Elemental Spirit Folk

Fey beings and others based on elemental stories and legends.

---

Atwal

Fey of the long day.

• Lifespan: 150 years
• Diet: Common fey fare
• Habitat: Warm regions
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Atwali are 5’ tall fey with golden skin and downy hair. They have two mouths, and their toes end in glowing points.

Atwali dislike moonlight, only able to tolerate it during the summer (especially on the solstice). During autumn and winter, they must shield themselves from it entirely, and in spring, they need to wear long sleeves and dark glasses or the period equivalent.

All atwali can see long distances. They need less sleep in the summer, and no sleep the three days before and after and during the solstice. If the area they are living in has a different relationship to the sun (i.e., months of darkness or day), they adjust accordingly.

Atwali are resistant to heat. Acorns heal them, and they can speak to the summer winds and even in other seasons, they can speak to the south wind.

On the summer solstice, they are nearly invincible. On the vernal or autumnal equinoxes, they are weaker, and they must hibernate through the winter solstice or be sickened for the entire next year.

Atwali live in pleasant pastoral villages where they work the fields and keep orchards. They live in small families with deep ties to their extended families. They honor their elders but have no leaders, living quaintly and prosaically without order. They make sweet treats, eat fresh fruits, and drink cold water. In the winters, they stay inside and rest.

They are hated by imperials

PRO 8 ATH 9 STR 7 AWA 9 WIL 8 PRS 9 STH 8 ESS 9

---

Ceotire

The people of the mists.

• Lifespan : 1,000 years
• Diet: Common fey fare
• Habitat: Misty moors
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

The people of the mists. They appear to be 6' tall figures with glowing eyes, bluish white flesh, long fingers, and fey faces. They have white hair, and their shadows move independently.

Ceotire (Kyoteeray) have the ability to teleport via mist. Anywhere mist is, they can move there. This can be a matter of feet or a matter of thousands of miles. The further they go, the more they must rest afterward, but the longest rest they will need is four hours to recover from walking the mists.

Their shadows move independently and, if the ceotire closes their eyes, they see through those of their shadows.

For every century they are alive, they gain a new power:

• 100: protective mist
• 200: freezing blast
• 300: hear the whispers of the mists
• 400: instill confusion
• 500: entangling mists
• 600: chilling grasp
• 700: speak through the mists
• 800: draining mists
• 900: senesce target
• 1,000: mist form

Ceotires dwell in great misty moors and hidden realms masked by mist. They are an ancient and powerful species who know many secrets, ancient lore, and the ways of the world. They have secret communities protected from outsiders by their control of the mists, and they answer only to their elders and the world itself.

In the city-states, those few who have come out of the mists face discrimination and fear, for they are considered bogeymen by the general population and often demonized.

PRO 9 ATH 9 STR 9 AWA 11 WIL 12 PRS 8 STH 14 ESS 11

---

Cuplatire

Fey folk of the equinox.

• Lifespan: 500 years

• Diet: Common fey fare

• Habitat: Anywhere with four seasons

• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

There are two kinds of cuplatire: those from the spring and those from autumn. Those from the spring are green on one side and blue on the other, 5’ tall fey beings with white hair. Those autumn are orange on one side and brown on the other, 5’ tall fey beings with grey hair.

All cuplatire are nature spirits who appear on the equinox and, on that day, can perform some kind of incredible magicks.

Those from the spring can, on the vernal equinox, bring someone back to life (assuming they died between the autumnal equinox and the vernal equinox), bring six weeks of light rain, turn someone into a song bird, give someone a protector butterfly for the next six months, awaken an ancient vernal elemental, make infertile lands fertile, or give someone a blossoming flower that contains a single wish.

Those from autumn can, on the autumnal equinox, kill someone named by the supplicant, bring six weeks of chill winds, turn someone into a speaking pumpkin, give someone a protector owl for the next six months, awaken an ancient autumnal elemental, make fertile lands infertile, or give someone a fallen leaf that contains a single curse.

All cuplatire have powers of night and day. Their night powers are to become invisible at night for an hour, the ability to speak to lunar beings, darkvision, and the power to breathe a freezing mist. Their day powers are to reveal hidden people during the day twice, the ability to speak to solar beings, farsight, and the power to create a glowing aura of heat.

Cuplatire are powerful fey who live the whole year, but only come out of their hidden societies on their specific equinox. On their equinox, there is a profound cultural ceremony, and those bonded to that equinox go among the realms of Faerie or mortals to use their powers, often making deals to grant their boons.

During the rest of the year, they spend their time hunting, partying, and worshiping nature elementals and seasonal spirits. Half of their society is active during the day and half during night.

