I am trying to figure out why an Elven child would run away from Evermeet. Evermeet is pretty much a paradise for Elves; it is as close to Arvandor as an Elf could get, without actually dying. So what would make a not just an Elf, but an Elven child, who has not known anything else but the beauty and splendour of Evermeet, run away?
I am thinking that they discovered something, some kind of truth that was so old and so terrible and so deeply buried in the depths of their Reverie, that they could no longer bear to be amongst their kind. Now they are a young runaway (still a child by elven standards but still much more powerful than your average commoner) who is pursued by other Elves that were sent after them to bring them back to Evermeet where the truth could be suppressed.
They would be like the guardian of this tremendous terrible truth about the Elves. A truth so dangerous that the elders of Evermeet would stop at nothing to see the character returned "home."
Do you guys have any thoughts on what this thing could be - preferably something lore-based? Or at least any other ideas about what would name an Elven child run away from Evermeet?
Cheers
Foxes XD
EDIT --
As a side thought, I was wondering if maybe they could have remembered being a Dark Elf, before the Dark Elves became "evil" and were punished for following Lolth. They would have already died and reincarnated as a different kind of Elf by the time the Dark Elves were punished, and so the punishment did not apply to them, but they remembered being a Dark Elf, in a time very close to the beginning.
To avoid an abusive mother, falling in love with an Elven Sailor or Pioneer headed for Faerun, exiled for a crime, religious vision showing them their destiny is elsewhere, ect...
Evermeet is filled with old elves. Old elves telling you what to do. (No, do not set the table that way. This family has put the little spoon at a 33.8 degree angle for the past 300 years, we are NOT going to get into that argument again. Oh, that's the third bell - time to get 3 quarts plus one ounce of water from the well.)
Evermeet is a Matriachry. Sure the guys are allowed to serve on the High Council, but the Queen only listens to the Matrons.
Evermeet is an island and elves are not known for huge cities. Probably limited options for people your own age, let alone ones you like. They are probably very lonely. Particularly enough to have sex with. Horny little elf wants to go out and and get some. I hear those humans will put out for anyone with pointy ears. Hubba Hubba.
But to inject a little bit of real world philosophy "Peace and Freedom are Opposites. The more you get one, the more you have to give up the other." Place like Evermeet strikes me as relatively peaceful, which means they have to give up some freedom. Whatever it is, there will be elves that like to wander and get out from under the thumb of their family/rulers.
Evermeet is filled with old elves. Old elves telling you what to do. (No, do not set the table that way. This family has put the little spoon at a 33.8 degree angle for the past 300 years, we are NOT going to get into that argument again. Oh, that's the third bell - time to get 3 quarts plus one ounce of water from the well.)
Evermeet is a Matriachry. Sure the guys are allowed to serve on the High Council, but the Queen only listens to the Matrons.
Evermeet is an island and elves are not known for huge cities. Probably limited options for people your own age, let alone ones you like. They are probably very lonely. Particularly enough to have sex with. Horny little elf wants to go out and and get some. I hear those humans will put out for anyone with pointy ears. Hubba Hubba.
But to inject a little bit of real world philosophy "Peace and Freedom are Opposites. The more you get one, the more you have to give up the other." Place like Evermeet strikes me as relatively peaceful, which means they have to give up some freedom. Whatever it is, there will be elves that like to wander and get out from under the thumb of their family/rulers.
The Queen disappeared sometime after the Spellplague, Evermeet has been ruled by a council ever since.
Evermeet is filled with old elves. Old elves telling you what to do. (No, do not set the table that way. This family has put the little spoon at a 33.8 degree angle for the past 300 years, we are NOT going to get into that argument again. Oh, that's the third bell - time to get 3 quarts plus one ounce of water from the well.)
Evermeet is a Matriachry. Sure the guys are allowed to serve on the High Council, but the Queen only listens to the Matrons.
Evermeet is an island and elves are not known for huge cities. Probably limited options for people your own age, let alone ones you like. They are probably very lonely. Particularly enough to have sex with. Horny little elf wants to go out and and get some. I hear those humans will put out for anyone with pointy ears. Hubba Hubba.
