What Is A Faerie?
There are a lot of similarities between Faeries and the creatures one finds in fairy tales. The reason for this is that, in my alternative version of the real world, Faeries inspired those stories. That said, there are a few important differences.
- Faeries are not little. - They're the same size as humans.
- Faeries cannot fly. - There are exceptions. But I can't tell you about them. Yet.
- Faeries are not all mischievious. - Most have nothing to do with humans and are perfectly content with that.
- Faeries don't steal human children. - In fact, they're very particular about keeping humans out of Faerie.
- Faeries can look like humans. - Or, at least, most have the ability, if not the knowledge, to transform themselves to look like something or someone else.
Faerie, Fairie, and Fairy
Great confusion can be created by the different spellings (and therefore pronunciations) of fairy, Fairie, and Faerie. The word 'fairy' is of English origin--that is to say, human origin--and is pronounced FAIR-ee, just as in English. It refers to the human conception of fairies, not the people referred to in the narrative as Fairies. Fairie is used as the modern word for the people, their land, and their language. It is pronounced FAY-ree. The ancient word used in Old High Fairie is Faerie and refers mainly to the people. Whenever characters use this word instead of Fairie, this is meant to indicate that they are speaking their ancient language, unless otherwise specified. Faerie is pronounced fay-AIR-ree.