The Spirit Folk

The Spirit Folk, and by extension many of the Lhuboen, were a collective of once Glyph-Emanations who were severed from their divine forefathers and origins, and were left to seek new purposes in their existence. The most prominent kin of the Spirit Folk were the Imene, or "Animals," who were myriad Lhuboen severed from their divine source while still unfortunately lacking the necessary ego or intelligence to be truly sapient. On the other hand, the Spirit Folk as a term describes only the sapient tribes and societies of the Lhuboen, those who would exist as echoes and memories of those Glyphs who had fallen into the Household of Mist.

Basic Information

Anatomy

The Spirit Folk as a term refers to a collective, and the forms they could take were often varied and nonsensical, at least according to more recent Henkayn and Kaldyr sensibilities. Their only constant was in their shared possession of fur or hair somewhere on their body, a metaphysical indicator of their connection with the "Fleece" of Inserses, the Glyph of Life. Many were also bipedal, and possessed between two and six limbs, excluding tails and "heads."
The Spirit Folk of Assethei and Lost Euliess were largely akin to cattle, their bodies covered in short grey fur, which if left unkept, could grow to several inches in length. As well as this, they possessed no tail and naturally had two legs, with two arms to accompany them. Their faces were similar to Henkayn, and they were usually tall in stature, towering over many of the people who would travel to Euliess in search of artwork and beauty. Among the Spirit Folk of Euliess in particular, it was common to "shape" oneself to suit their chosen profession or artistic pursuit, leading to some unusual Euliessans possessing multiple limbs or varying in height. In addition to this, the strong individualism and personality of the Alkeray of Euliess led to many of them possessing unusual colouration in eye and hair, with some even growing "manes" similar to the hair of Henkayn.

Biological Traits

An important aspect of the Spirit Folk is that due to their varied origins and perceptions of reality, each unique group often had differing biologies and physiques. These idiosyncracies were so common and prominent that they could even happen between members of the same family or clan, sometimes even affecting siblings, who would manifest unique physical manifestations in the world depending on their mentality and identity. This means that classifying any group of Spirit Folk as a certain species or race becomes increasingly difficult, with some generations being totally different physically from their predecessors.
As a result of this, many of the Spirit Folk cultures prioritised tradition and remembering the past, attempting to retain the form and laws of their original ancestors, who were themselves created as their Glyph-Creator desired.

Civilization and Culture

Naming Traditions

In Euliess, names were commonly chosen according to the poetic choices and talents of individual Alkeray rather than relying on any pre-existing cultural norms and traditions. Despite this, as Euliess was in near constant contact with the nomads of ancient Assethei, some naming schemes carried over, particularly in the use of three "words" to any name, representative of the Assetheian reverance of the number three and the Trinity.