Fey-Touched

in: Races

## Introduction

For centuries, the True Fey were left to ponder their designs altering the bodies and minds of those they had once ruled a millenia ago. Now, after furthering their own methods of experimentation, they capture, alter, and employ those of their own cruel creation to share in their goals and spread their influence over the world they would seek to reclaim as their own. These creatures of myth and legend, those poor and unfortunate souls trapped and turned into those that answer to the Fey hive mind are what some would call the Fey-Touched.

## The Basics

* **Other Names:** Faeries, Insectoids, Dryads, Chimeras
* **Appearance:** The fey-touched come in a variety of different appearances, each made in the strange and twisted image of their creators. While some take on more of the characteristics of their environment, others appear as a mix of numerous creatures and races that have been combined into one living, breathing, yet sentient abomination.
* **Lifespan:** 1000~
* **Height:**
	+ **Fairies:** 155 cm (5'1") - 175 cm (5'7")
	+ **Dryads:** 190 cm (6'2") - 220 cm (7'2")
	+ **Chimeras:** 170 cm (5'6") - 225 cm (7'4")
* **Regions Found:** Fey-touched can be found hidden in every society. Though less so in colder, northern regions.
* **Culture:** Either born or constructed by hands of the True Fey, fey-touched are creatures with little to no memories of their previous lives who are compelled to carry out the main directive of their creators; this being the spread of Fey influence upon the world.
* **Common Character Roles:**
	+ **Faeries:** Tricksters, Thieves, Scouts, Infiltrators, Sociopaths, Cannibals
	+ **Dryads:** Nature’s Caretakers, Guardians, Unforgiving Protectors, Sages, Eco-Terrorists
	+ **Chimeras:** Outcasts, Nomads, Hermits, Hunters, Brutes, Berserkers, Slavers
* **Common Allies:** Fey, The Other
* **Common Enemies:** Everyone
* **Architecture:** Often fey-touched can be found in more natural environments, using natural structures such as trees, caves, chasms, and pits as homes that they can call their own, decorated and protected by foliage already available or grown by their own hand.
* **Religion:** True Fey, The True Cycle
* **Views on Magic:** Being born of fey magic, all fey-touched are accepting of magic except for Chimeras. Though Faeries and Dryads are more adverse to pyromancy and hydromancy.
* **Abilities:** Touched the True Fey (Racial Ritual)
	+ **Faeries:** Flight, Malefic Deception (Illusionary Magic), Malefic Reveal, Enchanting Gaze (Charm)
	+ **Dryads:** Regenerative Growth, Natural Camouflage, Keen Senses, Diurnal
	+ **Chimera:** Nightvision, Flight, Brute Strength Dismemberment, Reconstruction (Ritual)
* **Weaknesses:** Fire, Freezing Temperatures, Darkness
* **Quirks:** Mischievous, Cannibalistic, Alluring, Haunting, Savage, Unforgiving, etc.

## Appearance

The fey-touched come in a variety of different forms, each made in the strange and twisted image of their creators. This is dependent on each sub-species and type. While some may take on more of the characteristics of their environment, others appear as a mix of numerous creatures and races that have been combined into a single living, breathing, sentient abomination. While sometimes fascinating and alluring as this may be, one thing the collective race shares is often their grotesque and unnatural appearances. Even underneath the natural beauty they may possess.

### Faeries

> **Faeries (lesser known as Insectoids)** are often shorter, lithe creatures that take on a wide variety of skin tones, eye colors, and hair colors depending on which form they allow others to see.
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> Much like the sirens of the Deep, Faeries have the ability to take on three forms to better infiltrate themselves into other societies; mainly within those of varying human cultures or cities that better allow for a mix of races to flourish and thrive. For this, they may take on a ***human disguise or ‘flesh suit’*** as they may describe with the use of their illusionary magics. While in this form, their eyes will continue to glow and the illusionary magic that surrounds them may become unstable and begin to blur when a faerie finds themselves in less than suitable conditions. Such as in colder or overly heated climates.
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> Should they lose control over this form or choose to reveal themselves to others, they may take on one of two forms. A Faerie may slip into an intermediary state, that being their ***faerie form***; a more alluring disguise that is meant to entice and lower the guard of their victims or those that might seek to do them harm. This form is one that might often come to mind when one speaks of faeries from old children’s tales. This is displayed with more vibrant or pastel skin and hair, flowers or bark like texture on the skin, pointed ears, or the way their skin might naturally glitter and glow. Most notably, however, this form will begin to show hints of insect-like features such as their wings. Other notable features of this sort might include antennas, slender limbs or body shape, sharper teeth or claws, hardened skin, or even revealing several eyes.
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> Finally, in instances that a faerie finds themselves severely injured or at the cusp of cannibalizing one of its victims, its true form will be revealed. This is the ***insectoid form***; a form necessary for a faerie to feast upon the blood and flesh of its victims and truly one that is most grotesque and horrifying for those to gaze upon, meant to draw out the fear of their prey for a tastier meal. When a faerie morphs into their true form, they often lose all color save for that of their eyes, revealing darker or desaturated skin tones with withered or no hair at all. Many have horns, several eyes, sharp teeth and claws, a hardened exoskeleton, antennas, thoraxes, and even occasionally extra appendages. This form is one that is meant to remain hidden until the faerie is certain they will be able to feast freely. Otherwise, it is one most hated and feared, often spelling doom for the faerie who reveals themselves too soon.
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### Dryads

