characteristics: brightly colored dragonfly like wings, large and pointy ears, massive smiles, black sclera, slight iridescent sheen to their skin, affinity to certain elements, mischievous, vertically challenged, varying glamoured and unglamoured appearances
basic abilities: Glamour, wing “manifestation”, elemental control, flight, fae realm traverse
Fae have been around since before the creation of earth. Before humans came along, it was just the fae, caring for the earth and then returning to their realm. The first humans to meet fae worshipped them in a way, until certain religions began to see them as demons. The fae king at the time took great offense to that, and began a “war on humans”, any human that a fae saw was to be tormented-- not killed. Fae were to create as many problems as they could while still caring for the earth.
Fae operate under a constitutional monarchy, with two monarchs (of any gender) who are the heads, and their advisors and council under them. Oftentimes, the two monarchs are not romantically involved but work together, as there will always be one seelie and one unseelie. Seelie and unseelie courts are often skewed to be something their not by storytellers and humans-- these courts don’t hate each other, and there is certainly no nice or evil court. They both work together in order to bring the earth’s seasons. Without seelie fae there would be no spring or summer, and without unseelie fae there would be no autumn or winter.
Seelie fae focus on life and creation, which is why they’re in charge of spring and summer. Spring and summer bring new life to the earth, and without them, there would be no food for humans on earth. Of course, with summer and spring comes heat, and pollen. While they create new flowers, help bring baby animals into the world, they also overpollenate the world to give humans allergies, knowing that it will annoy them. Unseelie fae focus on death and decomposition, which is why they’re in charge of bringing winter and autumn. Just because they focus on death and decomposition doesn’t mean their evil-- quite the opposite, in fact. They help animals (and sometimes even humans) pass into the afterlife, or bring animal’s spirits into the fae realm to live on as pixies. They cause the grass to die, the leaves to change color, and decomposition in corpses.
Seelie fae consists of two elements: fire and earth. Salamanders are able to control fire, with younger fae often unable to control their fiery temper. Salamander fae have a tendency to burst into flames when they feel any emotion too strongly, and depending on how strongly they feel will determine how hot their flames are. Older fae are able to manifest this flame into their palm and even throw it at a target. Spriggans are earth fae, who are made entirely of tree bark (aside from their wings). These fae are warriors, ridiculously strong and often overly protective of things that they may see as theirs. They bring plants to the world and encourage growth in already existing plants.
Unseelie fae consists of the remaining two elements: water and air. Undine fae are made entirely of water (aside from their wings). These fae are able to slip into water and become entirely invisible, they are able to draw upon rainclouds and cause it to rain wherever they want-- however they aren’t able to create storms or ice without the help of a sylph. Sylphs are air fae. They the most humanoid out of the fae in their unglamoured form, but are often protected by a layer of air that moves so quickly that it can cut through flesh. These fae can create whirlwinds, help undine create storms and ice, and if they feel an emotion strongly enough they are able to conjure tornados or even hurricanes.
All fae have the ability to glamour their appearance, appearing in any way they’d like as long as that form looks human. They developed this ability a few millennium ago so that they could blend in with humans and pull their tricks. Outside of their glamour, they have very large (5+ inches in length) and pointed ears, are short in stature, and have black sclera. All fae have a weakness to iron, as it causes cuts to not close and for blood to not clot. Many fae wear spiked silver rings as a form of protection against other fae who might enjoy playing some nasty pranks. All fae also have a pair of large dragonfly-like wings on their back, which can be tinted to be any color using their glamour-- or berry juices for fae that want a more natural look. These wings can retract into their skin, but this is an uncomfortable process and can be difficult to hold for long periods of time-- it’s also why many fae have aversions to shirts, as it makes having their wings out in private more difficult. Fae, if their wings are removed, torn off, or damaged, are weakened significantly. If their wings are torn off entirely, they are required to return to their realm so that they can recover. Remaining in the human realm will result in death
A fae's court is not determined by genetics, and is totally random. Two seelie fae could create an unseelie fae, and two unseelie fae could create a seelie fae. It’s suspected that it has something to do with their zodiac signs, but this has been proven time and time again to be untrue and simply a wives tale. However, when humans and fae decide to mingle, fall in love, have a kid, whatever might happen, they will create something quite interesting: elves.
