Fey History
The Fey history is broken into chapters due to the length of the history:
Chapter 1: How they came to be. The beginning of the Fey races..
Chapter 2: How they lived. How the fey lived.
Chapter 3: The Finding of the Nexus and the Dwarves. Fey's discovery of the Nexus realm and the Dwarves.
Chapter 4: Enter Humans. The Fey's meeting with the humans.
Chapter 5: Tragedy. The war with the humans.
Chapter 6: Death Magic. The discovery of Death Magic by the Fey.
Chapter 7: Beastmen. The creation of the Beastmen races.
Chapter 8: A New Offensive. The Fey counter-attack.
Chapter 9: Betrayal and Collapse. The betrayal of the beastmen, collapse of the gates and end of the war.
As the dust from the universe coalesced to make up the planets and stars, the Fey were formed right along with them. There has never been a time when this race did not exist. They are the immortal, the forever, and the eternal--at least until now.
The first Fey race was the Elves. They are very similar to a human appearance and size, except with more grace, poise, and ears that point at the tips. They are set aside from all others by their once-immortal lifespan. They were the first to become self-aware. The oldest records speak of a time when the Elven race was alone. They lived in harmony with their world as simple hunter-gatherers. To this day there are traditions that date back to this time for the Elven people.
The Elven people have a history of cooperation in times of difficulty. Couples marry, stay together for life, and raise their children together. During the earliest parts of Elven history there are stories of cooperation in the face of predators, the natural climate, and illness. Rarely would disputes arise, but when they did it was dealt with in a fashion that minimized the damage that could be done. Often if discussion failed, it was through honor duals that disputes between two groups were settled. The outcome was honored, and it was rarely to the death.
These Elves made the first discovery of the Song. The Song is the wellspring of all magic, and the basic underpinning of the universe. The Song reverberated through the empty cosmos at the time of creation and every creature, rock, or plant carries a piece of this Song still. To sing the Song is to sway it to your will. It is through the Song’s harmony that one’s will is worked, and magic is done.
For timeless ages the Elves were alone in the universe. They created in their world a land of unparalleled beauty. It was through the Song that plants shifted, and land changed to create a world of harmony. Their world was slowly and artistically sculpted and reinterpreted into a complete living work of art. Their first world was a beautiful vast garden tended by loving hands and hearts.
This is when the Fairy came, as glittering winged expressions of pure emotion and frenetic energy. They are beautiful, but still wild and dangerous. They are the manifestation of all that was wild in that first world, given form, and breath, and life. They are the Song's way to express chaos, even as the land was tamed. They are the living embodiment of all that is wild, free, and untouched by Elven hands and minds.
Fairies are the same height as the Elves, and have the same characteristic pointed ears that all Fey have. Although they have wings, they cannot fly. No Fey really knows the reason for this, but Fairies seem to be attracted to each other with them. Typical of Fairy, no real answer can be gotten out of them as they alternately claim to fly, teleport, or work magic with them, depending on who you ask.
Fairy favor all things bright, and sparkling. Their clothing choices reflect this, whereas the Elven race prefer to wear things that blend with nature, such as greens, browns, and grays. Fairy wear the brightest clothes they can find.
This appearance of the Fairy was unexpected, but not unwanted. The most knowledgeable Elven Scholars found that they couldn’t destroy the Song, as it only reinvents itself into a new form. The Song is timeless, but ever-changing. Elves welcomed the Fairy into their midst with open arms, embracing them as younger brothers and sister, and making adjustments in their lives to accommodate their erratic ways.
By this time in Fey history, several ages had passed. They had charted the continental drift of that first home world as passing observations. Their culture had evolved into a tradition-filled safe harbor for the arts, philosophy, and science in the form of magical study of the Song. They were tempered in this by the childlike playfulness of the Fairy, and continued to grow as a people.