> **Dryads**, on the other hand, are far taller in stature with gnarled, rough skin similar to that of tree bark or tough foliage. They have pointed ears and, more often than not, their skin resembles that of trees, ranging from light to dark shades of brown, reddish-brown, and forest greens. Eye color is not limited but most if not all dryad eyes glow and are without pupils.  The build of their bodies may differ as well, suggesting there may be significance in what race they might have been prior to their transformation. The shorter the race, the more they were made to stretch and grow, resulting in more long, slender bodies with lengthy arms and legs. While other, more larger races created dryads that were found to be more wide and robust with thick and sturdy appendages.
> No matter the type, both are known to have natural growths protruding from their bodies such as branches, flowers, fungi, moss, and vines growing off them. Their appearance and what grows from them is highly dependent on where they might call home and settle their roots to guard and rest within the trees that reside there. Those who chose to settle in verdant biomes with greener grass and more trees may sport more brown skin, green leaves or wild flora. Those who settle in the jungle or the eastern swamps may soak in more moisture and grow more vines or moss upon their branches and skin. While those who take to the western swamps and desolate forests may be more withered and covered in fungi with murky, dull eyes. All these characteristics are indicative of their environments and help them to better blend in with their surroundings so that they might sneak up on and gain advantage over those treading through their territory.
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### Chimeras

> Lastly are the **Chimeras**, said to be the most horrific and grotesque creatures ever to be experimented on and created by the hands of the True Fey. They are an amalgamation of several different pieces of bodies torn apart limb by limb, part by part of a multitude of different races that have all been put back together into a single, living, breathing mutated creature. They come in all shapes and sizes, either having flesh, fur, or a mixture of both. Hair, skin, and fur often vary in color. They may even have two glowing eyes of the same color or two different colored eyes, one glowing and one not; suggesting even the eyes were pulled from different sources by their twisted creators.
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> While chimeras are a hodgepodge of different parts, it seems that rarely no one part is taken from the same source and the hands that forged them may have favored certain selections over others as all chimeras have horns, perhaps torn from satyrs, minotaur, or cambions. They all have either elf, fey, or animal ears along with some type of altered foot over that of humans such as aviehn talons, beastkin paws, cloven hooves, or even clawed reptilian feet. All have scaled tails torn from saurians or furred tails torn from minotaurs. Some even have flesh or feathered wings, giving them the ability to fly.
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> Because of their unnatural design, chimeras are the only fey-touched creatures that can freely traverse colder regions without being negatively affected. Though they cannot hide their horrific features and will either keep to the shadows or act aggressively towards those they cross in the wild, acting as savage enforcers, enslavers for their masters, or feral hermits living in isolation.
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## History & Culture

Millenia ago, True Fey were once the apex rulers, taking it upon themselves to use their developed magics to grow and cultivate new life all over the world. Once life had begun to flourish and gradually evolve well within its own means, the True Fey receded to their secluded forests to observe the growing collections of newborn sentience that took root around them. However, when those budding civilizations began to grow and develop enough that they began to  encroach upon and threaten the very seclusion the Fey had become accustomed to, fear and anger bloomed.

Suddenly, the True Fey found themselves divided on how to handle such invasive intrusion upon their territories. While some wished to remain passive and retreat to seclude themselves in what parts of the world they could still claim as their own, others found themselves overwhelmed with the desire to wage war and even wipe out those intelopers that would tread on their territory. Ultimately, this led to a civil war between the True Fey and, in the end, those that would see an end to the rising population of early races were all that remained.

Following the civil war of the True Fey, those that remained lashed out violently and without warning, overcoming and wiping out entire cities with their magic. However, the occupants of these settlements were strangely never killed, but rather found their existence utterly changed forever. In an inadvertent reaction to the magic used on them by the hands of the True Fey, their bodies were physically altered beyond recognition, twisting flesh, muscle and bone into something entirely new; something that resembled the unbridled growth and chaos which shared in the thoughts, emotions, and desires of their Fey creators. These were the first of the fey-touched, used as fodder for the True Fey’s rampage over the many early civilizations that had taken to developing and expanding all over the world. That was until the war was put to an end and the True Fey were banished to the Otherlands, a realm beyond the one they had once previously ruled over.

Since then, the True Fey have long been thought to have gone extinct from the world completely. Long forgotten, they became no more than mere myth with little knowledge written or known of them beyond the old stories passed down through generation after generation used to scare children into behaving; less they be taken in the dead of night by Fey hands to pull them into the dark depths of the dense forests near their homes. Though perhaps such stories hold some manner of truth to them despite how impossible it is to believe.

