With dwarves its easy to imagine,as an industrial folk they mine their own ore and stone,mason and build their towns,above and underground,similar to humans in many regards,chopping trees and using nature for their needs.
But how do elves go about it?,i cant imagine them being the type to chop trees and going down and mining ores. And i cant see them relying on other races to do their dirty work ALL THE TIME. Its economicly unsound.
I would really appricate a mental picture on how elves form a city and build buildings... or better yet HOW DO THEY GATHER MATERIALS?? Help would be appricated
OK, now seriously nothing stops elves from building cities the same way everyone else does - with applied math and hardwork. And maybe magic if the setting allows it.
Grafting living plants, weaving grafted and inplace vines, twig, saplings into a growing structure. Remember the elves have time. Underground the same can be done with roots.
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Itinerant Deputy Shire-reave Tomas Burrfoot - world walker, Raft-captain, speaker to his dead
Toddy Shelfungus- Rider of the Order of Ill Luck, Speaker to Friends of Friends, and Horribly big nosed
Jarl Archi of Jenisis Glade Fee- Noble Knight of the Dragonborn Goldcrest Clan, Sorcerer of the Noble Investigator;y; Knightly order of the Wolfhound
The way I see it, elves trade art (such as paintings, music, etc.) for building materials. They greatly enjoy the arts and essentially see it as their love language, so they treat art in all its forms as the highest bid they can make in regards to trading with other cultures.
But dont elves? Guard the forests and protect them? Arent they against the entire chopping down tree's and harming mother nature
There are lots of different elves. Only few of them are three-hugging hippies. And even of the latter sort revering nature does not mean being pussies about it. Wood Elves and Lothlorien Elves in LotR built houses and chopped down trees for materiel slike everyone else, they just made sure to plant saplings for the trees they chopped and restore quarries when they mine stone out of them. My best example of wood elves being badass (and crazy) is in TES where Bosmer make their houses out of the bone and skins, including those of their dead and the stupid invading foreigners because the Grean Pact forbids them from chopping trees and eating anything plant-based.
Elves build the same way as anyone else. They just do less of it. They build to last, and live in the same stone house for their centuries-long lives, then pass it on to their children and grandchildren. They live in small sustainable populations rather than having eight children to a family and having a population boom whenever half of them don't die.
Elves build the same way as anyone else. They just do less of it. They build to last, and live in the same stone house for their centuries-long lives, then pass it on to their children and grandchildren. They live in small sustainable populations rather than having eight children to a family and having a population boom whenever half of them don't die.
OP, I think you need to answer that question yourself. Doing so will help you decide what the elves are like in your campaign world. Interdimensional refugees from the Feywild might build one way; straight-up Tolkien elves might build another; elemental nature spirits might not build at all, they may just convince a tree to grow in a certain way, or they may literally wait for a stream to carve out a cave.
My character employs a variation of the Ceremony spell to build and anoint a shrine to her god allowing her to access her Temple in the Feywild.
Her back story is that she was born during her tribe's flight from a dragon via the Feywild, normally a Feyborn is usually a good omen but she was born malformed looking more like a particular plain human female than a wood elf especially as she's Feyborn.
Her tribe planned to abandon her to die, but her paternal grandfather refused noticing the ruined Temple and grabbed her and fled into the Temple claiming sanctuary. Her tribe didn't take that well and tried to go after them, however the Temple was home to a Lantern Archon named Kestra who served Sehanine Moonbow.
The Archon granted them sanctuary preventing the tribe from entering the temple grounds and infuriated the tribe cursed the Temple effectively preventing either of the pair from leaving the Temple via the Feywild. This left what they thought was a portal into the Shadowfell, however they overlooked a portal into a Prime Material World well initially.
Eventually the already very elderly elf died leaving the barely adolescent elven child with the Lantern Archon as her mentor which led to her becoming a Cleric however she eventually ventured into that world where she eventually settled down and married however the marriage failed and she was forced to flee back within her "Refuge" with her then 6 year old half elven son.
They eventually returned to that world as her son grew up and built his own life marrying and having a son of his own.
Both son and his wife were killed during a situation that turned into a coup as an evil cult is trying to take over the kingdom with a puppet ruler and her effort to prevent an attempt to swap the kingdom with its Shadowfell twin resulted in her being banished which caused her portal to the world where her grandson was to be closed off and reopened on a new world. Where she has been trying to figure out a way back part of which involved establishing multiple shrines which she didn't try before to try to tether her Refuge to this world in case she's banished again preventing her from being sent to another world again.
In the process she is inevitably spreading word of her goddess Kestra and the key to her ceremony is that she is able to open a portal to her Temple in the Feywild allowing her to attend to the usual duties she's been doing since she was a child to maintain the place.
For background purposes she's an Outlander albeit a Fey variant the only real change is swapping a herbalist kit for the musical instrument as the character is a Herbalist.
The game I'm playing this character in hasn't focused on her temple yet as so far I've been trying to develop my cleric and her faith so its been baby steps so far.
In regards to this thread I've been wondering if elves used their link to the Feywild to help with their constructions whether as inspiration or like dryads are able to merge with their trees maybe elves can access the Feywild like my character does except its limited to say their home or settlement with potential sub plots dealing with these settlements?
At the most basic, elves build things just like any other race does. Though by default the elves are environmentalists. They make things small: only what is needed. And they make their places a part of nature...they don't Pave Paradise to make empty lots.
