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| Rushwater Holt Elves |
Rushwater Holt elves are decended from Two-Spear's tribe of Wolfriders after splitting from Huntress Skyfire and her tribe. Therefore, RWH elves are Wolfriders and have wolf blood. Because of their wolf blood, the elves are mortal, can bond with their wolf brothers and have increased physical senses, especially in smell.
Physical Details:
Because of plentiful game, the elves tend to be taller than other Wolfriders, falling between 4-5 feet. Thick foliage of the canyons and rainforest provide much protection to the elves and therefore, their increased height is usually not a problem when hiding from humans or prey.
As with all Pini elves, RWH elves have large eyes and large, pointed ears that often reach to the top of their heads. The elves also have 4 fingers and 4 toes. Pointed canine teeth are also quite common due to the elves' wolf blood.
RWH has been fairly lucky to have a healer at most times. The current healer is Purehaven and as such, elves rarely have scars or disfigurements due to his magical efforts to keep the tribe healthy. Rare cases of elves having scars or disfigurements are often due to not living in the holt or being able to make it back to the holt for Purehaven's assistance when wounded.
Magical Abilities:
All RWH elves possess sending, wolf bonding (and ONLY wolf bonding) and magic feeling. The following magic types are available to RWH elves:
Healing: As previously mentioned, the holt has usually had a skilled healer available (currently Purehaven) and although this magic is not commonly duplicated among several elves at the same time, it usually resurfaces quickly once the previous healer dies. Healing ability level is usually average, allowing the healer to cure most illnesses, open wounds, broken bones and internal bleeding. Limb regrowth is often beyond most of RWH's healers, depending on the severity of the situation.
Plant Shaping: With the lushious temperate rainforest surrounding the elves, plant shaping is a common magic found in the holt. Indeed, there are currently three plant shapers (Firemoss, Dawnmist and Tendril). Plant shaping ability level varies with some elves attaining great strength and mastery in their powers. Plant shapers can often mould living and dead wood, induce growth or tell if a plant is sick and the circumstances affecting the plant. Exceptionally skilled plant shapers can sometimes even cure a sick plant or change the nature of a plant.
Rock Shaping: Rock shaping is an extremely new magic that has just recently begun to surface in one or two of the elves and is likely due to their canyon environment. Because this magic is so new, ability levels are very low. Some shapers such as Marshclay are often referred to as a clay shapers because the magic can only effectively mould the softest of sediments. Honeyhue's slightly stronger rock shaping ability is showing promise that the elves may one day have another powerful magic in their arsenal. Ability levels are limited to weak and below average resulting in only soft rocks being shaped in a very slow and often exhausting process. Success is better met when using small quanities and much time and patience.
Other Magic: It is rare, although not unknown, for magic beyond the above to surface in a RWH elf. Other magic that may crop up on occasion may include animal talking, anti-healing, astral projection, dowsing (finding), hypnosis and shielding.
Unallowed Magic: Please note that the following magic is NOT found in the RWH elves and will NOT be allowed: fire starting, levitation, mind-snare, flesh shaping, shape changing.
Magical Ability Levels: Magical ability various among each elf, ranging from very weak to strong. Infants and young cubs have particularly weak abilities for all magic types but strengthen with age. Magical ability progresses as follows:
Very weak
Weak
Poor
Fair
Below average
Average
Above average
Strong
Weapons:
The elves are much more technologically advanced than the humans but not as much so as the trolls. Traditional weapons include the club (rarely used anymore), spear and javelin and daggers or knives (traditionally made from sharpened bone or antler and sometimes chipped stone).
Many of the newest weapons were invented by their past chieftain Latethaw including: the bow (and arrows, obviously), the arrow whip, whip, and darts. With the discovery of the trolls the elves have acquired new metal bladed weapons such as swords, daggers/knives and axes. Metal arrow heads and sometimes even spear points can be had from the trolls, too.
Clothing:
Due to the very warm weather experienced throughout most of the year in the canyons, the elves mainly wear tanned leather, often as vests, short crop tops and breeches or pants. In the cooler winter months tanned furs may be worn.
Linen is another new clothing material now used by the elves. Thanks to Summerset, the tribe's weaver, the thick and shaggy hair of the canyon's rock deer is woven into a crude linen from which clothing can be made. This crude linen is often worn more often in the hot times of the year as it breathes more than sticky leather but it is often scratchy and itchy.
| Recognitions |
"Soul meets soul when eyes meet eyes." - Savah, GN1
Recognition is a survival factor unique to the elves alone. Since the elf population is so small, inbreeding could in theory cause genetic instability but the occurrance of Recognition ensures that strong and healthy genes are promoted. Likewise, Recognition also ensures that the children born of its force will be of the strongest and most skilled. Recognition cares not for the parents, only for the child. Recognized elves must answer the call to mate together to produce the destined child else they risk growing ill and even the possibility of death should they deny Recognition's force so greatly. However, Recognition does not mean that the elves must live and love each other after joining but many RWH elves in the past have done so and many continue to remain together still - elves that do not like each other may choose not to go this route, though.
| Random Recognitions |
Because Recognition is naturally random and no one knows when it will hit or with whom, the holt alsos runs on a random Recognition process.
What exactly does this mean? All elves between the ages of 15-1000 years of age and/or less than 3 children are fair game and will be put into an open draw via the "Recognition Rollercoaster" programme created by Christian van Bijsterveldt. This programme is designed to roll for chance of a Recognition based on an elf's current age and factoring in any previous Recognitions. Periodicially I will randomly run this programme and *whack* - Recognition occurs!
Just like the actual thing, no one will know when I choose to roll for a Recognition until it actually happens. I will notify the "winning" elves before the rest of the holt and no, you don't have a choice in the matter; after all, your elf can't just decide to not Recognize anyone (although you can choose to not answer the call and risk illness and death).
For full details concerning RWH's random Recognition rules and process, refer to What's Love Got To Do With It? by Cindy England.
| RWH Elf Expressions |