'Elves' - An inverted Elven RP

[Jb]

I shall try to make this brief and to the point!

So here goes.

This RP is intended to somewhat soften the view of Elves and Elvenkind bought about primarily by Tolkien (may he rest in peace) as well as hundreds of near-enough-copy-cat settings and stories; this view is of the tall and noble race of immortal and beautiful warrior-scholars, pale skin and flowing blonde locks gleaming in the sunlight, their poor breeding rate causing them to be one of the archtypical 'dying races', the other usually being the Dwarves/Dwarfs.

In this RP it is an objective of mine, and hopefully with help from any interested parties, to create a new and slightly more original view of the Elves.

Influenced somewhat by the recent trend in 'inverting' races, usually those of evil alignment or otherwise (think of sober, beardless, effeminate Dwarfs...urgh), as well as by the original and historical tropes of the Elf, I have decided upon a few things that will be different about this RP.

- Elves are not the first born/awakened race, that honour goes to man; in fact, if anything, they may be one of the last races of any importance at all.

- The Elves come in different shapes and sizes! Yes, you can create a stockier Elf with a beard, or a even...dare I say...a fat Elf. If that is what takes your fancy.

- In this setting the Elves attempted to wipe out humanity as soon as they were powerful enough to do so. Humanity, as it does, fought back and drove the Elves away into less desirable areas of land (a la the Witcher series), into mountain ranges and rugged highlands, bogs and fells, and especially forests and the 'wild places'. From that time on Elves have conducted terror attacks, kidnappings and various other unElflike activites upon mankind.

- Elves, going back to their traditional roots here, are voraciously sexual and seductive beings. Well, if you'd like them to be. Along with this, they can be hurt especially by iron.

- Other fantastical races will likely be present in this setting, or some of them at least, the Elves much disliked by many of them. Not because of Elven haughtiness, which doesn't really exist in this setting, but more because they see them as vermin and pests.

- Technology level will be around Late Medieval, so there will be up to crude blackpowder weapons such as basic cannon and the like. Most of the heavy work will still be done by cold steel.

- Magic...in this setting it is everywhere, but Elves are nowhere near as attuned to it as, say, in the Elder Scrolls or Warhammer Fantasy. Not the majority of them at least.

- The plot will hinge on how many players I can get interested, after that I will fill out the lore and get a plotline in the works.

So, would this interest anyone? Does anyone have any questions?

[Little Bill]

Interested. I take it the elves will be similar to fair folk in british/european mythology, stealing kids out of their cradles and spoiling crops and whatnot?

[Jb]

@DeadBeatWalking You're correct!

Although you might want to add stealing kids in order to raise them as Elves, as well as the abduction and rape of women and men to both propogate the race and for pleasure; in most cases the women/man would be willing, Elves being pretty attractive to man, but sometimes not...think succubi/incubus in the latter case.

As for 'spoling' crops, well, that could be as little as poisoning your cattle to a full-on lynch-mob burning your fields, barn and cabin down with you inside.

I do intend for them to lean more toward the Fae/Sidhe/Fey/Fairie folk of British and European myth, while still retaining some elments of post-Tolkien Elves. Probably small things such as pointed ears, long lives etc.

There will also be differing sub-Elven cultures, in much the same way as we have differing cultures. Some Elves, for example, might fit the archtypical 'Wood/High/Dark' type, but if that was the case then I'd prefer them with a twist...Wood Elves that are sub-par archers and hutn Centaurs through the forest using only fists and forearm long blades, for example. Or 'High' Elves who are rotten on the inside and favour blackpowder weapons. That sort of thing.

I hope that explained a little better.

@POOHEAD189 You gonna just like my post, or express interest as well?

I'd understand if you don't, as you do seem to be in many RPs atm.

[AlysCole]

Pretty interesting. Let me know of any updates!

[XSilentWingsX]

I would be interested!

[POOHEAD189]

@POOHEAD189 You gonna just like my post, or express interest as well?

I'd understand if you don't, as you do seem to be in many RPs atm.

@Jbcool

And you seem to keep making RP's
Not sure atm

[Southern Sun]

I'm interested, with two questions. Are we all playing elves; and, briefly, what is the system of magic?

[Jb]

@AlysCole Will do!

@XSilentWingsX Muchos gracias.

@POOHEAD189 This is true...such is life!

@Southern Sun Yes we shall (although I'll allow half-Elves between humans and Elves), and as for the system of magic, it shall concentrate more on the individual; it can be learnt, but is more innate in certain individuals, however it will also take a toll on the user every time they wield it. It would be physically draining, and will be more 'earthy' than usual High Fantasy fair a la Tolkien AKA no fireballs flying about willy-nilly, unless you want your character to die, but can they still summon fireballs in this setting? Short answer is yes.

I hope that answers the current questions, and thank you all for your interest. Stay tuned for an OOC within the next couple of days.