Three Paths were picked out of the Song by Elven ancestors. The first path discovered was Life, an innate understanding of the Song that created, healed, and continued life in all living creatures, which every Fey had an affinity for. Then as the ages unfurled, they found the Path of War as they sought to settle their disputes with duels of honor. Widespread and all out war was an unheard of thing in the history of the Fey, and the magic that surrounded the path of War was used to protect Fey, and settle disputes one on one, and nothing more. This magic, obviously, sparked the need for counter magic, and therefore research into the actual magic that makes up the Path of Protection was founded.
The Fairies are responsible for finding the first discordant notes, called the Path of Pain. The Elves tried to show their wild cousins that this harmful magic was not in harmony with the whole, but it was to no avail. As the ages passed it was soon accepted as a Fairy specialty, and treated as a series of childish pranks to be used as a teaching tool, rather than any real great harm.
Jerillion S’Ran was a Songsmith that felt he could find more than just their world in the Song. He was a master of the Pioneered Paths of Protection, War, and Life, but was not content with the small but well-developed land on which the Fey lived. His experiments with the opening of the fabric of the Song revealed to the Fey the collection of minor races that came to be known as Commoners. He hypothesized that by freeing these selected notes, they had become living embodiments of the magic.
The Commoners, though highly magical, did not make up enough individuals to take a full seat with the Elves in the leadership of the Fey. These races included nymphs, dryads, satyrs, and many others too numerous to mention. If the Fairy were wild, the Commoners were diverse. No single Commoner was exactly like the rest, except in family lines. Like all races, offspring would always reflect the mother’s race. Family always tends to dictate clothing, custom, and style with commoners.
Through Jerellion's breakthroughs the Fey learned how to manipulate the Song without transmuting it irrevocably. The Song cannot be destroyed or silenced, only changed. The Fey would use his theories in all other great works to be in harmony with the Song and not disrupt it, causing transmutations in the magic’s form that would alter the universe.
The Elven race made up the ruling councils, headed the shrines dedicated to the Song, and made most of the major decisions for the Fey in general. They lived virtually forever at this point in their history. All of the Fey races reached adulthood between eighteen and twenty years of age. Elves age slowly after maturity, and an individual of 75 was nearly indistinguishable from one of 750.
While Fairies develop to physical adulthood within twenty years as well, they remain emotional children throughout their lives. They have a lifespan of around five hundred years, though many die earlier due to their tragic lack of foresight. Their energy, generosity, and spite are legendary. Even Elven lords are careful around Fairy because they respect no social boundaries of government, religion, or common sense. They take little or no interest in politics of any sort, save from moment to moment. They are often recruited to help deal with dangers to the Fey, as they are renowned for being quick on their feet and creative in their tactics.
Commoners have the shortest life span of all the Fey, roughly between eighty to one hundred years. Their short lifespan keeps them out of politics, as they simply do not live long enough to compete with the Elves. The term Commoner simply denotes a collective of unclassifiable minor races. They are viewed as little brothers and sisters to be protected as much as any other Fey by the Elves.
The Elves made up the ruling body. This consisted of a ruling family, headed by Emperor D’Lleyewin, and his advisers. The advisers represented the interests of each geographical area of their world, along with a single adviser each to represent the interests of the Fairies and Commoners. The Emperor rules alone, but with input from his council. Emperor D’Lleyewin was the 5th Emperor in Fey history.
However, this isn’t to say that Fairies or Commoners didn’t impact Fey politics in any way. When a rather large area of tree-filled wilderness was going to be reformed to include ponds, sculpted trees, and cascading streams, the Fairy began a series of prankster attacks to let it be known they wanted it to stay wild. These were led by a Fairy with bright red wings named Redbug. When his pranks on the advisers didn’t get him what he wanted he semi organized a defense of the area with a large amount of Fairy and a few commoners they were close to. This led to making it a wild preserve, as no one knew the Fairy even cared before that point, and they hadn’t bothered to keep their adviser appraised of their wishes before hand.
