Fairies

Fairies are bipedal and primarily humanoid in shape. However, they have hollow bones and digitigrade legs as well as wings. Their wings, in overall shape, are similar to those of dragonflies or butterflies, depending on the sex of the fairy. They are more similar in feel to flower petals and their movement is a quick rotation like that of hummingbird wings. Fairies cannot remain in flight for more than a few moments. The green of their skin turns brown about halfway down their feet and becomes harder. They have claws on the very ends of their toes that allow them to grip and balance on very narrow surfaces.

Female fairies are, on average, larger than male fairies. They are androgynous in shape, though their wings serve as a secondary sex characteristic. While in texture similar to flower petals and in function similar to hummingbird wings, in shape they are either one larger pair of wings or two smaller pairs. The result resembles butterfly or dragonfly wings. Females have connected wings, while males have disconnected wings. The males have more speed and control in flight, while the females have more strength and endurance. Fairies have the shortest lifespan of any sentient race, reaching old age in their late forties. The oldest recorded fairy lived to be 62, and was almost completely unable to photosynthesize.

Female fairies are only fertile during spring and early summer, or during the first half of the sunny season in areas that do not have four seasons. Fairies have live births after about three months of development. They often have twins, triplets, or quadruplets. Newborns are tiny, colorless, and wingless and must be immediately laid in the sun for their first feeding. Fairies get half of their genetic material each from their mother and their father.

Though they are breathing and capable of photosynthesis, newborn fairies do not open their eyes or move on their own for about three more months after birth, as unlike human infants they are not fully developed when born. Fairies are not capable of eating solid food for their first year of life, only requiring photosynthesis. They learn to walk at about a year old, as well, and are typically capable of speech at the age of two. Fairies develop magical ability between the ages of two and three.   Fairies remain wingless throughout childhood. Their wings sprout at the age of nine or ten, when they enter adolescence. They are fully grown a year or two later, capable of bearing the fairy's weight. Fairies also reach their full height at this time, and are fully developed adults at the age of thirteen. As fairies reach middle age, at around twenty eight, lines appear across their skin, white or pale yellow in color. These lines are faint and thin at first, covering more of their skin as they age and making photosynthesis more difficult. If they reach the age of fifty, these lines cover half of their skin.

Fairies are capable of photosynthesis and must spend time out in the sun every day, or they will grow weak and tired, the green of their skin dulling. They supplement this with fruits, vegetables, and fungi native to the regions where they live. This diet affects the color of their hair strands and facial markings, and if they have a lack of physical food their hair and markings will fade until fully white. They are immune to most plant-based toxins.

Fairies live in open communities where what they have is shared. While a fairy may have a few personal possessions, they are quick to offer them to others in need. Fairy children share toys, and fairy towns are made up of communal buildings. However, there are no firm ties to one community, with fairies drifting out on their own and back to their home or to another fairy town. Despite their shorter lifespan and thus the many generations they have had, fairy towns all look similar as they stay in constant contact with one another.

Fairies have angular faces and small, flat noses. Their faces are similar to human faces apart from the green skin, with thin lips, long pointed ears, and large eyes. Their eyes are a single flat color, typically gray or light purple, with their pupils not distinguishable. They have a pair of smaller eyes above and closer together than their primary eyes. These secondary eyes remain closed unless they need to use them, and have large pupils and dark irises, appearing completely black. They have patterns of iridescent markings across their cheeks and/or foreheads that are similar in color to the strands growing from their heads. These strands are thicker and smoother in feel than human hairs and gain color based on the other nutrients that the fairies receive from the foods they eat.

Fairies' secondary eyes are extremely sensitive and can make out incredibly small things which other races would need a microscope to see. They are also more sensitive to light, so they keep them closed most of the time. Fairies are also able to sense magic in greater detail, working out more of the intricacies of wild magic and enchantment than other races can.

Fairies name their children after plants, always ones in the region where they are living and often ones that are flourishing at the time that the child is born. These names may be in their native language or in the common tongue. While flower names are sometimes used, often fairies are named for hardy and useful plants. Examples include Nettle and Yarrow. All fairy names are unisex.

The original root for fairy languages was called Haian, after the civilization it came from. It is not spoken today, but its lettering system is used for all of its derivative languages, and the common root makes it simpler for fairies to learn each other's languages. Today there are five or six distinct languages, each with many dialects within. The most commonly spoken, used by fairies throughout Overdeep and some of the nearby islands, is Tiaish, with many short syllabic phonemes that combine with tone to form longer words and phrases.

Fairies are very sharing with both knowledge and possessions as they consider themselves one with all sentient races. This sometimes makes it seem as though they are allowing themselves to be taken advantage of. However, their lack of ties to one particular place or specific possessions makes it easy for them to cut ties with those that they feel are trying to take advantage or hoard knowledge or possessions for themselves.

All fairy histories trace their origin back to the nation of Haia. Its exact location is unknown, but was likely on one of the small islands near Twin Jetties in the south of Kiervel. They were scattered sometime in the early Integration Era, though records conflict on whether the end of Haia came about through natural disaster or an internal falling out within the nation. Whichever it was, fairies have never since formed their own full nation, though some of their cities are populous enough to be considered city-states.   Fairies lived on the borders, avoiding contact with humans and dragons alike for centuries. As it became clear that the different races could help each other, small groups of fairies made their presence known. By the start of the Kyrrian Era, every human nation had several fairy towns within it, often a short distance away from a town. Both the Kyrrian Empire and the Arinnian Empire, as well as many individual nations, recognized fairies living there as citizens.   Fairies were often sought out for jewelry work due to their ability to work with extremely fine materials. This also allowed them to excel in wound care. As technology advanced, fairies were often hired to make tiny, intricate parts. However, industrialization also pushed fairies away from some places due to the smoggy air. Today they can be found almost anywhere except major metropolitan areas or factory towns. Fairies are eager to share knowledge and often work as historians or scientists. Their scientists have greatly improved the making of prosthetics, with their studies of the nervous system allowing them to make fully integrated prosthetic limbs with full range of movement as well as some feeling.