Sea Elf

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The existence of Sea Elves in the bays and seas of Layonara has long been rumored and speculated about. Recently, however, the aquatic cousins of the landdwelling Elves have emerged from the places of the deep. Some arise because their way of life was terrorized nearly to oblivion by Mist and her newly acquired shark minions. For years, since Carocsa and the Shark-lord fell in love, sharks had only occasionally sought a sea elf snack. Since the dreaded day when Carocsa was sacrificed to the goddess Mist by one of Lady Doom's human priestesses, the sharks have grown wild and trashed much of the underwater society. Many sea elves were driven from the outer and inner bays to the coasts, where contact with the terrestrial races became unavoidable.

Personality:
The ocean is a dynamic place, on the edge between order and chaos. Yet predictable currents still exist. Sea elves are usually of the mindset that deep attentiveness to one's environment is the key to staying alive and prospering. It is a basic teaching of Shindaleria, the sea elf goddess. More than that, it is a key to survival, where the only true place to exist is somewhere in the food web.

In the ocean, the nearly exclusive source of food is through hunting. As such, sea elves tend to be rugged, strong and often quite stoic. Hunting needs demand small bands, wide territories, and thus significant spaces between each settlement. Because of this, sea elves tend to be reserved, private and sometimes secretive.

Physical Description:
Over their immensely long history of living in the bays and outer bays of various coastlines, sea elves have developed a number of physical characteristics which seem to give them an advantage in their aquatic environment. They possess a layer of fat which protects them from the cold depths of the oceans. Also, their bodies tend to have long linear features which assist them in moving through the water with both speed and grace.

Patterns of blue, green and silver shapes cover their skin. These colors stand out dramatically in any surface environment, making sea elves easily discernable. But such coloring makes excellent camouflage in their natural home.

Sea elves also have webbed fingers and toes, though there is a wide range of variation on this feature. Many people assume that sea elves have gills, and that's why they can live in the water as they do. Most, however, do not. The reason sea elves can survive in water so well is due to their radically increased lung capacity. This makes sea elves akin to creatures like dolphins and whales which also seem to have terrestrial cousins. It is rumored, however, that a few sea elves do indeed have gills, most likely granted to them by Shindaleria herself. Note: Player character sea elves do not have gills.

Sea elves can most often be seen wielding a trident, as it is the primary tool used in aquamarine hunting, followed closely by the spear. Sea elves, both male and female, grow quite adept at using the trident and spear since a great deal of their survival depends on the efficient use of these weapons. Sea elves also tend to carry a small dagger, used mostly in opening shells or clams. These weapons are most often made from the resources of the great oceans. Similarly, when sea elves go to battle, as they did against the misguided sharks in the year of 1385, they wear protections found in their aquatic habitat. Turtle shell shields are a fine, yet rare and precious example.

Sea elves never wear metal armors, as that would render them far too immobile in the deep places of the world. Besides, metal would corrode and falter at an accelerated rate in the ocean.

Relations with Other Races:
Sea elves are typically distrusting of the landwalkers, or the breathless, as they are often called. In the past this would have been due to a simple lack of interaction and fear of the unknown. However, since the death of Carocsa, the sea elves' beloved druid, at the hand of a human priestess of Mist, the potential for trust has been greatly drained. Not only this, some sea elves become resentful about the need to rely upon Humans and their settlements. Others may feel entitled. Some, perhaps those most in tune with their Shindalerian wisdom, remain balanced and reflective throughout it all.

Alignment:
Considering their unwavering faith in Shindelaria, sea elves are most commonly Neutral Good. They might also focus around a balanced approach to their tumultuous environment and may be True Neutral. They would almost never be lawful or evil.

Religion:
You'd have to ask around for months in the depths of the bays near Dregar to find a sea elf who didn't profess some level of faith in Shindaleria. A sea elf caught worshiping the beligerent Mist, goddess of storms and aquatic chaos, would be lucky to be outcast rather than imprisoned or attacked.

Language:
Sea elves speak a language related to elven, but distant enough to make cross-linguistic communication prone to misunderstandings. To an outsider, it would sound like a very unique language from the elven they occasionally hear.

Player character Sea Elves will not be given the ability to speak languages other than Elven and their native Sea Elven language, unless they are clearly defined in the character submission biography. Player characters must have a minimum intelligence of 12 to be fluent in another language. They do not start off speaking Common.

Names:
Sea Elf names usually derive from words for ocean creatures or events. Elesensar, is a good example, as elensar is the terrestrial elf word for ocean. Nerenwene and Meneleer are other examples. Sea elf names don't seem significantly distinct between men and women.

Adventurers:
As the presence of Sea Elves amongst terrestrial peoples is a fairly recent phenomenon, not many sea elf adventurers are currently known.

At the time of writing, sea elves raised in environments other than the oceans will not be accepted. (No foster/adopted situations, they simply have not been around that long nor are they that common). Since sea elves must be raised in an underwater environment, the monk class is not allowed as a starting class for sea elves due to the following reasons:

  • A Monk is about order and structure, while a sea elf has evolved over generations for ebb, flow, and the freedom that the sea represents.
  • We don't see how the NWN monk abilities/mechanics work in an under water setting.

Notes:

  • Sea elf is a subrace, please see the subrace system page for more information.
  • Use the Elf NWN standard race for character creation.
  • NWN syntax entered into Subrace Field:
    • seaelf
    • Seaelf
    • SeaElf
  • Racial Qualities:

(Under no circumstance does a Sea Elf start with other proficiencies than what is listed. Sea elves washed upon the shore and being raised by regular elves therefore gaining the regular elf proficiencies with the Sea Elf bonuses will not be approved)