First of all, let me start by saying that I am not interested in what has now become a traditional view of elves. In Trithofar, elves is a derogatory word. It means what it meant for centuries before popular fiction tended to mutate it. It means 'fairy folk' or 'a creature that is both inhuman and magical.' Effectively, as I understand things, elves and goblins were not so far in meaning from one another at one time.
I love what Harry Potter did when Rowling introduced elves in her fiction. She turned them into short, ugly creatures that managed magic. I like this, but I'm still not using it.
Mostly, I want to avoid turning elves into blonde haired goody-goodies. This, then is what I call the Tolkien elf. These elves are morally, physically, intellectual, and socially superior to all other creatures of Middle Earth. They, instead of humans, are the utmost of creation. I have seen many example of these in literature, though at present, only a few come to mind just now. The elves of Tolkien, obviously, are the primary example, but then you have the Underground Kingdom of Pan's Labyrinth, the elf-like creatures of Hellboy 2, the vampires of Twilight and Anne Rice fiction (which, while not superior in morality, are the best, longest lived, and humans are nothing by comparison and completely uninitiated). The non-human creatures in Narnia all seem to be on one side or another, based primarily on their appearances, etc.
I did not want ugly elves (creatures that no human would ever think about being with), but I did not want elves that were superior in every way to humans either (gods and goddesses on Earth). I see the appeal of both of these types of elves. The one is to be historically or mythologically accurate. The other is to give humans a sort of standard to aspire to in some way. This is a difficult thing, because pretty much any society of non-human creatures could be classified by someone as a society of elves. My target was to create certain conditions among the elves that could not work among other races, but could fit in with other races nonetheless. If I have done anything original with it, yay me.
Elves in Trithofar are yet another form of people, or creature with a soul. What makes them different is mostly how they reproduce and what it necessitates for their society and how they live. They are not immortal, nor superior to other races in any hugely significant way. They have prejudices and love and all that just like anyone else. I'll admit, they will have similarities with elves as they have been done, but I am trying to differentiate them to some degree as well. I want them to be integrateable (not a real word) with the rest of the races of Trithofar. One of the things about them I find to be unique are their elflings (see below) as well as the fact that they are not interested in nature because they have some divine connection to mother earth. No, they use nature because it's a renewable resource. They are an industrial complex and a working communist society at the same time, building their society on the backs of a natural, built in proletariat class. Yeah, yeah, I know: Santa elves, right? Not really. See below.
Again, calling someone an 'elf' is actually insulting to a l'wii in Trithofar. Not because they are aware of other works' interpretations of elves, but because one is grouping them together with other types of elves they may not wish to be a part of. The elves differ over a few different things, most noticeably about how they reproduce. Though L'wii and T'wii reproduce in a similar way, other 'races' of elves do so in other ways. Even between L'wii and T'wii society, there are irreconcilable differences between the societies, for instances, and there are yet species of elves that cannot reproduce with others.
L'WII PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
L'wii are a race of creatures that are, typically, about the size of a fifteen to sixteen year old human male (both sexes are typically about the same size, but not the same build and strength). They are, typically, not fat, but they are not always willowy either (though some can be). The average weight range is between 45 and 70 kilos (100 and 170 lbs) with the females being, usually, shorter and slimmer and the males being taller and bulkier. Their height is between 130 cm to 170 cm. They look a great deal like humans, except they have slightly larger, pointed ears (not kunjelic ears) with larger ear holes; they have small noses; their eyes are typically proportionally larger, and their mouths a bit wider. Their faces are not necessarily skinnier or fatter, but varies in shape about the same amount as a human's would. They possess at the bridge of their nose two small eye-like organs, about the size of beans, called liipii, or elf eyes (described later). Male liipii are usually bigger in fully grown l'wii than those of females.
L'wii most often have varying colors of skin even among their own kind, and some of them have skin patterns or variations. Some will have skin that is greenish tint, others bluer skin, while still others will have normal flesh-tones common to humans. L'wii are almost never pink, however, and this is a very undesirable skin tone for them (mostly because it does not match natural tones). Their hair can be any of the following colors: sky blue, green, red, yellow, brown, blue-green, black, white, and silver. Eye color ranges from blue, green, red, yellow, brown, or silver.
Because elves do not differentiate as much in physical characteristics as other races (the females have no need of mammary glands, for instance. They have them, but they are like men having nipples, and are mostly underdeveloped and small; a strange leftover thing from a long ago time), they differentiate in other ways. Females wear loose-fitting (sometimes even slightly revealing by human standards) clothing that usually accentuates their legs and arms and sometimes their chests. Most of the time, females wear clothing that is smooth, sometimes translucent and flowing. Males wear very practical clothing, usually for working with, nothing draping, nothing too revealing or exposing, most of the time without a great deal of color variation or intent to express themselves. Females allow their hair to grow longer than males (mostly because other races do this). Males are usually attracted to the skin's texture, the tactile sensations, grace and easy-going nature, understanding and empathy, and the smell and sound of a l'wii female's voice. They are interested, physically in the hips and legs mostly; they are not particularly interested in the females' chests (see above). Females are attracted mostly to what they refer to as the 'musk' of a male, which is not just scent, but posture, aggressiveness, flexibility (mental), quickness of action, etc.
As you can tell from this above description, L'wii are not superior to humans or any other race in Trithofar in morality or spirituality or even magic. If anything, they tend to be more biologically grounded than other races.
ELFLINGS:
One of the most distinctive feature of l'wii society is the elfling. Elfling is a term applied to undeveloped or 'child' L'wii. In the L'wii language of Valirathan, the word is actually Eof'l'wii, which has been mutated through linguistic misunderstanding to be elfling. Consequently, through a similar mistake, the word Eof, which actually means 'child' was thought to be the word for the race of creature or 'person'. L'wii actually means 'person.' Literally, the term Eof'l'wii means 'child person.' The elves, not realizing this until it was too late, did not correct it, and so the terms stuck. Forever more, people are calling them elves, which is literally calling them "children."
