Talk:Elven Gods
Moving the questions and theories over to the discussion pages.
Why did the elves leave the fae realms? Does anyone know? (Presumably the elven gods know/ have opinions, though they're often less than forthcoming on such things). Did the elves choose to leave, or were they forced to go? Was there something about the mortal world that attracted them? (Even now the fea seem to be attached to / interested in the mortal realms -- there seem to be things that they can get from mortals that they cannot get from their own kind).
If the elves did leave of their own doing then the question arises as to why they would want to become physical and leave the fae worlds. The fae relams are more beautiful, but perhaps prone to stasis and lack of change. The physical world has much to offer in terms of complexity, passion, and potential for creativity.
For whatever reason that the elves entered the mortal world they did so fully, gaining mortal bodies and the instincts and drives that go with them; to eat, to survive, to procreate, to fight and to conquer. This exodus made them mortal beings, sundered from their faerie kin, denied their ancestral places, and separated from their gods. Cold Iron also lost its power to damage them and they learned to craft it.
My assumption to all this is that they are like any other race in that they live breed and after a while fight and become territorial. They left the fae realm because they could and so could increase the size of the court. The use of Iron assisted them with this and helped them in battles with other Fae in the physical realm. Unfortunatly this contact with Iron sundered them from the other Fae and denied them contact with their Gods.
Mandos 09:45, 21 Jun 2006 (NZST)
Overview
GM Notes
- use of different elven gods throughou campaign history
- some GMs have used Celtic gods for the elves
- have also been used for Caledonia (primarily human & dwarven)
- some use of Irish names, some use of Welsh
- roles not necessarily a bad fit for Alusian elves, but personalities of the deities all wrong
- also Alusia elves more gender balanced (matrilinear and somewhat matriarchal)
- some GMs have used Tolkien's Valar
- personalities and roles not bad; Valar demiurges only need redacting to deities
- possible solution to use Valar as foundation / inspiration but with tweaks to make them rather more elven
The Fae Connection
Summary notes after discussions regarding elven origins with Ian and Mandos:
- elves are considered fae but are quite different from the other fae races (pixies, brownies, etc).
- not tied to enchanted / sacred places
- not effected by contact with cold iron
- idea that they share a common genesis / origin
- elves not created on Alusia, but rather entered the mortal realms from the lands of faerie
- gave up something of their faerie nature but gained other attributes - able to range far and wide
- sundered from their creator deities, unable to access the faerie courts
- offers interesting possibilities for elven stories / nature
- seelie and unseelie intrinsic part of elven nature, suggesting that light / dark elf part of their fundamental makeup rather than simply philosophy or politics
- possibility of restoring / regaining fae nature (Dramus an interesting character example).
- elven wanderlust an attribute of this sundering, always seeking something lost and echoes of the faerie travellers
- still some connection with / contact with old gods, but much weaker from the mortal realms, traditionalists maintain old religions, more modern elves largely secular.
