Spiriters

"It's the same story over and over. A mysterious stranger appears in a village, apparently out of the woods. A week later, the whole town has disappeared, as if they've been spirited away into the forest." - Guesa Lanve, Ranger of the Alderbridge Wood

Sunlight pierces the canopy of the nameless forest, forming mottled and blotchy patches on the twig-covered ground below. The ashen grey trunks of ancient trees sway, leering over the nameless village, which busies itself with trivial tasks far below. A wood pigeon dives from it's perch on a jagged branch, landing on the haphazardly built chimney of a blacksmith's forge, blackened with years of soot. Harsh clanging emanates from the shop below, and the street is thronging with the creaks of rolling barrels, the thwack of axe on timber, the jingle of exchanged currency and the chatter of village folk. On the outskirts of the village, the watchman is leaving his post, peering deeper into the grey trees. The people playing cards outside the tavern place down their hands to look. Then, stepping out of the woods is man dressed all in green, a green so vibrant that in comparison, all the village seems monochrome. Even the fire in the forge cannot stand up to his brightness. With dreamy eyes, he gently surveys his surroundings, his vision brushing over all the leaden village. Then, he smiles with faux warmth, waves to the dumbfounded children, and exhales a misty breath.

All at once, the townsfolk surge forward, spewing dozens of questions, and welcoming the traveller to their village. Meanwhile, the village elders are packing away their belongings and preparing for days on the road, knowing well that the traveller has just placed a spiriter curse on their village, and within a week, all the people of the town will be gone, the village left to the woodland spirits and fey.

Spiriters are a secretive people who dwell mostly in the most ancient dark forests and groves. Their existence is not known to the vast majority of people, but in those who do know of them, they are loathed and feared, and this fear is not unjustified. Spiriters worship Faerie spirits which dwell in ancient woodland. In such woods, however, dwell all sorts of malevolent spirits and fey, which the spiriters nevertheless worship viewing all natural spirits as sacred. The influence of evil fey can make some Spiriters into terrifying people. When a humanoid settlement (with the exception of elves, who are descended from fey) is built too close to a spiriter forest, or in a place which spiriters have marked to be reclaimed by the fey, a Spiriter traveller will go to the settlement, sometimes in disguise and will curse the settlement. Over the coming eight days, more Spiriters will arrive, and more townsfolk will disappear, being spirited away into the woods into fey captivity (giving the Spiriters their name), or to be brainwashed into becoming Spiriters themselves. If the threat is not sufficiently dealt with, by the ninth day after the arrival, the settlement will be deserted for fey to roam.

Ideals

Spiriters view Humans, Dwarves, Halflings and other humanoids (with the exception of elves) as non-ideal life forms, and believe that their civilisations deserve to be destroyed. In their culture, the only worthy sentient beings are fey. To them, even the gods are not worthy. Spiriters with therefore try to please and emulate these spirits as much as they can. They try to learn druidic magic to mirror faerie power, they only speak primeval, and they let the fey spirits and the woodland magic warp them physically (see sidebar). They will often try to behave more like their evil fey masters, and some Spiriters can become terrible villians because of this.

Other Names
The Green People, Ealdthryn (Druidic) Associated Races
Most Spiriters are Elves who see themselves and their fey ancestors as superior, and Humans trying to transcend their humanity.

Faerie Warping

Spiriters see Fey as the ultimate beings, so will try to emulate them as best they can through Faerie warping.

Physical Warping

Some Spiriters allow the magic of the fey beings that they consort with to warp their bodies. This leaves them with mutations such as barkskin, antlers, and leafy hair. Some more dedicated Spiriters can become elders, achieving true faeriedom, by warping themselves beyond recognition, becoming a living tree or other weird spirit. These warpings can give Spiriters incredible physical power, but can also affect their minds, sending them spiralling into madness.

Faerie Souls

The most dedicated Spiriters can rise to the top of their hierarchy, becoming Faerie Souls. This sect of Spiriters believes that the only way to truly become one with the Fey is to transcend the physical world, and enter the Faerie realm as a spirit by falling asleep and entering a magical trance. Their bodies will remain under the protection of the other Spiriters of their community, as their soul joins the Fey. Faerie Souls are seen as the height of devotion to the Spiriter cause, and most Spiriters aspire to become one. Rarely, whole communities become Faerie Sould, with the most powerful Spiriters remaining behind in the mortal realm to guard their physical forms whilst they sleep.