The elflings (which is what we shall call them throughout here) are not, however, regarded as children, so much as a servant caste of half-grown l'wii. When a female l'wii has been engendered for about five to ten years, she begins to be able to produce elflings of her own (with or without contact with a male l'wii). This is not necessarily something that all l'wii women will do. A l'wii female must engorge, which means she eats a large quantity of sugar through fruits, and also eats a great deal of food in general. This will trigger a l'wii woman to become a birthmother. Usually, l'wii women are selected for their health, social status, and personal desires to become bearers. Unless there is something wrong with the woman, they can become a bearer if they choose to do so and can arrange a ritual for engorging.
Elflings are born and are about the size of a juvenile monkey, which makes their birth not a difficult task as it is with many women of other races. Elflings develop the ability to move, walk, etc. at about the age of three to four months. They are talking, with work, usually by the end of their first year of life. They live about 10-12 years and grow to be about the size of a fifteen year old human male (about the size of a mature chimpanzee perhaps). They are very strong and very agile physically, but have an awkward look about them. They would look almost like a teenager halfway through puberty (without the acne) and rather androgynous (the grace and proportions of a girl with the strength of a boy), except they have almost no body hair and what amounts to fur on their heads. Their noses are small, almost just nostrils, and on either side of the bridge of their nose is a set of organs that look like large black eyes embedded in the skin, and which other races do not possess (these are called derivatively elf eyes, but are called by the elves the Liipii). The liipii are the organs responsible for a sort of sixth sense (a hyper-developed awareness of nuance, almost to the extent of psychic abilities). The liipii lose much of their acuteness in developed elves, but still function. They tell the developed l'wii what emotions other l'wii are experiencing and key on sight, sound, smell, and hearing and even, to some degree, body heat. However, in elflings, the liipii work to such a degree that the elfling can almost tell exactly what an adult is thinking. An adult elf can give an elfling a command and the elfling can understand it, almost without speaking by using the Liipii. This is also what makes people think elves can see in the dark, when they cannot.
Features of elflings in L'wii society:
WARNING: Rather Adult Content Here:
I do not think the processes that elves go through to engender an elf will be discussed in great detail in my books for Young Adults, but I feel the need to discuss some of it here. I will not be terribly graphic (as I've tried not to be above), and will try to keep what follows as merely textbook level material, but I do not feel that what follows is for younger audiences (even though it involves nothing an eighth grade student would not be quite familiar with through Sex Ed). Despite this, I feel it fair to warn my reader, and to remind them that I am neither a prude nor a pervert (don't worry, it's not pornographic or anything and to most, probably will not be more than interesting). Remember, I'm a Christian, but consider myself a mature and responsible one, and in making a fantasy novel about certain races that are different from humans, think it is interesting to make them different in other ways than just pointed ears. Particularly, the weirdness in elves causes other races to think ill of them (fair or not) and people with certain moralistic and self-righteous allegiances to religions think of them as somewhat debauched. This is an interesting social dilemma and allows me to create stories that interest me.
The question therefore the elves allow me to ask is: how much of morality truly comes from exactly HOW a creature reproduces itself? After all, in nature, all manner of strange relationships take place in the process of reproduction (insects eat each other for the protein necessary to gestate their young; one litter of kittens can be sired by multiple fathers; spiders and other creatures save up to have babies; father seahorses actually carry offspring; frogs can change their genders; snakes engage in massive breeding sessions involving hundreds of snakes; some creatures lay eggs; some parents mate for life and some leave their offspring to live for themselves; etc.) In designing elves, I decided: what would it be like if there was a type of creature that diverted most prominently based on how they chose or had to reproduce, and could the Highest accept a race of creatures that do things differently than humans in that regard. Unfortunately, and particularly among American audiences, this might be offensive and taboo if put in a novel for early teens to young adults (the people that might be pulled into my world by Drinna). Therefore, if you are still reading, you've been warned.
L'wii do not raise their own offspring. Elflings which are born are immediately taken from mothers and put with handlers by Kecha'wii (which is the l'wii word for Chooser or Sorter). A Sortress is a person over a particular House, which is an industrial complex sorted into Orders. Elflings born into a particular House, get put into orders according to need and according to apparent abilities to follow handlers. While the elfling works in a particular task and while the elfling is learning to work with particular handlers, a part of the elfling's brain is storing all manner of information in case the elfling becomes engendered and grows to full maturity.
Once the L'wii elfling reaches the age of five years, it is decided whether or not that elfling will be engendered and usually the elfling will be set to work doing complicated or learning-intensive tasks. Elflings can be engendered as early as two years, but they will not have learned much by then and will be somewhat behind when they are engendered (see T'wii). Here is where physical intimacy among L'wii comes into play. If two l'wii engage in lovemaking, it causes a surge of hormones and a rise in body heat, along with the production of pheromones, etc. If an elfling is nearby after lovemaking is accomplished, it is likely the elfling will begin to 'turn.' When an elfling 'turns' it means they are ready to receive genetic material which will initiate the process of engendering (this is not a sexual act; elflings are asexual creatures. They have no desire whatsoever for the physical act of lovemaking).
If an elfling turns, their skin becomes exceedingly pale, they begin to have a peculiar hungry look in their eyes, they become more aggressive and often more difficult to control (usually resulting in them being given over for the duration of their turn to a Juriilite handler (see below)). The elfling begins to produce a peculiar chemical in their saliva, which when administered to the skin, produces a numbness and euphoria (like a localized anesthetic that actually feels good rather than just causing numbness; it causes the nerves in the area to become highly receptive of good sensations, making everything feel like a lover's touch). The elfling licks a chosen spot on the Profferer (a person chosen to allow an elfling to bite them, usually a previously chosen member of the house they will be a part of). The saliva takes effect and the elfling bites into the chosen spot, drawing a goodly amount of blood. The elfling drinks the blood, and the genetic material in the blood causes the elfling to begin its metamorphosis.
