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High
Elven Culture
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In order to clearly understand the concepts of the High Elven culture, it is
first important to understand the basics of the Asur themselves:
High Elves are a fairly conservative warrior-aristocracy society with a greater
understanding of magic and a far better developed mystical tradition.
The abstract elven psyche is both mystical and logical – creating a nearly
perfect balance between the two. They have a strong influence of seeing the
duality of things, and do not limit themselves to the one-sided view of things,
always, allowing them to see much beyond the extend of humans, who tend to be
the antithesis of this. They have a male and a female ruler, and the very
characters in their language cannot mean one single thing, but represent many.
Elves can be seen as emotional creatures, perceived by some as empathetic, as
well as passionate about things in which they take liking to. However, despite
this trait, they can also be rash when angered, and many elves have a temper
about them, with a great dislike to being wrong (though the Asur themselves do
not indulge in this trait to nearly the degree that their dark cousins do). They
are extremely focused beings, and it is rumored that elves may look at a
painting for what seems to have been a single moment, and become so intrigued in
every little detail of it, that they will lose track of time and a year will
have passed by when they finish. Even such interesting topics could take a
thousand years to fully contemplate. With there long life spans, time in
comparison to that of human, is less important. Elves also have a great love of
intrigue – they are a political race, and do enjoy the aspects of this quality
to the fullest.
Highly adept at magic, it enhances their everyday lives. Though it is not
perceived to be a highly dependent source of obtaining something, it will be
used to improve the quality of something. For example, magic will be used to
strengthen the toughness of a building, and protecting it with charms, as seen
with the White Tower of Hoeth. They might also use it to fulfill the tedious
tasks of life, such as sending a message. If it is indeed dire enough, elves are
not unknown to ‘mage-burn’ a letter to its destination, which implies a use
of magic to transport the message over far distances. This practice of lessening
the stresses of life is particularly used by mage trainees, who are taught the
blessings of Isha, which are not powerful spells, just potent enough to relieve
the elves of the tasks of their daily chores, which might require work or
servants.
High Elves and their Dark Kin
They also have a very dark side. Its worth remembering that Elves and Dark Elves
are not different races. They are the same race with two cultural branches. I
think the two branches have defined themselves as negative images of each other.
You know the fact that the Dark Elves are so decadent drives the High Elves to
be noble, and vice versa. I also think that both branches have far more in
common than they would care to admit. Which is not to say that there are not
real differences. The worship of those old Dark Gods will do strange things to
any society.
Another analogy I would use, is to the way the West percieves China. They
are a very sophisticated artistic people in a world that does not really value
this and is generally far more concerned with the mechanics of day to day
survival. This is another thing that contributes to their sense of superiority
over the other more " brutish" races.
The earlier editions of Warhammer portrayed the High Elves as being very
Melnibončan in character. They weren't keen on 'work', and preferred to spend
their time pursuing leisurely activities or pursuing court intrigue. That would
have fit with the later editions of the High Elves, perhaps, but not the current
one now.
I don't think the two views of Elves are mutually exclusive. The 4th edition
simply placed a different emphasis on what was described and what was not. I
think this was done partially to heighten the contrast between the High Elves
and the Dark Elves.
For example, both races love intrigue. Dark Elves however will go to no end to achieve their goal while High Elves will stick to words, spoken or written, as weapons, leaving the knives for their dark kin. Their language, battle tactics and religion also have much in common.
High Elven Music
It is without question that the elves have a high value on the art of music.
Their songs are renowned throughout the world as some of the fairest creations
ever to have been forged, even though only elves can understand and comprehend them. While humans and halflings and dwarves and the like
might use words to convey a message in a song, the elves use the tones and
pitches to instill the emotion unto the listeners. It is through this distinct
method that the elven beauty is presented, and it is almost eerie and unearthly
to anyone else who might hear it, yet so much that it is strikingly fascinating.
Song is also a way for the elves to clear their mind of emotion – a form of
self-expression to free themselves of the tensions of their lives.
For instruments, elves primarily use their own voices – being musical in their
very nature. They also favor the sounds of the harp and the horn, as well as a
flute. In some of the outer kingdoms particularly, a drum will be favored,
providing a monotonous beat, which helps to enhance the particular emotion
expressed in the song.
High Elven Literature
It is perceived that the basis of elven literature is poetry. In general, the
nature of the poems are more philosophical, rather than emotional. It is also
thought that the High Elves do not usually write their poems down. This is
because of supremeness of the moment in which they are written. It describes the
world as it was at that very moment – and yet between the second it takes it
bring that moment to the next, the world can have changed completely.
The poetry written by the elves can vary in theme, especially by the location of
the kingdom, and the beliefs that are harbored there. In places of former
splendor, like Caledor and Tiranoc, poems might be more comparable to epic
proportion, where they tell of some great hero of old, or the glory of the
golden age. However, somewhere like Lothern might see a more wide variety of
themes, as the quick-paced nature of the city-state tends to lead it to new
extents brought in by the commotion of the world trade.
In Saphery in particular, however, poetry takes a different meaning. The
Swordmasters of Hoeth tend to use poetry to sharpen their minds and harness its
skill. They desire to reach a state of precision with the quill, saying much
while saying little. However, half the challenge to perceive these abstract
concepts is to decipher the dual meaning behind the words – as the very
language of the Asur consists of multiple values.
Despite this great emphasis on poetry, elves have been known to write
manuscripts. These, however, like their poems, tend to concern ideas more
commonly than feelings, as well as be a historical novel about occurrences. Most
fiction written by the elves is seldom done out of imagination for little
purpose – but more so to create a world that entertains the reader while
conveying some idea to them that the author wishes to share, thus enhancing the
quality of the read and creating a system of value based on how well the message
is conveyed through this particular setting. | |
