Fairies
Some cute fairies playing innocently. Picture by Gamera1985 and me.
Fairies are winged humanoids creatures, found on many magic-filled worlds. A huge variety of them exist in Felarya, with many different species and tribes. Felaryan fairies are widely feared and considered top predators. They are voracious, they can fly, and are often efficient spell casters. They love to snack on adventurers in the jungle, usually after shrinking them. They're so dangerous that it's widely believed that being eaten by a fairy is the primary cause of mortality for humans in Felarya.
One of their most feared abilities is their size-shifting magic, that make them able change their size at will, from 3 inches to 100 feet, although this range varies from one fairy to another, and some can't change size at all. Moreover, almost all fairies also possess the innate ability to temporarily alter the size of another creatures. It depends a lot on the original size of the target and its magic resistance, though. For instance, if the target is too big to start with, the fairy will be unable to change its size at all. A fairie's power is stored in their wings, meaning that if their wings are hurt their magical ability is decreased dramatically, to the point of preventing them from using even their most basic of abilities. For example, fairies with damaged wings are unable to size-shift, and are stuck at their current size until their wings have healed, although healing occurs quickly in Felarya.
Fairies are usually playful and mischievous beings who love to have fun more than anything else. The way they view good and evil is rather special and very different from the way humans view it. However, contrary to popular belief, not all fairies are light hearted. In their population you can find a wide range of attitudes that vary from the usual fun loving and carefree pranksters to solemn watchmen, serious scholars, mystic sages, and even dark brooding warriors.
Fairies get along pretty well with most other species, and especially with elementals. For some reasons, many fairies chose to mate with them instead of other fairies. This results in a great number of crossbreeds, who are often much more dangerous than their parent species. On the other hand, fairies see insects as a great threat. Indeed, a lot of Felaryan insects have a high resistance to magic, are aggressive, and some of them are huge. Fairies find themselves pretty powerless against them.
Contents
[hide]Known Fairies
Relina
Mantis
Cynthia
Water Sprites
Water sprites are a sort of mix between fairies and water elementals. Their skin is light blue and their wings are not very developed, looking more like wide translucent fins than wings. These allow the sprites to jump out of the water and glide for long distances. Unlike other fairies, a sprite's power is not stored in its wings: they draw it from the surrounding water instead. Their body is partially made up of water and is extremely malleable. Skilled water sprites can instantly transform their hands into blades, or stretch their arms into whips, for example.
If their body becomes too damaged, a water sprite can leave it and make another body from some nearby water; however this process takes a very long time and is very traumatic. Unlike water elementals, it takes years for a water sprite to develop a body from water. To avoid any outside interference, the deceased sprite's spirit will usually go to the rebirth chambers of the nearest tribe, where it's protected new body can be formed faster. This ability to create a new body makes other fairies consider water sprites to be more elemental than fairy. This is why water sprites generally prefer the company of water elementals with whom they usually get along with very well.
Crimson Maidens
The Crimson Maidens are an isolationist tribe of fairies residing in the Crimson woods. Rarely seen outside of their borders, they are extremely powerful magic users, especially in their mastery of fire magic. Typically tall and thin, most have red or pink hair and bright red eyes. Their society is almost entirely female, most of the males having perished in the last war they waged. They are organized around their leader Alsherala and together they defend their domain against any intruders. They take little interest in affairs outside their wood, and only in the face of serious invasion do the Maidens assemble their dreaded Fire Legions and march to war. Every time they have done so, their enemies have run in terror after facing them in battle. Those few who survive can only speak of horrible monsters who could turn things to ash with a touch and whose gaze melted everything they rested upon.
Unlike most fairies, Crimson Maiden warriors wear armor in battle, usually metallic breastplates and greaves which deflect magical attacks and amplify their already deadly fire abilities. Crimson maidens are, by far, the most dangerous species of fairy you could encounter in Felarya. Fortunately they rarely venture outside their domain except for younglings who are on their proving quest.
Known Crimson Maidens
Neti
Mist Fairies
This specie of fairy can be mostly found in the misty glade and parts of the mist ocean.If most fairies are good at illusions, then mist fairies are masters of it. From creating mirages to altering the senses, all of their illusions look incredibly real. The first spell a mist fairy ever learns is duplication. They use it almost constantly, often without even thinking about it. The duplicates look so real that sometimes you can't even tell if the mist fairy before you is the original or not. Mist Fairies know about this confusion of course, and take advantage of it: they might use a double to scare the living daylights out of a poor adventurer by fake-eating him, or they might play some practical jokes on him, or both.
The double is not just an image though: it can speak, see, hear, and, if the fairy is really skilled, fight and cast magic as well. There are even cases where mist fairies have been seen creating doubles of themselves to solve a problem, with each of the copies thinking about a different aspect of the problem. The ability to duplicate makes mist fairies powerful indeed, but fortunately they are one of the less aggressive and dangerous species to humans on Felarya. The magical mist where they live sustains them, so a mist fairy will never get really hungry as long as they remain in the mist. Although this doesn't make an encounter with them perfectly safe, it gives them a rather good reputation among adventurers. If they leave the mist however, they become just as hungry as other fairies, and even more dangerous because of their skill at illusions. Unfortunately for adventurers everywhere, Mist Fairies are curious and adventurous by nature, and are sometimes seen very far from their nourishing mists...
Picture by Genzoman and used with artist's permission. For larger version visit Genzoman's gallery
Canopy Fairies
This particular species can be found in Deeper Felarya and a few other zones. They are rather similar to other fairies, although with more pronounced elven traits such as pointy ears. They also look generally wilder, with unkept hair, various patches on their skins, and reckless personnalities. They usually live near the top of the trees.
