A bizarre place of upside-down physics, strange vistas and worlds with their own unique, occaisionally absurd rules, Phaesili is about as close as you could get to a world of dreams made real. The fae races (faeries, nymphs, and so forth) inhabit this realm. While the races in the other realms organize themselves into meaningful groups, the fae shun such formalities and instead embrace the chaotic freedom offered by this magical and unpredictable realm.

The term "Fae," like most archtypes, includes many races and species. The genetic families for Fae are called Chords. Chords are not generally as formal or organized as the factions of other races, and many Fae refuse to be pigeonholed into a "Chord" and won't acknowledge that there is any such thing. In fact, Fae Chords are often used as a distinction by other races who study their genetics rather than the Fae themselves.

The one thing they do like about the name is that they like music. Fae are enchanted by music to an extent scarcely imaginable by other races; some Fae will stop in the middle of combat, mesmerised by a haunting tune. They are also quite fond of dancing, and many Chords maintain cities almost exclusively for the purpose of supporting a dance hall.

Fae races don't organize themselves as much as other species. Even monster tribes have more unity than a typical Fae chord. Fae simply wander, doing what appeals to them. They occaisionally mingle with their neighbors, but those who hold to factionalism and politics are among the minority (which isn't to say that they don't exist). Some of them do build cities of a sort, while many others simply live off the land, never bothering with such burdens. Fae "Armies," and other groups, when they do exist, are built out of pure charisma, personal loyalty, or a common emotion or goal. They are, in a sense, more akin to mobs than organizations.

Phaesili itself is split into many different sub-realms connected in a thousand different ways. Sometimes saying a magic word in a particular place can take you to one; other times it is as simple as walking there. Even the Fae themselves cannot map all the connections and all the myriad ways to travel from one Phaesili realm to another. The situation is worsened by the fact that new portals pop up almost daily.

One of the more common ways to travel between Phaesili realms is via mushroom rings. Many varieties of mushroom, both magical and mundane, grow in Phaesili. Whenever they naturally form a circle, they create a portal that can be accessed via music. Each realm of Phaesili has a particular song or tune that goes with it; by playing or whistling this tune while standing inside the ring, one can transport themselves into that realm. It can't always be predicted where in that realm one will end up, however, and mushroom rings (also called faerie rings) often vanish as abruptly as they sprouted up.

Some unusually skilled enchanters have been able to create artifacts that mimic this effect, allowing the wielder to play a realm's song and travel there without a faerie ring. For convenience's sake, these artifacts are often musical instruments such as flutes. These artifacts are fairly rare, however, owing to the difficulty in making them. More common are artifacts that allow travel from one specific realm to another; these are commonly used and even sold in Fae cities to allow access to nearby realms. (Of course, "Nearby" is a muddy thing in Phaesili; the term is often used to describe accessibility more than literal distance.)

Some realms are quite vast; others are tiny. Some are named and mapped while others are known only to a few people in the entire universe. Each has it's own quirks and it's own strange twist on normal physical laws. A few seem to defy physics entirely.

Races of Phaesili

Fae in General

Phaesili is more conducive to the flow of magical energy than other realms. As a result of this, creatures who depend on magical energy for their existance--elementals, ghosts, etc--are more common in Phaesili, and most Fae creatures are more magical by nature than their counterparts in other realms. Fae tend to be inherently magical creatures in one way or another, though this does not necessarily mean they have spellcasting abilities--rather, it means magical energy is integrated into their bodies. This is the source of many of their innate abilities, such as the Faerie's ability to change size or the Shade's ability to move through solid matter.

Magical Genetics

Chords are not inherited in just the physical sense--they also reflect the makeup of the creature's spirit-body. As such, even elementals and ghosts are affected by which chord they came from. The way this manifests varies by species. For example, with elementals and nymphs, the creature's chord typically influences which element they attune themselves to out of those which are available. A mountain may contain rose nymphs from the Ruby Chord, tree nymphs from the Emerald Chord and shadow nymphs from the Onyx Chord. Even in an area as limited as a frozen mountain different chords can have different effects; a Diamond may become an ice elemental while an Amethyst becomes a snow elemental. Nearly any type is possible from any Chord, but even when they are the same, they each tend to have their own particular quirks according to the Chord they came from.

This is true of the other fae creatures as well. Faeries and pixies tend to have different innate magical powers according to the Chord they come from, such as the Anethyst's empathy or the Onyx's ability to become intangible.

