As a daughter of Quentari, I am proud of my heritage. These writings provide an introduction to our culture, which I am pleased to share.
There are certain fundamental beliefs that underly all things Quentari. Foremost is honor, which is an interplay between one's personal honor and the honor of one's family. Next is life in all its wonderous forms, from intelligent walking beings to animals to plant life to spirits, elementals and everything in between. Along with respect for all life is a respect for all nature and the natural cycles. These include the cycles of the seasons, of the years, of the ages as known to astrologers and scholars, cycles of life, growth and death. Understanding this explains why we abhor the undead, which we consider to be outside the cycles of life and death. As well, their poor spirits are bound in slavery to the rotting flesh so enchanted. This leads me to the strong belief in personal freedom. It is our belief that all intelligent beings have free will and should be free to exercise that will. Thus the other thing we abhor in life is the practice of slavery, or any subjugation of another's will through custom or magic. Finally, the traits we consider to be noble are courage, loyalty, honesty, honor, humility, and charity.
Our long lifespans have shaped our view of the world in many ways, and entire treastices have been written on this subject. The possibility of living for a few hundred years is balanced by the possibility that one may not live to see tomorrow. As such we tend to plan for tomorrow, and tomorrows a long way hence, but live in the present day. We believe that power must be balanced by wisdom, and this takes time which can require a great deal of preserverence and patience.
The Quentari are one of three root races of elves, the other two being Formenedhil (Northern Elves) and Vornedhil (Dark Elves). The Erinedhil (Wood Elves) and Dilantedhil (Mystic Wood Elves) are descended from the Quentari. There are arguments from all of the root elven races about which came first and which are oldest.
What scroll on culture could avoid discussing the tender emotions? Certainly not this one. We are fairly open about love, romance and intimacy in every day discussion. Love is one of the driving forces for life and procreation. Love often makes life more sweet, and even in its pain, defines life as more real. We do not believe, as in some other cultures, that one must bond for life to share intimacy with another. With such a long lifespan, it would be impractical if not impossible to expect someone to only know one other on such a deep level. Additionally, the changes that take over one in that long time can lead people to grow apart, and there is no shame attached to separating if the differences become too great. Therefore, each one of us many know many lovemates in our long lives. Lifemating is fairly common, but unlike the human custom of marriage, does not indicate a sexually exclusive relationship. Our word for lovemaking is Remmiel which translates to "meshing in love," representing the entwining of body, mind and spirit. This sharing is undertaken, as all other things are done, with deliberation and discernment.
Quentari value depth and beauty in all things, and romance is one area where this is grandly displayed. We can be very passionate, despite the often cool and collected face we present to most of the world. To our lovers, we can show intense love and affection. To understand this, simply know that the Quentari do everything with purpose and deliberation. Most times call for calm balance, but intimate moments deserve our full attention and power.
As with all other areas of life, there are ceremonies to celebrate each kind of union. The Melthadiel is held to recognize a Love Mating. This is when lovemates choose to formalize or announce their relationship. This tends to be fairly carefree with drinking, singing and dancing. The Coimeldiel, or Lifemating ceremony is more formal to reflect the more serious and deep nature of the choice to mate for life. Choosing Coimeldiel bestows honor on the one asked, as it says you are willing to mingle your honor and trust your life in the hands of this beloved person.
I should also mention the Fearembriel, commonly known as Soul-Meshing or Soulbonding. This is a phenomenon peculiar to elves and half-elves taking after the elven parent. Two souls are said to entwine and become as one. The undeniable effect draws the two so affected together. It is considered to be a survival trait, since observation attests to the higher than average quality of the children born to such unions. Given that an elven woman may give birth to only two or three children in her lifetime, children are precious and such exceptional children are deeply valued.
Families group together by extended blood ties and adopted members into an Illenon (House). Families are ruled by neither gender but by our wisest, usually our eldest citizens. In each family is one called the Lomeserime, literally "The Family Voice" who acts as their leader, which may be too strong a word. Some families have a Lifemated pair lead them. Each house has a council called the Serimedoli made up of its wise elders to guide the family.
As mentioned, children are not born often. All life is valued, but our children are the most loved of all. They not only carry on our race but will be the next to sustain our proud culture. Any threat to our children will quickly incite us to anger and retribution. As fierce as we are in love, we are also fierce in battle. Children are looked after by the young adults in the family, with the opinions of their natural parents having weight in decisions affecting them. The young adults are also responsible for carrying out the decisions of the Serimedoli and taking care of other mundane matters such as defenses, food and transportation. Our older adults are said to be in Yeniavas, meaning Autumn Years. They are responsible for the treasury, record keeping and overseeing the education of children.
While there is no formal hierarcy of the Illenoni (houses), there are different weights given to their past accomplishments and honor as houses. Each house keeps Parman Manthulie (Books of Honor) which chronicle the deeds of its members which have bearing on the house honor. When one enters into Coimeldiel, the house with the more weighty standing will tend to take the mate from the other house in. There is some belief that honor runs in bloodlines, and so one born of a "higher" house, for lack of a better word may find themselves with greater expecations. This does not guarantee one's honor. There is also the knowledge that honor can be gained (and lost) by noble acts over one's life. A seeming contradiction to this is the Ar-Din noble line, from which our Erain (Kings) and Teri (Queens) have come for generations. They have led well, and so there is love of and loyalty to them.