The Trance is something that sets Elves apart from other races. It is a meditative state of awareness where the mind of an elf leaves the mortal plane of consciousness and briefly joins with those who reside in the dream world of Arvandor.
To discuss Arvandor is to discuss The Trance, and the root of Elven spirituality.
The Summer Queen and the Winter King grieved for the loss of the Shadar-Kai, for the death curse upon them mean that they were forever separated from the grace and beauty of the Feywild realm. Together, Tatiana and Oberon crafted a world of dreams, where they would commune with their lost children, even across the divide of realms. When Death began to stalk the Shadar-Kai, Queen Tatiana and King Oberon entreated with The Reaper, and granted Death access to their kingdoms. In exchange, the lost souls of their children would be committed to the world of dreams for a time after their mortal end.
Arvandor is the place where Elven souls reside when they have died. It is also where the minds of elves wander when they are within The Trance. Upon waking, most elves can only recall vague glimpses of their time spent dreaming in Arvandor. The Trance is a deeply spiritual experience, and it is regarded as a gift from their makers, Queen Tatiana and King Oberon. The Trance reminds elves of who they are as a people, and allows them to commune with the souls of their dead. The Trance is a sacred rite that is as natural to elves as breathing. Some elves, especially druids and monks in service of Sehanine, train their minds so that they can recall their waking dreams more vividly.
Elven souls live in perfect communion together within the safety and idyllic peace of Arvandor. They are protected by Corellon Larethian, who stands at the gates of Arvandor, and Sehanine, who stalks the twilight paths between Arvandor and the mortal world.
When the time has come for an Elven soul to be reborn into the mortal world, they are taken by Corellon and led back to the world of mortals. It is widely believed that the conception of a child, and the resulting incarnation of an Elven spirit into that child, is a direct gift from Corellon Larethian. It is believed that the low birth rate among elves, and the subsequent rarity of Elven children, is a direct consequence of this cycle of death and rebirth. Twins are almost unheard of among elves; they are a sign of incalculable fortune. To be tasked with the care and guidance of two children at once is a sign of immense blessing and trust from Corellon Larethian (Or the Elven God of Trickery is just screwing with someone).
Twin children are never to be separated from each other, because it is believed that not even the forces of Life and Death were able to keep their souls apart.
Young elves, and especially infants who are not fully established in the mortal world, will have particularly vivid dreams that they can later recall with great clarity. The Trance dreams of young elves will often contain flashbacks to significant moments in their previous life. Some elves may later be driven by these memories, to live up to the memory of their past-self, or to finish some work that was left undone centuries before.
Most Elven souls have existed within this cycle of birth-death-rebirth for thousands of years. However, occasionally there are new souls introduced into the cycle. Eladrin are the new, pure souls who have never died. For the most part, Eladrin are made by Queen Tatiana or King Oberon within The Feywild. However, the capricious Queen of Summer may sometimes choose to plant the soul of one of her Eladrin within the body of an Elven woman. The birth of an Eladrin among elves is a good omen, and a sign of favor from the oldest, most primal Elven deities. Because Eladrin have so recently sprung forth from the Titan of Life, they have extended life spans beyond any normal elves.
The journey to and from Arvandor is very dangerous for the resident souls. Lolth has set many of her dream spiders to stalk the paths of the twilight woods, and snatch away any Elven souls who are unprotected.
Lolth also preys upon the dreaming spirits of the elves. Although, she is less successful with them, because they are firmly anchored by their mortal bodies. A soul that is injured by an encounter with one of Lolth’s spiders will find it difficult to wake up. If the infection of sleeping venom proceeds, the elf will find that their soul’s connection to their body is rapidly weakening. Trancing is dangerous in this state, as it will call Lolth’s spiders to them. An elf that is suffering the effects of Lolth’s poison should not sleep with their soul unguarded; they should find a temple of Sehanine (or Corellon or Prince Nuada), and rest there until the poison has passed from their body. Alternatively, a specially trained priest of Sehanine may be able to guard their soul during a Trance.
Lolth will also hunt the spirits of very young elves. Because they have not had much time to establish their connection to the mortal world, and because they spend so much time alseep, they are easy prey for the dream spiders. Powerful rituals of protection are performed over newborn elves in order to prevent Lolth from finding their dreaming spirits.
A soul that is snatched up by Lolth’s spiders is cut off from Arvandor. They are forced to submit to Lolth, and incarnated into the body of a Drow. This is regarded as an immensely tragic event, because very few Drow are able to break free of Lolth's dominion and return to communion with the rest of Elvenkind. Elves who pause to think of how death affects other mortal races are often taken aback at how well their companions handle being forever separated from their loved ones.
