Time-Fairies
Life-Cycle: Mature after childhood of about 10 years, reaching the size they will occupy for their whole lives. Compared to humans, they look about sixteen for their whole lives (when mature). Do not die of old age, but almost always from time travel related accidents. Their lifespan seems more an aspect of fate than a problem with their bodies.
Reproductive Cycle: Females lay eggs which must be fertilized by males. Males differ from females only in they produce sperm cells and lack breasts. They appear phenotypically similar with regard to other sexual traits. Since time-fairies are so flat-chested anyway, many do not know their own sex until they reach maturity and swell with eggs. The energy required to produce these eggs or to produce the germ cells to fertilize them is absorbed naturally when time-fairies are exposed to temporal damage. This effect is not optional... though most fairies do not realize this connection. For this reason, males and females that discover each other often stay together for life. Eggs are laid in clutches of 20-50.
As far as the actual process is concerned, considering the seahorse will be helpful here. In an ideal situation, the female passes the eggs directly into a waiting male, which will carry them until he is exposed to the energy to fertilize them and can do that, only then birthing the eggs and attaching them wherever he feels is best. A female alone will have no choice but to hid the eggs somewhere. Ordinarily they would dry out when unfertilized in about a day, but since she can fly back to that moment once she finds a male, this usually happens only if a female is killed.
Culture: Time-fairies are a very natural, “primitive” race. They do not build cities or research magic... ironically they have no concept at all for past or future, including their own. All time is one to them, so they do not build or plan, but focus on their current needs. Parents do not remain to see their eggs hatch: most instinct is genetic, like an insect. Siblings cleave together from birth, in large “flocks” which disperse as individuals naturally drift apart and find mates. Time fairies are intelligent and can be taught, though most would be difficult to convince to stay in one place long enough to do so. They do not wear clothes or make things or store food. Not usually, anyway. Some rare individuals have been observed exceptions to this.
Purpose: It is said that time-fairies were created by the divine of time when humans began to use time magic, unknowingly making tears and wrinkles in the tapestry. Time-fairies are drawn to the very subtle damage of powerful time magic, which they absorb and convert into the energy to reproduce. They /like/ this feeling... absorbing damage and fixing it is like eating to them, and critical to the propagation of the species.
Powers: All time is one to time-fairies, from beginning to end. They can and do fly as easily through time as space, so long as they have their antennae. Without them, they are trapped, powerless. It takes no energy for them to do this and knowing how comes almost from hatching. These powers are easily disrupted by /active/ spells in the present, which can temporarily strand time-fairies in one moment.
Divine: Time-fairies do not worship a god or goddess exactly. They respect “the Timeline,” which they all are born deeply revering. Doing something to damage it, such as causing a paradox, deeply sickens them. There is a time-fairy avatar, however. His name is Mara, and he is even more difficult to track down than most. He is said to always travel with several of his species, happily going about the carefree, thoughtless life of a time-fairy. He can be convinced to stay and talk with a saucer of milk, though he also takes fierce time-based vengeance on those that harm a time-fairy. It is said that Mara will find and punish ALL that have ever harmed a time-fairy... or rather, that he already has. Dryads are both friendly and protective of all time-fairies.