WOOD ELVES
Wood elves are also known as copper elves or sylvan elves. One might consider them the stock on which other elves are based. In days long past on Hyboria, after the high elves were made leaders of their kind, the majority of elves evolved into wood elves. Where the high elves would guide their people, it became the job of the wood elves to tend to the lands on which they lived and the creatures therein. At that time, their home biome primarily consisted of temperate forests, so it was natural that the wood elves adapted for such a life. As time went on and elves expanded their territory, it is said that the wood elves would branch off into sub-races like the wild elves, frost elves, and aquatic elves.
STATISTICS
AGE
Wood elves age like the majority of other elves, living up to half a millennium. They reach maturity around 110 years and are considered to be of veteran age by the middle of their fourth century. For them, middle age is 175 years.
APPEARANCE
The best way to describe a wood elf is “tribal.” They are of average height (IQoL 0.9-1.1) and weight for an elf , but are sometimes more densely muscled. Their complexion is a lightly tanned copper. Both hair and eyes tend towards black and browns, although shades of green are not unheard of for their eyes – and more rarely, the hair. They commonly wear their hair in plaits and ponytails, with feathers and other natural accouterments woven into it. Tattoos are a strong part of their culture.
DEMEANOR
Wood elves are some of the more level-headed of the elven sub-races. They blend instincts with pragmatism, managing to interpret and react to the world around them with a level of enlightenment few manage to ascertain. They are very perceptive and tend to be taciturn, believing that words are all too often wasted pointlessly. They speak only when it is important and do so directly, considering misdirection, evasion, and lying to be sinful. On the other hand, they love singing, though usually their songs are wordless. While not hostile towards outsiders, it is slow to gain their trust, and this combined with their brusqueness often gives others the impression they are arrogant.
SOCIETY
Among their kind, they often play the roles of diplomats and go-betweens. They tend to get along well with other elves as well as other races that truly care for the land, such as fey-touched, but they don't stereotype others by race. Many a yeoman endangered by raiding orcs has found themselves saved by mysterious figures pinning the attackers full of well-crafted arrows. Wood elves view everything communally; they all add what they can to the tribe and take care of each other. Elders of both genders serve as teachers and leaders and help to raise children; in this way, they are all brothers, sisters, daughters, mothers, sons, and fathers. This sense of social unity extends beyond tribes to other wood elves, and to a lesser extent, all elves. The only real social delineation among their number is through tattoos. Upon maturation, every wood elf receives a black-inked tattoo depicting something they saw in the vision quest they go on as part of the ritual of maturation. Throughout their lives, wood elves may experience many such vision quests, adding to their tattoos in this way. Legendary heroes might bare ink on their entire bodies, although they never mark their faces. They must always be able to read each others' visage free of any potential obfuscation. Perhaps due to this openness and honesty, as well as their connection with the natural world, they don't form permanent marriages and are often polygamous and/or poly-amorous. This has led to them being the most numerous of the elven sub-races in the Exiled Lands.
FAVORED PROFESSION
While never seeking to start a war, wood elves are always ready to protect their own and what they hold dear, tangible and otherwise. Warriors and Fecund Mystics are very common among their number. Entertainers are considered the spiritual and cultural repositories of the people, transmitting their histories through song and dance. Artisans, as well, are highly valued, due to their ability to take simple things from the world around them – sticks, branches, vines, and so on – and craft rustic works that are every bit as high-quality as those of the more industrial races. The paths of the Outlaw and Nomad are both very rare for wood elves, usually only reserved for those who have separated permanently from their fellows.
ENEMIES
Orcs, half-orcs, goblins, dark elves, any who would harm nature.
RESTRICTIONS
Wood elves do not consume any kind of meat or fowl, although they can eat fish. They prefer nuts, berries, fruits, and vegetables.