Venandi: Faeries

Introduction to Faeries
In their natural form, Faeries are small, winged creatures; the result of merging Human DNA with Insect DNA. A Faerie's wings will differ depending on the insect DNA present in the bloodline. Regardless of their wing shape, all Faeries appear otherwise humanoid though their hair and eyes are often a bright colour popular in flowers or other natural phenomena (yellow, green, blue, pink).

Faeries prefer to be naked or close to it, and will generally only wear clothing when in the company of other species or races. They live codependent lives with their friends and family, relying on one another for assistance and even sleeping together in large piles.

The plurality of Faeries prefer living in forested or wooded areas, but they can be found almost anywhere outside of cities. Faeries are fond of fertile ground, but they are also often drawn to barren places by an instinct to heal the land. Faeries are highly social; where you find one Faerie, you will likely find dozens more.

A young Faerie will look about 5 years younger than their human counterpart, though in maturity they never look older than 20-25 years old. If a Faerie dies of natural causes, during the last week of their life they will physically age rapidly, and die looking like an ancient human.

''Faeries believe that it is bad luck to look upon another Faerie in their dying hours or after death. Once a Faerie starts aging (indicating death is imminent) they will say goodbye to their families and move into a small hut, living in solitude until they die. Faeries burn their dead in the hut they died in.''

Whenever two Faerie bloodlines merge, the new Faerie takes after its same-sex parent. Read about Reproduction in detail.

Species Breakdown
There are three/four different species of Faerie all characterised by different physical features (species may have different options in their powers). The species of Faerie consist of the following.

Summer Faerie
Summer Faeries are often considered to be the most fun, laid back, and exciting Faeries in existence (just ask them!) They love to relax and have fun, much like people do in the middle of summer vacation. For a Summer Faerie, every day is a summer vacation. Summer Faeries are happiest when the sun is shining; cloudy weather, storms, and anything gloomy cause them to become quite depressed.

Possessing the wings of a bee, Summer Faeries have hair in vibrant shades of yellow, gold, orange, or red. Their eyes are typically golden in colour.

In their Faerie form, Summer Faeries stand approximately 1'5" (43cm) tall (female) to 2'0" (61cm) tall (male) and those that can take Human form stand approximately 5'7" (170cm) tall (female) to 6'3" (190cm) tall (male) in their Human form. They are the largest type of Faerie in existence.

Autumn Faerie
Autumn Faeries are some of the most relaxed Faeries in existence, though they can sometimes be considered somewhat flighty. They love being outdoors in nature, and the season doesn't affect them negatively, though many find it upsetting when there are no animals or plants around them. Autumn Faeries tend to push people away or cling quite closely to them, much like the leaves leaving (or trying not to leave) the branches.

Possessing the wings of a dragonfly, Autumn Faeries have hair in shades of brown, gold, purple, pink, and blue. Their eyes are often shades of brown, green, or gold.

In their Faerie form, Autumn Faeries stand approximately 1'3" (38cm) tall (female) to 1'8" (51cm) tall (male). Those that can take Human form stand approximately 5'3" (160cm) tall (female) to 5'10" (178cm) tall (male) in their Human form. They are considered average sized amongst their Faerie brethren.

Winter Faerie
Other types of Faeries often see the Winter Faeries as downers, though that is not strictly true. During the warm months of the year, Winter Faeries are extremely uncomfortable because they prefer the cooler months, and this leads to some of them feeling lethargic or just disinterested in what the others see as fun. Put a Winter Faerie in an ice skating rink or outside in the snow, however, and they are much happier.

Possessing the wings of a ladybug, Winter Faeries have hair in shades of silver, white, black, or blue. Their eyes are always blue or grey.

In their Faerie form, Winter Faeries stand approximately 1'0" (30cm) tall (female) to 1'3" (38cm) tall (male) and those that can take Human form stand approximately 4'7" (140cm) tall (female) to 5'7" (170cm) tall (male) in their Human form. They are the smallest Faeries in existence.

