Fauns

Common Female and Male Fauns

Fauns - also commonly referred to as Satyrs - are a distant cousin species to Minotaurs in the sense of sharing traits of farm animals' body parts. Despite this, they are a drastically different civilized species, some saying they even bear more similarities to the Feyans than to the Minotaurs themselves, thus being a rather mysterious race.

## Anatomy

Fauns are a species that are native to Ludwag, sharing it alongside elves and other creatures since times of old. Their population is rather small, but does not prevent them from holding a distinct and diverse genetic makeup, their most noticeable traits are how they resemble elves, with the striking exception of their anatomy being like that of a sacred forest animal. Their legs are like that of said animal, that being a goat or a deer, with a tail covered in fur and hooves instead of feet. They have horns which could also resemble a goat’s or a deer’s one, protruding from their heads and continuing to grow unless kept in check. Other than that, they have torsos and features more close to a human.

While it is true that Fauns prefer vegetables and plant life, they are omnivores, capable of eating almost anything. These creatures are ones that could survive almost anywhere just out of the sheer range of things they find edible: From grass to bones, the Faun physiology is able to digest almost anything, and it isn’t uncommon to see Fauns chewing on uncommon things. Their teeth, while often resembling elven teeth, can vary a lot depending of the Faun’s descendance, sometimes having more square teeth, optimal for grinding plant material, or sometimes even sharper canines for meat.

Because Fauns can be found in various places within the lands, their bodies may vary a bit. Traits and genes for fur color varies, and it’s not always going to be the same as their hair color. As for generations of Fauns accustomed more to mountainous terrain, they may have hooves that are a bit thicker and thicker fur, spread more along their upper body as well for warmth. Fauns used to living in warmer climates would be more likely to have thinner strands of fur, with more bare torsos. Other traits such as straight, curly, ruffled hair and tail sizes can also vary depending on genes and the climate.

Their tails aren’t useful for grabbing things, for they lack such strength, however they’re very useful in providing Fauns with balance when in need, be that in running, jumping or anything else. Their ears resemble elven ears, being slightly larger at the base, often looking like triangles, because of that, their hearing range is slightly superior to those of humans, as for the rest of their natural abilities, Fauns are pretty much common.

It is important to note however, that even though these animal-elven like creatures share a bunch of similarities with the magical connected race of the elves, they do not have long lifespans, or a natural affinity to magic.

## Ethnicities

Fauns could be quickly categorized into three Ethnicities, while the are not actually named, since Fauns care little for discerning themselves, they are classified into three groups.

* Goat Fauns
* Deer Fauns
* Sheep Fauns

These are your common everyday Fauns, with goat like features, white sclera with usually amber eyes, taking a more human-like appearance instead of elvish, they commonly have leaner body types, and tend to agglomerate wherever they’re found, having a strong communal sense, and often being very peaceful creatures.

While the name implies they look like any sort of deer, these Fauns are actually closer to the sacred Pine Stag, being usually taller than their goat relatives. Deer fauns are extremely rare and unaccustomed to city life, much preferring the forest lifestyle. Many do not even know how to talk, for they do not see the need to. Sighting one of these Fauns is often associated with good luck, because of their stupidly high rarity. Just like the goat Fauns they are peaceful.

Sheep fauns are a subrace of fauns, hailing from the Arcenix mountains in Northern Ludwag. They are smaller than regular fauns, males averaging at about 5’6 and females averaging at 5’3. They are extremely hairy/furry, due to their natural climate, wool growing all along the sides of their face and necks, as well as having an excess of wool growing around their legs. Sheep fauns can be the black, brown or white, depending on their genetics. While being smaller, their horns are usually significantly bigger than other fauns, female sheep fauns also can grow large ram horns, similar to deer fauns. Sheep fauns are a native species to Ludwag, rarely (if at all) being seen outside of Ludwag, explaining their absence from other continents.

