A Spark in the Wind

Appendix C: The Elves' Way of Life

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.

(iii)

OF THE MANY ARTS AND FASHIONS OF THE ALLEDORIANS

The 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.