About the Holt

[Delhya]

On the edge of a continent and the Deepvast Ocean,you will find cliffs and islands that are home to a mighty number of elves. If one were to stand on the top of the cliffs,one would find a land teeming with horses,elder oak trees and great hills. In the distance,a purple mountain range can be seen. Looking towards the ocean,one could see an archipelago of islands where birds of bright colors reside. The ocean is a sky colored blue close to land,but the deeper it goes,the darker and more permeating the blue becomes. From time to time,a dolphin pod leaps above the water on their whimsy.

Those whom reside on the islands are led by Chief Tidas,a wise and beautiful elf with a long history. These elves are great swimmers,many with magic shaped fins on their arms and legs and most with finned animal bonds. They are tender,playful and compassionate. Chief Tidas and others of his holt remember living elsewhere on the continent where life was hard and punishing. The islands are their heavenly refuge.

Chief Raven,a brave horse-riding warrior with a fiery temper,leads the younger group that lives in a cliff that was made into a hollow tower by ancient rock shaper elves. They all tend to the horses and are not afraid of pain. Trolls and humans plague them from time to time,and so they hone in their fighting skills to the utmost degree. They are the Tower elves.

Though the holts are as different as hot and cold,they are intertwined into a symbiotic lifestyle. What threatens one holt,whether that threat is from trolls,humans,or within,it will assuredly affect the other. One holt watches the land while the other watches the sea,and though their leaders tend to only tolerate one another,the holt's members mix and intermingle as recognitions and lovematings take place.

Life is full of adventure on the Ocean's Edge!

[Delhya]

HOLT MAP
(From the Ocean Dreams Holt Newsletter, September 2000)



1. The Great Plain - The Great Plain is a vast area of grassland, full of danger.  The Tunnel that leads to the original Holt is located here.  Many of the TreeBender Tribe died here when they were attacked by two SaberTooth Tigers.

2. The Great Lake - The Great Lake is located near the outer limits of the Great Plain.  The group of humans called Chata dwell here. The lake is full of different types of fresh water bass and trout.  The lake is fed by a small underground stream.

3. The Canyon Mountains - The range of mountains are very difficult to cross, much of the mountains surface is high walls, deep crevices and drop offs.  A breed of horse, that the elves call High Backs live in these mountains.  Mountain Trolls live here, they captured one of the TreeBenders rockshapers as they passed thru.  A large water source is located here, the water flows from caves near the base of one of the mountains.

4. The Rain Forest - The Rain Forest is a huge forest, thick and lush, filled with many types of plants and animals.  The forest is so thick that much of the sunlight is prevented from shining thru.  The forest is usually covered by a thick blanket of mist from humidity and constant rain.  The TreeBender Tribe discovered the signs of elfin magic near several fallen trees.

5. The River - This is the river that flows from the heart of the Canyon Mountains.  The TreeBender Tribe followed this river as it twisted and turned during their journey to the vast deep.  The river starts out as a large stream that later develops into a river by streams that flow into it higher up in the mountains.

6. The Towers - Two tall twin towers stand on the edge of a high cliff that overlooks the vast deep.  The Towers were formed centuries ago when continuous ground quakes hit the area, causing much of the cliff to break off and fall into the sea.  The Towers are home to the Tower Elves that live in caves near the base of the towers.  A small group of Glider Elves once lived in the same caves.  Four of the preservers were discovered here, they are all that remain of the Glider Elves.

7. The Waterfall - The River flows between the two towers to the edge of the cliff creating a beautiful waterfall that crashes on to the rocky beach below.  Behind the waterfall is a large opening in the cliffs wall, this is the entrance to the trolls underground kingdom.  These were the trolls that came to the area with the TreeBender Tribe.  The cave is very dangerous containing many tunnels and deep pits.

8. The Islands - Three Islands are located about two miles off the coast of the Towers.  The Ocean Dwellers live on each of these islands.  The larger of the three islands contains several caves and small waterfalls.  There is an underground tunnel that leads to caverns that can only be reached by going under water.  The preservers that were discovered near the towers live on this island.  The two smaller islands are very hard and dangerous to get to.  The water that separates them from the larger island is infested with sharks.  Few have managed to reach the islands and return without a scar or two.

