Dan D. made a very good post about various fantastical beings, and I was inspired to write a post about the various spirits of Carolingia. Unfortunately, I ran out of steam after finishing the fairies, so here they are. I might get around to the others (devils, ghosts, nature spirits, perhaps starspawn) another time.
Fairies, the Fair Folk, the Fay: there are many euphemisms, for using the true name of their kindred attracts their attention to you. They have hidden palaces that are not truly of this world and bleed over into others. The more elevated among them value etiquette and rules above all, the lesser are mischievous tricksters. If you eat their food, you must remain among them forever. Iron burns them, salt repels them - they may not cross a line of salt, nor may they enter a house with a horseshoe nailed above the door.
- Elves. Eerily tall, pastel skin and long metallic hair, glowing faintly in the dark, long fine silks. Their palaces are hidden in the deep woods, where strange old things lurk, and, it is rumored, in the high mountains of the mainland. They are proud and haughty, but unfailingly polite, and are the rulers of all the Fair Folk. The noble courts of the elves are filled with great warriors, learned loremasters, and elegant courtesans, all following strict and arcane rules so old as to be unspoken. Do not incur their wrath - their magics are powerful and subtle, their horses swift and silent, their lances keen and cold. The princes and princesses of the elves arrayed for war is a sight terrifying and beautiful beyond imagination.
- Dark Elves. Short, glimmering jewel-eyes, burgeoning facial and body hair, skin so pale as to be translucent. Their halls are far underground, and protected by monsters of stone. The Dwerrow are the greatest smiths the world has ever known, and will happily make arms, armor, and far stranger things for any who can pay. Their prices are strange and high, and the materials they require are exotic and rare. In demeanor they are precisely opposed to the light elves, boisterous and rowdy and crude, yet no less proud. Their clans are tight-knit and quick to feud.
- Halflings. Short, rotund, rosy-cheeked, hairy-footed, well-dressed. They live in mounds slightly too round to be natural that dot the rolling green hills. If you think you have found one, be careful that it is not an unwholesome barrow instead. The Little Folk are secretive and can move with great stealth. Their footsteps make no sound at all. If they are found, they are kind and friendly, and seemingly unaware that their homely food, like that of all the fay, will bind you to them inexorably. Their keen eyes and powerful throwing arms are without equal.
- Sprites. As large as a man's forearm, mosaic dragonfly wings, wildly styled chromatic hair and tattooed skin. The sprites are the diminutive scouts and assassins of the elves, wardens of the forests. They are even prouder than their masters, taking any slight as a mortal insult. Do not mistake their size for weakness, as their stinging blades bear deadly poisons and their mail can resist a blow from even the strongest of warriors.
- Pixies. As large a sphinx moth, bright butterfly wings that reflect their owner's emotions, bushy antennae, shining gold and silver skin. They are frivolous things, mischievous and friendly and none too bright. Their moods flit and flutter, angry at a moment's offense and cheerfully forgetful the next. They may help a lost traveler or console a crying child but may as easily decide to lead the traveler to a bear's cave or laugh at the child's tears simply because they can. Their magic is small and tawdry, although they can disappear with a giggle and a wink.
- Goblins. No taller than a man's knee, hairy pointed ears, long sharp teeth in a wide red mouth, mossy skin. They are cruel, vindictive sadists, delighting in pain and woe. Goblins can ooze through any crack wide enough to admit air, meld into shadows, and generally get into all sorts of inconvenient places. They love to strangle dogs, poison wells, burn fields, launch ambushes with a volley of stone-tipped spears and then retreat behind their traps, carefully hidden and deadly. Despite their usual caution and secrecy, their drunken revels are loud and obvious, with bright roaring bonfires and no guards, but do beware the pit traps.
- Gremlins. About the size of a badger, long and spindly, dark-furred and winged as a bat, delicate clawed fingers. They delight in havoc and confusion, breaking tools and machinery with a mere touch, driving animals to madness, leading armies astray: the vicious flip side to the whimsy of the pixies. Gremlins are only happy when mayhem reigns. They are terrified of cats, and will run at the mere smell of one. Like pixies, they can become invisible at will.
- Kobolds. Hunched low, great burly arms, coal-black skin, bright indigo eyes, vicious maw, sometimes a blue cap. They find and claim deep mines, haunting the darkness. Collapsing supports, sabotaging waterworks and flooding tunnels, filling vents, snatching an unwary miner who wanders too far, all are second nature to a kobold. If they can force a mine to be abandoned, they are satisfied, and will make it their lair, expanding it into a veritable labyrinth. They will occasionally take pity upon miners and warn them of unstable rock ahead by knocking on the walls of the advancing tunnel.
- Brownies. Fist-sized blobs of mud-brown goop, occasionally showing wide-set beady eyes or a single tooth. Also known as hobgoblins, they live in human houses and halls, doing chores at night while the inhabitants are asleep so long as a bowl of milk is left by the hearth each night for them to drink. They also often pull pranks on lazy servants. They can shapeshift into small animals, such as mice or lizards, and will do so to avoid being seen. If mistreated or offended, they will hide small objects and cause minor inconveniences, and if the ill treatment continues, they will become boggarts, who are larger and far more malicious but otherwise similar.
- Changelings. Occasionally, fairies will sneak into a house and abduct a particularly beautiful human newborn, taking them to an unknown fate. In their place, they will leave a changeling, taking the form of a sickly baby. These children typically die very young, having huge appetites and being prone to illness, but are precocious beyond their years and often talented at magic. If successfully raised to adulthood, many become sorcerers of great skill and wisdom. On even rarer occasions, the fairies will abduct a newly wedded adult, leaving in their place a log enchanted to look and act like the one it replaces, but soon to sicken and die, leaving no trace of the deception.
- Redcaps. Short old men, long-bearded, stooped, large crimson caps, huge fiery eyes, long teeth. Unlike other fairies, they are not harmed by iron, and indeed often wear heavy iron boots or carry iron spears. They haunt old battlefields and ruined fortresses, stalking passers-by. If any rest or sleep in their domain, they tear huge stones from the ground and throw them at the unfortunate victims. If this proves insufficiently fatal, the redcaps will rush in to kick the victims to death with their iron boots or skewer them with spears. Once the slaughter is done, they will soak their caps in the gore of the dead, dyeing them deeper red. They cannot be harmed by any mortal weapon.