## Dimorphism

As almost any other species in Azura, Fauns too are creatures that show dimorphism between their males and females.

#### **Males**

Male Fauns are almost always taller than their females, sporting thicker, more durable horns that are often used in self defense. They resemble male elves in a lot of other technical aspects, including the way they build muscle. A lean male Faun could be as strong as a common human. Due to their horns being thicker however, male Fauns are rather clumsy and slower than your average human.

#### **Females**

Differently from nature where female deers do not have horns, female Fauns do, usually being slightly smaller than the male’s. Female Fauns do not possess the male’s capacity to build strength like elves, however they differ in the sense that their senses are arguably better than the usual, having a slightly better night vision than humans and so on. Females are also rather clumsy because of the horns, not suffering from slowness however, but since their horns aren’t supposed to be used in battle, they are sensitive, and females often experience mind shattering pain when their horns are broken.

## History and Language

Like elves, fauns are also native to Ludwag and have had a presence here for ages. Between numerous periods of strife, warfare, peace, and expansion, these forest-dwelling peoples have made names for themselves as they became part of various cultures, though not big names when it came to warfare or things of such nature. Their longest standing allies, if they could be considered allies, would be the forest elves that currently make up the Silvic Covenant, as the forests of Silvadomus were rich for living and prospering. Merely as an extra race that integrated into culture, fauns either settled or traveled to other parts of the lands and spread their cultures, all while sharing and fabricating stories slightly to add heroic spins on old folk tales.

With a millennia of integration among other races finding their way to Ludwag, and the Era of Storms taking hold, most satyrs were finding themselves sharing and exchanging parts of their cultures with others as kingdoms seemed to grow larger, with new people coming across fauns in their travels. Most fauns in modern kingdoms in Ludwag would be suited to farm work as levies or produce farmers given their thick hooves akin to goats that make them good at such labor. Like Minotaur or orcs, they don’t have their own organizations or castes in civilization, and mostly spread themselves through Ludwag and integrate wherever they call home, which is evident in numerous lands.

Fauns have also struck a relationship with the foreign dwarves in their Khollik civilization. While the latter may not be so appreciative of the company, a slew of fauns hang around with the interesting dwarves for drinking, partying, and even helping with the small, finer details of crafting objects or more menial tasks such as stoking a flame. It’d probably be more accurate to say that dwarves do their best to tolerate fauns, yet there still are a number of them making themselves at home among dwarven civilizations.

Fauns may or may not take up archery, especially due to their exposure with it from elves in Silvadomus. Lower draw weights are preferable for their builds as larger draw weights are a strain on their more lean figures, but they can make use of recurve bows if practiced. With the exposures of mancy, some fauns could possibly find themselves interested in imbuing themselves with such power, leading to fauns possibly taking up a more monk-like life as nomads and furthering their meditation and attunement to their mancy.

## Culture

Fauns are a people who have many old traditions and a way of life that’s been mixed and intertwined with numerous other cultures through centuries. They’re often depicted as those who party a lot, prance around, sing, dance, and usually annoy people. Their way of life is one that finds them integrated with lots of other ways of life and cultures rather than one sole way of living. It’s not uncommon to find bards, musicians, troubadours, and poets within faun culture as music and stories are ingrained into their minds at a young age. Their lifespans, provided they don’t meet untimely ends, mean they can pass along stories and such as well.

Fauns also have a history of doing other work that humans, elves, and other cultures have done in more archaic fashions. They’re often artisan weavers, tailors, and more often than not, brewers of drinks that they can enjoy. When it comes to agriculture, however, they weren’t as effective as large-scale farming from more established cultures, and most were merely produce farmers who made for themselves than for tribute or to sell.

As for the Pine Stag like Fauns, they do not have a civilization, not even tribes. They are very mysterious creatures that behave much more similarly to the Pine Stags themselves, roaming the woods in search of food, sleeping on the ground when they’re tired and so on.