An elfling actually will go into a sort of coccoon, a process few non-l'wii ever get to witness (think of how many people would allow you to attend their child's birth, and you'll understand). The elfling lies down and bloats up, effectively looking like a large ball of skin, which usually can weigh up to 90 kg (200 lbs) if a fully grown elfling turns. This outer layer of skin stretches and then hardens into a semi-translucent shell, inside of which is the adult l'wii's body. During this time, new skin forms, the elf's musculature and skeletal structure is readjusted, and its brain begins to reorganize itself. What emerges is a l'wii adult. L'wii who are engendered early (as in two or three years of age), are very like five year old children in mind and body, remembering only the very little they learned during their two years of development. However, they grow to full adult size in a matter of years and have, in their subconscious, whatever they learned so far, on top of what they learn as an adult l'wii. Such l'wii are typically labeled as being 'slowed.' A mutated or somehow defective or otherwise intolerable difference in an elfling is never allowed to become so in a l'wii because they do not engender them.
If an Elfling is engendered by a male, it becomes a female; if engendered by a female, it becomes male. This is a peculiar quirk found in elves genetically.
As a consequence of this peculiar process of siring, fostering, turning, and engendering elflings the sexual dimorphism in l'wii is not very great. Males tend to be taller and have a slightly more robust musculature (but only slightly: like an 18 year old male human), but still retain a certain degree of sleekness to them. Females do not develop larger or more noticeable breasts and are not very different, body shape wise from males, except for slightly shorter stature, slightly wider hips, longer legs proportionally, and a bit more grace and speed. Adult l'wii, however, can see a difference between each other with the liipii quite well. Whereas males are stronger and tougher, females are can run and move much faster than males. In terms of intelligence, female elves have a greater capacity for thinking abstractly and have greater emotional control over males. The males are, primarily, subservient to the females and a female can command a male better than a male command a female.
Females have a peculiar thing happen to them with allergies. When a female is allergic to something, particularly pollen or certain types of food, her reaction is to become pregnant with an elfling. This particular and peculiar reaction circumvents the need of engorgement and also does something else. When the female is so triggered by the pollen of trees or flowers (and usually only one type will do it, she can have her elfling within her womb caused to be engendered by sexual activity). This will not cause the female to continue bearing offspring like engorging will, but will trigger a one-time reaction. A side effect due to this peculiarity is that when a male or female elf has an allergic reaction, it doesn't cause the sneezing, coughing, etc. it would cause in a human, but causes them to become extremely sexually aroused. Therefore, when their specific allergen is around, they will wear veils to protect themselves from any unwanted desire.
Because engendering an elf can be done by either a male or a female, and to cause the turn requires physical intimacy (for L'wii), male and female l'wii have very similar sex drives. Compared to a human male, a male l'wii's drive would be considered quite lessened; compared to a female human, a female l'wii's sex drive would seem quite strong. However, both are usually equally interested in the other, and both are about equally capable of being satisfied by the other, which is why many men of other races seek out companionship specifically with l'wii women (they cannot get pregnant except after over-eating, they are easily satisfied sexually, and they have a much higher sex drive. Not to mention their offspring are completely obedient to those who bother to control them, don't live with them in their society, etc.).
Non-l'wii are capable of engendering elflings. However, the l'wii that emerges from its cocoon afterwards will either be mostly non-l'wii or mostly l'wii. There is no large amount of blending. Eventually, the impurity (for lack of a better word), is entirely bred out if subsequent generations do not continue the trend. Either this, or the offspring is sterile.
End of Rather Adult Content Here.
L'WII SOCIETAL STRUCTURE
L'wii society, as has already been stated is divided into what we would call Houses and Orders. Above this, there are Temples. Do not think of these Temples as really religious structures. Instead, they are administrative and centralized structures for certain purposes. Think of The Department of Administration or the Department of Energy or the Housing Department or Department of Homeland Security. These are the same things.
The Temples, in L'wii society represent the departments of L'wii life. The Temples are named after the various L'wii nature gods. These are not really gods, but manifestations of one particular High Aav, Eiios, who has communicated with her people as though she were a goddess, and has appeared in several different forms to instruct the l'wii, and each of these forms, the l'wii believe she is in charge of in different forms. It's rather complicated, but largely tied into the cyclical and very ordered structure of L'wii society, etc. Effectively, each Temple is managed by Pillars, which are called F'ley'wii in L'wii language. Each Temple is divided into Houses, which manage specific duties in society.
The Temple of Arkos: Effectively, this is the temple dedicated to warfare, security, martial arts, police forces, border patrols, and the slaughter and distribution of animals. They are also responsible, usually, for destruction. Arkos is considered the winter god. He is a submissive deity who does what needs to be done, for the good of all, but can be rather hot-headed. His priests and priestesses teach obedience, social order, peace, responsibility, and duty. Eiios took on the form of Arkos to show the people justice and to help them understand that death is not always wrong or bad, but a part of life.
The Temple of Juriil: This house is responsible for organizing families and sorting through emotional needs. These are the counselors and psychologists of l'wii society, as well as the primary source of ke'l'wii. Eiios took this form to teach the l'wii the importance of love, respect, honor, beauty, passion, and enjoyment of mind, body, and soul.
Again, a warning. Some of this might be considered a little PG-13. You have been warned.
L'wii do not choose who they will marry, typically. The houses in the Temple of Juriil are responsible for trying to help l'wii find a mate (if they want one) or arranging for them to become barers of elflings, etc. Remember, among the l'wii, the purpose of lovemaking is to produce the necessary hormone rushes needed to 'turn' an elfling. Therefore, two elves must be able to produce in each other the necessary feelings and desire which will most likely turn an elfling and cause it to seek being engendered. For l'wii, the purpose of being married IS NOT to sire children, but to help them grow up. A traditional family of married parents with resultant offspring is not as common in L'wii society as it would be in other societies. Instead, two l'wii might be allowed to be married so that elflings can be put into their care for a season until the elfling turns. Usually, an elfling is put into a house where one parent is of the Temple the elfling has been raised in, so that it can continue its learning and most likely be engendered by the member of that temple. Very often, couples are allowed to be married if they are of the same temple. However, it is not impossible to marry someone of a different temple, and sometimes this is desirable to help engendered elves possibly be more well-rounded.