For centuries following their banishment into the Otherlands, the Fey had not forgotten what effect their magics had on the civilizations they once warred against. Left to their own devices within their own realm, the True Fey were allowed to ponder such creations they had made during their time as rulers and with hatred and malefic intent festering within their rooted hearts for those that now laid claim to what they had been the first to call home, the Fey began to find means of reaching beyond their realm to begin capturing and experimenting on those new races now cultivating their old territories.

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> ### Faeries
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> One of the first of the True Fey’s experiments brought to life following their banishment into the Otherlands. They were created in a way that the Fey saw other races; as no more than insects. Though with a twisted vision imparted on them by the will of their old Fey magics.
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> When the first of the Faeries were created by the True Fey, the experimental phase was a long and arduous one. Less so for the Fey who had little grasp on the significance of time and more so for their victims who had been captured and bound to an entrapping pod, their bodies poked and prodded endless for their flesh, bone, and blood. Eventually, several trees within the Otherlands would be decorated in a variety of pinky, fleshy cocoons that would light the treeline with a warm and crimson glow all through the night. With time and care, what shadow of a creature lay beneath the blurred translucency of that pod could be observed to be undergoing a peculiar transformation. A metamorphosis of both body and mind, having been injected with that of Fey blood while fed the flesh of their own kind.
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> These horrifically altered and cannibalistic creatures would soon emerge from the wombs of their cocoons, their physiology altered in way that they share with their Fey creators their hardened exoskeletons, while also adopting those insect-like features envisioned by their masters with flora and foliage sprouting from their skin. This allowed for them to share in the hive mind mentality that was common among the True Fey. To better answer the commands of their masters after their former selves had been entirely lost save for the claim to a name that meant little to them now that they were a part of something more. Much like worker bees acting on behalf of a hive.
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> Faeries share in the malefic intentions of their masters, having been created with the ability to alter their appearances to better appeal, infiltrate, and blend in with human societies all over the world. Such illusionary magics coupled with their natural charm, chaotic nature and general mischief and trickery suggest that perhaps the earliest races experimented on to evolve into such mischievous and maleficent creatures were that of sirens, huli jing, and humans. They act as scouts, scoundrels, and thieves with sociopathic tendencies and an overwhelming desire to gorge themselves on the blood and flesh of those that live beyond the rule of the True Fey. They are cannibalistic by nature and will often use their illusionary magics and charm to lure their victims to secluded parts of nature to better capture and feast on them. When their true form is revealed, it is with every intention to strike fear and anxiety into their victims; thus sweetening their meal before bringing what remains of the body back to their True Fey masters for further methods of experimentation.
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> ### Dryads
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> The dryads were another one of the True Fey’s first experiments brought to life. More so than their faerie counterparts, these tree-like creatures were created in the twisted image of their creators, sharing in both hardened skin made of rough exoskeleton used for armor and natural foliage growing from their rooted forms. They are tall creatures standing at impressive heights with lengthy limbs and appendages with sharp claws that could very easily puncture flesh.
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> When the first of the dryads were being experimented on, the True Fey did so in different areas of the Otherlands. It was then that the appearance of a dryad and how they were grown was dependent on their environment, allowing them to better camouflage and blend in with their surroundings. With this in mind, the True Fey sought to instill in the ganglion systems of their dryads their own thoughts, emotions, and desires for unwavering aggression and unforgiving protection over their territories. This created an elite force of guardians, warriors, and caretakers whose only aim was to protect the forests and lands that the True Fey sought to reclaim.
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> The method in which a dryad is created is an extremely excruciating one that involves rooting a living being in place by means of planting them in some way within the ground or in the confines of a tree. It is then that they inject a small ganglion seed from their own body under the skin that feeds off the living beings blood, sprouting vines and branches that might grow and extend throughout the body. As the seeds grow and expand, so too does the flesh, muscle, and bone of those being altered. This stretches them and forcibly alters their physiology until their elongated body drains free of blood and their skin begins to harden into that bark-like texture. Once the long and grueling process is finished, a new dryad is forged and uproots itself. After such an excruciating ordeal, there is little to nothing left of the person that came before it.
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> Having been rooted as they were, whatever memories they might have are unlikely to be any of their own, as dryads share in the thoughts and feelings of those living things surrounding it. They may often talk to the plant life around them, able to feel the things that they feel just as strongly which only furthers their drive to guard the lands they are sworn to protect by whatever means necessary.
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> ### Chimeras
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> In more recent centuries, the True Fey have expanded in their efforts of experimentation, focusing primarily on methods of altering the physiology of those more heavily resistant to their magic. Left to scour their mistakes and shortcomings for years and years, not even giants or saurians would remain immune to what heinous and truly mortifying cruelty of creation the True Fey could muster once they got their hands on the objects of their desire. Only for them to tear those ‘objects’ apart limb by limb, piece by piece until they were naught but bloodied and dismembered parts laid out before them; pieced together like some demented doll stitched into one. Thus, the first of the chimeras came into existence.
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> Very simply, the True Fey captured and took great pleasure in ripping apart living creatures of all different races, tainting their blood with their own and piecing them back together into one living, breathing, monstrous being that would untamed and unbridled with a rage mirroring that of the Fey’s; one felt towards those that had pushed them to the brink of war in the first place and then banished them to the Otherlands. These abominations would be fueled by such emotions and desires to see the races beyond that of the Fey chained and torn apart as they had been. For this reason, they would often be revered as savage warriors, loyal hunting hounds and slavers, sent out to capture and drag back more helpless victims from the other realm to be used as more meat for the True Fey’s monstrous creations.
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> Of course, however, birthing such creatures made up of several different parts consisting of many different people would undoubtedly have dire consequences. When these beasts of anguish and burden first come into existence, they are met with an onslaught of pain, trauma, and shattered fragments of memories shared between their many parts that may fight for control before ultimately those memories are of insignificance and a new identity is made. Though that does not change the fact that these creatures are met with an unstable inability to discern which part of them was them anymore, causing all chimeras, when first made, to experience a kind of mental break. Fear, confusion and rage will quickly wrack the mind until they answer their natural instinct of fight or flight. A chimera may choose to lash out at their creators for turning them into something so grotesque and unnatural or even try to run from it. Because of this, many would either see their wild rage quelled or even come to meet the cruel fate of death before they were granted a chance to truly breathe.
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> Rare are those who would take hold of their own freedom or be granted a second chance. Be it by the mercy of their masters or because they were able to flee from the clutches of them.  This by no means that newfound guidance or freedom makes life any easier for them. On the contrary, those that survive their transformation can either regain more intelligence and cognitive function overtime, regaining some semblance of their mental stability over years. While others may continue to suffer in the fracturing of their minds and delve into madness or cautionary isolation.
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> For this reason, many chimera who flee may have an identity crisis and mental dysfunction, resulting in hysteria, auditory and visual hallucinations, constant nightmares, splitting personalities, and so much more. Tragic creatures though they may be, these chimera often end up dying by the hands of those that fear their hideous forms that spur their natural instinct of fear, rage, or aggression. Even worse, they risk capture by Fey or those who would seek to harness their brute strength, becoming slaves to both realms alike by some means, continuing the endless cycle in a never ending loop of violence and despair for these creatures.
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## Society

