Alter Aeon The Great Library

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Note - as with any topic, researchers should question the reliability
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documents, not verify accuracy.

AABN:  13797
Title: a book entitled "On Fairies: Changelings and Fey-touched"

Of fairy-kinds there are many. In ages past, mighty Faerie Lords and Ladies
walked the world. Both they and their low fairy servants consorted with the
various inhabitants of the ancient world. More often than not, these unions
bore fruit. These changeling children often bred true, creating new races
of fey-touched beings.

These are but a few of the most common:

Gnomes - claiming dwarven ancestry, these stout folk favor underground
dwellings. They have an affinity for machinery and elemental magic. They
may be related to low fairies such as leprechauns, brownies and spriggans.

Goblins - these small, ugly brutes are both cruel and cunning. Like gnomes,
they have a love of machines and magecraft, though many practice shadow
magic and necromancy as well. They are believed to have arisen from
couplings between lesser fairies and smaller breeds of demons such as imps.
Gremlins share a common ancestry with goblins, while kobolds are descended
from hybrids between dragons and goblins. Larger breeds of goblins, such as
hobgoblins and bugbears, may be the results of crossings with orcish and
ogre bloodlines.

Gnolls - these fierce beast-men resemble humanoid wolves or hyenas. Some
consider them a breed of goblin, though they are most likely the results of
lesser fairies' dalliances with larger breeds of demons and werewolves.

Halflings - these small folk tend to be agile, resourceful and charming.
They are believed to be descendents of humans and low fairies such as
nymphs and brownies. Quicklings are closely related to halflings.

Centaurs - these beast-men are known for their wildness and ferocity, but
ones that become civilized are renowned for their skill and strength.
Undoubtedly these creatures arose from unsavory unions between kelpies and
humans. Kameltaurs and lamias may have arisen in a similar manner.

Matinals - matinals are the angelic natives of the plane of Crepuscula.
Their myriad kinds possess physical forms that are more like animals than
humanoids. Most have a strong affinity for the wilds and a love of nature.
They are known to work with faeries in preserving nature, and there seems
to have been some blending between some groups of matinals and certain more
beast-like faerie-kinds over the centuries.

Minotaurs - like centaurs, these creatures blend humanoid traits with those
of beasts, primarily bovine. They are known for their brutishness and
bloodlust. Yakfolk and shatjans are similar to minotaurs in both appearance
and nature.

Satyrs - another race of beast-men, these horned, goat-legged folk are
known for their lewdness and thuggery, but also are highly regarded for
their musical talents. Some more peaceable satyrs have taken upon
themselves the mantle of nature guardians. Fauns are a related race of
goat-like fairy creatures. Both probably descended from the same bloodlines
as the dreadful kornbockes.

Merfolk - these aquatic creatures are the result of humans breeding with
water nymphs such as naiads and nereids. Merfolk vary in temperment as much
as their human ancestors. Selkies are a similar race of fey-touched,
descended from a curious bloodline that mixed aquatic nymphs and seals.
Likewise, swanmays are descended from swans and low fairies such as dryads.

Quelese - this breed of human is descended from an ancient mingling of
elven blood and Suborian colonists. The purest members of this blood line
bear the dark hair and pointed ears of their human and elven ancestors,
respectively.

Fairy dragons - these small dragons generally have glittering, insect-like
wings and lizard-like bodies. They sprang from unions between lesser wyrms
and low fairies. Fairy drakes are a non-winged variety of fairy dragon.

Trolls - huge and horrible, these monstrous creatures are said to be the
progeny of giants and low fairies. They tend to be savage, but a strong
trainer can mold them into formidable soldiers. Trolls often take on the
traits of the terrain they inhabit: stoney hides in mountains, green and
leafy in forests, mossy in swamps, white fur in the cold and so forth.

Toadlings - these poor beasts were once murlocks. They made a deal with a
Fell Aalf noble, then failed to keep up their end of the bargain. They were
transformed into twisted parodies of their former selves. Dim-witted but
heavily armored and strong, they are often found in service to evil
faeries.