So for me, this was more of an add in at the last moment which became pivotal later on in both the series I should hide away from the public and the one I'd like to some day publish. It was on a lark, really. My GM in college said "No, you can't play a winged elf" after he got the elf book for Dungeons and Dragons and there was the winged elf staring at me, begging to be played. So instead of being upset, I added a new race to my world. Now before you get the wrong idea, I did not poach them from Dungeons and Dragons, the concept maybe, but not the race. The idea of flying elves is nothing new, but that supplement just spurred me into motion.
So my winged, or Ancient Elves, or the oldest of all the mortal races. Thus the Ancient attached to their name. They live for several thousand years, tend to be soft spoken and graceful. They stand around five foot and a half (so slightly taller then my wood elves) and can be from pale skinned to ebony black. Their wings, which appear to be soft angel wings, can range from silver to black, and this usually depends on family lineage (genetics :D ). Their wings are as tall as they are and their wings span is twice their height. Their ears are tapered, their bodies lithe and they weigh 3/4 of what an wood elf weighs. They fly because of magic, not physics, so don't try and figure it out, it's fantasy after all :D
Ancient Elves are the keepers of magic. They know more about magic and it's use then even the Humans of Tayke. Everything in their aeries are magically touched from light stones to the paintings which cover their home. There are powerful magic users amongst the Ancient Elves and many are very sought after healers. They also have made bonds with the giant gryphons which share their home and fly with them on patrols.
This elves have maybe three or four children in a life time and thus are very protective of them, childhood not ending, really, until the child is close to 100 years old. A single family will live a small niche in the aerie and everyone uses the common spaces for other activities. This is a monarch society, where either there is a queen or a king, sex doesn't really matter on station. Castes do, however, play a part in their society. The speak Ancient Elven and most speak the High King's tongue, as well.
So as I alluded to earlier in the time of my High King Series, there are no Ancient Elves. They died out sometime in the past for a reason no one knows (cough...cough...I'll work on it). But they left behind one truly important part of history, how to use the Gift of the Gods. In the Temple of the Gods is how to use the Gift of call the Gods to the mortal plane written in Ancient Elven. Of course, with the Ancient Elves being dead and gone for a while, well wouldn't it be just so handy for the Gods in need if some old farmer knew how to read it? Thus, though not present in my story, they are sort of pivotal to my story arc. If you want to have Ancient Elves in your campaign I would set your campaign before the time of the Chosen, which would also give you all the original Houses such as Tayke.
The classes I would suggest would be mage, cleric, or ranger. I have a class of Gryphon Riders, but these are the elite who protect the King and Queen so I wouldn't allow your players to be one of these on a whim, since they would have access to a Gryphon. I would give a plus to Intellect and perhaps Agility (but you could argue their wings make them less agile) and take away from Strength and Constitution. If your campaign requires a flying feat/proficiency they should get it for free, though you could restrict their flight capabilities. Spears are a favorite weapon of the Ancient Elves, so you might offer this up as a freebie as well.
In general the Ancient Elves stick to themselves and let the outside world be as it is (thus why High King Peter put the directions of the Gift of the Gods in Ancient Elven so not everybody in the world would know how to do it). They find everyone else as children and will treat them accordingly, even if said person is a three hundred year old dwarf and the Ancient Elf is merely a dozen decades old.
Roleplaying Tip of the Week: Read. Oh, are you crazy, you are asking? No, just I find myself in a situation now that I find it hard to read a much as I use to, so I bring this to the forefront. It doesn't matter what you read, it may be not even in the genre you are roleplaying, but you could find a nugget of information from anywhere. And those magazines which have nothing to do with your genre might give you an inspiration as well. Take the Knights of the Dinnertable. They are a comic/magazine which makes fun of gamers, by gamers, for gamers. But in the back they have good articles to help you with your roleplaying. They have one article "Bait and Tackle" where they give small adventure hooks. Well mostly they are for fantasy, but who said you can't use said bar room brawl adventure in a space adventure? Read!
Tomorrow: Akicitia
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