With the release of fey creatures upon the world, the fey-touched will often mirror the courts of their masters when gathered together within the mortal realm. These courts are signified by one or two leaders who guide them with chosen officials who lead certain sects of the court. These sects can be divided into spies, war envoys, and caretakers.

Those such as faeries are often those who will lead and account for the infiltrating spies and scouts for a court. They may also employ shifters who have either been enslaved or have been made to serve the Fey and their courts. They will blend with societies and settlements, idly biding time and lingering to learn the way of things and perhaps even lure unsuspecting victims from their homes to being captured, feasted upon, or otherwise utilized in some way. They will search and seek out places that could be reclaimed in the name of the Fey.

This is then where the war envoys come into play. These are the warriors and fierce enforcers of the court. This can be faeries, dryads, and chimeras who lead or fill these forces. During a celebration of the Summer solstice, this sect is the one to lead the charge. In their victory, they will choose who is worthy of growth and rebirth and who will be made to be feasted on or turned to fodder for their ranks.

There are then the caretakers of the court. These individuals do not only care for those within the court but also the plants, trees, and overall well-being of where the fey-touched may call home. This can be faeries, dryads, or even the occasional chimera shaman who wields blood magic. They are those who will heal and nourish those of the court when the time is necessary and help aid in the growth and reclamation of land after a war has been won. Though these caretakers are also those most responsible for overseeing and carrying out the rituals of those who are worthy of rebirth into a brand new fey-touched. After their transformation is complete, they will stay with them for a time and guide them on their newfound journey of life.

Outside of those in the court, slaves, victims, and so on are lesser beings. Those belonging to the third order. No more than meat, beasts, and cattle that is fodder for the Fey’s grand designs. Until they can prove themselves worthy of rebirth to take their place within the court, they are reminded of this by being made to carry out menial tasks, their flesh feasted upon, or merely turned into breeding instruments. The only exception in this would be those Marked of the Other who may take on roles in the court as advisors or even consorts. These witches and warlocks will find themselves held above the rest and doted on as treasured guests rather than servants.

