The Elves: Cultural Profile

Introduction: The elves are technically just one of many species native to the Lonely Island, however to leave it at that would be far too reductive. The first elf was born 592 years, the result of hundreds of years of magical experimentation and downright evil breeding programs, the subjects of which were forced to participate against their will. The perpetrators of this atrocity, the Arcane Order of the Walled Garden, oversaw their evil work in order to have an inherently magical, immortal army to attack the First Empire with, but the first generation of elves, upon reaching maturity, recognized the terrible things that were done to their ancestors and took their own revenge against the Walled Garden, completely wiping out the mages and abandoning their facilities. Since then, the elves have been doing quite well. While much of their biology and what went into their creation is still a mystery, the elves were able to recover a great deal of information on the Lonely Island, its ecosystems, and the many different organisms that call the place home. Choosing to completely leave their creators’ vision behind, the elves have gone on to establish four towns around the island which exist in perfect harmony with the surrounding environment. Although descended from humans, every elf is born with a random combination of skin, eye, and hair colors, each of which can be nearly any color in the spectrum. Their population grows slowly because elves with uteruses can only get pregnant on the solstices, a small blessing as elves seem to achieve biological immortality around the age of 30. They each have pointed ears that stretch out several inches farther than regular human ears as well, and each elf is also gifted with at least one inherent magical power that they can use at will. These powers run the gamut of effects and it is said that for every problem one may encounter, there is at least one elf out there with the perfect power to deal with that problem.

Magic and Technology: The elves tend to see complex technology of any sort as being too similar to the evil practices of their creators, and so they do not utilize technology beyond simple tools and implements, relying on the magic talents of community members to perform any functions that might be done with technology in other societies. While an elf may have eating utensils, plates, cups, and various tools for grooming, it is understood that these tools are all crafted by magical means and that any repairs that need to be made are to be done by someone with an appropriate magical ability. Arcane magic such as enchanting and spellcasting are also seen as pointless pursuits that are too similar to Walled Garden practices, and so elves are not only expected to seek out other elves with appropriate abilities to help them when they need something difficult done, but to provide whatever assistance to other elves that their abilities allow them to when requested.

Society: Elves have defined themselves and their society in direct opposition to the ideals and goals of the mages which worked to bring the elves into the world. Elf society expects individual elves to live in harmony and cooperation with each other, providing whatever services they can to those who ask at no charge or expectation of returning the favor. Despite a lack of knowledge in the early days, the elves have had time to move on and learn about themselves. The elves now know much more about who they are and what their lives should be like. This, along with the culture of harmony and cooperation, has allowed elf society to flourish as elves use their unique gifts to help each other and contribute to their mutual survival. Over the centuries, this has resulted in a very comfortable society in which struggle and toil are seen as unnecessary because there will always be someone around who can do what you need instantly and through very little effort. This system actually works quite well as most elf powers can be applied broadly with some creative thinking, producing a surprising amount of overlap in which elves can help with which kinds of problems. Keeping track of this complex web of mutual relationships and magical abilities is the basis of elf communities, turning their towns into massive, interconnected societies in which every elf is fully aware of how they give and receive help to each other. Over the centuries, this state of affairs has helped the elves to answer many of their lingering questions about themselves and themselves.

        There is, however, one mystery that seems to preoccupy many elves. A sort of existential dread hangs over every elf regarding their own mortality and their overall place in the universe as a manufactured species. The first elves, as well as all subsequent generations, have not aged a day since their 30th birthdays, remaining in a state of near-perfect health the entire time. As such, no one is entirely certain if elves can die of old age. Elves are immune to all pathogens and do not suffer from congenital diseases or deformities, so the only way for an elf to die appears to be through physical injuries, poisoning, and other external causes of death. Although they are in tune with the spirits of the Lonely Island and the environment around them, many elves worry that their biological immortality and created status brings them out of harmony with the universe overall. Aside from distancing themselves from the attitudes of their creators, many elves also practice a harmonious existence to alleviate some of this worry.

Religion: Strictly speaking, the elves do not practice any kind of religion or organized spiritual practice. The Arcane Order of the Walled Garden was composed of mostly anti-theists, people opposed to the worship of the powerful spirits and forces of the universe. The elves do not share this view, but were also never introduced to traditional religious ideas because of it. Despite this, most elves are deeply connected to their local communities, including the various spirits that inhabit and look over the natural features of the Lonely Island. As such, each elf is encouraged to find ways to commune with the spirits of their home and determine how to stay on good terms with them as individuals. Elves see these relationships as being similar to the relationships they maintain with other elves, and so see no reason for anyone other than individual concerned parties to take actions to appease local spirits. The end result of this approach to the spiritual world is that all elves end up with some kind of obligation to the spirits of their immediate home area, although there is a high degree of variability in what these obligations actually are. Some are quite minor, such as being sure to leave an offering of food at a shrine once each week, while others are more major, such as complex cleansing rituals that must be performed on a daily basis while staying in a certain place.

Towns: The elves have established four towns around the Lonely Island, each in one of the main environments of the island. The towns are simply referred to by the ecosystem they are in, making their names Rusted Plains Town, Bluesalt Marsh Town, Crusty Mountains Town, and Bronze Woods Town. To the untrained eye, it is nearly impossible to tell that one is in a constructed space, even in the center of a town. Even more impressive is that these towns are each home to a little over 1,000 elves, all completely hidden unless they wish to be seen. This is because all aspects of elf towns are constructed, through magic, to blend in and exist in perfect harmony with the surrounding environment. In the plains and the marsh, this usually means the creation of hills which living and working spaces can be constructed under, while areas with more trees tend to see towns that are built out of massive hollow trees.These towns have no true government and have built up based on complex networks of mutual obligation and assistance and free association. Any elf is free to enter, leave, and become the resident of any town at any time depending on their whims, they are simply expected to become members of the local community, establishing bonds with others and providing the benefits of their magical abilities as needed. Should an issue that impacts more than a few elves in a town ever arise, a meeting is called for all impacted parties to attend. At these meetings, only those with a reasonable stake in the issue are allowed to attend, but all those attending are entitled to have their opinion heard and understood by all others present, and after deliberations a vote is held on what to do about the issue. Whichever solution is able to get a simple majority of votes is what people are expected to do, and thus far no issues have arisen with this system because the elves who get outvoted tend to value being a part of the community and their mutual relationships over getting their way. Rarely, these meetings will be between entire towns, and once, shortly after the arrival of the farporters, a meeting was held for all 5,000 elves living on the Lonely Island, in which the vote of secrecy from the newcomers was held, resulting in the hidden nature of the elves. To this day, the elves have all held to the vote, however some are beginning to believe that the farporters are trustworthy enough to reveal themselves to. This is still a minority opinion, but it is slowly gaining popularity as the elves become more and more curious about their new neighbors.