| “ | You have disrespected the trees in this area, but this is what we have come to expect from your stunted kind. Further abuse cannot be tolerated. Let this be a warning to you. | „ |
| ~ Elven visitors, if dwarves cut down a large number of trees. |
| “ | Once a beautiful tree, and now? It is a rude bauble, fit only for your kind. | „ |
| ~ An angry elf trader. Occurs if the player attempts to trade a wooden object. |
Elves (singular: Elf) are the tertiary protagonistic race of the indie management and simulation game, Dwarf Fortress. By default, they are often allies of dwarves and humans, but may be enemies of them as well. Being a nature-based race, they despise the act of chopping down trees and using their wood to make things.
Elves are non-playable allies or enemies in the game's "Fortress Mode", and are playable in "Adventure Mode".
Due to the procedural generation of the world and civilizations in the game, coupled with the fact that many elements can be customized by the player, the strength, placement and disposition of elves vary greatly. Much like dwarves, they are also enemies to goblins.
Due to the elves having a conflicting view on nature compared to other races, this can create tension between them and other races. This can sometimes make elves more of an anti-heroic or neutral race than a protagonistic one.
Overview[]
Elf sprite in v50 of the game.
In the original version, or if the classic ASCII graphics are enabled in the premium version, elves are represented by a dark cyan "e" in gameplay. In the premium version of the game, elves are assigned randomized sprites, with many of the details also randomized. This can include skin color, sex, clothes, facial structure, etc. Their clothes will match their occupation.
Like most other humanoids in the game, they appear as purple when undead, light purple as a necromancer, light dim blue-grey as a vampire, light blue as an intelligent undead, green and transparent as ghosts, yellow as a disturbed dead/mummy and crimson red as an infected ghoul.
They appear as usually thin and/or frail humanoids similar to humans, but with pointy ears. Elves are immortal, only dying to violence or diseases. The most prominent trait of elves is their love of trees, and the hatred of those who oppose them by harming them in any way, most commonly by chopping them down. The goods they offer in trades are mostly grown wood, or objects decorated with wood (something that, gameplay wise, dwarves are not able to produce).
When trading with elves, the player must be very careful to not offer any wooden objects, including barrels or bins that hold objects in them. Even charcoal and ashes will anger them all the same, due to them still being made from wood. If wooden objects are offered during trading, this will anger the elven merchant and successful trading can no longer occur. If wood is offered too many times, this will anger elves to the point of them attacking a dwarf fortress via sieges. Due to these nature-preserving views, when preparing an elf character in adventure mode, metal armor and weapons will likely not be available for them to start with, only wooden ones can be acquired. However, they can still get metal objects through trading.
In the first month of spring, the player's fortress will be visited by an elven diplomat, requesting that the dwarves keep the amount of trees cut down to be no more than 100. It is possible to negotiate for a higher number. If the player agrees to a limit but breaks the promise, or simply doesn't agree at all, this can lead to a hostile disposition from an elven settlement. If the player's dwarven fortress manages to not chop down one single tree, the elven diplomat will be very impressed and happy with them.
Elves do not seem to be as technologically advanced as other races, often using wood (and sometimes glass) for their weapons and armor rather than metal. This makes them a not-so-difficult enemy to overcome if they're hostile, though this isn't always the case and elves can be very powerful depending on the world generation and history of the game.
Unlike dwarves and humans, they don't worship deities, but instead worship "forces" that are related to the forest-related civilization they are in. These forces have spheres of influence just like deities, however, they are always related to nature. They have a supernaturally good sense of smell compared to dwarves and humans.
Ethics[]
The ethics of elves are somewhat peculiar and different from other races in the game. Like dwarves and humans, they are almost always enemies with goblins. It is more likely for dwarves and elves to be on friendly terms at world generation, but depending on random chance, the two can be at war from the very start.
If elves and dwarves are at war during world generation, it's possible for entire dwarven civilizations to be wiped out completely. Elves usually make up for their lack of engineering and skill with their high numbers. Elves are the only race that openly accept the consumption of enemies, and this can even show up in stories when playing in "Legends Mode". Unlike most races, keeping trophies of animals is unthinkable, but allow the killing of animals if it's purely in self-defense.
As mentioned before, killing trees is one of the most unacceptable acts for the elves. This including killing other types of plants. Killing enemies or neutral-aligned creatures outright is still permitted. Elves are not known for offering serious or capital punishments for crimes, though those who commit vandalism, theft and trespassing are reprimanded in different ways. Lying, treason, oath breaking, assault and slavery are punishable by being forced into exile.
Sieges[]
If an elven siege beings, the text "The elves have brought the full forces of their lands against you." will appear, followed by the game pausing and fixing the camera where the siege is.
Elves may come in extremely high numbers, and may cleverly and stealthily hide those numbers when approaching a player's fortress. They may also mount elephants or exotic, fanciful beasts such as unicorns when attacking. As mentioned before, the strength of elves comes in their numbers, as their weak wooden armor and weapons do very little damage. This makes elven sieges the weakest of all types among sieges done from other races.
Trivia[]
- Due to the elves' love of trees and somewhat hypocritical views they have, as well as the tedium of players trying to trade with them, the game's community often views elves as the "stuck-up hippie" stereotype, making elves widely disliked by players.
Gallery[]
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Main Races & Allies Immortals, Undead & Night Creatures Other | ||