Worldbuilding: Beasts of Calithwain
Calithwain:
Major powers:
Academy (Jixil attacks book two)
Elves/Forest Dwellers (Jixil attacks book one)
Dwarves/Goblins (dark Wolf starts fighting each other over something stupid)
Nomads (dark “convinces them to only care about themselves)
Sea Creatures (dark Wolf sends a monster or natural disaster) he sends the leviathan.
Evil Powers:
Jixil/tzalmaveths
Dark Wolf
Leviathan?
Crimson Circle
Prejudice
Keep to selves:
Elemental Spirits
Dragons
Seers
Groups of humans
Feral Elves
MONSTERS
Hamadryads- Dwarf hating
Witches- humans that ally with Jixil, learn J spells, normal yet corrupted focus, probably graduate academy or at least attend.
Emps part of Compact
Monsters: Carrion crawlers, marsh of misery creature, flame jaguars
Banshees: (Fire Demon Lady) Banshee hair enhances some poisons (Magic Portal) Banshees don’t attack forest dwellers. Live in Western mts of Calithwain. Sometimes Southern Alcanster? Don’t like desert, like the cool side of the mountains. They resemble younger women haggard from crying, with long flowing hair. Their shrieking fortells death. Men attacked them to steal their hair, so they have started fighting back.
Sola Snakes- Breathe fire, die from water, (Sand and Snakes).
Shrieking lizards in desert
Sphinx: There’s only one, insightful, can’t predict future but good at analyzing people. Love riddles, analyzing human condition and great mysteries of life. Can conjure, roams Calithwain, likes caves, spends much of time in desert. Legendary, rarely seen, generally changes people’s lives.
Will o’the Wisps “It sounds like will o’the wisps. They’re cousins to the fairies, and have been known to lure travelers to their deaths. You’re lucky to have escaped.” “What horrible creatures!” “They’re dangerous, yes, but easy to avoid if you know what to expect. Will-o’-the-wisps are the faint lights seen on marshes and bogs on still nights after sunset. Usually a soft bluish light, but also reddish or greenish in appearance. In folklore, they are thought to be imps or pixies leading victims to danger in swa…
Mist Eagle cousin of Thunderbird?
Harpies Harpuai. beautiful women with a wings. They ride the storm winds and carry people away forever (and probably torture them)
Wild Torcs- Large herd beasts, can stampede, live in Alcanster. Nasty horns (Magic Portal)
Amphisbaenas The Amphisbaena is a Greek serpent with two heads and eyes that glow like candles. It has a head at each end of its body. This is how it got its name which means “goes both ways” in Greek. It is also called the “mother of ants”, because it feeds on ants. If it is chopped in half, the two parts will join again. The medical properties of the Amphisbaena were recorded by Pliny. The wearing of a live Amphisbaena is a supposed safeguard in pregnancy. The wearing of a dead one is a remedy for rheumatism. Medieval bestiaries also document the Amphisbaena as a two-headed lizard, and even a two-headed serpent-like fowl. Phisbe, serpents very wise, speak all tongues. Seers summon it in ancient ceremony so ierra can have a guide and translator. Few of them in Calithwain.
Gargoyles live in the Northern countries. Mostly inanimate carved statues, a few places mostly in Ordno Empire or ancient traps they’ve been enchanted to “live” and protect, with limited intelligence. You can’t tell if a gargoyle is enchanted or dead stone till you get close.
Phoenix Just one, lives somewhere in Calithwain at the top of a high mountain. Maybe kids help it to be reborn and it gives them a special favor in return. Can bestow fire magic? Has fire magic? Its true name is Feng-Huang (represent balance of male and female. Maybe this is Feng, on quest for female Huang. Or it represents perfect balance so it’s male and female.
Thunderbird makes thunder sound when flies.
Kelpie A creature known for tricksterlike cunning
Rocs Rocs were large and dangerous, but still stupid. Jhara supposed that she could handle one, although she’d never actually seen one before. The one time a mage, or better yet an archer would be useful (The Trap). Live on islands.
