abstract
| - The author of this text would like to make plain that there is a profound distinction to be made between the Wood Elves observed by the author deep within Valenwood, and the Wood Elves who reside in other corners of Nirn. The observations here recorded are only meant to describe these wild Bosmer who adhere to what they call "the old ways" and are not meant to apply to Wood Elves who have adjusted to life in normal society. The Wood Elves of deep Valenwood, or "Green Pact Bosmer" as they call themselves, can be described as fanatical in their devotion to the Green Pact. They eat only meat, including the bodies of their enemies slain in battle, and attack any who would harm the forest in which they live. Nevertheless, it would be inappropriate to characterize them as "feral." In fact, they are highly intelligent, highly curious, highly rational individuals, with rich cultural traditions vested in the forest and in their spiritual leaders, the storytellers, or "spinners." In fact, while they can be extremely fierce in battle, they do not attack unless provoked and are more than hospitable to strangers in their midst. They take their cues from the natural world, with a mixture of fear and respect, no doubt cultivated by tales of the kind of angry vengeance the Green is said to take on those who violate the Pact. Indeed, from an early age, Pact Bosmer are raised to believe in the Ooze, a kind of purgatorial state reserved for Bosmer who violate the Pact, and still more terrifying stories of the Green unleashing all of its wild power against Bosmeri clans who harm it.
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