FAQs

CAN I PLAY A PRE-EXISTING CHARACTER FROM ANOTHER ELFQUEST ROLEPLAYING FORUM?

Yes and no; players may use pre-existing characters found on other Elfquest roleplaying forums as inspiration, but all characters on The Windrunners must be unique to this universe. Inter-dimensional travel is not permitted from another universe to ours, outside of the AU board.

CAN THE WOLFRIDER WOLVES SEND?

When we first met Cutter, his wolf-friend Nightrunner warned him of danger via a crude sending. At that point in the story, just a few of the Wolfrider wolves retained just enough elf-blood from the time of Timmain and Timmorn, many thousands of years earlier, to be able to send. Now, in the time of Final Quest that “blood” (and ability) has been completely diluted – bred out, actually – to the point where the Wolfriders’ lupine friends are 100 percent wolf. So no, they can no longer send.

WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOVEMATES, LIFEMATES, AND SOULMATES – AND WHERE DOES RECOGNITION FIT IN (IF AT ALL)?

Lovemates (can be two or more elves) join for pleasure. In today’s terms, they’d be friends with benefits, no strings attached. Lifemates (can also be two or more) make the choice to form a family group (for want of a better term) that is long lasting, though not necessarily carved in stone. Soulmates are those elves who, for one of two reasons, have gone to the deepest level of sharing, and exchanged soul names. This is a very committed bond. Soulmates are often lifemates, though lifemates don’t have to be soulmates. Soul names can be exchanged by choice (Redlance and Nightfall), or by Recognition (Cutter and Leetah). Because Recognition exists only to ensure reproduction, a Recognized male and a female elf may know each other’s soul name, but once a child has been conceived, there is no rule stating the two must remain together, or even friends (Dewshine and Tyldak).

WHAT, THEN, IS RECOGNITION?

In simplest terms, Recognition is a primal, nearly irresistible mating urge between two elves. On a deep and subconscious level, even if they don’t or can’t “send”, all elves are telepathic. So every elf, unconsciously, knows every other elf’s innermost (genetic) makeup. When a female and a male get within range of each other (“eyes meet eyes”) and the mix of qualities is right for a cub that will benefit the tribe (or the entire elf race), an instinctual command to mate bursts powerfully into each elf’s awareness (“soul meets soul”). Instantly, each elf knows the entire secret inner self of the other. The urge is so strong that if it is denied, the afflicted pair will feel dire physical effects. Recognition is not love at first sight; love has nothing to do with it. In time, the Recognized couple may come to love each other (as Leetah and Cutter did), but there’s no guarantee.

CAN RECOGNITION OCCUR BETWEEN TWO ELVES OF THE SAME SEX?

Only in the sense that the pair can voluntarily exchange soul names, and forge for themselves a deep bond. It is sometimes said they have “taken Recognition for themselves.” But it is not Recognition in the truest definition of the word, which is purely biological and procreative.

DO ANY ELVES OTHER THAN THE WOLFRIDERS HAVE SOUL NAMES?

Only Wolfriders have soul names. Soul names are partly a product of the Wolfriders’ unique nature and partly a product of their culture.

ARE THE PRESERVERS MALE OR FEMALE OR BOTH OR NEITHER? AND HOW DO THEY REPRODUCE?

The answer to the first question is “neither.” The Preservers are the same insect-like creatures that the original High Ones carried along on their long-ago journey from the dying Homeworld. They are sexless, nearly indestructible and immortal, which provides the answer to the second question: They don’t reproduce. All the Preservers that are, are all there will ever be. They're tough, nearly indestructible little bugs, though – look at all Petalwing’s been through just in the story of the quest so far. So don’t worry about them going extinct. They’ll be around for a long, long time.

WHAT EXACTLY IS THE SCROLL OF COLORS?

If you’re looking for “exactly” you may have a long search!

Wendy writes: The Scroll of Colors is a very interesting mystical/magical device. It shows what has happened, what is happening and what will happen – but in limitless different versions, all possible. One thread of color shows things happening one way. Another thread of color plays the very same thing out in a different way. The different scenarios keep changing through the butterfly effect. And so on, ad infinitum. There’s not enough time in the Universe to know the Scroll completely. The Scroll of Colors is not a computer. It does not deliver information on command. It’s not something one can “use” for any active purpose. When it is activated (when the spindles are levitated so they can turn) the colors “play” as they will. They cannot be controlled or manipulated. They are only to be read, studied and contemplated. We humans read meaning into all sorts of symbols in the form of writing. Elves can read colors. The subtlest difference in hues represents entirely different threads of elfin history. The Sun Folk, who are now known as the Palace Dwellers, spend most of their time learning how to read the Scroll and gaining tidbits of knowledge from it. Savah can read it like a pro and Sunstream’s not far behind. But no one, not even Timmain, can “Google” the Scroll of Colors.

Richard adds: For the tech-minded, the closest notion we currently have to the Scroll of Colors is the hypothesis of the quantum multiverse. This hints that there’s an infinite number of universes, some with properties very close to ours, some that are incomprehensibly alien and inhospitable. Or to put it another way, an infinite number of “what-if realities.” What keeps everything from fusing into a gray quantum soup is that each universe is completely and forever inaccessible to any other. You can’t get there from here. For all practical purposes, all those other universes don’t exist. The Scroll of Colors may show a multitude of what-if pasts, presents, and futures, but the only one that matters is the one that’s here and now. (AKA the one being told by us.)

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Summary gathered from the The Elfquest FAQ.