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Elf, Lerether

Appearance

Among elves, the Lerether have gone the farthest to tame the woodlands and adopt a civilized culture. For this they are least liked among the elfin races by other elves but are the most popular of the elfin races among humans and humanoids. The Lerether prefer elegant and loose fitting silks and lighter clothing. Long shawls, jewelry, light colored pantaloons and open chested tabards are common in the warmer months while form fitted and thick, tightly spun silken robes and fine wool-spun breeches are worn during colder times. Finely crafted accessories are a sign of wealth among the Lerether who favor the adornment of various gems, skillfully shaped precious metals, and interesting baubles upon their person. This is not done in excess, but tastefully so as not to be too obvious and distracting.
    Physically, the Lerether are what most humans would call the "average" elf. They are slight of shape and are noticeably delicate in their feature. High cheekbones and the swept back and pointed ears are also easily distinguished. Though slightly less hearty when compared to the other humanoid races, the Lerether Elves are still very adaptable and survivable. Lerether very rarely ever grow beyond 5½ feet tall. and most adults stand between four and five feet tall - nearly a foot shorter overall than their Tenerthor cousins. Their movement is graceful and to an observer it is easy to see why the Lerether excel at musical skills and craftsmanship which requires fine dactyl movement - their hands are slender and their movement is sure and fluid.
    Lerether prefer to wear their hair long and down. It is extremely uncommon to find a Lerether whose hair has been cut - typically this signifies some kind of penitent act or to those whose pride has overcome them. Strangely, most races and other elves consider the Lerether to be among the most prideful creatures known. Hair coloring is pure and never mottled. Flaxen gold, shiny silver, pure blonds, wooden browns, and silken black hair are common. Red hair born to a child is said to be a sign of future family troubles and is a rare occurrence. Warriors often wear their hair braided and up when anticipating battle. Sages who embrace the idea of the Tenerthor being the elfin races forefathers like to point this out while drawing similarities between the two races.

Combat

The Lerether prefer light blades which compliment their gracefulness. Longswords and shortswords are commonly found in the hands of Lerether warriors who are to engage in melee. Most Lerether warriors are also skilled with the bow and use the weapon for hunting for food and sport. It is not unheard of for Lerether warriors to set traps and snares to entangle or harm their opponent.
    Low-light Vision (Ex): Can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, etc.
    Resistances: Lerether receive a +2 racial bonus to Will saves against enchanemtn spells or effects. Lerether are immune to magic sleep spells and effects.
    Weapon Proficiency: Lerether are automatically proficient with the longsword, rapier, longbow, composite longbow, shortbow, and composite shortbow.
    Skills: Lerether receive a +2 racial bonus to Search, Spot, and Listen checks. An elf who merely passes within 5 feet of a secret or concealed door is entitled to a Search check as though actively looking for it.

Habitat/Society

The Lerether make their homes in the great Ellouwin Trees. These trees, sacred to the Lerether, are carefully cared for and can, over many millennia, reach an incredible size much larger than many human structures. Perhaps what is most remarkable about the Ellouwin tree is that is able to uproot itself, at the command of a elf who is powerful in magic, and walk across the earth to replant itself elsewhere. Though such huge trees could be used as moving fortresses they never are due to their sacred nature and so they are carefully guarded and never grown near the borders of Lerether lands. The trees are also quite rare and only bear seeds once very few centuries. Though these seeds can be preserved for millennia and the Lerether surely have a supply of them, the trees take so incredibly long to grow that they are quite precious. The great Ellouwin tree of Ellandelae, thought to perhaps be the oldest of these magnificent trees, is thought to be nearly one-thousand feet tall and about eight-hundred feet wide at some parts.
    It is in the bows and branches of these magnificent trees that the Lerether make their dwellings. Great winding stairways are woven around the trunks of the trees to their branches above. Business, however, is conducted on the ground and not up in the branches of the forest.
    Sages speculate that the trees originate from the mysterious race known as the Eloam and many believe that the trees are named after them, thus the similarity in the sounding of either name.

Ecology

Despite their sometimes violent history, the Lerether prefer to live in peace and work on the perfection of arts and craftsmanship. Although other elves may contest it, the Lerether also have a healthy respect for the land and have little impact upon it. Though the Lerether are known to hunt for sport, above and beyond the need for food, they carefully do not over hunt the lands bounty and actively help nature replenish that which they take away.
    Lerether are the most active elfin nation to engage in trade with other humanoid races and are the most well traveled of the elfin-kind; most non- Lerether elves prefer to live in separation from the other races. Lerether elves possess an advanced agricultural society and are a non-nomadic, settled race.

History

The Lerether are the most common and outgoing of the elfin races which inhabit Sulerin. This further spurns social gap between the Lerether and other elves. Long ago, (circa 9079AC) one bloody feud created a permanent split in Lerether society, causing the great and ancient house of Elestinlore and many other clans to depart from the Lerether homeland of Greentree and settle a new nation on the distant and opposite side the continent of Irendi (called Sis Dule [prn: siss'Dulay], or simply, The Land by the Lerether). The reasons behind this departure is a complicated story.
    King Sarhaine disbanded the Great Assembly while the nation was under attack by the Ice Barbarians of the Jarik [prn: Harik] Glacier and House Elestinlore was among the houses not included in the High Council and had lost numerous lands to the barbarians. When House Elestinlore refused to contribute to the effort against the barbarian invasion until allowed onto the High Council, King Sarhaine stripped the house of its hereditary title and declared its members to be traitors. Elestinlore and his bannermen, as well as several other houses not included on the High Council broke away from Greentree and traveled south and west until they came to the forests of what later became known as the Forest of Elestinlore.
    These two great nations of Lerether, Greentree and Elestinlore, largest among the elfin races, dominate the histories of their parts of the world with their influence.
    During the time known as the Black Scourge (12859-12872AC), the nation and entire forests of Elestinlore were rent and consumed by flame. The Lerether nation of Elestinlore was scattered and suffered most horribly among the civilizations that came under the Dark One's armies. It is thought that Elestinlore was so thoroughly ravaged that few elves at all remain to reclaim the glory of the nation.
    In most recent history, in the wake of the Black Scourge, a powerful Lerether leader in Greentree known as General Varana overthrew the unsteady reign of King Pathos and threw the country into civil war once again (12866-12869AC). With the power of many of the leading houses behind his might, General Varana continued to hunt the deposed king and crush his supporters until Pathos was beheaded along with most of his family except for a brother, Prince Delavidus. It is said that Delavidus and numerous followers fled the country to hide in exile and plot against the self-declared Emperor Varana. Following his successful taking of the throne, Emperor Varana continued to move his armies southward and over ran the dwarven lands of Silverstreak - forcing the far less numerous dwarves to retreat deep underground and completing what he believed to be the nations destiny of reaching from the Iron Ocean to the north to the Sea of Rains to the south.
    It is said that the ambitious emperor has continued his campaign to reclaim all lands which were said to be the elves before the UnHoly War and has conducted smaller invasions of the ruined Kingdom of Arend to the west and the Halflings of Kindertel to Greentree's east.