breye wrote:
> The power of magic runs in elven blood, this is why even non blooded elves may be true mages. Believing in something other themselves is counter to the elven way of life. There is not a "Force" of the woodlands which must be protected, elves must protect the woodland.<

For my part, I make elves in Cerilia much more fantastic - indeed, elves
are *very much* a part of nature itself, and of mebhaighl (indeed,
nature and mebhaighl cannot exist without the other), so much so that
they are very much like the faerie mythology we see in RL superstitious
folklore. Cerilia elves, with their close relationship to the 'spirit
of the Mother' (Aebrynis), bend the very fabric of reality, thus time is
experienced differently by 'mortals' (and also explains to me why the
Shadow World was kept at bay until recently, the strain humans and the
other races put on the elven environment disrupts the veil separating
the two). Elves, IMC, are the 'gnomes' (short elves) that live under
stones and in tree boughs, and do outlandish things like mend someones
clothes while they are sleeping, or leave a silver penny on a faerie
hill and your horse will be freshly shod in the morning sorta deal.

In essence, if the alignment 'chaotic' was given physical shape, it
would be what elves are since humans cannot fathom the nature of elves.
Elves do these things for mysterious ways, and they don't tell outsiders
their reasons. In truth, if this game mechanic needs an explanation, it
would be that Aebrynis itself compels the elves to observe these
'rights' in order to continuely replenish Cerilia's specialty
(mebhaighlly speaking) compared to other places. Its just The Way
Things Are.

Thus towards that end, IMC, I give every elf small spell-like powers,
like Dancing Lights, Faerie Form, and all elves are taught the ability
to cast cantrip at will. This is not meant so much that all elves can
cast wizard spells (they can do no damage with this instinctive spells),
but because of the instrinsic nature of an elvish spirit. Also note
that I mostly restrict PCs from playing an elven PC. Thus it seems more
naturally to me that elven rangers would be able to cast wizardly magic,
being that is the magic associated with mebhaighl. Unfortunately for
us, the game mechanics of AD&D have it so that most of the nature spells
are all priestly; so what have I done? Simply convert them over to the
wizardly sphere! Ta da!

On a related side tangent, Cerilia humans also believe in 'bad' faeries
(elves), and mistakenly believe that goblins and elves are of the same
race. And halflings suffer under the same misconception (which they are
content not to correct). In essence, Cerilian humans lump all pointy
ears into the overall term 'faerie' and seek to rid Cerilia of them.
(IMC, halfings have a much more 'questionable' relationship with humans
than is implied in the rulebook ... and a much more rich history - you
see, IMC, halflings are the reincarnation of elven spirits when they
passed on to the Great Spirit Place in the sky. That is, at least they
did, until the Cold Rider came to the 'Happy Hunting Grounds' or
whatever that plane was called ... Now, elven and halfing spirits, when
they pass on, are warped into restless undead spirits ... MWUHAHAHAHAAA!
They perfect curse Azrai could conceive! Hee hee! And the good gods
thought they could win?!? HAH HAH! Just wait until my players discover
this little piece of history!)

Moreover, elves IMC not entirely stereotypically one sided, forever cast
in the flighty faerie mold. There are also a special group of elves -
those of the gheallie sidhe. Literally, I translate gheallie sidhe from
the elvish into "Alien Spirit" (or "Outside", or "Apart From") (sidhe
itself is loosely translated, being as it can be translated into various
words, much like the Japanese word "kami"). Humans mistakenly translate
this into "Elf Hunt" (or "Hunt of the Elves"), but this is not a correct
translation.

These elves, IMC, are almost outcasts in elvish society (depending on
the domain, of course), because they have divorced themselves from their
responsibilities to the Mother, and devoted themselves to (what they see
as) ridding Mother of its 'cancerous disease'. These elves have had to
learn the meaning of death and destruction, and because of this, have
become much more like those they are trying to destroy than they would
care to admit. This is not without its consequences, as Aebrynis
responds to this 'anti-life' nature in the elves, and these gheallie
elves slowly lose their 'specialness', and become (gasp!) more
human(goblin)-like. In effect, they become mere 'mortals', and begin to
live more in the physical world (the human dominated world) rather than
the Other Side where normal elves live. They can even die. IMC, the
first sign of this 'disease' is that the PC would start to experience
problems with some of his or her innate spell casting powers (like, it
now takes some concentrating to cast these spells, as before they were
an act of will).

Unfortunately, it is this type of elf, the gheallie sidhe, that most
humans have had contact with, and these experiences are those that have
shaped their view of what elves are.

Did any of that make sense? Any parts that need elaboration?

Cheers,
Darren