Wyverns A screech split the air overhead, echoing through the rocks like the final cry of a dying vulture. Discordant and shrill, it lingered on the air as Kreliss searched the skies for its source. A gigantic leathery beast, brown scales glinting in the dying sunlight, swooped overhead. Its wide wings opened wide enough to block out the sun as it lowered to strike and to kill. (Kreliss)
Kappas: See Japanese legends
Sea Unicorns Come from idea of narwhales, like cold weather, Alaskan
Gazers: See the witch’s husband. They haven’t been seen in years, thought extinct?
Pazuzu: evil disease demons of Aracen. A winged demon, feared by the people of ancient Mesopotamia. It is a creature with a deformed head, the wings of an eagle, the sharp claws of a lion on its hands and feet, and the tail of a scorpion. This demon is the personification of the south-east storm wind, which brings diseases. The Mesopotamians believed that Pazuzu lived in the desert.
Tzalmaveths Jixil’s tzalmaveth creatures are the first to appear, since they’re easier for her to summon than to recruit live critters. Book 2 after her tzalmaveth creatures fail, she tries live people, starting with mages. Tzalmaveths are something out of nightmares and dark legends, none have been seen since Jixil, although bad gu6ys have tried. Usually they turn on their creator since it takes too strong a force of will to control them. Jixil made them as a byproduct from the negative energy from Darkland’s creation. Now they’ve grown beyond her control. Actually, she imported them from the world of the Svartalfar. They fear daylight, and must hide during that time.
Trolls live in ddarkland. They are stupid but violent and dangerous. They speak rudimentary human speech. The best thing Is to outwit them. They hate goblins. Trolls — Have an aversion to daylight. They are frequently observed performing a curious lop-sided dance called ‘Henking’.
CIVILIZATIONS
Nomads: first people here. They have patron, arrive slightly before Sidaria, show them magic of how to find water, their foci are clumsy and don’t focus well, their magic is quite different from human mages, no one can figure it out unless they live there 10+ years, and those people won’t tell how. Religion?
Dryads: Forest magic (such as emps) can’t harm a dryad. Dryads worship the Great Tree. They all have beautiful singing voices. Old dryads grow into hamadryads?
Druids: Druids named themselves after dryads, since they wished to emulate the magical creatures. Druids are humans from the northern kingdom’s, and we’re the only human group to join Sidaria’s compact. They do well the happily in the forest for about 100 years, building a great temple and Stone Circle. Then they vanished overnight and no one knows what happens to them.
The Shifter:
His greatest servants are the leviathan (water), the dark wolf (land, mostly northern) and the Storms (air). The Storms are like the Nothing from Fantasia. Also fire creatures. Jisxil and her tzalmaveths serve him, but that’s recent. He lives on the very edge of reality, unmaking things.
Only the Seven (and kids) have the Power of Making (stable crystals and more)
Seven don’t instanbtly grow to adulthood, but they all take the age they wish. Kreliss and Andrea don’t realize they have this power.
Magic produces temporary changes.
The Magic races all have a little intrinsic power, the elemental spirits have much more. Humans are the interlopers. Plus humans have different afterlife, etc
Sylvan Elves or Sylvans: (see Master of Hawks)
Population:
NAMES AND LANGUAGE: some elves study language of Seven
HISTORY: The elves were once more powerful, lived in and commanded volcanoes, then they split. The ones near volcanoes are the really powerful smith-elves. The regular ones do more plant magic.
GEOGRAPHY live in forest and meadows. Mild climate, lots of hunting. Once elves lived by the ocean, but they moved gradually with Sidaria (to guard the well). Maybe. Live in longhouses, or tree houses like Lackey’s hawkbrothers. Semipermanent- they move with game.
EXPORTS warriors to protect caravans. Healers. Forest products like tree syrup, dried foods, mushrooms. Healing herbs. Seeds with growing instructions. A little wood but always cautiously. Some expertly crafted wood instruments, weapons etc. Usually weapons or crafts and less mundane stuff, cuz they’d rather beautify the interesting projects. Musical instruments. Very prized ebris cocoon silk or silk thread. They own most of the caravans, since lots of elves like traveling. Very worldly. Prefer wood, Mostly beautiful wood, basketry, instruments, bows. Occasionally magical.
JUSTICE Evil mages are exiled, the one crime without appeal (although you can plead for murder). The council decides punishment, most popular is sending someone away for a while (rarely permanent) or putting them to work.
POLITICAL Village chiefs rule with the aid of the council. Anyone can make a case to Sidaria. The council elects the chief, and the people elect the council. Only a council member can be chief. A little swapping between villages.
