (after notch's new release of MC) than writing out Lore. There are a few players who have the authority to walk in here and answer just about everything, but there is a lot to be tackled in your post.

I may answer some more things later, as I've been away for a few days I want to get up to date on events. To assist in answering some things though, the Dark Elves once lived in the Forests of Inwe and their civilization was almost completely killed off. Read about it HERE.

That lore is incorrect for Dark Elves. We are working on the real lore right now, and it will be part of Aegis 2.0.

[Sporadic 2844]

That lore is incorrect for Dark Elves. We are working on the real lore right now, and it will be part of Aegis 2.0.

((Uhm... wait... why?

We wrote that. This bothers me.))

[Durzio 29]

((waiting in terminal -.-))

((in my opinion,lore-wise.long ago,the dark elves civilizations should have a civil war at some point,and one half splits away,goes to aegis,and after an extremely long time forget about the old elves,making the current lore correct for those elves. However,the elves that remained,are rediscovered when the aegis-dark elves head to this new land. That way,all the Current lore is still correct, and we discover that the world is actually much older than we originally believed. This leads to more questions and more room for lore. Plus an added bonus of fun with the elves. Will the dark elves of this new world resent the aegis elves because of the conflict long ago? If the aegis elves don't remember the conflict because of how long it's been, will the new world elves forgive them due to elven camaraderie,thus making them extreme loyal allies? Could there be another civil war? Lots of choices to be made. Lots of fun for us elves ;P

[Aerinyes 402]

This is sort of why I posted the questions. There's some sketchy non-canonical lore floating around and each person has their own take on what happened. It should be standardized.

This way new players writing applications can have better fleshed out backstorys. I know I had to do some digging and asking around before I submitted mine.

Would also help them pick out a subrace. Right now the only reason to play a Dark Elf is to be a dusky skinned elf. There's got to be some cultural differences there. Even the Human, Dwarf, and Orc subraces are fleshed out more then the elves. And you'd think the elven ones would be quite diverse.

I'm definitely looking forward to what the histories and lore will be. And it will directly and retroactively affect our characters. Remember elves live for damn long times. They live amongst their ancestors in many cases. So history to a human is local events and news to elves.

[Petyr 485]

((Uhm... wait... why?

We wrote that. This bothers me.))

Here, let me say it this way. There are big plans regarding dark elf lore that involve the new map as well as the Verge. Some of this will probably conflict with your playermade lore, which, while I understand Native may have helped you with, was never made canon lore. That is simply the situation as it is at the moment.

I did like the concept of the archaeology guild, however, and perhaps we will help you guys out with adapting to our canon lore. There are certainly plenty of actual ruins on the Verge for you to investigate now (if the guild is still running). You can contact me with any further questions, should you wish.

[Elindor 666]

I did like the concept of the archaeology guild, however, and perhaps we will help you guys out with adapting to our canon lore. There are certainly plenty of actual ruins on the Verge for you to investigate now (if the guild is still running). You can contact me with any further questions, should you wish.

Then could you keep an eye on THIS post? I was going to use it as the hub for archaealogical discourses about The Verge.

[Aerinyes 402]

Are we waiting for Aegis 2.0 before getting the lore for the subraces? Unless there's a lorewise schism in the elves (such as one of the subraces going 'rogue' like you see in some fictions), I don't see why we couldn't have historical and ethnic lore sooner than the update.

[shiftnative 3103]

Are we waiting for Aegis 2.0 before getting the lore for the subraces? Unless there's a lorewise schism in the elves (such as one of the subraces going 'rogue' like you see in some fictions), I don't see why we couldn't have historical and ethnic lore sooner than the update.

The Verge reveal many things about the past in the comings weeks, If you'd like to present some ideas. No matter how small, we will listen.

We've been planning events, and the only thing that's slowing us down is preparing for minecon, I assure you substance will soon be filled

I'll personally adress this post thoroughly tommorow evening, It's 10pm here and i'm packing for MineCon

Also, this post is fabulous and a great outline for us to fill in on. Thank you.

[Aerinyes 402]

The Verge reveal many things about the past in the comings weeks, If you'd like to present some ideas. No matter how small, we will listen.

We've been planning events, and the only thing that's slowing us down is preparing for minecon, I assure you substance will soon be filled

I'll personally adress this post thoroughly tommorow evening, It's 10pm here and i'm packing for MineCon

Also, this post is fabulous and a great outline for us to fill in on. Thank you.

Awesome, Native and thank you. :smile:

[Slayer15855 3]

I have build a tower and surrounded it with forest on the main island of the Verge which can be used for some things Native. I want to finish it first though, I am looking at a comprehensive trap system etc...

[Dimitrou_Saiblenight 1]

I originally came here at the VERY start of the server, and left a week later.

Nothing, is what its written.

its a very player molded world.

[Aerinyes 402]

Was there any word about any answers to these questions?

Specifically on dark elves. I thought about getting some of the other few dark elves together and maybe collaborating on somethings, but the other dark elf characters are usually insane :P

For many of the things in my character's background I'm having to wing it. And thus far I'm doing an alright job, but it doesn't have any foundation and I would feel much better if it did.

There's nothing that really binds them together like the Human subraces other then skin color. With humans you have the civilized Southerons, gruff and hardy Northeners, and the calm Halflings.

With Elves... its you have Dark Elves with dark skin, High Elves with fair skin, and Wood Elves with tan skin. And.. thats it. Not much of an explanation for that.

I know we're expected to come up with some things on our own, but with Dark Elves there's really only a handful and even then, like I said above, half are insane or villainous. I suppose I could come up with some backstory and lore on my own and see about getting approved, but I'd like it to be a group effort so that everyone can have a good say in it and they'll be more comfortable with it.