Culture

The Lands of Aesca

• The Jade Sea. The Sapphire Sea during the Dark Wind rushed through the waters with a loud storm caused it to turn into solid jade. Every living thing that was within the Jade Sea was turned into different fossils, perfectly preserved with many having different surfaces like fish made from opal for example. One can see waves as the sea froze and changed.

• The Amber Forest. The beautiful forests turned into solid amber when the Dark Wind blew through the trees, making wood an exceptionally rare and valuable commodity. The elves felt the hurt caused by the forests changing into solid golden translucent amber instead of being living things, and the spirits lost there impacted them greatly.

• The Sapphire Sea

• The Maw. It's said that in the middle of the Jade Sea is a vortex that plunges to the very depths of the ocean floor. Rumors? Or could there be something there? No one has come back from there as the abominations roam across the Jade Sea looking for food.

Astrological

There is a derelict orrery in Myrr that no longer has a caretaker, however there's stories of other kingdoms or cultures who have greater understanding and far more complex orrerries throughout the world but to the average Aescan elf, those probably are rumors. Generally, certain events are able to be understood and there's even a slight linkage between the Myrr orrery predicting future events.

• The Sun. It moves about the sky, the average day is 24 hours.

• Mageia, the Moon. Mageia is not tidally locked and rotates once every four months. It appears to have oceans, forests, mountain ranges and clouds. It's often thought of as the living child of Aesca. When Mageia is dark, Futyx is thought to empower his followers to bring evil across the world. During a full moon, Drila is thought to empower her followers to bring peace and honor across the world.

• Stars. There are certain constellations that Aescan elves identify. Often, cults will see a certain grouping of stars like their symbol and associate it with their deity. Humans won't recognize the star constellations and would find at night that the sky is far more beautiful and bright.

• Planets. At least three objects in the sky are thought of as planets such as the Heart of Ynir seen as a bloody red sparkle. Two others are yellow and white.

Air

There are no abilities to travel via air. The stories of griffons are just that, stories now and any of them that were flying in the Dark Wind were turned into abominations while the pilots fell to the ground as obsidian statues and shattered.

Land

Land travel is and will always be the most common way to get from point A to point B. While this usually consists of walking, there are a few modes such as jogging or running. Travel outside of towns is very dangerous and often other options will be considered before adventurers would dare to leave the safety of home.

Horses are exceptionally rare, and domesticated farm animals are worth their weight in gems as it provides much needed sustenance. Those who do own horses would have to be incredibly wealthy to not just take care of it but also the training and equipment required to keep a horse in prime condition.

Still, if there is a caravan of merchants who want to dare the wilds they will form groups more often than not. It is not unusual to see carts or wagons pulled by people.

Across the Jade Sea, there are stories that ships have been seen moving across the solid ocean via sails.

Sea

The oceans are exceedingly treacherous with weather patterns unpredictable during springs and becoming near impossible except the most foolish during winter. Ferries and barges can be used for river crossings, and there are still some galleys in good order but the cost for such rare wood is high.

Related to travel is the concept of communication. The most common method of communication is the usage of Town Heralds and Messengers. As the gods have disappeared, the abilities of the former elf clergy have withered as animals that once were tamed became abominations. In order to get a message from one settlement to another, it will take a person to walk or other methods outlined above. There is a high risk of the messenger not reaching the destination due to a variety of forces at work, the message being forgotten in part or whole and sometimes a rival faction might be sending false messages or bribing a messenger to deliver it to someone else.

Within cities, governors and officials can make use of their Town Heralds to deliver en masse messages across their urban environment. Those who have the resources can use other people for delivering messages.

Over medium distances people are also known to use a variety of instrumental communication modes such as horns and drums. These are however limited to primarily military orders, Attack, Advance, Retreat, Regroup, and only the most advanced forces have signals even identifying the unit an order is sent to. Similarly the elves have developed a variety of flag signals that are similarly limited to their communication modes. Again these are both primarily used during battles or military operations.

Elves in the past were long-lived, famed for lasting thousands of years without much aging being shown, however since the Dark Wind, their lives have withered considerably with each generation losing more lifespan. The majority of all advance healing was lost during the Dark Wind, as leadership required advanced healers to the battlefront. Those that were safe indoors far away from the initial blast were often apprentices. While there is a few scrolls that managed to be saved when the elves fled to escape the destruction, they are rare. The first thing to declare is that the elves have no knowledge or skill in surgery or basic biology. They have some understanding of basic anatomy, but they don't understand things like microbes or the functions and interactions of internal organs. They DO realize that keeping people and wounds clean reduce the risk of infections and diseases, but this is more a product of healers declaring it so. Even the priests and healers understand this more from empirical observation rather than scientific understanding.

The majority of medicine is similarly empirical, over the years they have accumulated the knowledge that by doing things a certain way they are able to allow the body to heal faster although there are large superstitions in regards to disease, wounds and how to heal.

Surgery such as cesareans were, until the advent of modern medicine, a last ditch operation to save a living baby from a dead or dying mother, and thus wouldn't have saved any women dying in childbirth.

