Shattered Kingdoms

What exactly do you call the pure elves? Is it Sylvar or Sylvan? When I check help elf-culture I get the following:



And yet people send me ooc tells saying it's Sylvan. And I check the who list and I see this.

[PAR Sor] Heldorian Lailden, Sylvan Hero, Teacher of Truth

So, which is it? Sylvar or Sylvan? I'm inclined to go with the help file but I could be wrong.

I believe Sylvar is the noun and sylvan is the adjective. But don't ask me, I'm just common.

I believe Frollith to be correct on that one. And you aren't common, your jolly!

Sylvan is just a name for all elves, and Sylvar is the just another name for depending how pure your blood is.

Sylvan is also used in reference to people from Ayamao at times since Sylvan is the native tongue. A person could be a dwarf and call themself Sylvan because of their nationality.

I disagree, Ilyana. Sylvan is a term for elves. Sylvarin is the term for Sylvar elves. Saying that all citizens of Ayamao are 'Sylvan' is akin to saying that all citizens of the frozen north are 'Aghelian'.

Anybody who uses the word 'sylvan' to describe themselves, who is not an elf, is sadly mistaken. I'd expect any elves within earshot (being a haughty lot at the best of times) to take grave offense to any dwarves claiming their honor.

Actually, sylvan is a real-life word, both adjective and noun, derived probably from the latin silva ('forest') . Applied as an adjective, it means of, relating to, or from the woods. As a noun it's someone who lives in the woods. "Sylvar" is a made-up adjective unique to SK referring to a particular bloodline of elves, though it has obvious cognates.

Sylvan (as a proper noun, upper-case 'S') would in SK refer to anything from the Selkwood itself, including the Sylvan language and anyone that resides in Sith'a'niel, Elisair, or the woods in general. You could also probably argue that, due to the elven dominance of the Alliance, it can loosely refer to an Ayamaon in general, but who knows.

But really, calling someone a "sylvan" is just saying that they live in a forest.

It is no more correct to use Sylvan to refer to people than it is to use Aghelian to refer people. Both are the names of a language, not of a culture or country. Are people who speak Latin automatically Latinos? (The answer, by the way, is no.)

I didn't say it was correct, I just said people do it. I've had quite a few people ask for resurrections and tell me they're Sylvan and then it turns out they're a gnome or some such thing. Like it or not, it happens and I've -yet- to see an elf say anything about it.

Sadly, my expectations of people are often far too high.