Overview
Graveyard Fairies are the same species as the normal
Fairies and the
Chocolate Fairy and descendents from the more common
Fairy, but they have a knack for teeth and art. Which is strange at first, but beautiful in the long run. Most cultures think about them as some kind of blessing, only a few don't like and hunt them down whenever they can. But that is rare, so we can assume that Graveyard Fairies are venerated to a certain degree.
History
Nobody is entirely sure when, how and why a Fairy decided that she should take a closer look at a tooth of another being, but... well, they did and started to paint. Pastwalkers had found doodles of ancient folk in some caves in the north, so it is save to say that they started with their practice in this area.
Pastwalker research showed that they ventured in all directions from there and started to show up on graveyards and burial sites. Preferably at burial sites where people were cremated so they could fine some teeth. The paint of some burial sites are estimated around the
Dragon Sun Empire or even older when the clans were still in place.
Over the decades and centuries the Fairies spread over the lands and got accustomed to like Hulwar, Elves or Dwarves. Yes, even under the mountains Graveyard Fairies are a thing and Dwarves honour them, but the Dwarves have their own customs so the Fairies just watch and get a tooth.
The Elves venerate them as well and, depending on their customs, include the Fairies in their own burial rituals, especially the
Wood Elves within their relationship with the
Druids. The
Silver Elves have a very special relationship with Graveyard Fairies because of their own relationship with the moon, the chill night and all kinds of death.
There is only one species which is not visited by the common Graveyard Fairy and that is the
Underlings. Nobody knows why, but theory goes because of their otherworldy behaviour and genes. It states that the Fairies can't "read" their teeth.
Until the day of the
Spiral incident the Graveyard Fairies counted into the hundreds. Now there are only a few dozens left and they reproduce slowly and only during the chill nights of winter.
Actions
What is a Graveyard Fairy doing and how are they doing it, one might ask. That is a good question and the answer is as simple as she is complicated: they read teeth and so the history of the being it belonged to. How are they doing it nobody can say for sure. It might be some inherited magic or a feeling they get from the teeth itself. And they are correct. Always.
After they have read a tooth they memorise every little detail and paint it. In
Vraitha they paint the life, memories, secrets, dinners, dreams and whatnot onto the white urns the people of Vraitha use for the ashes of their loved ones. The Fairy gets a small wooden plate as a votive offering, a thanks to them for their hard work. The Fairy uses it to build their home, wherever it might be. In a tree, in the ceiling, in a shallow grave or between fields and in meadows.
Their behaviour is not so skittish or pranky as normal Fairies or the Chocolate Fairies. The Graveyard Fairies are more careful, more thoughtful. That does not mean that they don't have a sense of (Fairy) humour which can be seen as cruel or cryptic, but they do not try to pull pranks which might be harmful to other non-Fairy-beings.
Living areas
It is not entirely sure, if graveyards or burial sites are the only places they inhabit, but there are more often found there than in the literal wild. One might spot a lonely Fairy in a tree or in a meadow, but it is more realistic that one find a Fairy Circle: a circle of stones, mushrooms or small branches arranged in a circle. Probably for council, planning their next prank or just sharing stories. Nobody had actually
seen a gathering of Fairies, they all disappear when one comes closer. Not even Silver Elves had seen one of those.
But the living areas of a Graveyard Fairy are basically densed down to burial sites, graveyards and places of death. There are exceptions of course. Sometimes a Fairy gets bored or has enough of all of this death or - which is more often the case - sees something so traumatising, that she quits. That can mean two things: she lives with other beings and make herself useful or she fades away.
Tales
"Is this true?"
"Yes."
"All...all of that?"
"Yes. His dreams, his dinners, his memories. The Fairy sees it all."
"But...that means... he still loved me?"
"According to this? Yes, no betrayal, no affair, just you and your lives. Apparently he wanted to build a house for your family?"
loud uncontrollable sobbing — Widow with a Graveyard Keeper
"This is all what its left?"
"I am afraid so."
"Our...love...our little baby...what if there is nothing? No dreams, no memories, nothing?"
"I doubt it. The Fairy will see it. Even when she was a baby, she would have remembered things. And be it your warmth or the sound of your heart, voice or breath. - Come child, let the Fairies do their work. They do know best." — A mother with her daughter and the urn of her granddaughter
The caves were silent. Somewhere dripped water from the stone ceiling into a small puddle. Candles, lanterns and torches shed some light, showed the small indents with the urns and the wooden plates. Most of the plates were gone, some remained. The pictures on the urns were mostly finished, only two seem to be abandoned or simply not finished.
The war had taken a toll. The Fairies had a lot to do with paintings and seeing the lives of the now dead. Maybe he had disturbed them during their work.
As he looked around he spotted one of the Fairies. She was small, a bit larger than his head and surprisingly big purple eyes looked at him curiously; her behaviour showed him that she was ready to flee at any second or at any sudden movement. Her wings looked like a butterfly or a moth, but iridiscent in black, purple, blue and like it was oil poured into water.
He slowly bowed and retreated. Better not to disturb the Fairies.
Got to respect the fairies.
Indeed.