Snowcaster Elves

Snowcaster elves have no nations, cities, or large towns of their own, and ill-informed outsiders often believe them to be nomadic, since few have ever seen one of their settlements. This suits the secretive elves just fine, as it serves to protect their greatest treasures—their homes, their families, and their faith. Snowcaster elves live in small, isolated tribal communities, hidden from the outside world, often dwelling in the remains of the once-grand structures built by their ancestors. These ruins are usually concealed or inaccessible unless one knows the way hidden in ravines between blizzard-cloaked mountains, in the depths of snow-carpeted pine forests, or in ice caves formed from the growth of glaciers over millennia. Snowcaster elves have a fierce loyalty to the place where they choose to live, whether it’s an ancestral burial ground, the home of a revered leader, or a particularly holy site. When contact with outsiders is necessary, it is commonly a single Snowcaster called a “twilight speaker” who enters a foreign community, having been trained specifically for the task. Snowcaster elves are usually cautious at best in their dealings with strangers, and have a reputation for blunt speaking. This is not rudeness, however, merely a desire to conclude their business as quickly and efficiently as possible.

Naming Traditions

Feminine names

Female Names: Celaesorea, Elurrabeherra, Koryveretru, Lumivartalvae, Mirrashylora, Parralatea

Masculine names

Male Names: Euroliyern, Iularavern, Kuroredimer, Liiornadin, Nuorufalal, Raelyosradin

Family names

Snowcaster elves have the utmost respect for family and tradition and choose to honor their ancestors by naming their children for them. However, because they are also intensely private and wary of revealing their secrets to strangers, they choose to hide their true names in single long, multi-syllabic traditional names. As such, it is generally impossible for anyone outside of a particular Snowcaster elf ’s tribe to identify just which parts of an individual’s name relate to his or her ancestors and which is the given name. In any dealings with non-elves, revealing their names is seen as bad luck, so Snowcaster elves introduce themselves with a sobriquet instead. It is quite an insult to ask a Snowcaster elf her name without first giving your own.
Sobriquets: Daughter of Twilight, Son of the Snows, Sunset’s Blood, Winterwall Runner

Culture

Shared customary codes and values

SNOWCASTER ELF SAYINGS

Many expressions common among the Snowcaster elves derive from their natural distrust of—and disdain for—outsiders.
A friend is simply an enemy who has not yet revealed himself. (This saying reflects the Snowcaster elves’ view of outsiders. They are very slow to trust others, and even when they do, they are always looking for betrayal.)
As solid as the snow. (A maxim usually used to describe other races, implying that something or someone cannot be relied upon.)
Cling to the hand when the blizzard blinds. (An extremely common phrase that refers to trusting in one’s kin or Findeladlara’s guidance when the future is uncertain.)
Snow falls and the daylight dies. (A phrase that describes inevitability, often the inevitability of the younger races doing something foolish.)

Encompassed species

• Elf

Related Locations

• Avistan