Wood elf

The wood elves of the Lîrwood are known for their seen sight, keener bows and deep reverence of the woods and natural world around them. While not as urban as their high elf kin, they are known as the civilized wild elves to some and they celebrate a culture that truly gives name to their songwood home.

Seen as a stern civilization, it is not through luck that they have preserved a balance between their reverence of their woods and civil structure. Much in the way of shale elves, they were a lost clan after the Old War, settling in the woods located on the northern border of what would one day become Kondaria. They revere above all other the nature divinity Iyanith.

Appearance
Wood elves appear to most as the most varied of all elven kind, possessing middle tones between that of a wild elf and a high elf, but a broad spectrum of hair colors that range from fair to black, brown and slate, with even the reds and coppers of a shale elf sometimes presenting. Only the wild greens of a wild elf are absent. Cooler colored eyes are common, with green, blue and violet being the most common.

Culture
Having chosen to settle in the northern woodlands of the Middle Kingdoms, wood elves quickly found themselves in an arboreal paradise in their eyes, but found it to be a fragile ecosystem. Through long years of study and experimentation, they forged a way of living in harmony with their chosen home. Houses are grown, not built, or when they are built, only from wood fall and only around the existing plantlife. Resources are shared across the community equally, and never is anything taken for granted or in excess in wood elven life.

The forest, above all, is respected by the culture. Many wood elves will go out of their way to tend to a blighted glade or wounded animal before themselves or their own, and even the smallest living plant or creature is seen as a gift in the songwood. Deer and elk are especially beloved, with the silver elk being the choice mount of the culture and her penultimate warriors riding them into battle is a sight to behold.

Initially they were fairly reclusive as a culture, looking out from their forest warily to the warring humans to the south. Some time before the Starlight War, however, a blight took the Lîrwood, a parasitic infection that rotted trees from within, spreading from leaf to root with frightening speed. Magical at its core, no real explanation or culprit was identified, but with joint effort from wood elven druids and Kondarian sorcerers, a cure was devised and the songwood preserved.

Currently, the wood elves of the Lîrwood celebrate a firm alliance with the human nation of Kondaria and have been allied for centuries. Both royal lines of these nations foster the youths and heirs of the other as an advent of good faith and cultural awareness. Wood elves themselves are not an uncommon sight as far south as Elderfort, especially those the elk riders of Iyanith's Sworn whom jointly train with the Knight's Order of Elderfort in autumn.

Religion
Iyanith is the prime goddess in wood elven religion and they hold her above all others, even the prime or primordial gods. Her symbol and emerald graces clothing, sigils and households and it is in her name that wood elven marriages take place. Druids nearly unanimously take her as their chosen god. Very few other gods in the pantheon even come close to Iyanith in reverence for wood elves and, after here, they are all worshiped nearly equally.

Statistical Information
''Ithian wood elves may select, if desired, the following alternate racial traits provided they are backed up by character background. These are not a hard rule and other alternate racial traits are also viable, but these are fair suggestions given wood elven society in Ithia.''
 * Envoy: Elves often have trouble relating to neighbors of other races, especially those with much shorter lifespans. As a result, some are trained in minor magics that are particularly useful when dealing with non-elves. Elves with this racial trait and an Intelligence score of 11 or higher gain the following spell-like abilities once per day: comprehend languages, detect magic, detect poison, and read magic. The caster level for these effects is equal to the elf's level. This racial trait replaces elven magic.
 * Silent Hunter: Elves are renowned for their subtlety and skill. Elves with this racial trait reduce the penalty for using Stealth while moving by 5 and can make Stealth checks while running at a –20 penalty (this number includes the penalty reduction from this racial trait). This racial trait replaces elven magic.
 * Woodcraft: Elves know the deep secrets of the wild like no others, especially secrets of the forests. Elves with this racial trait gain a +1 racial bonus on Knowledge (nature) and Survival checks. In forest terrain, these bonuses improve to +2. This racial trait replaces elven magic.