Edited by Cassey Toi
Felix Sundown, by Matt Lichtenwalner
Hello again!
Finally, we have time to sit down and discuss Loaerth & Feywyrd again. What a pleasure! I’m glad to see you again, and this time around lets chat some more about the Fey. Some of you had some questions, and hopefully we’ll get them answered.
Who are the Fey you ask? Well, for one, feytrolls aren’t all of them. There is fey blood running through the veins of creatures other than my own kind. Our brothers and sisters in magic, whose very flesh is made or tainted with the stuff of the Feywyrd, include elves, hodolu faerys, giants, myrmidons and many others which I have not even had the chance to meet.
Some, like the elves, were in the World since the dawning of history, they are not true natives of the World. Looking back eons, myth speaks of the elves fleeing from another world into our own. They fled, as an entire race, from things so dark and unspeakable that the names were eventually either lost or stricken from their history. They stayed and made a home here. It’s also thought that the elves brought my people, the feytrolls, with them as servants, watchers, and scholars. And, they brought with them Magic.
The humans at the time were probably living as tribal nomads, or in rudimentary villages when Magic was first taught to them. The World’s primitive dwarf and troll peoples are believed to have been unable to learn its secrets or refused it at the outset. Nonetheless, the humans learned about magic from these elven newcomers and, within a few generations, boasted formidable sorcerers and ritualists in their own right. Eventually, the dwarves and trollkind also fostered traditions of Magic that were unique to each of their racial heritages.
In time, the elves prospered and eventually became the dominant race of the world. They eventually built vast civilizations on the backs of trolls and dwarves. Humans, for the most part, escaped this fate and were able to live in relative peace with their elven counterparts. But only the men and women of Loaerth managed to carve out an independent existence. These people, and perhaps a few more in other pockets of the World, escaped subjugation at the hands of the elves through careful negotiation and strong military might.
What is Loaerth? Just look out the window! Loaerth is a coastal city state that sits on the edge of the Degra Sea. Loaerth has a long, and deep rooted, history of independence. It’s a city of merchants and scholars, soldiers and sailors, artists and thieves. Loaerth is a flickering light, struggling to stay lit even as the winds of change try to blow it out. It is and has been the center of the world for five centuries, ever since the Helfay left the world a vacant place. All the non-Fey, the races of Man, have grown to call Loaerth home. They have also ventured far out into the wild to explore the empty frontier – empty because there are whole cities that were suddenly devoid of anyone living there after the Helfay.
What are the people of Loaerth like? Considering you are no doubt new here, I’ll take a bit more care in answering that. Well, for one, the humans of Loaerth for the most part keep to traditional, plain dress. All too often you will see a man or woman dressed decidedly boorishly, only to be sporting the latest clockwork or coal-work gizmo, bauble, or trinket. “The more it whirls, the more it twirls.” they say. I’m still not sure what in the gods name that means, but you’ll hear them say it all the time
The dwarves of Loaerth are staunchy folk. Quick to anger, but dependable. Clever too. Most of the new gizmos and “wonders of the world” that have been made in the last century or so were invented by dwarven machinists. As you would expect, most dwarves love to drink ale and eat hearty meals that would send many a grown man to a physician. The interesting thing about dwarves is the way they live. Their homes are dense, I mean 10 to 20 families to a house. They prefer these deep basements where they all lay about in tight quarters. I’ve heard them say it makes them feel “safe” while they sleep. Baths? Forget about it. They do take dust baths in the summer, but I have yet to see a dwarf with a bar of soap. Not that they are averse to water, but soap for some reason is taboo.
The trolls of Loaerth are few and far between. Most trollkind moved out of the city a century or so ago after a great fire burned the Troll Ghetto to the ground. They have a few scattered communities , so I’ve heard, hidden away in valleys rarely traveled by city folk. They are more commonly seen along the frontier. Trolls are a quiet, thoughtful folk. Slow to anger and gentle with their hands, even for their great size. You will often see trolls in the employ of merchants looking to travel, or in the company of explorers venturing out to the frontier in the hopes of finding lost riches. Trolls, unlike dwarves, have a unique language that has never gone out of use. It is said that they do not write down their own history, but that it is part of their language so by using trollspeak, “Gua’Fig Na”, they are keeping their history alive as well.
There’s so much more to tell. I’m just at a lost on where to start or to continue from. What else would you like to know? Please ask me anything! Leave a comment after this interview is done, or send me question via tweeting birds.
Until next time, I’ll leave you with a common nighttime blessing for children:
“May the gods wrap me in copper and coal.
Protect me from harm, and heat my soul.
May my dreams spark the light keeps hodolu away,
and may I wake with my heart free from the Fey”
– Blessing For a Child’s Night