CLASS Everyone equally respected (theoretically). They view smith elves as primitive and rude, smith elves find them primitive and boring. Lots of travelers and wanderlust
CURRENT ISSUES Recent dwarf war. Shipping with humans
RELIGION Elves believe in the Triune of the 3 moon godesses. A few strange cultists have tried combining with the Dryads’ religion
CITIES lots of small towns. The forest elves trade very intensely with the smith elves, so much that sme people thnk forest elves have the monopoly. Smith elves provide but a very few elves embrace metal work. They trade ore from the dwarves, in peaceful times, and from Seln in war (though dwarves can block trade) Smiths live outside the village. Some craftspeople work with gems, but beautiful metals and crafting are more popular. They have metal pots, tools, etc, but must trade for domestic plant/ animal stuff.
FOLK TRADITIONS Elves are hunter-gatherers since that’s always provided enough food. Small population. Their preferred instruments are drums, small harps, and panpipes. Saying: tell me and I’ll forget,show me and I may remember, involve me and I’ll understand. Say “By Aglaia’s light.”
HOLIDAYS/CALENDAR: Outdoor festivals of full moon and new moon every month, with different traditions (harvest, midwinter, etc) HOW WORK WITH THREE MOONS? Tribes often visit on these days.
LIFECYCLES 3 rites: First rite= being a mentee (age 10). 2nd rite- being a mentor (age 25 or so). 3rd rite- marriage and having children(must have completed mentoring first, considered prep for having kids). Is considered circular like the moons. First two rites may need to be completed if bad enough job first time. Dead, members of Sidaria’s compact dissolve into the air. Elves can hang around as spirits of nature, occasionally taking corporeal form, or fade into the White Crystal, depending on whether they’re ready to let go.
MEN AND WOMEN both can have any jobs
FOOD They don’t eat anything black, to honor Sidaria. Lots of roast meat and fresh or roasted veggies. Fruits and nuts and interesting desserts with those. Nut- porridge (like with acorns). Simple food, not a lot of sauces. No flour or grain crops.
PLANTS AND ANIMALS Pastures for visiting animals. No cows/sheep, they trade for wool, don’t eat much dairy. Lots of deer. mountain goats to the west, forest animals north, lots of fish, catch in net traps. Lots of birds
MAGIC White Crystal for all mages and seers, but everyone’s tied to it. Lots of forest magic, herbalism, healing. Elf healers are highly prized, very spiritual. Some battle mages. Trees etc are more bountiful than usual. Abnormal number of mages, thanks to crystal’s proximity.
CLOTHING/APPEARANCE Mostly leather, some linen (difficult to make.) Trade for wool. Some wild cotton that kids pick. For fancy, gorgeously dyed linens and “silk” from ebris cocoons. Very flowing garments. Celtic knotted jewelry from the smith-elves, lots of twists and curves.
Elves have pointed ears, bigger eyes than humans. Skin light brown (kinda south American), hair dark, long and elaborately twisted for both genders. When they dress up, they wear feathers and beads in their hair, elaborate dyes in many colors. Some dye skin.
MONEY They get lots of coins in trade. Some bartering, some coins. Among themselves, they share freely, kind of communist, everyone supports everyone.
ENEMIES/HAZARDS Constant hate/tolerate relations with dwarves, mostly to do with strip mining and high prices, plus suspicion over how dwarf women are treated (like US and Iraq)
national symbol the White Crystal
ORIGINS: The elves in all likelihood came from fairyland, living in Calithwain changed them until they became indigeous people.
STORY NOTES:
High Smith elves
Call selves the Serpent people, children of the serpent, lots of kinship with earth serpent.
To the northeast is Chepi or Abbomacho, who sent winter’s cold blasts and darkness, and the malignant powers of wandering souls. But also from Chepi, usually a great Serpent, come the deep mysteries born of things under The Earth, visions and shamanic powers too. Chepi as Serpent is the guardian-spirit of the “bridge” that people cross to join their Ancestors — -the living stars that fill the universe like the waters and peoples here on Earth. (See for examples works cited here by Quinnipiac historian Iron Thunderhorse.)
Very spiritual, symbiotic with fire, incredible craftsmanship.