The Temple of Niima: This is the manifestation of Eiios' artistic and creative side. Eiios in this form is a female, despite much of this being a masculine l'wii activity (the creation of art and such is usually masculine for l'wii). This is the Temple devoted to the arts, to music, to entertainment, to excitement, to celebration. Eiios manifested herself in this form to worship the beauty and wonder of the world, to teach expression and healthy use of time and talent. Niimites are all dedicated to the performance, visual, or audible arts. A few mages have been known to come from this House, but their philosophy is not about control or destruction or anything like. All the mages in this house work to make beautiful and wondrous artworks which trigger in the mind the exact emotion they are attempting to trigger. Sometimes, the houses here will mix and mingle to put on mutually crafted amusements.
I"m going to have to restart my computer soon and do not wish to lose this again, so I'm going to go ahead and post it. I might amend it later, but for now, I like what I've got. Sorry if I've offended, but if I have listen and all is mended (bad Shakespeare). Remember, this is just fantasy.
I love what Harry Potter did when Rowling introduced elves in her fiction. She turned them into short, ugly creatures that managed magic. I like this, but I'm still not using it.
Mostly, I want to avoid turning elves into blonde haired goody-goodies. This, then is what I call the Tolkien elf. These elves are morally, physically, intellectual, and socially superior to all other creatures of Middle Earth. They, instead of humans, are the utmost of creation. I have seen many example of these in literature, though at present, only a few come to mind just now. The elves of Tolkien, obviously, are the primary example, but then you have the Underground Kingdom of Pan's Labyrinth, the elf-like creatures of Hellboy 2, the vampires of Twilight and Anne Rice fiction (which, while not superior in morality, are the best, longest lived, and humans are nothing by comparison and completely uninitiated). The non-human creatures in Narnia all seem to be on one side or another, based primarily on their appearances, etc.
I did not want ugly elves (creatures that no human would ever think about being with), but I did not want elves that were superior in every way to humans either (gods and goddesses on Earth). I see the appeal of both of these types of elves. The one is to be historically or mythologically accurate. The other is to give humans a sort of standard to aspire to in some way. This is a difficult thing, because pretty much any society of non-human creatures could be classified by someone as a society of elves. My target was to create certain conditions among the elves that could not work among other races, but could fit in with other races nonetheless. If I have done anything original with it, yay me.
Elves in Trithofar are yet another form of people, or creature with a soul. What makes them different is mostly how they reproduce and what it necessitates for their society and how they live. They are not immortal, nor superior to other races in any hugely significant way. They have prejudices and love and all that just like anyone else. I'll admit, they will have similarities with elves as they have been done, but I am trying to differentiate them to some degree as well. I want them to be integrateable (not a real word) with the rest of the races of Trithofar. One of the things about them I find to be unique are their elflings (see below) as well as the fact that they are not interested in nature because they have some divine connection to mother earth. No, they use nature because it's a renewable resource. They are an industrial complex and a working communist society at the same time, building their society on the backs of a natural, built in proletariat class. Yeah, yeah, I know: Santa elves, right? Not really. See below.
Again, calling someone an 'elf' is actually insulting to a l'wii in Trithofar. Not because they are aware of other works' interpretations of elves, but because one is grouping them together with other types of elves they may not wish to be a part of. The elves differ over a few different things, most noticeably about how they reproduce. Though L'wii and T'wii reproduce in a similar way, other 'races' of elves do so in other ways. Even between L'wii and T'wii society, there are irreconcilable differences between the societies, for instances, and there are yet species of elves that cannot reproduce with others.
L'WII PHYSICAL DESCRIPTION:
L'wii are a race of creatures that are, typically, about the size of a fifteen to sixteen year old human male (both sexes are typically about the same size, but not the same build and strength). They are, typically, not fat, but they are not always willowy either (though some can be). The average weight range is between 45 and 70 kilos (100 and 170 lbs) with the females being, usually, shorter and slimmer and the males being taller and bulkier. Their height is between 130 cm to 170 cm. They look a great deal like humans, except they have slightly larger, pointed ears (not kunjelic ears) with larger ear holes; they have small noses; their eyes are typically proportionally larger, and their mouths a bit wider. Their faces are not necessarily skinnier or fatter, but varies in shape about the same amount as a human's would. They possess at the bridge of their nose two small eye-like organs, about the size of beans, called liipii, or elf eyes (described later). Male liipii are usually bigger in fully grown l'wii than those of females.
L'wii most often have varying colors of skin even among their own kind, and some of them have skin patterns or variations. Some will have skin that is greenish tint, others bluer skin, while still others will have normal flesh-tones common to humans. L'wii are almost never pink, however, and this is a very undesirable skin tone for them (mostly because it does not match natural tones). Their hair can be any of the following colors: sky blue, green, red, yellow, brown, blue-green, black, white, and silver. Eye color ranges from blue, green, red, yellow, brown, or silver.
Because elves do not differentiate as much in physical characteristics as other races (the females have no need of mammary glands, for instance. They have them, but they are like men having nipples, and are mostly underdeveloped and small; a strange leftover thing from a long ago time), they differentiate in other ways. Females wear loose-fitting (sometimes even slightly revealing by human standards) clothing that usually accentuates their legs and arms and sometimes their chests. Most of the time, females wear clothing that is smooth, sometimes translucent and flowing. Males wear very practical clothing, usually for working with, nothing draping, nothing too revealing or exposing, most of the time without a great deal of color variation or intent to express themselves. Females allow their hair to grow longer than males (mostly because other races do this). Males are usually attracted to the skin's texture, the tactile sensations, grace and easy-going nature, understanding and empathy, and the smell and sound of a l'wii female's voice. They are interested, physically in the hips and legs mostly; they are not particularly interested in the females' chests (see above). Females are attracted mostly to what they refer to as the 'musk' of a male, which is not just scent, but posture, aggressiveness, flexibility (mental), quickness of action, etc.
