Elves and walking...

[theebie]

Lets assume you're a city elf. Means you have weak legs, are used to
not move further than from fridge to tv, and generally are much like a
human.

Lets assume you want to walk from Nak to Tuluk.

But you (a) hate riding on kanks and (b) dont like wagons.
But (c) have moves only enough from city gates to hmm, maybe
the next gith.

How'd you solve this riddle ?

---me---

[Anonymous]

Travel with a group you trusted or just risk it alone.

[theebie]

allright, an answer would also have been:

walk.


though the question rather is, how'd you avoid getting eaten by gith ?
or dying from thirst since you have to rest every so long ?

the point i was getting to was rather:
why do c-elfs dislike mounts ?
and the answer cant be: because they're tough runners who think
riding is for the weak ones...


---|---

[Cavus]

Ok, you have only one day, and you need to go L.A. from Washington. You hate planes and you don't prefer it normally.  But you have to go, and it should be in one day.

1- Would you try to walk there even if there is no time constraint?

2 If there is time constraint, would you walk?

Ok, it is not perfect example, but if you want to go, you need to use the transportation you hate.

By the way, why does a city elf need to go from one city to another? I am not sure it is IC enough. But, your elf may have good reason, then I think only way is wagon.

Don't take it serious: Second suggestion, someone can hit your head with a club, you faint, then that person can pack you to a mount. That way you can go with him on a mount.  :lol:

[Anonymous]

though the question rather is, how'd you avoid getting eaten by gith ?

Not going?

or dying from thirst since you have to rest every so long ?

Brining water?

the point i was getting to was rather:
why do c-elfs dislike mounts ?
and the answer cant be: because they're tough runners who think
riding is for the weak ones...

They're tough runners who think riding is for the weak ones.

I'm not trying to be snide, city elves are adapted to the city lifestyle but still have the same elven pride about their legs and the weakness of other race's legs.  Hopping up on a kank would be the elven equivalent of the height of immasculation.  People in our generation are so acclimated to doing things the easy way with very little notion of pride or propriety that it probably seems like a foreign notion.  And I suppose it is.

In summary, Elves don't ride kanks.  As such city elves probably don't travel much.

[Xamminy]

People in some areas of the world feel that an automatic transmission is for those without skill at operating an automobile.  They look down on those that can't drive a vehicle with a clutch.  That is an elf.  It doesn't matter if they are from the city or from the desert.  That is what they do.  If they want to get from place to place, they have to do that travel on their own two feet, end of debate.

[Larrath]

Pretty much what everyone said.

An elf is not going to go "Well, maybe my cousins can run like that, but I can't so I'll do what is more efficient.".  Elves are, in my eyes, extremely proud...it's just that they care about different things that we do.
I don't think any elf, no matter how filthy and miserable they are, would let anyone get away with telling them that their latest and grandest feat was just petty and thoughtless theft.
And just like they wouldn't do that, they won't ride.  Never.  Ever.

An elf who rides is a half-elf, and *nobody* wants to be a half-elf.

[Agent_137]

Ok, you have only one day, and you need to go L.A. from Washington. You hate planes and you don't prefer it normally.  But you have to go, and it should be in one day.

1- Would you try to walk there even if there is no time constraint?

2 If there is time constraint, would you walk?

Ok, it is not perfect example, but if you want to go, you need to use the transportation you hate.

By the way, why does a city elf need to go from one city to another? I am not sure it is IC enough. But, your elf may have good reason, then I think only way is wagon.

No. Just no. Elves are prideful. If he could sacrafice his personal pride, everyone would make fun of him. He would the laughingstock of the world. Not to mention I'd send in a report to the mud if i saw that.

Half-giants aren't intelligent.

Elves only use their feet for transportation.

There are two moons in the zalanthan sky.

etc.

[Agent_137]

Ok, you have only one day, and you need to go L.A. from Washington. You hate planes and you don't prefer it normally.  But you have to go, and it should be in one day.

1- Would you try to walk there even if there is no time constraint?

