Free folk are empowered by resistance to tyranny, conquest, and oppression.
Lifespan : 200 years
Diet: Common fey fare
Habitat: Tropical rain forests
Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Free folk appear to be 5’ to 6’ tall, olive- or green-skinned fey beings with pointed ears, black straight hair, and eyes that glow fulvous orange. They have thin insectoid wings.
All free folk are empowered by the fact that they have never been conquered as a culture or species. Individuals who are enslaved, imprisoned, oppressed, exploited, or abused are weakened in the powers gained from this, but retain them so long as there is any culture or nation of free folk who remain free.
They gain some of the following powers:
Unchained eye: their eyes can leave their heads and travel up to 3000’ around them; any person they see, they can see their class status.
Free heart: they have an empathic sense that allows them to sense what others are feeling, but also to sense if someone has committed an act of exploitation, enslavement, imprisoning, abuse, exploitation, unprovoked violence, sexual assault, manipulation, repression, or oppression.
Outrageous roar: they can channel all of their outrage into a deafening roar that stuns any oppressors or their agents within range.
Liberating song: they can sing and infuse their music with uplifting power that helps anyone who is oppressed, enslaved, exploited, or abused fight against their oppression.
Flame of resistance: if they act in resistance to conquest or oppression, they may draw flames from their own emotions and use them to fight infernal or imperial powers.
Many other powers are possible.
Free folk come from a distant, southeastern continent, but there are tribes and nations of them all over the world, embedded among other unconquered pre-class cultures. There are many among the smaller communities of the local natives, and many others enslaved among the empires.
PRO 9 ATH 9 STR 8 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 9 STH 7
Tall fey folk empowered by gratitude.
Lifespan : 200 years
Diet: Light fey fare
Habitat: Temperate grasslands and hills
Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Maxandis are 6’ to 7’ tall fey beings with pointed ears, hair of amber and gold, skin like wheat and maize (in color), and eyes like black pits of darkness and shadow. They all have one hand with four fingers and one hand with five.
Maxandis gain magical power from having others be grateful to them, but only if it is sincere and not derived from manipulation or for acts that unjustly harm others. This complex source of magic gives them the ability to nourish with a touch, supernatural strength, healing powers, and resistance to infernal energies. Other powers may be possible.
Maxandis live in classless communities led by small groups of elders, and they are common among the local native nations. However, they are often enslaved and exploited, and they are treated as foolish and naive by imperials.
PRO 7 ATH 8 STR 9 AWA 8 WIL 8 PRS 8 STH 8
Hidden folk who attract celestial microbes.
Lifespan : 200 years
Diet: Insect-heavy mortal fare
Habitat: Tropical rain forests
Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Nunphungs appear to be 4’ tall beings with pointed ears, dark brown, straight hair, glowing blue eyes, and greenish skin. They have frog-like tongues.
Nunphungs have an aura that attracts microbes, specifically helpful ones, such as ones that live symbiotically with other living things, ones that aid in digestion or other processes, ones that protect from harmful microbes. This often causes them to appear to be covered in a blue slime, but this “slime” is potent for healing and protecting against infernal powers or curses.
Their tongues are sticky like a frog’s and can capture bugs for them to eat.
Those who are in the city-states are usually enslaved or refugees from other imperial or colonial lands. Their original culture is one of living in deep forests and providing healing for other peoples and beings, held in awe and reverence by those who do not understand them. Many are captured and exploited for their powers.
PRO 7 ATH 9 STR 7 AWA 8 WIL 8 PRS 8 STH 9
Small, brightly shining beings who are empowered by admiration.
Lifespan : 200 years
Diet: Light mortal fare
Habitat: Anywhere
Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Phusomsons appear to be 4’ tall beings with bright blue hair and glowing green eyes. They shine brightly with blue light the more admiration they feel for others.
Phusomsons are said to be descended from angels, though this is considered a myth. They are empowered when they feel admiration for others. Phusomsons gain different powers the more people they admire:
Clear sight: they can see the person they admire clearly, knowing their faults and motivations. This protects them from admiring exploiters and deceivers.
