Anpiels

Anpiels are the children of the Windsons. In the Age of Giants the Windsons looked at the world below and saw how the tribes of mortals were proliferating. They grew lonely and asked their mother for permission to take wives. Rukh assented, and the Windsons chose mortal women, one from each of the four continents. These queens in turn gave birth to the anpiels, who dwell among the clouds in cities made of mist and vapor, colored with all the hues of the sky. Anpiels are semi-divine beings, albeit mortal, resembling winged humans with skin that can be of several colors, whether a rosy, dawn pink, the silver-blue of clouds or the pale purple of twilight. Anpiels are all handsome specimens, well-built and always appearing in their prime. They do not age, though they do not live much beyond an average human. At some point, they simply fall asleep, their spirits returning to their grandmother for rebirth. 
Despite their sublime appearance, the skyfolk are said to be quite arrogant and ignorant, unaware of the hardships on the ‘under-lands,’ as they call the surface. They live in banal luxury, indulging whatever pleasures they wish. Only the priests who propitiate the Windsons, their queens, and the Old Lady Sky seem to have any real wisdom, but even they can be distant and have trouble grasping concepts foreign to them. Some anpiels grow bored of their routine life, and descend to the under-lands, seeking out new sensation and adventure. These beings are often disappointed by what they find. Occasionally, anpiels have become fixtures in certain courts or circles. The beauty of anpiels can make them desirable partners, but their naivete and inability to understand concepts such as work or struggle can make them less appealing. 
The wings that grace an anpiel’s back are not really large enough to bear their weight. They fly by the grace of their grandmother, and their innate magical natures. If an anpiel is ever cut off from the Skein, they can no longer weave it about themselves to buoy them up, a terrible agony for a people who are used to getting whatever they wish. They even descend on attractive under landers who catch their fancy, carrying them back to their cloud castles to serve as a sort of pet or toy. Rarely do anpiels keep these pets around for long, as they quickly tire of the work required to sustain relationships. The skyfolk can be selfish, even cruel, and some descend on remote villages, claiming to be angelic messengers of Rukh, promising blessings. These anpiels sometimes breed with their devotees, creating hybrids that, while lacking wings, often have some touch of the sky on them, marking them as different. Anpiels rarely have interest in establishing parental ties with their offspring, who are simply one more toy to play with and then abandon. Harpies are said to especially enjoy capturing anpiels and tormenting them, and the cyclopes stormsons sometimes make war against a cloud castle that they believe is deserving of scourging. Considering the selfishness of anpiels, most of them are guilty of some crime or another.
What they cannot shape from the clouds they send pixies to steal. In their castles they have groves of jeweled trees, pools of wine, chambers crowded with hundreds of artefacts snatched from the under lands, all admired for a moment before the anpiels grow bored and search out some new distraction. Some anpiels take it on themselves to avenge some slight against the Sky and her children, descending to right wrongs and punish petty ‘mortals,’ for the anpiels truly believe they are demi-gods. The sight of a silver-skinned anpiel, wings outstretched, body sculpted like a statue, can be awe-inspiring, until of course he opens his mouth and reveals himself to be an arrogant fool who thinks everything beneath the sky is his playground. Few have ever befriended these creatures, but those who have claim they do possess the capacity for kindness and compassion, it simply has to be awakened. An anpiel was said to have befriended a Gallian emperor and given him a set of magical wings that he could use to fly alongside his anpiel companion. Such shows of generosity are rare for the skyfolk, who much prefer to take.
Category:Spirits
Category:Races