Recognitions occur when two elves have genes to have the greatest chance of
making a healthy child. It can result in the death of both elves if the recognition is denied too long. Soul-siblings
are a pair that would have recognized, had they been opposite genders. (In other words, soul-siblings are the same sex.)
Children usually are born only through recognition, though there are cases (such a the Sun-Folk, and Go-backs) where no
recognition is needed to produce a healthy child. A child born of recognition will not have birthmarks, they won't be
deformed in any way, nor will they have disabilities of any kind at their birth.
One last bit of info that is very important: No elf is gay or
lesbian. Elves are omnisexual therefore some choose to have partners of the same sex. This is accepted in
the elvin community, and not at all looked down upon. If you have a problem with this, don't join this holt.
A lifemate is the term for the chosen lifetime mate of a character.
A lovemate is the term for a character with whom you have regularly occurring intimate relations.
A pleasuremate is the term for a character with whom you share infrequently occuring intimate relations.
A soulmate is the term for a character to whom you are recognized.
'Joining' refers to the act of making love.
All three of these terms are used by elves. Elfin society does not restrict
one to a single lifemate or lovemate one may possess several of each all at the same time and nothing is thought of it.
Lifemating occurs when elves decide to live together as mates and partners.
Usually a lifemating will be between two elves, though it will sometimes involve three or more. Larger groups are not
impossible but would be extremely rare. Lovemating exists between regular mating partners who have not decided to bond
for life. Pleasuremating refers to the 'one night stands' that may occur from time to time.
Elves do not attach any sort of shame to sexual encounters outside the regular
lifemating or lovemating bonds. Jealousy is not impossible but is VERY highly uncommon. There is no shame in same sex
matings in any way, elves are omni-sexual, meaning that the gender of ones mating partner is not important, only the
pleasure or love shared by the pair.
Recognition is an instinct built into the elfin genetic pattern, which
sometimes occurs when two elves who can have viable offspring come into contact with one another. Elves attempt at
times to rise above this biological imperative when it happens, but it is nearly unavoidable. Its most profound
effect is the immediate and undeniable urge to mate; equally profound is its effect of causing the two elves to
experience the sensation of "one soul in two bodies". The soul-bond that results from Recognition is so deep that
if either elf has a soulname, the other will instantly know it, even if not normally telepathic.
Recognized elves are in a perpetual empathic bond, each feeling the
emotions of the other; sometimes the elves will try to make this grow into love but often this is not the end
result. Some classic tragic pairs have failed at this (e.g., Dewshine and Tyldak from the books), for anyone, even
mortal enemies, can Recognize. One may Recognize more than once (though NEVER while pregnant, and never more than
one occurrence simultaneously; also, it is highly unlikely that a second Recognition will occur within any short
length of time of the first), if a second ever happens at all.
Recognition is *not* love, and it should not be mistaken for the elfin
equivalent of marriage; it is not. Elves who have become lovemates or even lifemates have no guarantee that they
will ever Recognize. In most cases it seems to ensure that they do not.
Although some Elfquest stories have depicted the "pre-Recognition" of an
adult party and a child (e.g., Raenafel and Barmek in the Wavedancers miniseries), Richard Pini when asked on the
matter stated that Recognition should not occur unless both parties were able to bear children. Thus, elves that
Recognize will be assumed to have passed puberty.
Much of the information below is compiled from the ElfQuest RPG manual and other
solid ElfQuest sources.
For trolls:
Trolls generally follow a naming convention similar to that of Wolfriders, in
that they name themselves after objects or natural phenomena or attributes
familiar to them. Example include Bulbnose, Greymung, Rawgums, Itchy, and Stronghammer.
For elves:
There are two general ways of naming for elfin characters
- More 'elfin' names
Elfin names that are not of the Wolfrider style tend to be short, generally
no longer than three syllables, but lyrical.
- Wolfrider convention or one similar to it.
Tribes that name themselves as Wolfriders do tend to either
be ones that do much sending, or that live a lifestyle highly
dependent upon deep interaction with nature. Moreover, tribes
that use Wolfrider-style names are generally the ones whose
members have soulnames.
The Wolfrider naming style is dependent upon one central idea, that a name
should fit the individual who bears it. The following categories reflect the
many ways a Wolfrider-style name might be chosen:
- Birth-names, reflecting some trait of the child that the parents
find singular.
- Commemoration of events.
- Reflection of parentage.
- Striking or unusual appearance.
- Favorite weapons or fighting techniques.
- Nature names.
- Skills or talents or favorite pastimes.
- Extraordinary accomplishments.
As a rule it is best to avoid the more obvious elements for names.
Regardless of the type of name you try for, things such as star, moon, sun,
fire, and shadow can become quickly over-used; make use of a dictionary or
thesaurus to find less common synonyms. Also.. interesting gender neutral
names such as Greensdark, are often very effective and not as overused as
something like Shadowrun. One is bound to fit the personality of your
character.
Keep in mind that Wolfrider style names are given to the individual,
not chosen by him or her. They should never be rude, tasteless, or derogatory;
neither should they be pretentious or boastful. The name should be easily
pronounceable, and blend together without breaks or multiple accents; short
names are always preferable (after all, a Wolfrider whose name takes five
seconds to pronounce might not hear in time about that arrow that will hit
him in three).
Regardless of the tribe of origin for your character, your name should reflect
your elf's environment and heritage. Most importantly, an elf's name should enable
a stranger to identify him from among his tribesfolk by looking at him or watching
his activities.