But to inject a little bit of real world philosophy "Peace and Freedom are Opposites. The more you get one, the more you have to give up the other." Place like Evermeet strikes me as relatively peaceful, which means they have to give up some freedom. Whatever it is, there will be elves that like to wander and get out from under the thumb of their family/rulers.
The Queen disappeared sometime after the Spellplague, Evermeet has been ruled by a council ever since.
Well, that's what the Council tells you. Don't listen to the fake news!
Truthfully, it doesn't matter who is in charge, the principals are the same. Old elves rule, young obey. Until they run away.
Evermeet is culturally stagnant. Living there means doing what hidebound elders tell you to do until three centuries later you realize you've turned into a hidebound elder yourself. Young elves that actually want to do things with their life, or try seeing far-off, exotic places with their own eyes rather than just read about them, or get a chance to meet other races, or practice their skills with blades and magic against real opponents... all of these are reasons why someone might want to leave.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
There's also the assumption that Evermeet is a paradise in the first place. While the elves certainly like to portray it, and basically every other ancient elven enclave ever, as being such, a lot of that is propaganda. Let's not forget the number of times that elves have brought down their own golden cities by doing something stupid. And also that elves are very prone to being stuck-up jerks.
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Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Why would someone living in paradise risk it all just to taste an apple? Because it is there, and because after tasting everything else for an eternity (since no one ages in paradise), tasting something different may be the true heaven to you. The fact that there are children in Evermeet implies there is reproduction. If there is reproduction and no death, then it would eventually get overcrowded with all the related social issues. If no one ever got bored and left, they would likely all end up in endless war trying in vain to kill each other.
Where that is somewhat true, there is only a limited number of Elven souls to start with. So their population can't ever expand beyond that total number. Elves live and die and are reborn in a continuous cycle. So just because there are children on Evermeet doesnt mean that the population has to be ever expanding.
I think the idea of "been there done that" is really a good reason though. Like you and other have said, constantly repeating the same thing over and over again would get boring. Then there is the whole thing that elves are actually incredibly curious and fleeting beings. Or at least they were in the begining.
I can see that having a mortal form may have lessened that fleeting curiousity, but I doubt that it could take it away entirely and perhaps, every once in a while, and Elf is born who is much closer to the way Elves were meant to be. Curious and fleeting and wanting to explore. To see eveything, to be everything, to learn and grow and truly know themselves and their God, beyond what modern elves could.
I imagine that such chaotic, fleeting curiosity would be considered extremely dangerous by other Elves.
So perhaps running away was literally the only way that they could be free to be the person they knew in their soul, there were meant to be.
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
I would recommend the Saga of Recluce by LE Modesitt Jr to answer this. Because there is a lot to unpack in why anyone would leave an ordered paradise. The series has some great books (and some slow places), but this tale of learning how to be different in a world where you don't fit in has some strong correlations to growing up as an elf in paradise.
Without knowing class or anything else, it makes it hard to just jump right in and say. Some classes lend themselves more to taking off. Thief? Get out and make their mark... or got in trouble with someone important. Sorcerer? Hey! You guys look at me differently because my magic is innate... but... I got this! Fighter? I already know everything my teacher can teach me and they want me to do this another 40 years? Paladin? I've been called by my deity to go to this place! Cleric? How many elves get hurt in paradise? I must go among people of other lands to help heal them and see the ways of our people truly. Warlock? I made a Pact... and no one must know... Barbarian? I know... I know... I broke it again... I'm sorry... or the shunned anger-in-paradise syndrome. Ok, so basically most of the classes quickly work out to have easy reasons to leave paradise. Except Wizard.
Although Elven magic, and specifically Elven high magic, can be tremendous, it is not the be-all and end-all of everything. There is magic out there even older and more potent than that of the Elves. Besides, any Wizard worth their salt would want to explore all the magic of the world and not just the magic their elders or ancestors could teach them.
The whole thing about Wizards is that they become so powerful through the study and exploration of all the magic of the world. We just have to look at the most powerful Wizards; the good and the bad, throughout history and the breadth and scope of their research to know that.
Elves are perhaps unique amongst the mortal races, in that they live long enough to master many forms of magic, so maybe after 100 years or so of learning Elven magic, they are eager to learn something new, and the only way they can do that, is to run away.