Faerie Language

Faeries and Pixies have a highly unusual language. Rather than exchanging conventional sentences and words, they speak in overlapping musical sentences where both the notes and the phenomes from both speakers combine to determine the meaning of the sentences. Thus, the things that one faerie is currently "saying" partially determines what the other faerie can say, and how. Typically the sentences overlap, with one faerie's sentence starting at a certain point during the other faerie's sentence, rather than both sentences starting and ending at the same time. Ongoing conversations between faeries consist of starts and stops, with one faerie singing at some times and both singing at other times. A large number of faerie words only have any meaning when they are immediately following a certain note or word from the other faerie, and as the meaning of words are determined by both note and phoneme, Faerie conversations often resemble a cappella singing performances more than talking. This becomes even more complex when multiple faeries are speaking, making their conversations sound like miniature symphonies to an outsider.

Different combinations of notes and words carry different nuances and each faerie has a slightly different speaking style, which, in turn, gives their speech a different musical style. Different Fae chords literally make different chords with one another as they speak, meaning an experienced listener can often tell which chord a faerie comes from simply by the musical progressions of their speech. Onyx conversations often resemble haunting arias, while Ruby conversations sound upbeat and passionate--almost like what you might find at a dance club. Diamond speech resembles a grand waltz whilst Amethysts speak with soothing, even melodies. Sapphire speech has a beautiful but slightly forboding sound to it while Emerald speech has a very cheerful, sing-song quality. Emerald speech is what most people think of when they think of the faerie language, which is not surprising considering they are the largest chord.

The complexities of the Faerie language make Faerie the most difficult language for other races to learn, especially if you want to be able to express yourself properly using the styles of multiple faerie chords. Ironically, because their native language is musical, they rarely actually compose songs in it. The fact that a word has to have a certain note in order to convey the right meaning makes it very difficult to write lyrics that match with specific music. Those who are skilled or clever enough to do so are held in very high regard, but it is more common for faeries to simply copy songs or compose lyrics using other languages. Conversely, sonnets and poems composed in Faerie are practically songs in and of themselves, and practically all forms of Faerie theatre sound like musicals.

Faeries/Pixies

Faeries are delicate winged creatures of magic and whimsy. They are flighty and impulsive by nature, going wherever their moods take them. They are what most girls think of when they hear the term "Fae."

Though graceful, Faeries are both weak and fragile. Their muscles are unimpressive and their dainty frames are ill-suited to taking damage. They make up for this with an affinity for magic. Their flowstar chakras are different than most in that they can channel and support the energies of their other chakras. Faeries can literally use their entire body to cast spells. This means that the most powerful faerie magic is magic that is channelled through their body. Size changing, self-healing and even shapeshifting come quite naturally to Fae. Even their offensive spells are a great deal more powerful if they can touch their enemy or sprinkle them with Faerie dust (faerie dust is suffused with their magic while it is still within their body).

There is a significant downside to this, however. As Fae are most powerful with touch spells or faerie dust, they need to draw very close to an enemy to use them. Getting in a spellcasting contest at a distance often spells doom for a Fae; though a Faerie is fully capable of casting ranged spells, her enemy will quickly overwhelm her fragile body with firepower. The same is true if the Faerie uses a bow; all other things being equal, the Fae will fall from arrows before her enemy will. If the fae can place a finger on that same enemy, however, she can incinerate her in short order. This requires closing to melee range, however, and Fae are just as vulnerable to melee damage than they are to every other kind. For this reason, Fae place a high emphasis on evasion, learning elaborate ways to dodge enemy attacks until they can use their devastating magic. As uncomfortable as they are with the prospect, Fae are most effective using magical touch attacks, meaning they are most effective in melee. (Of course, they're more than happy to use bows and ranged spells if they're fortunate enough to come upon an enemy with no ranged attacks or ranged attacks that they can dodge.)

The one defensive advantage Faeries have is against magic. Their strong flowstar chakras are slightly better at dispursing destructive magics than those of other creatures. Though it is not normally enough to keep them safe or make up for their natural frailty, powerful Faeries can learn to strengthen this effect to a point where it does.

Some faeries and pixies are capable of producing faerie dust. This glittering material forms in their hair, on the tips of their fingers, and on their wings. If they wish, they can suffuse this dust with magic, causing it to create a magical effect when it touches a physical object. This can do anything from shrinking an object to causing it to violently burst into flame. As with other magical abilities, this capability varies greatly with the individual.

In addition to touch-based magic, many faeries are skilled with illusionary magics which are necessary for both day to day survival as well as capturing prey. While most illusionary magic involves decieving the mind or projecting false visual images, faerie illusions go beyond that by diminishing one's senses as well. Faeries can enchant their targets, dulling their awareness and judgement and making them more susceptible to illusions and trickery. This means that even a person with keen awareness and knowledge of the area can be decieved, if only temporarily.

