Common desert elf misconceptions (originally Naephet's, edited by me)

[Niamh]

Play a desert elf if you want to explore the world: 
No.  This is wrong.  This is like playing a mul, because you want to have a badass warrior; sure, the race enables you to do that, but you're missing the whole point of it.

Desert elves are territorial.  Once a tribe picks a territory, members of that tribe don't usually leave the area without a good reason, just like most humans spend their entire lives in the city of their choice.  These territories might be pretty big, but they're usually restricted to one region, such as the grasslands, the Red desert, or the tablelands. 

Once a tribe settles comfortably in a territory, they will often remain only semi-nomadic within that large space, moving their camp about a specified region on a regular basis. A tribe of elves may very well move their camp from one side of the grasslands to another on a seasonal basis, but long moves from one end of the known world to the other are very rare and often only inspired by war or other genocidal events. Also, elves will rarely leave their tribal grounds, as the tribe is looked upon for safety. The further an elf travels from his or her "stomping ground" the more danger they percieve themselves to be in.


Desert elves are all brothers of a greater elven nation: 
No.  When one elf calls another 'brother,' it's usually because he's trying to pull a scam on the other.  Elves, even those of the desert variety, are a shifty bunch.  There's no code of honor among them.  The only elves an elf would openly trust are those in his tribe.  Friendships between elves of different tribes do happen, but not easily.  There's many years of testing, and earned trust in those situations.

Note from Niamh: Yes, there was the Elan Pah.  But it no longer exists.

I don't need a tribe to play a desert elf: 
All desert elves have a living tribe.  There was never any kind of massive elven genocide, that wiped out every elf, except one or two from each tribe, as some PCs would have you believe.  Elves are still the second most populous race on Zalanthas.


Desert elves hunt all the time: 
No.  Most desert elves would be wary of overhunting.  Not for ecological reasons, but because if they share the territory with any other tribes, which they probably do, then consuming more than their fair share of resources could create a lot of hostility and territory wars.

Desert elves all raid, and hate humans: 
The attitudes towards any race, culture, or group will be strongly determined by the tribe they come from.  Raider elves are as much a possibility as raider humans.  But it's wrong to think that all non-tribe members are the enemy, because that's historically a good way to get your tribe wiped out.

When a desert elf goes out and kills a human tribal, or a citizen of some city, or some gith, or particularly another tribal elf, they are posing the threat of attack on their tribe by an outside force. While elven tribes are generally very self-absorbed as a whole, they are not so foolish as to provoke the ire of so many outsiders that their doom is assured before the passing of another generation. Attacking outsiders is generally only done in self-defense or by necessity, otherwise it is a task taken upon with much discretion.

[Incognito]

I'm not entirely sure if I should add to Niamh's guidelines, but I'm gonna go ahead and do it all the same - just so that the points are in the same thread - Niamh's welcome to modify/delete as required.

As long as I'm playing a mundane guild, it really wont matter which Desert Elf tribe I pick as background.
The Desert Elf tribes have their distinct characteristics, and their own specific place in the overall dynamics of the Desert Elves. No two tribes are alike.  When you pick a tribe as your PC's background, you need to be sure about that tribe's history, culture and relations with the other tribes. I wont go into specifics in this post, but you can easily read up the info on the Tribal Clans webpage. It'll help you form your PC's background and also wont land you in a position where your PC might be hunted from day one - just coz you chose the wrong tribe to be in.

I can pre-app a magicker in any Desert Elf tribe.
All Desert Elf magickers need to be pre-approved by the concerned Staff Member(s), to begin with (regardless of whether you have the karma for the role or not). This is because, some tribes accept only certain kinds of magickers. Again, I wont post specifics here, but what you'll probably want to do is pick a magicker guild and then figure out which tribes might allow that guild. Or alternatively, you may wish to pick a tribe first, and then figure out which magicker guilds would be acceptable in that tribe.

Desert Elves can go anywhere in the Known World.
Again, this is not true - most Desert Elf tribals stick to their hunting grounds, and tribal lands, rarely venturing outside those areas unless there is a specific need. Trading Outposts are acceptable, for some tribes (not all), and the Black and White Pits would be off-limits to most Desert Elves, except those tribes which specifically make it a point to trade in the City-States. So, if you're playing a Desert Elf, please keep to your tribe's tradition - i.e. - don't go into Allanak, just coz you need to buy "that" special item which you cannot find anywhere else. Know your boundaries, and stick to them (unless they need to be disregarded for a special reason). However, I might go so far as to add here that Desert Elves are some of the most intelligent beings on Zalanthas, and hence, if for any reason their survival was at stake, they would do whatever it takes, to live - even if it meant going into an abhoringly claustrophobic roundear City-State.

[Hot_Dancer]

Desert elves all raid, and hate humans:
The attitudes towards any race, culture, or group will be strongly determined by the tribe they come from.  Raider elves are as much a possibility as raider humans.  But it's wrong to think that all non-tribe members are the enemy, because that's historically a good way to get your tribe wiped out.

When a desert elf goes out and kills a human tribal, or a citizen of some city, or some gith, or particularly another tribal elf, they are posing the threat of attack on their tribe by an outside force. While elven tribes are generally very self-absorbed as a whole, they are not so foolish as to provoke the ire of so many outsiders that their doom is assured before the passing of another generation. Attacking outsiders is generally only done in self-defense or by necessity, otherwise it is a task taken upon with much discretion.

A basic outlook shared amidst many elven tribes is simply, "If it's not in your tribe, it's an outsider."

Outsider, regardless of race. Many elves will view an elf from another tribe as even more devious than
your typical human because there's a known baseline culture that admires thievery. Sympathy for an
elf from another tribe who hasn't produced goods, service, ass or passed trials of trust is likely to be
an alien concept for an elf who hasn't been through extraordinary circumstances (such as an Elan Pah)
the same as as it would be for a human, dwarf or anything else outside of the tribe.