The elves of the Known World hail from a mighty empire to the east known as Tengoku no Niwa, the Garden of Heaven. It is an island nation, isolated from the rest of the Mainland continent, and the flora and fauna is like nothing else found anywhere on the Known World. Their separation from the Mainland has made the elves become isolationists themselves. It is not that they are xenophobic, they do not fear other cultures; they just believe they are superior to the other cultures. This sense of superiority comes from their mythos, their religion. Ancient lore of the elves tells them that the kami created the world and then created 7 generations of beings, the seventh being the elves themselves who were born from the womb of the sun kami, Amaterasu, their patron deity. Other races of the Known World believe they were created by their gods, but the elves were born, giving them divine blood, descendants of the kami themselves, elevating them above the others, in their own eyes.
The elves, as a people, conform to a rigid caste system that permeates through their entire society. The elves are divided into a series of ruling clans (among them are four Great Clans that were the first above all the others), and each clan has their place and their purpose within the empire. Furthermore, each clan is broken down into individual families, and like the clans within the empire, the families have their purpose within the clans.
Personality: The personality of an elf is influenced by which clan they hail from. Elves of the Swallow Tail Clan are elegant and noble, they are masters of iaijutsu and duels of honor. The Timber Wolf Clan elves are proud and loyal samurai who are devoted to the protection of the empire.
There are certain common personality threads that run through all the clans. Elves stand on ceremony a great deal, the have a ceremony for all the important aspects of life. Elves also strive for personal perfection in all aspects of their lives; from the rise of the sun to the ascending of the moon the elves work diligently to perfect the skills they have dedicated their lives to.
Physical Description: Elves are tall and solidly built people, similar to humans, but they tend to have leaner, more lithe builds. Skin tones range from a dark to light yellowish-brown, and their hair is almost universally black, with some having a chestnut brown coloring. No elves are blonde but the rare albinos have hair of stark white. Only some of the Great Clans, mostly those of the royal or samurai cast, are populated with elves that are able to grow facial hair. Elven eyes are almond shaped and intense. Like their hair, their eyes are dark and intense being either black, brown, or gray, with some having eyes of blue. Alternate coloration can vary from clan to clan. The final distinguishing characteristic of the elves are their elongated ears that end in pointed tips.
Relations: Rivalries and sometimes open warfare between the clans are the rule of the land in Tengoku no Niwa, in fact many of the higher caste clans gained their rank by beating and subjugating other clans. Higher ranked clans rule freely over lower ranked clans.
Outside of the elven empire, the elves view very few people as their equals. Among the races of the empire they get along well with spirit folk and hengeyokai the most and see only the tengu as their true equals. The nezumi and the vanara are seen as beneath them.
Of all the western races, the elves view the minotaur as their equals; the minotaur sense of honor and martial prowess endears them to the elven ways. Elves have an open hostility towards the dwarven clans.
Elven hate is reserved for the nomadic tribes of the orcs. The twisted, vile creatures share a heritage with the elves, being the born of the sixth generation of divinities, and the orcs are inherently jealous of the elven position in the Known World. This loss of the divine lottery has led to the orcs waging open war on the elven empire.
Elves only have a fear of one one race of the Known World, the Kreen races. The two cultures came into contact hundreds of years ago when the elves first set foot on the Western Continent. The thri-kreen soon discovered they had a taste for elven flesh.
Alignment: The elves are an honorable people and adhere to the laws of the empire and the universe. Though there are occasional variances among the clans, for the most part the elven people are Lawful in alignment, with leanings towards Good and a few being Neutral.
Elven Lands: Elves are isolationists and have rarely ever left the empire of Tengoku no Niwa. The empire is a land of exotic flora and fauna that can be found no were else in the Known World. Their environment have had a profound affect on their society, from everything from construction materials to their diet.
Tengoku no Niwa is an an empire that consists of seven different islands that boarder the Western Continent to the east. The largest of these Islands, Saisho no Tochi, is where the elves mostly populate. The other islands are home to the tengu, vanara, orcs, nezumi, ogres, and the yuan-ti. The spirit folk inhabit the same lands as the elves and the hengeyokai families are spread out across all seven islands.
Religion: The elves worship an organization of divinities known as the Celestial Bureaucracy, a pantheon of kami, natural spirits of the Known World, whom they worship as gods. Many of the eastern races, such as the vanara and the nezumi, worship these kami as well.
Language: The elves, no matter the clan, all speak the elven language as their native tongue. Elvenese is to the eastern races, what the common tongue is to the western races. Almost all of the eastern races learn to speak elvenese and use it as their universal language. Elves also learn many of the languages associated with the races they typically associate with, such as the vanara, the nezumi, tengu and hengeyokai. They also have been known to be fluent in the spirit tongue.
Names: In the elven culture, the family is greater than the individual. As such, the family name is placed ahead of the individual name, the reverse of most of the other cultures of the Known World. For example, an elf named Hiro who is born into the Nakamura family would be known and addressed as Nakamura Hiro.
Elven Family Names: Common family names are listed under the individual entries for the clans.
