Silvan Elves

The woods' people

Silvan Elves share, according to eminent scholars, the same origin of the rest of the Elvish people. Having adapted to live in forestal areas, their morphological features have also changed in such a way as to increase their mimetic capabilities. To more strongly harmonize with their selected habitat, they have adapted their uses to become an established part of an ecosystem, trying actively to protect it from exploitation. As most of the surface elves at the dawn of the Great War of the Mages, following the advice of The council of the nine, they have retreated beneath the Solybor, although at the present there are Silvan Elves settlements the extend outside its protection, inside the remote areas of Syväden Forest.

Considerate observers of Jinshinowa

Silvan Elves, also called Wood Elves, consider themselves guardian of the life-cycle and protectors of the delicate balance that encircling every life. For this reason, they reject the idea and the practice of farming, prefering instead the activity of susteinable gathering and hunting. They are so in tune with the nature around them that they are sometimes able to obtain milk or wool from wild sheep and goats. For the same reason, the relationship with human beings are often difficult, as they consider humans greedy and immoderately ravenous, while humans reciprocate considering them dire and barbaric. The society of Silvan Elves is based on mutual protection, that has its founding stone in the ritual of Seelinja, individuals bond each other to support, comfort and understand each other and this deep love, not necessarily erotic, overflows and ends up involving the whole community. Young elves are raised as children of the whole community and, sometimes, they elect mentors to whom they are not blood-related to teach them the skills required in the day-to-day life and to become adults.

We hold them dear, being the first line to the barbarians, yet we cannot avoid noticing their lack of refinement. One only has to think that they sometimes breed with humans.

- A highborn Moon-elf.

Camouflage and nimbleness

Differently from any other elvish population, the skin tone of wood elves is, generally, fairly dark ranging from brown to olive and adapting to the type of vegetation prevailing in the region in which they live. Usually glabrous with fine facial features, except for the head, which often has long, flowing hair ranging from honey blond to dark brown, almost black. The eyes, adapted to see at a great distance in poor lighting conditions, are most commonly, of some shade of green but they can be, as well, pink to purple similar to quartz and amethysts. Considering their body size, they are the sturdiest among the elves, yet they remain slender when compared to the Arhmur or Kharmian; they are taller than the moon and sea elves, but less than the sun elves. Their superior agility allows them to climb quickly through tree branches and move through the undergrowth with almost no noise, making them excellent rangers.