characteristics: vertically challenged, bad eyesight, exceptionally good looking, small and pointy ears, small and useless wings
basic abilities: minor elemental control, minor glamour, mind manipulation
They say life finds a way, elves are proof of this. Children of fae and humans - their star-crossed parents set the poor elves up for a life of in-betweening. Fae society are quite picky with their courtiers - excluding elves as a rule. No worries! When in doubt, dig underground! Elves have staked out their home in the caves and tunnels lovingly crafted by nature (and their ancestors). Spiralling tunnels that only they seem to decipher lead to larger homes, meeting places, and public areas. Many elves do travel between their underground world and the surface, but prolonged exposure to darkness means that their eyesight has deteriorated greatly. Many elves are sensitive to light, and are very nearsighted. Many require glasses or contacts on the surface, but their night vision is impossibly good, so they aren’t required underground.
Elven government doesn’t differ very much from that of the fae. They operate under a monarchy, but unlike the fae, the elves are a total monarchy. There is one monarch which creates laws and dishes out punishments. The current king is reaching the end of his lifespan, meaning that his heir, whoever that may be, will be taking his place. Under the kind are nobles, four families of elves who are said to be descendants of the first elves. Each family has the ability to control an element, and are some of the few elves to keep their bloodline entirely elven aside from their fae and human ancestors.
Elves take after their human ancestors more than their fae-- they appear entirely human, in many different shapes, sizes, and colors, but they still tend to be fairly short. The tallest elf was recorded at a whopping.. 5’9”, or 175.3cm. They also have very small dragonfly-like wings that are too small to fly. Most elves elect to remove the wings, as they cannot retract them into their skin like fae. Removing an elves’ wings is painless, and has no effect on them. Humans who encounter elves often describe them as beautiful, having an allure to them, almost ethereal. Elves are entirely immune to iron, unlike their fae ancestors, and have the ability to glamour their appearance to appear more human.
Elves who join the human world oftentimes become models, actors, or public figures as they have a certain way of manipulating people. While it is minor, they are able to use a form of persuasion to turn someone towards a goal of theirs. They can very slightly manipulate memories to remove themselves from said memory. These abilities are far more effective on animals, who elves often have as companions. Thanks to their fae ancestors, whoever their fae ancestry was will determine what kind of element they have control over-- even if that control is minor. For example: elves with salamander ancestry can light their fingertips on fire and are immune to flames.
Elves are interesting when it comes to making more elves-- when two elves pair together and have a child, they create more elves, but if an elf and a fae, or otherwise any other creature, they create orcs.
characteristics: stubbornness, strength, extreme spirituality, muscular, tusks of varying size
basic abilities: enhanced strength, enhanced speed
Orcs are born from elves and any other creature other than elves. This knowledge isn’t well known, and the creation of orcs in this method are quite rare. The first orcs created were very quickly rejected by both parents, and sent away to orphanages or relatives, or locked away (as was what was common for the time)-- the first orcs had low survival rates simply because people saw them as monsters. For the past 100 years, orcs finally have freedom from their elven counterparts, and have begun to form their own community. Orcs operate in clan-like structures-- there’s many different clans, but there are two main clans that live in rivermouth. Orc clans have one head that they call the chief. Under the chief is the chieftain, who takes over for the chief once they die.
