Faeries

Summary: The most powerful humanoids of the fae realm (see section) are known as Faeries. The most important thing one should know about this species is their obsession with a good story. The world is a book to all faeries, and depending on which faerie you speak with will determine which outcome they favor in a story. Some want tragic endings, and some want happy endings. It’s those of which want tragedy that one should avoid wholeheartedly, for the stories they watch and create always involve real people. They often step between the barrier of the fae realm and Earth to find more stories, or lure others into their realm. 

Diet: Faeries can eat a variety of things, from roots and leaves to the flesh of other animals including humanoids. This depends on individual preference, and their features can morph depending on what they eat somewhat. Those that dine on primarily plant matter will look more plant-like, and those that dine primarily on meat will look more fleshy. 

Some extremely powerful faeries can eat chunks of souls, which weakens their victims heavily. This ability is quite rare, but highly dangerous should a faerie with be provoked. The utter agony of having one’s soul eaten is unbearable, and while the soul isn’t wholly destroyed, some wish it really was.

Wing Variations: All fairies are born with wings, and they take the form of various types of bug. Examples include butterfly wings, dragonfly wings, horsefly wings, and such like that. Patterning on the wings tends to include flecks of gold, which is the color of the magic they’ve mastered from the fae realm. 

When cut off, faerie wings grow back, however the experience is extremely painful for the faerie and can take quite some time. Fairies value their wings quite a bit, and therefore whomever causes the loss (if there is someone else involved) will receive ire for the rest of their (most likely short) lives. 

Immune System & Aging: The lifespan of a faerie is among the longest of the intelligent humanoids, however in most cases, if they stray from the fae realm too often and for too long a period of time, they can shorten it significantly. There are exceptions to this rule, particularly found in extremely powerful faeries. 

The older a faerie is, the more powerful they will be. The potency of their magic increases as centuries pass and as they absorb more of it from their realm. This leads to ancient fairies being extremely dangerous.

Notable features of primarily herbivorous faeries: These faeries obtain skin like that of the plants they dine upon. A good example of this is a faerie with bark-like skin and spindly, stick-like fingers. Generally speaking, their hair remains keratin in nature, though in rare situations can morph into leaf or vine-like structures. In rare cases, a faerie can even become photosynthetic. 

Notable features of primarily carnivorous faeries: These faeries have fleshy skin and look more like those of which are in human myth, with one exception–dagger-like fangs. Whereas herbivorous fairies might have thorn-like teeth for display, these can do significant damage to animal muscle. Most of these fairies also have retractable claws. 

Notable features across all faeries: Every faerie has an absence of a normal eye–there are only sockets. Rather, a glowing light in the center of their eye sockets is how they see the world, viewing it through purely a magical lens. They can filter out what they seek to see at any given point in time, be it infrared of ultraviolet, for example. Most do have eyelids, though the purpose of them are unknown aside from the ability to make expressions more easily. 

Magical Proficiency: Faeries are the most powerful in the fae realm and use Myst magic (fae) to its full extent. Fae magic is primarily illusion-based and can disturb the minds of other intelligent beings(see section). It also is used to shrink or grow various objects or beings for a short period of time. If gone from the fae realm for too long, a faerie might not be able to access their magic or use it as well. They must return to their realm to absorb the power (Myst) for further output. Again, there are rare exceptions to this rule, especially if a faerie is determined to stay on Earth for a very long period of time. 

Faeries sometimes use illusionary fae magic to lure in creatures from other realms including Earth into theirs. Usually this isn’t for purpose of eating, as they need not waste magic to do so. No, this is usually for setting up some sort of story, and it can be either positive or negative for the victim, depending on the faerie. 

Illusion magic is sometimes used for trickery by faeries. Commonly they will steal objects from others or play with them with this method. More rarely do they use this for nefarious purposes. 

Typical Forms: Faeries generally are extremely tall, from 8-10 feet in height, which towers over most humanoid species on Earth. However, they often use their magic to shrink themselves for short periods of time in order to be less intimidating or spy. This is likely where the human myth of them being small spawned from. 

Common misconceptions: 

1. Faeries have so much variation in their species in terms of attitude that there’s no singular pinpoint on their species being either benevolent or nefarious; it depends upon the faerie. 

2. Some faeries do in fact collect teeth, though not in the way humans either think nor want.

3. Faeries generally are not allowed to interfere with Earthly affairs, according to their council, but many do it anyway despite the rules. It’s not generally accepted for these fae creatures to mess with other realms by their ruling powers. 

4. Faeries are generally the opposite of harmless, but not always harmful. 

5. “Faerie dust”, or golden flecks that often come off of their wings, are bits of their residual magic and do not in fact enable people to fly. However, if one were to rub it on themselves, they might be more prone to stumbling into the fae realm through a thinner barrier nearby.