Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes

(Nancy Kaufman) #1
later years. Even if such
a future life seems tepid and

unbearably dull during an elf's prime, the
psychological

changes that come
with age make this peaceful period

of existence the
most satisfying experience possible for

an elf's later years. Nevertheless, this
fear is immune to

logic when it arises in adult elves.
To avoid the fate they

dread, consciously
or subconsciously, they throw them





selves into
dangerous situations, not caring whether

they survive or perhaps even
hoping they don't. In effect,

they're looking
for another chance, seeing their current

life or
perceived future as unbearable and hoping
to stop

the clock on this mortal body
and start afresh.

ELVES AND MAGIC


Magic infuses the elves' world.
Even so, they aren't born

with an innate understanding
of magic. To master spell-

casting,
an elf must devote years of study and practice
to

it, the
same as most folk. But from the moment
they're

born, elves are surrounded
by a culture, a philosophy,

and an artistic style that
incorporates and subtly reveals

the
mysteries of magic to someone who is receptive
to

the
message- which elves certainly are.

WIZARDRY


There's a reason most powerful
wizards are old. The

special formulas of action,
item, and sound that produce

wizardly
magic require precision, and such
precision

comes only from long practice. More than
that, each

spell a wizard might cast requires a portio
n of one's

powerful intellect
to be dedicated to the task, with the

necessary patterns
of thought and proper mindset kept

in stasis, ready
to be unleashed. Even after these con-

cepts are mastered, new knowledg
e of magic remains

elusive, and a wizard must progr
ess steadily through

deeper levels of understanding,
breaking through men-

tal barriers
in order to achieve ever greater mastery.

Of all
peoples, elves are perhaps best s uited to
wiz-

ardry.
They have centuries of life to devote to their

studies, and their trance effectively
gives them extra

time to practice, as lessons
learned during study can be

reinforced
by recalling them during resting
periods. The

rigidity
and studiousness required by wizardry
would

seem anathema to a people who can recall
a life of

unfettered exploration
and free expression of form, but

magic provides a
means of regaining that power. The

patience and restraint
for which elves are well known

serves them well in this pursuit.

Not all elven communities embrace
wizardry, but

most worlds
of the multiverse have at least one commu-

nity of elves
in which the spellcasters are renowned
as

masters.
In some worlds, elves are even credited with

the invention
of the art of wizardry.

MYTH
A LS

Great works of magic are by no
means unique to elves,

but the creation
of mythals seems to be knowledge
that

did originate
with them. Known by different names


on different
worlds, a mythal is a persistent magical


field that changes how reality
works over a large area.

Creating the most powerful
of mythals requires many


wizards of great renown
and long experience to engage


CHAPTER 2 I l:LVES


in the same ritual, while lesser wizards feed
spells into

the growing webwork of magic. Such a ritual
can take

a long time to perform
and sometimes requires the

sacrifice of lives in order to achieve its
purpose, but the

results can be utterly miraculous.

The mythal that protected the mighty
city of Myth

Drannor on the world of FaerOn prevented
the entrance

of enemy races
such as dragons, illithids, drow, and dop-

pelgangers.
It negated spying magic and teleportation
,

and every elf within its bounds
gained the power to Ry

and a multitude of magical protections.

Similar magic allowed the
elves of Krynn to raise a

mythal
at Qualinost. A city of moon-pale stone,
its many

towers
stand hundreds of feet tall, and bridges
of alabas-

ter
arc impossibly through its sky like pale rainbow
s.

A mythal can't be dispell
ed or suppressed by any

conventional means,
nor can its effects. Once one is in

place, it seemingly lasts forever, since none
are known

to have dissipated. A mythal's nature can
only be

warped or changed, and that can be accomplished
only

through the use of magical energy equal
to that required

for its creation.

The metropolis
ofWaterdeep, which lies on the Sword

Coast of FaerOn, benefits from mythals
that were cre-

ated to protect the capital of a gr
eat empire of elves that

stood on the spot over two thousand
years before the

city's foundi
ng. The elves left for Evermeet upon
the or-

der of
their leader, who commanded the wizards
of the

city
to alter the mythal so that evidence of the
empire's

existence was wiped from
the surface of the world.

BLADESONG


Those who see a bladesinger
in battle never forget the

sight.
Surrounded by chaos and blood, the bladesinger

moves
in an otherworldly dance. Spells and
sword act

in
concert, meshing awe-inspiring beauty
with fear-

some deadliness. When
the bladesinger's sword whirls

through the air so swiftly
that it keens and the air hums

and whistles in chorus, the bladesong
has begun-and it

might be the last thing the bladesinger's
enemy hears.

The elves and half-elves who practice
the art of the

bladesinger, a tradition found primarily
on the world of

Faerfin, appear
to be almost casual in combat, deRecting

opponents'
blades while elegantly moving into position

to score hits in return. A bladesinger
wields a weapon

one-handed, leaving the other
free for spellcasting or

to manipulate a wand that can
be incorporated into

the fighting
style. This technique gives a bladesinger

the
freedom of movement necessary for the dancelike

motions
of the various forms of martial art,
which allow

both magical and physical
attacks to flow freely.
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