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4th Movement - Elves

Fluff from Clinton’s book. Crunch adapted from the book and forum discussions.

Elves are human-like creatures, yet more perfect and independent in every way. They do not spawn children nor do they grow old or die of violence or illness; they are self-sufficient and aloof creatures that are despised, feared or revered.

For the most part elves seem human, except that their bodies are too perfect to be real; an elf creates its own body by the force of their will. They all have a fair seeming, with skin color ranging from light olive to pale alabaster, hair white, golden or reddish sand. An inner light enlightens them so: all elves are unmistakable in that they have an AURA, a soft nimbus of light that surrounds them. It might be missed at mid-day, but at night an elf is obvious to the eye.

Elves tend to be solitary creatures without roots. This is not to say that they are not social; they can be incredibly magnetic. They do not, however, usually settle down in one place and form lasting relationships. It is said that one cannot trust an elf for “whatever good he does, he does for his own purposes”.

Elves are human-like creatures, yet more perfect and independent in every way. They do not spawn children nor do they grow old or die of violence or illness; they are self-sufficient and aloof creatures that are despised, feared or revered.

For the most part elves seem human, except that their bodies are too perfect to be real; an elf creates its own body by the force of their will. They all have a fair seeming, with skin color ranging from light olive to pale alabaster, hair white, golden or reddish sand. An inner light enlightens them so: all elves are unmistakable in that they have an AURA, a soft nimbus of light that surrounds them. It might be missed at mid-day, but at night an elf is obvious to the eye.

Elves tend to be solitary creatures without roots. This is not to say that they are not social; they can be incredibly magnetic. They do not, however, usually settle down in one place and form lasting relationships. It is said that one cannot trust an elf for “whatever good he does, he does for his own purposes”.

Immortality

Elves are people who have looked deep within and found only one thing there: the self. Dedicated like a Zen master, they have realized the world is illusory and the only truth is what one thinks of one’s self. Upon the death of the body, these souls do not pass on, but return again and again, as a more perfect form.

This sort of worldview kind of shuts the door on most religion. The elf recognizes no god or greater power, only more powerful souls. Strangely, this sort of self-absorption doesn’t always lead to evil: many elves roam the world doing good to either appease something inside them or perhaps for amusement. Others strike down anything in their path, realizing the insignificance of others that have not achieved their enlightenment. Whatever the attitude, an elf lives on, seeking to know itself deeper.

Sometimes, an elf strays from this path. They were once human, after all, although it’s not too wise to mention that. Any time an elf recognizes another life as greater than his own, he falls from Elfhood. If an elf either saves the life of another, dying or becoming mortally wounded in the process, or has children, they become somewhat human. (If the elf died for another, he is reborn a last time.) Their aura dims and becomes grey, and they begin to get older like a human: they have entered the Grey Age. Other elves usually despise a Grey One for his weakness.

Mechanically, an elf turns grey by buying off the KEY OF THE SELF. A grey elf loses his aura and all crunch related to it (losing the Advances, note), but retains his memory of the past. He can also gain human crunch afterwards.

Elven Magic

The most powerful magic of the elf is the fact that it’s immortal. Elves come into this world at maturity, and do not age unless they want to. Most do, over their many incarnations, as their self-image becomes more wizened. They do not catch diseases, although they can be poisoned. Their body is only a shell they have created, and even if struck down, they return to the world of Near.

An elf, if feeling introspective – and when aren’t they? – may speak of Heaven. This may be the only religious belief elves have: that when they achieve perfect enlightenment, they will leave Near and enter perfect oneness, when the illusion of Near disappears for them, and they see it for what it is, their own dream. This Heaven is as horrific of an idea to a human as it sounds – the elf sees himself as the dreamer of everything and everyone else, and he will take his true place in Heaven.

Elven magic manifests itself in other minor forms, however. Elven AURAS are very powerful Secrets and have many special abilities that protect the elf and project its will on others. The long age of an elf seems like magic to other peoples, as well: elves can draw on their many experiences to perform nearly any feat.

Aura Smithing

Elves do not usually practice craft skills, as their aura tends to have a strange effect on any equipment they carry on their person or handle regularly. Such items take on a part of the Elven aura, slowly becoming more perfect and ethereal versions of them. This can happen at Story Guide discretion spontaneously, but to control it in any way, the elf needs the SECRET OF AURA IMBUEMENT.

When imbuing an item, an aura smith does not make a distinction between mundane and magical effects; an Elven item may well have extraordinary abilities. The elf can only set ratings for things he has experienced and imbue Secrets he himself has known, however, aside from IMBUEMENTS that are only available for items. Specifically, all aurasmithed items have the ELVEN IMBUEMENT.

Elven items all have an aura recognizably similar to that of the item’s creator. Should the creator ever lose his aura, the item will turn into a grey, mundane version of itself. An item with multiple ELVEN IMBUEMENTS has an even stronger aura and might even develop rudimentary sentience.