Canopy fairies are famous for their excellent skills in dimensional magic. Phasing in and out of this dimension is as natural as breathing to them, which needless to say, makes them extremely dangerous. When a being phases out of this dimension it becomes almost invisible to normal eyes and cannot be harmed by any physical means. As if this ability wasn't bad enough, a canopy fairy can resort to deadly spells such as their terrible "belly warp": an almost invisible magical trap that teleports the victim directly into the stomach of the fairy who set it ! If you're sneaking into the lair of canopy fairy while not invited, you are almost bound to walk into one.
Known Canopy Fairies
Storm Sprites
Another mix between fairies and elementals, storm sprites are one of the most dangerous species of fairy on Felarya. Not only are they extremely fast, but they can also turn themselves into pure magical energy (along with whatever they wear and anything (or anyone) they have inside them), allowing them to enter electrical circuits as a mean of transportation, or simply to destroy them. This ability means that a storm sprite could infiltrate a very well defended base, eat some of its occupants (or play practical jokes such as disabling security turrets) and then exit at will.
With their chaotic and fun-loving character, they pose an enormous threat to technologically advanced settlements. Fortunately they are rare and need to "recharge" themselves from a nearby source of energy from time to time in order to stay healthy. This source is usually a storm but could also be an energy generating reactor. Another scary ability they have is one called "flash digestion": if the fairy is in a hurry, they can literally disintegrate any prey in their stomach in mere seconds. They prefer to digest the good old fashion way though, and use it rarely.
Dusk Nymphs
A crossbreed between darkness elementals and fairies. Dusk Nymphs usually begin their life in dark places such as Evernight forest and Sunfall thicket, but are known to wander a lot and are found in many places. Their skin is pure black in color and contrasts strikingly with their red eyes. Their hair is typically a dark color of some sort, although blazing red haired nymphs exist as well. Their body is surrounded by a faint halo that glows red, giving them a menacing look. Dusk nymphs are deadly creatures indeed, and like storm sprites, are among the most dangerous kind of fairy you can encounter in Felarya. Fortunately they are very rare, as darkness elementals are rare themselves. Contrary to popular belief, dusk nymphs don't die if exposed to intense light. Dusk nymphs just deeply dislike it, just as they dislike complete darkness. This typically makes them creatures of the night.
One of their most scary traits is their ability to turn themselves into a shadow. It allows the fairy to slip in and out of places with ease, binding themselves to the shadows of travelers, which allows the fairy to follow the travelers even if they walk into direct sunlight. Then, when night falls, the unlucky traveler (unaware of their "passenger") is promptly eaten. Moreover, dusk nymphs often live and hunt in small packs, and several of them can hide in a single shadow. They love playing games with their prey, like stalking a group of wandering adventurers in the dark and picking them off one by one under the cover of darkness. Once, a dusk nymph caused a great panic in Negav and ate several citizens before being chased away. For some reason, this kind of fairy appears to be totally immune to the effect of the Isolon Eye, the main defense of the city. Even the magiocrats are utterly clueless as to the reasons for this immunity ...
Frost Sprites
Frost Sprites are another fairy / elemental hybrid species and are born when a fairy mates with an Ice elemental. They can also be born from the union of two Frost Sprites, though the children's powers get slightly weaker with each generation. The strongest Frost sprites are the "purebloods" the ones born from the mating of a fairy and an Ice elemental. At first glance, most Frost sprites don't appear much different from other fairy species. They usually have blue hair varying from light, almost white, blues tones to darker, almost black tones, and have pale and fair skin.
One of their most unique feature are their eyes. Gold is the most common color, but when they get upset, or focus their magic, their eyes glow and icy blue. If you anger a frost sprite and its eyes change color... well, you're about to get VERY cold VERY quick! Their wings are usually a little thicker and more durable than their cousin's, to help counteract the cold environment and falling snow that can be found in their usual territory. Their wings and antennae are often similar to those of wasps or hornets.
Frost sprites are capable of manipulating ice and snow at will, an essential survival tool in their natural habitat. It allows them to walk across snow without sinking into it, to keep falling snow from clumping on their wings, and to manipulate ice to create shelters, barriers, and make their harsh environment a little more bearable. Outside of arctic areas, these powers are also very useful. Frost sprites can rapidly freeze moisture in the air and ground around them to form weapons, barriers and tools out of ice. When they focus their magic, the air temperature around them drops, causing their breath to come out as a light mist, and coating the ground around them and their wings in a thin layer of frost. They tend to tire easily when using their powers in warmer areas.
Some of the more powerful Frost sprites are said to be able to turn their entire bodies into ice and merge with the ice and snow around them, travelling through it and reforming a short distance away. This ability is very rare though, and is usually only found in "purebloods". Most Frost sprites are able to coat their body in ice when in danger, creating a kind of armor.
Frost sprites, on average, tend to be calmer than most other fairy species, though they are still prone to occasional bouts of mischief. They are also more solitary, usually living in small groups of three to six, instead of forming large packs. They are usually less voracious as well, eating a couple times a day and enlarging their meal once it arrives in their stomach to get the most out of it. They do eat humans that wander into the frozen areas where they live, but have been known to sometimes help lost travellers find their way back to where they came from. Overall, Frost sprites have a reputation for being pretty fair and level-headed, if a little mischievous sometimes.
- Credits goes to rcs619 for Frost sprites, and to Randomdude for the Crimson maidens. Dusk nymphs belongs to Melancholy-Melody13.