Because of this predation upon the souls of the elves, many of the Elven deities are thought to guard the pathways of the dreamlands of Arvandor. Sehanine is an Eladrin goddess, who was made by King Oberon to be the perfect huntress of Lolth’s spiders. She is a vicious predator who lives for the thrill of slaughtering those who would trespass upon her domain. Cats and shrikes are especially sacred to Sehanine. Sehanine is also often likened to a she-bear, because she is the protector of young elves, and unborn spirits who make their way into the world. While The Drow rightly fear her, the rest of Elvenkind revere Sehanine as the ultimate protector of their souls.
Assisting Sehanine is her husband, Corellon Larethian. He is the chief Elven deity, and the sire of all the Elven races. Among elves, Corellon is a powerful spirit of fertility, because he is the one who decides whether or not to send a spirit back into the mortal world. Corellon, like his mother Queen Tatiana, is a capricious deity. He is a trickster God above all else, and his “gift” of parenthood does not always have the meaning that many would ascribe to it.
Prince Nuada Aergethlam is the most vigilant guardian. He stands at the gates of Arvandor during Corellon’s (frequent!) wanderings. Prince Nuada's tenacity and vigilance is unmatched among The Seldarine. Most elves are familiar with Nuada’s serious, but welcoming smile, as they have all greeted him at some time or another during The Trance. Prince Nuada is also considered a god of fertility, but not as often as his father.
For elves, death is not the ultimate separation from the ones they love in life. Death is an extended kind of Trance. When an elf reaches the end of their life span, they will begin to be drawn back to the communion of spirits. An older elf may begin to have brief, fleeting visions of loved ones who have already made the journey. They may fall into deeper and longer trances. Most commonly though, they will begin to lose their sense of sight, and they will hear the voices of their dead friends and companions calling them to come home. It is said that Sehanine will begin hunting along the path to Arvandor. When the way is clear, she will begin to call them by their spirit's name. When the time comes for an elf to return to Arvandor, they will often knowingly go into their final Trance. Other times, an elf who has resisted Sehanine’s call for too long will be tricked by Corellon into tarrying among the communion of spirits until their connection to the mortal world is severed.
An Elven funeral is usually planned while the individual is still alive. Once an elf has been confirmed by a priest to have passed into an unwaking Trance, their relatives and friends will gather to take turns standing vigil over their body until they stop breathing. A priest or druid of Sehanine will often attend, and offer drinks of a sacred draught to induce vivid Trances. Guests will take their turns with the draught, Trancing and saying farewell to their friend’s spirit as it passes into a deeper communion within Arvandor. It is quite dangerous for adolescent elves to participate in this rite, as they may not have the strength of spirit to remain in the mortal world.
It is not uncommon for the deceased’s partner to “accidentally” stay too long within a Trance, and die shortly after their partner. This is especially true for elves who have been partnered for hundred of years. When this occurs, it regarded as fortunate that the two do not have to endure existence without each other.
An elf who dies by misadventure or illness away from the protective circles of Sehanine’s temples, may find their spirit disoriented and unable to make their way to Arvandor. They will often stay put, near the place of their death, unless they are guided to safety by someone capable of communication with them. Princess Luame, a goddess who wanders the wilds of the world, demands that her priests seek out spirits who are lost in remote places. Wayside shrines to Luame, Sehanine or Corellon act as beacons to lost Elven spirits. Prince Sashelas, he-who-rules-the-dark-and-depths, sends his albatross to faithfully guide home those who have drowned.
Because elves regularly commune with the spirits of their dead, necromancy is something that is not widely practiced in Elven society. True necromancy, the manipulation of The Dead against their will, is considered to be a crime against The Seldarine. Unsurprisingly, The Drow are quite adept at it.
Within The Trance, elves can sense their kinship, and know their family members by unspoken spiritual names. The “spirit’s name” encompasses who the elf is, and who they were in their previous lives. It is the distillation of who they have become as an individual, and who they strive to be. Elven sorcerors are able to draw a great deal of power from their own sense of who they have been, and who they truly seek to become.
The spirit’s name of an elf is never to be spoken aloud, because it allows a great deal of power over the named individual. If an unspoken Name were to reach the ears of Lolth, she could easily call that spirit away from Arvandor, and drag them down to her domain.
Elven parents will gain a sense of their child’s unspoken Name during their first Trance together. The parents will then use that knowledge in a binding ritual that helps to anchor their child’s spirit to the mortal world. During this ritual, the parents will also decide what their child’s given name is to be.