That is not to say that fey-touched don’t live in isolation from time to time. Faeries often flit about within society, moving from place to place so frequently that they do not find a court to settle with. They can also choose to live solitary lives near settlements, using their charm and illusionary abilities to ease the minds of the locals before they lure and begin to feast on the victims they claim. They can be territorial when they become comfortable, refusing to leave or find new hunting grounds. Dryads are also known for living in solitude within the forests they claim for their own. They will guard them relentlessly as unforgiving protectors, allowing only those to pass who treat their woods with care and respect. Those chimera who escape the clutches of their Fey masters may also live as lone creatures, choosing to live out their lives in peace and quiet away from the torches and weapons that often chase after them. They can be hermits that hide away and only come out to hunt at night, often being territorial and aggressive towards those who would do them harm or seek to capture them.

## Architecture

As denizens of nature and the natural world being the dominant force over all things, the True Fey are adamant in the creation and growth of plant life and the reclamation of any and all man-made structures that would plague the lands they claim as their own. In this pursuit, the fey-touched created by them share in such beliefs.

Because of this, often fey-touched can be found in more natural environments, using natural structures such as trees, caves, chasms, and pits as homes that they can call their own, decorated and protected by foliage already available or grown by their own hand. Many fey-touched may even expand upon the growth of their natural environments, producing walls of thorn vines, gardens of dangerous flora, or summoning nature’s guardians such as animals, stone golems, or sentient plant life. At times, fey-touched can even be subterranean, living deep within caverns or rooting themselves deeply underground. Though as they are weakened when they are without access to sun, fey-touched highly favor inhabiting caves and chasms that have access to sunlight through cracks or openings above them, often decorating them with bioluminescent plant life and glowing mushrooms.

Should fey-touched overrun any man-made settlements or villages, they may take root and settle within the ruins of the destruction wrought by their own hands. Ruins of these once populated places will be overgrown with grass, moss, foliage, and vines reclaiming the land for itself. Buildings or rooms that are inhabited by fey-touched will be completely altered to fit their comfort and covered by plants, rocks, and pools of water. Overtime, these structures will continue to deteriorate until there is nothing left of them. Such is ultimately the desires of the fey-touch and their True Fey masters.

The only exception to this may lie with chimeras who are capable of withstanding the colder regions of the world. They can often inhabit caves and snowy ruins that are central to their hunting grounds. Those who have run and escaped the bindings of their True Fey masters may also seek familiarity in man-made structures. Others stray from it entirely, finding such familiarities unnerving or dangerous should such places still be inhabited by those that might fear them.

## Religion

The will of the True Fey is the will of their fey-touched servants. These god-like beings stand atop the Fourth Order of the True Cycle, occupied solely by the denizens of the Otherlands; like their masters, the fey-touched loom above all other creatures and things in the lower orders, and the wishes and well-being of such lesser beings are insignificant when weighed against the directives of the True Fey.

Accordingly, the closest things to religious observations the fey-touched practice very much can be described as devotions to these powerful, otherworldly masters. That said, there are a variety in the way they express this devotion, be it through service or the celebration of particular seasonal festivals.

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> ### Vernal Equinox
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> A time for birth, renewal and excess debaucheries, the fey celebrate the Vernal Equinox as a joyous time: a time where new, beautiful life is sprung into the world, be they sprouting dryads or transforming faeries. And life is not the only thing created during this springtime jubilee; those who venerate the Other – covens of Marked Ones, their familiars and servants – view this festival to be the ideal time to make contact with their fey masters, offering tribute and gifts to earn their attention and favor. Should a coven particularly please a fey court, they might be rewarded with a chimera to mate with in order to further grow the ranks of their coven with more witches and warlocks born with the mark of the Other. While Chimera are the only fey-touched capable of natural reproduction with nearly all races, those women who are bred by them will only birth a child that resembles the race of the mother. Chimera themselves are also incapable of giving birth.
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> ### Summer Solstice
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> A time for bold and decisive action, the fey celebrate the Summer Solstice with declarations of war and acts of hostility. They spend the time leading up to this festival surveying and infiltrating fleshling settlements that can prove fertile grounds for their coming conquests, waiting until the solstice itself to stage brutal assaults on the homes and strongholds within. During this time, as many unsuspecting fleshlings as possible are taken as captives, with the fey and their allies paying special deference to those who impress in battle. The strong are set aside – stored for later use and glorious purpose: the creation of new fey-touched or even a grand sacrifice to appease their True Fey masters. The weak, however, are kept as cattle to be slaughtered and feasted upon during or used as fertilizer for the celebrations to come: a fitting fate for the mewling castes of lesser orders.
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> ### Autumnal Equinox
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> Like the Vernal Equinox, the Autumnal Equinox is a time for delight and merriment, though where its springtime counterpart honors new life, this celebration venerates the Fall harvest and the ensuing feasts. It is a time for lesser fleshlings captured during the Summer Solstice to be slaughtered like the lambs they are, and for their worthier, stronger fellows to be planted in the earth to form new dryads. These fields are fertilized with the blood of the culled as the fey-touched partake in their grand harvest. This is a time of indulgence and gluttony in degrees generous enough to rival the fervent fornications and debaucheries of the Vernal Equinox. The covens of witches and warlocks bearing the mark of the Other will once again take this time to make offerings and pacts with their fey masters, currying favor in the hopes of being invited to join in these profane feasts.
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> ### Winter Solstice
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> The winter solstice is a time for rest and reflection. In times where the winter solstice may fall over a region that does not experience a change in climate weather, fey courts will recede into their habitats and recoup after time spent carrying out the will of their masters. They will spend this time gathering the necessary supplies for the cycle of the seasons to start again, exploring, infiltration, and gathering information on other settlements or civilizations that they may set sights on next.
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In preparations for these festivals, the fey-touched are known to build shrines devoted to their True Fey patrons; these profane places often are used for nefarious purposes, be it to shed blood in brutal, ancient rituals, or even to twist the fleshlings of the Third Order into more perfected, useful shapes: shapes that please the True Fey, rarely resembling the original, profligate meat suits.

