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40d:Elf
Elves are intelligent humanoid creatures who live in forest retreats. They are one of the races playable in Adventure Mode. Their retreats have no buildings, but the trees in the area are named.v0.23.130.23aThey love nature and are ready to defend it, typically with bows. They may invade a fortress which violates their tree-cutting limit.v0.23.130.23a
They are often found eating the corpses of their victims.
Elves in Fortress Mode
Elves are a trading race and send small caravans without wagons in spring. They usually bring Thread, cloth, rope, various plants and seeds, and wooden items. They may also bring some tame animals. Elves also bring a crapload of useless stuff: armor and clothes too large to wear, inferior wooden weapons, inferior booze, inferior redroot dye, bows and arrows. They are very picky about what they will accept in return: Elven traders do not like to be offered any dead animal or tree byproducts, although they will occasionally counteroffer for, and accept, them.
Forbidden items include:
- Bone, shell, leather, or chitin items
- Wooden items, and items derived from wood, such as charcoal and pearlash
- Clear and crystal glass (because pearlash is used in their creation)
- Items decorated with any of the above materials
- Obsidian shortswords (since they have wooden handles)
- Soap
- Cheese
- Any item they normally would accept that has blood on it, for instance from a slain enemy. Vomit may also have this effect[Verify].
Metal items are acceptable, even when charcoal is used in their production. Items made from silk are acceptable, as are all non-wooden plant-based products such as plump helmets, seeds, and ☼Dwarven syrup biscuits[45]☼. You can also transport your goods to the trade depot in a wooden bin, as long as you do not try to sell the bin. This also applies to goods in barrels. Living animals are acceptable, as long as the cage or trap is not made of wood.
Although tower-caps are giant mushrooms, they are considered trees by the elves and thus are not acceptable.
Living among them
Living with Elves is pretty much the same as living among Humans, but they don't build houses, furniture, or anything else that uses wood. So basically, it's just like living anywhere else, but with guards.
Elves in Adventure Mode
Elven forest retreats are represented by yellow symbols in forests on the world map. They do not have any shops, but they seem to have a great amount of elite marksmen to recruit. The leader and quest giver of a retreat is called the "druid", who can be found wandering the forest floor with the other elves.
Elven characters start with a wooden weapon and a full set of basic wooden armor. They may not wear metal armor, though they may wield metal weapons and shields if they find them. These limitations often lead to a quick death. They do have some advantages, however: they're one size larger than dwarves, which makes them hit harder and absorb more damage, but they also have a slight natural armor penalty. Their main redeeming trait is their speed, which is noticeably higher than the other playable races.
Elves are at peace with wildlife, which means they won't be attacked by most animals (verify if most or all). In addition, they can talk to the animal-man races (such as snakemen and batmen) and even get the most excitement-seeking ones to join their party.