Spring Faerie
Spring Faeries are some of the most promiscuous of the Faeries and don't often form emotional attachments to simply one person. It is not in the nature of a Spring Faerie to be monogamous. It is said that every day for a Spring Faerie is a day of Spring Break fun and that can, at times, rub people the wrong way.

Possessing the wings of a butterfly, Spring Faeries have hair in shades of pink, green, blue, orange, yellow, or purple. Their eyes are often shades of purple, blue, or green.

In their Faerie form, Autumn Faeries stand approximately 1'3" (38cm) tall (female) to 1'8" (51cm) tall (male). Those that can take Human form stand approximately 5'3" (160cm) tall (female) to 5'10" (178cm) tall (male) in their Human form. They are considered average sized amongst their Faerie brethren.

Faerie Powers
All Faeries possess the enhancements and primary power listed below. In addition, they may take three additional powers from the list below (or a combination of the powers below and those from the Universal Power Pool if they are a variant) in any combination provided that they meet the requirements.

Powers marked as suggested are what we recommend you take for this race.

Faerie Enhancements
A Faerie in its natural form can fly with the speed and grace of a hummingbird. In addition, even when not in their natural form, a Faerie is significantly more agile than a human, though not stronger or tougher (in fact, they tend to be fragile by human standards). Faeries can speak with animals in the same way they can speak to humans. Animals do not have a complex grasp of language, and communicate on the level of human children. When speaking to an animal, Faeries sound to other people as if they are just imitating the noises the animal makes. This does not grant any control over the animals. In addition, when a Faerie flies, it can choose to sprinkle Pixie Dust from their wings. The dust has different effects based on the type of Faerie, but all effects wear off after an hour: Spring Faeries calm things down, Summer Faeries put things to sleep, Autumn Faeries make things levitate, and Winter Faeries make things shrink to Faerie size.

Empathy (Primary)
Faeries are empathic toward all organic life, including animals, plants, and fungi. They are intrinsically aware of the emotional state of such life in the area immediately around them, and especially with anything they are touching. An Faerie knows the general emotional state (e.g. happy, sad, content) of everyone within ten metres; the closer a person is, the more detailed the empathic read. If skin contact is made, the connection is at its strongest, but it forces the Faerie to feel as the person does, not to just know it in an intellectual way. A Faerie also has mild influence over the emotions of someone they touch, able to increase or decrease the intensity of what the person is feeling for as long as the contact remains (and for however long thereafter it takes for them to normally process their new emotional state).

Upgrade: Empathic Projection
A Faerie with this ability has significantly more control over their empathic abilities. Instead of just reading emotions, they can now also project their current emotional state onto those around them. They can read and influence anyone (and anything) within a twenty-metre radius (and can shrink this bubble at will), and can choose to read the emotions intellectually instead of feeling them personally. In addition, a Faerie becomes better at using both this power and Empathy on a particular kind of being, based on the type of Faerie. Spring Faeries connect most to plants, Summer to animals, Autumn to fungi, and Winter to sentient beings.

Chlorokinesis (Suggested)
Faeries can control and animate plant life and fungi. At their command, plants nearby will wither away or grow to monstrous proportions, and they can direct the plants to move or grow in any shape they desire, limited only by physics and their own imagination. They cannot grow plants from soil alone unless there are already seeds present, but have just as much control over a tree as they do over the smallest shrub.

Upgrade: Mother Earth
A Faerie with this ability can give life where there had been none before. At their touch, even barren wastelands sprout new grasses and shrubs, and they can accelerate the growth of any non-sentient being, fostering entire colonies of insects or small creatures in the span of days rather than years. This power functions year-round, but is most effective during the season that matches the type of Faerie (Summer Faeries work best in Summer and so on).

Healing Touch (Suggested)
Faeries can use their touch to heal the wounds of living things. At their touch, small wounds close and vanish, and larger wounds cease to bleed and begin to recover. This ability cannot bring a person back from the brink of death by itself, but it can stabilize someone with a mortal wound if contact is prolonged long enough for other help to arrive. This ability works on anything with a genetic structure, including plants, with the sole exception of the Faerie themselves. A Faerie cannot simultaneously have this power and Blight Touch.

