Faerie

The Faerie are small winged humanoids approximately 1’-2’ tall. They are easily recognized by their slight stature and glittering, gem-like eyes which lack pupils. A variety of flesh tones with a nearly metallic sheen and brightly colored hair are common. They appear ageless, but often act energetic and flighty which causes most people to view the race as being childlike. Regardless, they possess powerful magic and are one of the oldest races in the world.

Racial Modifiers

• Favored Source: Magecraft, Sorcery
• +10 Speed (Flight), +4 Speed (Ground)
• +3 Health
• +7 Resistance (+1 Magic)
• -1 Melee Damage (Small Weapon)
• +2 Defense (Size)
• +1 Base Knowledge: Magic
• +1 Base Knowledge: Planar
• -2 Max Strength

Personality

Faerie do not die of illness or age, however this comes at a cost. As they age, faerie's minds continue to retain knowledge and once they reach a certain threshold of information, a combination of magic and biology results in the gradual overwriting of old memories and knowledge with new information. The sections overwritten tend to be areas governing memory rather than basic functions or core muscle memory. As such, the faerie may forget past experiences or spells they once knew how to cast, but will not forget how to communicate or fly. Stress, injury, or illness could all be contributing factors to accelerating memory loss. In one canon example, a Faerie guard for a member of the royal line failed to protect them from an assassination attempt and the stress of that failure led to rapid traumatic memory loss.

Faerie do not speak publically about the condition. It is especially considered totally inappropriate to discuss such things around the mortal races. The condition and duration of Faerie memories is not considered an acceptable topic for mortal knowledge, although some mortal scholars are at least generally aware of the practice. The specific handling of individuals losing each other in their memories is different from person to person. Some faerie view it as an opportunity to re-meet a loved one all over, while some view it as the closest thing to natural death that faerie can attain. It's a deeply personal experience and not handled in any one culture-wide way.

Regardless, this memory loss is the reason why the faerie found roaming the world are considered to be flighty or childish in personality. Many of the faerie that can be found travelling the world outside of the Faerie Kingdom are of the most recent generation - wide-eyed and not yet exposed to the realities of their race's long history - or have reached a phase of life during which simply do not remember earlier ages, have forgotten their responsibilities and/or lost a great deal of power due in the process.

Relations

Faerie find mortals fascinating and don't deliberately condescend, however they view the mortals more like lovable pets than peers. Faerie consider the Elari their eternal enemies. The two races have torn whole realms apart, traveled across the planes, and enacted countless atrocities in their battles against one another.

Region & Society

Fundamentally, Faerie culture is heavily family-oriented, as they rely on their past or future generations to protect and guide them when they are in a non-functioning state. Interventions have been staged in the past, such as when a monarch lost touch to the point they could not govern, and a family member had to replace them. In the case of the monarchy, they are trained from birth to take on the burdens of leadership and are brought up with the belief that they are responsible for the governing of the entirety of Lorithandar. There have been more and less capable monarchs over the years, but indolent faerie monarchs have never existed.

Social classes are more based on blood than anything, although entire families have been elevated by service to the monarchy. Faerie society is a hereditary monarchy, with a noble class based on lineages reaching back over hundreds of thousands of years. Because the faerie produce children infrequently, noble families are most often constructed of a single chain of successors and their mates. The older a faerie is, the more respect and authority they wield until the inexorable pressures of memory loss and madness become too strong to ignore. The longer these pressures can be resisted, the longer said Faerie has a controlling role in the family. Even for the eldest and most mad, there are periods of lucidity which can last hundreds of years. Often the younger members of the family will be tasked to care for a particularly senile predecessor.

The faerie legal system accommodates this basic biological fact of their society, although in polite company it is always referred to in polite terms or with euphemisms. Faerie can be tried for crimes they no longer remember and have in the past been tried for things like war crimes after the specifics of committing those acts were forgotten. If a crime was committed as a result of lack of knowledge from memory loss this can constitute a mitigating factor for the Tribunal investigating and can change the outcome of their verdict. Faerie do not have a death penalty for their own as their low birth rate and long lives make killing one of their own unthinkable. For the worst of crimes, imprisonment and attempted rehabilitation or banishment are often considered, though banishment is rare in cases the offender may present a reputational risk for the entire race. High elven culture, in particular, follows much of Faerie society in terms of being a hereditary monarchy with an advisory council of old families who wield soft political power to temper the monarchy. Law is handled by tribunals of elected officials from various parts of the culture.

The roles that faerie fill in society differ wildly based on their family line and individual skills. Faerie have as broad a range of skillsets as any human, however magic plays a far more common role in each of these endeavors, as there is almost no area of Faerie society that is not enhanced with magic. Food is grown with magical aid, merchants carry their goods in pocket dimensions, entertainers use magical harps and flutes. Magic is the lifeblood of the people, and they use it so casually and constantly as to be unremarkable to them. Magic is more organic to them than the technologies of Devin or enchantments of the High Elves. The Faerie Kingdom is a pocket dimension suited for their every desire and controlled by their own magic. There are multiple entrances to the Faerie Kingdom around Lorithandar, so although geographically distant from Trevas and the island the Faerie Kingdom is bound to, the Faerie of Lorithandar are all able to live in the same Kingdom.

Language

The Faerie have close ties to Seelie and Arcadia, though they are have become naturalized residents of Lorithandar. As such, they most often speak Seelie Arcadian, though of course they are fluent in Common, which is of their own creation, and have spent a lot of time and effort propagating the language among the masses of Lorithandar.

Names

Faerie names tend to be very short - monosyllabic or disyllabic - and rather than surnames, have descriptive titles, such as "Mael the Mad" or "Gapyx the Enchanter." To some extent, Faerie bloodlines and history can be tracked through changes in their titling over generations. For example, Aris the Rose (who comes from a long line of Flowers) might have a child with Kellis the Mist Warden (from a line of Waters). They bestow upon their child the name of Alyx the Weeping Rose, incorporating elements of both parents' titles (i.e. water and flowers). Alyx would keep this name throughout their life unless they accomplish something significant enough to earn a new, unique title. Alyx might become a powerful mage and use Fire magic to singlehandedly rout a group of Elari, earning their designation as Alyx the Scorching Sun as a reward for service to the faerie Crown.

• Male Names: Archis the Wise, Finch the Tinkerer, Gapyx the Enchanter, Kellis the Mist Warden, Melkin the Oracle, Veelo the Elder
• Female Names: Alyx the Weeping Rose, Aris the Rose, Mael the Mad, Pidge the Witness, Sarra the Charming, Shiloh the Ever-Green, Tyla the Swift

Equipment

While most equipment in the Player Guide is available, many races have a particular affinity for equipment, or materials of a certain type such as particular arms & armor.