Commoners, too, have impacted politics in their short life spans. Serena Oakenbow became the lover of the Emperor’s younger brother, Merrith. Through him, she helped shape many policies during her lifespan. Their relationship was devoted, and Merrith stayed with her until she passed away at age 103, and then he dedicated a garden to her memory. He would continue to draw on her advice when advising others for the rest of his life.
The spiritual backbone of the Fey is the study of the Song. There are shrines devoted to one or another Song path, or to all paths, across the Fey worlds. These shrines are tended by Song Priests, which devote their lives to the study of the Song. It is a deeply philosophical tradition that seeks to understand the Song, the universe, and all its parts. Different Song priests often engage in debate about the different paths and how these magics fit with each other and the universe.
The Finding of the Nexus, and the Dwarves
Several ages after all the factions of the Fey settled in, an Elven researcher discovered how to open a Gate onto a different world. Telering J’Rinlee had been studying the Path of Life only a few centuries when she heard a new part of the Song. She reached out to touch it, and opened the first Gate to what would be known later as the Nexus Realm.
The Nexus was a vast garden world empty of any creatures, and it was on this world that the Song sang loudest. The Fey had finally found the source of the Song. This was the wellspring from which all life emanated. This was a holy ground, and a place to be revered and studied.
The Fey spent ages studying the Nexus. It was found there would be occasional openings of random Gates that allowed creatures and peoples of all sorts onto the Nexus. These creatures were expressions of the Song that emanated from this land, given form. Some Creatures were beautiful to behold, others dangerous, and others still intelligent on the same level as the Fey. The frequency of Gate appearances varied between multitudes to none, but the Fey could discern no pattern to the cycle.
They slowly became aware of another race under the land of the Nexus. This race was called Dwarves, and made up a rather dour lot of weapon smiths, miners, and architects. At this time the Dwarves only had one Hold called the Kingdom of Ironbeard. The Fey were quick to negotiate trade agreements in order to take advantage of the master metal working that the Dwarves were capable of. Unlike any of the other Nexus races, which were few in number and quick to disappear back into the Void whence they had come, the Dwarves seemed to be a stable, long-lived race. Sometimes prominent Dwarven architects could be convinced to come to the Fey’s home realm to make works of unparalleled beauty in stone and steel. Unfortunately, Dwarven goods were not as plentiful as many wished, so trade was brisk, and a Dwarven blade on the hip became a symbol of wealth and status.
Fey scholars seriously doubt that the Dwarves are indigenous to the Nexus Realm, as they profess to be. Regardless of Dwarven history tomes, it is commonly believed that they are immigrants to the Nexus like so many other races before them. The difference is that they have a stable population, which successfully settled and multiplied.
As time went on, it was clear that the wild beauty of the Nexus was also dangerous. Fairy were often more successful at detecting dangerous creatures because of the constant frenetic activity that they engage in. This created an honorable position for Fairy, calling them the Seekers. They would spread out around any Fey group entering the Nexus, finding and dealing with any Voidlings that posed a threat to their people. This was not an expendable position, but a position they took very seriously. Seekers gained much in the way of social prestige, along with being outfitted with better toys and equipment. As a bonus it gave many Fairy an outlet for their malicious side. Occasionally, Commoners would take positions as Seekers as well, but the general Fey consensus was that Fairies were better in the position.
The Fey learned to open Gates to other realms and started colonizing. They left the Nexus strictly alone because any attempt to alter the Nexus would alter the Song. Knowing the Nexus was the source of the Song caused the Fey to feel a reverence to it.
Many, many ages passed and the Fey settled many new worlds. They became convinced they were alone in the universe. With the exception of a few Voidling races, the Dwarves being the most successful, they had never met any other race that rivaled them in numbers or depth. They maintained periodic pilgrimages to the Nexus to trade with the Dwarves, study the deeper magics of the Song, and pay homage to the source of all.
