High elves have largely turned from the true wilderness for the relative safety of civilization and their carefully-crafted cities that merge the forest with stone in a seamless, beautifully interwoven mesh. Wood elves have chosen to remain on the fringes of elven civilization, living as part of the woods in a state of steady, constant motion as they move between treetop settlements. Wildrunner elves, however, have completely rejected any notion of civilization, and have even rejected the enclosing spaces of the woodlands. Creatures born of the most extreme views of freedom that elves can feel, wildrunners (sometimes called fire elves) took to the open plains many generations past, living their lives unfettered by the trappings of civilization, becoming a race of hardened, windblown survivors and cunning rogues.
Personality
Their spirits unable to be tamed, wildrunner elves despise being tied down, craving freedom above all else. They tend to be chaotic by nature, and are vastly more selfish in tendencies than other elves, though they generally do not have a serious draw towards good or evil. A typical wildrunner elf is cunning, devious, and is almost always trying to turn any situation to personal advantage. This behavior comes from the world view of wildrunners, who believe strongly in the concept of survival of the fittest as well as surviving by their wits. If someone is not able to survive on their own, or is not smart enough to avoid an act of deception, then that person deserves what happens, and deserves to be taken advantage of by those who are more capable and clever. Honor is for those who can afford the luxuries of civilization and its bondage. Wildrunners would rather have their freedom.
Physical Description
Through long lives spent in constant motion, wildrunner elves grow up even more tall and lean than other elves, and often they look somewhat emaciated, their bodies stripped down for speed like those of greyhounds or cheetahs. The skin of a wildrunner tends to be ruddy or a windblown tan or beige, and wildrunners are known to develop wrinkles from constant weathering in their middle age where other elves seldom show any signs of aging until they have been through many centuries at least. The color of a wildrunner's hair tends to be surprisingly fiery and vibrant in coloration, with yellows, browns, and reds being most common, while blue, brown, green and black are most common for eye coloration. Though the rest of their bodies might be touched by the wind, the eyes of a wildrunner remain bright and active so long as a wildrunner is healthy, an indication of the agile, cunning minds of these elves.
About Wildrunner Elves
Wildrunner elves are the ultimate expression of the elven love of freedom. Beholden to no one, they owe no alliegences. By the same token, however, they are trusted by no one, and are generally on their own in case of trouble. Wildrunners learn from their earliest years that they must be self-reliant, and so they see nothing wrong with taking advantage of others whenever possible, since the world at large will not give them any breaks they do not take for themselves.
Where other surface-dwelling elves keep themselves separate from other races through physical distance, wildrunner elves do so by a strong sense of tribe. Wildrunners are powerfully tribal, a nomadic people with no sense of loyalty to anyone except for those that have proven themselves as both reliable and capable. If someone cannot keep up with a tribe of wildrunners, then they have no time for such people, except as potential marks for exploitation. If a wildrunner cannot carry something while running, then it is not important. This insular, isolationist, and opportunistic culture has caused wildrunners to be distanced from other elves, so that they have lost a great deal of their former culture for the sake of the freedom of running.
Because of their stance towards non-wildrunners, wildrunner elves do not get along very well with most people, and are highly distrusted as liars and thieves - a reputation that is not undeserved. They are respectful towards orcs, and orcish tribes have actually been known to have dealings with wildrunners, even when they have stark hatred towards all other surface elves, as the two races are known to trade with each other on occasion or act as mercenary help, though neither side really trusts the other. Wildrunners also get along fairly well with nomadic halflings, as the two races regard each other as felllow con artists deserving of a measure of respect. Besides these races, wildrunners are also known to get along reasonably well with beastfolk that are able to keep up with their running, especially ungulate beastfolk.
The transition to the life of an adventurer is an easy one for a wildrunner, since it requires only that they decide to leave behind the rest of a tribe and run in a different path for a time. Having nothing except their companions, and seldom trusting even other members of a wildrunner's birth tribe, wildrunners take easily to lives as rogues and scouts and sorcerers, and often enjoy having others be beholden to them, while they owe nothing to anyone else.
Wildrunner Elf Racial Abilities and Statistics:
- +2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, –2 Constitution: Wildrunner Elves are nimble, both in body and mind, but their forms are frail.
- Medium: Wildrunner Elves are Medium creatures and have no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
- Normal Speed: Wildrunner Elves have a base speed of 30 feet.
- Low-Light Vision: Wildrunner Elves can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.
- Elven Immunities: Wildrunner Elves are immune to magic sleep effects and get a +2 racial saving throw bonus against enchantment spells and effects.
- Keen Senses: Wildrunner Elves receive a +2 racial bonus on Listen, Spot and Search skill checks.
- Weapon Familiarity: Wildrunner Elves are proficient with longbows (including composite longbows) and shortbows (including composite shortbows).
- Natural Runners: Elves start with Run as a bonus feat.
- Languages: Wildrunner Elves begin play speaking Common and Sylvan. Wildrunner Elves with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Carnivon, Celestial, Draconic, Goblin, and Wildlander.