If you wish to ask anything more, please go ahead.

[Eyeruption]

Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy glen,
We dare n't go a-hunting,
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And a white owl's feather!

I'm interested, this sounds awesome as fuck. I wanna make a self-proclaimed knight of the moon, posessing of infinite vanity and unmeasurable pride justified by his stellar warmaking and swordsmanship skills but not his personality.

[Jb]

Up the airy mountain
Down the rushy glen,
We dare n't go a-hunting,
For fear of little men;
Wee folk, good folk,
Trooping all together;
Green jacket, red cap,
And a white owl's feather!

I'm interested, this sounds awesome as fuck. I wanna make a self-proclaimed knight of the moon, posessing of infinite vanity and unmeasurable pride justified by his stellar warmaking and swordsmanship skills but not his personality.

@Eyeruption

Well thank you for that William Allingham excerpt, as well as your interest, but you'd need to explain to be what the heck a 'self-proclaimed knight of the moon' is? Never heard of it/them/him/her in my life.

[Eyeruption]

@Jbcool
Oh, obviously it's an elf who proclaimed himself a knight who protects the honor of the Moon.

[Jb]

@Jbcool
Oh, obviously it's an elf who proclaimed himself a knight who protects the honor of the Moon.

@Eyeruption

Right then, well I do hope you're joking, it's very hard to tell over the internet. If you're not, then for this setting I'd say that that's not a great idea.

[Eyeruption]

@Jbcool
Oh come on, it's not the usual romantical knightly poem bullcrap. He took up this title solely to have a semi-justified reason to kill anybody who looks into the sky at night and therefore disrespects Luna with such impudence. This is his gimmick and a mad obsession. In his domain, everyone except the most favored guests have to walk with their heads down in order to not accidentaly catch a glimpse of the firmament because if they look up at day they will probably try to do so at night and as such should have their eyes removed as a precaution.
Are we playing self-centered cruel fair folk or what.

[Little Bill]

@Jbcool
Oh come on, it's not the usual romantical knightly poem bullcrap. He took up this title solely to have a semi-justified reason to kill anybody who looks into the sky at night and therefore disrespects Luna with such impudence. This is his gimmick and a mad obsession. In his domain, everyone except the most favored guests have to walk with their heads down in order to not accidentaly catch a glimpse of the firmament because if they look up at day they will probably try to do so at night and as such should have their eyes removed as a precaution.
Are we playing self-centered cruel fair folk or what.

@Eyeruption

Where does the semi-justified reason come in? It just seems like your guy kills or blinds anyone who looks at the moon because he's crazy, which sounds like something a human village would band together against considering elves being equivalent to goblins in this setting.

Also @Jbcool, would there be elf-orcs, or is that too much of a genetic leap for non-stillborn offspring?

I decided that since we're basically RPing as more chaotic evil versions of the elves from Elfquest, I'm gonna have a character in a threemateship, but I haven't decided on two wives or a wife and a husband. Where do the elves fall on the acceptance scale for things of that sort?

Last question! The elves live in remote places like swamps, forests, and caves -- Do they have the tech and resources to make metal and fabric, or do they use stone weapons and wear furs?

[Eyeruption]

@DeadBeatWalking
>elves being equivalent to goblins in this setting
Aren't elves more like twisted gaelic Fair Folk in this setting?

>Where does the semi-justified reason come in?
The world's still magical and full of superstition, duh. I bet there are many gods, occasional miracles and other wondrous and horrible happenings, not to speak of actual sorcery and wizardry. Guy might harness actual power of Luna through some evil rituals and bathing in virgin blood, even.

>something a human village would band together against
Well, if one isn't ready to put up with occasional human raid why bother playing elves at all?

[Little Bill]

@Eyeruption
>Aren't elves more like gaelic Fair Folk in this setting?
Goblins, elves, fairies, and other sorts of troublemaking imps from European folklore all fall under the "Fair Folk" umbrella from classical mythology. I was talking modern fantasy D&D style goblins: Pests that attack in numbers and at night, which seems to also be the case for our elves, which conduct terror attacks and kidnappings because evil.

>The world's still magical and full of superstition, duh.
That's all well and good, but I wasn't asking how he justifies worshipping and killing for the moon so much as he justifies being a templar-style holy knight without any active crusade. Is he supposed to be a knight in a more figurative sense?

>Well, if one isn't ready to put up with occasional human raid why bother playing elves at all?
The point I was making was that it seems like an elf -- a driven-back species outnumbered and outarmed by humans -- who is killing humans for that broad of a reason, would probably get killed pretty quickly, or at least become a much bigger target.

