Fey
Fairies
The fey, or fairy, races of Avlis have the highest number of variations and diversity of all the races on the planet. This is mainly do to the generous creative power of the first god to set fairies into the world, O'Ma, but it is also largely due to a second patron goddess of fairies, Titania. The interactions between O'Ma and Titania have been responsible for shaping most of Avlissian history. O'Ma was one of the original nine major gods who decided to take on the fairy races as his on personal creations. He drew his basic knowledge from Titania, who was the queen of fairies from other realms. Though it pleased Titania to have the attention and the homage, what O'Ma did next did not sit well with her. He changed the design of some of her creations so that they can be a self-contained race made up of both males and females capable of reproducing more fairy offspring. Some of the original Titanian fairy types came in only female varieties, and required the help of a human or elven male to reproduce with them. O'Ma got around this limitation by making all of his creations come in both male and female. Seeing male nymphs, dryads, and humanoid-fairy hybrids made Titania's blood boil, and that eventually set the two races to war.
O'Ma Fairies
Another adaptation given to O'Ma fairies is their ability to exist in many different kinds of environment. All fairies love nature, and the majority of them are wilderness dwellers, with many water dwellers also in that number. In addition to this, and not commonly found in Titania's fairy races, is the ability for urban varieties O'Ma fairies to exist in bustling cities. This ability not only sets them apart from their Titanian kin, but it also allows O'Ma's races to interact with the other major races of Avlis on a more equal basis. It also gives them a more global outlook that takes the other creatures in the world into account.
Hybrids
Because all varieties of O'Ma fairy come in both male and female, they do not need other humanoids to breed with, and cases when they breed with them anyway, hybrids are born. The most common types of hybrids are half-nymphs, half-dryads, half-nixies, and half-sylphs. Most commonly, humans and elves are the other parent, and other types of interbreeding are virtually unheard of. Generally hybrids take some major characteristics from their fairy parent, though their humanoid parentage can affect certain aspects of their appearance as well as their lifespans. As a rule, hybrid lifespans are halfway between the lifespans of their two parent races.
Many hybrids lead difficult lives because their humanoid parent race is often superstitious or jealous of them, and their fairy race, though usually tolerant of their heritage, is unable to accommodate them physically. Hybrid fairies often run into hurdles when trying to integrate into the society of their fairy parent because they are not always able to perform the same everyday physical feats as well, i.e. flying, breathing water, etc. In many cases, the poor soul voluntarily leaves their fairy society because of this, only to be rejected in some way by their other race. In some places, like the city of Elysia, large numbers of hybrids have gathered to live a common life and have been found to do well there for the most part.
Titanian Faries
When he first reached godhood on Avlis, O'Ma sought to create a race of his own, yet he was undecided on how to proceed. He considered many different qualities that he treasured, but was unable to find or conceive of a race that fit his ideal. In his quest for answers, the newly created god found a strange pocket plane. There he met the gods who ruled it. They were many, and they had names like Skerrit, and Oberon, and a highly pampered and beautiful queen named Titania who ruled benignly over the land.
Immediately, O'Ma was charmed by this female's beauty, and found also that she possessed a certain degree of wisdom. At times he was unimpressed with other qualities she had, such as haughtiness, and a penchant for being stubborn and tempremental. However, he was able to look past these, for she had created not only one, but many different races which O'Ma had never seen before. They were the fairies, also known as the sidhe (pronounced shee). The frolicking variants of sidhe all had a sense of independence and freedom that he loved. They understood the need for ceremonial order, so long as it did not go too far, but beyond that there was no need for them to make laws that no one was breaking anyway.
All of the races looked up to and respected Titania, but did not fawn on her as if she held their lives in the balance. She was generally benevolent to all her subjects, and they paid her due worship accordingly. O'Ma liked this and decided after a long journey through this fairy land that he would also make a series of races like theirs, but with a modification. Some of Titania's races were born only female, and required a human or elven male to reproduce. O'Ma did not want any of his species to depend on other races to breed, so he created all of his fairies with both genders. He happily thanked Titania for her inspiration and went back to Avlis to administer his new charge.
Little did O'Ma realize that he had offended the Fairy Queen greatly. She saw the modification of her races as a blight on a purity that she spent millennia creating. To undermine that purity was to endanger the very fabric of her races and upset the intricate balance between them that only she understood. She needed to do the right thing and attempt to correct the problem. One thing O'Ma did not realize is that Titania only controlled half of the fairy population of her land. Her charges were the Seelie court and its subjects. The Unseelie court did not obey her, or anyone, but she saw a use for them now. Taking her seelie brethren and making a deal with the unseelie members to aid her in return for umolested reign in a new land, Titania opened a secret portal from her plane to Avlis, and dropped off batches of both seelie and unseelie fairies to begin populating the world. Later, much to Titania's surprise, O'Ma granted her power in Avlis as part of his gratitude for inspiring him. He did not know of her treachery at the time.
Seelie versus Unseelie
Fairies that were brought to Avlis by Titania come in two varieties: seelie and unseelie. These names do not necessarily designate races. There are some races that are only seelie or unseelie, however, this is the exception rather than the norm. Most Titanian fairy races come in both seelie and unseelie varieties, though there are sure differences between them.
The only determinant of whether a fairy belongs to the seelie or unseelie group is its birthday. Seelie fairies are all born in the spring and summertime. Unseelie fairies are all born in the fall and winter. Because fairies are so in tune with nature, the cycle of the seasons at the time of their birth affects them greatly for their entire natural lives. The main effect is in the ideals that they hold. Seelie fairies are concerned for the well-being of others, and they tend not to be selfish. Though they are emotional and spirited, they do not let their hearts rule them in times of great turmoil. They have the capacity to be diplomatic and make compromises. Unseelie fairies tend to be the opposite. Greed and desire are their strongest traits. In some, this can manifest very sensually and productively, but in others it can be very destructive. Unseelie fairies tend to see non-fairies as prey rather than forces that they wish to coexist with. They love mortal beings most when they are garnished with the perfect sauce, rather than the perfect sense.
On Avlis, both seelie and unseelie fairies roam, and are cut off from their home plane. This nominally leaves Titania in charge of both groups here. The unseelie obey her as part of a deal, but mainly also because they have no recourse without their more powerful deific allies around. The two groups of fairies are able to work together when needed, but generally avoid one another if they can. Seelie fey do not like the brutal and cruel dogma of the unseelie, and the unseelie find the seelie fey to be annoyingly pure. Most seelie fey follow the ways of goodness or neutrality, whereas unseelie are almost always evil. As a rule on their home plane, neither group makes offensive moves against the other, for they mainly concentrate their efforts on outsiders who visit. It is thought that this same ideal extends to the lands of Avlis, as decreed by Titania their queen.
Fey Races
- Brownie
- Centaur
- Common O'Ma fairy
- Dryad
- Half-dryad
- Half-nixie
- Half-nymph
- Half-sylph
- Nixie
- Nymph
- Pixie
- Satyr
- Sprite
- Sylph
- Titanian fairy