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A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Thanks to all the new people who are giving me their responses to this question. Coming back to this after a little while away from it, seems ot have given me a fresh perspective on this character.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Although Elven magic, and specifically Elven high magic, can be tremendous, it is not the be-all and end-all of everything. There is magic out there even older and more potent than that of the Elves. Besides, any Wizard worth their salt would want to explore all the magic of the world and not just the magic their elders or ancestors could teach them.
The whole thing about Wizards is that they become so powerful through the study and exploration of all the magic of the world. We just have to look at the most powerful Wizards; the good and the bad, throughout history and the breadth and scope of their research to know that.
Elves are perhaps unique amongst the mortal races, in that they live long enough to master many forms of magic, so maybe after 100 years or so of learning Elven magic, they are eager to learn something new, and the only way they can do that, is to run away.
Oh... yes, Elven Wizards definitely want to go and explore... my "Except Wizards" was more towards the burden of study that is typically placed on Wizards and that spells would be withheld from an elven child for some time. They are going to be learning Arcane arts, certainly, but elves typically have a much more formal method of studying spellcraft. Maybe a wizard student would see that "Oh, this is going to take a long time" and skip out to learn from a human somewhere... but that is a human construct placed over an elf. Few elves without severe trauma see things in a short view. And how would they acquire a trauma like that in Evermeet?
My other consideration would be... if you have an Elven Child that leaves Evermeet and then basically begins learning, what all are you giving up to achieve it? They should no longer have access to bonus weapon proficiencies. Probably not have the +1 to Intelligence either. Maybe they learned the cantrip... that would probably come early on. And maybe they learned the language as a child and not as part of formal training. Bonus to Perception could probably go either way depending on whether you believe it is training that helped them to be more perceptive or if it was innate.
Hi, guys
I am trying to figure out why an Elven child would run away from Evermeet. Evermeet is pretty much a paradise for Elves; it is as close to Arvandor as an Elf could get, without actually dying. So what would make a not just an Elf, but an Elven child, who has not known anything else but the beauty and splendour of Evermeet, run away?
I am thinking that they discovered something, some kind of truth that was so old and so terrible and so deeply buried in the depths of their Reverie, that they could no longer bear to be amongst their kind. Now they are a young runaway (still a child by elven standards but still much more powerful than your average commoner) who is pursued by other Elves that were sent after them to bring them back to Evermeet where the truth could be suppressed.
They would be like the guardian of this tremendous terrible truth about the Elves. A truth so dangerous that the elders of Evermeet would stop at nothing to see the character returned "home."
Do you guys have any thoughts on what this thing could be - preferably something lore-based? Or at least any other ideas about what would name an Elven child run away from Evermeet?
Cheers
Foxes XD
EDIT --
As a side thought, I was wondering if maybe they could have remembered being a Dark Elf, before the Dark Elves became "evil" and were punished for following Lolth. They would have already died and reincarnated as a different kind of Elf by the time the Dark Elves were punished, and so the punishment did not apply to them, but they remembered being a Dark Elf, in a time very close to the beginning.
Would this be possible?
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
To avoid an abusive mother, falling in love with an Elven Sailor or Pioneer headed for Faerun, exiled for a crime, religious vision showing them their destiny is elsewhere, ect...
One man's paradise is another man's prison.
But to inject a little bit of real world philosophy "Peace and Freedom are Opposites. The more you get one, the more you have to give up the other." Place like Evermeet strikes me as relatively peaceful, which means they have to give up some freedom. Whatever it is, there will be elves that like to wander and get out from under the thumb of their family/rulers.
The Queen disappeared sometime after the Spellplague, Evermeet has been ruled by a council ever since.
Well, that's what the Council tells you. Don't listen to the fake news!
Truthfully, it doesn't matter who is in charge, the principals are the same. Old elves rule, young obey. Until they run away.
Evermeet is culturally stagnant. Living there means doing what hidebound elders tell you to do until three centuries later you realize you've turned into a hidebound elder yourself. Young elves that actually want to do things with their life, or try seeing far-off, exotic places with their own eyes rather than just read about them, or get a chance to meet other races, or practice their skills with blades and magic against real opponents... all of these are reasons why someone might want to leave.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
There's also the assumption that Evermeet is a paradise in the first place. While the elves certainly like to portray it, and basically every other ancient elven enclave ever, as being such, a lot of that is propaganda. Let's not forget the number of times that elves have brought down their own golden cities by doing something stupid. And also that elves are very prone to being stuck-up jerks.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Where that is somewhat true, there is only a limited number of Elven souls to start with. So their population can't ever expand beyond that total number. Elves live and die and are reborn in a continuous cycle. So just because there are children on Evermeet doesnt mean that the population has to be ever expanding.
