by Aérienne Perennem

Elves do not constitute a society in the way humans understand it; nor, indeed, as is understood by any other folk. Outsiders speak readily of Fisher Elves or Hunter Elves or Wagoneers, For the most part, elves do not call themselves by these words. An elf is an elf or, sometimes more generally, a fae.

Humans object to this taxonomy. They point to Fisher Elves, who dive more deeply than can any other folk, including other elves. Hunter Elves have such powers of tracking and capturing game as to seem supernatural to other folk. Moreover, the human scholar will point out, Wagoneers are called such by elves and are regarded as their own folk. This is so, and yet.

Many elves are pelerins–a word that does not quite mean wanderer and not quite seeker nor yet vagabond, but partakes of the sense of all these. It most often gets translated as pilgrim, but a pelerin is not on their way to anywhere identifiable, and a great many pelerins don’t go anywhere at all, leading some to use the word hermit.

And then there’s the famous case of the Harbor Elves.

At all events, it’s clear that elves do divide themselves into groups, but it would be a mistake to think of them as anything like the usual meaning of tribes or clans or even families. All that having been said, here are some elf “societies” as they are commonly represented in humanish literature.

Wagoneers

These are the elf migrants, traveling in caravans from one community to another. While they might be considered little more than vagabonds, wagoneers play a crucial role in elf society even as they stand eternally apart, for they carry news from one vill to the next.

The wagoneers have an extraordinary memory, able to repeat messages verbatim no matter how long or complex. In their sturdy wagons they carry the collective past and present of all elves. Many a human historian has gone to the wagoneers thinking to write the definitive History of Elf-Kind, only to be utterly overwhelmed by the amount of information.

Fisher elves

Fisher elves are efficient. They catch more than human fishermen and catch rare fish that others cannot. They sometimes come into contact with mermen (scholars debate whether mermen are fae or are their own species). Elves can sail far out to sea, being excellent navigators as well as sailors, hauling in great catches. Elves act communally in economics, but individually in most else.

Fisher elves “see” under water, but really they just use their senses, including feeling lines, reading the water, etc.

Hunter elves

Hunter elves catch and kill what others can’t or won’t. They trade in exotic skins, magical beasts, some of which they capture. Hunter elves are also called Jäger elves. They are prized by human nobles as hunt masters, but they are too unreliable.

Hunter bands make a village of sorts. They work an area, killing beasts and taking game. This could be as small as a single family and is never more than five or six, though “family” is a slippery concept with elves.
Hunters will bring in monster hides, horns, and so on. They function much like mountain men, complete with a rendezvous for trade. Sometimes they’ll pool resources for a warg hunt or similar.

Herder elves

Herder elves are also called pastoreaux. They speak to their flocks. They keep dogs, but these are mainly to guard rather than to herd.

Herders also handle livestock, doing cattle drives (horses also). Some hate the notion of driving (luring, really) cattle to slaughter, and these become rustlers, much despised by humans and dwarves.
They’ll also herd monsters, though, and some of these are used for meat and hides.

Elves in Larger Society

In keeping with their philosophy of sola multitudine, they are subjects of wherever they live, though they are so unreliable, they are rarely called upon to pay taxes, serve in armies or juries, etc. Some rulers have Elf Law, to accommodate (some say exploit) the peculiarities of elves.

Elves are rare in cities and towns. These places make them deeply uncomfortable and none who come stay long. This is true even with a castle.

They don’t make armies and they don’t serve in armies. A few will serve as spy, but only as a favor to an individual lord with whom they’ve formed a bond of some sort.

The saying goes, a dwarf is a partner, an ogre is a comrade, but an elf is a visitor.

Elves are not communal, but they tend to be indifferent to private property. This makes them too casual regarding theft for most people (“thieving elf” is a common human epithet), but it also makes them generous. They give stuff away. They protect what they care about, though—sentiment and need are more important than wealth and possessions.

Vills that are threatened will call on hunters or others to deal with the problem. Others might attack–especially on the borderlands–but elf vills are too poor to bother with, for the most part. And few will tangle with a posse of hunter elves. Conversely, elves don’t raid other folk.

New comers often have difficulty feeling at ease among elves. If you know what you are doing, say the elves, then you know what to do. If you don’t, then you won’t. The best approach is to come with someone the elves already know.