2 If there is time constraint, would you walk?

Ok, it is not perfect example, but if you want to go, you need to use the transportation you hate.

By the way, why does a city elf need to go from one city to another? I am not sure it is IC enough. But, your elf may have good reason, then I think only way is wagon.

No. Just no. Elves are prideful. If he could sacrafice his personal pride, everyone would make fun of him. He would the laughingstock of the world. Not to mention I'd send in a report to the mud if i saw that.

Half-giants aren't intelligent.

Elves only use their feet for transportation.

There are two moons in the zalanthan sky.

etc.

You can try to rationalize riding on a kank all you want, but if you do, you're thinking like a human, not an elf.

[Angela Christine]

Even a human can easily walk between two adjacent cities, like Red Storm to Allanak, or Allanak ot Luir's.

1.  Stay on the roads, it is easier to walk along a road than through the wilderness.

2.  Bring a tent.  Rest before you get to 1/3 your stamina, that way you won't be tapped out if you need to run.  You can rest without a tent, but it will take longer and you'll need to bring along more water.  If you plan to do a lot of traveling a tent is a wise investment.

3.  If you are trying to move a heavy load that would cost you extra stamina (like a tent) then bring a pack animal to carry it for you.  Elves do not ride, but they do use pack animals.  If you are using a pack animal, it is usually better to walk than run, otherwise your animal may run low on stamina in an inconvinient area.  

Other than that, all you really need is the hyper-vigilance of any traveller.  Travelling companions are a very good idea, because there are ambushes along the roads and hungery critters in the wilderness.  Walking from town to town alone isn't supposed to be easy, if it weren't for playability concerns travel would probably be a lot harder than it is now.


Angela Christine

[Ghost]

A city elf, truly almost almost, never EVER needs to walk from Allanak to Tuluk.  That is why they are city elves.

[Yokunama]

Even a human can easily walk between two adjacent cities, like Red Storm to Allanak, or Allanak ot Luir's.

1.  Stay on the roads, it is easier to walk along a road than through the wilderness.

2.  Bring a tent.  Rest before you get to 1/3 your stamina, that way you won't be tapped out if you need to run.  You can rest without a tent, but it will take longer and you'll need to bring along more water.  If you plan to do a lot of traveling a tent is a wise investment.

3.  If you are trying to move a heavy load that would cost you extra stamina (like a tent) then bring a pack animal to carry it for you.  Elves do not ride, but they do use pack animals.  If you are using a pack animal, it is usually better to walk than run, otherwise your animal may run low on stamina in an inconvinient area.  

Other than that, all you really need is the hyper-vigilance of any traveller.  Travelling companions are a very good idea, because there are ambushes along the roads and hungery critters in the wilderness.  Walking from town to town alone isn't supposed to be easy, if it weren't for playability concerns travel would probably be a lot harder than it is now.


Angela Christine

Wow, searching for threads really did help me a lot on this topic.

[cyberpatrol_735]

A city elf, truly almost almost, never EVER needs to walk from Allanak to Tuluk.  That is why they are city elves.

In agreement with this, City elves stay in the city, Desert elves stay in the desert. Sure they may occasionally wander out or in, depending on their background(delf/cityelf) but if you're a city elf, the -city you start in- is your home city, you know it like the back of your hand hopefully if your and elf, you'll want to explore and be curious.

I see no reason for a city-elf to leave their place of safety to travel to another city/sub-city where they have no idea what could happen to them, they should be solely and completely dependant on their city.

Likewise, a d-elf who runs into a city is taking that to his own risk, sure he could get killed, but if he's out in the wild, that's home, the city isn't home for a d-elf, much as the desert isn't home for an elf.

Just some lonely thoughts from someone who has played these races.

[lazycritic]

They look down on those that can't drive a vehicle with a clutch. That is an elf.

In that case, I don't see a big reason why tribeless city elves are so concerned with what other elves think. They're estranged outcasts. If I lived in an area where all my friends drove manuals and were proud of it, I could easily say "fuck you guys" and do my own thing.