9. Land Bridge - This was a thin strip of land that once connected the largest of the three islands to the mainland.  There were certain areas of the Land Bridge that was nearly covered with water but was very shallow.  The Land Bridge sunk into the sea many turn ago when the area was hit by a Ground Quake.  Cera died in this quake.

[Delhya]

CELEBRATIONS AND EVENTS
(From the Ocean Dreams Holt Newsletter, September 2000)


During the first full moons of spring, huge schools of Puffer Fish and a large fish similar to a sea horse, migrate together to the coral reefs near the islands to lay their eggs among the many colored coral spirals.  Their number is so great that many of the fish are forced into more shallow waters near the shore, becoming trapped.

The Ocean Dwellers find this to be a time of celebration, a celebration they call Festival of the Tide, held in honor of the eight High Ones that were among those that founded the current location, over a hundred full turns of the seasons ago.  A great feast will be prepared and held in an under water cavern deep inside the Ocean Dwellers cave home.  The caverns walls are covered with rock shapers carvings that tell a tale of their plight from the palace thru the time the TreeBender tribe discovered the Vast Deep.

It is a time of storytelling and remembrance for the Ocean Dwellers.  Among the celebrations activities will be game playing, music, dancing and role playing.  The main event of the celebration will be a deep sea hunt.  The hunt takes them far out to sea, past the other two islands, a place of great danger.  It is a haven for many breeds of sharks, that the Ocean dwellers call Many Teeth.

During the storytelling of the celebration, Tidas once again becomes the great wolf that once saved his people from starvation during the whitecold season.  The Ocean Dwellers watch as Tidas transforms his tall slender body, while loud pounding sounds from drums fills the cavern.

The celebration begins at the beginning of the first full moons of spring and lasts thru the fading of the smaller moon.

The hull of the Puffer Fish is used for masks made for storytelling during the celebration.  The tiny needle points are used for fish hoods and small weapons.  Parts of the Puffer Fish are considered to have a very bitter taste and can be poisonous when large amounts are eaten at once.  The Ocean Dwellers consider the part under the gills to be a delicacy and sometimes has a drunken effect if large portions are eaten at one time.  The teeth of the captured Sharks are also used in the making of small weapons and jewelry.

Unlike the Ocean Dwellers that celebrate life and all that life has to offer them, the Tower Elves have no use for any type of celebration.  Their outlook on life is that of survival.  The events in their life would be day to day tasks that would include providing and caring for the tribe.  Much of the Tower Elves time is spent hunting and scouting for new game.  They would consider the birth of an elf child to have significant importance.

Every two full turns, when the horses, that the Tower Elves call High Backs, come down from the Canyon Mountains to breed and graze on the great plain, the elves go to find and choose their mounts.  This is an event that is used to help the younger members’ of the tribe to become better hunters and providers.

Raven, considered to be the Tower Elves leader was the first to discover the High Backs during one of his many hunting expeditions.  The High Backs are huge in size standing abut six feet.  The High Backs are wild in nature and taming them is an even harder task.

The mount of Raven is the largest ever captured.  Raven is one of the few that seem to have a type of telepathic connection or bond with them

[Delhya]

BOND BEASTS AND ANIMAL FRIENDS
(From the Ocean Dreams Holt Newsletter, September 2000)



Most of the time but, not always, elves do bond with some type of animal or beast.  Depending on your characters origin, background and mixed blood a bondbeast could vary.

The mixed blood elves of the towers have bonded with several types of wolves, panthers, cougars, ocelot like cats, and rarely the large long tooth cats from the nearby plains.

The pure blood elves have companions or animal friends, some of these animals include High Backs (horses), falcons, owls, hawks, eagles, ravens and a variety of other birds and small animals.  The High Backs seem to have a closer bond with the Tower elves than any of their other animal friends.

The Ocean Dwellers have bonded with several types of marine life, mostly dolphins, porpoises, seals, whales, mantas and other aquatic life forms.

The Ocean Dwellers are the only elves in the two tribes that shape and mold their bodies to be like that of their sea friends.

There are a few small breeds of felines that some of the Ocean Dwellers have for pets.

There have been a few situations when some of the bondbeasts and animal friends have had differences, only few have resulted in the death or injury.

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