Elven Male Names: Akahito, Asahi, Haruto, Haru, Hinata, Hiro, Kaito, Reo, Riku, and Sora.
Elven Female Names: Aka, Chizuru, Junko, Kaori, Kiko, Machi, Maki, Nami, and Yayoi.
Listed here are the common traits of all elves no matter which of the clans they come from. For a more detailed listing of elven traits, look over the Great Clans and see which clans provide what bonuses, limitations, and traits.
COMMON ELVEN TRAITS
CLANS, HOUSES, AND FAMILIES
The elven social and ruling structure is based strongly around the clan system. Among the elves are the four Great Clans which were the founding clans of the Elven Empire, a series of Lesser Clans that populate the elven home nation of Saisho no Tochi, and the secretive Ninja Clans. Further, within each clan are the major houses that populate them.
When a player creates an elven character he must choose a clan from which his elf hails, and then a house within that clan that elf is affiliated with. When a player creates an elf and chooses a family for the character to belong to, the family name does not necessarily have to be one of the established houses, though he does have to choose a house for his elf to be affiliated with. For example the elven representative within the Quadrial is Yutaka Kuga. There is no House Yutaka, however the Yutaka family is affiliated with House Kanbe, thus gaining House Kanbe benefits. This allows players and DM's to create their own families and back stories for campaign purposes, without being restricted to only the listed houses.
Each clan has it's own bonuses and penalties, and each house has a listed class skill. This skill does not gain any bonuses, but it is considered a class skill no matter what the player's class is.
CASTE SYSTEM
Further, within the elven hierarchy is a rigid caste system that all elves abide by. Which caste an elf belongs to is not something that can be chosen, an elf is born into his caste and it is generally determined by which house the elf belongs to. The caste that a house belongs to usually remains a constant and never changes. Though through great deeds a house could gain notoriety and by the will of their clan daimyo have their house elevated. For example, 400 years ago House Hantá was elevated from the peasant caste to the samurai caste, though this is an incredibly rare example.
Some castes are limited to which classes are available to them.
The first and highest caste is the Noble caste, and this makes up the ruling families of the empire; the emperor, shogun, and daimyos all come from this caste. Those of the Noble caste are the only ones allowed to own land, with the daimyo owning all the land of a clan province, everyone else just rents it from him (through taxes). They hold the greatest status and influence within the empire, and they are responsible for the governing of all of Tengoku no Niwa. Elves of the Noble caste are limited to the courtier, fighter, noble, rogue, and their clan's favored class, as well as the aristocrat NPC class.
The Samurai caste is right below the Nobles and the Second most powerful caste in the empire, having significant influence and rights within society. For example, the Samurai have the right to execute anyone of a lower caste who disrespects them. They are, however, expected to behave like gentlemen and act as role models in society. Those of the Samurai caste may choose their class from the courtier, samurai , shugenja, and their clan's favored class. Also, Samurai may be of the warrior NPC class All these classes, while a member of the Samurai class, are permitted to wear the daisho (katana and wakazashi) in public. However, only those who are ready to wield them in battle wear both. Those who are permitted to wear the daisho but do not consider themselves swordsmen will wear only the wakazashi.
The Peasant caste is below the Noble and Samurai castes, and the people are legally bound to the landlord (daimyo) wo owns their land. The Peasants have a few civil rights, and they do not pay taxes in coin. The responsibility of the Peasant caste is to grow and harvest crops, as well as raise livestock for labor (horses, oxen, cows, and the like). Every year at harvest the Peasants give a portion of their crop over to the Nobles as taxes. The crops are then redistributed throughout the clan province and is used to feed the empire. As one can see, the Peasants play a very important role in the social structure of the Elven Empire, and they are the largest of all the castes. Classes available to the Peasant caste include barbarian, fighter, mariner, ranger, rogue shaman, sorcerer, wu jen, the clan's favorite class (unless it is samurai or shugenja), and the NPC classes adept, commoner, expert, and warrior.
The lowest caste of elves is the Chonin caste. They are the craftsmen, artisans, fishermen, and merchants of elven empire. The merchants are the most despised of the Chonin cast for the often times underhanded way in which they do their business. The Chonin and Peasant cast are often co-existing within the same house, with some families being Peasants and some being Chonin. The Chonin are responsible for trader and commerce within the empire, it is their responsibility to keep the economy strong and to keep it growing. Many families within the Chonin caste have been elevated to the Samurai caste. When a successful Chonin family achieves a respectable amount of wealth, a Samurai family will unite the two families through marriage to strengthen their own wealth. Classes available to the Chonin caste are mariner, noble (many successful merchants have the equivalent skills of the noble class), ranger, rogue, the clan's favorite class (except samurai and shugenja), and the aristocrat, commoner, and expert NPC classes.
While technically not a caste, there is one lower social class beneath the Chonin; the Untouchables, Outcasts, those who are considered half-an-elf, the hāfu. The hāfu take onhe occupations that are deemed unclean and tainted. Undertakers, butchers, and tanners/leathersmiths are just a few of the occupations taken up by these half-elves.
