Wood elves

The Forest Dwellers

These elves are the originals. While they have changed over the years and differ significantly from the elves of old, they still inhabit the ancestral elven homeland—the great Enyanian rainforest. It is considered the only truly right place to live in the world. Despite other elves leaving for adventure and new places, the Wood Elves chose to stay.

They may not be the wealthiest or boast the best military, but what they do have is a vast forest with jagged hills, rocky regions, caves, sinkholes, and lakes that appear small but plunge unexpectedly deep.

Physical Appearance

The Wood Elves have tan skin ranging from light to medium shades of brown, with occasional individuals sporting freckles—a mark of luck and good fortune. Their hair is typically dark, with various shades of brown and some boasting raven-colored locks. Curls and waves are common among them, and their faces are carved from wood, characterized by gently curving lines with intentional sharp turns.

Homeland

Their jagged hills are covered in dense jungle, creating a layered ecosystem. On the ground, larger creatures and burning creatures coexist with insects that feed on fallen leaves. The trees host various species of apes and birds, all seeking the forest's abundant fruit and nut-bearing trees. Birds of prey, residing in the canopy, complete this complex ecosystem.

The Wood Elves have colonized all three ecosystems. They've built paved roads, bridge systems connecting trees and treehouses, and towers reaching above the trees. These pathways are primarily used for hunting and, during times of war, for mobilizing armies on the mainland.

Despite their woodsmanship, their primary mode of transport is the river, navigated with narrow boats. A major river connects their inner and western lands, hosting three of their six largest cities, including the capital. Their ease of movement over water allows them to rule these cities as a united entity.

Nevertheless, the woods are where they feel at home, exploring, adventuring, and growing old.

Culture

The perilous forest, rich terrain, climate, and diverse ecosystems have shaped the Wood Elves into true explorers. They were the first to take to the sea, discover other landmasses, and initiate trade agreements. Their inventiveness and curiosity have given them a reputation for being too adventurous for their own good.

Despite living a long time, they feel no real sense of urgency, often spending extended periods of time on leisure or discussing trade deals. This perception of leisure has earned them a reputation among humans as lazy slackers.

Ethnicities

Wood Elven culture can be further divided into three main sub-groups based on where they live.

Western Wood Elf

This is by far the biggest branch of the wood elven ethnic group. They live in the Caraethenian basin of the Enyanian rainforest, which is largely unified by one large river system, allowing them to stay relatively united.
The westerners are known as the most snobbish and self-important of the wood elves, which isn't saying all that much, since this is a trait they all share.

Cuisine
Their ecosystem isn't suitable for many foreign foods, and they have a completely unique system of growing food, almost exclusively relying on tree-grown fruits, nuts, and vegetables.
They rely heavily on fish from their river for food, and they were the ones who first domesticated pigs. To this day, pork composes a large and important part of wood elven cuisine, even if they have since adopted the goat, its meat, and its milk into their cooking as well.
They don't shy away from eating insects, since there are many of them in their forest, and especially beetle larvae, fried in pork fat, are considered a delicacy.

Eastern Wood Elf

The Eastern Wood Elves are removed from the rest by a section of the Caraethenian highlands known as the Dark Forest. This division has isolated them from the rest of wood elven society for a long time, and even today, travel from one part to the other is only possible by boat.
Easterners have the darkest skin tones of the Wood elves, and the curliest hair.

Cuisine
These wood elves have taken to very different kinds of foreign influence that the westerners, such as rice from the Khellans, and beef from the Yavinians. They have also taken to sea fishing much more than their western counterparts, and they especially have a love for sea snakes.

Northern Wood Elf

This is the smallest of the three wood elven ethnicities, even though they were once the biggest by far. Their homeland is the Enyanian Marn, a lush green temperate forest, on the other side of the Caraethenian highlands. Most of their land has been taken from them by human invaders, which has left them a melancholy and bitter people.
Northerners are visually distinct from the main wood elven population, with much lighter brown skin and lighter hair colors. They are also a little shorter on average.

Cuisine
Their forest has a very different ecosystem compared to the westerners, which is why many of the staple foods from the heartlands of Enyanin don't grow well there. They have cultivated some of them to grow better in their lands, but they have also adopted many foreign food sources, such as their grains, but also many vegetables. They also have many native fruits and nuts of their own, which do not grow in the rainforest.

This is part of the reason why the rest of the wood elves often ignore them, seeing them as some other race, more comparable to the grass elves, which is true in many ways.