FACES OF THE FAE

You'll find that Faeries come in all manner of shapes and sizes. You'll find them each unique and all blessed with their own brand of magick. Some are more elusive then others and some are openly friendly. I've compiled some helpful hints about the more well known types and some you might not have heard of. I've also added some info about Faerie mounds, crop circles, standing stones and mushroom rings.

BROWNIES: Brownies resemble tiny humans with elf like ears and lithe bodies. They commonly have brown hair and bright blue eyes, growing no taller then 2 feet in height. They love to wear bright colors as it suits their personalities. You can generally find them in rural or pastoral areas, living in burrows or abandoned buildings. They survive by foraging or harvesting wild fruits since they are mostly vegetarian.
Being peaceful and friendly brownies sometimes adopt a local family, living on their farm for long periods of time. At night will the family is asleep, brownies will help out, repairing things, chasing foxes from the hen house, mending clothes and watching for intruders. All brownies ask for in return for their help is a little milk and some bread or fruit. Being honest in the extreme, brownies will always do some service in exchange for what they take and it will always be either leftovers or an amount that won't be missed. Brownies also get along well with the family pets or livestock, the animals know they are good hearted.
One thing to remember with brownies is that they ask that you take no notice of them. If a family member ever boasts about having a brownie around the house, they will leave. Brownies are not greedy creatures, but they do keep small hordes of treasure, usually things they have recieved as gifts from humans. Sometimes though a brownie will leave their treasure somewhere it will be easy to find if there is someone who needs it. If a stranger moves into the community, the local brownies will watch them until their motives can be determined, if they turn out to be malevolent, they will band together to drive the stranger out.

FAERIE DRAGONS: These creatures resemble miniature dragons with lithe bodies, gossamer wings and prehensile tails. Their coloring changes as they age but they all have an irridescent sparkle to their bodies and wings. They are found in temperate or tropical forest regions, generally making their homes in tree hollows near a stream since they are fond of swimming. They only grow to a maximum of 1 to 1 1/2 inches long and are vegetarians.
Faerie dragons are peaceful and friendly though they are very fond of practical jokes, pranks and general mischief. One weakness these creatures have is strangely enough, fresh apple pie and fruit pastries.

DRYADS: The creatures are essentially tree sprites. They are extremely elusive and chances are you will never see one unles you surprise one or they wish to be seen. They are very delicate looking, much like an elf. Their complexion and hair color changes with every season. In winter their hair and skin is white, during the fall they are auburn and tan, in summer and spring their hair is green. They dress in simple, loose garments, matching the season.
Dryads are shy, nonviolent creatures however, being protecters of the forest, any action that harms the area will be met with force. If there are any other dryads in the vicinity they will band together to defend their sanctuary, though this is rare since dryads are by their nature solitary.
Legend says that dryads are animated souls of old trees. Whether this is true, they are attached to one tree for their entire lifetime and cannot wander more then about 360 yards from it. Any damage to the tree does damage to the dryad since the spirit of the tree and dryad are bonded. If the tree dies or they wander too far from it they will eventually die.
Despite their solitary nature, they have been known to come to the aid of lost travelers and if you by some miracle befriend one, they are a font of knowledge about all things green.

COMMON FAERIE: These creatures look like tiny people with the irridescent wings of butterflys. They usually only grow to about 6 inches tall and mostly have golden hair with clothing made of spider-silk. You can find them in any forest area where it is undisturbed by pollution and logging.
For the most part they are carefree, peaceful people with a large penchant for mischief. They also will lend a helping hand however to those who prove themselves trustworthy and tolerant of their pranks.
There are actually some subraces of the common Faerie. The Green Wood faerie has a green complexion, black hair and are found in dense forest regions. The Silver Bell faeries are pale, with almost white hair and are fond of singing. The Night Elf faerie has a grey-green complexion and dark hair, they are the most fond of sweets and usually cause the most trouble.

LEPRECHAUN: Leprechauns are rumored to have been born of a cross between a halfling and a pixie. They generally grow to about 2 feet in height, have pointed ears like an elfs and almost all males sport beards. They are diminutive, mischievious folk who can be found in deep wilderness, living in burrows or caves.
Leprechauns enjoy the same foods humans eat and have a great fondness for wine. They also enjoy smoking their long stemmed pipes.
Mischievious though they are leprechauns have a soft spot for weaker creatures in trouble and will assist them. They will be civil with people they know will do them no harm although they can't resist playing jokes at a humans expense.
Myth states that the one thing a leprechaun treasures the most is their gold and all of them have a hoard of it hidden somewhere in their lair. Legend says that if an intruder ever steals this gold the leprechaun will offer to bargain to get it back. As a last resort they will offer the person 3 wishes in exchange for returning the gold but the treasure must be returned to the leprechaun before wishes can be granted. When the wishes are stated the leprechaun will flatter the intruder, declaring that the wishes were so well phrased that they will grant them a 4th wish. If it is accepted, upon pronouncing the 4th wish the results of the 1st 3 will automatically be reversed. If a leprechaun is being chased they will lead their pursuers on a wild goose chase, never returning to their lair until the pursuer is lost. There is also a rumor that a King of the leprechauns exists but no one has ever seen him.
The best time and place to observe leprechauns are called borderlines. Between dawn and dusk, the border between light and dark, on the shore, the border between the earth and sea and on any solstice or equinox, which is the borderline between seasons.

