Elven Dwellings
Those who have visited an elf city will often wonder why any elf feels the need, or even an urge, to leave. The peace and beauty of these places is legendary among the younger races, so much so that their ideas of paradise are often modeled on fabled elf cities. Some say that each elf city, tree town, and encampment is a fragment of the elves' Homeland, such is the magnificence of these places.
Whether it is a sylvan elf encampment, a high elf tree town, or one of the grey elves' cities, each of these places radiates a charm and splendor unrivaled anywhere else. While human cities and dwarf strongholds can aspire to the beauty and harmony of the elf homes, they can never truly rival these places.
While elf crafters can still learn from the dwarves regarding strength and durability of masonry, they need no such tutelage in unlocking the beauty from the stones. With their long familiarity with the earth, the elves seem to know instinctively how best to carve a rock to reveal its beauty. One might think that elves would then be the primary shapers of stone in the world; dwarves have always held that position and always will. While elves do feel an affinity for working in stone, it is that affinity which holds them back. Most elves cannot work with stone that has been ripped from the earth, for it seems to scream under their fingertips. Very few elves will pull apart the earth to pull out a chunk of rock.
When elves work with stone, the rock is almost always a part of the living earth or a piece that has become detached. Thus, elven statues are often subject to the movements of the earth. In general, few elves other than the grey elves devote much time to stoneworking, although all elves keep the craft alive.
Elves far prefer working with living wood than with stone. Wood is more flexible, for it will shape to both the elves' needs and the needs of the tree. Elves do not wish to cause unnecessary stress to any living being in their world, and they try to keep their impact on the trees to a minimum.
Each of the surface-dwelling elves has a different perspective on how the layout of a home should proceed. Following is a brief description of a typical grey elves' city, a high elves' tree town, and a sylvan elves' forest encampment. The descriptions are necessarily brief, allowing the referee to flesh out the dwellings as appropriate for his or her campaign. Bear in mind that the vastness and fullness of life in elf settlements makes them nearly impossible to fully describe.
The grey elves have an abiding love for all things permanent. In their mountains, they have found nothing so permanent as stone, and so they make virtually all of their beautifully sculpted buildings from this material. Although their skill is not that of the dwarves, grey elves have learned a trick or two with stoneworking, and they put them to good use in their cities. When the rare dwarf is admitted to these lands, tears have welled up in his eyes at the beauty the grey elves have wrought in granite and shale and the other stones comprising their mountains.
The grey elf cities are strictly divided by caste. Those of lower social level are kept well away from those of higher social class. Still, even those of low social standing have permanent housing. Grey elves know of the importance of a secure home, and they provide it for all who dwell in their cities.
Grey elf cities are also divided into at least five walled concentric rings, with those of higher classes closer toward the secure center. On the outer rings live those of the noncaste, or of extremely low class. As one progresses through the rings, the finery in construction and ornamentation increases as well, until one reaches the palace and government buildings in the center of the city. The few humans and other races who have seen the center of a grey elf city have often sworn that there was no more lovely sight in all the world, and that they must be in the home of the gods. While it is true that the central portion of a grey elf city is elaborate, even the meanest sections of the city are stunningly beautiful-crafters work on these sections in their free time.
Not only does this arrangement keep each social class physically distinct, it allows for tremendous protection of the most important parts of the city. Further, all grey elves are trained in at least the rudiments of weaponry, and the people themselves provide an ideal defense against any unwanted visitors.
The high elven philosophy is somewhere between that of the grey and sylvan elves. While they value permanence and works of art, they also try to stay well in touch with nature. Therefore, they do not build many stone edifices. They prefer to stay within the forest, receiving its bounties and creating a pure synthesis between the two other elven perspectives on dwellings.
Instead of the stone cities of the grey elves and the tents of the sylvan elves, many (although not all) high elves create tree towns. Using only the mightiest of trees in the ancient forests as a base, they build their homes high above the ground. Although many have thought this might make high elves especially vulnerable to fire, those who have tried to exploit this have found otherwise. The elves always keep liquids and water spells handy to protect their beloved trees, and bows are always near to hand to discipline those who have the audacity to try to burn them.
Tree towns are usually based around the tallest and strongest of the trees in the forest. One must keep in mind that these are virgin woods-forests that have never been logged. Thus, these forests are old beyond measure, and their trees are tall with age. One could fall from the lowest level of a tree town for perhaps 100 feet before hitting the ground.
Ropes and ladders connect the levels. There are pulleys and rising platforms to aid those who aren't as spry on the ropes as the elves, such as the fairly frequent visitors. Rails and balconies surround the houses, keeping one from inadvertently plummeting to the ground.
Although these high elves live in the trees, they are just at home on the ground as they are in the heights. They conduct most of their festivals and meetings on the ground, so that their non- tree-dwelling brethren may attend.
Sylvan elf encampments are built with both defense and admiration of nature in mind. Low, mottled-green tents are pitched in a circle, with the openings toward the central fires. Occasionally, the elves will engage in shifting the earth about to provide added protection. These encampments represent the only home sylvan elves know. The land readily returns to normal when the elves continue on their nomadic course.
In the winter or when they intend to stay for a year or more, wood elves build semipermanent wood lodges, rather than use tents. Many barbarian human tribes have emulated this practice, for they and the wood elves would rather not endure harsh winters with only a thin canvas separating them from the elements. Still, even the sylvan elves' wood tents are well disguised, and casual travelers passing within 100 yards will not spot the campsite. Even if they did, the wood elf guards would dissuade them from advancing any nearer with some well- placed arrows.
The bivouac is nearly always established in a clearing or on a hill, or both, if possible. The escape routes and battle tactics are thoroughly established at the same time a camp is, so wood elves are never caught unawares. They usually move only twice a year.
Whatever their schedule, the wood elves have as great a love for impermanence and change as the grey elves have for permanence. While a grey elf city radiates a feeling of timelessness, comforting its citizens with the knowledge that it will never change, a wood elf encampment always gives the impression of constant readiness to change.
