The Tragedy of the Elves

[Michael Hopcroft]

I've been thinking of one way to present the traditional animosity between Elves and Orcs as possibly a tragic metaphor. I don;t know how many roleplayers are into tragic characters, but it can be a good plot hook if nothing else.

 

Orcs, in this example, would be relentlessly expanding outwards because they are so fertile. orc women are baby machines who give birth in litters of eight to ten. An orc population will soon outstrip the ability of the lands it inhabits to support it -- thus it will ahve to expand relentlessly or the whole community will perish from starvation. And this naturally will have a negative effect on everything in their path that isn't an Orc.

 

The Elves, on the other hand, have been dealt an even crueler fate. Since they will never die of natural cuases and do not age, their reproductive cycle (which was always slow, with the typical elven woman giving birth only once eveyr 20-30 years) has slowed and, finallly, stopped. No new eleves have been born in five hundred years. This means that when the last of the elves who is alive now dies, there will be no more. The race is staring extinction in the face.

[tkdguy]

Re: The Tragedy of the Elves

 

How many Elven settlements are left? Do they have significant contact with one another? Having lived for so long could mean that they have had time to fortify their homes against attack. However, they may be world-weary at this point.

 

As for the orcs, it's possible the leaders encourage personal and familial blood feuds to keep the population in check and to keep upstarts from gaining enough power to take over the tribe.