Elves

This page serves as a source of information about elves as it is applicable to World 42 roleplaying characters. Everyone is invited to add to this information.

A Brief History
Elves entered Gielinor in the early first age, led by their goddess, Seren, through the World Gate. The elves came over in eight clans, like families, each of whom were particularly known for producing offspring with a certain trait (musicality, strength, etc). They built an enormous city out of crystal, Priffdinas. Each clan had a tower outside of the city, there was a great, vast library beneath it, and in the middle stood the Tower of Voices.

During the early ages, elves had settlements across all of Gielinor. They lived in peace with other races such as humans and gnomes.

At the turn of the third age came to an end and the God Wars broke out, elves fled from mainland Gielinor into the forests of Isafdar, where Prifddinas stood. Isafdar, being isolated from the rest of the world by the impassable mountains around the lands, along with the militaristic prowess of the Cadarn clan, guaranteed the safety of the elves during the God Wars. Most traces of the elves' existence were wiped out during the wars and when Guthix awoke from his slumber, he created the Edicts of Guthix, banishing Seren from Gielinor and separating her the elves.The grand library and the world gate were sealed, cutting off the source of the elves' crystal.

Once again the elves ventured out of Tirranwn. A king named Baxtorian ruled a kingdom north of Ardougne with his queen, Glarial. During this time when many elves were away, the Iorwerth clan decided to take over all of Priffdinas. Forces resisted him in the Elven Civil War and, when he heard, King Baxtorian led a campaign back to the homeland. Unfortunately, before he arrived, the crystal city of Prifddinas was reverted entirely to seed form to prevent Lord Iorwerth from taking full control, and is currently awaiting re-enchantment to restore it to its ancient splendour.

The Iorwerth Clan overtook the lands of Prifddinas and nearly all other elves of all elven clans retreated into the forests of Isafdar where they frequently moved around, never developing a large, attackable settlement. Recently, the lodge at Lletya has served as a reliable, protected base for the rebel force; the military base at Port Tyras is also allied to the rebels.

Accepted Lore
This section addresses details about elves that are widely accepted throughout the world 42 roleplaying community.
 * Elves are very long-lived. The standard, accepted measurement of an elf's age is that it takes an elf 12 years to age as much as a human ages in one year. This is not a directly linear relationship, though; a 38 year old elf looks closer to five than to three, which means for their early years the equivalence is closer to 8:1 human to elf years.
 * Elves are similar to humans in height, but their slender build often makes them appear relatively tall.
 * Some (but not all) elves are gifted with the ability to sing crystal seeds into new shapes, especially weapons (bows) and tools (saws). Descendants of the Ithell Clan being amongst the most common have this gift. It is still extremely rare.
 * Elves do not adapt quickly to change or to foreign environments and customs. This is a drawback of their longevity.
 * Elves, almost without exception, refuse to enter the underground pass.
 * Elves, especially females, are known for their exquisite beauty. It would be strange for a human not to notice. The males are typically of a more slender build than humans.
 * Elves usually dress in green.
 * The average Elf has far greater natural agility and nimbleness than a human, but not so much that a formidable and trained human couldn't overcome an elf. This applies especially to physical strength, as seen with the Tyras Guard. Also, due to their longer lifespan, any adult elf would probably have vastly greater experience and wisdom with any skill or trade than an adult human.
 * At least for standard elemental magic, elves do use runes. It's not clear if they also need runestones for advanced crystal magic. They don't need runes for simple crystal singing.
 * Any elf that originates from Tirannwn or from a family that still has ties to Tirannwn would follow the crystal goddess, Seren.
 * Due to their larger ears, elves typically have sharper hearing than humans.
 * Typically, elves are "much more observant" than humans and would be very tricky to steal from or sneak up on.
 * Elves sometimes use native Gielinorian alongside crystal-derived technology: the dead elf ranger in the quest "Missing, Presumed Death" is depicted holding a clearly wooden bow. It was also revealed that they are careful not to waste their crystal as there is only a limited amount in Gielinor, so it may be quite precious.
 * Elves possess some knowledge of Runecrafting, Summoning, Farming, Fishing and Herblore.

Debated Lore
This section addresses details about elves that are still the subject of disagreements.
 * Elves can mate with humans. (Many players create half-elves, the children of one elf and one human, but often the compatability of their genetic structures comes into question, being from different realms, and half-elves are never seen in-game.)
 * As a result of their extraordinarily long lives, elves are not known for their fidelity in romantic relationships, although this does not imply any less depth of emotion behind their attachments. There are exceptions however, one notable case being that of Baxtorian and Glarial.
 * Elves are typically more adept at melee and ranged combat. (Outside of the Mobilising Armies minigame, elves only ever wield bows or pikes. However, in Mobilising Armies, they are a mage class.)
 * Elves may be immortal. Guthix suggested this in one of his memories.
 * Some elves may be able to grow facial hair. Most seemingly cannot: but there is a statue of Baxtorian in the waterfall dungeon where he is depicted with a beard. The head mourner in West Ardougne has a moustache, but this may be fake as he is undercover.
 * Some unaffiliated or freelance roleplayers contest the way in which Elves age according to the community consensus under Accepted Lore above.

Common Mistakes
This section addresses traits that unexperienced roleplayers often bestow their elven characters but that aren't actually seen in elves on RuneScape.
 * Elves do not have strange magical abilities like telepathy, telekenesis, etc.
 * Elves cannot cast magic without runes and are not especially skilled at elemental magic.
 * Elves do not typically have supersenses. Their hearing is more evolved than humans, but they are not known to have better sight, smell, taste, or touch senses.

Other Info

 * The three officially known Elf Clans, of the eight who came through the World Gate, are the Ithell (known as musical, crystal singing), Cadarn (known for strength), and the Iorwerth.
 * Roleplayers created the Anwyl Clan, one of the original eight clans. They are known for their grace and beauty, even among elves.
 * Roleplayers created the Neleseth Clan, one of the original eight clans. They are known for their curative abilities - they are talented with supposed elven healing magics.
 * Roleplayers created the Imrahil Clan, one of the original eight clans. They are renowned for their supreme abilites in the arts of guerilla warfare, and the usage of light illusion magic.
 * Not all elves in the present day need be members of one of the original eight families.
 * Elves can have any natural skin or hair colour, although redheaded Elves are unattested.
 * Elves from Tirannwn wear their hair long and often loose. If they style it, they tie it into ponytails or buns, or the elaborate Flower of Lletya for women. Rarely does an elf wear a hat, as they seem typically to prefer hoods or circlets; by and large however they go bareheaded.