Previous Worldbuilding Posts: One / Two / Three / Four
Okay, first I’m going to outline the concept I originally came up with for my fae, and then I’m going to go into the details lovely Tumblr users like yourself were interested in!
There was a lot to cover, so this post is really long, but I’m happy with it. Glad to have everything in one place, because before this, I didn’t have anything!
The number one thing you need to know about fae is that there are four main tribes, clans, groups, whatever you call them. They are the Midnight, the Dawn/Morning, the Day, and the Dusk/Evening clans of fae.
They differ in a few ways that I’ll get into, but there are a few similarities between all faeries:
First of all: a singular entity is referred to as a fae, multiple are faeries
General appearance: tiny humans. delicate limbs, usually short hair, a pair of wings with hypnotic patterns. (more on that later)
Faeries are beings of magic, but their magic is so concentrated in tiny bodies that it manifests as a sort of glitter. It glows with magic, and is the origin behind the soft glow that happens when they fly and the myth of pixie dust.
Lifespan: about two years. They take the first year to mature, and then they are adults at the end of that year. They spend that year partying and building up to the Fae Flights...
Fae Flights are mating rituals that happen at significant points in the year. Equinoxes, solstices, eclipses, full moons. There are... a lot of them.
Fae Wings and their Patterns
@ratracechronicler and @owlsofstarlight asked about wings, so...
Yes, faeries have wings and yes they can fly! My faeries have wings that are rounded on the top and tapered at the point, sort of like this but with a sharper edge on the bottom.
They’re pretty large, considering the tiny skinny faeries. When they fold, they don’t fold up completely against their back or body like birds; instead, they fold up thin and the edges often brush on the ground.
Fae wings are always glittery and covered in the magic dust I mentioned earlier. They are always holographic and shimmery in terms of color, though the colors themselves depend on the clan. Darker, cooler colors in the night and dusk clans, and warmer, lighter colors in the day/dawn clans.
The patterns are often spirals and swirls, and glow with magic during Fae Flights. The patterns in general are hypnotizing to humans, so you have to make sure you don’t look too closely or stare too long. But they’re also used during the Flights, to attract mates that will be good matches.
Social Customs and Setup
Suggested by @writing-at-dusk @elliebrie (and an anon!)
There are elders that are in charge of each clan. Nobody knows why the elders live longer than regular fae, but they live for a decade as opposed to a couple years. Elders are the ones that fae go to with their problems first; if the elders can’t solve it, elder and upset fae both go to TREE. Elders don’t have any notable magic, they’re just like regular faeries, but they live longer.
A typical family can consist of two or three adult fae, who are the most likely to stick together. Their parental role consists mostly of raising a young fae until the child can fly. This usually takes about two to four months. During this time, it is the parent’s job to care for the child’s health and teach them to fly.
I’m throwing @msmeaghanrey‘s question about the fae’s approach to gender here: They don’t adhere to the Western binary, no, but as of tonight I’m not sure what they do adhere to. My hesitant answer is that there are generally four accepted categories: female, male, both, and neither.
But there are of course those individual fae that fluctuate and are fluid, too.
Faeries Relationship with TREE
Thank you @no-url-ideas-tho for the questions!
In general, a fae’s opinion on humans is just that: an opinion. It differs from individual to individual. On the whole, they tend to respect the fact that humans can cause great harm, despite the occasional kind one among them.
This general trend of “try and keep a healthy distance” is definitely a more recent thing. Faeries used to have more lands and be more plentiful than they are now. This is almost completely caused by humans encroaching on their land, like deforestation almost.
Faeries used to be more active and more open to contact with humans, which is why fae rings used to be a thing. Unfortunately, most of those sites have been destroyed now. Which sucks, because they were the sites for the Fae Flights. Since that time, the faeries have had to sort of improvise where they hold those rituals.
The only reason the fae have not declared outright aggression on humans is because they believe that TREE truly wants to help. And if the humans of TREE want to and can help, then perhaps there is still a reason to hold back.
As for the other fantasy creatures in this universe, the faeries are pretty respectful. They kind of recognize that the magical beings need to stick together in this day and age. They're not above pulling some magical pranks or causing some mischief, but they're always harmless.
And I think that does it for this post! Part Two tomorrow ! That post will be on the differences between the four fae clans :D
Final tags are @homesteadhorner @post-productivity @halfbloodlycan and @idreamonpaper for this!
