Author: Sam

Hello my children,

This week, my superiors have informed me that you students are entitled to a day of “free thought and relaxation”, and I must admit I found that to be absurd when placed in the context of us magicians. We are spirits bound to the continuous and intense study of the world around us, and to rupture one’s focus could mean that some day along the line a vital piece of information could result in your untimely demise, body flaily lifeless in the jaws of some mutated toad which sinks into the pond with your name never to be uttered again.

However, as you have come all this way to attend my office hours, then it’s the very least I can do to cover a topic of relative levity.

I find that I am repeating myself in these lectures, but it is true that one must hear something many times over until information finds its place into your head: fey are creatures of great allure with ill intent hidden beneath their visage of seduction. At its most basic form, fey are a light which engulfs us moral folk in passion and scaring flame.

With this I of course am referring to the pixie. These creatures thrive on ignorance, so I see your education as a sworn duty of mine. You will find in your travels that less educated folk hold a deep fondness for the enchanted magical nature of the unknown.

Pixies are significantly smaller than fairies or sprites, being able to fit into the palm of your hand quite snugly. Rarely does one get to see the true figure of a pixie, but I assure you that from what you might expect you will be either horrified or truly disappointed. Their mouths are lined with many, many rows of teeth, and they find their sustenance from sucking the blood of travelers who make their way unknowingly through enchanted groves. The imprints will last months and months as the toxins of the fairy slowly infect the mind and entice you to return even after you’ve made your way hundreds of miles out of its vicinity.

Again, fey are tied to their natural environments, and they prefer to confront victims in packs in order to overwhelm them. Travelers are most easily deceived at night. Pixies will take on the appearance of a dancing light in the distance, forming paths of flame deeper and deeper through the trees until their victim has found their way into their doom. It is currently unknown what immediately happens to the victim as they are being tortured and warped by pixie magic, however, I have seen first hand the soulless, contorted faces of the curious ignorant folk now standing solemnly as warning signs. 

I have a hard time sympathizing with such victims. You think that as soon as you notice the common giant mushroom and strange movement in your peripheral vision that you would realize your mistake and that you must turn around at once. It’s a matter of that essential field experience and understanding when your curiosity has gotten you over your head. I know for certain that I have been close many times, but it is the unique ability of us best magicians to be able to rescue ourselves from our own hubris.

Children, please enjoy yourselves and enjoy the sunlight while you still can, for the day may come soon where you are lured into the darkness with no promise of returning.

Until next time,

-The Magician

Hello my children,

This week I will be expounding upon my experience with the fey, the dastardly little devil’s they are. As stated before, fey creatures are tied closely to their local environments. Wherever you may find them, you are to notice minor or major differences in anatomy and hierarchical structure. You’ll come to know fey of all different shapes and sizes, yet their common purpose is predicated upon an ability to disrupt and subvert the expectations of mortal man, 

This brings me to the trickery of the common pond sprite, a cousin of the common garden fairy. To my surprise, the comprehension of base level magical phenomenon is severely lacking with many of my newfound pupils. Fear not, for I am a generous teacher that wishes the best for all who listen to the cautionary tales I spin. It just causes an old croon like myself a great deal of worry that the study of our world is relegated more and more to the classroom when it was just a few centuries ago where I had been thrust into the field with little to know understanding of how or what I was doing. Ground work is precisely what is needed to forge lasting relationships where one thinks there are none to be had, and it really distinguishes the lowly street magician from the primed, educated sorcerer that I hope all of you aspire to be. At the very least, since you are attending office hours it must mean that you are more passionate than the common trust-fund student too feeble to work as a squire.

Nonetheless, we have pond sprites to talk about. To put it simply, sprites are defined by their connection to bodies of water as fairies are to the land. Like their cousins, sprites are of a proportionally humanoid build and about 1 foot tall. Their features closely resemble that of modern elven blood with their pointed noses, almond eyes, and long ears– though I would hope no one is insensitive enough to equate those of modern elven blood with pixies or fairies, as has been done in past academic study.