MERROWS: These water faerie folk are gentle, peaceful creatures. The female merrow are bewitchingly beautiful, looking almost indentical to mermaids and having webbed fingers. They live off of crustaceans, seaweed and fish. Merrows can only be found in salt water seas and oceans where they like to spend their time frolicking and swimming. They can often be seen hunting and playing with dolphins, whales, seals and walruses.
Though they are a sign of good luck to sailors and are peaceful they, like all faerie folk have a streak of mischieviousness. They like to swim alongside the ships cutting fishing lines, startling swimmers, stealing sailors baubles, pulling up the anchor and sometimes climbing aboard to get a closer look at the humans.
Usually the only treasure merrows have is anything they have gleaned from the sailors ships.
The merrow are known for helping man by calming sea storms and saving drowning sailors, this is probably where a lot of the mermaid sightings sprang from because mermaids generally don't get that close to ships.

NYMPH: These are among the most mysterious and elusive of all the faerie folk. They look like exceptionally beautiful elven maidens that are ghostlike and ethereal in appearance. They are the very spirits of nature itself and they will adopt an area of forest as their protectorate and defend it and all that dwell within it. They normally inhabit ancient trees, giant boulders, rivers, wells, springs, caves and hills.
Nymphs are gentle and compassionate creatures who are known for aiding the helpless and lost. They will not take a direct hand in the affairs of mortals but they will punish those who have sinned in their eyes, these criminals being people who senselessly destroy the land and show no respect for nature. To invoke the wrath of a nymph is to flirt with death, for though they may look fragile they command powerful magicks.
Since nymphs live for many generations they are a font of information about the history of a given area and know their protectorate like the back of their hand. They generally spend their time healing wounded animals and trees.
One myth that abounds is that the kiss of a nymph erases all painful, stressful or troubling memories for the rest of the day. If a man sees a nymph nude or disrobe they will be blinded, literally by their beauty. A lock of a nymphs hair makes a powerful sleeping potion and their tears can be used as a potent ingredient in a love philter. Any woman that bathes in a nymphs pool will find her physical beauty increased until she bathes again and if a lock of nymphs hair is enchanted and sewn into a garment it will have the same effect as bathing in a nymphs pool.

SPRITES: Sprites are very similar to common faeries and have semi-transparent wings. They prefer to live in fields, meadows or small groves of trees. They have an irrepressible tendency towards fun and mischief and are incredibly curious about the world, usually leading them to travel. Despite the fact that they are tiny, sprites are cocky, bold and very confident creatures, willing to face down just about anyone.
There is also a subrace of pixies that inhabit the colder regions. They are totally impervious to the cold ad are as curious as their cousins but generally don't leave the colder climes. Included among sprites are pixies and nixies which are bigger on the whole. Nixies inhabit water areas.

SATYRS: Also known as fauns, satyrs are half man, half goat. Early christians believed them to be the children of the devil. Like most faerie folk they are mischievious, carefree and are only interested in having fun. You can find satyrs in all the same locals as dryads, nymphs and the like. Satyrs are generally peaceful people and rarely venture from their chosen forest, only doing so to gather plants, fruits and venison. They help to keep the animal popoulation level, never eating to excess.
In ancient Greece the satyrs were the followers of Dionysus, the god of wine and music. Satyrs were known to lure the peasants and farmers to the revels of Dionysus. These parties would sometimes last for days and made beltane celebrations look like church bingo. The humans who joined such celebrations would find themselves with massive headaches the next morning, but otherwise unhurt.
The biggest danger a satyr presented, at least to the folk of ancient times, was their propensity to fall in love with young maidens and lure them away from their homes. When a satyr falls for a human the emotion is real, when they say they love someone they mean it, at the time. Unfortunately a satyrs heart is a fickle one. Their love burns with intensity and passion but it doesn't last long. The maidens are eventually returned home unhurt with the exception of a broken heart.

With the exception of the satyrs and leprechauns most faeries can become a valued friend, serving as protectors of any wooded land in your area, guardians of your home and sources of joy. Take the time to befriend them, all they ask is that you respect nature and share your good fortune with them. You'll discover that your home will become it's own little eden. (I believe I got all the main species of faerie, let me know if there's any other you think I should add.)

The 3 biggest telltale signs that there are faeries living in the area are faerie circles, mounds and rings. These generally indicate the presence of fae living within about a 5 mile area. As more land becomes developed however these magickal phenomenon become harder to discover. Only crop circles in general have been able to survive the passage of time in human inhabited areas and only because they have generated such curiosity and interest with humans. Mounds and rings can still be found in remote areas of wilderness, or on private land that happens to be owned by human friends.

FAERIE MOUNDS: These are simply large mounds of earth and grass, typically ringed by mushrooms, flowers and trees. This is where the largest communities of fae can be found living in clan like societys under the hill. It is also rumored that faerie mounds are used as burial sites for the rare times when a faerie passes on an it's fae spirit merges with that of Gaia.

FAERIE RINGS: These are circles in the grass rimmed by mushrooms and flowers. It is generally where the faeries have their celebrations. Faerie rings, like the mounds are also magickal places, bound by powerful protection magicks.
Legend states that if a non-fae steps into the ring during a celebration they are compelled to join until the fae release them or the celebration ends. Unfortunately faeries have been known to dance and sing for days on end. The only other way to be released from the spell of a ring is if another person pulls them out, while leaving one foot out of the ring and being anchored by a 3rd person.

FAERIE CIRCLES: There is a myth that the crop circles being found all over the world is not the work of aliens but in fact were made by the fae. The faeries who have flight typically push the plants down and weave them together to create artistical designs. Unlike the mounds and rings these circles are not magickal but do indicate the presence of fae living in the area.

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