Generally, this is used to hide a faerie and her home, but more devious faeries use this to set elaborate traps to confuse and confound their prey before fluttering down and engulfing them.

A rather famous legend tells of two hundred heavily armed Demonguts that were traveling through a magical forest when a lone faerie cast a spell that turned the forest into a befuddling maze of false paths and shadows. They were forced to wander through the bewitched forest for weeks until they were too worn out to resist. The faerie then teleported them all into her stomach, in which they were promptly digested. Although some elements of this story are true, many of the details are exagerrated and blown out of proportion, some from the faeries themselves. While it is true that they were skilled and well-armed, there were no more than twenty five, and they had already been relatively worn out by monsters when the faerie started weaving her illusions. On top of that it, wasn't a teleport spell (teleporting someone into a stomach is almost as difficult as teleporting someone out). Instead it was a warp spell similar to a faerie ring, cast on the area where the Demonguts happened to be. She used a simple series of illusions to make them take a warp right into the faeries belly, in which they were digested over the course of several days. Many people don't take into consideration that although Demonguts are strong, arrogant, and down right bitchy, they are typically lously at magic, so even a simple illusion by a rookie illusionist could decieve them if they aren't alert. For the most part, faeries aren't that dangerous, although the idea of them being easy snacking food is also typically false. Even the weakest of faeries can use deceptive magics to make them invisible, but with unskilled faeries this will only work if the target isn't looking for them.

Unfortunately for them, their most notorious of predators--frogs, frimbos, giant lizards and so forth--are practically always looking for a faerie lunch and thus always see through the illusions of the weaker faeries. Other predators--slimes, phages, carnivorous plants and the like--are simply too stupid to be fooled to begin with. (Those which are smart enough to be susceptible to illusion magic are perhaps the most frightening, because they like to turn the faerie's illusion magics right back on them, posing as innocent plants and flowers where, in reality, they are deadly carnivores.)

Faeries have an exceptionally strong hatred for harpies, frogs and snakes, as these are predators they have a hard time avoiding. Frogs can effortlessly snap up a Fae with their sticky tongues, harpies can fly up to even the most carefully placed treehouse, and snakes can sneak up and gulp down a sleeping faerie before she even knows she's in danger. Since faeries are so physically weak, they have a very hard time escaping from the bellies of even the weakest predators. While it can often be hard to catch a faerie, she will have an even harder time escaping.

Faeries have an especially awkward relationship with Frimbos (frog-girl hybrids). Frimbos are not the best magicians, nor are they the best warriors, but one power Frimbos do have is that their tongues tend to shrink people; in the case of a Faerie, it almost instantaneously forces her to revert to her tiny size, and the Frimbo's saliva will prevent them from changing back even after they've been swallowed (unless they use the stomach acid to wash every last bit of it off--which most of them are not terribly eager to do). Because of this, a Faerie is always only an effortless tongue-flick away from stewing inside a Frimbo's belly. Most faeries have an instinctive dread of Frimbos, a tendency which even friendly Frimbos often exploit for their own amusement.

Feeding Habits: Faeries and Pixies often focus on beasts and critters; they catch snakes and bunnies to eat, along with fruits and nuts. Some of the more aggressive Faeries are known to hunt girls or even monsters, and nearly all of them do in areas that don't support large critter populations. Faeries are particularly fond of naturally small non-fae races such as Tinies and Tass and will always choose them over other prey if they are able. Likewise, they favor human girls over other full-sized races when they are available. The only thing they don't seem to like eating are demon species; most Fae find the idea of eating any demonic race--even the tiny ones--to be a bit unsavory.

Faeries will usually assume their full size before attempting to swallow a meal, though they will often remain small until then in order to sneak up on their prey. They often use magic, illusion and trickery to capture potentially dangerous prey.

Faeries have fairly slow digestive tracts, but they are also very thorough; they rarely leave any form of waste unless the Fae is in a hurry or is constantly eating a great deal of food. Most Faeries will continually digest their meals until there is literally nothing left.

Mating Habits: Faeries are as fickle with their lovers as they are with anything else. Some are hopeless romantics, others are petulant make-up break-up types, while still others refuse any form of commitment aside from their own commitment to "Free love." One common thread among faeries is that they tend to place a higher emphasis on the romantic aspects of love than the physical ones. Gifts and sweet words are a much quicker way to a Faerie's heart than a low-cut bra and big boobs (though the latter don't hurt by any means).

