hough one their heritage be, long has it been since the elven peoples have abandoned their traditions and opted for new ones, forging their own paths. Although now that scholars debate about the Kapi'i migrations and what effects they had on the descendants, history seems vaguer than it once did.

Whatever be, it is no secret that the descendants of Qualior are an incredibly diverse people with a multitude of cultures. As such, nearly every way an elf grows up depends on their Clan and alignment.

But for this section, let us focus mostly on the wood-elves and high-elves of Alledoria, with whom we are so familiar. This is not meant to be an encyclopædia, but rather a quick guide to the peoples who dwell these lands.

Point to note: the writer of this statement is aware of how ridiculous the preposition of defining the wood-elves in one paragraph may sound, considering how the thousands of woodland tribes have their own ways of doing every single thing. But still, we'll try our best using the most common traits of the peoples.

Also another note: the high-elves of Alímar are divided amongst eleven Clans, each of which is further divided into thousands of Houses. For example, the House of Alinor is but one of the Houses of the Minyär Clan.

hough these days few are brave enough for politics, it is considered a noble thing in Alinor for hundreds of old people to gather in a colossal hall and then bicker about whom amongst them is stupider, though their collective intelligence is below ground level.

Anyway, so the Kingdom of Alinor is a constitutional monarchy, whose military matters (especially on the offense) are governed by the king (which is a gender-neutral term), whilst other issues are governed by the various Parliaments of Alinor.

At the lowest level of administration you have communes, which may be rural (i.e. villages) or urban (i.e. towns), each of which may have several sources of production (i.e. farmlands, lumber camps, fisheries, mining facilities, factories, etc.), which are all collectively owned by the people who work those lands, each their own swathe of working ground.

These proletariats can trade their produces for other goods as per their needs, being charged a certain percentage of their produce to the higher government as tax. These communes have their own courts and senates for local matters and addressing small-time criminals as per the constitution of Alinor, the elected head of the commune earns the title of leader.

Together with many communes and wilds (i.e. unorganised land either uninhabited or left to local tribes), one makes a province, with its own provincial government to settle local disputes and mount hasty defences to protect their districts from invasion (if any rise), ruled by an elected head called a governor and a council of ministers.

Together many provinces make up the Kingdom of Alinor, where all the governors represent their own provinces in the Grand Senate. The leader of the country is called the Supreme Chancellor, who rules from the Senate in Ostithil and delivers the final verdicts on national matters. In times of military emergency though, emergency dictatorship can be temporarily handed to the King of Alinor if two-thirds of the senators agree.

On the other hand, the Forest Kingdom is somewhat in the middle of a feudalist and socialist nation, with elements of both.

At the lowest level are the individual tribes, each with their own chieftains and regulations, some with fixed fiefdoms and others roving, the chieftain, either elected from the masses or (rarer) earned via heredity, is responsible for settling internal disputes, collecting taxes, and sending soldiers at the overlord's command.

Small tribes are more or less sworn to one clan or the other, which in themselves are larger, better-established tribes, often in personal unions through marriages with other tribes and clans. These clans are responsible to the monarch for collecting taxes and warriors from each tribe, as well as settling local disputes and punishing intertribal crimes. The leader of these clans, often called kings or queens (if fairly autonomous), or dukes or duchesses or jarls (if directly sworn to the King or Queen of the Forest Kingdom), are all sworn vassals to the Lord of the Forest, who happens to be the King or Queen of the Dragonseer Clan.

Although to be fair, in times of peace the monarch has significantly less power and all clans under the Dragonseer Clan are autonomous, thus the Forest Kingdom's popular second name goes: the Alledor Federation.

The monarch themselves, as the sayings go, are on equal levels with the Forest Gods: powerful woodlands spirits who rule vast swathes of forest land, and amongst themselves form a confederacy which spans the woodlands, almost in the form of a commonwealth, although these days they remain silent for the most part.

Random piece of trivia: this is why a great many wood-elves do not endorse the existence of the Alinor-Alledor commonwealth. In their eyes, the Forest Kingdom despite being a part of the gods' confederacy is in a personal union with the Kingdom of Alinor, which may bring in difficulties later on.

Under the AAC, both kingdoms are subject to the constitution of Alinor, although the many woodland tribes are less bothered with. Mirroring the fashion that goes on in Alinor, oftentimes the many clan-lords would sit at Silverhearth, with the monarch of the Dragonseer Clan acting as the supreme chancellor, as well as a dictator in case of emergencies.

lbeit a people used to hardships, elves are fond of food and luxury, aspiring nothing more than tasty food, sweet wine, warm hearth, and soft bed. Culinary skill amongst the elves is considered an art in itself, and many a professional chef may spend centuries perfecting this art.

It is without question that high-elves enjoy better food than wood-elves, used to a variety of foods and spices from all over the land, eating two big meals and two smaller ones every day in times of plenty. The wood-elves on the other hand tend to eat whatever comes by, with their rations greatened in spring and summer and reduced in winter months.

