Local artist Julian Trotter is under fire for a racist caricature of an elf. The watercolour depicted a Wood Elf running through a forest with a bow and arrow, as deer and rabbits ran alongside.
The “Wood Elf” was a popular design of elf in the mid-20th century, defined by their closeness to nature, pointed ears, and archery abilities. It has since been condemned by race activists for offensive and exclusionary stereotyping.
“It’s not surprising that this sort of activity still persists. We have had many reports of fantasy race-related abuse over the years, and it’s only getting worse. It’s especially prevalent with older players, who’ve been playing the campaign for a long time,” said a member of the Fantasy Races Alliance. The FRA was formed in response to the lack of representation of fantasy races in mainstream film and television, and especially the trend to ‘humanise’ monster races.
This continues the trend of fantasy-related offences that has seen an uptake since new laws allowed individuals to redefine their character sheet. Last year, an anonymous writer published an open letter in the Daily Mail suggesting that elves, dwarves, and orcs were fictitious, and all those who identified as such were simply pretending. More recently a woman was arrested for the aggravated assault of a gnome.
These so-called trans-exclusionary radical fantasists (TERFs) have become more prominent thanks to celebrity support. J.K. Rowling, a prolific elf-slaver, made her views known on social media:
“There’s only one race, and that’s Man. Anything else is a fantasy. Our DM made the world that way, and that’s the way it will always be.”
Since May of 2015 it has been legal for individuals to change their race without the permission from their next of Kin. Kin have since retracted their mind parasites and crawled back to the Parliament backbenches.