The Campaign Builder's Guild

(as people can see I'm slowly putting together portfolios on the different races important to my campaign)

I always loved Irish mythology (among others) when I was growing up, and then discovered Tolkien, with whom I do not entirely agree with about elves. But then he presents elves as a sort of elder race in a more Norse or Finnish sense perhaps. I like the wild magic of the Celtic folk tales and legends and so bear in mind that that is my main source of inspiration.

 Wood Elves

As their name suggests, Wood Elves are most often found in wild forested country. They have never really accepted human civilization and are sometimes so isolated they are bewildered by the changes that have taken place in their world. The Wood Elves of the Carnmag Forest are the main example here.

Carnmag Forest is part of an ancient chain of woods that grew after the last great cataclysm. (for those in the know about my campaign world as it has been developing, this was the actual arrival of humanity in the world through a dimensional rift) It is in a sense actually a separate realm from that of humanity, still very much touching upon the other world of the Tuatha de Danann, from whom the present day Wood Elves, High Elves and Grey Elves are descended. Thus there are creatures found there that are found nowhere else, including many of the more reclusive types of fae. The forest is reputed to be haunted by some humans and dwarves, or else simply very dangerous. It is, in fact. The fae races are fickle, strange and whimsical at times, amoral by the standards of more lawful creatures, and can be very dangerous.

The Wood Elves, in common with Treants and Dryads, consider themselves guardians of the Forest. Their homes are woven of dead and living wood by magic, and they live season to season like the plants and animals they live among. There is a certain arrogance in this, and there are ancient laws which most humans have forgotten but elves have not, which can carry grim penalties for breaking. (for instance to hunt within a certain part of the forest may carry the penalty of death, or to drink from a certain pool may require servitude to the elves for what would be to a human an entire lifetime) They also however find humans fascinating in some regards; for instance because human society is much more subject to change the elves may find human music amazing if played by someone of skill. Furthermore, they also find the lives of such short lived creatures interesting the way that humans might be curious about fireflies or songbirds. Because of this arrogance it is hard at times for elves to truly respect humans. As for Gnomes, they are a bit more tolerant because of the Gnomes' slight similarities in way of life. Dwarves they despise as unnatural creatures, tree killers and dour misery-merchants.

Wood Elves do however form friendships with the unusual people such as rangers and druids who are capable of impressing them with their zeal and talents and mutual love of nature. Now and then Wood Elves do enter civilization and are either repelled or fascinated and drawn to it.

They are often accompanied by other fae creatures, such as pixies or cooshee.

Not all fae creatures are friendly or kindly. For instance, hags, ogres, trolls and other such beings are also actually creatures of fae, but of a darker kind. For them, violence is not merely an occasional thing, it is what they delight in. The Wood Elves are hostile to such creatures and will form alliances with other creatures against them for brief times.

Wood Elves are polite with other elvish races. They do not mix regularly and consider themselves different but they accept them, certainly, far more than other demi humans or humanity.

(more to come)

Ok, I would first like to point out that I love you're posting style, as shown by my adoption of it.  It's effective and to the point.  And now, on to the elves...

I have inherited a sentiment of dislike when multiple elven subraces are included in a setting, so I must ask you if it's possible to cover all your elves under one name, or divide them further.  Do all your elves use the same stats but merely have different cultures?  If so, maybe you could label them by region, like "the elves of Carnmag" etc.  I like how you handled fey and elves, however my utter lack of understanding in relation Irish mythology bars me from much educated comment here.  One last question though, do you intend to give the fey subtype as written in the MM to hags, ogres, et al?  If so, I'm not sure on this, but there might be game balance issues involved.  I don't know how much you're getting into game mechanics, but you might consider writing a "protection from fey" spell, as it seems like somethign the humans would make due to the deadly nature of these fickle forest inhabitants.

Good work with these racial descriptions, you really give a good feeling for your setting, maybe even making me want to borrow it.  Good job, and keep it up!

Thanks very much, and tip very much taken.