Population:
NAMES AND LANGUAGE
HISTORY split off from normal cause not want join compact. A third group split off from them, deciding they’re too militant and went off to live seperately, partly cause regular elves wouldn’t accept them. 3rd group lives on mountain north of feral elves; they’re called the Sundered Tribe.
GEOGRAPHY They live surrounded by volcanoes. They live in systems of caves.
EXPORTS Magical weapons, brilliant jewelry, focuses. They import most things, or transmute them. They import fine clothes from the sylvans, and staples from humans/dwaves/etc.
JUSTICE Harsh, lots of fire related punishments, or menial chores.
POLITICAL Very insular, good relation with sylvans. Healthy competition with dwarves.
CLASS Smiths are better than everyone, since the bring in the money for everything.
CURRENT ISSUES
RELIGION Mystical devotion to earth serpent
CITIES
FOLK TRADITIONS Sulfer baths
HOLIDAYS/CALENDAR:
LIFECYCLES Burial mounds. Same 3 levels.
MEN AND WOMEN Anyone can be a smith. Everyone appentices to be one.
FOOD Some hunting, some mushrooms/ roots, lots of imports. Indoor birds
PLANTS AND ANIMALS lots of mineral/mushroom healing. They’re the best at long-term pain relief, so great reputation as healers.
MAGIC They use focuses, lots of jet, some quartz. Lots of mages familiar with earth’s tectonics. The ferel elves have a genie in their midst, bound to a lump of obsideon. The genie-binding took place there, and this one was accidentally left. The first leader knew of this, and picked that spot, although his followers didn’t know.
CLOTHING/APPEARANCE Perpetually sooty. Gruff and insular. Leather aprons etc or dwarf clothes for everyday work.
MONEY cut gems, they’re very wealthy.
national symbol the volcano
STORY NOTES:
.
Shadow Elves apparently mythical, some say they’re a cross between elves and fairies. They skulk around in shadowy woods, when they favor someone, it’s permanent. They tend to mark both friends and enemies. Their food does odd things to people. They are universally blamed for changelings, bad weather, odd behavior etc. Members of Compact? Very secretive and mildly hostile. Wariness of using true names. Spirits of dead elves.
Humans: In Calithwain there’s a bandit’s code that comes from Lotorinum.
Dwarves:
Population:
NAMES AND LANGUAGE
HISTORY
GEOGRAPHY
EXPORTS
JUSTICE
POLITICAL Dwarrves and goblins must settle differences and work together.
CLASS dwarves live in 9 classes.
CURRENT ISSUES
RELIGION One god, or many (knowledge, art, war, smith, magic, craft…) 9 gods of arts. Beautiful mystic shrines to their gods. Each god has a day of no work,
CITIES
FOLK TRADITIONS
HOLIDAYS/CALENDAR: LIFECYCLES
MEN AND WOMEN women are buff, Viking-like. Often wear trousers. Very patriarchal, women don’t usually interact with outsiders, women harshly confined by rules of decency. Some content, some rebellious. Theodred has retreated inot himself more and more and his “steward” has issued most of the new decency laws.
FOOD Mostly roots and mushrooms. They like meat, but going above ground for wild game is dangerous. They raise and eat cave sloths.
PLANTS AND ANIMALS
MAGIC Since dwarves cast through crystal in the rock (and mine walls into a more receptive shape) they only cast underground. While they’re formidable if they lure enemies down there, they usually use magic to build and create. Insular but wise. Lots of seeing pools to view outside world.
CLOTHING/APPEARANCE Sloth fur. Weave cloth out of rock itself (magically)
MONEY
national symbol the hammer
STORY NOTES:
Dragons: Dragons are powerful, ill tempered, and very covetous. They demand respect from everyone, and turn on people they consider disrespectful of their power. They have no fear of the Seven, and fall under none of their control. They feed quite rarely and live longer than any other creature in Calithwain (except the Seven). They breathe fire and fly, being under their shadow is said to be bad luck. They can see past, present and future, though they very rarely care enough to interfere. They have no magic but their powers of prophecy can be astounding if they choose, and their minds can shape pictures in the steam of their hot sulfur caves. They can also control one’s mind; looking into one’s eyes is thought to be quite perilous. If injured they take a long time to heal, and they’re vulnerable to certain poisons. They have bad eyesight, excellent hearing and impossibly good powers of smell. They are covered in scales and are reddish, with generally a touch of gold or black individually. Whatever their color, it darkens as they age, it’s brightest at mid-life.
