Muir Sylvan

Avg. Height: 6'0"

Avg. Weight: 130 lb

Avg. Lifespan: 600

Physical Characteristics:

Eyes:Palest gray and blue.
Hair:Palest gray and blue.
Skin:Creamy ivory to milky white.
Body Type:Frail.
Clothing:Ornate; ceremonial robes include gems; cloaks with elaborate embroidery and beading.

Region: Icyndor

Languages: Common, elvish.

Stat Adjustments:

Strength:-10
Reflexes:6
Endurance:-2
Dexterity:8
Reasoning:14
Wisdom:0
Will:4
Intelligence:14

Special: Bonus to Evasion, Gnosis, Kinesis and Sorcery learn rates.

Penalty to Melee, Unarmed and Conditioning learn rates.

Frailest of all the elves, they are also the most secretive. In fact, their lifestyle borders on the clandestine. Muir practice the magical arts and are famed for producing some of the most powerful wizards that have ever lived. Their magic also extends to creating wands and other mysterious objects, which they can occasionally be persuaded to sell, although the price is not always coin. Given their typically slight, weak bodies and the obscurity of a number of the components that are needed to fashion their enchanted artifacts, there are times when a potential purchaser is required to pay for custom pieces by tracking various ingredients.

Preferring to live away from prying eyes, must Muir reside in caves hidden away from the general populace. At odds with their delicate physiques, the structures of their homes are typically cold and bleak and tend to lie in the colder climes. It is not uncommon to see caves whose openings are guarded by sharp jagged icicles that have been magically enchanted to withstand invaders.

Searching for caves that are warrened, the characteristic chamber features private annexes for each individual's living and sleeping quarters and large communal caverns for socializing and collective projects. While their homes are cold and forbidding, they tend to furnish them with luxury unseen in the more mundane world.

The most finely woven tapestry rugs soften hard stone floors and decorate the rock walls, and astonishing and remarkable artifacts and relics typically find their way into specially carved and magically protected niches within the caves. Large firepits sit in the center of most of the chambers, and while the crackling flames strive to keep the dampness at bay, they also illuminate treasures that line the walls and collect in heaps in darkened corners.

Known to be among the richest people in the world, rumors persist that the fires in the communal rooms are encircled with chunks of gold and gems the size of small boulders, but given that these rooms are never near the mouths of the caves and that it is indeed the rare outsider that enters a Muir home, the reports have been impossible to verify.

In keeping with their love of lavishness, the Muir prefer more ornate clothing than their more grounded cousins, and cloaks with elaborate embroidery and beading are normal garb.

Ceremonial robes typically include the use of numerous gems and while not garish, the clothing tends to flaunt their wealth. Difficult to please, when they find an outsider who can create the type of clothing that meets with their approval, they normally form a bond and barter amulets and wands for garments. In fact, several such allegiances have lasted hundreds of years. The long-lived Muir may have remained the same, but generations of halflings, son after father and daughter after mother have kept the trade flowing.

Being so involved in the magical arts has caused the majority of Muir to distain those that practice the religious arts; their beliefs are that they and their enchantments far supersede that of blind faith and they tend to condescend to those who live their life according to the tenants of one religion or another.

Outsiders including other clans of elves are not welcome within their ranks and those that persist in attempting to force their way into the cave without being bid tend to regret it. Magical protection guards the caves and the items within, even on the rare occasions when all the Muir are absent at once.

The most powerful wizard within the cave is the undisputed leader and sole governing body and remains so until he passes on the mantle of leadership. The change takes place by the handing down of a magical scepter in a formalized ceremony and in fact, the scepter is imbued with such potent magic that it is impossible to form a new cave without one. Only the most elite of the Muir and those possessing unbroken lineage to the first of the clan have been trained in the esoteric rites necessary to create such a staff. While marriages are tolerated and occasionally condoned with members of other caves, a Muir who chooses to marry outside the clan does so with the full knowledge that he will be forever banned from the caves. The occasional Lior has attempted to develop strong bonds within a Muir cave, but invariably fails, although on occasion, the Muir will unbend so far as to develop an external friendship with one.

Along with being the slenderest and weakest of the Sylvani, Muir coloring is radically different from their cousins. They lean towards the palest shades of gray and blue in hair and eyes, and complexions tend to vary from creamy ivory to milky white.