As you can tell from this above description, L'wii are not superior to humans or any other race in Trithofar in morality or spirituality or even magic. If anything, they tend to be more biologically grounded than other races.
ELFLINGS:
One of the most distinctive feature of l'wii society is the elfling. Elfling is a term applied to undeveloped or 'child' L'wii. In the L'wii language of Valirathan, the word is actually Eof'l'wii, which has been mutated through linguistic misunderstanding to be elfling. Consequently, through a similar mistake, the word Eof, which actually means 'child' was thought to be the word for the race of creature or 'person'. L'wii actually means 'person.' Literally, the term Eof'l'wii means 'child person.' The elves, not realizing this until it was too late, did not correct it, and so the terms stuck. Forever more, people are calling them elves, which is literally calling them "children."
The elflings (which is what we shall call them throughout here) are not, however, regarded as children, so much as a servant caste of half-grown l'wii. When a female l'wii has been engendered for about five to ten years, she begins to be able to produce elflings of her own (with or without contact with a male l'wii). This is not necessarily something that all l'wii women will do. A l'wii female must engorge, which means she eats a large quantity of sugar through fruits, and also eats a great deal of food in general. This will trigger a l'wii woman to become a birthmother. Usually, l'wii women are selected for their health, social status, and personal desires to become bearers. Unless there is something wrong with the woman, they can become a bearer if they choose to do so and can arrange a ritual for engorging.
Elflings are born and are about the size of a juvenile monkey, which makes their birth not a difficult task as it is with many women of other races. Elflings develop the ability to move, walk, etc. at about the age of three to four months. They are talking, with work, usually by the end of their first year of life. They live about 10-12 years and grow to be about the size of a fifteen year old human male (about the size of a mature chimpanzee perhaps). They are very strong and very agile physically, but have an awkward look about them. They would look almost like a teenager halfway through puberty (without the acne) and rather androgynous (the grace and proportions of a girl with the strength of a boy), except they have almost no body hair and what amounts to fur on their heads. Their noses are small, almost just nostrils, and on either side of the bridge of their nose is a set of organs that look like large black eyes embedded in the skin, and which other races do not possess (these are called derivatively elf eyes, but are called by the elves the Liipii). The liipii are the organs responsible for a sort of sixth sense (a hyper-developed awareness of nuance, almost to the extent of psychic abilities). The liipii lose much of their acuteness in developed elves, but still function. They tell the developed l'wii what emotions other l'wii are experiencing and key on sight, sound, smell, and hearing and even, to some degree, body heat. However, in elflings, the liipii work to such a degree that the elfling can almost tell exactly what an adult is thinking. An adult elf can give an elfling a command and the elfling can understand it, almost without speaking by using the Liipii. This is also what makes people think elves can see in the dark, when they cannot.
Features of elflings in L'wii society:
- They dine almost exclusively on raw meat, fruits, mushrooms, leaves, leftover food, some detritus, etc.
- They can develop the ability to speak out loud, though many do not. If they are engendered (which is the process by which an elfling becomes an adult l'wii), they can remember speech well enough to almost speak immediately.
- The ability to think abstractly is about at the level of a monkey, a gremlin, or something of that kind. They will forget commands after a couple hours if not reinforced.
- Elflings will bond with their handlers and over time learn to obey them and, usually, cannot really think on their own. An elfling left alone without anyone to command it will die, lacking the motivation to fight, to attack, to find food beyond what they can see, etc. This is why they are given to the care of handlers called Sech'wii (Basically, Orderess: which is feminine. The term is feminine because most of the orderers are female; kind of like the ideas behind words like mailman, chairman, etc). A male would be called a Sek'wii.
- Elflings, bonded to a Sech'wii, become almost like a second set of hands, feet, or senses for their handler. They become so attune to what their handler wants, the handler almost doesn't have to say anything. The better the handler and dealing with his/her elflings, the better the elflings respond. Of course, also, the better the elves learn tasks and how to do things, the more likely it is they will become engendered and grow to be a fully developed l'wii.
WARNING: Rather Adult Content Here:
I do not think the processes that elves go through to engender an elf will be discussed in great detail in my books for Young Adults, but I feel the need to discuss some of it here. I will not be terribly graphic (as I've tried not to be above), and will try to keep what follows as merely textbook level material, but I do not feel that what follows is for younger audiences (even though it involves nothing an eighth grade student would not be quite familiar with through Sex Ed). Despite this, I feel it fair to warn my reader, and to remind them that I am neither a prude nor a pervert (don't worry, it's not pornographic or anything and to most, probably will not be more than interesting). Remember, I'm a Christian, but consider myself a mature and responsible one, and in making a fantasy novel about certain races that are different from humans, think it is interesting to make them different in other ways than just pointed ears. Particularly, the weirdness in elves causes other races to think ill of them (fair or not) and people with certain moralistic and self-righteous allegiances to religions think of them as somewhat debauched. This is an interesting social dilemma and allows me to create stories that interest me.
The question therefore the elves allow me to ask is: how much of morality truly comes from exactly HOW a creature reproduces itself? After all, in nature, all manner of strange relationships take place in the process of reproduction (insects eat each other for the protein necessary to gestate their young; one litter of kittens can be sired by multiple fathers; spiders and other creatures save up to have babies; father seahorses actually carry offspring; frogs can change their genders; snakes engage in massive breeding sessions involving hundreds of snakes; some creatures lay eggs; some parents mate for life and some leave their offspring to live for themselves; etc.) In designing elves, I decided: what would it be like if there was a type of creature that diverted most prominently based on how they chose or had to reproduce, and could the Highest accept a race of creatures that do things differently than humans in that regard. Unfortunately, and particularly among American audiences, this might be offensive and taboo if put in a novel for early teens to young adults (the people that might be pulled into my world by Drinna). Therefore, if you are still reading, you've been warned.