It was on a pilgrimage, headed by Janus Sorellian on behalf of the Emperor, that they encountered a race called Human. He was astonished to find another Voidling race stationed at the entrance to the Dwarven Hold. They were almost Elven in appearance, except rougher. They had such a large amount of alien goods it appeared that they were more advanced than most Voidling races.
The Seekers were already doing their job discerning if this new race was a threat or not. Janus gave the Seekers a decent amount of time to learn what they could about these people, and started sending small bands of them deep into the Nexus to check on how many Humans there were. They were astounded at how much of the Nexus had been settled by these Humans. The Humans said they had only been there 15 years, and yet they were spreading faster than the Fey could imagine.
The Humans seemed to be highly organized and ranked amongst each other. Their civilization seemed to be based on exploration. The Fairy brought talk about ‘orders’, ‘reassignments’, and ‘missions’. Although the Fey understood the words used because of the equaling of the language by the Song of the Nexus, the context that these words were used in was alien.
The Humans told stories about the Fey that were almost true. Most Fey scholars theorize that some sort of natural Gate must have existed to their realm at one time, or that they felt the resonance of the Song in their dreams. The most interesting point the Humans made over and over again was about the Fairy being small in their childhood stories. They seemed to feel comfortable around Fairy, and almost protective of them. They clearly underestimated what the Fairy were capable of.
The Human culture had arisen in a very short time period. They left their home world in ships across the sky for the first time when the Fey had already been spread across a thousand worlds, using Gates to get directly there. Humans didn’t seem capable of utilizing the Song except through ‘machines’. They could only Gate to the Nexus, and not anywhere else. These machines were possibly dangerous as they forced the Song to bend in ways that were unnatural. If Human machines continued on and snapped the Song apart in places, who knew what would result in the reality of the universe.
The Humans lived a short life span similar to that of the commoners. It is thought because of this that they are impatient as a race. The Human's incessant attempts to open discussions with the Fey were seen as impetuous and intrusive. The Fey wanted to wait long enough to make sure they weren’t just another race of Voidlings that would melt back into the Song from whence they had come.
They were amazed by the adaptability of the Human race and its myriad of gadgets. These machines were not magical in nature, and did not depend on an understanding of the Song to create them or operate them. The Fey traded many minor magical items for these ‘tech’ wonders. The Human race had found an entirely different way to evolve.
It is because of the Human race that the Fey decided to keep a small company of scholars in the Nexus. They needed to see what the Humans were doing on the Nexus, and see if the source of the Song needed protection. The massive advancing numbers of Humans could not be good, and would change the Song, if it were not handled carefully.
Eventually the human liaison was sent for, but it was found that he had grown to old to do the job of ambassador any more. Amazingly enough, the Humans sent a replacement that seemed to know as much as his predecessor did in matters of the Fey. The Humans were remarkable in compensating for their short lifespan by keeping incredibly precise records with their tech. The elves were always amazed that each new Human they dealt with seemed to know their manners, likes, and expectations.
During a gray morning on the Nexus, the Fey learned just how aggressive the Human race was. They were organized in a way that completely caught the Fey off guard, and using weapons of such devastation that what little attempts to counter with spells was met with instant death.
The Seekers felt the Human onslaught first; fighting with every weapon they had to protect the rest of the Fey on the Nexus. Each small outpost set to watch the Humans was attacked. In every case any resistance was met with organized force. The Human weapons were unparalleled in any form by the Fey. The Song of War was not able to do as much damage as a single Human with a well-loaded gun.
Almost every Seeker on the Nexus was executed for attempting to protect their charges. A few were injured and maimed enough that they were left in Elven hands as useless in the defense. Any resistance was met with murder. The Fey had never seen such a widespread acts of violence by a sentient race in all its existence. It was an atrocity of unprecedented horror, with lives as old as the universe snuffed out in one widespread instant.