For both peoples, the most common source of nourishment is bread, which may be baked with meat, butter, eggs, garlic, cheese, mushrooms, vegetables, or sweets for a filling meal. For long travels flatbread is a common choice amongst the high-elves, which is often rolled with meat or vegetable filling in the middle. In taverns of Alinor and countryside homes, pierogi is a popular dish: vegetable and meat filling wrapped in dough, steamed and served with hot sauce and spicy soup.

Other than that, both peoples have cuisines that involve a variety of things with potatoes, noodles, fish, meat, porridge, and salads. The last of which, is a thing the Forest Kingdom is famous for, with a variety of forest vegetables, edible roots, nuts, fruits, berries and fungi, often mingled with exotic meats and wild flowers.

Although there are no dishes reserved exclusively for the aristocrats, chieftains and senators do enjoy better food, laden with exotic spices and herbs, cooked by professionals.

As of beverages, high-elves and wood-elves have their own differences, with high-elf wine and brandy spiced with spices from distant lands, made from fermenting hybridised fruits and vegetables, whilst wood-elf wine and beer is incredibly diverse, adorned with woodland herbs and spices, often scented with the blood of exotic animals.

Of the non-alcoholic beverages, high-elves show a special love for tea and biscuits, which is to them a regular evening snack, with sweeter non-milked tea being a common beverage for dinner as well. Even wood-elves seem to have adopted this, carrying with them canteens of tea when travelling through the wilds.

Although not technically a type of food, but rather a drug, the wood-elves from time to time are also known to ingest psychedelic mushrooms that though poisonous can make the user hallucinate, seeing gods walk in the forests, and other forces that lay unseen otherwise.

Whilst high-elves do not enjoy such mushrooms directly, for the poison of it is deemed lethal to many, they do enjoy grinding them to bits in mortars and then setting them afire, then ingesting the smoke with special pipes. Other times when such mushrooms are low on supply, the high-elves tend to resort to weeds and other types of narcotic leaves, although many experts shun these practices as addictive and harmful for the body.

Either way, those are but few of the many cuisines which are famous amongst the peoples of Alledoria, counting not the grand many others which exist in smaller communities and are less famous.

he elven folk are skilled craftsmen, there's no doubt, but even they have certain trends and practices, with certain arts being more famous and better acknowledged than the others, whether be it in paintings, sculptures, songs, poetry, prose, cuisine, clothing, or any other form of artistic work.

Amongst both high-elves and wood-elves, the best-received works are those that depict realism, with multiple meanings and philosophical messages layered in. The most common topic for artwork is war, whether actual or fictional, glorifying heroes and thanking soldiers for their contribution, neither endorsing carnage nor disgracing cowardice.

In context of sculptures, they can be categorised into two groups: military and religious. Military statues are those that depict heroes or anonymous soldiers guarding sacred grounds or busy roads, whilst religious statues depict either maidens carrying torches or pots or other religious symbols like dragons or machines.

In context of songs and dances, both elven peoples have a wide variety of tastes. The high-elves tend to prefer songs that glorify heroes, using loud and deep music that resonates with the inner spirit, playing music on flutes, accordions, trumpets and large choirs, talking for hours about strife and struggle and the necessity for unity and equality.

Not to say they're extremely peace-loving though, the folk of Alinor were one of the first to pioneer metal music, playing loud adrenaline-pumping songs in honour of their soldiers.

Wood-elves on the other hand tend to prefer light-hearted flutes or soft lutes that resonate with the environment, lulling outsides into a state of trance with their soft music and wondrous woodland melodies.

In the matter of clothes, high-elves tend to wear cotton or silk in hot summer and wool in the winters, the most common choices of colour being dark red, deep blue, brown, black, dark ivory, and beige. Clothing choices tend to depict either both dark colours or one light and one dark colour, for the high-elves being clad in whites is considered unorthodox, save for at funerals.

In context of ornaments, tin or iron is common, bronze being a rare luxury, anything above that shunned as excess. Furthermore, unlike modern human cultures, there is no division of sex amongst clothes; anyone can wear whatever they want as long as it's decent.

Wood-elves on the other hand, for the most part, tend to change with seasons, and have a variety of natural shades. In months of summer and spring, most wear garments of green and brown, whilst in autumn they don on bright oranges and reds, and in winter months blue and black are the most common. They wear no jewellery, save for tools for the hunt.

In the context of poetry on the other hand, most poets tend to write flowing, rhyming statements that tend to have dual meanings or talk about ancient things that exist no longer, or things that exist but cannot be seen.

As of sports, the elves tend to be fond of wrestling, archery, spring races, football, and treasure hunts. The high-elves tend to have annual or decadal sports events where the best players from every province come to compete, as well as wood-elves or outsiders, whilst the wood-elves tend to hold much smaller competitions often amongst tribes.