Special mage dragons born with jewels in their foreheads or tails? Jewels can be focuses for others, incredibly valuable, one kidnapped in Sehara the White’s story.
Seers: Utopian society in isolated corner of Calithwain. Many seers, can see immediate and hazy later future. Everyone wears sky blue robes. Pacifist, isolationist, freely give to those among them in need. No rich, no poor, all philosophers. Maybe live in crater of volcano. They come to tell that the volcano will explode but the seers already know, have a passive magic plan to escape. Seer who can see future and woould rather die than kill travels with party. Perfect society, only want to be left alone. Not affiliated with 7 (only ones) but happy that way. Seers (seer-elves? People from all species?) worship little insignificant animals like newts cause think they possess true wisdom and happiness. They have great inborn passibe magic that they can use to protect selves from genies, well, etc.
Fire Demons have powerful magic. Fire demons go through seemingly random periods of agression where they try to wipe out the water demons. Fire demons are chaotic, but water demons are slow plotters, occasionally try retaliation, affiliated with Nulaan but too proud to ask for help. Suspicious, untrustworthy, not known for keeping their words. Fire demons forgetful, fail to keep promises by accident. Ierra finds a way to keep them trapped seperately, unable to continue warring. Maybe she needs the Dome of Air from the top of the world.
Goblins live underground, at war with Alcanster goblin’s child story. Goblins and dwarves unofficially give each other lots of space. Goblins fight humans and dwarves fight elves. They hate trolls. Darkland drove some goblins mad, theyh live there and attack humans, trolls, and anyone else. Crafty, sneaky and sly. If they’re from Darkland,t hey’re also delusional.
ELEMENTAL SPIRITS
Elemental spirits Mermaids and pixies are very distant kin, both cast through microscopic crystals, both have serious penalties for eating human food. They are linked to air and water, not earth, Firebirds similar? Firebirds more like women, also mystic separation from humankind. Can change into woman? 3 groups do favors for each other. All grant wishes under special circumstances. Also underground gnomes make fourth grp or goblins, hobgoblins? GOBLINS They’re all from a different world and acclimated to Calithwain, other series about the four species sneaking to earth of past or present? What do they all normally eat? Food created by magic? The four are more corporeal, but still emotionally removed from humankind, think humans fleshy and incomprehensible. genies are the evil? force of chaos but were contained by powerful magicians. They’re mostly in Aracen, scattered among deserts. Unicorns are a force of good and order, they prefer forests but are so orderly that they dislike disruptive humans. One of each goes to Earth to recapture an escaped evil spirit, but they need a human to make wishes. They think a kid will be pliant but she has a mind of her own. 2 or 3 kids? 1 kid and older sibling follows? Each elemental spirit group has one adversary that isn’t affected by their magic. Genies vs unicorns?
Rules for all: No human food or their own kind cast them out for a while, grant humans wishes as desired (genies coerced to, unicorns choose not to except under direst circumstances, other four do so as wish), some people of four elements can cast, genies’ lamps prohibit them, nothing’s known about unicorn magic. Species with varied personalities but common traits. Cold iron can imprison them, so can red threads. True names have power? Emotional Distance inrelating to humans.
Mermaids: Mermaids live in Square cut bay and to South, also in Nulaan’s lake. Some can cast spells with salt crystals and Nulaan’s magic. Spell casters are powerless in fresh water. They like Isle of the Flowers. They’re vain, can grant wishes and do so as a gesture of respect to any clever enough to steal their girdles. The girdles are from rights of passage and the mermaids prize them dearly. Some think it’s a game, some get mad when robbed. Like firebirds, can’t wish stuff for selves, just for others. The only wish mermaids can cast for themselves is to be a human. Not done lightly, they can only change if it’s where they want to live forever. They throw away their girdles? Mermaids don’t like undines but are friendly with kelpies. Varying reactions to humans. Undines are their adversary.
Firebirds live in the land beyond the clouds. They’re firendly, intelligent, very beautiful. Voluntarily give feathers to those who they think are worthy since feathers are very powerful. Weakness for fruit like apples and cherries. Perhaps the ogres/giants// have captured one that stole from the garden. Firebirds can grant wishes but can’t wish stuff for themselves. They have lots of knowledge about fairies, mermaids, and even unicorns. Gnomes are too foreign. Giants are their adversary.