## Racial Relations

The fey-touched are not known for having any good relations with the races that span across the world. Many if not all races fear or engage in constant conflict with them as any race below that of a Fey or fey-touched are seen as simply meat or cattle to be captured by these creatures for various reasons. Enslavement, devoured, or turned into another fey-touched to join their courts to name a few.

Giants particularly summon a special ire within that of the fey-touched as these are the descendents of the Nephilim who were responsible for driving out and banishing away their True Fey masters. They will often tease or insult the race of giants for falling so far from their once proud and powerful stature, seeing them as less than what they are and putting them on par with all the rest of the races in the world. They may seek to further weaken or eradicate the giants, seeking to turn them into more chimeras to serve the True Fey they once turned against. Saurians are another race that may draw similar attention from the fey-touched as they are one of the only few races immune to their magic. They may be targeted for food or fodder as their parts are what is often used for chimera reconstruction.

Shifters are despised by the fey-touched as well for similar reasons as Giants. Though shifters are particularly hated for the gift of the Mad King and the Fey blood running through their veins being wasted on them. They see their ancestors' actions as ungrateful and accuse them of turning their backs on the Fey to instead worship their false God, the Beast King. Such insult and dismissal of the True Fey as the rulers of the True Cycle cannot go unpunished. However, many fey courts may attempt to capture and utilize shifters in their methods of reclamation, enslaving them or even attempting to usher some back to the side in favor of the Fey. In the event that such is successful, shifters may be more readily accepted and act as infiltrators and spies for the fey-touched.

The Elves are another race that has particularly touchy relationships with the Fey and the courts that follow them as their history with the Fey runs deep. Many elves are known to despise the fey-touched and seek to cull them as much as possible, hoping to keep the numbers of the Fey reduced and their people safe from being twisted into such monstrosities again. But there are some elves that have long awaited the return of the Fey and their courts. These elves follow old traditions and often meet in secrecy with those coven of Marked– bearing the mark of the Other.

Such covens are perhaps the only openly accepted by the fey-touched. They are often welcomed and revered by fey-touched as oracles and convoys between that of them and their True Fey masters. Through the connection the Marked have with their patrons, they are able to make communications with those that reside within the Otherlands, asking for guidance or delivering messages that may otherwise be important to relay to the True Fey on matters most touching. It is only through a Marked of the Other that they are able to accomplish this and so, they may willingly seek out these individuals or covens to invite them into their courts and, better yet, take part in their festivals and share with them the magic that binds them to the Fey through that of familiar pacts. The coven of the Other are known to revel in the celebrations and magic the fey-touched offer them, often seeking out a chimera during Vernal and Autumnal equinoxes to breed with in order to further grow their once lacking ranks.

## Perception of Magic

As fey-touched are born of fey magic, they are widely accepting of magic being utilized for various means within their courts. **Faeries** are the most diverse in utilizations of magic. They are capable of wielding the darker spheres including blood magics, dark magics, and mental magics of the mind. The latter of which is a strong suit for faeries who specialize in infiltration and spying. They may lure and manipulate their targets or victims and bring them to those who wield darker magics to be feasted on and their blood or bodies utilized for other means. There are also those that can wield geomancy, nature magics, and wind magics who act as gatherers or shamans of their court.

The same can be said for dryads who are more restricted to certain spheres of magic. As they are guardians and often caretakers of their courts or the forests that they protect, they may wield that of nature magic or geomancy to guard and care for those beneath them. The most sinister of dryads, however, are known to utilize blood magic and mental magic in their employ to terrorize and torment those that dare wander into their part of the woods.

Blood is of great import to the Fey. Meaning a dryad may have an unusual fascination with using blood to nourish its forest and itself. They may at times feast on it and fill their roots with another’s blood rather than water to grow certain parts from it. A dryad may also use blood and bodies as means of fertilization for new life to grow. While a dryad who utilizes mental magics may use such to poison their victims minds with feelings most unfamiliar to them when entering their domains. They may employ certain flora that grows from their bodies or that they sprout from the ground to cause people to hallucinate or become filled with an overwhelming sensation or feeling they cannot control. Even just a touch from a dryad may instill pain or fear in someone beyond what they are normally capable of due to the ganglions that tie them so intensely to the feelings of plant life.

