The Wood Elves won a costly victory, exiling the High Elves, and leaving their old towers to fall to ruin. The Wood Elves renewed their pacts and clung closely to their traditions, distrusting any who strayed from them. So it was that the Wood Elves remained in isolation for centuries, maintaining their old ways of life until the Havoc Gods arrived.

The followers of the Havoc Gods raided the forests, taking lumber for their weapons of war, and burning what they did not need. The Wood Elves fought desperately to drive them back, but it was soon clear that their enemies were too many. So, when the High Elves offered an alliance, the Wood Elves reluctantly accepted it. This alliance quickly grew, and the Wood Elves conceded large parts of their forest to give their allies lumber for weapons, ships, and fortifications. 

Yet when victory came, the Wood Elves had little to show for it, as their former allies claimed the land where the woods had once been, and some even sought to encroach further. Now, the Wood Elves fiercely guard what remains, but the forest continues to shrink with each passing year. Even some Treelords believe that their days are numbered as the forest continues to shrink. 

How will you uphold the ancient pacts of your people?

History

Early Elves

Originally, the Elves lived as hunter-gatherers in the grasslands of Tyria. As the Humans developed farming and began to spread over the central plains, the Elven people were forced to migrate away. Most fled into the vast and ancient Heartwood forest. The Elves met the Treelords already living there. To avoid conflict, the two sides made several pacts that defined their way of life until the present day. The Elves vowed never to cut a healthy tree or destroy the land by mining or cutting, while the Treelords taught them magic and forest secrets.

Outside Threats

When Humans arrived at the edge of the forest, they cleared land for farming and cut trees for fuel. Together, the Elves and Treelords drove the humans back, though the humans held onto the land which they had cleared.

Internal Tension

Some of the Elves who fought against the Humans looked jealously at Humanity’s wealth and comfort. They wished to learn and adapt their ways to live more like the humans. These Elves called themselves the High Elves, and traded for metal, made farms and built towers as the Human Kingdoms did.

War of the Elves

As the High Elves grew in power, they began to resent the pacts and look down on those who wished to live in harmony with the forest. They claimed more and more of the woods, clearing more land and breaking more pacts. The other Elves and Treelords soon started to fight back. This escalated into a long civil war, which destroyed many parts of the forest.

A Divided People

The Wood Elves won a costly victory, exiling the High Elves and leaving their old towers to fall to ruin. The Wood Elves renewed their pacts and clung closely to their traditions, distrusting any who strayed from them as the High Elves.

Havoc Wars

The Wood Elves stayed in isolation for a long time until the Havoc Gods arrived in Tyria. Their followers proved too powerful to defeat and burnt much of the forests. Bitterly, the Wood Elves accepted the help of the High Elves. They allied with the High Elves, and others, allowing large parts of the forest to be cut down.

Friendship

After defeating Havoc, their former allies claimed the land where the woods had once been. The forest has shrunk over the centuries, outsiders still trying to cut down more and more.

Outlook

The Wood Elves fiercely guard what remains, but the woods continue to shrink with each passing year. New ideas are looked on with suspicion, as the Wood Elves fear repeating the mistakes of the High Elves. Even some Treelords believe that their days are numbered as the forest continues to shrink.

Society

The Wood Elves are deeply dedicated to the Heartwood. Everything about their way of life is built around protecting the health and safety of the forest. This is like a slow, losing battle; outsiders, hungry for timber and land, have been eroding the borders of the Heartwood for centuries. This in turn has made the Wood Elf society harden, turning more conservative and defensive.

As the Heartwood is receding and wounded, the number of Treelords has dwindled over the years. To shore up their forces, the Elves have resorted to alternate, faster methods. They create Dryads, constructs in the effigy of mythical creatures, that they infuse with the Heartwood spirit. They also offer up their own lives; dying elves go into enchanted cocoons that slowly morph into creatures animated by the Elf’s soul.

