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Author: Jarucas
Date Added: 6/17/09
Last Modified: 6/17/09
The Third Age of Aedolyn ended abruptly when Calill opened the fifth and final gate in the Gaalvar Mountains, ushering in the Fourth Age. A wave of magic rolled across the face of the world, granting the people of Aedolyn potentially unchecked access to the powerful forces of the gates. The magic of the gates flowed to every part of the world, permeating everything in a single momentous event that changed Aedolyn forever. Gifted to the world by the final sacrifice of the old gods, the magic of the gates could not allow itself to go unchecked and so, it acted to restore the balance.
Some of the things that sudden torrent of magic touched were forever altered, like the dragons entrusted to guard them (see Dracons), and still other things, things that had not previously existed, sprang suddenly into being. Those things are known collectively as… The Faeries.
Born directly of the magic of the gates, the Faeries exist to protect the balance and guard the gates. They are called such things as ‘Children of the Gates’, ‘The Harbingers of Balance’, and ‘The Gatekeepers’. A strange and mysterious race, the Faeries are both loved and feared, both loathed and adored. They are magical beings of unparalleled abilities, the most powerfully gifted magic users in all of Aedolyn. Faeries are known to the people of Aedolyn by many names, such as fae, pixies, sprites, and nymphs, but they are, one and all, Faeries.
Lands Faeries can be found in every land and every terrain across the face of Aedolyn, but one might argue that they are quite rare, as they are not commonly encountered unless one is very lucky… or unlucky, as the case may be.
Alignment Faery characters can be of any Neutral alignment (Neutral Evil, Chaotic Neutral, True Neutral, and Neutral Good), but as a whole, the Faeries are True Neutral.
Appearance Faeries are a diminutive race of beings, ranging in height from a mere 6 inches (15 cm) tall - all the way up to a whopping 3 feet (1 metre) in height.
- The physical appearance of Faeries varies more than any other single race, from tiny little perfectly formed people with the wings of a dragonfly to ugly little creatures with the wings of a bat and horns on their heads. They can be frightening to look upon, beautiful to behold, or a sight to inspire laughter.
- 90% of all Faeries have wings, be they the wings of a butterfly, a dragonfly, a bat, etc. Faery wings are never that of a bird, only insects and bats. Faeries can be human in appearance, or elf, or simply ‘other’.
- Faeries can have the horn of a unicorn, the horns of a bull, the antlers of a deer, antlers made of twigs, or even the antennae of an insect - or they can have no horns at all.
- A Faery’s skin can be colored like the various hues of the humans, or blue, red, purple, green, etc. They can appear to be made entirely of light, or of fire, or water, or anything else a Faery might be.
Players may choose any appearance they wish within the realm of faeries, pixies, sprites, and nymphs. A Faery’s appearance never changes. They forever remain as they were at the moment that they sprang into being.
Personality Faery personalities vary as greatly as do their appearances. Some of them are fun-loving, frolicking little creatures, some are pranksters, some are sinister and fatalistic, and still others might be stoic and mysterious. All of them, regardless of their disposition, take the purpose of their existence quite seriously. The balance must be maintained.
Culture Faeries have no real culture or society to speak of. They live as they choose to live with no indication of any predetermined way of life. Scholars have noted that, as anyone can plainly see for oneself, Faeries tend to group together like with like, seemingly related to the terrain that they inhabit. That is to say that most Faeries in a particular area will tend to be similar in appearance and disposition. One might expect to find that a field of wildflowers is home to a group of little elf-like people with butterfly wings, or that a swamp is home to little blue people with huge, bulbous eyes, insect antennae, and dragonfly wings.
Reproduction The original Faeries were created by the gates in that initial wave of magic that spread across the world, giving birth to a new age of hope. So far as anyone knows, Faeries are immortal, so most of those original Faeries are still alive to this day. All Faeries that followed were born of two Faery parents (Faeries cannot crossbreed with other races), but there are no Faery children. Faeries are ‘born’ as a tiny glowing sphere of light, commonly known as a ‘wisp’. They remain that way for one month, after which the Faery springs into being, completely grown into whatever form that Faery is to take.
The Faery Legions All Faeries, regardless of how they may live their daily lives, serve in one of the five Faery Legions. Each of the five legions is led by a Faerie General, known as a Glavar, who is usually the strongest in the legion, a Faery Warlord, as it were. Individual Faeries are free to travel from legion to legion as they choose, but when the call comes to serve, they must answer that call. A particular Faery automatically serves in the legion assigned to the nearest gate to the place it currently calls home.
The Faery Legions work to defend the gates and maintain the balance of power in a world where magic is no longer the providence of gods alone, but of mortal and fallible men. The militaristic legions quickly suppress any overt attempts to sway the balance by greedy and ambitious men, to throw down any attempts to harm or usurp control of the gates, and to prevent the misuse and abuse of the power the old gods left behind.
There are five Faery Legions; one for each gate and the territory it serves. Those five legions are aptly named: the Sharrum Legion, the Tolariar Legion, the Iminye Legion, the Ravmin Legion, and the Elspeth Legion.
Magical Abilities The Faeries are unequalled in the use of magic. Magical beings that they are, they have access to magic in its purest form - raw and unadulterated power. Faeries, not limited by the need for incantations or rituals, wield magic with nothing but their thoughts. They wish a spell into being and it simply comes into being. Faeries can manipulate every sphere of magic, but individual Faeries naturally excel in one of the five spheres above all others. The specific sphere of magic a Faery specializes in depends upon which legion that Faery currently serves. This affinity changes if the Faery relocates to another legion.
Each of the five gates gave birth to one of the five spheres of magic. Faeries of a particular legion will specialize in the sphere attributed to the gate they are assigned to protect. The specific spheres attributed to each legion are as follows:
Sharrum Legion: Spiritual Magic
Elspeth Legion: Psionics Magic
Tolariar Legion: Illusion Magic
Ravmin Legion: Elemental Magic
Iminye Legion: Ritual Magic
One talent that all Faeries share is the ability to turn into a small spark of light and fly at incredible speeds. This ability allows the Faeries to escape danger when necessary, as well as travel quickly when the Legions call. *Note* Due to their diminutive stature, magic is the only form of defense (or offense) available to the Faeries.
Time Travel Faeries are the only beings in all of Aedolyn to be immune to Time Sickness. This means that Faeries can remain in any Age for as long as they wish and, even though they did not come into being until the beginning of the Fourth Age, the Faeries can be found in every Age of Aedolyn's history. *Note* Immunity to time sickness only applies to NPCs, player character Faeries are subject to the same rules as every other player race.
Original concept credited to Harken and Jarucas.
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