The Fairie:
Population:
They live in a land where time stands still.
NAMES AND LANGUAGE Also called sylphs or pixies. Everyone vin/ vina (son/daughter of). Everyone has a secret name that must not be used. In fact, for very elevated people, you don’t use their names at all (the queen, etc). People use Robin’s name, but call Starling “the prince”. Fairy court use thou? Just on formal occasions, first meetings, fairy prince revert to formal when stressed? Also royal we? Bird and flower names our traditional but not required.
HISTORY Travel to the mortal world has dropped, because it has less of the magical energy fairies need, as we drift away from the center.
GEOGRAPHY Thanks to giant garden, many people think fairies are tiny like tinkerbell. No one looks over 18 or so. See Sheri Tepper’s Beauty. People’s clothes change depending on what you wish them to be. No moon or seasons, always spring, mild day and night, always pleasantly warm. No time in fairyland. Everythinbg very beautiful, very boring. Robin and friends are regarded as fools, but they are actually wisest of all. By visiting Calithwain often, they understand the truths of the world and many of the sacred riddles. That very Royal Court lives in a magnificent palace that hovers above the ground so that only fairies can reach it. The lowest class of ferries pick up brownies and carry them where they need to go. Only ferries are allowed in the palace, it’s a great honor to even be a servant there. The ferries have magnificent balls, with very formal manners and dancing all night. No weather, temperatures always perfect.
EXPORTS none formally, they crave a few magical ingredients that they can’t find in their world. They make wooden instruments, jewelry, and clothing — all is magical. It amuses them to cause trouble, rather than give serious gifts.
JUSTICE
POLITICAL They have a vested interest in what happens in Calithwain. They all support different members of the Seven.
Without human blood every few generations, faires would fade into the mist. So they kidnap lovers and have changelings. They employ lesser people like brownies and especially gnomes to create magical clockwork gagets, toys, and magic gifts to reward or mess with mortals.
CLASS All fairies have a complicated ranking system, other species are unimportant, unless the queen is using them. Seelie versus unseelie courts. Everyone is at least technically one or the other.
CURRENT ISSUES First daughter was Ishara, she married a human and was cast from the royal house, then Torona Lula took aanother lover and had more kids a generation later: prince who can’t rule, then Her Glory Lessabella vina Torona, Crown Princess of all of Fairyland. The prince is very cold and calculating, very logical. The queen hates Andrea but needs her.
RELIGION Nothing anyone’s aware of. Horror of all things terribly mortal (not just religion) since only mortals have found ways to banish fairies.
CITIES Scattered transfer points to fairy realm.
FOLK TRADITIONS They say “fair skies” when they say goodbye. Don’t like mortal religious words. “What’s your name” is rude. Asking which side you’re on is rude. Lot of trading on status. “By my loyalty to the queen” is popular oath. Serious references to mortlity in very bad taste. “One of the green ones” means very high class. Whiter the skin is, the lower the person’s assumed class (not accurate, but used for insults). Teasing about emotions very bad taste. Robin’s traditionally exempt from manners. The royal family has perfect manners.
HOLIDAYS/CALENDAR: Frequent festivals and balls. Festive dinners most nights unless the queen is angry. It’s very hard to keep track of days, there are no seasons. Even moons feel patternless.
LIFECYCLES : Lessabella is having her second crowning ceremony. In the first, she is designated heir so she can meet her people. (and people start kissing up to her for three years). In the second, she begins training. The third ceremony she ascends the throne. Everyone’s like that — first, you get adult freedom, second you get adult training/responsibility, third you get adult respect.
MEN AND WOMEN women have more status, courtiers write poems, flirt, and try to please them. Liasons common, marriage equivalent rare. “Partnering” is as close as they get. There are some human guys allowed to marry into fairyland but not girls cuz succession goes through thet woman. The prince having a relationship with Andrea would be forbidden.
FOOD fruits, nuts, honey nectar, a kind of ambrosia (tastes like very sweet oranges). Meat is repellent and vulgar, reminds of mortality. No milk, veggies unpopular. Food served cold, compounded into ambrosia, candies, etc, but no real cooking. Ltos of sweets and snacks. Marzipan and rose petal candy are fashionable now. Eating is a game, fairies only need a few bites of food a day. When in the mortal world, they kinda like bread and milk for the novelty.