If they live in mortal society, especially the empires, they try to hide what kind of fey they are. They are often exploited, enslaved, or used.

Day: PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 8 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 11 STH 10 ESS 9
Night: PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 8 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 10 STH 11 ESS 9

---

Dawn Folk

Fey of the rising sun.

• Lifespan: 300 years

• Diet: Fish-heavy mortal fare

• Habitat: Coastal equatorial regions

• Socioeconomic Status: Privileged oppressed

Dawn folk appear to be 6’ tall fey folk with golden brown skin, hair the color of the sunrise (it varies by day), and golden tan furry legs.

Dawn folk’s hair changes color every sunrise, matching the coloration of the sunrise from their precise location. If they are inside or otherwise blocked from the sunrise, their hair still changes to match the sunrise from their location assuming no obstacles were in the way.

All dawn folk know both their own location (on Shem) and the location of the sun at all times. If they leave Shem, it takes them a single rotation of the orbital body or spacecraft they are on to adjust their locational sense. If they are adrift in the void of space, they are probably dead, but if somehow they are not, their locational sense does not work.

Dawn folk are resistant to heat and radiation. They can see in the dark and can view bright lights without harm to their eyes.

At sunrise, they can bask in the rising sun’s rays and heal wounds, illness, or other physical maladies down one level (i.e., deep wound to normal wound). However, once they have done this, they cannot reduce it another level the next sunrise - they can only heal fresh wounds. Sunrises can also reduce their exhaustion and stress levels.

Dawn folk live mostly along the equator in coastal communities. There are many different nations of them, but almost all are sea-faring. They use their locational awareness to become very skilled sailors. They worship the sun, love to fish and dive for pearls, and have daily ceremonies at dawn. They are known for their elaborate cuisine and sea shanties.

In imperial lands, they are often exploited as sailors, but usually in a position of privilege. Some dawn folk even assimilate into imperial culture, and a rare few have become ruling class.

PRO 8 ATH 9 STR 8 AWA 10 WIL 8 PRS 9 STH 8 ESS 9

---

Founga

Sandy-haired fey living on the coast.

• Lifespan : 200 years

• Diet: Fish-heavy mortal fare

• Habitat: Coastal regions

• Socioeconomic Status: Privileged oppressed

Founga are fey beings with sandy-colored hair and pointy ears. They have gills and lungs, and their eyes are bright blue and green (one eye blue, one eye green). They have fins under their arms.

Founga can breathe on land or underwater. They are resistant to cold and unaffected by pressure changes. Once a week, they can make their skin hard as seashells. They can speak to molluscs and crustaceans. They have the ability to walk on water once a week, and they are very good swimmers. They can calm and strengthen waves if they swim in them.

Founga live in small coastal communities, usually as fishers and sailors, and are often exploited for their powers. They are treated well among the oppressed because of their skill as sailors. Local founga are embedded in the native nations.

PRO 8 ATH 8 Swim 10 STR 8 AWA 8 WIL 8 PRS 8 STH 8 ESS 8

---

High Folk

Fey folk living in the high mountains.

• Lifespan : 200 years

• Diet: Montane fey fare

• Habitat: Mountains

• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

High folk appear to be fey folk with greyish skin, hair like colorful, wispy clouds, pointy ears, and eyes like stone. They have clawed hands.

High folk live in the mountains and are resistant to cold. They can breathe thinner air without issue. They are able to climb with their clawed hands, and they can speak into the wind and be heard miles away. They have the ability to float gently if they fall off a high place, though this only lasts a few moments (long enough to re-establish a hold). All high folk are attuned to the mountain they are born on, and the nature of that mountain gives them different abilities:

• Ancient: the mountains of the region are all ancient. Lower mountains with forests and valleys, these mountains give high folk the power to speak to stones.

• Cryovolcanic: rare mountains found mostly on the sky continent, cryovolcanoes give high folk frost forms.

• Crystal: rare mountains found mostly on the sky continent, crystal mountains give high folk longsight.

• Dome: dome mountains give high folk the power to delve, splitting open the mountain temporarily and dive deep into them.

• Dune mountain: dune mountains are massive sand dunes the size of small mountains, giving high folk the power to take a sand form.

• Fell: fells are barren mountains that give high folk the power to repel weather effects.

• Forested: montane forests give high folk the power to speak to trees.

• Grassy mountain: grassy mountains give high folk the power to vanish into the greenery twice per week.

• Sky mountain: non-crystal, non-cryovolcanic mountains on the sky continent give high folk the power to summon winds.