Size Change (Suggested)
Faeries can freely change their size (but not their form) between two modes. Their natural state is a small creature, about half a metre tall, but they can shift into a human form (between 1.5 and 2 metres tall). They can remain in human form indefinitely, even through sleeping or unconsciousness, but a Faerie will revert to its normal size if it dies. Faeries only retain their wings and ability to fly while in their small state.

Upgrade: Metamorphosis
A Faerie with this ability can transform into the insect whose wings they possess. The insect form can either be its normal size or the size of the Faerie in its small form (Faerie's choice on transformation). In either case, the Faerie retains its own intelligence and even the ability to speak.

Blight Touch
A Faerie with this ability has a sickening touch. Anything and anyone they touch, if they choose it, becomes infected with a rotting illness. Plants wither and die within seconds, and people and animals become sick. The illness becomes more advanced the longer the touch persists, and can be lethal if it lasts more than a few seconds. If the animal or person gets away, the illness has similar symptoms to the flu, but prolonged contact can make it look more like a flesh-eating disease. Stone and other inorganic materials are immune, but even non-living organic matter such as wooden furniture can be rotted and warped by this power. A creature or plant killed by this ability turns to dust after death. A Faerie cannot simultaneously have this power and Healing Touch.

<span style="font-family: oswald; font-size: 18px; line-height: 100%; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0px; color: #496f0e;">Invisibility
A Faerie with this ability can turn invisible at will. The invisibility persists as long as the Faerie wants it to, even while the Faerie is asleep, but they cannot use any of their other powers (except Empathy) while they are invisible. If the Faerie has the Size Change ability, they can use this power in human form.

<span style="font-family: oswald; font-size: 18px; line-height: 100%; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0px; color: #496f0e;">Melodic Influence
A Faerie's singing voice (or music produced by an instrument played by a Faerie) can mess with the emotional state of those around them. At the Faerie's discretion, their music can cause confusion, terror, drowsiness, or elation in those who hear it. Any given song can only produce one effect, and the effect applies (proportional to distance) to everyone who can hear the song except the Faerie themselves. All types of Faerie can produce all four songs, but each is particularly effective at one: elation for Spring Faeries, terror for Summer, confusion for Autumn, and drowsiness for Winter.

<span style="font-family: oswald; font-size: 25px; line-height: 100%; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 1px; color: #904242;">Faerie Weaknesses
All Faeries must possess two of the following weaknesses (three if they are a variant Faerie). You may choose any combination of two that you wish but their weaknesses must come from this list.

<span style="font-family: oswald; font-size: 18px; line-height: 100%; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0px; color: #904242;">Grains of Rice
Faeries are fascinated by rice. If rice is thrown or spilt on the ground in front of them, they immediately stop what they are doing to count every grain. While counting, they cannot be interrupted unless they are hurt, and will not stop until they have counted all grains of rice in front of them.

<span style="font-family: oswald; font-size: 18px; line-height: 100%; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0px; color: #904242;">Iron and Salt
Faeries suffer from a severe allergy to iron. Touching it burns their skin, and prolonged contact will eat away at them like acid. Even through gloves or clothes, a Faerie is extremely uncomfortable around iron. In addition, a Faerie cannot cross a circle on the ground made of salt, and will slam into an invisible barrier if they are forced by someone else to attempt to cross it. This does no damage, but completely halts the Faerie's movement.

<span style="font-family: oswald; font-size: 18px; line-height: 100%; text-shadow: 1px 1px 1px #000; text-transform: uppercase; letter-spacing: 0px; color: #904242;">Magic Wings
The supernatural power of Faeries is concentrated in their wings. This localization makes them vulnerable. If their wings are damaged, they lose access to their powers (other than their Enhancements) until they heal. If a Faerie's wings are severed completely, they are rendered powerless, revert to their small state, and will eventually die if the wings are not restored somehow.