Elven pantheon

People have mixed opinion on Elven kingdom. Not on the elves though. Elven kingdom is considered to be the oldest kingdom of Laurasia. Known for expertise in Magic & Arcane and a strong connection to nature.

Lau - the Creator

Lau is the only god in Elven pantheon. Lau created the world and its inhabitants. It is Lau who gave magic to the Elves, and it is their responsibility to spread its righteous use of it on this Realm.

It is no coincidence that this Realm is named ‘Laurasia’ – a name the rest of the world borrowed from the elves. Unlike Humans, Elves have only one god. They do not divide their faith into ‘Orders’ as it is typical for many human-based religions. However, for readers sake, some concepts are grouped together to illustrate some of the quirks of this culture.

Magic & Arcane & Nature

Elves are masters of Magic. They pride themselves in mastery over the weave and like to work magic into their everyday lives. Flying cities, endless waterfalls, or magical lighting – it is all Elven invention.

It is considered a basic knowledge to know basics of magic, if not a spell-casting. It is a vice to not be one, or to be ignorant of the power of the Weave.

Education

Intelligence is virtuous, incompetence (of any kind) is mostly a minor vice.

Assume malice not incompetence - old elven saying

Elves take education seriously. During they long lives they are often able to accumulate a lot of experience and knowledge, which they are generally quite proud of. It is quite common to for elves to become proud teachers, showing off their knowledge and having an opportunity to pass it on.

One is expected to be a jack of all trades. Due to this, many chose to forfeit the elven mentality and venture to outside word, to pursue their singular purpose – be it in anything from arcane matters to craftsdwarvship.

Libraries

Elves like sharing their knowledge, rarely passing and opportunity to do so. They invented the idea of public research. Elves record almost everything and most of the history is reconstructed from Elven chronicles and books. Elves hoard books! Their libraries are greatest in terms of volume.

When it comes to quality, this is a subject of ongoing debate. Certainly, their books collections are of good quality, but many consider the Libraries of Acaadia to be the best one.

Furthermore, Elves believe that books hold power of their own. Laus teachings often idealize books. Being a librarian is somewhat of a popular job. It is the kind of job young elves often want to have when they get older.

The Weave

The Weave is central to Elven belief system. The Weave is an entity, responsible for magical effects. Be it from your god, your studies, through nature – in one way or another, it comes through The Weave.

Thus, Elves believe that the Weave must be appeased by sacrifices of various kind, usually through rituals or ceremonies. One should also be careful not to harm the Weave.

One should steer away from abuse of magic and should treat it with respect. Failing at that is blasphemy. You are not only harming yourself, but everyone! How dare you!

Elves took it upon themselves to protect the Weave. It is their responsibility now. Many kingdoms around the world have dedicated Arcane advisors or such, which are educated in teachings of Lau and advice on proper use of magic. These arcanists, however, are not always from Elvaria.

Furthermore, Elves pursue those who offend the Weave relentlessly with little to no mercy. It is rumored that there is a special unit – Shadow guards – a sort of secret service, that prosecutes those deemed blasphemous in eyes of the Weave.

By the Weave! - elven curse

Bending the Weave – risking, testing the waters in dangerous manner

Nature

Nature is synonymous with magic. There is little to no distinction. Magic comes from nature. Hence, nature enjoys most of the respect the Weave does – ceremonies, rituals, and such.

Life shall be preserved – any life (more or less). Be it plants, trees, animals, or humans – they all deserve to live. Elvaria is one of the few places, where capital punishment is (almost) forbidden.

Cities are often integrated with nature as opposed to other kingdoms, where civilization comes at the expense of Nature. Many think that civilization and nature are opposing forces – not for elves though. They find the idea very alien. Oddly, Elven kingdom is home to many rare materials, namely the Elven metals. They guard most of them (e.g. blood metal) fiercely.

Traditions

Elves are by far, most conservative kingdom in known Laurasia. Everything changes VERY slowly in Elvaria – from legal system to language. Not only are they slow to change, but they dislike changes of many kind. One might wonder, where could the kingdom get if they accepted the changes of the new world… and indeed, many wander off to find out just that.

Silence is golden

Polite over frank. One should stay silent and only should voice their concerns once it is necessary. Being honesty is not a virtue. Anyone can hurt others when they have the means. But not doing that – that requires restraint, focus and control. These are the true virtues! This is the reason, why elves may seem to others as stoic and reserved. Chances are, that they just trying not to insult anyone, keeping their thoughts to themselves.

Frank mouth – elven insult, means someone who speaks too much

Travel

For elves, travel is a necessity. They keep the travel to the minimum, eliminating most need for travel where possible – by various use of conjuration or evocation magic. Travel represents the change the society very much dislikes. However, their armies are one of the fastest ones available, during marching as well as in midst of battle. Some even say they outrun the cavalry!

Justice

It is your intentions that define you, not actions. It is acceptable to commit great crimes, given you intended a greater good. Means justify the ends! In fact, many of the greatest elven stories revolve around this very discussion, making hero to do this very choice.

Elves reject the idea of rules for sake of rules. They believe the rules are instrumental and are good guidelines but do not free you from thinking for yourself – each case is different, and you have to decide whether the rules are useful and applicable to your case. Of course, bending laws for personal benefit is deeply frowned upon…

Law

One would think that the idea of civic law would come from the oldest of the kingdoms. That, however, is not the case. Elvaria adopted the civic law as one of the last settlements, mostly due to their conservative nature and vague ideas of justice. They still dislike the idea of civic law to this day and see it as a necessity rather than something beneficial. Taking a legal action is often seen as a last resort, most of the disagreements are sorted out in different manner.