Climate: The majority of Faeries overwhelmingly prefer temperate and pleasant climates; not to hot, not too cold, not too wet, not too dry. Even so, there is some variety of faerie that prefers any ecological extreme you can think of; while most faeries prefer pleasant climates, there are always sub-species out there who like the blistering heat of volcanoes or the frigid peaks of the high mountains. Onyx Fae in particular are more tolerant of cold environments, and Amethyst or Sapphire Fae can be found in almost any temperature range. Most Faeries prefer areas where there is ample plant life and water; it is very rare to find them in rocky or desert climes.

Honey: The honey of both faeries and pixies has the power to change people's size. Typically, the creature will be changed to the same size as the faerie was when she secreted the honey. This means a faerie in her large form can use her honey to make a tiny or a clover angel human-sized; likewise, a faerie in tiny form can use her honey to shrink even a giantess down to a few inches tall. The potency of their honey does not change with their size; the tiny droplets made by a small faerie are just as strong as the big squirts from a human-sized faerie.

Special Abilities: Faeries have the ability to change their size. There are two sizes they can attain; tiny-sized (1-4 inches tall) and human-sized (4-6 feet). This ability only allows them to switch back and forth between these two sizes; they cannot choose sizes in between, nor can they become smaller than their tiny size or larger than their human size. (This can be attained with normal magic, however)

(Note: Giantess faeries have this ability as well; in their case, it allows them to assume human size)

Pixies, on the other hand, cannot change size; though there are human-sized pixies and tiny-sized pixies, they are locked into the size they are born in. Pixies are sometimes jealous of Faeries as a result, but those who are bothered by it often learn traditional magic that allows them to change size instead.

Most Faeries find their smaller form to be the more natural of the two, and it is almost always the form they sleep in. They often craft hiding places for themselves inside trees or flowers; the more architecturally inclined often craft small houses which they hang from trees or outcroppings in order to protect them from predators. An exception to this is Onyx and Diamond Faeries; they both seem to prefer their human size and build elaborate, beautiful homes.

Both races have extremely strong flowstar chakras; they can channel the powers of any other chakra through them. Any spell that targets the Faerie herself, or someone whom she is touching, will be more powerful than normal. Other spells, conversely, are more difficult to cast.

Both Fae and Pixies are naturally capable of flight. Their rapidly-flapping wings draw up mana from the surrounding air and serve to replenish the magical energies they use to do so, meaning they can remain airborne for as long as they wish. (Other races can generally only fly for a limited period of time before they get tired.) They do not fly as quickly as other races, but can change direction instantly and are very nimble in the air. Their flight abilities generally do not generate enough force to carry another person, however, and faeries who are encumbered with armor will fly very slowly and only with considerable effort. (As a result, most Fae shun the use of armor entirely--a problem which exacerbates their already low survivability.) Faeries who have a strong need for armor will typically either enchant it to be lighter or will reinforce their natural flight abilities with magical flight.

Nymphs

Nymphs, like elementals, can take physical form but are primarily spirit creatures. Nymphs are closely aspected to an element or other ephemeral concept. There are the obvious types--wood nymphs, water nymphs and so forth--but there are also more exotic nymphs like waterfall nymphs and smoke nymphs. (In fact, the term "Fart Nymph" is an immature, albeit fairly popular epithet among faeries)

Nymphs are as diverse as the elements they represent. Water nymphs are playful and impulsive, Crystal nymphs are beautiful and delicate, Magma nymphs are intense and vengeful. They are generally simple minded and live simple lives; only a few bother to leave their place of birth, spending most of their time sleeping or having sex.

Nymphs vary in size from six feet all the way down to a centimeter; a few nymphs grow to giantess size, particularly those who live near especially grand geological features (the nymphs at the bottom of a gigantic ocean may well be gigantic themselves).

Most Nymphs do not have wings, but some have limbs or other attributes that reflect their habitat; water nymphs may have fins somewhere on their body, for example, while a wood nymph may have leaves growing out of her hair.

Feeding Habits: Nymphs draw energy from the element they inhabit, purifying it in turn. If water seems impossibly clean and sparkles like it held a thousand stars inside it, chances are it houses Water Nymphs. If a mountainside just seems too quiet, warm and tranquil, chances are it houses Mountain Nymphs (or Tree Nymphs, or Earth Nymphs). This is because Nymphs have a strong unifying effect on the energies of an area; any energies that don't strengthen the element are metabolized to feed the Nymph.

This also means there is a limited amount of "Food" in any given area. Once the population of Nymphs grows beyond a certain number, the ambient energies will no longer sustain them all. Some will have to find other places with the same element or start feeding on other creatures.