Discovery and mastery over their unspoken Name is an important step to adulthood for young elves. Speaking the spirit’s name of an elf who has passed into Arvandor will compel their spirit to appear before you.
Elves who have a great deal of trust in one another will share their unspoken Names. This is a powerful act of binding that can permanently link the fate of two individuals.
The Solar Eclipse is a holy day for the Elves. Sehanine is heavily associated with the moon, and is at the height of her power during a solar eclipse. Lolth’s dream spiders do not dare to stalk the twilight forests during the weeks leading up to a solar eclipse.
The spirits of the Elven dead leave their communion in Arvandor during a solar eclipse, and visit the world of The Living. The vigil of Arvandor’s guardians is relaxed during these celebrations; they are said to walk among the spirits, guarding them against the perils of the living world.
Offerings to the guardian Gods of Arvandor are freely given by all of Elvenkind. Sehanine’s priests and druids share their sacred draughts that are said to blur the line between the living and the dead.
Elves are quite accustomed to having memories or powerful flashbacks within the Trance that do not align with their current biological sex. An elf may be a male in his current lifetime, but recalls quite vividly the birth of his first child, as a female in his previous life.
Corellon Larethian, although referred to as a male within the common tongue, does not have a solidly established gender in the native Elven and Sylvan languages. The popular saying is that “Even as a trees or a flower bears both male and female seed, so too does Corellon Larethian.”
Corellon’s gift of sexual fluidity is given to elves that have specifically sought his blessing, and have transcended notions of separation of gender. Elves that have been blessed by Corellon do not have a fixed male/female form, and may adjust themselves at-will.
Although male/female pronouns exist within the native Elven language (useful for specifying the gender or sex of a non-elf), pronouns and gendered words are rarely used to refer to elves, even if they have not attained Corellon’s blessing, and have a fixed biological sex.
While you will most certainly find elves, especially younger elves and Eladrin, that have a preferred orientation, many elves do do not necessarily care about the gender or sex of their partner. While they are certainly not shy about such things, asking an elf if they are male or female can be construed as an attempt at flirting.
Owing to Corellon Larethian’s own flighty attitude in his relationships, most elves do not see sexual purity, monogamy or modesty as virtues (Sun Elves who are especially devout of Pelor are a mild exception to this).
On a more practical point, most Elven “females” will only go through 1-3 pregnancies across their entire 200-400 year life span. They don’t fear accidental pregnancy, and their society has never developed any mores surrounding that fear. Adding to this, because there is such little physical difference between male and female elves, there are very few things that are specifically relegated to one gender. Questions of paternity are nonexistent among elves; within The Trance, elves are easily known to their own kin.
Romantic relationships among elves burn hot, but rarely last long. Elves that do remain in stable, long-term relationships often consider that they might have known each other well in their past lives, or within the spiritual communion of Arvandor.
To other races, elves seem to overshare things, or to be too open about what may be a personal matter. However, they are a race that is accustomed to sharing their experiences, fears, passions and dreams with each-other every time that they “sleep”. Modesty and jealousy are not things that come easily to elves.
Half-elves do not Trance, and this presents a theological problem. Half-elves are unsettling to many full elves, because they do not share in the spiritual communion of The Trance. Additionally, elves do not share the innate sense of kinship with half-elven “relatives” that they feel with full-elven relatives. The paternity of a half-elf cannot be known for certain, and they do not “feel” like family to elves.
(A more primal Elven society might consider “those who do not Trance” to be non-persons, or even animals.)
At any rate, if someone is incapable of sharing in The Trance, then they are clearly not elves. If a half-elf does not dream of Arvandor, will their soul rest there upon death? Most of The Seldarine are silent upon this issue, save for Prince Nuada. He offers a kind of redemption for his half-elven followers; it is widely believed that he personally guides the spirits of worthy half-elves into Arvandor upon their deaths, and ensures that their spirits are reborn as full-blooded elves.
There are some druidic circles of Sehanine that are capable of inducing The Trance upon anyone, but it is a sacred rite that they reserve only for those who have done a great things for Elvenkind; those who are granted a sort of conditional kinship with Elvenkind.
Finally, Princess Luame is said to know of a secret ritual that can purge a half-elf of their “lesser blood”, but doing so requires that the half-elf forswear their humanity and undergo a very painful rite of transformation.
Notably, two half-elves have a ¼ chance of bearing children who Trance and show every hallmark of being a full-blooded elf. A half elf and a full-blooded elf will always produce children who are indistinguishable from full-blooded elves. However, elves who have a half-blooded parent often try to hide their “less than pure” ancestry.