Whereas faries find power through a communal bond and their ability to coordinate like a swarm of tactical wasps, sprites are bound by their relation to a single brood Matriarch– a river or pond spirit who is referred to as their “mother”. I’m unsure as to how a being of The Matriarch’s size is capable of producing such small offspring, but I am not here to judge the familial structure of beings from another plane of existence (that is a job for astral pirates, which we will cover in Extra-Planar Entities 237).

The Matriarch’s first priority is the safety of her children, however, she seems to relish visitors even if they may be unwelcome. Some of my associates have learned the hard way the customs and norms of meeting The Matriarch. Sprites will dance around the perimeter of swamps and rivers hoping to discover wayward adventures whom they will lure to the heart of their den. Though The Matriarch presents herself as calming and matronly, fey are deceptive and often will engage you in games of wit and death if they are of such a mood. Luckily, when I had first been introduced to my local colony, I had prepared a crystal of great magical potency that was taken in exchange for a most wonderful conversation. The fey are creatures of extremes, granting boons or curses to the travelers they may meet, so hope that your first impressions may leave you with the lasting impression of a friend made

However, it has seemed as if my ramblings have gotten the better of me once again, and this story must continue another time. I hope you have found this short analysis to continue to be useful on your journeys. Listen well, and know that the best experience is waiting for you out there just a hop, skip, and a planar jump away.

Until next time,

-The Magician

Hello my children,

Today we will be making a brief overview of the practices of the common garden fairy, known for their slender build and pestering capabilities. Firstly, I would like to clarify that all experiments and theoretical harm to my subjects has all been in the name of science and the development of our understanding of fairy anatomy.

Fairies, not to be confused with pixies or sprites (if you’re looking for greater clarification then you should already have taken field beasts 101) can be distinguished by their strange, animalistic cocooning rituals despite having an above-average humanoid wit. Unlike, say, a caterpillar, fairies go through the process of metamorphosis that will occur multiple times during their lifetime (or so I have been told).

When recovering from a traumatic injury, regrowing a lost limb, or simply to consummate a marital bond, they can magically induce this stasis and lay dormant for a few months up to many years within their cocoons. The process can best be translated into the common word as “waxing”, named after the amber-like waxy material which forms the outside casing of a fairy cocoon.

The common garden fairy is born with wings, but in order to have them grow strong and swift enough to evade human interaction or to outrun any other sort of beast one may find, it is important to remain incased for as long as possible. The longer they consume tree sap the more built they become.

The ideal spot of fairies to set up their cocoon are high, thin trees which are neither thick or spacious enough to support the nesting of birds. While in this cocooning state, fairies are incredibly vulnerable and are easiest to capture and experiment with (which is how I have been able to learn so much of their daily activities).

When creating these cocoons, fairies will attach themselves to the trees and, by molding with the bark and transmuting sap into amber, can form a small, chestnut-like protrusion from the tree. I was lucky enough to have been invited into a fairy colony, and every single tree appears as if it were infected with some sort of pox. I was in awe at how extensive the colony was, for every single bump represented a mischievous little soul born to protect their grove. 

Waxing itself can also signify the rebirth of a fairy into a new mortal vessel. As they are fey creatures, fairy spirits are tied directly to a localized collection of plants  and animals (such as a small grove). None of the individual accounts of my own have been able to specific memories before emerging from a cocoon, so one can infer that the inception of fair kind begins as they are let out from their initial husks into the world. However, while touring their home, I was unfortunately unable to make many concrete conclusions. Much of their magic is unknown and vague, which is frustrating to an academic like myself .

The fairy is quite the interesting creature. One the one hand, it embodies all that is true of magic in this world– power, intrigue, trickery, and all things which tempt the mortal. They exist as a metaphor for the very hubris that makes us human. At the same time as possessing such great power, they are light as a feather and can be crushed under the weight of a quick and decisive blow.

I hope to see you next time where I may elaborate more upon the subject of fairies.

Until next time,

-The Magician