Uplifting voice: they can speak with a magical voice that uplifts anyone they admire or respect.
Shimmering heart: their hearts beat faster and glow with blue light that shimmers through their skin. The light gives them bonuses to PRS.
Other powers may be possible.
Phusomsons dwell on the fringes of other cultures, living secret villages. They seek out individuals of other cultures to admire, gaining power from doing so, then using these powers to protect and support their own culture. They form symbiotic relationships with these people, often bringing them presents and tokens of support.
They are accused by imperial powers of being thieves and parasites, and they are scorned by many cultures because of these lies.
PRO 7 ATH 8 STR 6 AWA 8 WIL 8 PRS 10 STH 7
Small hidden folk in the forests who live in tight-knit communities.
Lifespan : 200 years
Diet: Common mortal fare
Habitat: Temperate forests and hills
Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Sgadugis appear to be 4’ tall figures with skin that blends with the forests around them. They have dark, straight, auburn hair, and they have pointed ears and big eyes.
All sgadugis can form magical bonds with others in their community. These bonds can be permanent or temporary, as they please, and they can switch to new communities by spending at least a year and a day with them. They start by bonding at an early age with the community they grow up in, assuming the community loves and cares for them. These bonds allow them to share abilities, skills, lores, and stats with one another, as well as to silently communicate.
Sgadugis are native to nearby regions and form their own tight-knit communities with their own stories, crafts, arts, and traditions, but they work closely with the wider native community. They are oppressed and targeted for conquest by colonizers.
PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 7 AWA 8 WIL 9 PRS 9 STH 9
Small folk who are empowered by romantic love.
Lifespan : 200 years
Diet: Common mortal fare
Habitat: Temperate regions
Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Suilcroi are 4’ tall fey beings with pointed ears. They have golden skin and bright blue-glowing eyes. Their hair is usually pink or violet.
All suilcroi have inherent ability in poetry, music, dance, or prose (but never more than one), though they may learn the others. They have empathic senses, and they can sense in people they feel romantic love for what they like in terms of food or common objects. Their first romantic love grants them the power to protect that person with a whispered word, granting them bonuses to STR or WIL.
The more romantic connections they have, the more powers they gain in terms of senses, insights, and protective magic.
Suilcroi usually live among the fey and act as storytellers, performers, and weavers of romantic visions, and amongst their own people, they have extensive romantic networks that make them very powerful and protected. The imperial powers denounce them as perverse and dangerous figures, breakers of hearts, and thieves and predators.
PRO 8 ATH 9 STR 7 AWA 9 WIL 8 PRS 10 STH 7
Eternal children.
Lifespan : Unknown
Diet: Childish mortal fare
Habitat: Hidden temperate isles
Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Sweetlings appear to be children of other species who never grow old. They are formed when children of other species are somehow lost and forgotten, abandoned and forsaken, and found by storks, which bring them to the Sweet Isles.
Sweetlings have the ability to fly if they think happy thoughts. They are empowered by their imaginations, can create food and drink out of thin air, and create complex magicks with their shared love and support for one another. They love to create adventures to go on that are actually purely imagined, but become real for them with limited risk for one another.
If they meet a non-sweetling child, they have the power to turn them into a sweetling if they find out the child is truly abused or unloved for some reason. Those who go into the world are at the risk of growing up, which would make them into the species they resemble, but they will always have the ability to protect abused or unloved children, giving them the power to summon storks to take them away.
Sweetlings grow up if they decide it is better to. If they decide not to, they return to the Sweet Isles, often forgetting the wider world after their quest.
The oldest sweetlings are 15 years old. The youngest are just old enough to walk, talk, and think for themselves.
Most have no idea sweetlings even exist. They live in secluded, protected regions called the Sweet Isles, which are part of Faerie. However, some are given magical quests that send them out into the world, and they pretend to be common children. These quests are usually arbitrary and silly to outsiders, but bring back special treasures to Sweet Isle, such as pots and pans to be used as armor in their imaginary games, new toys, or sweets and candies none of them have heard of before, adding to their arsenal of treats to imagine.
Any sweetlings in the city-states would be there on a quest.
