Elves and Tusk Riders.

From: Ian Gorlick <igorlick_at_nortel.ca>
Date: 15 May 1997 13:15 EDT


>>Does anybody know something about the elves there and their
>>relationship towards a) the Tuskriders,
>a. Untempered hostility. These are brutish half-trolls that eat or
>sacrifices elves.

I disagree. There is an uneasy relationship between elves and tusk riders, but it is mostly peaceful. It has to be. Nobody can fight a constant war in the land they both inhabit.

The tusk riders are forest nomads. Their pigs forage throughout the forest while the riders hunt and gather to supplement their diet. They are not damaging to the forest ecosystem. So they are not a fundamental enemy of the elves.

The riders also fear the elves. (Of course, no rider would ever admit this.) The elves are too good at guerilla warfare in forest enviroments. The elves have almost no material wealth that would be of any value to the riders. They don't even much want to eat elves. (Despite some trollish ancestry, they are not trolls and do not have trollish dietary habits. They only eat people [elves, humans, trolls, dwarves, etc.] for ritual reasons, not for nutrition.) So there is little profit in antagonizing the elves.

The elves find the riders useful even if distasteful. The presence of the riders discourages the incursions of dwarves, trolls, and humans all of whom would pose a real threat to the forest.

Elves take the long view. They might like to have the forest to themselves some day, but they can afford to wait. As long as the riders are more useful than not, they will not be harassed by the elves.

Needless to say, there are frequent incidents. The elves are horribly xenophobic. The riders are extremely violent. Clashes are inevitable. But it always quiets down again fairly shortly. It is in both groups interest for it to do so.


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