Yes, even the idyllic Nymphs can turn nasty if they're hungry. They will typically choose their prey out of someone who ventures near their habitat, suddenly appearing out of nowhere to swallow someone whole. They prefer these sorts of sneak attacks as they are not very strong in combat.

Mating Habits: Nymph "Eggs" are made of spirit matter rather than physical matter and typically spawn magically inside the element they represent. This means Nymphs must generally remain near to this element in order to reproduce. That is why it is rare to find a nymph away from it's native element. There are exceptions, however. Nymphs have sex as much as any other species, and a Nymph who mates with a different kind of Nymph can produce all kinds of different magical spores. Chances are at least one of these will be capable of taking root in something nearby, potentially giving birth to a whole new type of Nymph that will then begin to spread through the area.

Nymphs within an area have mostly indiscriminate sex with each other and it is what they do with most of their time. They are shy around other kinds of Nymphs and even more shy around other races, but many tales have been told of Nymphs emerging from the Earth simply to seduce and make love to a traveller. They are particularly fond of doing this when they have some reason to like the person; a girl who saves a forest from a raging fire may quickly find herself surrounded (and disrobed) by grateful Tree Nymphs.

Special Abilities: Nymphs have the ability to merge in and out of the element they are attuned to and can essentially use it as a medium. Most nymphs can merge into an element and then emerge from a different part of it almost instantaneously; powerful ones can even teleport between different places that house the element. A powerful Magma nymph, for example, could merge into the lava of one volcano and then emerge from the lava of another several miles away. Most nymphs also possess some sort of power that reflects their nature; air nymphs can control the wind, fire nymphs can create or control fire, etc. Beyond this, Nymphs tend to be weak both magically and physically. They make up for this by ganging up on their enemies; Nymphs tend to live in large groups and will all fight as one.

Nymphs cannot merge with their element if there is a large amount of food in their bellies or if they are wearing clothing. (As such, Nymphs are almost invariably naked.)

Nymphs also have the ability to merge with each other, but only for short periods of time. This is usually done when the Nymphs are hungry but are all too small to swallow any prey. Paradoxically, once the prey is swallowed, the Nymphs can split apart again, giving the prey the disorienting sensation of being in a hundred stomachs at once.

Ghosts

Ghosts are creatures that possess spirit bodies but not physical ones. Thus, they are capable of magic, but do not interact with the physical world in any other sense.

Most Ghosts do not reproduce and are typically made magically. As such, their abilities often depend on who created them and who they were before they were turned into ghosts.

There is fundamentally one way to make a ghost, and that is to alter someone's spirit body so that it is self-sustaining without the physical body. This can be done in any number of ways, but only the most clever or powerful mages know them. Reforging someone's spirit body after death is not something most birth classes can do--those that can (Necromancers) are fairly rare.

There is one other way for a ghost to be created, and that is for it to create itself. Sometimes a slain creature will rise as a ghost, for reasons that are ill-understood. It is very rare, especially among creatures who died by digestion, but it does happen.

Ghosts are dangerous for two reasons. First, they can use all the magic they used in life--this might not mean much if they were an Amazon, but mage-ghosts can be dangerous indeed. Perhaps more terrifying is the fact that Ghosts can suck up and digest the souls of the living--if they can weaken them first. A fully-charged spirit can hold onto it's body, preventing the Ghost from eating it, but if it's energies have been depleted, the Ghost can sever it, suck it up, and digest it. This will obliterate the person's spirit, all of their memories, and their identity. While they will still be reborn, it will be as a totally different person with no connection to her previous lives.

Feeding Habits: Ghosts feed on magical energy. Thus, they are usually found in areas that are saturated with it, such as forests or mana nodes. Lower spectrum magical energies sustain them best in general, so areas strong in "Dark Magic" energy are good habitats. They also metabolize according to their chakras, so they also feed best according to whichever chakra is strongest (a ghost with a powerful Red chakra will feed well on fire energy and such).

While Ghosts can survive off of ambient magical energy, they can't do much beyond that. They will not have the energy to cast powerful spells unless they supplement their magical input. Generally this means one of two things--draining mana from a living creature, or devouring that creature's soul.

Besides providing ample energy, digesting a soul is the only way a ghost can make her own spirit body stronger. Normally the spirit body strengthens itself with the help of the prodigous energies of the physical body; in the case of most ghosts, they need the raw materials from another spirit body before they can strengthen their own.

Mating Habits: While Ghosts do not have bodies or give off spores, they can still mate in a fashion; their heart chakra can still connect to other heart chakras, meaning they can transmit spiritual feelings of love and pleasure. If enough effort is put into it, they can even induce orgasm in this way. This does not allow them to reproduce, however.