The only exception to this is that of pyromancy and hydromancy. This is due to their aversion to heightened levels of cold and heat and the ways they are affected by such.

In colder regions and climates, faeries and dryads will weaken and see a gradual decrease in energy levels. This is until they are forced into a dormant state and their bodies are made to hibernate. Some hydromancy spells may be utilized to force such an effect on a fey-touched even in warmer climates. Thus, they are adverse to these sphere wielders. The only exception to this lies with the chimeras who are capable of withstanding the cold more than their insect and plant-like counterparts.

In overly heated regions and climates, fey-touched may thrive but be entirely uncomfortable by their surroundings. A faerie may falter in their illusionary form and drop it away completely in favor of flying away. While dryads may risk their many beloved bark, branches and flora catching fire or chimera finding themselves overheated and aggravated by the heat. For this reason, all fey-touched are adverse to pyromancy in fear of being burned to ash and unable to restore or repair themselves.

With little grasp on their own mind and mental capabilities as creatures melded together by differing parts, chimeras also have a weakness and fear against most magics. Particularly mental magics which have been used to try and tame or alter the thoughts of a chimera being captured by anything other than the Fey. As such, most chimeras are adverse to even wielding magics. Though it is not unheard of for some chimera to have the capability to do such, suggesting they may have some connection to a part of them that once wielded it. What magic is available to them is limited, however, as the Fey came to realize during their experimentation. Those chimera capable of wielding magics could only do so with the spheres of blood magic, geomancy and wind magic.

The only school of magic not available and is not feared by the fey-touched is that of witchcraft. More specifically, those that bear the mark of the Other coven. These witches are old allies and often align themselves to the Fey and fey-touched, offering their services to those within the court and in turn, making pacts and bonds that benefit both their coven and the court. A court may offer a familiar to a Marked of the Other in exchange for communication between them and the Marked’s Fey patron; both of them sharing in seeing to the will of their master being done. This creates a symbiotic relationship between the two and both rely on one another to achieve their ultimate goal of reclamation of the world in the name of the Fey.

## Racial Abilities & Weaknesses

### Fey Touched

**RPR Racial Bonuses:** Coming soon.

**Pyrophobia**

All fey-touched have a weakness to fire. They fear it and are highly adverse to it.

> **RPR Effects:** -5 Resist Fire, -5 Pyro Resistance
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**Cold-Blooded**
All fey-touched, except for Chimeras, regulate their body temperature based on their environment. They prefer warm climates over that of colder regions and will actively avoid such. When in colder climates, fey-touched such as faeries and dryads will become heavily lethargic and, in severe cases, will fall dormant and into a hibernation until they are returned somewhere warm.

> **RPR Effects:** -5 Resist Cold, -5 Resist Hyrodmancy
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**Touched by the Fey (Racial Curse)**
As they themselves were created by the terribly cruel yet magical hands of the True Fey, fey-touched are instilled with the desires and machinations of their creators to carry out their will and spread their influence to those of the mortal realm. They may do so by ritualistically turning almost any race into creatures just like them, employing that of the methods that were used on them to ensure a willing or unwilling individual’s transformation. The method for which type of fey-touched they wish to afflict on an individual varies for each.

> **Metamorphosis (Faerie Affliction)** Coming soon.
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> **Return to the Earth (Dryad Affliction)** Coming soon.
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> **Bio-Transmutation (Chimera Affliction)** Coming soon.
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### Faeries

> **RPR Sub-Racial Bonuses:** Coming soon.
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**Flight**

Faeries can fly with the use of their wings. Gain Aspect:Flight item in-game. *This ability cannot be used while in human disguise.*

**Malefic Deception (Illuisonary Magic)**

Similar to Huli Jing and Sirens, Faeries have the ability to willingly shroud their grotesque true forms into humanoid creatures with soft, insect-like features into something vibrant and alluring in nature. They may then further disguise these features using illusionary magic to appear human.

* **Human Disguise (otherwise known as Flesh Suit):** An illusionary human appearance with glowing eyes. This form will begin to blur and distort when in colder temperatures or in overly heated regions such as volcanos or in the immediate presence of fire.
* **Fairie Form:** A secondary form that is more alluring and meant to entice and lure individuals into a sense of wonderment or comfort in the presence of the faerie.
* **Insectoid Form:** The true form of any faerie which is more grotesque and monstrous in nature. This form takes on more heavily insect-like features and is often only revealed when a faerie is severely injured or about to feast on the flesh and blood of the living.

**Malefic Reveal**

When a faerie is downed in combat and severely injured, they may roll Disguise under the RPR menu. If they succeed against a saving roll of (18), they may take on the appearance of their Faerie Form. If they fail, all disguises are dropped and their horrific Insectoid Form is revealed.