I think the idea of "been there done that" is really a good reason though. Like you and other have said, constantly repeating the same thing over and over again would get boring. Then there is the whole thing that elves are actually incredibly curious and fleeting beings. Or at least they were in the begining.
I can see that having a mortal form may have lessened that fleeting curiousity, but I doubt that it could take it away entirely and perhaps, every once in a while, and Elf is born who is much closer to the way Elves were meant to be. Curious and fleeting and wanting to explore. To see eveything, to be everything, to learn and grow and truly know themselves and their God, beyond what modern elves could.
I imagine that such chaotic, fleeting curiosity would be considered extremely dangerous by other Elves.
So perhaps running away was literally the only way that they could be free to be the person they knew in their soul, there were meant to be.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Why do you need a reason? Just say that elven teenagers are the same as human teenagers - irrational. :-)
I would recommend the Saga of Recluce by LE Modesitt Jr to answer this. Because there is a lot to unpack in why anyone would leave an ordered paradise. The series has some great books (and some slow places), but this tale of learning how to be different in a world where you don't fit in has some strong correlations to growing up as an elf in paradise.
Without knowing class or anything else, it makes it hard to just jump right in and say. Some classes lend themselves more to taking off. Thief? Get out and make their mark... or got in trouble with someone important. Sorcerer? Hey! You guys look at me differently because my magic is innate... but... I got this! Fighter? I already know everything my teacher can teach me and they want me to do this another 40 years? Paladin? I've been called by my deity to go to this place! Cleric? How many elves get hurt in paradise? I must go among people of other lands to help heal them and see the ways of our people truly. Warlock? I made a Pact... and no one must know... Barbarian? I know... I know... I broke it again... I'm sorry... or the shunned anger-in-paradise syndrome. Ok, so basically most of the classes quickly work out to have easy reasons to leave paradise. Except Wizard.
I would argue that even a Wizard has a reason.
Although Elven magic, and specifically Elven high magic, can be tremendous, it is not the be-all and end-all of everything. There is magic out there even older and more potent than that of the Elves. Besides, any Wizard worth their salt would want to explore all the magic of the world and not just the magic their elders or ancestors could teach them.
The whole thing about Wizards is that they become so powerful through the study and exploration of all the magic of the world. We just have to look at the most powerful Wizards; the good and the bad, throughout history and the breadth and scope of their research to know that.
Elves are perhaps unique amongst the mortal races, in that they live long enough to master many forms of magic, so maybe after 100 years or so of learning Elven magic, they are eager to learn something new, and the only way they can do that, is to run away.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Thanks to all the new people who are giving me their responses to this question. Coming back to this after a little while away from it, seems ot have given me a fresh perspective on this character.
A caffeinated nerd who has played TTRPGs or a number of years and is very much a fantasy adventure geek.
Oh... yes, Elven Wizards definitely want to go and explore... my "Except Wizards" was more towards the burden of study that is typically placed on Wizards and that spells would be withheld from an elven child for some time. They are going to be learning Arcane arts, certainly, but elves typically have a much more formal method of studying spellcraft. Maybe a wizard student would see that "Oh, this is going to take a long time" and skip out to learn from a human somewhere... but that is a human construct placed over an elf. Few elves without severe trauma see things in a short view. And how would they acquire a trauma like that in Evermeet?
My other consideration would be... if you have an Elven Child that leaves Evermeet and then basically begins learning, what all are you giving up to achieve it? They should no longer have access to bonus weapon proficiencies. Probably not have the +1 to Intelligence either. Maybe they learned the cantrip... that would probably come early on. And maybe they learned the language as a child and not as part of formal training. Bonus to Perception could probably go either way depending on whether you believe it is training that helped them to be more perceptive or if it was innate.
paradise is an opinion - usually of someone from the outside. so you have the same reasons any 'rich' kid would run away from home.
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