L'wii do not raise their own offspring. Elflings which are born are immediately taken from mothers and put with handlers by Kecha'wii (which is the l'wii word for Chooser or Sorter). A Sortress is a person over a particular House, which is an industrial complex sorted into Orders. Elflings born into a particular House, get put into orders according to need and according to apparent abilities to follow handlers. While the elfling works in a particular task and while the elfling is learning to work with particular handlers, a part of the elfling's brain is storing all manner of information in case the elfling becomes engendered and grows to full maturity.
Once the L'wii elfling reaches the age of five years, it is decided whether or not that elfling will be engendered and usually the elfling will be set to work doing complicated or learning-intensive tasks. Elflings can be engendered as early as two years, but they will not have learned much by then and will be somewhat behind when they are engendered (see T'wii). Here is where physical intimacy among L'wii comes into play. If two l'wii engage in lovemaking, it causes a surge of hormones and a rise in body heat, along with the production of pheromones, etc. If an elfling is nearby after lovemaking is accomplished, it is likely the elfling will begin to 'turn.' When an elfling 'turns' it means they are ready to receive genetic material which will initiate the process of engendering (this is not a sexual act; elflings are asexual creatures. They have no desire whatsoever for the physical act of lovemaking).
If an elfling turns, their skin becomes exceedingly pale, they begin to have a peculiar hungry look in their eyes, they become more aggressive and often more difficult to control (usually resulting in them being given over for the duration of their turn to a Juriilite handler (see below)). The elfling begins to produce a peculiar chemical in their saliva, which when administered to the skin, produces a numbness and euphoria (like a localized anesthetic that actually feels good rather than just causing numbness; it causes the nerves in the area to become highly receptive of good sensations, making everything feel like a lover's touch). The elfling licks a chosen spot on the Profferer (a person chosen to allow an elfling to bite them, usually a previously chosen member of the house they will be a part of). The saliva takes effect and the elfling bites into the chosen spot, drawing a goodly amount of blood. The elfling drinks the blood, and the genetic material in the blood causes the elfling to begin its metamorphosis.
An elfling actually will go into a sort of coccoon, a process few non-l'wii ever get to witness (think of how many people would allow you to attend their child's birth, and you'll understand). The elfling lies down and bloats up, effectively looking like a large ball of skin, which usually can weigh up to 90 kg (200 lbs) if a fully grown elfling turns. This outer layer of skin stretches and then hardens into a semi-translucent shell, inside of which is the adult l'wii's body. During this time, new skin forms, the elf's musculature and skeletal structure is readjusted, and its brain begins to reorganize itself. What emerges is a l'wii adult. L'wii who are engendered early (as in two or three years of age), are very like five year old children in mind and body, remembering only the very little they learned during their two years of development. However, they grow to full adult size in a matter of years and have, in their subconscious, whatever they learned so far, on top of what they learn as an adult l'wii. Such l'wii are typically labeled as being 'slowed.' A mutated or somehow defective or otherwise intolerable difference in an elfling is never allowed to become so in a l'wii because they do not engender them.
If an Elfling is engendered by a male, it becomes a female; if engendered by a female, it becomes male. This is a peculiar quirk found in elves genetically.
As a consequence of this peculiar process of siring, fostering, turning, and engendering elflings the sexual dimorphism in l'wii is not very great. Males tend to be taller and have a slightly more robust musculature (but only slightly: like an 18 year old male human), but still retain a certain degree of sleekness to them. Females do not develop larger or more noticeable breasts and are not very different, body shape wise from males, except for slightly shorter stature, slightly wider hips, longer legs proportionally, and a bit more grace and speed. Adult l'wii, however, can see a difference between each other with the liipii quite well. Whereas males are stronger and tougher, females are can run and move much faster than males. In terms of intelligence, female elves have a greater capacity for thinking abstractly and have greater emotional control over males. The males are, primarily, subservient to the females and a female can command a male better than a male command a female.
Females have a peculiar thing happen to them with allergies. When a female is allergic to something, particularly pollen or certain types of food, her reaction is to become pregnant with an elfling. This particular and peculiar reaction circumvents the need of engorgement and also does something else. When the female is so triggered by the pollen of trees or flowers (and usually only one type will do it, she can have her elfling within her womb caused to be engendered by sexual activity). This will not cause the female to continue bearing offspring like engorging will, but will trigger a one-time reaction. A side effect due to this peculiarity is that when a male or female elf has an allergic reaction, it doesn't cause the sneezing, coughing, etc. it would cause in a human, but causes them to become extremely sexually aroused. Therefore, when their specific allergen is around, they will wear veils to protect themselves from any unwanted desire.
Because engendering an elf can be done by either a male or a female, and to cause the turn requires physical intimacy (for L'wii), male and female l'wii have very similar sex drives. Compared to a human male, a male l'wii's drive would be considered quite lessened; compared to a female human, a female l'wii's sex drive would seem quite strong. However, both are usually equally interested in the other, and both are about equally capable of being satisfied by the other, which is why many men of other races seek out companionship specifically with l'wii women (they cannot get pregnant except after over-eating, they are easily satisfied sexually, and they have a much higher sex drive. Not to mention their offspring are completely obedient to those who bother to control them, don't live with them in their society, etc.).
Non-l'wii are capable of engendering elflings. However, the l'wii that emerges from its cocoon afterwards will either be mostly non-l'wii or mostly l'wii. There is no large amount of blending. Eventually, the impurity (for lack of a better word), is entirely bred out if subsequent generations do not continue the trend. Either this, or the offspring is sterile.
End of Rather Adult Content Here.
L'WII SOCIETAL STRUCTURE
L'wii society, as has already been stated is divided into what we would call Houses and Orders. Above this, there are Temples. Do not think of these Temples as really religious structures. Instead, they are administrative and centralized structures for certain purposes. Think of The Department of Administration or the Department of Energy or the Housing Department or Department of Homeland Security. These are the same things.
