Races of Wild

CHAPTER 1ELVES12consider magic part of their daily lives and use it in the formof magic items. To an elf’s way of thinking, there is almostnothing that cannot be done wholly or partially by magic.Because of their highly individualistic nature, elvesfrequently develop new spells and create new magic items.Their aptitude for wielding magic is legendary, though notall elves choose arcane magic as their life’s work.Elf communities are sparked with magic in many ways.Continual flame provides light at night in numerous ways,and levitate gives access to tree houses for those who donot wish to encourage visitors by keeping ladders nearby.Parents keep track of their children via clairaudience/clairvoyance,and lovers communicate via message and sending. Ifmagic can make life easier or richer in any way, the elveshave thought of it.Elves employ arcane magic in all its forms, though wizardryis the most common path to magical mastery. Sorcerersare considered talented but amateurish and perhaps a bitlazy because their selection of spells is so limited. Manyelf sorcerers specialize in combat or elemental magic, andquite a few combine arcane magic with the pursuit of somenonmagical profession, such as fighter, rogue, or ranger. Suchmulticlass elves occasionally use spells to enhance their othertalents on the sly, never admitting that they know magic atall. Adventuring elf sorcerers often hire themselves out tosurface dwellers as mercenaries or master crafters.Most elf arcane spellcasters are wizards. Despite theinnately chaotic nature of most elves, the study and disciplinerequired to employ wizardry appeal to their sense of nearlimitlesstime and deep personal focus. Those who choosethis path apply themselves zealously to learning the secretsof the art. Since they have much more time to perfect theirskills than humans do, elves tend to achieve a high degree ofproficiency with wizardry even if they become distracted byother business for a time. Colleges of magic exist in almostevery elf city of any size, and most elf wizards avail themselvesof the resources available at such schools. Many, however,come to find such institutions limiting, so they search outsolitary wizards with whom to expand their training andeventually take up research on their own.Elf spellcasters display no particular preference for anyone school of magic, but practitioners of necromancy aresomewhat rare because elves tend toward good alignments.Enchantment comes almost naturally to elves, many of whomcan beguile other creatures with no magic at all, simply byvirtue of their personal appeal and pleasant nature. Divinersand conjurers are greatly valued in elf communities for theirabilities to warn of coming danger and to create useful itemsand effects, respectively. Evokers are treated with somewhatless awe by elves than by other races because elves are accustomedto magical effects and tend to value utility and beautymore than destructive power.Many elf wizards build themselves towers or strongholdsin which to conduct their research. Such structures are oftenplaced apart from the community to avoid endangering otherswith experiments gone awry.LOVEElves idealize the concept of romantic love as much ashumans do, if not more so. Songs, stories, and poems arededicated to this powerful emotion in every generation.Nevertheless, to elves, love is more frightening than it is tohumans because loving another enough to share one’s wholelife means giving up a measure of the independence thatelves so value. Thus, although the concept of love fascinatesthe ever-curious elves, most are in no particular hurry tofind and embrace it for themselves. Courtships between elfcouples are generally long, often lasting for decades beforethe partners commit to marriage.Paradoxically, elves often find it easier to commit tolong-term romantic relationships with humans than withother elves. The fifty years or so that such a union mightlast before the death of the human partner is nothing morethan a pleasant interlude for the elf—no more than the timeit might take to produce an artistic masterpiece or learn anew craft. Remaining focused on a single partner for thatamount of time is relatively easy for an elf and allows hima greater understanding of the lives and thought processesof shorter-lived races.A marriage between elves, however, is a centuries-longcommitment that is never undertaken lightly. Light flirtationsand even long-term dalliances between elves are morecommon than actual marriages. Children produced fromsuch informal arrangements bear no stigma because newlife is welcome in almost any elf community, whatever therelationship that produced it.Though elves reach physical maturity at 25, marriagesalmost never occur at such a young age. In practice, elves lessthan 100 years old are considered too young for marriage andare strongly discouraged from considering such a permanentarrangement until they’ve had a few more decades of experienceto understand themselves. No parental or clan consentis required for courtships; an adult elf is free to associatewith anyone who accepts his attentions—even someone ofanother race. Elves almost never have arranged marriagesbecause such a concept is diametrically opposed to theirideal of individual freedom.An elven marriage ceremony can take many forms. Thoughit is often a ritual celebrated before the entire community, itcan consist simply of two elves speaking the words that bindthem forever with no witnesses except the trees and the grass.Most elven weddings are officiated by a priest of whateverdeity the couple deems appropriate (most often Hanali Celanil,but sometimes Corellon Larethian). The two elves write andspeak their own vows, and the priest uses their own wordsto seal the union. Thus, an exchange of vows amounts to anexchange of life essence that forever bonds one to the other.Dowries are not usually exchanged unless the marriage isof considerable political import, though gifts to the newlywedded couple from the community are common.Though elves rarely fall out of love with one another andalmost never remarry after the death of a spouse, they often