Because aura smithing does not require Ability checks, the patient elf can easily make his item ever more perfect. However, TRANSCENDENT (7) quality Elven items transcend at the end of the scene in which they are raised to this level, appropriately enough, disappearing from the world.

The Shadow Moon

When the Sky Fire fell to Near, all elves disappeared. Not a single one was seen for over two hundred years. As to where they went, no one knows, not even the elves. Elves’ stories are varied: most purport that they were always here and have no memory of leaving or those two hundred years, while others speak of Far, another world they are able to visit.

Whatever happened, elves are loathe to speak of it. Since they have returned, though, it is obvious the Shadow Moon has had an effect on them. Once elves were friendly towards each other, greeting other ones on the path to enlightenment. Once, when an elf was asked about the logical fallacy in two elves both thinking the universe is their dream, he said, “It is not known whether I am dreaming him dreaming the world, or he is dreaming me dreaming the world. Either way, we’d better get along”. Now, though, Elven friendliness is rare, and most elves despise the sight of another one. The power struggle to see who truly is the master of the dream has become intense. Some old elves blame the younger ones for the Sky Fire and Shadow Moon, claiming that too many competing for the dream has threatened to tear it apart.

Elves in Near

“Elves are assholes” is a joking dictum that’s been developed through my own play. The experience probably has plenty to do with the fact that an empathetic elf would succumb to the Grey Age, leaving only the distant sociopaths and analytic personalities to seek Enlightenment.

Still, everybody is a person, and so are the elves. I’ve seen amiable ones and even those that seek to actively do good. The last ones are most strained by their identity, as the question is awful: when you are dedicated to an eternal mission, is there anything in the world worth your sacrifice? Saving another person, even a good one, would mean nothing in comparison to your own eternity, whatever the cause you serve.

Elves tend to be wanderers who don’t really call any land or culture their own. Thus their relationship to the world is more a matter of how the society reacts to the idea of elf than anything else.

Maldor is good for elves, as they will find ready employment in the courts for their unique skills and knowledge of the past. The only danger is that the elf might be seen as a potential pretender to the throne in a culture obsessed with lineage and noble blood.

Ammeni Houses welcome elves, especially ones with black enough hearts. However, the Revenant Cult hates them as a matter of theology, believing fervently that their supposed immortality is a hoax.

Zaru only rarely see elves, which might well be because I don’t get much mileage out of the encounter, and neither would the average elf.

Khaleans respect the fair folk, but do not trust them. They would rather see the elf take residence on its own, outside tribes, somewhere where they can be reached for mutual aid but where they are not close enough to betray the tribe. I could go for a full-bore fairy court here by introducing some goblins as well.

Qek mostly gets elves as escapees from the north. Somebody out there captures and exploits the beings in some awful manner.

Goren as a land has always attracted all Old Species, and so it is with elves, who are respected by the Old Faith most greatly. While usually men doing witchcraft would be looked upon askance, elves are not considered men or women by the Goddess.

Inselburg has as little room for elves as strangers in general, but some have returned there – in fact, some claim to have weathered the Skyfire deep in the bowels of the fortress, and considering that some of the oldest Collegiums are held with a multitude of vows in elven hands, they might be correct.

Vulfland attracts some mystically-minded elves who are fascinated with the southern lights and the dreaming, something they cannot normally access. The dangers are considerable due to how the aurora can interfere with the elven aura, but still individual elves flock to the glaciers to build their ice palaces and research human dreams.

A general theme that can apply to anybody, anywhere, is a deep distrust for the Monsters of Heaven. Who could trust creatures that refuse to care?

Elven Names

Names - Elven

I have a trick here: take a list of familiar Greek words (incidentally, Wikipedia has one of those) and pick some that are not in your everyday vocabulary, but are still evocative. Works like a charm.

Crunch

Abilities - Elves

Past Lives (R)
This is the Elven Ability of remembering useful information from their countless past lives. It can be used to remember personal history and knowledge long lost. With time, an elf might even dredge up some useful Secrets or such.