Special Abilities: Ghosts are intangible and cannot be physically harmed. Magic will only harm them if it causes spiritual damage of some kind, which most magic does not do. Thus, Ghosts are very hard to hurt. The most reliable way to harm a ghost is with healing magic. Normally, a Ghost's spirit body has been altered so that it's healing systems--including those that detect when it's body is dead--are deactivated. Healing magics can reactivate them, causing the Ghost to "die" and move on to the afterlife or reincarnation. Only the more advanced healing magics will do this, however, as basic ones don't affect the spirit body--they just flood it with energy it can use to heal itself. These kinds of spells will actually strengthen the Ghost rather than harming it. Some Mages have developed special spells that are designed specifically to kill ghosts; these are generally designed specifically to reactivate the healing and death capabilities of the Ghost's spirit body.

Beyond their resistance to damage, Ghosts can typically siphon energy from other spirit bodies, depleting both mana and life from their owner.

Because Ghosts can use magic, some of the more powerful ghosts are able to create physical forms for themselves and bind themselves to them. This does not significantly alter their nature, however--they can still "Detach" from these bodies and destroying the bodies still won't harm the ghost. Many Ghosts use physical forms because it allows them to interact with the physical world without constantly expending mana.

Elementals

Elementals are creatures whose bodies are made magically from an element or combination of elements. Their flowstar chakra assumes the duty of creating their physical body, making them somewhat similar to ghosts. The biggest difference is that ghosts have only a spirit body; elementals create and maintain a body of elemental matter using their spirit body.

Thus, elementals are literally made of an element, whether it be water, fire, air, earth, or even a more unusual material. Even so, their bodies are somewhat beyond the simple element they are made of; an earth elemental will still have liquid blood and an ice elemental will still have pliable (if cold) skin. Even an air elemental has physical substance of a sort.

Their spirit body creates and reinforces the components of this elemental body on a somewhat "as needed" basis, so a water elemental may not have a digestive tract until she swallows you. Once she does, however, her spirit body will approximate all the functions of a full digestive tract, absorbing your physical and spiritual energies and converting them into her own.

Elementals come in two flavors: natural and conjured. Conjured elementals, also known as summoned elementals, are brought into existance through certain magical techniques. They are subservient, loyal and obedient by nature--at least, towards the one who created them--which is part of the reason mages favor them as warriors and protectors.

Natural elementals are considerably more free-spirited and have a much broader array of personalities, though the degree and their particular personality often follows a pattern depending on the type of elemental (and, to a lesser extent, the chord they belong to). Ice elementals are calm, contemplative, and cooperative with those who appeal to their sense of logic--or know how to find their emotional strings. On the surface, they seem as cold and emotionless as their skin, but most harbor a certain level of sentimentality. Ice Elementals in general can swing a variety of ways, but the most common form of natural ice elemental is actually a subtype referred to as a Snow Elemental, who are generally benevolent, if shy and often difficult to find. Fire Elementals are, unsurprisingly, the opposite. They are impulsive and emotional, and while they are not necessarily evil or sadistic, they tend to give themselves over to their desires fairly readily, and these desires often involve hunger. Earth Elementals are something of a contradiction; they are almost always friendly, beneficent, generous, and happy. They are also perfectly willing to devour pretty much anyone at the drop of a hat. They have virtually no comprehension of the idea that eating another creature is considered hostile.

Natural elementals are almost always human-shaped, as the humanoid spirit body is the most mana-efficient, making it the most likely to survive. Conjured elementals can be humanoid or they can take more cruder forms, depending on the skill and techniques being used by the conjurer.

It is worth noting that "summoning" an elemental does not actually involve summoning an existing one; summoners typically summon a template of sorts, similar to an elemental egg, and fill it in with magical energy. Thus, they can create the complex forms of an Elemental's spirit body without actually having any clue how they work. Mages who actually fashion the spirit bodies manually usually end up with much simpler creatures that typically require additional magical constructs to keep them alive.

Feeding Habits: Elementals require a large amount of energy to maintain their constantly shifting bodies. Typically they gain this energy one of two ways--their creator can provide it directly by infusing them with mana, or they can eat someone. Elementals can digest normal creatures, albeit not as quickly or efficiently. It is not uncommon for an Elemental to shit out a lot more of a creature than is normal; their digestive tracts tend to be slipshod and do a sloppy job (no pun intended). However, they do the job nonetheless, and an Elemental's digestive tract is often more like a normal creature's than most people would expect. An ice elemental's stomach is often as hot and muggy as anyone else's, and a fire elemental's is not necessarily hotter.