The Temples, in L'wii society represent the departments of L'wii life. The Temples are named after the various L'wii nature gods. These are not really gods, but manifestations of one particular High Aav, Eiios, who has communicated with her people as though she were a goddess, and has appeared in several different forms to instruct the l'wii, and each of these forms, the l'wii believe she is in charge of in different forms. It's rather complicated, but largely tied into the cyclical and very ordered structure of L'wii society, etc. Effectively, each Temple is managed by Pillars, which are called F'ley'wii in L'wii language. Each Temple is divided into Houses, which manage specific duties in society.
The Temple of Arkos: Effectively, this is the temple dedicated to warfare, security, martial arts, police forces, border patrols, and the slaughter and distribution of animals. They are also responsible, usually, for destruction. Arkos is considered the winter god. He is a submissive deity who does what needs to be done, for the good of all, but can be rather hot-headed. His priests and priestesses teach obedience, social order, peace, responsibility, and duty. Eiios took on the form of Arkos to show the people justice and to help them understand that death is not always wrong or bad, but a part of life.
- House of Ashes: In charge of disposal. These are also responsible for deconstruction and demolition, recycling and fixing what can be fixed. These are the l'wii who will flip your house, particularly if you die and leave it vacant. They dispose of dead elves and elflings. They hold no ceremonies for dead elflings, but dead l'wii adults requires a large ceremony. No, neither elflings nor l'wii adults are necessarily buried in swamps. Instead, their bodies are usually burned.
- House of Balance: Typically, these settle disputes, particularly gambling disputes. Often, trials are held here.
- House of Blood and Honor: This is the house where warriors and armies are organized. An Order of this house is usually composed of highly aggressive and very well disciplined elflings and l'wii.
- House of Peace: In charge of monitoring and policing. These l'wii and their associated elflings watch the streets, skytrails, and usually trade ports to make sure no one is violating the law.
- House of Thorns: This house is responsible for particular security of certain areas. For instance, they monitor Turning Houses (where elves are engendered) as well as the locations where engendered elves go through their cocoon cycles. Effectively, security guards.
- House of Wolves: This house is responsible for tracking people beyond the borders of Undyer or wherever they must be tracked to. Usually, the Sech'wii of a House of Wolves Order will be a female.
- House of Spiders: The house of spiders is responsible for building, maintaining, and thinking up many of the various magical devices and/or traps which protect the city.
- House of Flesh and Fur: The house responsible for managing domesticated or grown livestock. They initiate breeding programs and work on ensuring elves could survive without having to import livestock. They manage farms of various types, which grow all manner of traditional and non-traditional animals for use in eating, the production of leather, and sometimes the creation of armor (with armored animals). They also work on producing magical animals.
- The House of Grain: Effectively, this house is literally the house of grain. They work with grain. They know about a thousand ways to make bread and bread products. They are also the house responsible for whatever beers and grain alcohol the l'wii drink.
- House of Maps: This house has diverted from the House of Memory specifically to take on the task of mapping out Undeyer, the surrounding area, and whatever bits of Trithofar they can make a map about. This house is notorious for sending out spies to steal maps from other countries in Trithofar, as well as sending out scouts and envoys to buy them.
- House of Memory: This house is almost purely research. They chronicle and record the findings of other houses and keep the libraries of the l'wii in Undyer. Some of these libraries are among the most advanced and well-maintained in the world, but are incredibly well-guarded and usually well-hidden by the House of Spiders and the House of Thorns.
- House of Paper: Yep. Makes paper. Yep. Seriously, they also bind books and print.
- House of Precious Metals: The economists of l'wii society. They manage money and finances. This is a large house with many, many orders in it. They are the ones who manage, also, trade with the outside world.
- House of Stems and Leaves: This is the house designated to grow what are called non-essential commodities. Effectively, they grow herbs, spices, and other plant life without which l'wii society would not die or be destroyed, but might not be as good. They experiment with all manner of things, particularly herbs and plants which do not natively grow in Halitorothna (the homeworld of the l'wii and other 'elves').
- House of Useful Metals: This is the house dedicated to making things with metal. This is not a large house, because elves prefer to use natural resources that can be restored and regrown more than resources that have to be mined, imported, etc. However, this house is responsible for whatever needful metals are used.
- House of Walk: These are the civil engineers of Undyer. They manage and orchestrate the streets and skytrails (which are walkways between trees). L'wii do not live in forests because they are pretty or close to nature or because they are the fantasy version of greenpeace. They live in forests, because trees grow tall, are durable, and make for good, renewable building materials. The l'wii can put enchantments on trees to make them grow bigger, taller, or to entirely cease their growing at all. Trees deep in the forest can be nailed into, heal damage done, and made to grow in a large variety of arrangements such that they provide natural support for structures.
- House of Wood: This is the house that manages wood construction materials. They grow trees for the purposes of cutting them down and using them. They manage forests, typically in swamps and in the mountains, specifically for making things out of it. (See House of Walk).
- House of Voices: These are the linguists of Undyer, where the l'wii try their best to manage the various and difficult languages of Trithofar. L'wii have been known to send large quantities of money into slaver's hands to buy and free slaves who can speak various languages so that the l'wii can learn the languages from them. Unfortunately, many of these slaves have pointed out the fact that if they cannot leave Undyer, then they are still slaves. The L'wii have always been at a significant disadvantage in Trithofar as regards to language. Because they have the liipii, they have not had to develop much in the way of language, and so ever since they came to Trithofar, they have been required to adapt. Consequently, their official language: Valirathan is neither imaginative nor beautiful. Mostly, it consists of various shadings of nouns and many forms of commands.
The Temple of Juriil: This house is responsible for organizing families and sorting through emotional needs. These are the counselors and psychologists of l'wii society, as well as the primary source of ke'l'wii. Eiios took this form to teach the l'wii the importance of love, respect, honor, beauty, passion, and enjoyment of mind, body, and soul.
