Hi there! I've bene storing this one in the chamber a bit but I'm gonna assume you mean NeXus Elves/fae based on when this was sent in, so here's some trivia!

Design wise, I wanted the fae in NeXus to look somewhat differently than how you would see others play with their concept in an urban fantasy setting so I actually took inspiration from bats as mammalian fliers and the filipino manananggal and aswang since I felt like faes should have more potential to scare folks than vampires.

The first fae to be introduced was Robyn from the cookout audio, after him was Rook from Ignorance is BLISS, then Killian from the Rebel's Song audio, Then Arthur from the first SUITE audio, and finally Mordred (altho Killian and Mordred are considered a vampire and homunculus now more than fae but root stuff yk?)

an interesting ability that's canon to fae in NeXus is that they all have the ability to take on elemental forms! I took inspiration from sprites like Ariel from the tempest and Nymphs from Greek mythology but in case you were curious about some specifics; Robyn can transform into wind, Killian used to be able to transform into fire, Arthur can turn to stone and Mordred used to be able to transform into lightning.

Historically in NeXus, fae have made contributions to land distribution and historical record keeping on a wide number of subjects BUT, they are still people and that means they have a penchant to be biased such as when they helped drive dragons into extinction by then setting up discriminatory policies against dragon shifters, or when they helped in the campaign of the white sun against vampires, and a longer list of things that fucked over a bunch of people. They're a complicated group of people with some who believe in longevity and will obtain that at the price of others.

There are two types of elves, fae and sylvans! Sylvans are those who are born in sylvan states (elf territories cut off from the rest of the world) and fae, who are born amidst other human populations! In case you were wondering, yes there are diaspora conflicts between the two groups much like we have irl.

here's how Khaleed sees Joseph vs. How he actually looks.

hi there! And yeah, the answer at its most basic is that Genius is a genius and knew how to make it. But if you wanna get nasty, the Anomalous Energy Reader (AER) works to detect energy levels that match the particular readings recorded by Genius previously after their brother used his fire magic (presumably repeatedly in order to identify the correct energy signatures). It finds signature of energy similar to what it's recorded and filters through a range of different wave lengths to detect trails of said magic to lock onto. Then it records all the data that it finds and sends it to a cloud for Genius to study later while they're in the field. It's able to create real-time projections of where magic is gathering, where it's been and in how much quantities it's presently reading. It's by no means a perfect machine because it was made in a rush but it's one of the biggest developments in Artificery within NeXus due to the fact that it's the first of its kind outside of the modern binary arcane detection systems where you only have indictors to show "on" and "off" when determining the presence of magic.

Finally getting around to my asks after having to focus on Patreon for a bit, but the answer is that mileage on that will vary. The most consistent feature in the eyes is unnatural colours in the pupils like so:

Not really. I think to explain it, you need to think of magic as an invisible ocean that eveyone in NeXus is wandering through.

The idea of shapeshifting in NeXus is kinda as Asteroth and Nik learn, it's giving into the idea that magic is an ever-permeating force that can change and warp everything, including people. In this sense, magic is like the sea, washing over people like tides on the beach or corroding metals to rust.

Shape shifters are taught to surrender to magic, not giving it resistance but direction. You're not trying to make magic do anything, you're just using transfiguration magic to "talk" to magic as a force how you'd like it to change you.

With the allegory in mind, you wouldn't be trying to swim in that ocean, you're choosing a spot and letting yourself float (you change). When you wanna stop floating, you stop and then decide to swim again (ie. you change back).

Like let me just sit you down and explain the concept. Bardic muses get to use their magic through being the loudest in the room. If they can be heard then their magic can form, the longer they're allowed to perform or speak for, the stronger their magic gets.

If you let a bardic muse speak uninterrupted then they can use their magic, if you let them keep talking then they will fuck you up. IF YOU LET THEM SING A MUSICAL NUMBER? PRAY YOU ARE NOT THE TARGET THEY'RE AFTER. Pray that you are not alone in a room with a bardic muse who has enchanted speakers rigged in there.

Is there a limit to how far Khaleed can use his crossroads?

Heyo!

The limit is that Khaleed has to be able to visualize or have been to said place to make a crossroad to a place. As he's blind, he's bound by spaces he's familiar with through his other senses.

Additionally, yes, he has a weird magical "sight" that aids his navigation, but that perception is limited to the flow of magic and he cannot percieve colour, texture or finer details without interacting with them otherwise.