Given elvish beliefs about the sanctity of dead bodies, autopsies and forensic examinations of the body are unlikely to be performed by them. Elvish medicine is mostly applying/ingesting medicines and bandaging, yes. Elvish superstitions about soul death still exist regarding body parts being lost and prove to be a substantial barrier to anyone trying more invasive medicine. It’s this belief that still leaves hope in many of the older generations that one day those who were turned to obsidian will have their lives restored. The breaking or shattering of a “turned” elf would result in many elves seeking retribution against the criminal for killing the soul.

Much of the elvish healing and medical procedures, not to mention supplies, are very rudimentary and basic. Many supplies sometimes do not work, or cannot be used, due to the level of healing or the abilities of the healer in question. Teas happen to be one of the most popular forms of medical supplies: they can be very easily made, and anyone can use them!

Emotions

Elves in general are very slow to emotional responses, however when they are angry and upset it can last a very long time depending on the stimulus. They can more easily be moved by song, poetry, oration and art than humans. Generally though, they would be less likely to find immediate offense and look at the issue with a more long-term viewpoint.

Marriage

Marriage is the binding of two souls into one, taken place at the Well of Light. A binding made of rope to costly precious metals is looped around each wrist and then tied by the officiating person. The marriage continues until the wedding knot is either cut, or death of a partner.Marriage is less forced than in human society, with instead shared domicile relationships being preferred given the lifespan of elves. It has absolutely no bearing as to the gender of the elves being married, what matters is that their house approve.

The marriage knot is placed upon the house stone of the house which is taking the inbound elf.

Divorce

As marriages are less common than domicile relationships, there's more formality. The wedding knot is brought to a priest by the Stonekeeper, and the knot is severed with a formal ritual. This releases the bound souls. The released person however stays with their current house stone.

Adoption

Adoption and appointing of heirs via this method is more often the case with noble houses. The ceremony of adoption brings the inbound person (child or adult) formally into the house and family, whereby their soul is bound to the house stone.

Many a savvy house has used this to increase their power and prestige, and it rewards those elves who spend time and resources to do challenging things and make a difference in the world as they can be brought into a higher house and possibly become the new head of house. Elves don't view this negatively, they believe power should be given to those who are active which shows their capability and suitability in actions rather than simply a bloodline.

Heirs and Inheritance

Stonekeepers are selected and appointed by their head of house, however sometimes stonekeepers are the head of house too. The process in which a stonekeeper is selected is through a ritual in which applicants will petition themselves to the house stone and the ancestors speak to voice their choice.

Heirs for houses are named in will. There is no gender requirement for inheritance, and absent a will, the convention is that the Stonekeeper will determine the next eligible heir after consultation with the family before making a determination. It's more likely that a head of house will either adopt a rising star into the family and name them their heir, or groom a potential heir over many years. There is less focus on 'bloodline' and more focus on soul line, that is to say, that the heir is bound to the house stone.

Inheritances are named in will, customarily. Absent a will, the inheritance will go to the higher noble house to be re-distributed unless there are claims put forward in court.

Fashion

Generally, an elf will wear colors associated with their house stone. It goes beyond a mark of pride, it is a significant societal link. The craft capability of an elf would usually be thought of as exceptional high quality compared to human abilities.

Materials for Commoners: Linen, hemp, wool. Leather for shoes, belts, gloves and armor. Skins and furs for cloaks.

Materials for Nobles: Damasks, samite, satin, silk and velvet.

Aging

The March Elves live for hundreds of years, and their ancestors lived thousands up to a few generations ago. Elves mature physically at a similar pace with humans, however they're still considered youth until about 180, which would be similar to a human of 18. Current life expectancy is around 650 years of age. Elves participate in the Rite of Growth in which then they're recognized as an adult in society.

Gender

Elves

Birth

Elves are not born through sexual reproduction however it does take two elves of any gender to participate together in the Rite of Calling with their house Keeper. This takes the combined focus of will by the two elves who also must be united in harmony to ask Aesca for her blessing, by which the Keeper asks the house Stone for a soul to be returned from Aesca and given to the couple. It is said that if Aesca and the Stone are in agreement, in one lunar year a child appears at the Stone to which the Keeper calls the two elves to return and welcome the bond between child and parents.

As it takes the combined elves bound to the same house Stone, the child is seen as a member of the house and should one or both parents die or are unable in the rarest of circumstances be able to raise the child, the house will raise it.

Death

Unlike humans, death is celebrated among the long-living March Elves for it's the time when the soul returns to the house stone and rejoins Aesca to share all they've learned and in doing so, Aesca grows as does the house. The March Elves go to great lengths to bring the dead back to their house stone, and it would be a significant cultural slight to deny a fallen March Elf to be sent back home. Bodies would normally in a perfect timeline be placed at the house stone for a period of two days after which time the body is buried at the crypts and the soul is ushered via ceremony to the house stone. Such a ceremony may be overseen by a priest of Lurone. Once the soul has returned to the house stone, a feast and celebration as expensive as the house can afford is usually given. It isn't a period of sadness, for the soul can speak to its progeny through the stone and one day be reborn.

House Stones

A March Elf would never think to steal, harm or lose a house stone. Said stones are roughly a meter in diameter although they can be larger. Houses are only recognized if they have a house stone, and the safety and security of the stone is given to the Keeper (often the head of the house, but could be someone else). Common belief is that the souls of every ancestor is stored in the house stone, and that a gifted Keeper can draw out their whispered wisdom. To make a house stone takes significant resources and effort not just from the house, but of other house stones too that seem to agree in harmony.