And finally, we come to dances, although it is difficult to describe, for the wood-elven tribes each have their own versions. The high-elves on the other hand are particularly fond of waltzes (which in themselves are White Elf inventions, but the Red Elves like it anyway) and a special variant of synchronised kick-dancing which goes with drums and bass.

hen a she-elf in heat mates with an elf-man and both willingly give a part of their spirit into the act, a child is conceived, whom now the mother must carry for twenty-four months.

Since the folk of Alinor are Red Elves, they do not marry unless they are monarchs, and as such the child belongs to the state. Ever since conception, the mother is put in special protection of the commune, cared for by physicians and elf-maidens throughout these two years.

Upon birth, the newborn is granted a birth name by the mother and showered with gifts from locals and friends. For the first twelve years of this child's life, they'll be raised in a communal house, looked after by all the parents and nurses in the village or city-district.

Schooling begins at the age of twelve (the human equivalent of six), with the enlistment of the youngling at an academy, where they will be taught basic things like language, arithmetic, science, history, etc. by well qualified scholars and nurses. At this point the youngling is gifted a formal first name that is to be used throughout their school life.

At the age of fifty (the human equivalent of twelve), the youngling is allowed to choose a general path to study, and is given five options to choose from: science, commerce, history, literature or military. Anytime during this phase, the youngling can be granted a title.

At any point of life the youngling can switch paths, and there are some courses that are mandatory for everyone: mathematics, general history, military training, social studies, etc.

By the age of two hundred (sixteen in human terms), the young one is declared well educated, though adolescence for them doesn't biologically end until the age of three hundred, and so they are not adults yet. The adolescents can now choose to continue their education under desired mentors, although a great many may prefer to abort to work in farm or factory.

These hundred years are a crucial time for elven youth, when they must learn to live as adults, often under the mentorship of elders. At this phase one gains a title that defines them.

Those in the military may join under centurion mentors to witness battle first-hand, those in factories or farms may be taught to work as a slave under someone else until they are ready to be freed, and so on.

Ultimately, life in the Kingdom of Alinor is hard and often unforgiving, taking the toll of hardy people as they strive to become an essential part of the machine that is this country. No job is unnecessary, and everyone has equal importance in the country. As a heavily industrialised nation, it is their job to excel at all tasks, and so their academies are of that kind: training one to take the world head on and seizing their part in the world.

Wood-elves on the other hand, enjoy far more leniencies, although their lifestyle depends on their tribe as there are differences from tribe to tribe. As always, wood-elven maidens too go for two years pregnant until a child is born, at the birth of which the wood-elves hold feasts and naming ceremonies.

For the next few years, the child is kept with their parents, raised in the tribe they were born in. Whilst a great number of tribes (usually those which enjoy autonomy) keep their children to themselves, teaching them in their own ways, a great many send their children off to the academies of other, far greater clans, so they may learn to handle situations.

Amongst the more vassalised wood-elven tribes, there is a practice of sending off one's children to the overlord's academy at the age of twelve, where they must spend the next decades of their lives witnessing how things proceed.

At the age of two hundred, the young wood-elf is squired to a mentor, whom they learn from and help in their errands, until at the age of three hundred, at which point at the discretion of their mentors, the wood-elf in question may find a chance to return home a well-learned and mature person.

Yet again, wood-elves who are closer to the high-elves may prefer to send their children over the border to the high-elf lands, where they may learn basic things and live with more civilised folk, learning their ways to churn out far better than their peers.

Yet a great many other clans (mostly those who are nobler) tend to keep their children at home, treating them no different from the others who hail from lesser tribes, teaching them the ways of the world and to befriend people who are different from them.

here are few facts truer than that high-elves are excellent engineers and artisans, blending art and craft in such a way that has never been seen before, paralleling our most modern creations quite closely.

The wood-elves too are not very far behind, although their designs are far more natural and often decorated with high-elf minds working alongside. There is a certain way to which every culture decorates their settlements, which resonates with all – from the largest metropolises to the smallest homesteads.

The folk of Alinor tend to design their settlements with concrete, building houses that often tend to be three or four stories high, all the houses bearing either beige walls and saffron roofs or grey walls and blue/green/red roofs, all connected by a network of wide cobblestone roads and decorated with statues and trees and marble minarets.

The walls of their cities are high and easy to defend, able to withstand large earthquakes with ease, encompassing the most important parts of the machine, with towers that can overlook the many concrete highways that lead to the city from great distance with ease.

Although individuals are free to design their houses in whatever way they desire, most city-houses tend to bear similar characteristics: vine-covered walls, flower-pots by windows and balconies, and every tenth house proudly fluttering the banners of Alinor: a golden eight-pointed star on a field of dark red.

But as an outsider, one of the most baffling things about these cities perhaps would be their plumbing – aqueducts connecting every house to provide a steady supply of running water, sewage systems that keep the city clean and tidy, and most importantly: fountains and bath-houses at regular intervals.

Such is the beauty of the cities of Alinor, and the cities erected by high-elven peoples in general, an example of grandeur, and so are the cities and towns built by the wood-elves, albeit their designs are a bit different.