The Elves of Innistrad

Small Clans, Harsh Rules

To understand the way that the elves of Innistrad live and govern themselves, one should picture small, tight knit tribal kingdoms. The largest of the tribes at it's height numbers less than two hundred and the smallest closer to sixty; much larger and they find it hard to escape the notice of the humans, vampires, and other denizens of Innistrad and any smaller and they're likely to be wiped out.

The tribal kings rule in an autocratic way, where their authority is unquestioned and obedience to both the king and to other tribal leaders is absolute. Failure to adhere to tribal custom and law often ends in death for the offending party, or worse, expulsion.

Tribal Bloodlines

Traditionally their were a larger number of tribes, and though each had their own tribal identity, they were all more or less homogeneous. More recently, rifts have developed and three distinct tribal identities have come about. The first to distinguish themselves were the Schwartz-Blut(Red-Blood), so called because they'd tampered with demonic magics around the Devil's Breech and become infected and corrupted by it's magics. In so doing, they'd gained powers alien to the elvin experience and angered the other tribes, and even the angels themselves. In response, the angels blessed the most pious of the elvin tribes, becoming the Weiss-Blut(White Blood).

Xenophobic Isolationists

LORE(Ideas about Others) GOES HERE.

Elf Traits.

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Age. Although elves reach physical maturity at about the same age as humans, the elven understanding of adulthood goes beyond physical growth to encompass worldly experience. Elves typically claim adulthood at beyond 100 years of age, and can live to be 200 years old.

Alignment. Elves are strict and tribal warriors, bound to a hierarchy based on some kind of prowess, with each prowess being dependent on the bloodline that they are a part of. Because of this, regardless of moral leaning, all elves have a strict set of codes that they follow, and thus typically tend towards Lawful Alignments of all flavors.

Size. Elves typically range from 4’6” to 5’6”, with an average around 5’2” or 5’3”, with lither frames. Their size is medium.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 30ft.

Darkvision. Accustomed to twilit forests and the night sky, you have superior vision in the dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60ft of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Mask of the Wilds. You can attempt to hide even when only lightly obscured by foliage, heavy rain, falling snow, mist, and other natural phenomenon.

Keen Senses. You have proficiency in the Perception skill.

Traceless Passage. You have proficiency in the Stealth Skill.

Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Elvish. Elvish, while fluid, is a mostly spoken language, with a strange grammar that makes it incomparable to common, and cannot be translated properly.

Subraces. The elves of Innistrad have long since broken into three separate bloodlines, with each bloodline tainted by a different color. The Rotes-Blut are the Red-blooded Elves, with a martial focus, and a particular disdain and frustration in dealing with the accursed magics that supposedly tainted and destroyed their races. The Schwarze-Blut are the Black-blooded Elves, who have allowed themselves to be tainted through continued exposure to the Devil’s Breach in Kessig, and the magics that taint them give them power. The Weißes-Blut are the White-Blooded elves, who spoke to the fallen angel sister, Grezza, and imparted her power into them, in the hopes that they would be able to rise up and protect humanity and their kin, despite their isolation thanks to their natural magics.

The Rotes-Blut

As a Rotes-Blut, you are a martial Elf. You are trained in the weapons of your clan from birth, and taught how to utilize them with a furious fervor that makes others terrorized of you. You blend into nature, and as part of the pack, you are a warrior who can invoke power in your allies through nothing other than your naturally powerful presence. The Red-Blooded elves typically have red and auburn hair, and are the naturally taller elves, but typically stray from magics whenever possible, thanks to a deep-seated mistrust of it corrupting the Schwarze-Blut Elves. Their eyes are typically brown, green, and blue.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.

Tribal Grace. The elves of innstrad have a martial tradition of fighting with staves and spears, using their natural grace instead of power. A qurafterstaff or spear in an elf's hands counts as a finnesse weapon, when used with one or both hands.

Hunter’s Traditions. Rotes-Blut Elves gain proficiency with quarterstaves, spears, shortbows, and longbows. You also gain proficiency in Light Armor.

Hunter’s Insight. As an action, you can command your presence in order to harness the power of a life of nothing but being on the hunt. By doing so, you give yourself and an ally a d6 Hunter’s Die. The Hunter’s Die can be expended on a melee or ranged weapon or spell hit, to deal an additional damage of that type(or of a chosen type, if there are two). After the attack, the Hunter’s Die is spent, and cannot be used again. You can harness the Hunter’s Instinct once per long rest. When you reach 3rd level, you can command this insight to bestow it to another creature. When you reach 5th level, you can command this insight and bestow it to an additional 2 creatures, for a total of 5 including yourself.

Languages. As a Rotes-Blut, you add Sylvan to the list of languages you can speak and write.

The Schwarzes-Blut

The Schwarzes-Blut elves weren't corrupted by the Devil's Breech so much as their progenitor sought out the tainted energies for his own desire for power. After countless generations, some of this power has seeped into the very blood of the Schwarzes, and this taint is the reason for their being the most ostracized by the Red-bloods.