Ancient Elves

A.K.A. "Zhwi"

"Elves are the spawn of a sentient race of trees imitating human life. Their bodies are almost exactly human, other than possessing an unusual green tint, but their mind is alien, to say the least.
They possess two minds that seem to interact with each other in a way that causes discourse. The first mind is the replication of a human brain. It seems to be a sort of translator in function and serves no purposes other than relaying information between the seed-mind and the body. The core thought portion for elves lies in the second brain, the seed brain - often called the seed mind. This is the mind that makes conscious decisions, utilizes magic, and other complex thinking.
Some part of elven nature drives them to imitate human culture and behavior, but due to their unfamiliarity with animal behavior, some bizarre outcomes often result. Elves will often talk babble to each other and make displays of emotion randomly. Laughing in response to being stabbed or crying when presented with food are not uncommon occurrences. Fighting also appears to follow this logic-less system. After years of peace, elven kingdoms (or a close approximation) will gear up for war and invade other nations without provocation. Fighting will cease only after they have been eradicated or when the elves decide to return to peace, often months into a war even if they are on the verge of victory." - On Elven Thought, by Jane Wynter

Basic Information

Anatomy

Resemble humans, although bear a green tint and often have long ears.

Image by: suburbbum

Genetics and Reproduction

Zhwi are the sentient, animal creations of the Oya Tree. They are formed from the genetic material gathered by the Oya and shaped to suit a need. In order to replicate themselves, the zhwi take genetic information from a creature which they seek to replicate and bring it to a mature Oya. This information is taken by the Oya and grown into a near-identical copy of the creature which the information was taken from.

Growth Rate & Stages

A Zwhi is born as and exists as, an animal-mimic until it plants its kokoro, its heart-seed. This first stage of life takes anywhere from 1-40 years, depending on the size of the creature replicated. At this point, the heart-seed will be planted and the Zwhi will develop into an Oya, growing 2 meters per year until it reaches a size of 40 m. An elf may choose to not plant their heart-seed, although this has serious consequences. If the heart-seed is left unplanted, it will begin to rot and infect the elf.

Ecology and Habitats

Almost any environment is suitable for the elves, depending on the form they take and if an Oya is present.

Dietary Needs and Habits

Same as the form they are based on.

Biological Cycle

Zwhi follow the life cycle of whichever creatures they base their form on, although loosely. After planting their heart-seed, their lives follow the typical pattern of their species.

Additional Information

Social Structure

Zwhi revere their Oya as their superiors, with age dictating the heirarcy within those sections.

Average Intelligence

The intelligence of a Zwhi is loosely based upon the form they have taken, but the seed-mind enables some forms of more advanced thought.

Perception and Sensory Capabilities

Due to their imitation of animals, they are not particularly adapted to survival as other creatures. Because of this, the zhwi find sensing the physical world more difficult than almost any other creature. This reduced sensation does not in any way affect the agility or strength of the elf. A strange benefit of this is feeling little pain, which makes itself useful in various situations.

Civilization and Culture

History

The elves are perhaps the oldest race on Vallonde, although that is contested by the gnomes . While they leave no record or permanent structure which could identify their origins, their records hold that the first oya appeared before the First Age began. The oya created many creatures to protect them, all with the ultimate purpose of growing and becoming oya themselves. These creatures were not very intelligent and made no civilization of their own. They were beasts of the forest which the oya had recreated for their own purposes. They were the first zhwi.
Oya forests grew peacefully for many centuries until the arrival of a new, destructive species signaled the beginning of a conflict. This species was the humans. They, unknowingly, encroached upon zhwi territory and began a war. The oya say that attempts at peace were made, but human records show no indication of this. Whether this disparity in accounts is due to a misunderstanding, a loss of historical accounts, or deliberate falsifications is not known. A long and bloody war began between the humans and the oya.
Due to their centuries of peace, the oya had become weak. They quickly fell on the losing side of the war and faced extinction. Many efforts were made to fight the war, and after years of research and planning, a potential solution for the oya was found. The zhwi could be manipulated at creation to have the intelligence of humans. With this, they could begin to wage a war on equal footing with humans. New to their human forms, the zhwi were still losing, and the oya feared extinction.
They turned to the only other race they had encountered, the dwarves. The oya pleaded and begged for aid, but the dwarves had allied themselves with the humans in a previous war and were honor-bound to them. With this rejection of alliances, the zhwi looked onwards with despair.
Warlike elves were produced by the oya, and a new form of brutality emerged in their war for survival. Blood was shed by both the humans and elves, and in the ensuing carnage, a new elven diety was born. The Shjen, named Ilhel, was the god of warfare and bloody rage. Elves were empowered by their new diety and fought with a ferocity enough to push the humans out of their forests, bringing an end to the war.
Although they had emerged from a bloody war with significant casualties, the bloodlust instilled upon the elves by Ilhel compelled the survivors to sate their lust. In an unexpected turn of events, the elves turned upon the dwarves which had taken residence in their forests, slaughtering them and sparking a war between themselves and the dwarven empire.
What ensued was perhaps the most brutal war in history, causing hundreds of thousands of dwarves to die and a greater number still of oya to burn. Within a decade, the war of Tears and Laughter, in which it is said the elves fought while crying with joy during the battles while they were decimated, ended.
Zhwi have since dwindled in population as oya prefer avoiding interaction with other intelligent races. Only a few populations of zhwi still exist, and then primarily as guards for oya trees in the deep hearts of forests. As such, very few humans have ever encountered any and returned.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

The elves are at peace with almost every other group of people in the world, although the peace with dwarves is tenuous.

Genetic Descendants

• Beastfolk
• Half-Elves
• Orcs

Lifespan

0-40 Years (Animal form). 40-?? (Oya Tree)

Conservation Status

Ancient elves have largely disappeared, in place the modern elves have become much more populous.

Body Tint, Colouring and Marking

The animal form is always reminiscent of the Oya tree, which may vary depending on the environment. Certain characteristics, such as color, may be reminiscent of the Oya tree which the Zwhi spawned from.