In my Dragonhunt setting there lies the Greenwood Forrest which is run by the Elves. But there are tons of minor races that live in the woods and are watched over by the elves.
I haven't generally listed them out accept as pixies and brownies.
I'm doing a bit more for Oak right now.
Brownies...the shoe fixing Little People of legend who don't want to receive thanks or a gift.
Sylphs...I've turned them into slightly organized air that floats around and observes very intently.
....Their evil cousins are the dust devils.
I also stuck in a mannikin inspired by Grundy the Golem from Xanth.
I have pixies as well.
Any other suggestions for minor mythological creatures that would fit into a D20 ish world under the overlordship of some condescending but kindly elves?
Centaurs - Half man, half horse. You can go the classical Greek way and have them be educators and archers, or go another route. I could see them being a society of samurai or knight-like ascetic warriors. Centaur jousting, anyone?
Ents - Tolkien called them Ents. D&D called them Treants. Call them what you will, sentient trees are an interesting idea so long as they're not overdone.
If you're going to have the kindly but condescending high elves, you should have a less friendly group, too. The military caste. Call them Watchers, Wardens, Reeves, or what-have-you, they're the guys in the organic leaf-weave armor who feather you with arrows if you try to cut down a tree. They could come from a distinct sub-race of elves, or maybe this is the fate of half-elven children born among elves: to live to serve their 'better' brothers while only being accepted into the fringes of society.
Orcs/Ogres/Trolls - Because ... why not? I had a world one time (don't steal this as I might use it again some day) where Ogres were actually a type of sentient carnivorous plant that grows from spores, rather like a fern, and cultivating designer strains of ogres is rather like growing rare orchids: the wealthy do it as a hobby, and grow themselves an army in the process.
How would centaur jousting even work? You can't unhorse the other guy without getting a little Mortal Kombat, and that seems a little barbaric for these societies.
What about the Griffin? Half lion, half eagle. In some tellings, they granted wishes. In some, they were guardians of treasure. In some, they could breathe fire.
Some of the suggestions strike me as not the sort of thing Eric is seeking--good for the overall concept of the world, but I think he's looking at those creatures toward which elves might be paternalistic.
I'm inclined to think that Dryads (tree spirits) might work in this regard, less so Nyads (river spirits). However, the tree spirits have the vulnerability that although they can travel short distances and dance with each other, they are anchored to a physical location that needs protection to preserve their lives.
Some conceptions of Gnomes work this way, as small humanoids who live in underground hollows (where pixies tend to live in the skies and trees and brownies on the ground level).
--M. J. Young
Thanks. MJ's right tho'.
Not that it wouldn't be neat to have a pure myth world, or some odd twist on magic creatures. I like the Vegetable Ogres. And yeah, the Dragonhunt is actually pretty civilized a setting. You even have paroles given and redeemed by mercenary companies. The mercs if captured hand over silver armbands which can be turned in at a nearby city by the winner,a nd the mercs will buy them back for good gold because those arm bands are their legal permission to be mercs.
It occurs to me that you might take something of a Narnian twist: there are ordinary animals, but there are also talking animals, and the talking animals have a sort of respect for the elves.
The relationships could be rather complex. I'm reminded of Malacandra in Out of the Silent Planet, in which the three races (which I think were Huorn, Sorn, and Pfltriggi) each had its place. The Sorns were the thinkers and scientists, who figured out the world, and everyone deferred to them for such things. The Pfltriggi were the artisans and technologists, able to make things complex and beautiful. The Huorns were the musicians and the river people. I can see something of the same idea happening in a silvan forest, in which the beavers are the hydroengineers, squirrels are tree planters, and other animals have their specific tasks, while the elves are the ones who provide direction and guidance for the community.
Anyway, that's a thought.
--M. J. Young