Wood Elf
Wood elves, also known as copper elves, or Or-tel-quessir were the most populous of the elven races. Wood elves saw themselves as guardians of the Tel-quessir forest homes that were largely abandoned after the Crown Wars and before the Retreat, but unlike most elves they did not view themselves as a people apart from the rest of Faerûn.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Wood elves were easily identifiable by their coppery skin and green, brown, or hazel eyes. Wood elven hair was usually black or brown, although hues such as blond or copper red were also found. Wood elves tended to dress in simple clothes, similar to those of the moon elves but with fewer bold colors and a greater number of earth tones that blended into their natural surroundings. Accustomed to a harsh, naturalistic lifestyle, wood elves loved to wear leather armor, even when they were not under immediate threat. Wood elves were roughly identical to other elves in height and build, with males larger than females.
Wood elves were often stronger than other elves, but were frequently less cerebral than moon and sun elves, who put a greater value on education.
Behaviour
As a people, wood elves were largely seen as calm and level-headed. Arousing strong emotions in wood elves was not something that was easily done, although many did have a strong aversion for large cities, having lost the passion for urbanization after the fall of Earlann. To wood elves, the trappings of civilization, including the mightiest of fortresses or tallest walls, were transient and impermanent things that would eventually be overcome by the long processes of nature. To many, this attitude seemed condescending, weakening the bonds between wood elves and other races. Additionally, wood elves could sometimes seem off-putting compared to other Tel-quessir, with a gruff manner that made them less charismatic, despite their avowed compassion and humility.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Wood elves were the most common of the elves in Faerûn and could be found in many scattered groups across the continent. Many could be found in the Elven Court (Semberholme, Tangled Trees, and the old Elven Court itself), the Great Dale, Tethyr, the Western Heartlands, the Forest of Lethyr, the High Forest, and the Wealdath.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Wood elves also felt a kinship with the sapient giant owls, with whom they formed a symbiotic relationship. In return for the elves acting as protectors for the owls, the birds of prey often acted as advance scouts for wood elven warriors.
Civilization and Culture
Relationship Ideals
Wood elven romantic and sexual relationships were often polyamorous in nature, members of the race freely engaging or ceasing relations with new partners. Feelings of jealousy and possessiveness were as a result viewed by the race as reasons for teasing or mockery. As a result of these perspectives on love, high elves often believed that any relationships engaged with wood elves would be destined to fail from the start.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Although a proud people themselves, wood elves often felt that their Tel-quessir kindred too often put on an air of superiority and xenophobia that was ultimately detrimental. Wood elves looked to the examples of the ancient elven empires and, seeing failure after failure, felt that their aim should be compassion and humility, rather than political or military strength. Unlike many of their kin, wood elves felt that their fates were inextricably tied to those of Faerûn's other races and they made no effort to pull away or isolate themselves. Ironically, so reclusive were wood elven settlements that, despite their open nature, wood elves rarely actually saw people from outside their race.
Of all the humanoid races of Faerûn, the ones most familiar with the wood elves were the humans and dwarves native to the North, who often lived within the vicinity of the fey. Still, few humans or dwarves had ever actually met a wood elf and when they did it was often largely by chance. However, when meetings did occur, they were largely friendly and, like the moon elves, wood elves saw themselves as allies and teachers of humanity, rather than as rivals. Wood elves also had a long tradition of friendship with the shield dwarves of Ammarindar, dating back to the reign of Earlann, which carried on into the present.
Gnomes and halflings were less frequent guests among the wood elves, but they were generally seen favorably. Conversely, wood elves, like most Tel-quessir, had a strong contempt for orcs, as well as for gnolls, though their reasons were less about the ancient enmity between Corellon and Gruumsh and more out of the devastation that raiding parties often brought to the forests that wood elves held dear.
- Skin: Copper
- Hair: Black, brown; copper or blond rare
- Eyes: Green, brown, or hazel
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