The survivors were rounded up, and Janus Sorellin was given the message from the human military commander that this was in retribution for the unjust attacks and killing of 500,000 Humans, and maiming of many more. Attacks that the Fey knew nothing about. Because of this the Fey were no longer welcome on the Nexus, and the Humans would see to it that any Fey caught on the Nexus after this were executed for espionage. They were then allowed to flee back to their own worlds without truly understanding the words ‘military’, or ‘espionage’, but only feeling numbed by the carnage they had just witnessed.
The Fey as a whole cried in outrage at this violation of the Nexus, and the very source of the Song. This race called Human would be treated as any dangerous Voidling, and removed from that sacred of all places. Cries for vengeance rang out clearly to the Emperor for the first time in Fey history. Never had they seen anything so horrific, and they responded quickly. Organizing was difficult as no endeavor of this sort was ever done before.
One year from the Humans' attempt at genocide, a large force of Fey opened fifty Gates into the Nexus. They stepped through en mass and attacked. The Humans appeared to be larger in number than the Fey had realized, but the Humans, too, had underestimated their foes' forces. The Fey had come to reclaim the Nexus.
Another boon to the Fey offensive was the capture of Human weapons and individuals. These weapons were amazing in their capability, and they were used to great advantage on the battlefield. It was also learned that the Human race fought in large scale amongst each other throughout their history, and had a better grasp on tactics of War. The Fey took Human prisoners and carefully learned all they could using magical means to keep up with the Human based tactics.
Unfortunately, Humans eventually modified their tech so as to only work in Human hands. No matter what magic was tried on this modified equipment, it simply could not be used any more. The Fey had to find another way to even the playing field. Another blow to the Fey was that their major arms supplier, the Dwarves, closed their hold doors all over the Nexus and could not be bargained with any more. This forced the Fey to start production of their own weapons, setting them back even further as the Humans seemed to manufacture weapons as part of their cultural heritage.
It was, also, found that the Humans were working with a small Voidling race called the Felinae, who had an innate sense of the Nexus territory. It isn’t clear when the Felinae and the Humans joined forces, but it was another way to put the Fey at a disadvantage. The Fey Seekers could not compete with this native race in geographical knowledge. After this became clear the Fey tried to hire their own scouts. If refused, in their desperation, they committed regrettable acts of murder to keep them from helping the Human forces. These acts were reflected upon long before they were committed, but seemed to be the only method that worked. It would be forever regretted by the Fey.
Finally, the Humans introduced new Cyborg troops. This was the death of the Fey offensive. There simply weren’t any Fey to compete with these tech-imbued Humans. The Song paths of Pain and War were not enough to counter their speed or strength.
The Fey were forced, for the first time in their history, to leave the Nexus. They would have to find another part of the Song, or another ally, or another tactic, because they were losing the most precious place in the Universe to the desecrating hands of the Human race.
A small faction of Song priests gathered to pioneer a new method of magic as they sought to find a palpable counter to the Human problem. They would eventually find a method of magic so horrifying it would be called the Path of Death and shunned by all Fey.
Perill’ha was an Elven master of the four known paths of magic when he started to listen to the discord the Gate War was bringing to the Song. The Song itself was changing he claimed, that all the death on the Nexus was being echoed outward. He experimented with this aspect of the Song with his fellow priests and discovered the Path of Death.
His discovery came with a price, though. He was forever altered from the path of true Fey, and all that he touched would reflect his unnatural tampering with the Song. Unlike the rest of the Fey that could bring life he, his researchers, and their offspring would forever after cause death at a touch. This was proof indeed of the unnatural darkness of their souls.
Wrong or not, however, the Fey were only too willing to use this new path of magic against their enemies, and Perill’ha’s ‘Dark Elves’ were welcomed into the front lines. At least until it was seen what they were capable of.
Another faction of Song priests, led by Jonnill D’lleyan, sought to find a solution to the Cyborgs. They would use the knowledge they had gained through ages of manipulation of the Song to free selected notes and alter them to create a race of warriors without equal.
