Faerians

***“**We are the oldest race in all of Enselonde. The Divines trusted us with the world, and they still do to this day. Trusting them as they trust us is only common sense, then.**”***
— Nivhael of the Green Grove

**Faerians** are the oldest race in all of Enselonde, created shortly before the Hyllidans and Naerisi. They are considered part of the Old Races. The Faerians founded the very first Freeholds under the guidance of the Divines, establishing themselves as the dominant race of the world. Yet, after the Withdrawal, the Faerians felt largely abandoned by the Divines as their Freeholds began to crumble under Hyllidan and Human pressure. The Darkest Decade further reduced the Faerian population, forcing them largely into the Green Grove to be protected by the Goddess of Life, Nyara.

The Great War largely destroyed the Green Grove, yet under the leadership of Nivhael Laetien, the Faerians have retaken the Green Grove, founding the Kingdom of the Green Grove, the first true mortal state to rule over the area. Cooperating with the Four Races of Nyara as well as the Wyrsians has allowed the Faerians to bounce back, establishing a decently powerful state in the North for the first time in nearly 700 years.

## Appearance

Faerians are slightly shorter than Humans, with the average height being around 150 cm for both men and women. Furthermore, they live much longer on average, with some Faerians reaching the age of 150. Characteristics of Faerians are:

* Orange or yellow skin
* Blue or green hair that produces some amount of light in the dark
* Isolated feathers will grow from Faerians' skin, matching the natural hair color
* Large glowing eyes that change color depending on the Faerian's emotion
	+ Gray - Sleep/Death
	+ White - Neutral/Boredom
	+ Green - Happiness
	+ Pink - Love
	+ Purple - Arousal
	+ Blue - Sadness
	+ Red - Anger/Hatred/Disgust
	+ Yellow - Fear
	+ Orange - Surprise
		- Faerians have no control over their eye color, making their emotions readable like a book. Their glowing makes them easily spottable in the dark, hindering their ability to sneak around.

## History

### Before the Withdrawal

The Faerians were created by the Goddess of Life, Nyara, in the year 2853 BW. Initially, they were immortal creatures, roaming the world trying to figure out how to survive. The Naerisi and the Hyllidans followed shortly after, yet the Faerians are undisputedly the first. As the first Faerian villages were created, they called the world Enselonde.

As Faerian settlements grew into cities, the desire for states began to appear. Yet, lacking cooperation, Faerian cities remained independent. As new Divines appeared to help out the mortals of Enselonde, overcrowding became a potential future problem. Suddenly, the first Faerians began to die, as the Goddess of Death, Ihyll, was born. Grudges rose to the surface, and mortals now could kill each other. Subsequently, in 2691 BW, the first murder took place. At the same moment, Anir and Onir descended from the heavens, with Anir setting up the first laws, and later, the first Freeholds.

Yet, while the Freeholds were meant to suppress internal chaos, there was little to no cooperation between them. Onir began to fuel anti-Divine sentiment, which led to the first Faerians becoming Vy'el, swearing off all Divines, and becoming independent mortals. In 2597 BW, tensions between Freeholds boiled over, starting the War for Enselonde, which led to all-out warfare between almost every Freehold. The Divines, seemingly unable to stop this development, watched on as the Faerians slaughtered each other, and as the Vy'el grew in numbers.

The war ultimately ended in 2557 BW. With the Freeholds decimated, Nyara was forced to improvise, creating the first Humans to serve as workers. The Hyllidans would be the first to enslave them altogether, and the other two Old Races rapidly followed. The Faerians settled into a laidback life, as the Humans picked up the manual labor. Yet, this came with the unintended side effect of making the Faerians almost completely reliant on their Human slave labor.

Heading into the Age of Fire, the Freeholds became increasingly more unstable, as infighting continued between the Old Races. Human slave revolts also become commonplace. During this time, the Faerians were still the dominant race of Enselonde, as they had become the favorite of most Divines. Yet, the First and Second Human Rebellions would end up significantly weakening the Faerian race as a whole. Ultimately, when the Third Human Rebellion broke out, most Faerian Freeholds would fall to the Kingdom of the Humanity.

Driven into a corner, they were ultimately saved by the Hyllidan Empress of Nytalyria, Lyxis the Blind. While Lyxis gave the Faerians their lost land back, these so-called "New Freeholds" would be both weaker than the old ones while also being totally reliant on the Nytalyrians for protection. Due to the widespread destruction caused by the Third Human Rebellion, most of the ancient Faerian cities had been reduced to rubble, with those few remaining being battered by the fallout of the Divine War.

### After the Withdrawal & The Darkest Decade

Heading into the Age of Abandonment after the Withdrawal, the Faerians had lost their position as the dominant race of Enselonde, and they would have a slow but gradual fall from grace. The Nytalyrians, while earning a short-lived victory during the Divine War, were largely uncaring towards what happened to the New Freeholds, and mostly left them to fend for themselves.

