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Wise Words

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit."

- Aristotle

The Fey

Quick Overview:

coming soon

Racial requirement: Elves: Pointy Ears, Fairy: Wings and Ears, Commoners: Ears plus whatever else is appropriate.

Racial Ability: Life Feat

In the current climate of the Nexus, the Fey have adapted with varying degrees of success. Some have adjusted with no problems, while others nurse hatreds thousands of years old. One overwhelming truth is that they are not the once powerful empire that they were. They must now toil on the land, as their one-time enemies do, just to survive. They have lost the ability to work the magic’s that could shift the Nexus into a global garden of safe beauty. For the first time in Fey history, they are starting over.

The Elves

The worst hit by the collapse is the Elven race. By appearance they are still graceful and beautiful, with the pointed ears. The differences that affect them now are invisible to the eye, as their once immortal life spans have been reduced to a couple of thousand years. None of their researchers or Song Priests can find the reason for this. It is possible that because they are cut off from their home realm, they no longer enjoy the longevity they had.

The Elves have suffered the most at the outcome of the War. Their history gave no precedent to prepare them for this kind of loss, and they are rebuilding from scratch. Only a generation or two has been born since the War, and they are taking a longer time to heal than the other races. They are cursed to remember their once great culture, and compare it to the grim realities that make up the Nexus. It will take a lot for this race to forgive.

The Fairy and the Commoners are moving on more quickly than the Elves, and this has spurred the Elves to rebuild the Song shrines, so that the shorter lived Fey do not loose their history to the War. It is because of the other Fey that the Elves are making a concerted effort to rebuild. They still see them as younger siblings, and do not want them to forget where the Fey came from. This positive attempt at rebuilding will possibly save the Elves from their own hate and prejudice.

In their day to day life, Elves live like everyone else on the Nexus. They have small subsistence farms, run small businesses, etc. They raise families, and watch out for themselves as best they can.

Elves still prefer to wear clothes that are in harmony with their surroundings. They favor greens, browns, and grays for color. They wear the same elegant handmade clothing that they have worn since the beginning of time. Most will not wear human inspired ‘modern’ fashions, as it is too much a reminder of the War.

The Fairy

The Fairies are, if possible, wilder than before. There was no change in their 500-year life span, and they don’t seem to have noticed the change in their Elven brethren. They have spread across the Nexus in ever-moving patterns. Settling where they land.

The Elven race has lost all control of the Fairy in this new beginning. The Fairy are taking advantage of their freedom to run wild in the Nexus. They have no real cohesive culture, but they are often at the forefront of any exploration of new land. They are also usually the first to find and deal with the many Voidlings that come out of the natural gates. Because of this many take the title Seeker as a point of personal pride in defense of the Nexus. These Seekers perform their age-old duties not just to the Fey, but also to all people now.

This handed down tradition of the Seeker is also used by the Elves to give purpose to the Fairies. They give them positions within Fey city-states and Song shrines. It is felt that this allows the Fairy to carry out their more destructive behaviors in a positive manner. Fairy are well known for the trouble they get into when they don’t have any direction in life. A bored Fairy is a dangerous Fairy.

Oddly enough the Fairy seem to have no racial prejudices one way or another. They are more wary of Humans in general, but this is probably due to the fact that Humans are bitter about the Gate War still. It doesn’t seem to matter what race you present a Fairy with, as they will still go over everything about that individual checking and rechecking until they are satisfied deep in their little Fairy hearts.

They still seek out garishly bright colors to adorn themselves, with little regard to Fey tradition. Blinking Human lights are much sought after, as well as sparkling Fey fabrics. There isn’t a cohesive Fairy way of doing things, as they are all incredibly unique. Some seek to compliment their bright wings with the clothes they wear, but for every well-matched Fairy there seems to be one that completely clashes.

The Commoners

The Commoners are the best adapted of all the Fey. Since their life spans are the same as the Human race, they have lost much of the Gate War to the ages past. As always, they are an incredibly diverse group. They have found in mixed-race city-states that they can compete in politics and rule as well as any of the rest of the races. This has encouraged them to intermix with the other Nexus races more than the other Fey. They still harbor old War hatreds, but it is diluted through the generations. Some small pockets of Commoners mix with Humans with out any reservations at all.

