| Snow Elf | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| (Creature) | |
| CR: | By Class |
| Type: | Humanoid (Elf) |
| Environment: | Northern T'lune |
| Alignment: | Any |
Snow elves are an elven ethnicity that live in the far north of T'lune within the borders of the country, before the great mountains of the north.
Appearance
Snowcasters share many physical features with their elven cousins. They are uniquely pale-skinned, and most have white hair that matches their snow-coated homelands
Society
Snow elves have no nations, cities, or large towns of their own, and ill-informed outsiders often believe them to be nomadic, since few have ever seen one of their settlements. This suits the secretive elves just fine, as it serves to protect their greatest treasures—their homes, their families, and their faith.
Snow elves live in small, isolated tribal communities, hidden from the outside world, often dwelling in the remains of the once-grand structures built by their ancestors. These ruins are usually concealed or inaccessible unless one knows the way hidden in ravines between blizzard-cloaked mountains, in the depths of snow-carpeted pine forests, or in ice caves formed from the growth of glaciers over millennia. Snow elves have a fierce loyalty to the place where they choose to live, whether it’s an ancestral burial ground, the home of a revered leader, or a particularly holy site.
When contact with outsiders is necessary, it is commonly a single Snow elf called a “twilight speaker” who enters a foreign community, having been trained specifically for the task. Snow elves are usually cautious at best in their dealings with strangers, and have a reputation for blunt speaking. This is not rudeness, however, merely a desire to conclude their business as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Names
Snow elves have the utmost respect for family and tradition and choose to honor their ancestors by naming their children for them. However, because they are also intensely private and wary of revealing their secrets to strangers, they choose to hide their true names in single long, multi-syllabic traditional names. As such, it is generally impossible for anyone outside of a particular Snow elf ’s tribe to identify just which parts of an individual’s name relate to his or her ancestors and which is the given name. In any dealings with non-elves, revealing their names is seen as bad luck, so Snow elves introduce themselves with a sobriquet instead. It is quite an insult to ask a Snow elf her name without first giving your own
Female Names: Celaesorea, Elurrabeherra, Koryveretru, Lumivartalvae, Mirrashylora, Parralatea
Male Names: Euroliyern, Iularavern, Kuroredimer, Liiornadin, Nuorufalal, Raelyosradin
Sobriquets: Daughter of Twilight, Son of the Snows, Sunset’s Blood, Winterwall Runner
Snow half-elves
Snow half-elves, sometimes called snowborn, are half-elves descended from Snow elves. The Snow parent of such children are often twilight speakers, and their birth often leads to both the parent and child being permanently exiled from Snowcaster society.
Traits
Elven characters of the Snowcaster ethnicity have access to the following two race traits.
Obscure Traditions: You confound those who think they know about elves. Any creature attempting to make a Knowledge check about your people, a Sense Motive check to determine whether you are lying, or a Survival check to track you takes a –2 penalty on the check. Additionally, any character or creature that normally gains a bonus on attack or damage rolls against elves (such as a ranger’s favored enemy ability) has such a bonus reduced by 1 (minimum 0).
Snowblooded: Your family has a long tradition of producing excellent sentries and twilight speakers. You gain a +4 trait bonus on Fortitude saving throws made to avoid nonlethal damage from cold environments, and gain a +1 trait bonus on saving throws against spells with the cold descriptor.