The Westfolk are also known as Elcyion Lacar ("Bright Spirits"), and as elves, the Westfolk are a tribe of nomadic horse herders that live on the grasslands west of Deverry. Their term for themselves is Impar, the People.
History[]
They are a refugee population, originally from The Seven Cities farther west; the cities were destroyed about a thousand years before the present-time period of the novels by marauding Horsekin.
AppearAnce and everyday life[]
Elves are humanoid, with an affinity for the element of Air and a certain degree of natural psychic talent (all elves can see the Wildfolk). Elves can be recognized by their pointed and furled ears, and by their eyes, which have catlike irises. They also have an extended lifespan, with five hundred years being the norm, heal faster than humans, and only begin aging shortly prior to their death. They have a low birth rate (consistent with their extended lifespan). This last is an ongoing problem for the Westfolk, for whom the stresses of a nomadic existence mean a death rate due to accident, illness, and old age that outpaces their replacement birthrate.
Elves are cross-fertile with humans and offspring are fertile with both humans and elves. Half-elves tend to look more human than elven, though they may have some muted elven traits, such as slightly sharp ears or strange eyes. Inheritance of other standard elven traits by half-elves (the ability to see the Wildfolk, sharpened eyesight, the ability to see in the dark, better than normal health and healing speed) is random, with different half-elves inheriting a different mix of traits. Inheritance of the elven lifespan by half-elves is also unpredictable. Half-elves typically have a much longer lifespan than humans (on the order of centuries) but generally a shorter lifespan than full elves; rate of apparent aging varies, with some half-elves showing gray hair within their first century and others showing no sign of age after nearly two.