The Fae
I've heard them. Up in their...forest, I guess. Chattering away. The one time, the one time I mustered up the courage to go up there, close as I dared, I saw one. It peered at me, unblinking, it's body twisting and writhing along with everything else. *shudders* I never want to go back there again.The Fae, unlike almost every other creature, are distinctly other from the rest of the 5 realms. Perhaps it's their changing forms and seemingly jointless bodies as they creep around the forest edge. Maybe it's their silent nature, observing until they aren't anymore. Maybe, just maybe, it because you can sense, simmering under their skin, that they weren't always like this.
Physiology
Anatomy
Fae annatomy is arguably some of the most varied of the sentient species, but there are some trends. These depend greatly on the original bilogy of the creature, seeing as they first began as magical mutations.Elven Origin
In the western Naish luu, there are many Fae that stand taller than the others, with smooth backs and light toned skin. These, typically, were once Elves, or at least come from Elvish decent. They remain, on average bipedal, with all the normal features of an Elf: 10 fingers and toes, 2 eyes, a nose, a mouth, 2 arms, a sense of supiriority. Yet, all these features are changed in some way. Perhaps an extra joint between the knee and the ankle, or a longer, felxible neck to better peer through the darkness. There is little chance of these Fae developing wings, but they can posses extra limbs or eyes.Fairy Origin
Those of Fairy origin have the largest potential for nightmare fuel. First of all, they look the least "alive" out of the others. They blend the best in with the surrounding flora, looking and behaving alomst like flora themselves. On their many limbs (the number of which changes depending on individual fae, ranging from 2-8 on average) Flora actually grows, gently eating away at the hard, fairy-like exoskeleton. Unfortuenatly, like the Fairies they come from, their faces and expressions have not improved through mutations, simply becomeing more warped and strange the longer the exposure.Human Origin
When you imagine the Fae, you are usually imagineing the human-like fae. They changed the least out of the others, remaining almost human in appearance if not for their strange eyes, the claws on too many fingers, stray joint here and there, and the patches of differing colors. These Fae, due to their rarity yet renown, are often considered more powerful and of higher standing in Faemerion. They also have the most connection with the outside world, able to twist their tongues in a human-like way to speak common without activating their flight or fight response like many other Fae.Ruo Origin
Ruo Fae are, perhapse, some of the most interesting to behold. The animalistic part of any Ruo remains that way, changing only in terms of pigments, design, or fur/scale length and quality. The other part, however, morphs into a warped, mishmatch of whatever they were previously and whatever they are becoming now. This can be anything from claws, extra joints, snouts, increased vision, new ears and their placement, and animalistic behavior. These Fae are often mistaken for monsters so they tend to stick deeper in the Naish luu where little is known and little is seen. when they doo come to the edge, the sights they bring with them are terrifying and wondersouly beautiful.Unknown Origin
It is very possible, even with all these origins, a fae may not know where they began or what they may have used to be. As time, strange as it may be in the Naish luu, moves on, this is becoming more common as the different types of Fae mix. These are the most varied, but children of the other Fae that end up in this category typically appear a fluid mix of their parents.Sensory
As far as anyone can tell, Fae have very similar sensory expiriences as most other creatures with a high connection to magic. They, like others, have the 5 main senses, sight, sound, touch, smell, taste, as well as an additional sense which is closest too our sense of time passing.Sight
Fae have an extra cone in their eye, meaning they see all the colors typiclal humans see as well as a whole other side of the color spectrum. They often refer to this as magic sight. While not like a Seer's sight, This extra cone can pick up on the nuances between colors, temperature, and magical effects in the area. This Magic Sight also makes them a bit more light sensitive than the average human, making broad daylight a tidge more painful than it needs to be and twighlight the perfect light level.Sound
Fae have similar hearing to most other creatures of the north. No peculiarities have been identified on the whole. Some Ruo Fae have reported having sensitive hearing simliar to their Ruo conterparts, if amplified some in strange ways.Smell
Like their hearing, their sense of smell is comparable to the average human on the whole. Whether it be a cultural thing or an interpretation of scents, Fae tend to prefer clean, earthy scents rather than floral or manufactured ones.Taste
Fae can and will eat pretty much anything given to them. They claim to be able to tastea wide variety of things, all absurd in their strangeness and severity, but no one has been able to prove them wrong yet.
Touch
As of yet, there is no evidence that the fae experience touch in any different maner than the average humanoid. On the few sucessful sharing of cultures, they seemed particularly enamoured with furs and woven blankets, but that could simply be novelty speaking.Time
A Fae's relationship and expirience of time will never be like that of any other creature in the 5 realms. Due to their proximity to such strong conentrations of magic, Time got...strange in the Naish Luu, their home. Time doesn't quite exist on a large scale, being a personal expirience for each and every fae on their own timeline. While in the Naish Luu and Faemerion, this is not an issue. Somehow, through the magical soup that imbeds itself in everything, every creatures individual timelines tend to sync up eventually, expiriencing things in altering orders, almost as if every Fae is constantly time traveling. Things become difficult when they are removed from this maluable passage of time and set in a linear expirience. This transition can literaly break a fae's mind if they stay too long in the outside world. It is one of the main reasons Fae are almost never seen outside of Faemerion.Appearance
Facial features
Most Fae keep the same basic facial features of other sentient creatures: eyes, nose, mouth, the like, and they usually stay in similar, if not the same placement on the face. Beyond that, however, things begin to get...disturbing.
Most fae have either too few or too many features. The most common is multiple eyes or the lack of a prominant nose. Some have ears that shifted on their head, either up or down onto their necks. Some, for an unknown biological reason, develop gills. Scientists wonder if this shows the potential for their survival under water or the current existance of a completely submereged subspecies of Fae. Unfortuneatly, until scientists can enter the Naish Luu without risking mutation themselves, these questions will likely never be answered.
Colors
A Fae can, and will, be any color humans can percieve and many humans can not. They are not bound to a color pallet like most other sentient creatures, born with a varied vibrancy. By the time adolecence is reached, the Fae with have settled on a palet, though it is still subject to change when under extreme duress or hightened emotions.A common factor of fae facial features os that they almost pass as normal. then youn loook too long or the angle shifts just enough, an something horrendous changes.
Stages of Life
On the average life cycle of a Fae, there are 3 stages as explained below. These depictions are mearly averages based on observation and sparing explaination from the little contact made at this point. in terms of ages and age ranges, no definit standards have been identified or communicated. Either the Fae have no concept of age or the termonoogy to communicate age have been worked out yet. either way, Transition from one phase to the next seems to be more morphological than time based regardless, meaning some phases can last only a few days while others can last years depending on the individual.Babe
How a babe is made is as of yet unknown, but the running assumption is 'just like all the other babies' in which case, it's not a question anyone is particularly eager to ask without a sturdy friendship first.
Fae Babies were, at first, thought ot be a myth. It wasn't until the first wriggling worm sighted in a sling on an adults back did it become apparent that they don't just spawn fully formed out of the aether. Brightly colored with a pudgy face and no teeth, Fae babies are unpleasant to look at. When not crying, they are staring incessantly. The few that have been seen are vaguely worm-like. They wriggle, appear to have no arms, and are formless little shapes attatched to their mothers. beyond that, little is known about them.
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