The Peoples of the Forest

The Wood Elves are deeply attached to the forests and their people, and most of them feel closer to a Treelord or a beetle than to other Elves who dwell outside. The Heartwood is an incredibly ancient forest with magical origins. The Forest itself has a spirit that floats in the air like pollen; the Treelord is its purest embodiment, vegetal matter inhabited by the spirit. Spell weaving is based on communing with this spirit, and after generations of practising it, the Elves’ nature has been subtly but fundamentally altered by it. Other Forest creatures (like insects and animals) also share this connection, which allows all these species to collaborate and communicate.

The Elders of the Forest

Just as trees are deep rooted and slowing, and Wood Elf society is slow to move and change. Their traditions are carefully preserved and few decisions are taken which break from them without good reason, and even then only after significant meeting and debate. While there is no formal rulership over their people, elders are revered, and they are tied to their territory. The larger the decision, the more elders to consult. Old elves or Elf-spirits, moss-covered Treelords, ancient beetles with their rocky carapace… each of those might be the warden of a spring, a clearing or a grove. Of course, anyone is free to do what they wish, but many a young hotheaded elf paid a harsh price for doing something daring without consulting the local elders.

The Gods of the Forest

The Wood Elves primarily worship three gods: the Owl God, the Beetle God, and the Steer God. In their beliefs, these gods are children or facets of the Heartwood spirit. They are primordial forces that dwell in the darkest reaches of the forest. One can invoke their protection or ask for their help through prayer and magic, but they are wild, untamed spirits that are never entirely predictable. In times of need, they may manifest as an avatar to aid the Wood Elves in battle. Even for an experienced elf, encountering a God’s avatar in the depth of the woods can be a terrifying experience.

Cities of Living Wood

Wood Elves reject the tenets of civilization that are at odds with the Heartwoods; their move between settlements of shaped living trees. They may sleep in the huge branches of giant trees, under enormous roots, in caves or on a bed of leaves. Over the years, as their connection to the Heartwood grew, the forest changed to accommodate its new protectors. There are many cosy nooks and crannies, secluded clearings with soft grass, nests of vines suspended above ground. Of course, the Elves have great survival skills and can easily fashion shelters from dead wood, but they only do it when travelling outside the Heartwood; within it they know there’s always a good spot nearby. The Treelords and other dryads can simply plant themselves anywhere.

In the same vein, Elves do not use metal at all, only natural materials: pelt, wood, stone, bone, insect carapace, hair, grass and leaves… A lot of their wooden objects are shaped not by carving the wood, but by using magic to make branches grow into the desired shape. Most Elves are very skilled in all kinds of crafting, and their priests and druids can use magic to help with more complex things.

A Wild People

While the Wood Elves take great care of the forest, they are not simply peaceful guardians of harmony. The forest has a feral, violent side. Elves hunt animals for food and sometimes for sport. They can fight amongst themselves over a kill or because of a disagreement. They see violence as a necessary part of life, a sign of vitality. The Treelords mostly feed on the humus and rotting organic matter of the forest ground, but they still attack intruders or those who they feel have disrespected them.

Secrets in the Woods

The Wood Elves' home in the Heartwood is past its prime, but it is still immense; one can travel for weeks from branch to branch without ever having to touch the ground. High Elven territories abandoned by during the great Civil War have been swallowed back by the forest, and these overgrown ruins that sometimes hide treasures. There are other places, deeper, where one can find stone statues and ruins of older, unknown civilisations. The deepest parts of the Heartwood are damp, cold and lightless, frightening even the elves and the young Treelords. Ancient things dwell there, and the murmur of the Heartwood spirit can be heard clear as day.

The Old Ways

The opening of the Rift was a very disturbing event for the Wood Elves. The ground shifted, and many trees and ancient pathways in the Heartwood suffered or disturbed. It also revealed a number of Voidgates which were previously hidden in the undergrowth. Wood Elves are split on whether these newly revealed Voidgates offer the chance to raid enemies and travel, or whether they are too much of a risk and should be sealed. Rumours say that in the deepest parts of the Heartwood, giant trees have their roots going into Voidgates, and that the forest may be far wider than suspected, extending into other planes. These parts are very hard to access, and many dismiss the rumours outright. But as the pressure increases on the edges of the Heartwood, some of the youngest elves are starting to see this as potential hope for the future.

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