PLANTS AND ANIMALS Scary monster/beasts. For sp[ort, fairies hunt monsters. They ride with or become the Wild Hunt. Nowadays, they often hunt gnomes. The dangerous animals can’t fly, so fairies easily escape, then often taunt and enrage the creatures (bad for gnomes). Spell plants more potent in fairyland.
MAGIC Too proud for Sidaria’s compact, use natural inborn magic through micromicroscopic crystals of pixy dust. They can grant wishes for other species if they want to; they’re tricky and just do the letter of law. Cold iron can imprison them, so can red threads. Eating mortal food gets you kicked out, eating fairy food lets them draw mortals back to their world and demand a task.
CLOTHING/APPEARANCE They have pale green skin and are abnormally tall, with thin hands and fingers. They seem translucent. Pointed ears. Make them non-traditional and noncaucasion. General dress is courtly, very fancy. Lots of exotic jewelry. Both genders wear heavy makeup. They have gray fly wings that glitter and shimmer colors in direct sunlight. When they leave the fairie world, their wings vanish.
MONEY
national symbol the emerald crown, symbolizing the queen
PEOPLE: The light seer is a recluse by the prince’s garden. Like a fairy godmother (may do some of that on the side). Eccentric cuz she likes mortals. She councels Andrea and Starling (separately).
Ast the worst possible plot times, the princes trade places. At the cloimax, Andrea’s sure it’s Robin. They kiss differently. The light seer is a recluse by the prince’s garden. Like a fairy godmother (may do some of that on the side). Eccentric cuz she likes mortals. She’s the crone, people mock her behind her back. In a cave of the lonely mountain lives a dark seer, she’s evil. She portrays herself as a young maiden, people fear and respect her, admire her beauty and power. The queen is the stately mother. She only intervenes between the two of them when she feels it necessary. The fairy queen’s appearance (hair, height, etc) changes whenever she wants it to. The made in thinks that since she intends to be the youngest, she has the most power. Like Narnia, however, she forgets there are older sources of power in fairyland. The clone can tap them but she can’t. There’s also a queen mother around or traveling.
Robin end of the Prince are twins, they can look identical when they try. Robin wears elegant clothes that are torn to bits, with floppy, uncombed hair. His skin is a bit darker from all the sun. darien is more pale and ties his hair back in a short queue/ ponytail. His clothes are elegant but subdued. Occasionally they switch places; sometimes Robin insists on it to get out of a boring party were to attend a more exciting one. Darien cares about the outside world. Rob and only wants to have fun and play tricks on people. He abuses his position as Prince. When Darien is cast out of fairyland, Robin wakes up and realizes that he should be more responsible. His brother was willing to leave fairyland for cause he believes an, and Robin should do the same. He promises to keep an eye on his brother and help him as much as he can. In book one they both appear about fifteen. Robin is in Andrea’s tour guide, but occasionally the other prince takes its place, with the same appearance by a totally different personality. The other prince argues politics and serious topics with Andrea, and she comes to suspect that they are different people
Plot: Andrea frees a reluctant human lover by finding someone on earth to follow the only way out of the spell. She befriends the brownies by treating them like people. The fairies have a tie to her from the dish of food she ate there.
Robin and wren are rather young, but Robin follows in an ancient tradition. There is always a robin around fairyland, and they always have this same mischievous personality
GENERAL ATTITUDES: Fairies are tiny, flying, capricious. fairies are too proud to grant wishes except in exceptional circumstances. Adversary? Elves? Love and emotion are wastes of time. Respect is about the only emotion they value.
STORY NOTES: Maybe the prince is dying from leaving fairyland, and needs to find a cure.