Again, a warning. Some of this might be considered a little PG-13. You have been warned.
L'wii do not choose who they will marry, typically. The houses in the Temple of Juriil are responsible for trying to help l'wii find a mate (if they want one) or arranging for them to become barers of elflings, etc. Remember, among the l'wii, the purpose of lovemaking is to produce the necessary hormone rushes needed to 'turn' an elfling. Therefore, two elves must be able to produce in each other the necessary feelings and desire which will most likely turn an elfling and cause it to seek being engendered. For l'wii, the purpose of being married IS NOT to sire children, but to help them grow up. A traditional family of married parents with resultant offspring is not as common in L'wii society as it would be in other societies. Instead, two l'wii might be allowed to be married so that elflings can be put into their care for a season until the elfling turns. Usually, an elfling is put into a house where one parent is of the Temple the elfling has been raised in, so that it can continue its learning and most likely be engendered by the member of that temple. Very often, couples are allowed to be married if they are of the same temple. However, it is not impossible to marry someone of a different temple, and sometimes this is desirable to help engendered elves possibly be more well-rounded.
- House of Direction: This is one of the most important and centralized houses of all L'wii society. It has immense authority and the Ke'l'wii involved with it, along with the Sech'wii, are given great respect and authority. They have the very difficult position of figuring out where elflings should be placed. If an elfling seems best fit for another house, they must act immediately to sever the bond between order and elfling and reestablish it elsewhere.
- House of Games: Often, Juriilites arrange for people to come and play games (no, not those kind) to basically get to know one another. These can be board games, social ice-breaker type games, etc. Think of it like an enjoyable sort of therapy where many people can get together, talk, tell stories, and learn about each other to see who gets along. L'wii come into this environment knowing they are supposed to be finding a mate, and so do not mind socializing together.
- House of Love: This is, effectively, a matchmaking group. They figure out who seems to get along with whom and arrange marriages. If a couple are not happy together, the House of Love is also responsible for their divorce. Among L'wii, divorce is legal and encouraged when two do not get along.
- House of Mating: This house manages what are called "Love Nests," "Turn Houses," "Happy Houses," etc. These places are designed with a room for doing what the place is for and an adjoining room for elflings to wait. When the happy couple emerges, they allow the elflings to listen, see, and smell them and hopefully one or two or all of the elflings will turn and be ready for engendering (before judging, remember: l'wii do not consider elflings to yet be l'wii entirely. They are somewhere in the nebulous zone between l'wii and an animal. The elfling does not remember anything about l'wii mating as being a particularly taboo thing. They could sit in the room with a couple and have as much excitement about it as a child sitting in the room while his mother and father talk over their day. To an elfling, it is not any different than any other activity adult l'wii do. Elflings are asexual creatures).
The Temple of Niima: This is the manifestation of Eiios' artistic and creative side. Eiios in this form is a female, despite much of this being a masculine l'wii activity (the creation of art and such is usually masculine for l'wii). This is the Temple devoted to the arts, to music, to entertainment, to excitement, to celebration. Eiios manifested herself in this form to worship the beauty and wonder of the world, to teach expression and healthy use of time and talent. Niimites are all dedicated to the performance, visual, or audible arts. A few mages have been known to come from this House, but their philosophy is not about control or destruction or anything like. All the mages in this house work to make beautiful and wondrous artworks which trigger in the mind the exact emotion they are attempting to trigger. Sometimes, the houses here will mix and mingle to put on mutually crafted amusements.
- The House of Aroma: L'wii are among the cultures of Trithofar (like Kinto-shah, Viprun, and a few others) who particularly work in aromas and odors as part of their art. L'wii mages can arrange objects so that smells swirl and mix and mingle and assault the senses in different orders. They can tell an entire story through the manipulation of smells.
- The House of Calls: This is the house dedicated to music in all its forms. Elflings are raised being taught how to play instruments to make particular sounds. Unfortunately, for some, l'wii music can sometimes be a little disjointed to the non-trained ear, but they also learn about music of other cultures. The l'wii of this house simply enjoy making pleasing sounds, or sounds that challenge the mind and psyche.
- The House of Dance: This house is dedicated to movement and performance art. Some of the best of this house can bend and stretch and do things with their bodies that other people would wonder they were still in one piece. This can be a place where actors are trained as well.
- The House of Death: A peculiar house, but a house dedicated to making people feel better when they've lost a loved one, considered by l'wii to be an artform. Members of this house listen to people in grief, and they also will create stories and amusements in a person's honor, effectively turning them into the subject of a poem, a silly tale, or an uplifting heroic tale.
- The House of Fists and Blades: This house is dedicated to the training of martial artists. Yes, Arkos develops fighters, but this house is designed for people who are learning martial arts for the purpose of graceful performance. This is where Niimite swordsmen (who pride themselves on elegance and grace with a bladed weapon) are trained. Occasionally, l'wii will engage in duels or gladiatorial games (rarely to the death) or will enjoy watching a weapons demonstration, and the Niimite swordsman is the one who is called upon. Arkosians do not care for public violence or demonstrations of their work.
- The House of the Eye: This is a house dedicated to creating visual artworks. They work with carving, painting, and some of what is called 'placement' art. The mages of this particular house have been known to lay old, used things in what seem to be random places. However, if one was a l'wii, he or she would understand better why the old broken pot, balanced perfectly on its broken edge, was near the worn out boot. For a l'wii, just looking at this would trigger targeted emotions or thoughts, and could even tell an entire story all its own.
- The House of Words: These are the poets, writers, and some of the philosophers. Quite a few members of this house will get together for nothing more than to simply talk and think together.
I"m going to have to restart my computer soon and do not wish to lose this again, so I'm going to go ahead and post it. I might amend it later, but for now, I like what I've got. Sorry if I've offended, but if I have listen and all is mended (bad Shakespeare). Remember, this is just fantasy.
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