Elf Longbowman
Despite lacking the raw might of other races, Elven Longbowmen somehow wield huge bows tirelessly. The baffled archers of other races, who train years to develop strength in their arms, claim that it must be magic. They are correct, for the bow of an Elf is not dead wood, but retains the heart of the tree whence it came. An Elf's bow aids its wielder in drawing it, and only the accuracy of Elven Archers testifies to their skill.
In a world where Elven numbers have dwindled, the ability to fight at range has become more important. Archery combined with summoned vines has become the classic Elven tactic. Elves feel most at home in the forests and are able to move easily through heavily wooded areas; the most experienced can conceal themselves beneath the foliage.
The Elven race is highly magical, and its most battle-hardened warriors can focus well enough to fire magic bolts even under battle conditions, though they may not be spellcasters otherwise.
Elf Longswordsman
Elven warriors are dextrous but slight of build. Their swords are long and thin, and their chainmail is light but well-crafted. Like all Elves, Longswordsmen travel through forests as easily as the open plains, and the most experienced can conceal themselves beneath the foliage.
The Elven race is highly magical, and its most battle-hardened warriors can focus well enough to fire magic bolts even under battle conditions, though they may not be spellcasters otherwise.
Nymph
Nymphs are the flowers of the thinking forest, just as Fairies are the seeds and Nature Elementals the heart. They are beautiful and able to seduce males, but Nymphs are not individuals or even creatures of true flesh and blood. Their flesh is resilient to mundane weaponry, and they will fight for the health of the forest with no regard for their own survival, and with beauty as their only weapon. Usually they do so under the direction, even from afar, of higher powers such as the Fairies and Nature Elementals.
Nymphs are ill-suited to urban environments, and when participating in the storming of a fort or city, they may flee out of confusion if the walls go unbreached for too long. Nymphs have only vestigial sight and hearing: their rely on their sense of living being’s life forces and on the natural lay of the land to orient themselves. To such beings a sealed-off artifice of stone is a baffling eldritch horror.
Elf Dragoon
Elven cavalry do not risk their lives in melee if they can avoid it. Instead these troops favour mobility, scouting, and mounted archery. They wield cavalry sabres with skill, but a charge is a last resort, or a mopping up effort once a battle is clearly won.
Like other Elves, the most experienced Dragoons can evade enemy scouting in forests, and are able to fire magical bolts.
Elven Cleric
Where stands a forest, once rested the eye of an Elven Cleric. It was they who seeded the world of Athla with verdure, and they retain some of this power in the present era. In their trod the most barren lands spring to life. It is the Elven Clerics who guide the intent of the Nature Elementals and teach the short-lived Fairies how to wield their powers.
Clerics have superior oracular abilities, able to extend their vision beyond normal limits. Their power to banish the Undead is enhanced, and like all holymen, they can heal and see through deceit.
Elven Clerics possess seeds from the deepest forest which grow upon command, entangling their enemies in twisting vines. Like all Elves, the most experienced Elven Clerics can evade sight of enemy scouts when travelling through undergrowth.
Fairy
Fairies are the seeds of the thinking forest, just as Nymphs are the flowers and Nature Elementals the heart. Fairies are Nymphs who have been fertilised: they grow wings to fly some distance before planting the seeds of a new forest.
Like Nymphs, Fairies are not creatures of true flesh and blood, and they are resilient to mundane weapons, but their minds are more developed than those of Nymphs and will act independently save when directed by a nearby Nature Elemental. Fairies fight for the health of the forest with no regard for their own survival, and can summon vines to do so.
Ranger
Elven Rangers are the oldest military corps in Athla, established when the rule of Inioch and the Elves was unchallenged. In that time their duty was to head off monstrous and supernatural threats which lurked far from the civilised settlements. Rangers maintained the balance and patrolled far reaches: they did not conquer. These warriors are superb at travelling the wilds unseen and can slay great monsters, but against a city wall staffed by archers they are no better than any other elite troop.
Rangers wear light chainmail whose old enchantments render it as protective as plate armour. They can project magical bolts skilfully and their swordsmanship is as agile as a Salamander’s. Mountains and rivers are no barrier to these swift-moving commandos.
Unicorn
Unicorns are contrary beings of chaos, purity and secrecy. A spring touched by the horn of a Unicorn, before any other ever came to drink, will run pure forever after. Such is the case with the waters of the Silvanus forest, but in this era almost every spring in Athla has been drunk from and can no longer receive the consecration.
Unicorns rove the forests in small packs far from habitation. They do not deign to hide, but exact a terrible price on any would-be hunter with horn and hoof. Until the destruction of the Elven court, no civilised race had contact with these terrifying beasts. As Elves sought refuge in Silvanus and other forests they sought peace with the Unicorns. It is well for both parties that the Unicorns were intelligent enough to negotiate and join the cause of Good, though they never agreed to serve as steeds.
No poison can trouble a Unicorn and even the power of the grave is abated. The horn’s touch heals as readily as it slays.
Nature Elemental
Nature Elementals are the beating heart of the forest. By their power the first forests of Athla grew under the direction of Elven sages. Nature Elementals are highly perceptive and have seen aeons pass, but like other Elementals they are creatures of instinct, not true intelligence. These beings direct the actions of Fairies and Nymphs from afar.
Nature Elementals are immune to poison, resilient to the elements, and can render themselves immune to lightning and cold in the course of a prolonged conflict. Though large and powerful enough to breach city walls, their arboreal form permits them to pass through forested areas unseen. A Nature Elemental’s palms writhe with the power of growth and entangle enemies with every strike.