And elves do grow lots of buildings, even without magic: they simply place plants close together and guide their growth to make a roof or window or whatever is needed.
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With dwarves its easy to imagine,as an industrial folk they mine their own ore and stone,mason and build their towns,above and underground,similar to humans in many regards,chopping trees and using nature for their needs.
But how do elves go about it?,i cant imagine them being the type to chop trees and going down and mining ores. And i cant see them relying on other races to do their dirty work ALL THE TIME. Its economicly unsound.
I would really appricate a mental picture on how elves form a city and build buildings... or better yet HOW DO THEY GATHER MATERIALS?? Help would be appricated
<laughs in Noldor>
OK, now seriously nothing stops elves from building cities the same way everyone else does - with applied math and hardwork. And maybe magic if the setting allows it.
Plant weaving..
Grafting living plants, weaving grafted and inplace vines, twig, saplings into a growing structure. Remember the elves have time. Underground the same can be done with roots.
Itinerant Deputy Shire-reave Tomas Burrfoot - world walker, Raft-captain, speaker to his dead
Toddy Shelfungus- Rider of the Order of Ill Luck, Speaker to Friends of Friends, and Horribly big nosed
Jarl Archi of Jenisis Glade Fee- Noble Knight of the Dragonborn Goldcrest Clan, Sorcerer of the Noble Investigator;y; Knightly order of the Wolfhound
But dont elves? Guard the forests and protect them? Arent they against the entire chopping down tree's and harming mother nature
The way I see it, elves trade art (such as paintings, music, etc.) for building materials. They greatly enjoy the arts and essentially see it as their love language, so they treat art in all its forms as the highest bid they can make in regards to trading with other cultures.
There are lots of different elves. Only few of them are three-hugging hippies. And even of the latter sort revering nature does not mean being pussies about it. Wood Elves and Lothlorien Elves in LotR built houses and chopped down trees for materiel slike everyone else, they just made sure to plant saplings for the trees they chopped and restore quarries when they mine stone out of them. My best example of wood elves being badass (and crazy) is in TES where Bosmer make their houses out of the bone and skins, including those of their dead and the stupid invading foreigners because the Grean Pact forbids them from chopping trees and eating anything plant-based.
Elves build the same way as anyone else. They just do less of it. They build to last, and live in the same stone house for their centuries-long lives, then pass it on to their children and grandchildren. They live in small sustainable populations rather than having eight children to a family and having a population boom whenever half of them don't die.
they live in the trees...living trees.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
OP, I think you need to answer that question yourself. Doing so will help you decide what the elves are like in your campaign world. Interdimensional refugees from the Feywild might build one way; straight-up Tolkien elves might build another; elemental nature spirits might not build at all, they may just convince a tree to grow in a certain way, or they may literally wait for a stream to carve out a cave.
My character employs a variation of the Ceremony spell to build and anoint a shrine to her god allowing her to access her Temple in the Feywild.
Her back story is that she was born during her tribe's flight from a dragon via the Feywild, normally a Feyborn is usually a good omen but she was born malformed looking more like a particular plain human female than a wood elf especially as she's Feyborn.
Her tribe planned to abandon her to die, but her paternal grandfather refused noticing the ruined Temple and grabbed her and fled into the Temple claiming sanctuary. Her tribe didn't take that well and tried to go after them, however the Temple was home to a Lantern Archon named Kestra who served Sehanine Moonbow.
The Archon granted them sanctuary preventing the tribe from entering the temple grounds and infuriated the tribe cursed the Temple effectively preventing either of the pair from leaving the Temple via the Feywild. This left what they thought was a portal into the Shadowfell, however they overlooked a portal into a Prime Material World well initially.
Eventually the already very elderly elf died leaving the barely adolescent elven child with the Lantern Archon as her mentor which led to her becoming a Cleric however she eventually ventured into that world where she eventually settled down and married however the marriage failed and she was forced to flee back within her "Refuge" with her then 6 year old half elven son.
They eventually returned to that world as her son grew up and built his own life marrying and having a son of his own.
Both son and his wife were killed during a situation that turned into a coup as an evil cult is trying to take over the kingdom with a puppet ruler and her effort to prevent an attempt to swap the kingdom with its Shadowfell twin resulted in her being banished which caused her portal to the world where her grandson was to be closed off and reopened on a new world. Where she has been trying to figure out a way back part of which involved establishing multiple shrines which she didn't try before to try to tether her Refuge to this world in case she's banished again preventing her from being sent to another world again.
In the process she is inevitably spreading word of her goddess Kestra and the key to her ceremony is that she is able to open a portal to her Temple in the Feywild allowing her to attend to the usual duties she's been doing since she was a child to maintain the place.
For background purposes she's an Outlander albeit a Fey variant the only real change is swapping a herbalist kit for the musical instrument as the character is a Herbalist.
The game I'm playing this character in hasn't focused on her temple yet as so far I've been trying to develop my cleric and her faith so its been baby steps so far.
In regards to this thread I've been wondering if elves used their link to the Feywild to help with their constructions whether as inspiration or like dryads are able to merge with their trees maybe elves can access the Feywild like my character does except its limited to say their home or settlement with potential sub plots dealing with these settlements?
At the most basic, elves build things just like any other race does. Though by default the elves are environmentalists. They make things small: only what is needed. And they make their places a part of nature...they don't Pave Paradise to make empty lots.
And elves do grow lots of buildings, even without magic: they simply place plants close together and guide their growth to make a roof or window or whatever is needed.