PRO 9 ATH 9 STR 8 AWA 8 WIL 7 PRS 9 STH 9
Subterranean fey folk who can sense celestial metals.
Lifespan : 200 years
Diet: Metals
Habitat: Subterranean Realm
Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed
Temiltils are 6’ tall fey beings with skin like various metals, eyes like motes of blue light, and clawed hands. They have no hair and are often confused with the dongxue.
Temtiltils can sense metals, especially celestial metals, with a sixth sense. They can consume metals of any kind except infernal as sustenance, and their claws can cut through stone more easily than flesh. They are able to shape mundane or celestial metals into rudimentary forms if they have eaten a full meal of metal within the last hour. They are resistant to cold, can see in the dark, and know their way around in caves.
The culture of temiltils is one of gathering and survival deep underground. Those that are in the city0states are mostly there as slaves, exploited for their senses.
PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 9 AWA 9 WIL 8 PRS 8 STH 9
Shelled home-building small folk. Plural form is “abarinzi”, which means “guardians”.
Abarinzi stand about 2’ tall at the highest, usually closer to 15”. They have hair over every inch of their bodies and large shells of various kinds on their backs.
Abarinzi’s shells are nearly impossible to break. If an umurinzi hides within their shell, they also become camouflaged with the area around them if they are within a few miles of their home (how many varies by individual, but the maximum is 10 miles and the lowest is a single mile). They can store up to 50 lbs. of materials within their shells and not feel encumbered.
If they lose their shells, they must replace it within eight days or they will grow sick and die.
When an umurinzi takes up dwelling in someone’s abode, they automatically bring certain protections to it. Infernal energies are blocked if the umurinzi is welcomed into the home, and tasks and chores around the house become easier to complete if the umurinzi is given food and drink regularly.
If someone asks umurinzi to build their home with the intention of having them live there with them (and with fair compensation for the work), the house will be even more powerfully protected.
There is but one nation of abarinzi, synonymous with their species name.
The abarinzi live in a region clustered around a massive lake. Abarinzi families are large. They form complex communities living amongst other nations, though without assimilating into them. Because of their powers to protect homes, abarinzi are welcomed by most, and their powers and pride keep them from entering into exploitative relationships with other nations or individuals for the most part. Their large families live in special rooms or spaces within the homes of others, or in special housing structures designed just for them.
Each family is its own community. They have their own traditions and stories, and the family structure varies from family to family. Most commonly, the eldest of them are de facto leaders, and everyone raises the children together. “Family” is defined as “a group of abarinzi who take care of one another”, so blood-ties are not necessary. However, most often, they are blood-related.
Once they have their adult-sized shell (though not their adult shell), they do not have to change shells as often. They end up keeping their shells for about a decade. Every new shell is still celebrated, however, though the parties change as they age, shifting from colorful celebrations of the community to more personalized parties. Abarinzi do not celebrate birthdays, as their shell-days have replaced them.
The shape and form of an umurinzi’s shell has social significance. Once an umurinzi is an adult, they often seek out new designs or new shells. Larger shells are considered ostentatious and inconvenient, but shells that are too small are dangerous. Colorful shells are associated with those who do not need to hunt or fight to survive, thus celebrated and honored, whereas spikes on shells are reserved for those who hunt or fight. A shell that is both colorful and spiked is seen as confusing or impractical or even insulting to the warriors of the community. A shell with spirals is often used by those who engage regularly in dance or performance, and shells with pentagonal patterns are seen as much more practical and common.
Almost all of them in the empires are slaves or former slaves.
Abarinzi consider all children “girls” until they decide their own gender after the age of 12. Once they choose a gender, they are allowed to change it after their next shell change. Gender is indicated by how they choose to decorate their shells, though there are no hard and fast rules. Abarinzi select the decorations that represent their gender and place them in the spot where their shell meets their neck. This spot is helpful because they can hide it when they please. There are nine recognized common genders among the abarinzi, but these can be mixed and matched or discarded entirely for unique genders.
PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 4 Shell 30 AWA 8 WIL 8 PRS 8 STH 12
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