Wood Elf

Introduction

The wood elves are among the most numerous of Faerun's elven people, a young and confident folk who hold the old elven forest homelands in strength. Theirs to the second generation of elven nations, wood elves see their realms as the natural successors to lands such as Eaerlann and Cormanthyr. Where the old empires expanded with strength and pride, the realms of the wood elves hope to grow with compassion and humility. The wood elves do not view their homelands as a land apart from Faerun; they understand better than their kindred that for better or worse, their fates are bound with the fates of humans, dwarves, and halflings around them.

Also known as copper or sylvan elves, these people have coppery skin tinged with green, and brown, green, or hazel eyes. Hair is usually brown or black, occasionally blond or coppery-red. Wood elves prefer to dress in simple clothing, similar to the moon elves, but not quite so colorful. They favor a simple cut to tunic or dress, set off by common embroidery in natural designs.

They are particularly fond of leather armor, and they often wear lovingly tooled and well-crafted suits even when they do not feel endangered. Their clothing, leather armor or not, is usually dark shades of green and earth tones to better blend with their natural surroundings. They are a humble race and only rarely do they enhance their appearances with jewelry or similar accessories.

Wood elves are as tall as most other Faerunian elves but more heavily built.

Outlook

Wood elves are calm, serene, and difficult to surprise. Their patience is legendary. They are at one with the world of nature, and are not comfortable in areas of heavy civilization. They have lost the urge to build and replace nature with walls and palaces; even the cities built by their elven kin seem to be foolish to the wood elves. They have come to believe that buildings of stone are transitory in nature, and that in time, the forest returns to overgrow the greatest of cities. Other races interpret this attitude as fatalistic or condescending, and as a result wood elves find it hard to understand anyone who isn't a wood elf.

Characters

Of all the elven subraces, the copper elves have the least fascination with arcane magic. They understand its power and a number of their folk study its way, but ultimately the artifice of arcane lore is simply one more way of expressing dominion over the natural order of things, and the wood elves view it in that light. Wood elves make excellent fighters, rangers, and rogues, relying on their natural strength and quickness to meet challenges. Wood elves from particularly remote forests sometimes become barbarians. Clerics are somewhat rare among this people, but druids are very common and are the most prominent spellcasters of the race.

Society

Wood elves live at ease with nature, using what naturally occurs in the world to shelter or defend themselves. They are not nomadic, and claim large territories in the deepest woodlands of Faerun. Some wood elves choose to do without houses, furnishings, and any possessions they can't carry, using the high branches of great trees or natural caves in their roots for shelter and storage. Most wood elves instead prefer to dweel in small villages of permanent homes of natural fieldstone and lovingly carved wood, so carefully concealed among the surrounding wilderness that a human hunter might walk through the center of a wood elf village and not even notice that he had done so.

Wood elves adhere to a tradition of leadership bt their oldest, and most experienced druids, although most villages form a council of elders selected from the wisest and most experienced elves of each family to handle day-to-day affairs. The druidical hierarchy serves to unite wood elves of different villages and weld all the wood elves of a particular forest into a common realm. The druids do not pretend to tell the elders how to run a village, but the elders generally give great weight to anything a druid chooses to day.

Wood elves excel in the hunt. They spend much of their time stalking their chosen territory on the search for food or intruders into their realm. The rest of their time is spent frolicking among the branches; in this regard, they are quite similar to moon and wild elves. With the end of the Retreat, wood elves are quickly coming back into contact with the Civilized world. Although they are reluctant to allow others into their lands, wood elves understand that times are changing. If they are to survive as a people, it may be time to change for the copper elves to change as well.

Deities

Wood elves worship the Seldarine, but they hold a special respect and reverence for the ancient forest powers of Faerun, Silvanus and Mielikki. Among the Seldarine, the wood elves hold a particular reverence for Solonor Thelandira, the Great Archer, and Rillifane Rallathil, the Leaflord. Solonor, as the deity of archery and the hunt, is viewed as the special patron of the wood elves, and before battle a wood elf will often invoke his name.

Relations with Other Races

In the five hundred years since the fall of Eaerlann, the wood elves have been forgotten by most of the other peoples of Faerun. Only those humans and dwarves native to the North and familiar with the borders of the High Forest have seen copper elves, and even hen, they most likely met a solitary hunter or ranger. While the wood elves shelter deep inside forbidding forests and are therefore inaccessible to their neighbors, they are ironically among the more compassionate and understanding of the elven subraces. Like the moon elves, they accept the power of humankind and seek to live alongside their human neighbors and guide their expansion instead of seeking ways to deter or intimidate the human lands.

Wood elves have a long history of cooperation with the shield dwarves, whose realm of Ammarindar stood alongside their own realm of Eaerlann for many centuries in the vale of the Delimbiyr River. By extension, they look favorably on most other dwarves, too. Gnomes and halflings are both greeted as friends and potential allies. On the other hand, the wood elves have a cold place in their hearts for creatures such as orcs and gnolls, who brings axes, fire, and slaughter to the forests the wood elves have sworn to preserve.

Creating New Character On Arelith

Base race

Elf

Sleeplessness: Immune to spells and effects of the 'Sleep' subtype.

Hardiness vs. Enchantments: +2 racial bonus on saving throws against mind-affecting spells.

Bonus Proficiencies (Longsword, Rapier, Shortbow, Longbow)

Skill Affinity (Listen): +2 racial bonus to listen checks.

Skill Affinity (Search): +2 racial bonus to Search checks.

Skill Affinity (Spot): +2 racial bonus to Spot checks.

Keen Senses: Elves make active Search checks automatically and with no movement penalties.

Low-light Vision: Allows them to see better than normal in the dark.

Classes

Favoured Class: Ranger

Most possess at least one level of ranger. (Favoured enemies usually include orcs, gnoll, outsiders, and other savage races from around their homelands.) Excellent fighters, rangers, and rogues. Druids are very common and are the most prominent spellcasters. From all elves they are least arcane inclined and also clerics are somewhat rare. Sometimes become barbarians.

Favoured Prestige Class: Usually Arcane Archers. Commonly Harper scouts.

Alignment

Usually chaotic good

They lean strongly toward the gentler aspects of chaos. Generally, they value and protect others' freedom as well as their own, and they are more often good than not.

Abilities

Retains all base racial abilities, except the stats change

STR +2, CON -2

Weapon Focus: Missile.

+10 DC tracks, see Investigate#Tracks

Can use the -track command

Appearance

• Skin: Copperly skin tinged with green
• Hair: Usually brown or black, occasionally blond or copperyred
• Eyes: Brown, green, or hazel

Aging

Age		Bonus
Adulthood	110 Years	+4d%
Middle Age	175 Years
Old	263 Years
Venerable	350 Years

Racial Crafting

Armor of the Wilds

Lesser Moon blade

Notes

• Bonus language: Elven
• Starting city: Cordor, Sencliff, Skal