They pulled artifact makers from all over the Fey worlds and combined their expertise with Commoner and Fairy intuition to sculpt those parts of the Song into a new race they named Beastmen. These Beastmen were aggressive in the extreme, and perfect in combat. They grew up with an innate grasp of the skills of battle. They were perfect in every way to take into the War.
The developments of the Beastmen and Death magic emboldened the Fey into another massive offensive against the Humans. It had to be done soon because their occupation of the Nexus was causing ripples in the Song and the universe itself. Humans had no concept of the true underpinnings of life, and seemed hell-bent on destruction.
Once again they opened the Gates and went though, but this time both aggressors were evenly matched and raged against each other for several decades. The Cyborgs were countered very effectively by the Beastmen, and the Humans were terrified of the Death magic thrown by the Dark Elves.
Unfortunately, the Beastmen were more aggressive than intended. They argued incessantly with the Fey and each other. After two Beastman generations it became necessary to start using magic to keep them in check, and this took its toll on Fey mages.
The Death magic thrown against the Human forces was terrifying for Humans and Fey alike as those Humans killed on the battlefield were resurrected to fight against their former comrades. Because of the sheer unnaturalness and perversion of the Song necessary to do this, Dark Elves were expelled from the Fey forces into the Nexus. They would still continue to attack Human forces, but no Fey would have anything to do with them.
Once again, the Humans gained the advantage when they appeared in battle with a working knowledge of Song use. This was a devastating blow for the Fey. It was their only complete edge over the Human forces, and now it was in the hands of the enemy. Unlike the tech of Human make, the Fey could not alter the Song to exclude Human use.
It was at the battle of Pine Hill that the Beastmen betrayed the Fey. The Beastmen joined forces with the Humans' own Cyborg forces, and claimed the Nexus as their own. However, this was not nearly the blow to the Fey as it was to the Humans. The were able to recover use of the mages previously dedicated to handling the Beastmen.
The combined Cyborg and Beastmen forces were formidable, but their main focus of attack was on the human armies. Human forces carried more useful goods to steal.
These circumstances allowed the Fey to bounce back from near defeat, and engage in a bitter three-way war they had little hope of winning. The ensuing battles were the most desperate yet.
Unfortunately, something worse was about to happen. During a hazy Nexus dawn, the world exploded in noise and white light, knocking every creature in the Nexus off its feet. It was almost assuredly some new weapon of Human design that sparked the Collapse. Their unnatural tech pushed the limits of the Song with no consideration to the effects it would have on the universe.
No Gate would open out of the Nexus after the Collapse. Most of the Fey fervently hoped that their loved ones were still out there, only separated. But a darker-minded few talked about the Fey on the Nexus as the only survivors. They claimed that all the violence and death had caused the Song to go silent, just for a mement, and the Song had now restarted.
Fighting continued for several centuries after the Collapse, though more and more of the Humans turned their backs on the fight that they had started. The humans, instead founded small villages, farms, and cities as if this was their long lost homeland. It was beyond Fey comprehension that they could forget the massive destruction of the Gate War so quickly. As the years turned, the Humans having short lives and shorter memories seemed surprised that the Fey still carried on the defense of the Nexus.
Without being able to create or import their tech, the Humans quickly returned to subsistence living, making them easier targets. To the Fey's chagrin, desire for vengeance often overcame the duty of protecting the Nexus. With the help of the Humans' own battlefield tags, they hunted down the descendants of the soldiers that they had fought, and killed entire families from the elders by the fire to babes in arms.
How could the Fey forgive, or forget, a War that killed lovers, friends, and family that they had known since the beginning time? So many lives lost, so many melodies silenced, and yet the Humans acted like the injured parties. Were they not the ones to begin the betrayal? This short-lived, short-sighted people must never be allowed to forget their crimes.