**Enchanting Gaze (Charm)**

While making eye contact with a target and speaking to them a rhyme, a Faerie may have the chance to enrapture and charm their victims. A successfully charmed target will be more susceptible to suggestions or compelled to physically follow a Faerie. Successfully charmed targets may have a chance to break the charm through RPR. Otherwise, the effect ends when the Faerie speaks another rhyme, leaves line of sight, or whenever the scene ends. This is meant as an RP attempt and susceptibility to suggestions can be resisted however the targeted player feels comfortable roleplaying it. This ability cannot be forced in PvP Consequences and any dark themes while a player is Charmed need explicit OOC consent to proceed.

**Sphere Bound**

Faeries are only capable of harnessing the following magic spheres: Blood, Dark, Mental, Geomancy, Nature, & Wind.

### Dryads

> **RPR Racial Bonsues:** Coming soon.
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**Regenerative Growth**

Dryads have the capability to regrow parts of themselves that have been cut or torn off from their bodies. This includes arms, legs and any branches that may grow from them. They may also regenerate any stab wounds or gaping holes left in them. Full regeneration of severe wounds or limbs takes 12 hours (IRL). Regeneration can only occur with access to sunlight and does not occur if their head is removed or their body is burned to ash.

**Natural Camouflage**

While in their natural environment, dryads have an advantage in camouflaging themselves to their surroundings. Once activated, dryads will gain a temporary increase towards Stealth and Disguise.

> **RPR Effects:** +2 Stealth (when Active)
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**Keen Senses**
Being one with nature, dryads have a naturally heightened sense of perception, able to discern even the softest footsteps by the slightest vibration through the ground or whispers carried on the wind. Dryads have a passive increase to perception.

> **RPR Effects:** +4 Perception
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**Diurnal (Injury Timer)**

Dryads are more active and flourish during the day, requiring sunlight to heal and remain nourished. At night, they are more lethargic and less likely to act aggressively towards those treading their territory for a fear of not being able to heal themselves until morning. If injured between server hours of 10 PM to 4 AM, dryad characters must wait until 4 AM to apply their injury timer. Until this time, they are considered severely injured.

**Sphere Bound**

Dryads are only capable of harnessing the following magic spheres: Blood, Mental, & Nature, Geomancy.

### Chimera

> **RPR Racial Bonuses:** Coming soon.
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**Nightvision**

All chimeras are capable of seeing in the dark.

**Winged Flight**

Some chimeras can fly with the use of wings. Gain Aspect:Flight item in-game. *If your chimera does not have wings, they do not have access to this ability or item.*

**Brute Strength**

Due to their aberrant physiology, even the smallest of chimeras have a surprising amount of inhuman strength. Chimeras have a passive increase to strength.

> **RPR Effects:** +5 Strength
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**Dismemberment**

Chimeras can, at a whim, detach or remove a part of themselves should they find themselves magically or otherwise physically grappled, allowing themselves to slip free of whatever may bind them. Once the part has been removed, however, they may not reattach it until they have a replacement and can attach it with the use of Reconstruction. Other methods or regrowth of missing parts include blood or nature magic.

**Reconstruction (Ritual)**

Should a chimera lose a body part by means of losing it in battle or detaching it themselves with use of Dismemberment, they may reattach it themselves once they have found a replacement. Please note, this ritual will only be successful on chimera.

* **Ingredients:** Cadervine, Liniment, Replacement Body Part
* **Gem Requirements:** 2 Chunk of Jasper, 1 Chunk of Ruby
* **Scroll Requirement:** Scroll of Transmutation
* **Effect of the Ritual:** A chimera reattaches a body part that was once lost to them.

> **Procedure:** The chimera draws a circle of transmutation as found on the scroll large enough for them to sit within. They then grind up the gems and combine them with the phosphorus and liniment until they create a paste. The paste is then applied to the part of the body that is missing along with the replacement part to act as an reproductive adhesive that connects the two together.
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**Mental Weaknesss**

All chimeras are weak against mental magic and may also be made into Marked familiars(?). Chimeras have a passive decrease in mental resistance.

**Fear of Magic**

Having been torn apart and forcefully sculpted by terrifying fey magics that still pain them greatly, most if not nearly all chimeras are adverse and fearful of magic. In the most rare cases of chimeras using magic, they have only been known to be able to wield the following: Blood, Geomancy, & Wind.

## Attachment & Kit Items

The items listed in the kits below are made with the Season 6 modlist. They have been updated as of **14th December 2023**.

### Chimeras

Chimera are monsterous, mutated beasts created from parts torn from several different races all put back together. Though no chimera is ever the same, some parts that are used in their creation seem to be favored over others.

While the chimera kit is expansive with many different options, there are requirements that need to be met when creating a chimera character. If these requirements are not met or you are found abusing any of the items within the kit, you may be asked by admins at any time to change your characters appearance to follow the necessary requirements listed below. *Failure to adhere to this may result in a strike or an immediate reroll of the character.*

*Expand for Chimera Racial Kit*

## Lore Contribution

> **Credit for Lore Contribution:** Mayday & QT
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