Mating Habits: Elementals are monogamous for the most part. If they have sex with anyone, it will be with the person who summoned or created them. If they are natural or wandering elementals, they will wait until someone catches their eye. After watching the person at a distance for a time, they will--if the person's behavior has satisfied them--propose to that person.

Elementals do not require monogamy from their partners, and will make love to others if they feel it will please their main partner. Giving their loyalty to one sexual partner is simply a preference most Elementals have for themselves.

Elementals, like Nymphs, have magical spores. Unlike Nymphs, they also have physical spores--though these are very limited in the genetic material they carry. Typically they will hold only a fraction of the amount of a normal spore. Keeping the spores viable with a smaller amount of genetic material is part of the reason they instinctually prefer to be monogamous.

Special Abilities: Elementals generally have a high affinity for their element and can magically create and control it. They are also durable creatures, as their bodies are comparatively simple to repair while simultaneously being difficult to damage (attacks tend to pass through them). The unfortunate side-effect of being magical creatures, however, is that dispell magic harms them physically.

Mimics

One of the hardest kinds of Fae to identify, Mimics are born all over Ishara--it is actually less common for them to spawn in Phaesili, despite the fact that they are a Fae species. When they are first born, Mimics simply appear as luminous energy; they do not actually take a physical form until they encounter another creature. When they do, they will take on all of the physical characteristics of that creature's species, including their internal structure and functioning. The Mimic essentially becomes one of them. From then on, they are indistinguishable from normal members of that species; at least to the untrained eye. Underneath their near-perfect physical disguise lies a very unique spirit structure. So unique, in fact, that no two Mimics have quite the same spiritual anatomy. In addition, Mimics do not inherit the usual memories and skills of their new race, meaning Mimics almost always exhibit not only unusual abilities but unusual behaviors as well. Even when a Mimic manages to blend in, those who can see spirit bodies, whether naturally or through magic, will notice that Mimics stand out among their companions even though they all appear to be the same species.

Mimics cannot change their physiology after they are born; once their physical form is chosen, it becomes their natural form. They cannot shapeshift into other creatures, nor can they opt not to become a creature--they will automatically turn into the first creature they encounter after they are born (though this is always limited to sentient creatures such as greater monsters, girls, angels, and so forth. Mimics cannot become slimes, plants, beasts, or other unintelligent creatures.)

Mimics gain the physical abilities of their species but not the spiritual ones. Thus, a Mimic who turns into a Frog Girl will gain their sticky tongue and unusual digestive abilities, but a Mimic who turns into a Lotus Angel will not be able to fly. This is usually made up for by the fact that most Mimics have powerful spirit abilities that are unique to them alone; thus, they might end up as a Frog Girl who can control plants or a Lotus Angel who can't be harmed with metal.

Voodoos

Voodoos are ill-understood creatures that seem to crop up completely at random. They defy description because they are all unique, but they do follow one consistant theme--they take the form of a human-made object that eats people.

Sometimes the floorboards in a house will open up, revealing a yawning throat beneath. Sometimes a long tongue will shoot out from the refridgerator door, yanking someone in before closing...and belching. Sometimes someone will mysteriously disappear into the couch, or into the closet. Sometimes the shower curtain will wrap around you like a python while the faucet begins oozing thick, syrupy digestive juice. And sometimes an entire house will simply lock itself up, trapping everyone inside as strange, warm liquids begin pouring down the walls...

Voodoos are a source of much superstition and speculation--for those who know about them at all. Many believe they don't exist; Voodoos seem to prefer to strike solitary targets, and the few times there has been a witness, the "carnivorous couch" or the "closet with the giant mouth in the cieling" will turn out to be perfectly normal when others come to see. Nonetheless, there are many houses people simply won't go inside; these "creatures" seem to favor particular spots, almost as if they were haunting them.

Voodoos are found in most realms, but are believed to draw their power from Phaesili. They occur everywhere except Brightwind, and reaction to them varies greatly.

Girl clans are terrified of them; they will often destroy any house even suspected of housing a Voodoo (though tales of entire groups of girls "vanishing" during an attempt to do so has dissuaded many from trying). Monsters, for their part, just figure it's part of the foolishness of trying to live in a house, or part of some curse. They generally attempt to avoid Voodoos, placate them with offerings, or simply burn the place to the ground.

