Faelun

From DevroWiki

Living as long as the forests they inhabit, the Faelun Elven nations are at the same time the most stable and most insular of the nations of Devro. Elves are rare outside their holdings; some humans have never seen one. While the Fire harmed all of the races of Devro, the Elves faired the best of all, mostly because of their direct involvement in calling down and directing the path of the Fire.

Contents 1 Personality 2 Physical Description 3 Relations 4 Government 5 Religion 6 Alignment 7 Elven Lands 8 Language 9 Racial Traits

Personality

Faelun Elves appear flighty, aloof, and reclusive to most outsiders; Faelun would describe themselves as contemplative, selective in their company, and respectful of nature and her creatures. With their long lives, closeness to nature, and their mastery of many arcane secrets, the Elves have many reasons to be aloof, and most do consider themselves separate from the other races. Most elves are very happy to live, love, die in their forests without setting foot outside their ancestral lands, and treat all of Nature’s flora and fauna with respect.

Physical Description

Faelun elves tend to fall within the same general height guidelines as humans, but usually are much thinner than a human of equal stature. Faelun elves possess very angular features; their ears come to a sharp, high point, their jaw lines are sharp, and their eyes are usually quite large and almond-shaped. Faelun elves usually wear clothing that match their natural forest surroundings, hence earth tones, as well as rich autumn colors. With their penchant for quality craftsmanship, these clothes tend to be of the highest quality.

Relations

While the humans have nearly forgotten the wars of nearly three millennia ago, the atrocities of these age-old battles are fresher in Elven minds. The Faelun live on the western side of the Great Wastes, and maintain fair to neutral relations with their Gunjai cousins to the south. The Elven nations of Devro maintain neutral dealings with the Dwarven Commonwealth as well; before the Fire, relations between the Elven and Dwarven nations were terse, but the ‘unintentional’ near-total annihilation of the Dwarven Commonwealth by the Elven-controlled Fire, followed by centuries of reparations and assistance, has brought the once-estranged neighbors closer.

Quith and Ulath, without their own holdings or government structure to deal with formally, normally meet cool aloofness when dealing with Faelun. Bakarans, however, are not welcome in Faelunlands, and receive only one warning volley before the border scouts strike to kill.

Government

Two separate courts of Faelun influence exist in the western forests – the Northern Court and the Southern Court. The Northern Court lies on the northeastern edge of Devro, far removed from most of the cultures, while the Southern Court maintains borders with the human city-state of Alnoor. Each court is completely autonomous – they are two completely separate nations, with their own laws, their own aristocracy, and each even maintains diplomatic envoys in the other Faelun court. There do exist difference in the laws and customs between the two courts; one cannot visit the Southern Court and expect to know what is necessary to function with proper decorum in the Northern Court. The major difference between the Northern and Southern Courts in practice lies in the policies on non-Elves. The Northern Court is far more isolationist than the Southern Court; many non-Faelun fail to realize that two Courts exist – most do not realize that Elves maintain holdings as far north as the Northern Court. The Northern Faelun focus more on Elven advancement of the mystical arts, Elven self-sufficiency, and peaceful co-existence with nature, while the Southern Faelun are more accepting of the advancements by non-Elves, as well as trade with their neighbors, including the Dwarven Commonwealth and the Alnari.

Religion

Elves normally maintain multi-spect shrines to three of the major Elven deities – Arrdhu, Camulos, and Brenthal. Some temples maintain worship of Cerridwen, but these temples are normally isolated. Much of the Elven religion intertwines with their respect for nature and their firm belief in the afterlife – many Elven clerics began their lives as druids or rangers before they became clerics, and many clerics respect and seek the counsel of Elven druids on most topics of faith.

Alignment

Faelun, with their closeness to nature and their love for and understanding of life and the way of things, tend towards the gentler aspects of chaos. Also, their respect for all living things means they are more often good than not.

Elven Lands

The Faelun rule two forest nations on the western seaboard of Devro; these lands are thick, ancient forests nestled in between the mighty rivers of Devro. “Nations” is a very loose term, as the largest of their forest settlements number usually no more than 200 elves, other than the capitals of the two nations. They hunt game, gather food, and grow vegetables, their skill and magic allowing them to support themselves without the need for clearing and plowing land. These settlements are usually very isolated, and most wish to remain so.

Language

There are two dialects of Elven, Fae and Gun, which are not interchangeable; each Elven race speaks its own dialect as its primary language. Faelun Elves are learned and many can speak several other languages.

Racial Traits

• -2 Strength, +2 Dexterity, -2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence: Faelun are graceful and intelligent, but physically unimposing and frail. Therefore, Faelun elves spend much of their time traversing their forests in quiet contemplation of its mysteries, and not in physical combat.
• Medium-size: As Medium-size creatures, Faelun elves have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
• Faelun Elven base speed is 30 feet.
• Immunity to magic sleep spell and effects, and a +2 racial saving throw bonus against Enchantment spells or effects.
• Low-light Vision: Faelun elves can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
• +2 racial bonus to Listen, Search, and Spot checks. A Faelun elf that merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check to notice it as if she were actively searching for the door. The senses of a Faelun elf are so keen they practically qualify as sixth sense.
• Automatic Languages: Fae. Bonus Languages: Common, Gun, Goblin, Sylvan, Draconic.
• Favored Class: Wizard. A multiclass Faelun elf’s wizard class does not count when determining whether he suffers an XP penalty for multiclassing. Study and perfection of the rigorous arcane art comes naturally to the Faelun.
• Regional Feats: Arcane Schooling, Education, Forester, Magical Training, Mind over Body, Spellwise, Treetopper