Personally, I think the "city elves never never ride kanks" to be overblown bullshit. Desert elves never ride kanks, yeah, but city-elves are so spread out that they should do the natural cultural thing: adapt. Yeah, a city-elf would probably feel a constant, nagging embarrassment/discomfort riding, but they should be able to say "fuck the desert elves and their stinkin pride".

The "fact" that they "never adapt and would never consider adapting to their circumstances in that way" bugs me - it makes me wonder how I can even play a city-elf, if they're so irrational.

It would be an interesting source of RP if people (meaning staffers especially) would admit that city elves sometimes can ride kanks -- yeah, they'd be ridiculed outcasts, but it'd be a source of RP.

[Anonymous]

Just because a city elf is in the city doesn't mean it has no tribe.

As far as it being 'overblown bullshit' I think you need to accept the fact that this is just the way things are, and have been, for years, per the documentation.

Dwarves don't have hair.  Muls are emotional ticking timebombs, half-giants are dumb, magickers are frightening and elves don't ride kanks.

[Revelations]

Even cities elves have their own sense of pride in their abilities. Sorry to bust your bubble there, but even an outcast elf would not even consider using a pack animal as a crutch unless it was a life or death situation, and even then, perhaps the elf's pride is more important to him than his life when he has little else. Your forgetting the elven persona by saying that.

[Anonymous]

I don't think it's even pride, I think it goes deeper to a basic tenet of elven society.

This argument is like saying 'Well, since that guy has no family he'd probably fuck a dog.'

[lazycritic]

I think you need to accept the fact that this is just the way things are, and have been, for years, per the documentation.

I abide by it, as I do many things in this game...doesn't mean I agree with it. I simply think it's badly reasoned.

This argument is like saying 'Well, since that guy has no family he'd probably fuck a dog.'

Dude...wake up and smell the 21st century.

I suppose one good reasoning for the strictness is: it emphasizes how alien the elven mentality is -- so much that I don't feel comfortable playing elves anymore. It would also be a slippery slope to make "elves riding kanks" the equivalent of, say, inter-racial marriage in the Deep South a century or two ago. With a blue-blooded aristocrat marrying a woman of the ghetto, even.

[Xygax]

...so much that I don't feel comfortable playing elves anymore.

This is a good sign that you're starting to really grasp the elven mentality.  It is NOT an easy thing to wrap your head around if you grew up in a modern, westernized culture.

I realized a long time ago that I'm not built to play elves, myself.  I find their outlook on the world entirely foreign, and for the things that I enjoy in my play, their culture doesn't suit my notion of "fun".  Some people absolutely love it, and embrace it brilliantly, however.  And those people are comfortable with restrictions like this (both for city elves and for desert elves).

It's okay not to play elves, it doesn't make you a Bad Roleplayer.  If you aren't comfortable with a role, or you don't find it fun, don't do it.  

-- X

[SpyGuy]

Even cities elves have their own sense of pride in their abilities. Sorry to bust your bubble there, but even an outcast elf would not even consider using a pack animal as a crutch unless it was a life or death situation, and even then, perhaps the elf's pride is more important to him than his life when he has little else. Your forgetting the elven persona by saying that.

Just to clarify, elves do use pack animals.  Both city and desert elves will keep pack animals to supplement their poor strengths and help carry large amounts of trade goods.  To a degree both city elves and desert elves do travel to trade, albeit with difficulty.  Elves however will never ride a kank if they want to hold on to any pride and I can only see them riding in wagons if forced and/or the ride is necessary to complete a theft.  *insert grand theft wagon joke here*

Everyone else has made good points.  Its possible, though not entirely safe, to walk it.  And elves dont ride kanks, end of story.  I've got nothing to add to that really.

Ninja Edit:  I just realized I may have read that wrong.  So yeah, an elf with a pack animal would never use it as a crutch and ride it, he has too much pride.  Yeah...its almost 2 AM  :oops:

[Revelations]

Oops. I guess I worded that wrong. But yeah, elves do use pack animals to carry things, they just don't use pack animals to carry them.

[Xygax]

Going to go ahead and lock this one, as I consider it well-answered.

-- X