Lau is the ultimate judge and hence elves see judges it as playing god. Therefore, it is unpopular profession.

Elvaria has probably the most complicated and the least rigorous legal system. In many cases, you literally obligated to break the law when circumstances call for it (say MUST save a life, even if trespassing laws forbid you to do that). Hopefully, you can see that settling court cases is more of a… speech performance rather than studying laws and finding loopholes.

War & punishment

Sometimes, your deeds are beyond forgiving. Sometimes you need to pay. In the end, one could do anything if we let them, there must be an opposing force. Elves tend to punish harshly but rarely. They are forgiving for most of the crimes, as they believe that your guilt itself is punishment of its own. And for most, it is. However, it is acceptable to enact vengeance upon your enemies. You have the right to fight on equal terms! Two wrongs make a right!

As for war efforts, Elven borders did hardly change since the recorded history (give or take few colonies). They mostly fight only to protect their territory or to pursue offenders of the Weave. In especially rare occasions, they support their allies in defensive battles, though this did not happen for a long time.

Elves do have an active army, featuring some of the best-of-a-kind battle-mages and capable cavalry.

Blood magic

Originally invented by elves, blood magic is especially powerful way of spell-casting. At first, it was meant as a metaphor – you should always use this magic against a greater evil, remind you that its use is harmful and should be used sparingly. However, these techniques quickly fell into the wrong hands and its use spread around the Laurasia.

Blood magic works by channeling your own life-force to increase the potential of your spell-casting, allowing you to bypass some of the essential limits of the Weave. This, by itself, is a serious offense against the Weave! But sometimes, desperate times call for desperate measures. Ends justify the means and it can be used for greater good.

Blood and thunder – elvish saying, means strong emotions, chaos, and despair

Passion

A truth comes from passion. Lack of passion is a lie – a fake. There is a real value in passion. It is considered a blessing and acts of passion are often forgiven. You are encouraged to pursue your passion. Sometimes even required!

Unfortunately, sometimes you find that your passion conflicts with others. This, in fact, is a subject to a lot of famous Elven tragedies.

Limits of passion – term used to describe an event when your needs/desires are met with impossible resistance, often a physical limitation

Love

Elves are fans of romantic love. One does everything for their loved one. Family, friends, love interests. Extreme loyalty and self-sacrifices are expected from you. In case of your love – even your own life. There are no limits to love.

Well, mostly. Elves are quite monogamous so expect any cheating or similar misdemeanors to be met with contempt. Indeed, most elves only fall in love once. Similarly, in the case of being widowed, you are still expected to remain loyal. Speaking of death of your loved ones… well that is a taboo topic for elves. It is deeply devastating for them.

Elves value acquired bonds over the inherited ones. The phrase:

Blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb

is a reaction to an older saying of Galician:

Blood is thicker than water

It is well understood, and your Elven families are often even supportive in this matter. When the desperate times will come, they will not fight you on this. They made peace with this fact… Do what you must…  

Art

Art, as a form of passion, is often appreciated and encouraged – namely financially. Many popular Elves even hire artists to make art for them, to boost their status. Being an artist is seen as virtuous, despite being one of the less popular professions.

Duty

Elves have a strong sense of duty. They would go through great lengths to fulfill their duties. They tend to overkill their efforts. Promises and especially oaths are taken very seriously. They take them to the spirit rather than letter, however, so even when you technically fulfill a promise, you are expected to still do it properly.

Courage

Brave one is the one who overcomes adversities of life. Namely, overcoming your fears is one of the greatest acts of courage for elves. Pushing trough despite the odds, self-sacrificing yourself or suffer – to pursue your goal, to save a friend or fulfill your duty. That is the true courage.

There is no courage when there is no fear. - Elven saying

Mercy

Showing mercy is seen as an act of courage. Some cultures may see granting mercy as act of weakness or cowardice - you do not have the guts to finish the deed. That is not the case here. Granting mercy is a great act of kindness, forgiveness, and courage.

The reasoning is simple: can a losing party grant mercy? No, of course not. Apropos, why is it that completely ridding you of danger, finishing off your deed, is considered good as opposed to showing kindness and putting yourself in the harm’s way for sake of it?

Heroic deaths

Some cultures believe in glorious last stands, dying in battle and screwing your enemies. Some value a theatrical death with audience and drama. Some dream of dying for a larger, greater good – saving thousands. Not Elves though.

For Elves, a heroic death is way more personal. It is your own thing – you might want to protect or save you loved one. To fulfill an oath that you swore ages ago. Wherever you put your values in – that is the thing worth dying for. Elves do not seek death (mostly), but they do want to make peace with it. A city is not built overnight, one soldier does not win a war and there is no single hero – Elves believe in many every-day heroes and that they may just become one. Often, old Elves undergo a ritual of sorts (more like a crisis or change of mind) where they think specifically of this, reconcile, and try to find what they value the most and then they devote the rest of their lives to it.

Domains & symbols

All, interestingly. Symbol is tree

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See also

Elven kingdom - Mages, scholars, and flying cities.