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I'm working on a fantasy world. My nod to being unique are the elves who all wear masks, regardless of gender.

Why? I think it's cool.

But I can't think of why they'd be wearing masks. Help?

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The problem with it being a "cultural thing" is that the masks are intended to be a racial trait.
A race having the same culture all over the world, despite geographical separation, surroundings, or history is not only lazy writing, it is downright bad writing.

There needs to be a reason the entire race does it.
Like a curse from a god ...or this:

"I have traveled across the world studying different people and cultures and everywhere I went, every civilization of elves wore masks.
Many of the different cultures have different beliefs and explanations for wearing them, but I believe I have found the core truth.

There are millions of different combinations of human facial features. A human could go their entire lives without seeing another person that looked the same as them.
That is true of every race, orc, Halfling, dwarf, or gnome. Those the elves sometimes refer to as "The Unmasked."
But not elves.

Those who have seen the face of an elf beneath the mask know that they are a uniquely beautiful race.
There faces are perfectly fair, proportional, and symmetrical in every way.
But that horribly limits the different combinations of facial features.

This is compounded by the incredibly long lifespan of the elves.
Imagine if the first girl you kissed bore the same face as your grandmother, who looks the same as your daughter.
Elves wear masks because their uniquely beautiful faces are not, in fact, unique."

~ Excerpt from "Unmasking Elvish Society: a study of Elf culture" by celebrated anthropologist Nativea Godgraced.

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"Different elvish cultures adopt different customs regarding masks.
Some have a strict caste system enforced by the masks.
Many impart symbols on the mask, displaying information about the wearer.
Their title, role, gender, and even their history can be displayed on a mask.
One culture went the other way, the higher up in society an elf was, the simpler and more plain their mask. Their leader's mask was completely devoid of detail.

Some tribes of feral elves incorporated animal aspects into their masks.
Warriors of those tribes wore truly fearsome masks when fighting, prompting rumors of monsters that never truly were.

Almost all elvish cultures have a naming ceremony imparting simple cloth masks unto their young.

I continue to be amazed at the complexity as I explore the varying customs surrounding the masks of the elves."

~ Excerpt from "Unmasking Elvish Society: a study of Elf culture" by celebrated anthropologist Nativea Godgraced.

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"I came to a revelation this morning.
As I have been staying with this particular tribe of elves, they loaned me a plain mask bearing the simple mark "guest" although I suspect there is another connotation to it.
This suspicion came from the way many elves who see me seem to chuckle and do their common head tilt and nod that is the elvish smile.

I imagine the secondary meaning of the mask is something akin to "one who cannot manage to take care of his mask.
The only other mask like it I have seen was an ill-fitting one worn by a rather sullen elf child walking alone through the village.
Perhaps the child's own mask was lost or damaged.

As I write this, I realize I have not once seen an elf wearing a damaged or worn out mask.
Whether this is because of continual upkeep or multiple masks, the observation is worth noting.

On to the revelation:
Anyone who has met a number of elves can tell you that many, but not all, have a sort of arrogance to them. They carry themselves with a form of disapproving stiffness at times and at other times it seems more of a dismissive casual disregard.

As I wore my mask and lived among them, this apparent arrogance dropped away and I found them to be a very warm and inviting people.

It occurred to me that covering one's face with a mask to an elf is like covering one's genitals to a human.
Imagine a drunken lout propped up in the entrance of a tavern waving his parts at passing women.
Now imagine your reaction to that drunken lout.
Would you not exhibit the same disapproving stiffness or casually dismiss them as a fool?"

~ Excerpt from "Unmasking Elvish Society: a study of Elf culture" by celebrated anthropologist Nativea Godgraced.

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"After much coaching from a matron, and a great deal of support from a group of children, I fashioned my own mask today.
It is a simple stretched leather mask with the typical cloth insert, but it fits quite well and I am proud of my work.
I was considering marking my mask with the "guest" symbol, similar to the one that was loaned to me, but the matron stopped me.
I did not want to mark it with anything presumptuous but at the same time wanted to feel included.
In the end we decided on a plain mask adorned with a symbol that means 'The Visitor.'"

~ Excerpt from "Unmasking Elvish Society: a study of Elf culture" by celebrated anthropologist Nativea Godgraced.

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Today I saw them in battle.
Two ogres had wandered into their territory, although I would be hard pressed to tell you the boundaries.
I held back in the trees while the patrol approached.

A single elf, the squad leader, approached the two ogres while the others spread out into the forest.
I could not hear what he said to them, but one ogre responded faster than the other I thought anything that big could move.
A massive hand gripped the elf by the shoulder with a sickening snapping sound as a dozen arrows appeared in the bodies of both ogres.

The second ogre turned to charge towards a nearby cluster of trees and was felled by an arrow to the eye.
The first ogre raised its massive fist up to bring down upon the elf gripped limply in its other hand.
Arrows peppered the ogre's hide as a horrible, wheezing, gurgling roar tore from the elf squad leader.

The fearless masked elf brought up their sword and viciously stabbed the underside of the beast's head over and over again as the roar continued.
The two collapsed upon the forest floor. Ad when I saw the bodies, the ogre's stinking corpse had been mutilated by the sword strikes.
And despite the obvious fact that the elfish warrior had died from the wounds, in fact half of their torso had been broken, I could not bring myself to approach the fallen warrior.

The masked warrior had felled a mightier foe after receiving a mortal wound.
I must admit that I feared there might be a true element of death weaved into those masks.
Even as the blood that flowed out from beneath the mask grew cold, the eyes of the Elvish Death Mask watched the forest and I was afraid."

~ Excerpt from "Unmasking Elvish Society: a study of Elf culture" by celebrated anthropologist Nativea Godgraced.

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OP here.

Holy crap! Thank you.

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I'm getting a little motivated

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Glad you guys liked it!

Captcha: "and ucksock"
Nice term for the inner cloth layer there captcha.

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This is why I love /tg/.

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THAT is some quality write-faggin'. Damn fine journal entry, 7/10, would play with.