 The Tuatha de Danann

A part of the deities of the world are those powerful beings, who are closely related to humans and demi-humans but in truth are neither, who belong to various families that have passed into legend such as the Aesir, the Vanir, the An, the Tuatha de Danann. They had in common the ability to change their shape, immortal life, and limited but strong powers over forces of creation itself. However no one of them had the full power of the Source of Creation, they were always limited to for instance having power over weather, or warfare, or love. While they sometimes combined certain powers (for instance Ishtar of the An is goddess of love, agriculture and war) they were not truly creators themselves. They refer to themselves generally as 'the first people' and have a sense of rulership over those other races living on the Earth today. However, their time on Earth was marked by constant warfare with demonic powers of darkness. Eventually, to save those peoples for whom they were responsible they strengthened (each family group in their own way) the barriers between their realms of power and the Earth which was their former demesne. This kept out the demons for the most part but also made it difficult for them to travel except through disguises or in certain areas that still touched between the worlds. (the worlds in question really being the realm of the gods--where Olympus, Vanaheim, Tir nan Og, etc are and the Earth)

Of the races in the world currently one of those most loved by certain of the gods are the Elves. The Elves were their direct servants, and their longevity and love of primal life brought them very close. However the close relationship was long ago and now even elves see the gods as legends. However their point of view is markedly different from say that of humans. To elves, the gods are their forbears, their former rulers, whom they admire and revere but have no slavish sense of worship of. They reverence the ancient places which the wisest among the elves still recognize as those once inhabited by the First People, and often the elves live near such places in some fashion.

 The Fae

The Fae races include the following: elves, trolls, ogres, hags, sprites, pixies, dryads, nereids, merfolk, selkies, swanmays, grigs, satyrs, centaurs, treants, sylphs, cooshee, ogre-magi, elfin cats. They are in particular the children of the First People, and have certain characteristics in common.

1. They are the last of the children of the First People, and as such have certain powers remaining that were gifted them.

2. There are means of protecting against them, though some of these are mere superstition, use of cold forged iron, use of protective spells (protection from fae) will work to damage or repel them more easily than ordinary means. (in my game ogres are more like say Grendel or Jack in Irons or other legendary giant/troll creatures for instance than just a race of huge lumbering marauders.)

3. They are all very vulnerable to change in the world. Whether it is because the beings in question are rather monstrous and would not be accepted by the human socieites which are taking over, or because their very environment can easily be destroyed (dryads for instance) they all in a way know their time is fading, and all are forced to deal with it in certain ways. An ogre therefore is eager to visit pain and fear upon humans and those creatures aligned with them; elves either avoid humans or relish their company; dryads or the various nymph creatures will try to remain as long as they can but dread the coming of axes and dams.



 Grey Elves of Raith Immel

Raith Immel and the surrounding elvish cities of Nass, Dundabend, Lioslinn, Liosliath is one of the last bastions of the wisest and noblest elvish folk in the world. The populations  are small by human standards, and their purpose is not so much trade as safety, preservation of learning, beauty and memory. Here elvish folk (and some who live there are not Grey Elves but elves from other regions) live in a dream of serenity. Once they ruled over human kingdoms, but they have found themselves increasingly isolated, the human kingdoms they once ruled either fearing them superstitiously or resenting them for what they perceive as arrogance. In a sense the once Imperial city of Raith Immel is a beautiful decadent dream in the minds of the Grey Elves, who long for a time when they will be able to go to the realms of the First People forever, or if need be to die the final death.

The magics of the Grey Elves are subtle and the more powerful ones all but forgotten. What means brought about the city of such beautiful and gently colored stones that it seems as though buildings made of rain and flowers have been solidified, lifted to a mountain valley to which no roads lead? Few living now know, and those are the most serene and remote and ancient of the Grey Elves, seemingly frail and so quiet that they seldom leave their dwellings, preferring time spent in contemplation of musical composition and philosophical thought.

Gardens abound in this city and the others and are a principal source of food, from the fruit and vegetables that are gathered there to the tame animals that also live on the fruit of the gardens and are at times used for meat.

While many of the Grey Elves have become very inward looking, some, particuarly certain warrior bands near the borders of Goblinland, the Carnmag Forest, the Celtic Kingdoms and the Great Swamp are more vigorous, and are dismayed at the decadence and lack of verve shown by their fellows. The leader of these is Prince Mane Andoe, a great warrior and magician among the Grey Elves, who hates the thought of crude folk destroying what he believes is a people who can rise to vigor and power once again. However he is not really a visionary; he is an elf who loves battle, who does not want his beautiful garden home in Raith Immel to be trampled under goblinoid or human feet. He does not want his people to be savages as the Wood Elves of Carnmag Forest are.

A friend to Prince Mane Andoe and something of a supporter is High Prince Findi Lamat, the ruler of the Grey Elves, who has however a more long view, which is that the time of the elvish folk has been failing for a while and that they must accept this with grace and dignity. He believes that at some point they will simply fade out of existence. In the meantime, he too has a distaste for simply accepting conquest and thus supports the warrior Prince in his patrols and raids into Goblinland, his encouragement for awe and majesty to keep the human nations from daring to venture into Grey Elvish lands.