And a Fine Yee-Haw to You, Too

Look, a race bio (finally)!

It may need a bit of editing later on, but here is the first pass at least for the Faeyr of Exis.

Alright, I’ve decided. For now, I’m moving everything to a Wordpress.

It’s not fancy, but it will do for now. I’ll continue posting things here as well, but I’ve lost trust in this site not to drop my work like a sack of potatoes at its slightest whim.

You’re all fantastic- see you soon with a new post.

Sorry I haven’t posted in a bit- I was gone for obligationsgiving and have been working on other projects.

However, I got some fabric recently and started work on Toby. Here’s their hat so far. I made the flower crown as well but it isn’t part of their design.

I’ve been meaning to talk about these guys for quite some time now. I’ve always been fascinated with plague doctors, moreso with the idea that they themselves could be plague-bringing monsters in disguise. So here are my creepy plague birds, explained out of order of lettering, because I don’t do layouts well.

  Fig. C- The Corvon are a mysterious sort of creature. At a great distance, they appear as large, somewhat unwieldy flightless birds, stumbling over terrain and bobbing their heads in complete silence. They aren’t the brightest of beasts, flocking together and yet seeming as though they don’t realize there are others of their kind around them. They stand around 5’5 and weigh around 60 lbs. They are completely blind and navigate the landscape with an acute sense of hearing and smell, which has taken over the eye sockets as a second set of ears. 

 Fig. A- Despite their frightening appearance, Corvon are not inherently aggressive. They will not consume anything living, and are so drawn in droves by the smell of great disasters which have resulted in large numbers of deaths. Their job, while not appreciated by most who would rather hold ceremonies for the dead, is to clean up and prevent the further spread of decay and disease, after which they may gather close to one another some distance away and lightly hibernate until such a time as they are needed again. It is said that the Corvon have a sixth sense, and can detect suffering from many miles away, though this has been neither proven nor disproven. 

 Fig. D- The Reapers (who are known for their dealings with the dead and dying) have been known occasionally to follow flocks of Corvon on their migrations, living as hermits and observing their behaviors, but also scanning disaster areas for any living victims that may require aid. They are not always the friendliest of individuals, but will diligently perform their duties nonetheless. 

 Fig. B- From the outside, the Corvon appear to be regular animals, if a bit odd in appearance and behavior. However, their internals much different story. Their bodies are mostly hollow, with a simple set of organs for a one-way-in-no-way-out sort of approach to food consumption, which breaks down food and contains pestilence against the elements. Their bones are thin and hollow, and their bodies are very fragile. Their feathers slough off at the lightest touch (similar to the dust on butterfly wings), and upon being struck with force great enough to break skin, they undergo an event which brings their life to a close. The Corvon’s body breaks down rapidly, collapsing in on itself like ash and scattering to the wind as Corvon Spores. These spores are highly contagious with a pathogen specific to one purpose, and breathing in even a small amount could begin a horrifying process to take place in any of the three known races of Exis over the course of several weeks. Lacking any reproductive organs, the Corvon Spores take over any living Human, Diarkind, or Faeyr host body and turn them into Corvon, themselves. 

 However, this is not the only way a Corvon can die. After many years, a Corvon may decide to stay behind when the flock begins to migrate, where it will stand motionless and slowly petrify into a solid rock-like substance, sealing away all of the death and pestilence for good. 

 Fig. E- Corvon reproduce through a process known as the Corvon Curse. The entire process takes place over the course of three to four weeks, and is no longer contagious once the transformation has begun. There are no known ethical cures for the Curse. The process begins with hair loss, blindness, and loss of apatite. As rapid weight loss ensues, one may begin noticing a few budding feathers here and there- itchy, but not painful, and the occasional lost tooth. Memory loss also begins at this stage. The skull begins to elongate, some fingers and toes may fuse and change also, sprouting claws and scales. The eyes typically dry up and fall out as the eye sockets expand, as well. Memory loss continues until complete apathy takes over. One may still be capable of simple speech at the stage shown in the figure above, but will have no knowledge about themself or any of their experiences. The transformation is considered complete when the newly created Corvon sets out on its own to find a flock. 

I figured I should go ahead and start talking about the countries of Exis. Flurelia (formerly known as Fallough, in case any of you remember it), is the smallest of the three countries I’ll be focusing on in Exis, and lies between Archus and the currently nameless “New World.” It’s populated by those who fled the horrors of Archus long ago and has since become a hub for some of the most talented artists, musicians, poets and sculptors in the world. Most of the truths about their origin have been lost to time, but they have not forgotten the stories themselves. Many Flurelians have a morbid fascination with death, the afterlife and the ever-elusive Slip Space, mostly due to their fortunate position of having no known rifts on their land.

Aesthetically, Flurelia is based on those ceramic Victorian figurines you see in thrift stores (like these and this), with a French Rococo and Italian Renaissance flair. They love their pastels, and, much like their name sake, flowers. Flower language is extremely important in high Flurelian society (one may even argue, sacred), so much so that many of their towns and even people have plant-like names. However, the opulence of larger cities does not carry over quite so strongly to the Flurelian countryside, where poorer families have held more strongly to the ways of Old Archus. They prefer to live realistically, and will openly mock the ideals of the wealthy, whom they view as delusional at best.

During their training, wizards in Exis must choose a wooden wand as a magical focus, by either making one, purchasing one or finding one that they deem significant. For their final test to be considered a “real” wizard, they must transfigure their wand into a staff of some kind. While they may choose their wand, the transfiguration takes into account the material that the wand is crafted from, the wizard’s personality and how they obtained it. Some staves may turn out very plain, resembling little more than a stripped tree branch, while others may be adorned with crystals or live plants. Some wizards have been foolish enough to cheat their way through their studies, and when it is time to take their final exam, may find themselves presented with a brittle, termite-eaten excuse for a staff, which may need to be repaired multiple times over the course of its life. A staff/wand may be reformed or replaced if broken, though experiencing a breakage can be emotionally painful due to the nature of the item and may not be so easy a second or third time to find a focus that can replace the lost one. Depending on the frequency and circumstances of the occurrence, breakages may be considered a devastating or disappointing event to other wizards, who have been known to write letters of condolences to one another should a wand/staff be lost in an unfortunate way.