Snow Elf, Variant (5e Subrace)
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Snow Elf[edit]
This is a subrace for the elf.
Physical Description[edit]
Snow Elves have alabaster skin varying amongst white, ashen, or grey. With tinges of blue, purple or mint green. This was inherited as a trait to help blend in amongst the snowy lands they hunt and live in. Hair coloration tends to be quite commonly white, grey or pale blonde. Often worn long, braided and fitted with various adornments, bone, crystal or fashioned materials. Eye colors vary, although white, crystal grey, blue or light green tend to be more common.It is not unheard of though that some have dark purple or pale yellow eye coloration. Slightly taller than the traditional elves of the south ranging on average of 6'6 to 7'6". The noticeable difference between the Snow Elves is they tend to have a stockier build, retaining more muscle mass than the other elves due to a more carnivore style of fatty meat diet. Their body weight shows more density as they average weight range from 150 to 200 lbs.
History[edit]
Ages ago when the Elven kingdoms broke out in civil war, waging a near genocidal war against their dark elf kin. The white Elves brokered for peace instead of siding with either faction in the genocidal conflict, believing that redemption could still mend the crown and heal the shattered relations that would bring back peace. Ignored, ridiculed an mocked for such naive neutrality the white Elves withdrew from the conflict, breaking away from the struggling feud and retreated from civilized lands to the cold isolated north still untouched by any save beasts and the wilderness. The white Elves, eventually came to be known as Sig'tel'Quessir, or the Snow/Ice/or Frost Elves of the north. They rescinded the laws of civilization an returned to the laws of the wild, revering older ways and remaining as small tribal clans of tightly knit families that co-operated with each other. Venerating only the few Elven deities of the wild, while shunning many of the others tethered to "civilization" and returning to veneration of more primal deities and powers of the wild. Most chose to seek new paths, finding solace in monastic paths of balance or harmony, offerings to the elemental aspects, an great old powers of the wild beasts who survived such harsh climates those divine powers who maintained the frigid cold. Martial prowess, hunting, and survival skills were tantamount to the many clans' way of life, clans often named with simple indigenous aspects of wildlife or features of the land they took residence in, having remained largely ignorant of the civil war's turn of events as the later stages of the civil war unfolded. Broken, defeated and scattered, dark elves who fled north found their Snow Elf kin; And with practiced deceit, they managed to coerce the Snow Elves into showing them ways into the great cavernous rifts within the earth that would lead them to the vast Underdark. The plight so cleverly wove the tale of such lamentation of their high crown kin cursing the dark kin with a blight of sunlight, which moved them to agree. They showed them the entrances that would lead the beleaguered remnants through to vast networks of the deep underground and their eventual path to the Underdark itself. The knowledge of their high elf kin would do such bindings of magic to placate such powerful curse that would not be broken upon all dark kin, regardless of innocence or guilt. To pass from generation to generation stirred a stoic anger an great disgust in regards to their elven kin, an only solidify their desires to remain isolated from such arrogant behavior an double their resolve in the path they chose for themselves. Ages would pass, yet that quiet anger remained. The Snow Elves grew further and further adrift from outside contact. They remained solely focused on survival harmonious existence and martial prowess. Their innate connections to nature, slowly reshaped to the environment they now called home, as well as a few gifts favored to them from those powers whom they respected and venerated. While they maintain a tribal holds or greater shelters to call hearth and home, they are often nomadic, only seeking out their holds during great unnatural events, during times of great strife, or ceremonial events. Perhaps a few months of the year they would dwell in such holds with the strength of numbers. Otherwise, it is often a few caretakers, the infant young, the venerable elderly or those too injured for hunting or great treks the overlands (they will most likely act as guards an protectors for the hold). These nomadic warrior clans can now be found throughout the arctic lands hunting to replenish their food stocks for the deep winter months. Every once in a great while, the call of the adventurer lures a Snow Elf to travel out of the Northlands into the rest of the world, to learn of other cultures seeking knowledge, fortune, and adventure.
Society[edit]
In Snow Elf tribal clan society, everyone plays a part. Children are taught from an early age how to fight, how to hunt and to survive. Learning useful skills to benefit the tribe (Smith, cook, armor craft, hunter, carpentry, etc.) finding their gifted passion and then dedicating themselves to that trade or traits. At the earliest age, each Snow Elf is tasked with choosing a weapon, which they help forge, this weapon is then their dedicated weapon that they train exclusively with. The weapon is often crafted bearing markings that are notable of that individual, totemic markings, nicknames, glyphic markings of deeds or achievements. After forging their weapon, the youth the partake in hunting parties, boys and girls are considered equal in all respects. Practicing their trades of note for many years. At around age 50-60, the Elves are ready to enter adulthood and must pass a trial in order to be considered an adult by the tribe. This rite of passage is often a sojourn, or great hunt, it really depends upon the particular tribe's rituals as they tend to vary. Most often they involve testing skills of survival, combat, wisdom, and cleverness. Upon a successful return, the youth are bestowed tribal markings from the monk-like shamanistic Elders and a vision quest is then undertaken by the youth, in which they seek guidance from the totemic spirit animal, often the spirit animal that is the clan's heritage but not always solely. The vision quest often leads the youth to come into possession of a symbolic token. This token is then forged into the participant's weapon(s) as a symbol of his/her successful return. Working together in very close-knit tribes, Snow Elves are Neutral, with a few leaning to lawful or evil, as with most races, other alignments have been seen before, Chaotic alignments are very rare. With Chaotic Evil ending up being driven out of a clan as their attitudes and actions create far too much divisiveness. Cultural notes for depiction. A blend of Eurasia steppe meets Nordic culture, fused with a bit of Inuit/native shamanistic culture. Vikings, Mongols, and Inuit.
Snow Elf Traits[edit]
Ability Score Increase. Increase your Constitution by 2 and your Wisdom by 1. This replaces the normal ability score increase from the elf race.
Snow Walk. Snow and ice are not difficult terrain for you. Moving onto slippery icy does not cause you to fall prone.
Elven Weapon Proficiencies. Snow Elves are naturally proficient in war picks, spears, longswords, shortswords, and longbows.
Cold Resistance. You have resistance to cold damage.
Fire Vulnerability. You take double damage if attacked by a weapon or spell dealing fire damage.
Snowy Step. If you are standing on a 5-foot square covered in snow or ice, you can use your bonus action to teleport to any other unoccupied 5-foot square covered in snow or ice within 60 feet of you that you can see. You can use this trait a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and regain all uses when you finish a long rest.
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