NOVEL: Lessabella is having her second crowning ceremony. In the first, she is designated heir so she can meet her people. (and people start kissing up to her for three years). In the second, she begins training. The third ceremony she ascends the throne. Torona tries to have the ceremony, but someone is ruining it over and over. Or, the sacred emerald crown has vanished so the ceremony can’t be held. She summons Andrea, since she can’t find the culprit. Robin and Starling guide her through fairyland. The crone, Garacha, advsies the queen on how to do the ceremony. Eventually it’sr evealed that she’s a servant of Jixil. The fairies thought she didn’t have the power or courage to steal the crown, but Jixil’s aiding her. If they hold the ceremony on the perilous cliffs in Calithwain, Jixil will enter their world. And take it over. The crowning links fairydust to the queen, and this way, to Jixil. Starling found out, but no one believed him, so he stole the crown. Andrea discovers this at the climax, and the prince in a supreme act of trust lets her take it. She carries it to the fairy castle where they perform the ceremony. Jixil has failed but Starling is banished to Caloithwain as punishment. Garacha escapes or keeps her job, taking lots of fairy dust magic to Jixil. Or make it a less obvious traitor than Garacha. This magic allows Jixil to break out book 3.
Called brownies. Goblins or Gnomes: like leperchans, tricksters. Like gold and gems, also like humans. Live near them. Grant wishes but have more fun trying to get out of them, lose face among friends if forced to grant. Make Emps? Adversary dryads. Mischevious gnomes sometimes live in fairyland cuz of treaty. Hinder or help, capricious, like Robin Goodfellow. Heaven is the Summerland, quite religious (belief in Karma)
Genies/(Djinn in Aracen) Called Demons in North. Years ago, these powerful demons of chaos caused havoc everywhere, until the most powerful mages united in a group more powerful than any before or after and sealed them into jars. The strong willed can master a jarred genie, but the weak will easily be hypnotized by them and fall under their sway. Wild genies can cast spells but bound ones can’t. if you loose a genie, their powers are exponentially greater but no guarantee which side they’ll be on. They’ve been known to decimate both sides of a battle. Indescribably capricious. They are drawn to the well, and prefer to live near it, if they have a choice. If they are bound they sometimes try to compel owners to visit well.
Unicorns Part of compact, proud, a bit haughty yet shy of humans. Elusive, only semi-corporeal. Live mostly in forests but spread out, no two together. A few wander, most stay put. Creatures of habit. They like music. Must be free, they don’t obey anyone but Sidaria a little bit. Older than dragons? Type of guardian spirits. Dragons know how to summon them and they know lots of dragon lore. They rationalize and think things out to sucha degree that they rarely act unless their lives or something greater is in danger. Repositories of knowledge, know everyone’s weaknesses, can compel people mentally, that’s their greatest power. Natural tendency to blend in with scenery. she could see an elongated gray-white body. it lifted its neck and straightened, displaying a slender head with a shining gray mane…and a gleaming silver horn. Can have pale green or amber-brown eyes. Mesmerising gaze. They use the White Crystal but have internal reserves or maybe use a higher crystal, something secretive. Unicorns communicate bursts of mental knowledge, instead of specific words, unless they’re really pressed. The Chinese name for the unicorn is Kilin (chee-lin). Ki the male unicorn and Lin the female unicorn. It is a gentle animal careful never to tread on any living thing and eating only dead vegetation. The Ki-Lin has such care for living things that it will not step on a blade of grass or hurt an insect. Earth Elemental The Japanese unicorn was a beast to be feared, especially by criminals. It was able to detect guilt. Judges were said to call upon the unicorn to determine the guilt in legal disputes. The Unicorn would fix his/her eyes upon the guilty party, and then pierce him through the heart with his horn.
Valerie Estelle Frankel has won a Dream Realm Award, an Indie Excellence Award, and a USA Book News National Best Book Award for her Henry Potty parodies. She’s the author of over 80 books on pop culture, including Hunting for Meaning in The Mandalorian; The Villain’s Journey; Star Wars Meets the Eras of Feminism; History, Homages and the Highlands: An Outlander Guide; and Who Tells Your Story? History, Pop Culture, and Hidden Meanings in the Musical Phenomenon Hamilton. Many of her books focus on women’s roles in fiction, from her heroine’s journey guides From Girl to Goddess and Buffy and the Heroine’s Journey to books like Superheroines and the Epic Journey and The Many Faces of Katniss Everdeen. Her Chelm for the Holidays (2019) was a PJ Library book, and now she’s the editor of Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy, publishing an academic series for Lexington Press. Once a lecturer at San Jose State University, she now teaches at Mission College and San Jose City College and speaks often at conferences. Come explore her research at www.vefrankel.com