• Snowcap: snowcap mountains give high folk the ability to take a snow form.

• Table mountain: flat-top mountains give high folk the ability to go longer without water.

• Volcanic: volcanic mountains give high folk resistance to heat and acid.

Local high folk are semi-integrated into the local native nations, but they have their own culture and traditions as well, mostly revolving around protecting the mountains and those that live there. They are hated and oppressed by the imperials, and those from other parts of the world are often there as slaves or indentureds.

PRO 8 ATH 9 STR 9 AWA 9 WIL 8 PRS 8 STH 7 ESS 8

---

Holly Folk

Folk of the winter.

• Lifespan : 200 years
• Diet: Meat-heavy mortal fare
• Habitat: Anywhere with winter
• Socioeconomic Status: Privilege oppressed

Holly folk appear to be pale-skinned folk, 6' tall, with green holly-leaf hair with red berries mottled throughout. They have brown and grey skin. In summer, they wilt and look sickly.

Holly folk are beings of winter. They derive power from it. In other seasons, they are weaker. All holly folk can create a slight chill in the air around them no matter what season, and they all have the ability to speak to holly trees.

During autumn and winter, holly folk have the following powers:

• Holly leaf blade: they can summon a large holly leaf that can be used as a shield or bladed weapon.
• Chill berry: they can take the berries from their hair and crush them to release a much, much colder blast of cold air.
• Repelling crown: their hair glistens with winter light and repels infernal energies.
• Dark strength: at night, they are much stronger.

Other winter-based powers may be possible.

Holly folk are part of a dual culture with oak folk. They dwell in temperate places and have a constant contest to see who reigns, but it is a friendly rivalry. Holly folk care for the world in the cold months, oak folk during the warm ones.

Local holly folk are embedded in the native nations.

In imperial regions, they are among the oppressed, but they are often considered a privileged nation because they are fetishized by the ruling class.

PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 8 AWA 8 WIl 8 PRS 9 STH 8 ESS 9

---

Kouezhan

Seed-bearing fey beings who change as the plant they are bonded to matures.

• Lifespan: 300 years
• Diet: Fruitarian
• Habitat: Deciduous woodlands
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Kouezhans are 6’ tall, slender, brown-skinned fey with dark, shaggy green hair. They have dark black eyes that have no pupils or irises, six of them in three neat rows on their faces. All kouezhans have a bond with a deciduous tree or shrub. As the plant matures, the kouzehan grows and changes. If the plant passes while the kouezhan lives, they bond to a new plant and change to match the new plant’s maturity level. When the plant’s leaves change colors and fall off (usually in autumn), the kouezhan’s eyes change colors and go dull, leaving them blind.

Kouezhans’ bond to their specific plants give them the ability to speak to any plant of that type. They cannot release the bond unless the plant dies. They can live off any fruit, but the fruit of the plant they are bonded to (if any) gives them greater nourishment. They can sense seeds of any kind of plant.

Kouezhans live in woodlands near a variety of deciduous plants, and their communities often focus on a small selection of such plants to bond to. They prefer to have a mix of plants rather than just one for a whole community. They make art, tools, and necessities out of the other plants growing around them. They have small communities, usually led by elders, focused on preserving their plants and living in peace. They often befriend insects, especially pollinators.

PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 9 AWA 9 WIL 8 PRS 9 STH 7 ESS 9

---

Makriamallia

Comet-dwelling fey beings.

• Lifespan: 500 years
• Diet: Cosmic energies
• Habitat: Comets
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Markiamallia are fey beings with dark skin that is filled with stars and hair that stretches out behind three to four times their body length. Their hair is always white, yellow, green, blue, or black. Their eyes are pools of swirling pink liquids.

Makriamallia are immune to cold and radiation. They can breathe without air and can regulate their internal pressures.

Makriamallia can control the orbit of the comets they live on if they work communally. They can breathe icy winds, see deep into the distance, and speak prophecies once per orbit. They are extremely strong and fast. They can control their hair as if it were an appendage.

Makriamallia live in small, matriarchal communities on the comets they dwell on, worshiping the cosmos, seeking knowledge of the depths of space, and living as nomads.

PRO 9 ATH 9 STR 9 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 9 STH 9

---

Neraida

Plant fey who weave living green into paper.

• Lifespan: 200 years
• Diet: Photosynthesis, water, nutrients, insects, worms
• Habitat: Forests and grasslands
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Neraidas appear to be 6’ tall fey beings with green skin, white and yellow hair, big insectoid eyes, and long antennae. They have small mouths with a slender tongue that stretches out much longer than it seems it should.

