Forest Sprites
Several days later, Elarish returned to the place where the dragon had shed its scales. The pile of scales was there, but significantly reduced. Instead, dozens of small, flying creatures, the size of largish wasps and the same brilliant green color as the dragon. As she approached the buzzing swarm, the filtting creatures seemed to slow almost to a stop, most of them orienting themselves to her. "We know you," a warm voice sounded in her head.Forest sprites are small winged beings that have a low human intelligence. They are spontaneously "born" from the shed scales of the käro'ath guardian dragons. When the käro'ath were developed by Hak, she wanted stealthy messengers to be able to carry information between the forest guardians and those who may help them. The result were what she called sprites. Before the coming of magic, forest sprites were not intelligent and had very short lifespans. With the coming of magic, they gained a shared intelligence and much longer lifespans. Any individual sprite has a low intelligence, but any group of five or more is able to communicate among themselves in such a way as to gain a normal human intelligence. The individuals retain the memories of any such union, which can be shared with any future unions, forming a sort of shared species memory.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Forest sprites are fairly unique. When they were first "evolved" from forest dragons, they had functioning respiratory and digestive systems. Their basic genetics were derived from the dragon, which is really a warm-blooded reptile, and so they inherited most of the features of the dragon, though scaled down, minimized, and otherwise tweaked.
With the coming of magic, sprites began to live off the ambient magic of the forest. As such, those legacy biological systems are largely atrophied, even though they are still derived from forest dragons. They still have a mouth, with quite sharp teeth that can bite, but it is not connected to anything. They have degenerate nostrils, which, again, are not connected to anything. This is why sprites cannot speak. Their body has slimmed, and lost all but one pair of limbs. Each limb has a clawed hand, with three digits and a spur. The upper torso could almost be called humanoid, but it quickly tapers down to a long tail. The tail curls up slightly and can be used to aid in flight.
Sprites retained the six wings they were originally gifted with, each resembling a green, iridescent leaf. The wings are necessary as they never stop flying in their new form.
If one were to dissect a forest sprite, no recognizable biological systems would be found. Every aspect of their bodies is powered solely through the energies of magic.
Behaviour
Forest sprites are friendly and loyal. They are loyal to each other first, then the forest, then forest dragons, then to whomever they may befriend. A single sprite may stay with a person while they are within the confines of the forest, acting almost like a puppy in their eagerness to please. They can understand most languages and so can follow instructions. But they cannot respond in any way other than their actions, having no ability to vocalise or otherwise communicate non-visually.
When a group of five or more gather together, they form a sort of psychic bond. When bonded in such a way, the individuals no longer exist, only the whole. They have a much greater intelligence, and can communicate telepathically with other intelligent non-sprite creatures. Even though there are no longer any individual personalities apparent, each individual does contribute, such that the whole will remain loyal to someone that an individual has bonded with.
Additional Information
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Forest sprites live exclusively within the Ishä forest, along with their forest dragon progenitors. While they can survive outside the forest, and occasionally venture beyond to send messages or gather intelligence, they have a strong aversion to the outside world.
Average Intelligence
Any individual sprite has a low human intelligence. They can understand language, particularly elfish, but cannot speak. They are capable of following instructions, but may choose not to.
Any group of five or more sprites can join into a mental union, bound together via their own special magic. When they do so, their intelligence raises to typical human intelligence or higher. They are able to reason, form strategies, and fully cooporate with other intelligent beings.
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