Fauns

Dreaming Wanderers

"I had thought him a satyr at first like his traveling companions, with his large horns and digitigrade stride, but quickly realized he was something else entirely. He lacked the explosive movements and revelatory joy that I'd come to expect, and instead moved with grace, his eyes sly and perceptive. We sat around the fire as his companions reveled and sang. He wove charming tales of his life in the Seelie Court—who knows if any of it was true—and offered me a flower that he bloomed out of the thin air as trade for my audience. The bloom still has yet to wilt, even after nearly a decade."

— Iskah Arrabal, An Adventurer's Account of Faerie

Passing silently through twisting trees and softly glowing feylights, fauns are known for their inner conflict between their natural wanderlust and their desire for the magical community provided by the ever-shifting courts of the Feywild. Light-hearted, cunning, and nimble, fauns make excellent craftsmen, tremendous performers, and deadly hunters.

Physiology

Vibrant and Graceful

Although the appearance of each faun is incredibly individual, they are separated from most others by their digitigrade leg structures, their ever-growing horns, and their striking coloration. They range in height anywhere between just under 4 feet to well over 6 feet, and are found commonly with any body shape. Fauns often have ears, horns, and fur that resembles those of ungulates, but also commonly have more elven ears and features.
Of all of their traits, the most eye catching is the wide variety of colors that fauns often present. Though most commonly within the range of normal human skin tones, a faun's skin tone can also be shades of copper, bronze, green, and almost bluish-white, with hair and eyes in vibrant hues from across the color spectrum. Fauns are also known to decorate themselves with paints, flowers, and fabric, even in some cases using magic to completely alter their coloration to suit them from moment to moment.
Fauns who have experienced some form of loss, be it their home, their community, or a loved one, might be seen dressed and drenched in dreary grayscale for a time as a form of mourning or even repentance.

Powerful Climbers

With their strong digitigrade legs, fauns are notable climbers and navigators of both the ever-changing geology of the Feywild and the more static Prime Material. Reports of fauns seen scaling near perfectly vertical cliff faces in pursuit of anything from a rare fruit to an interesting beetle have been given by those lucky enough to get close.

Civilization and Culture

Major Language Groups and Dialects

The native language of fauns is the Sylvan typically to any other species from Faerie, though most fauns pick up at least two other languages from and for their travels. Of these languages, Common, Elvish, and Goblin are most typically. In addition, groups of fauns have been known to create their own coded or lyrical languages to communicate secretly or simply to confuse others for fun.

History

Unknown Origins

The existence of fauns is a puzzle wrapped heavily in mystery. When encountered outside of the Feywild, they are often mistaken for their satyr cousins, and even if properly identified many respond to questioning with vague and playful responses. Some theorize that fauns were created as a compromise to a spat between the Archfey Verenestra, patroness of dryads, nymphs, and sylphs, and her brother, the Archfey Damh, patron of satyrs, korreds, and atomies. As a way to meet their two ideals, they created Fey that mixed a nymph's propensity for all that is natural with a satyr's love of artistry and chaos. Others insist that fauns are an eerie result of the wild magic and emotion produced by the clashes between the Seelie and Unseelie courts; an odd mix of predatory danger and joyous excitement. Smaller groups claim that fauns are simply a natural mix of eladrin and satyrs coupling amidst the many courts, explaining both their propensity for nature and their wanderlust.

Lonely Wanderers

A member of a rare people, it is a faun's curse to feel pulled between two separate paths. Filled with a longing for travel and joy alongside a desperate desire for a sense of comradery and purpose, fauns often have to make the difficult choice between traveling the realms and swearing themselves to a community. When fauns are not sworn to a court or clan within the Feywild, they often take to traveling the wilds and the planes, attempting to find a place and a community where they find that they truly belong. Even if they manage to find it, fauns are still often called away once again by their desire for change.

Interspecies Relations and Assumptions

Fauns are very typically found amongst Satyrs, Faefolk, Eladrin Elves, Goblins, and many others from the courts of the Feywild. Allegiance to courts is common, split fairly evenly between both the Seelie and Unseelie-aligned.

Sitting Faun by Loles Romero

Lifespan

180+ years

Average Height

3'8" - 6'6" ft

Average Weight

65 - 220 lbs

Related Ethnicities

• Unseelie Fey

Dreamy Disposition

Of two world, fauns are known to drift occasionally. Full of a yearning with no discernible source, many fauns turn to the worlds inside their heads for comfort, dreaming up things that might finally make them feel at home. 

Nature-Bound

With an ingrained link to nature, many fauns find themselves creating and nurturing plants instinctually, drawn to the colors and scents found amongst flowers and trees. Due to both this and their ability to control these plants through their primal magic, fauns are often drawn to druidry or to druids themselves.