All neraidas can turn living plants, especially leaves, into magical paper that can be as light as air or thick and strong as steel and stone. They are immune to cold and concussive damage, and they have the ability to turn themselves completely flat temporarily. They can see great distances. Their tongues are sticky.

Neraidas live in the fey woodlands and grasslands in nomadic communities who often ride giant mantises and grasshoppers. They are crafters, weavers, papermakers (via magic), and artisans who use paper as a primary material in their clothing and shelter. They are known for their music and dancing, which often involves floating on the breeze.

Imperials exploit them for their papermaking.

PRO 8 ATH 8 STR 7 AWA 9 WIL 8 PRS 7 STH 8 ESS 9

---

Phase Folk

Fey beings who live within eclipses

• Lifespan: Unknown
• Diet: Common fey fare
• Habitat: Faerie
• Socioeconomic Status: Feared

Phase folk are 6’ tall fey beings with black and white skin and hair. Their eyes reflect the phase of the eclipse they are formed within.

Phase folk are legendary beings that appear during eclipses. They may remain afterward, disappearing within a set amount of time that only they are aware of.

Phase folk are equally beings of moon, sun, and world. They can see in dark or light. They can see through matter. They are immune to heat and cold. And they can use mirrors as portals.

All phase folk are attuned to a specific eclipse: lunar or solar.

Those connected to a lunar eclipse can turn invisible once per week, wear darkness as their clothing, use shadowspeak to send messages, use dance to teleport between a moon and the world during a full moon, and speak to wolves.

Those connected to a solar eclipse can form an aura around themselves that reveals truths to others, turn river water into cleansing lights, know where their lovers are no matter what, resurrect themselves from the dead once, and protect anyone near them from esoteric attacks.

All phase folk can read portents in the sun, moons, and world. All of them know when a natural disaster is coming. All of them can heal any deep wound or less if they fast for a day. All of them are stronger during an eclipse of any kind.

Some phase folk can inflict anger, sadness, sickness, or loneliness on people with a silent charm.

Phase folk are revered among the fey, and their influence has been used historically to make people rulers or leaders. The reverence for them among the fey often means they are assumed to be part of the ruling classes of Faerie, but they aren’t always so.

Many are very religious, known for their worship of cosmic bodies. They have beautiful hymns, rituals, and customs in their faith, and the most powerful among them can speak directly to the elementals of the sun, moon, or planets.

Blood magic and sex magic practices are common among the phase folk.

The cyclical nature of eclipses is a central part of their culture, and they are known to hide for long periods and return to engage with broader fey society.

In the imperial core, they are viewed as powerful, mysterious, and dangerous fey.

PRO 10 ATH 9 STR 8 AWA 10 WIL 9 PRS 10 STH 11 ESS 10

---

Salt Folk

Coastal folk embodying the salt air.

• Lifespan : 120 years
• Diet: Fish-heavy fey fare
• Habitat: Coastal areas
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Salt folk have sandy brown hair, tanned skin, and pure white eyes. They stand about 6' tall. They have fey features and pointed ears. They have fish fins on their arms, legs, and necks.

Salt folk have the power to sense the amount of salt in anything just by looking at it (moderate), touching it (strong), or tasting it (perfect). They can control anything that is not alive and has more than 3% salinity (i.e., the ocean) to some degree by whispering to it, and they can form spears of salt crystals if there is enough of it nearby.

Salt folk are fey beings who live on the coasts as fishers and sailors. They want nothing more than to be left alone. They live off the bounty of the sea, care of their families, and celebrate the change of season and tide. They love their music, their feasts, and their handcrafts.

In imperial lands, they are an oppressed nation often conscripted into the navy.

PRO 8 ATH 9 Swim 12 STR 8 AWA 8 WIl 8 PRS 9 STH 8 ESS 8

---

Sky Folk

Winged folk from the skies.

• Lifespan : 200 years
• Diet: Sky fare
• Habitat: Sky islands
• Socioeconomic Status: Privileged oppressed

Sky folk are 6' tall feather-winged figures with blue skin (of varying shades), colorful hair, and cloudy eyes.

Sky folk can fly. They are unaffected by changes in atmospheric pressure. They can sense coming changes in the winds. And they can create whirlwinds by spinning in the skies once per year.

If they remain within a layer of the atmosphere for at least a year and a day, they can fly within it at superspeed once per month or until they leave that layer. If a sky folk doesn't fly once per day, they grow sick.

Sky folk are a proud and powerful nation in the cloud islands, where they protect the skies from pollutants, infernal powers, and invaders. Those who come to the empires as immigrants are often stereotyped as haughty, stupid, and arrogant, but they are also exoticized and privileged by the ruling class, who envy their powers and wings.