[Eyeruption]

@DeadBeatWalking
I dunno, really. If elves truly are no more than contemptible pests in the setting like mischievous imps in modern reflections of old myths, yet pests who wreck so much shit and are constantly doing so many evil things to humanity it'd make sense for them to be completely exterminated long before the events of the RP. I think that in this game, elves are a subject of honest fear and terror for humans, which is why they still survive without being made extinct by the humanity.

[Jb]

@DeadBeatWalking@Eyeruption

I guess I may want to clear up a few things here, as both of you make good points, but things also seem to be getting mixed up here.

The Elves are not evil, nor are they like D&D style goblins (although some might be!). What they are are more exaggerated versions of the Fae/Fairy Folk/Little People found in European mythology but also retaining those features.

One example of this might be that a farmer promises an 'Elf' - which is the name by which most humans call anything not a Troll, Giant etc - a portion of his harvest if it is good. When the time comes the farmer goes back on his promise, something particularly heinous to our Elf. Not only does our injured party set fire to the entire crop, but the next day the farmer finds his child replaced by a sickly thing imitating his only son, haunting laughter and a babies cries coming from somewhere and nowhere at once.

The terror attacks and the like are not so much out of evil and malevolant motivations, but more because of a burning desire to retain a place both in the pantheon of human memory and within their own 'realm' as it were.

This setting - as I shall explain more in the OOC - is split between two worlds, that of the human world and that of the more fantastical world 'beyond the veil'. Elvenkind, and differing kinds of Elves, aren't wholly accepted in either realm, both because of their own warmongering actions in their early history and because of the fact that they failed in trying to achieve dominance which has left them in this mess.

I think that in this game, elves are a subject of honest fear and terror for humans, which is why they still survive without being made extinct by the humanity.

This is true; think of what reverance and even fear that simple Fairies at the bottom of the garden have been held in over the centuries, how stories of carin-dwelling Trowls and mystical standing stones still permeates our collective psyche to this day. Once driven back into a varying wilderness and exile, over time they were forgotten as vicious killers, as beings who had once tried to commit genocide on an entire race, but became rememgered as milk-sourers and mischevious sprites...still feared, but also mocked and scoffed at by those more inclined to science. Many believing that they never exist/existed at all.

I'll get some more up later, got to sleep now.

[Jb]

<Snipped quote by Eyeruption>

Where does the semi-justified reason come in? It just seems like your guy kills or blinds anyone who looks at the moon because he's crazy, which sounds like something a human village would band together against considering elves being equivalent to goblins in this setting.

Also @Jbcool, would there be elf-orcs, or is that too much of a genetic leap for non-stillborn offspring?

It would be hated/feared more than your usual Elf, if not killed at birth, but I'll allow it.

I decided that since we're basically RPing as more chaotic evil versions of the elves from Elfquest, I'm gonna have a character in a threemateship, but I haven't decided on two wives or a wife and a husband. Where do the elves fall on the acceptance scale for things of that sort?

See above for refute of the first, but I'd happily allow a threemateship if you like. Got no problem there.

Last question! The elves live in remote places like swamps, forests, and caves -- Do they have the tech and resources to make metal and fabric, or do they use stone weapons and wear furs?

That is entirely up to the writer of the character, each Elven 'people' living within their own realms beyond the veil - essentially the 'curtain' through which man cannot peer, but on the other side where most mythical creatures dwell. Think of mediums and the veil between the living and dead. So, if you wished to have an Elf that lives in the mountains and uses the ore there to make metal, or one who lives in the woods and weaves his clothing from gossamer, then that's all good. If you'd like one that wields a stone club and wears animal pelts...that's fine too.

@DeadBeatWalking

@DeadBeatWalking
>elves being equivalent to goblins in this setting
Aren't elves more like twisted gaelic Fair Folk in this setting?

This is correct, but not simply Gaelic, cast your net to a wider European range - redcaps, Heinzelmännchen, or indeed many others. They dwell (for the most part) alongside such creatures as the Kelpie, Selkie and Faun in a place where time has no meaning.

>Where does the semi-justified reason come in?
The world's still magical and full of superstition, duh. I bet there are many gods, occasional miracles and other wondrous and horrible happenings, not to speak of actual sorcery and wizardry. Guy might harness actual power of Luna through some evil rituals and bathing in virgin blood, even.

There are miracles and the like, just as there are in our own world, but actual magic as seen in most High Fantasy is pretty rare indeed. That being said, I do agree that just going about blinding/killing anyone looking at the moon is a wee bit too crazy. To most humans though, the moon is just the moon.

@Eyeruption

@AlysCole@XSilentWingsX@Southern Sun@POOHEAD189

Righto, to any and all interested parties, I'll have an OOC up sometime tomorrow. Until then, I advise you to read this thread, and if you have any questions/ideas then lets hear them.

Thank you.

[Slamurai]

Unconventional elves => best elves. Piss on the clichés!

I'm down for this; looks like a fresh take on fantasy that's sorely needed.