Unstable, economically ruined, and largely illegitimate, it was only a matter of time before these Freeholds began to crumble. Some fell over centuries, being conquered bit by bit through border skirmishes and raids, while others fell rapidly in all-out warfare. The Alliance of Fühlgart was a particularly large problem, as it funded anti-Freehold Human guerillas throughout most of the North.

The last Faerian Freehold, Syletas, was conquered in 488 AW, at which point the Faerians lacked any sort of homeland. Most would ultimately flee to the Green Grove, relying on the protection of Nyara. Others would flee to Nytalyria or remaining non-Faerian Freeholds such as Innyria or Kalyxia. Those who didn't flee tried to integrate with their new Human overlords, yet Faerians were largely looked down upon by most Human countries. The only real places that would have them were Wyrsia, the First Union of Clans, and the autonomous Human city of Whitecrest. These places would ultimately be hotspots for Faerian refugees. For the next centuries to come, the Faerians would remain in this position: reliant on the protection of others.

The Faerians were one of the least affected non-Human races during the Darkest Decade, mostly due to their geographical position. Most of them lived in Human countries that opposed the Sapphire Inquisition, such as Wyrsia, Whitecrest, or in the territory of the Green Warlords. The Inquisition, led by Rahmiero, would make their big move to deal with the Faerians, however, attacking the Green Grove in 1008 AW. The Inquisition was on the brink of victory before Nyara temporarily broke her Withdrawal. In the chaos of the battle, the forest began to attack the Inquisition, and the Four Races of Nyara were born. The Faerians played a large role in the initial stage of the battle, yet didn't exit the Green Grove to launch any sort of counterattack.

Ironically, the Vy'el – a minority group of outcasts at first – would end up having the largest Faerian impact during the Darkest Decade. Their numbers across Enselonde rose to roughly 20,000. Cooperating with the Qu'Zell, they conquered a large area near Old Sallant which would eventually become the Empire of the Vy'el, a relatively short-lived state. The Empire would be conquered by Sallant only thirty years later, but Qu'Zell City remains, hosting the largest gathering of Vy'el in Enselonde to this day.

### The Great War and Present Day

The Green Grove was attacked once more by the Republic of Fühlgart in 1212 AW, this time to circumvent a series of stalemates near the Wyrsian city of Stavia caused by the Republican-Wyrsian War. While ordinarily this would have meant the total destruction of the Fühlgartian army, the God of Storms, Syarus, marched alongside them. The Green Grove would be consumed by raging wildfires, the Faerian armies scattered and destroyed, and Nyara was slain by Syarus with the help of the Godslayer's Blade.

With the destruction of the Green Grove, the Faerians truly had lost their last safe haven. What remained of the Faerian population in the Grove would flee to Wyrsia or try to rebuild. Yet, with the fall of the Wyrsian mainland, most Faerians would be left behind to be ruled over by the Protectorate of Woodhall and Republic of Southern Wyrsia.

Yet, amongst the Wyrsian soldiers fleeing to the Wyrsian Wintersong Colony, was a moderately sized group of Faerians and Vulpesians led by Nivhael Laetien. Unsure as to do with the militia, Liam Ashfrey had them stationed in Starport where they were left without supplies or warm clothing. None of the Wyrsians seemed to care about the freezing non-Humans except for one Wyrsian captain, William Ryker. Ultimately, Ryker convinced Ashfrey to hand over goods to the band.

When Liam Ashfrey betrayed the Wyrsians, killing King Frederick in the process, the band remained loyal to the Wyrsian crown, joining up with Ryker's own company. Rushed to Redwall, the militia was restructured by Oliver Oakfield, becoming the Army of the Green Grove. This Army would accompany the Monarchist forces to every corner of Enselonde. The Eastland, the South, the Gemstone Islands, Weckstein, and finally, through Wyrsia back to the Green Grove.

The Army of the Green Grove was noteworthy because it grew exponentially wherever it went, allowing far more than just Faerians into its ranks. When Nivhael retook the Green Grove and was crowned Queen, the Army had easily outgrown Oakfield's primarily Human ALW. In fact, the newfound Kingdom of the Green Grove is the first Faerian-led state in nearly two centuries, yet has already become a thorn in the side of nearly every Republican state surrounding it, cementing itself as a powerful nation in its own right.

With the rapid collapse of the Nytalyrian Empire after the death of Lyxis the Blind, it can be argued that the Faerians have once again become the most powerful of the Old Races. With increased cooperation between their own race and the Human Monarchists, the Faerians can finally look forward to a bright future after a dark age that lasted more than a thousand years. Yet, whether or not the Faerians will become the masters of Enselonde once more is something that only time will tell.

## Faerian Nations

* Kingdom of the Green Grove

Sizeable Faerian Minority

* Qu'Zell City
* Duchy of Redlyre
* Second Union of Clans
* Republic of Southern Wyrsia
* Kingdom of Wyrsia