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The Fauns

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Creature Type:

Alignment:

Place of Origin:

Age Range:

Occupations:

Semi-Humanoid

Neutral

Aronia

100 - 170 years

Guardians, Shamans, Foragers, Traveling merchants

The Fauns people are varied and unique depending on region and breeding, although they hold a couple of similarities. They are, first and foremost, guardians and custodians of the Forbidden forest. They grew and evolved within the vast woodland section of Endymion alongside the trees. They are a tribal people, each tribe filling a different role within the forest. Some serve as guards to keep out invaders, while others serve as nurses when illnesses befall trees. Others still act as servants to the eldest of the trees, doing their bidding and carrying their every cryptic messages to the assigned individuals. You can tell the difference between these different groups based on the color of their clothing and the sigils that they wear. Each has a specified combination that denotes their role in the forest.

Such a connection with their environment does not mean that the Fauns are unable to leave the forest. Most do stay within the woodlands but many venture out to gather thing or act as merchants of the forest's goods. It is not unusual to see a Faun or two in every market in the surrounding cities, towns, and villages. They are generally received with great interest and respect - their favor can grant safe passage through the forest.

It is also not unusual for this race to have lovers from other races, nor to have mixed Faun/other children. The Fauns are very sexually open. They often hold large festivals for their gods that include orgies, binge drinking, heavy drug use, masterful music, and indulgent foods. They enjoy beautiful things and beautiful people by nature. This delight in beauty also pours into their craftsmanship. Their creators and makers are known for the most exquisite of jewelry, clothing, food, drink, and illuminations. They are likely one of the most artistic races, as is shown in their native language, their architecture, clothing, and village lay outs. They have an affinity for complex patterns and color. They are also extremely connected to magic.

Fig. 1: Forest edge Satyr

Faun Abilities

Faun Appearance

The average Faun is able to use magic adequately - better than the fourth and fifth generation 'Earth humans'. Their shamans have intense magical ability in the areas of earth, animals, enchantments, and divination.

Their preferred method of divination is throwing bones or reading the guts of a sacrificial animal. Most earth based abilities come naturally to them, such as moving soil, making plants grow and bloom, etc. Their charm and charisma play a crucial role in their ability to enchant. They are known to be tricksters for a reason - their music is often imbued with magic as are their instruments.

Fauns have the appearance of being part humanoid with the rest appearing as part goat, ram, or deer. All Fauns have horns and are ungulates (pair-hoofed). They have the double-jointed legs that bend backward like other members of the artiodactyla order. Some have facial features that appear more humanoid, while others look more animal. This depends on the region of the forest that they hail from. Typically the tribes near the exterior of the forest appear more humanoid due to their breeding with other races.

Faun History

The Faun people are one of the oldest races on Aronia. They have inhabited the Forbidden Forest for more than six thousand years, and most of the forests on Aronia before that. They've always been deeply connected to nature, and more so even as they have advanced and evolved. However, their race saw extinction level genocide roughly 6500 years ago due to the elves.

Fig. 2. Satyr Skeleton

The interior tribes appear much more animalistic in the face. Their height and weight ranges follow closely with humans, with lower heights around 5 feet and upper around 7 feet. Weights run from 120 pounds to 350 pounds. They generally weigh more due to their horns and having a higher muscle density. Further, musculature and curvaceousness are highly prized among the Fauns.

Fig. 3. Satyr Bowyer

Being a generally peaceful and loving race, the Fauns were trusting of the Elven people. For thousands of years they lived in relative harmony alongside one another. Yet, the elven people advanced a little faster and grew to feel far superior to the Fauns. It was not long before the Faun people found themselves as targets of hate and discrimination. That hate turned to violence when they attempted to stand up for themselves against the elves. Minor skirmishes and battles had already started, but they were not fully at war.

The catalyst between the two races was an unexpected love affair. An elven noblewoman was in love with a Faun Tribal heir - the heir acting as a peace broker with the elves and somewhat of a diplomat while they tried to settle their differences civilly. The relationship was discovered and the angry father of the noblewoman sent the Faun heir home. He would not have his daughter defiled by such creatures, he claimed. As is expected with matters of the heart, the young woman would not allow her love to be shattered and left with the Faun man. It should also not be unexpected that her father went after them as soon as he discovered that his daughter was missing.

The Elven Noble caught the caravan on the road heading back toward the Faun lands on the center of Valyssop. The young woman was not the brightest and, when pressed by her father, lied that her lover had forced her to leave with him. This enraged the already angry Elf Lord, who struck down the Faun heir on the spot and had the rest of the group that had accompanied him slain, save one. This mangled Faun was drug back to the tribe to share the experience with the Tribe leader. The messenger was so mutilated by being drug so many miles along the dirt road that he could only tell the Tribe leader that his son had been murdered before he perished. The tribe leader wound up the the surrounding tribes and they beset the Elven noble. They slaughtered the Noble, the Noble's family, and every other person in the keep.

Thus began the Faun wars. Over the next three decades, the elves sought out as many fauns as they could and destroyed them. Entire tribes were decimated and cultures lost. The only place where the fauns managed to maintain safety was the Forbidden Forest on Endymion. The forest actually took a hand in protecting the less developed race from their assailants. Once the attacks had concluded, the remaining survivors of the Fauns made a pact with the forest to act as its custodians in return for its protection from outsiders.

Over the thousands of years since, the Faun people had expanded their tribes and returned to a semblance of their former glory. However, the genocide set them back many hundreds of years. They did not lose all of their culture, but a lot of knowledge was lost. They have replaced it with a deep bond with the forest. The Faun people have changed greatly since that time, and become more than they were. but they still have deep animosity toward the Elves.

Fig. 4. Satyr Scout

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