Misspellings are not accepted. Incorrect spellings of
words might seem cute but it fast becomes annoying especially for those who are always mispelling
the character name by spelling the words correctly.
Soulnames
Soulnames are an elfin phenomenon: a word/sound/concept which
represents/embodies all that an elf fundamentally is, their entire soul. It is also a shield for the elf's
most private, inner self. The soulname guards that inner self against telepathic contact from all but those
closest to the elf (Recognized mates, or the very closest of friends and family). Etiquette among elves
dictates that the soulname not be spoken aloud. The soulname might be freely given to another, but an elf
is very unlikely to do this except with someone he or she trusts implicitly.
Soulnames are short and lyrical-sounding, one or two syllables. As a
rule, they exist only with tribes who are highly telepathic. An elf in a non-telepathic tribe might have a
soulname, but this is very unlikely, and should only be used if the character sends a lot.
All elves in this holt have a soul-name. It was shown in ElfQuest
stories that the soulname for a wolfrider is often the first 2 to 7 letters of their full Elfin name. Rahnee
She-Wolf heard long lyrical names at the conception of each of her children, but none of them ever found more
than the first part of that true name.
The name can be made up by you, the creator, or part of a human
word or name. The name is a special treasure, shared by an elf to only a precious few. Lifemates often share
names, and a recognition automatically lets the other elf know what their recognized's soulname is.
- This holt requires active participation. That means weekly, if not daily, participation in the e-groups e-mails.
Another RPG related piece must be submitted once a month. This is either a piece of artwork, a fanfic story, a
Round Robin idea, a poll idea or a new storyline idea.
- All characters no played for 2 months will be placed up for adoption or killed. If you're in the holt you're expected
to play all your characters.
- NO FLAMING! I will kick you out of my holt, I mean it, don't push me (grrrrrr)
- Recognitions within the holt will happen randomly, *POW!* Just like that. I will enter all the names into a hat
and choose two. How often will this happen? I haven't the foggiest idea. However often I feel like it, I guess.
- Only one character allowed in the beginning. After I get to know you and am positive you are commited, I might
allow you another. The maximum characters I will allow is three.
- NO cross-breeds between human and elf or elf and troll. The elf-troll thing happened only once in the WARP ©
series and that is because Winnowill was behind it. There are no exceptions to this rule.
- Do not play another person's character without their explicit permisson. If I get complaints or notice that you are
doing this, I will kick you out. The same goes for killing another person's elf or harming it in some way.
- All story plots and major story ideas must be run through me first. The excuse of 'I do not have your e-mail' is
no good.
You can mail the webmistress at Plots@hiddenriver.iwarp.com
or Gentleheart at Kalea@hotpop.com
OR All moderators at
HiddenRiverHolt-owner@yahoogroups.com
- Please try and think up some ORIGINAL characters. The characters in the books drawn by Wendy Pini are not allowed
here, nor are their offspring, real or imagined, I'm not wealthy enough to be sued for copyright infringment.
- Magic is rare here at Hidden River Holt, so NO super-elves. I'm sure your elf can excell some other way besides with
magic.
- By leaving the list without notice you are abandoning your character to the whims of plots. They may become NPCs or
they may be killed off. You've abandoned them so you don't have anything to complain about.
- Adult Content Notice:
The list can be joined by anyone over the age of 13, please consider this before you post. For those who need to play out
explicit sexual content please find the area of Yahoogroups containing those types of lists.
No graphic scenes should be played out. Allusions should be used instead, here are a few examples:
- passionate embrace
- fevered joining
- pleasurable tumble in the furs
- Most of this is common sense folks. Please, use your head. Oh! And have fun! (Yes, that is a rule! *grin*)
The holt lies between a large waterfall and a dense forest. The waterfall is
about fifty feet hight, being fed by a river that originates in the mountains that the holt is situated near. Beyond the
mountains are the plains and beyond that; we barely know. By the mountains there is a cave, a place of refuge and shelter
when times get rough for us. South of the holt lies the swamp; don't go there. It is tretcherous footing, what with the
large lizards we call razor-teeth and the sand that falls beneath your foot without warning. The cove is south of the
swamp, a place the whole holt travels to in the warm season to hunt and fish for the winter. To the northwest of the holt
is Wolf Rock, the place we gather for howls, celebrations, and general annoucements. The humans camp is over three miles
away, but close enough to run into them and make them a constant threat.
The weather here at Hidden River Holt is as follows. It is hot and a bit humid
in the Season of Sun (summer), reaching temperatures of around 80°-95° F. It snows during the White Cold (winter), getting
as cold as 10° F. During the season of Deadfall (fall), it is still a bit warm, and the trees begin to drop their foliage.
In the New Green Season (spring), the frost thaws, snow melts and wolf cubs, chicks and fawns are born
We live in the trees, shaped many years ago by our ancestors, the High Ones.
We have dens and steps going form one tree to the next, as well as steps leading down to the forest floor. Looking up,
any experianced eye could see the limbs of out great home are expertly intertwined, forming walkways. The trees usually
no more than 15 feet off the ground, and there is about 12 trees in the holt. Each den is about 7 feet in diameter and
from floor to ceiling, about 7 feet as well. The openings to the dens have leather flaps covering them that can be sealed
to keep out the chill of the White Cold. Many nooks and crannies, as well at nitches and hooks, can be found shaped into
the trees.
There are some basic positions within the tribe, all of which will be covered
here. Some will be limited in the number of characters able to hold that position, others are completely unrestricted.
Limited positions are marked with a #