Commoners follow their own traditions according to their family lines as they always have. Some are as wild as the creatures of the Nexus, while others live happily ensconced in their city-state homes.

The Song

Since the Fey started reopening the Song shrines, there has been a resurgence of interest in this ancient path of philosophy. There are Shrines dedicated to each of the individual paths of Life, Protection, and War. Some Shrines are dedicated to all three. Most Fey homes have a small shrine if there is a mage in the house.

Unexpectedly there has been interest in these Shrines from many of the other races. The Song Priests have made it a policy to teach any and all races that come to the Shrine in the hope that by understanding the Song the other races will respect the magic that underlies the universe. Because of this policy, many Humans have been taught at the Shrines. They are steered away from the Path of War as Human nature is already very War-like, and encouraged in Protection and Life. These Shrines are going a long way towards healing the rift between Fey and Humans.

There are also occasionally Song Shrines dedicated to the Path of Pain. These are often temporary structures manned by self-professed Song Priests that are Fairy. They are as chaotic and random as the Fairy themselves. Unfortunately they, too, will teach any petitioners to the Shrine. This is accepted by the rest of the Fey as an outlet of Fairy magic.

Government

Since the Collapse the Fey have formed a rudimentary government based on the Empire model from their home realm. A Regent leads the Fey, with advisers representing different city-states, and the Fairy and Commoners. This method of rule was agreed upon by Elven leaders until such time as they find a way home, or prove they are the only Fey left.

The current Regent is Terrin Sorellin, the grandson of Janus Sorellin. He is close to five hundred years old, the youngest Regent since the Collapse, and his goals are to heal the Fey, and move forward past the War. Most of the younger Elves, and the rest of the Fey, reflect his sentiments in general. He does not think that harboring hatred for the Human race will help the Fey rebuild and has made a concerted effort to stop the attacks on Human settlements that still occur. He has a pretty good level of opposition amongst his advisers, and has fought two honor duels to date to settle his policies against them. He is widely looked up to because he did not pick a champion, but wielded his own sword against his opponent. This recent shortening of the Elven life span has created the first ever generation gap.

Other Races

During the War a faction of Elves perverted the Song to create a Path of Death. These are commonly called Dark Elves. There are, in appearance, the same as any other Elves, but the truth lays in their souls. All Fey have a unique gift for healing and giving life, but Dark Elves have ripped out parts of the Song and reworked it to give death. It is because of this perversion of the Song that the long dormant battlefields of the Nexus gave birth to thousands of abominations that are walking dead. This damage to the Song is thought to be directly contributing to the shortening of the Elven lifespan by most Fey. At the end of the Gate War the Fey were too scattered to deal with this problem properly, and now they must deal with the repercussions of letting this faction of Elves fester and grow. The number of Undead attacks rise every year with the number of Dark Elves, and bands of Seekers often hunt them down to put a stop to it.

The Fey feel a special sorrow in regard to the Felinae. Although the cats do not remember the atrocities committed against them clearly, the Fey do. It is with a heavy heart that the Fey try to avoid conflict with the Felinae above all other races. Most classically brought up Fey will avoid violence against the Felinae, except as a last resort, but as the generations go on this feeling of guilt and a need to make reparations is fading. It will be many more generations before the Fey can breathe easy again in regards to the Felinae.

The Dwarves are a welcome sight to the Fey, and they have once again made arrangements and trade agreements with all the prominent Dwarven Holds. The relationship between these two races has picked up where it left off without skipping a beat.

The Fey have a difficult time with the Beastmen. The Beastmen deeply resent and distrust all Fey motives. This belligerent race seems to find special pleasure in raiding Fey holdings. The Fey have long since lost any control over this race, if indeed they ever had it to begin with. The Beastmen are their own race now, and any hope of bringing them into the fold as a forth Fey race isn't likely. Beastmen are violent, rageful, and dangerous. It is best to always watch your back around a Beastmen to save on trouble later.

In the end the Fey are still adjusting to the realities of the Nexus as best they can. The Elves are being led by their younger brethren the Fairy and Commoners in adapting to this new way of living. They are rebuilding, although slowly, and resolving the deep hate they feel for the Human race. They have much wisdom to share with the Nexus, if they can only get past that hatred.