PRO 8 ATH 9 Flight 14 STR 7 AWA 9 WIL 8 PRS 8 STH 7 ESS 8

---

Snegokhod

Fey folk of the tundras.

• Lifespan: 300 years
• Diet: Meat-heavy tundra fare
• Habitat: Tundra
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Snegokhod are 6’ tall fey with dark grey skin, black eyes, and hair white like snow. They are hirsute, like a hairy human with white hair. They have pointy ears. Some of them have bear snouts. Culturally, they tend to wear heavy furs.

Snegokhod are resistant to cold. They can see in the dark, and they can walk on snow without leaving footprints or sinking into it. They can speak to animals and plants of their home tundra, and they have keen senses of smell.

If they sleep more than 12 or more hours in a 24-hour period, they gain extended senses for the next 24-hour period, being able to see and smell and hear three times as far. They are mostly nocturnal.

Snegokhod can merge with snowstorms or blizzards once per year, turning into a snowy wind being for an hour. They usually use this to reach shelter.

Snegokhod live in nomadic communities on the tundras. They live in both the northern and southern hemisphere, and there are many, many nations among them. Those nearest the Talunese cities live in the high mountain tundras north of the region, and they are xenophobic and territorial. They dislike the imperials and see them as enemies of their homelands. Their culture is a hunting/warrior culture, with a focus on survival, hunting, fur trapping, and snow art.

The original snegokhod nations are further to the north. They tend to be herders of tundra animals, form bonds with local predators, and see themselves as protectors of nature. Otherwise, they tend to be similar to the Talunese nation.

In imperial lands, they are viewed as violent, evil, and even demonic, though some are valued for their skill in hunting or battle.

PRO 9 ATH 9 STR 9 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 7 STH 9 ESS 8

---

Yawmi

The people of the long night.

• Lifespan: 150 years
• Diet: Common fey fare
• Habitat: Cold regions
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Yawmi are 5’ tall fey with silver skin and no hair. They have six sets of eyes, and their fingers end in glowing points.

Yawmi dislike the sun, only able to tolerate it during the winter (especially on the solstice). During spring and summer, they must shield themselves from it entirely, and in autumn, they need to wear long sleeves and sunglasses or the period equivalent.

All yawmi can see in the dark. They need less sleep in the winter, and no sleep the three days before and after and during the solstice. If the area they are living in has a different relationship to the sun (i.e., months of darkness or day), they adjust accordingly.

Yawmi are resistant to cold. Holly berries are not poisonous to them, but instead heal them, and they can speak to the winter winds and even in other seasons, they can speak to the north wind.

On the winter solstice, they are nearly invincible. On the vernal or autumnal equinoxes, they are weaker, and they must hibernate through the summer solstice or be sickened for the entire next year.

Yawmi live in quaint villages in colder regions, with frost-rimed trees, snow-covered fields and hills, and homes made of stone, warmed by small fires that only apply enough heat to keep the breath from freezing in the lungs. They are picturesque scenes like your ideal holiday scene. They live in extended families that expand into greater clans, ruled by their elders, and they make special confections, feasts, and toys every winter. In the summers, they work inside and keep to themselves.

They are severely oppressed by imperials.

PRO 8 ATH 9 STR 7 AWA 9 WIL 8 PRS 8 STH 9 ESS 9

---

Ysbryd

Fey who have innate bonding powers via elemental magic.

• Lifespan: 300 years
• Diet: Fare of the forest
• Habitat: Forests
• Socioeconomic Status: Oppressed

Ysbrydiaid are 6’ tall, pale-green-skinned fey with dark green, leafy hair, berry red eyes, and fanged mouths. They all have tails, which vary by what animals are common in their home forests.

Ysbrydiaid magically bond to the natural, unsettled regions they are born into. If they wish, they can change this to another region once they are adults (or if they are forced to leave their homes), but it must be a natural, unsettled area. This bond gives them heightened senses within their homes (usually forests), the power to speak to plants, animals, and fungi there, and the power to take wounds for any living thing native to their home. As they age, they gain other magical powers that vary by home forest, one every 30 years.

The ysbrydiaid live in communal groups within their forests, led by councils of elders and the trees themselves (as well as any elder animals or fungi in the area), and they seek to live in perfect harmony with nature. They are extremely defensive of their territory and will kill any imperials on sight unless there is very good reason not to. They will die for their forests.

Imperials consider them evil.

PRO 9 ATH 9 STR 9 AWA 9 WIL 9 PRS 7 STH 9 ESS 9