Demonesses embrace Voodoos, using them for their own amusement. They love to throw prisoners into a Voodoo-haunted house, barring all the exits and promising freedom if the girl can but live for a certain number of days (which most don't, and those that do can only hope the Demonesses keep their word and let them out!) They've even intentionally summoned Voodoos on occaision, though once or twice they've ended up regretting it--Voodoos aren't the most predictable of creatures at the best of times, and it takes a very powerful summoner to control one completely.

Faeries are one of the few races that seem able to banish Voodoos--their magics can, if not destroy it, cause it to migrate far away from the Faerie. So, while Voodoos are most common in Phaesili, they are actually not nearly as feared as they are elsewhere. The fact that Voodoos infest large areas of Phaesili is part of what gives it it's otherworldly reputation--a place where anything you see might eat you will naturally become an object of superstition.

Phages

Phages are highly unusual creatures that are, in essence, a disembodied digestive tract. Most phages resemble flying jellyfish, eukaryotic slimes, or literal, floating stomach sacks. They are different from normal Slimes in that they are complete creatures rather than oversized digestive microbes. They share the characteristics of digestive organs, most notably a near-immunity to magic, which they absorb. This makes them exceptionally dangerous to spellcasters and explains why they are most often found in Phaesili, preying on the magic-dependant Faeries. Faeries do their best to avoid phages rather than fighting them; bringing down even a single phage often risks the lives of several fae, and a pack of phages can ingest dozens or even hundreds in a careless attack. The fact that Phages are often found drifting together in very large groups essentially seals the deal; Faeries do not fight them. Instead, they erect natural defenses meant to keep them away from the cities--walls, wind barriers, and the like. Those times when fighting a Phage swarm is unavoidable, the Fae typically use bows, slings, and--if at all possible--mercenaries from other races.

Phages have very crude spirit bodies and die quickly once their hit points are depleted. They are generally considered to be mindless and are usually incapable of magic; the few that can use it are limited to one or two specific effects and nothing else. (A phage might, for example, be able to magically pull creatures towards it, but wouldn't be able to perform any other spells)

Leptarids

Leptarids are manta-like beasts that feed primarily on faeries and pixies. In order to help them hunt, they possess the ability to switch between two different body types, such as many other Fae races can. In the case of the Leptarid, these bodies are a physical and a magical body, each with different characteristics.

The "magical" or "ghost" form of the Leptarid is translucent and self-luminescent, but still obviously recognizable by it's shape. While in this form, the Leptarid is very resistant to magical attacks, as it's skin metabolizes raw magical energies and variations in temperature extremely well. However, this form is also very soft, making it vulnerable to physical damage. It's only physical protection is an energy field that repulses physical matter. This field is weak, however, and is generally only enough to deflect ranged attacks fired at medium to long range (such as bows). It has a stronger effect on magical weapons than it does physical weapons, however.

Conversely, the "physical" form of the Leptarid is resistant to physical attacks--specifically, it's chakras generate a much stronger repulsion field which can hold even direct melee attacks at bay, particularly those which use metal weapons. Likewise, it's rubbery skin and flexible bones make bludgeoning attacks ineffective. However, they are vulnerable to magic in this form, as their chakras are so busy generating the physical fields that they cannot provide adequate magical defenses or efficiently regenerate the damage that spells inflict.

Typically they attack faeries while in their magical form, as the faeries are typically poor melee fighters and their repulsion field is sufficient to stop most bow attacks, especially attacks from magical bows (as the field is stronger against magical weapons).

A typical Leptarid is ten feet long, and roughly as wide at it's widest point. It's stomach runs the length of it's body, so it typically does not need to stretch to accomodate it's prey. In addition to a large, yawning mouth at the front of the creature, the Leptarid also has small feeding tentacles running along it's underbelly which are used to catch and eat the smaller varieties of fae.

Wisps

One of the smallest varieties of Fae, Wisps are similar to pixies but are even smaller. A typical wisp has a wingspan of about four square inches, but their actual body is less than an inch long. Wisps are found in large numbers in the more rural areas of Phaesili. They reproduce very quickly and are typically manavores--they don't actually eat to survive, but rather, they live near natural concentrations of magical energy and use it to sustain themselves. This renders them very weak, however--Wisps cannot fight in any significant capacity and are effectively helpless aside from their ability to fly, and they do not fly very quickly. Add in the fact that they naturally emit a bright glow and they essentially have no way to avoid predators. Wisps are typically seen as one of two things by other Fae: pets or food. Wisps are intelligent and generally friendly, which makes them valued as companions, but they are also nearly defenseless, which makes them valued as food sources.

Outside of Phaesili, Wisps are often mistaken for Faeries, as they look very similar--the main difference is that Wisps have much smaller bodies and they naturally glow, whereas most Faeries and Pixies do not.

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