Elf Honor? That word doesn’t exist in the elven language. -- Tharak, human guard Athas’ deserts, plains, steppes and badlands are home to the elves, a long-limbed race of trading, raiding, thieving sprinters. Running is key to acceptance and respect among elves. Elves who are injured and cannot run are often left to die. Personality: Other races see elves as dishonest and lazy; generally a fair assessment. Elves idle around their time for days until compelled by need to exert themselves, but they can run for days without complaint. No self-respecting elf will consent to ride an animal. To do so is dishonorable; elven custom dictates that individuals keep up or be left behind. Elves prefer to lead short, happy lives rather than long, boring ones. Seeing the future as a dark, deadly place, they prefer to live in “the now,” enjoying each fleeting moment. They thrive in open spaces, and tend to wither in captivity. Physical: Elves stand between 6 and 7 feet tall, with lean builds; angular, deeply etched features; and no facial hair. They dress in garb designed to protect from the desert and elements. Relations: Elves tend to keep to their own tribe and their proven friends unless they have some sort of an angle - something to sell, or some deception to pass off. Strangers are potential enemies waiting to take advantage of them, so elves look for every opportunity to win the advantage. If an elf believes that a companion might make a worthy friend, the elf devises a series of “tests” of trust that allow the companion to prove that their friendship is “stronger than the bonds of death,” as elves say. Once a stranger has gained an elf’s trust, he is forever that elf’s friend. If this trust is ever betrayed, it is gone forever. Lands: Always at home when running the wastes, elves often act as if all plains and badlands were elven lands. However, since most elves are loath to settle or build, they can rarely enforce their claims. Elven tribes make a living either through herding, raiding or trading; most tribes have at one time or another plied their hand at all three of these occupations. A tribe’s current occupation usually determines which lands they currently claim as their own. Elven herders claim grazing lands. Elven raiders claim lands crossed by trade routes. Elven traders claim no lands, but wander in search of bargains and loose purses. Role-playing Suggestions Rely on elven combat skills (distance, bows, and fighting by the light of the moons and stars). Use elven non-combat skills and philosophy (running, escape from entangling situations or relationships). When someone professes to be your friend, dismiss them at first and then later, offer them a test of trust. Don’t tell them that it is a test, of course. Ask them to give you one of their prize possessions, for example, or leave your own valuables out and see if they take advantage of you. Pretend to sleep, and find out what they say about you when they think you are not listening. Some elves go as far as to allow themselves to be captured to see if the presumed friend will rescue them!