Orcs are not the monsters that the media makes them out to be. The works of Tolkien demonized them, and due to this demonization they’re discriminated against within the magical community. They’re thought to be horribly dumb, violent, and ugly, but that’s simply not the case. Orcs are very spiritual and intelligent beings, and beauty, of course, is in the eye of the beholder. Most orcs are incredibly strong, and search for a greater purpose in life than simply living. Orcs are characterised by tusks protruding from their mouth in varying sizes, and their green or blue skin tones. Of course, like any other creature, has the ability to glamour so that humans don’t suspect what they are. They have enhanced strength, endurance, and speed. They are able to lift twice their body weight with ease, run for twice as long as the average athlete, and faster than the world record by at least 5 miles per hour.
characteristics: vertically challenged, hole-covered dragonfly-like wings, sharp teeth, black, bug-like eyes, anger management issues, chaotic, trouble makers
basic abilities: Glamour, wing “manifestation”, flight, fae realm traverse
Changelings are a form of fae that are switched with human children after birth. This is due to the fact that fae love to cause chaos, especially to humans, and changelings simply don’t look like normal fae. Changelings, in their purest form, look more grotesque and broken than other fae, despite being mostly the same as their fae parents. Changelings who are swapped are left with the human parent, and then the fae parents watch and wait. Once a baby and changeling are swapped, the changeling will appear entirely human. If the human parents treat the changeling well, after a few months, they will return the human baby and take back their changeling.. However, if the human parents treat the changeling badly, whether it be calling the baby ugly or outright abusing the baby, the fae will not return the human child and leave the changeling to cause chaos.
Changelings are beings of chaos first and foremost. Many who are left forget that they are changelings, but they will quickly begin causing trouble. They refuse to follow human rules out of instinct, they break things, they terrorise people, and in extreme cases they will kill their human parents. To kill, to create enough chaos, it helps them remember what they are. Many begin their reign of chaos simply because they know they’re missing something, that there is something that they’re not remembering.
Changeling are nearly identical to fae power-wise, with the exception of elemental control. Changelings, because of their lack of this power, are considered “wrong”. Their wings are also deformed, coming out covered in holes and more fragile than fae wings-- despite this, they still have the ability to fly.
characteristics: vertically challenged, hole-covered dragonfly-like wings, sharp teeth, black, bug-like eyes, anger management issues, chaotic, trouble makers
basic abilities: Glamour, wing “manifestation”, flight, fae realm traverse
Goblins are a strange little creature. No one knows how they came to be, not even themselves, but they do know that they want to help whoever they can. Goblin’s have one purpose and it is to find their job and do it. Some become mailmen, others become babysitters, but one thing stands with all of them: they are truly selfless little beings. Goblins live within clan-like structures, and in these clans they all share one name-- to humans, they’re very simple names such as steve, robert, mary, marlene. Every goblin shares the name of their clan as their first name, but they often have titles (steve the red, marlene the great) which are often shortened by humans (red, great, sturdy).
Everything that happens in rivermouth, small things like mail getting delivered, files being put in place, your home being randomly clean when you arrive home after work-- it’s all done by goblins. They slip into homes and businesses without being noticed fairly easily, as they have an ability called metachrosis-- they can change their skin to blend into objects, much like a chameleon. Unlike chameleons, however, they become fully blended with the object. They often are the things that come knocking in the night, living in people's basements and attics without their knowledge-- don’t worry! They’re there to help keep the pipes in shape and home in order. In the 80’s, the mayor found a clan of 150 goblins living in her basement, and they renamed themselves janet as a way to thank her for letting them stay.
Goblins, as helpful as they are, are still sylvans and they love mischief just as much as the rest of them.. However, their mischief is less malicious and more trying to have fun. They are credited with the creation of the minion meme, online trolling, and being the reason dogs hate mailmen. They unknowingly steal shiny things from people, unaware that the concept of theft exists at all-- to them, if it’s shiny and left out, it is fair game.
Unfortunately, the goblin’s lifespan is exceptionally short, so every year sometime in june, rivermouth holds a goblin festival. To rivermouth a transplant, it is a fundraiser run by little people dressed as goblins who you can rent in order to help raise money, but the natives of rivermouth know the truth: it’s to help young goblins find their purpose. Goblin day is also similar to halloween in the summer-- children are encouraged to dress up and trick or treat with the goblins and their parents.