Secrets - Elves

Secret of the Elf
Elven bodies are formed from the aether by willpower alone. An elf that dies in Near returns within 28 days. The Story Guide and the player cooperate in choosing the time and the place; a story-relevant solution is preferred, but note that nobody has ever seen an elf rematerialize. The character loses a level from each Pool and a level from all Abilities, as the process of rematerialization is not perfect and the elf needs to readjust to his new body. The player can choose to have his character not return; in this case, however, the reason will not be established.
Secret of the Polymath
In an elf’s long life, many Abilities have waxed and waned. Using this Secret allows the elf to use their PAST LIVES (R) in lieu of any other Ability they are physically capable of using. This lasts for the entire scene.
Cost: 2 REASON, and the next available Advance goes to improving the Ability used.
Secret of Enlightenment
The character Transcends, ascending to Heaven. The other players decide whether Near continues to exist. If it will, the character will not be heard of in Near anymore, but the player may opt to expend any of his Pools as bonus or penalty GIFT DICE for other characters as long as they last.
Requirement: PAST LIVES (R) at Grandmaster.
Aura of Fading the Illusion
An elf with this secret can, through force of will, make the illusion of the world temporarily grow dim and ghostly outside his aura. To everyone else, it appears the elf has become translucent and incorporeal. This lasts for one scene, during which the character can pass through the smallest crack and cannot be harmed physically.
Cost: 2 VIGOR
Aura of Protection
The character’s aura grows thick and smothering, protecting him softly from the external world. The elf can spend REASON to lower incoming physical Harm. Cost: 1 REASON per step lowered.
Aura of Sight
The character’s aura is no brighter from afar, but up close up it is bright enough to see in clearly.
Aura of the Tower
The character’s aura is polarized, giving it a weird dark-and-light flavor. Passive Abilities are now all associated with the character’s current strongest Pool.
Aura of the Ancient
The character’s aura has a calm frisson. He can use CHARM (I) to calm down animals, and giants with temper have to overcome him in a direct contest of wills to act against his wishes.
Aura of the Imperator
The character’s aura waxes as he enforces his will, making him appear taller and more majestic. The opposing player has no input into the stakes of this social conflict, which may cause the moment to resemble mindcontrol.
Cost: 1 Vigor
Aura of the Lunar Sphere
The character has an affinity with the Moon. He suffers a penalty die to all social checks towards other elves, and cannot Transcend. When the character dies, he returns to Near during the next night. He does not lose Abilities; instead, he loses this Secret.
Cost: 2 INSTINCT to return via the Moon.
Secret of Aura Imbuement
The character’s aura is strong enough to influence any equipment the character carries on his person or handles on a regular basis. The character can create rated or imbued equipment in this way from ordinary items, which slowly grow towards perfection in the elf’s hands; instead of an Ability check, the elf slowly invests into the item, one xp per scene, until he’s happy with it. All items developed by this Secret have the ELVEN IMBUEMENT for free.
Cost: 1 EXPERIENCE POINT per a point of quality imbued into the item, and 2 xp per Secret.
Secret of Aura Smithing
A skilled aura smith can further improve on the process: an appropriate crafting Ability check allows the character to immediately improve the item with the check result in xp (he himself pays only to activate this Secret, note). This can be done only once per month.
Cost: 2 EXPERIENCE POINTS.
Requirement: SECRET OF AURA IMBUEMENT
Elven Imbuement
All Elven items have an Elven aura. Any elf who is familiar with the item and at peace with its creator gains a 1 point discount to the Pool costs of any imbuements in the item. This imbuement can be stacked on an item, which increases the discount and also gives a 1 point discount to non-elves at peace with the creator.
Memory Imbuement (Ability, level)
The item has a memory of how it was used by its creator, at one level under the creator’s Ability. The current user can loan these memories to make an Ability check at the level stored in the item. The effect lasts for the whole scene once activated. Cost: 1 REASON per level of Ability, and the next available Advance goes to improving the Ability used.
Requirement: ELVEN IMBUEMENT
Ego Imbuement
An item with this Imbuement has developed a self-identity of the sort you’d expect from magical talking swords or such. It doesn’t necessarily talk, however; the item can only do the things it has Abilities for, as determined by the MEMORY IMBUEMENT, which it uses for free. Ego items do not normally have Pools or Keys, but can use those of their operator. The item has no limit to its number of Imbuements.
Requirement: two ELVEN IMBUEMENTS

Keys - Elves

Key of the Self
The character is an elf, a creature aloof and alone.
1xp: Ignore another person’s request to pursue your own goals.
3xp: Ignore someone in need to pursue your own goals.
Buyoff: Become human by either dying to save another or creating life.
Key of the Bloodline
No elf alive remembers their humanity, but some do know their bloodline, and watch their distant descendants with interest.
1xp: Observe your bloodline.
2xp: Help your kin.
5xp: Help your bloodline continue.
Buyoff: Reveal yourself to your family.
Key of the Eternal Question (specify)
There is a reason behind the illusion that is Near, and the character cannot have peace before knowing what it is. Pick a specific question, such as “Is individual virtue more important than communal well-being?” or “Why can’t I remember what happened to me at the south pole just before the Skyfire hit?”
1xp: Obsess over the question.
3xp: Apply the question to your practical situation.
Buyoff: Answer the question.
Key of Deja Vu
Thes character has experienced much, to the brink of ennui.
1xp: You’ve already experienced something that happens to you.
3xp: Your prior experience actually has an effect on the scene.
Buyoff: Have a completely new experience.
Key of Lifespan
The character cherishes the life he has now, here. He does not want to forget it, not even a little bit.
1xp: Enjoy the life you have built for yourself.
3xp: Defend your position and gains you’d lose if you had to leave.
Buyoff: Die and be reborn.