Editing Elfquest (section)

===The Sun Folk===
Compared to the Wolfriders, the peaceful Sun Folk have retained more knowledge about the High Ones. In turn, there are some psychic phenomena which have remained more common among the Wolfriders than among the Sun Folk, such as sending and "Recognition", a powerful involuntary compulsion to mate with another elf; this mating is guaranteed to produce offspring who are more powerful than either parent. This powerful impulse can be resisted with difficulty, but at the cost of great personal stress. If the two individuals are not temperamentally compatible, they may part ways again as soon as a child has been produced, but otherwise they may form a lifelong pair-bond as "lifemates".

Cutter's partner in Recognition is the Sun Folk's beautiful and powerful healer, [[Sun Folk#Leetah|Leetah]]. She initially rejects him as a savage barbarian, especially since she is already partnered to her village's haughty chief hunter, [[Sun Folk#Rayek|Rayek]]. The love triangle between Cutter, Leetah, and Rayek is the main focus of much of the first part of the story. Cutter and Leetah eventually become lifemates; bested by Cutter in a ritual trial and displaced as sole hunter and protector by the Wolfriders, Rayek leaves the village.

Once this conflict is resolved, the two tribes quickly unite with each side willing to adjust to the other for their mutual benefit. The Wolfriders enjoy the benefits of a more sophisticated culture with greater knowledge, while the Sun Folk benefit from a band of strong hunters and defenders of their desert refuge from humanity.

Six years later, the oasis sanctuary of Sorrow's End is breached by a handful of starving humans who approach the oasis. Although they are sent on their way (probably to die of thirst), Cutter realizes that more could follow and decides to take action. He goes on a [[quest]] with his soul-brother, [[Wolfriders#Skywise|Skywise]], seeking other elf tribes as allies against humanity. Later, Cutter's son, [[Wolfriders#Suntop|Suntop]], receives a warning from the Sun Folk's elder Savah, The Mother of Memory, about an evil which Cutter must avoid. Savah, who is close to being a High One herself, possesses a magical ability known as "going out", where her spirit leaves her body in attempts to connect to other Elves. In this way she was also able to briefly contact Rayek after he left Sorrow's End. The majority of the Wolfriders escort Leetah, Suntop, and his twin sister [[Wolfriders#Suntop|Ember]] on their journey to deliver Savah's warning to Cutter and Skywise.