Feidísfolk

Not quite fey, and no longer wholly human... They walked between the lines to their benefit and eventual doom.

The Feidísfolk were an ethnic group and wider culture that settled in northeastern Iskaldhal in the Era of the Divine, long before the Worldrend or even the Second Divine War. Though entirely eradicated in the modern day - at least on Istralar - their culture lives on through the ruins, magics, and artifacts they left behind.
They were heavily entwined with the fey, and for their time, practiced fairly advanced forms of stonemasonry, weaving, and metalcraft. They were deeply connected with the natural world, practicing forms of druidry and herbalism, and with the intricate knots present in all of their crafts, wove long-lasting spells into all they made.

Culture

Major language groups and dialects

Speakers of the ancient tongues, they were!

— scholar

The Feidísfolk, with their close ties to the fey, seem to have adopted two languages as their forms of communication. The first was an ancient language of humanity referred to as Norrǿnt Mál, in which their people and settlements were named. Indeed, the name 'Feidísfolk' is a compound of three words in this tongue: feigr, dísir, and fólk.
The second was Sylvan, the most common fey language and one that has changed little to this day. It is more commonly found on precious Feidísfolk artifacts such as protective brooches, whilst their own tongue is most common on everyday wares.

Art & Architecture

Ah, the things they could make...

— wistful craftswoman

If there is one thing for which the Feidísfolk are known, well over five thousand years past their disappearance, it is their craft. They created beautiful, intricate structures from stone with knotwork that, whilst clearly fey-inspired, hold patterns and stories that have taken modern researchers years to properly decipher.

Feidísfolk Tiara by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Feidísfolk Ring by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Into these, they wove intricate enchantments that have more than lasted the test of time; the enchanted gardens and aqueducts that Fjolkandr has preserved are still functioning just as well as they would have when the Feidísfolk still enjoyed them, and only the annals of history know how much more of their magics have been lost to time.
Some preserved artifacts of cloth remain from the Feidísfolk's time, protected either by incredibly powerful blessings or by natural preservatives. These brilliantly-coloured pieces are largely pieces of clothing, with only a few artwork tapestries remaining and many existing only as fragments.
The best-preserved speak to the stunning needlework that existed, and some are woven using plants that do not appear to still exist - or if they do, the processes by which they can be woven into thread have since been lost.
The most enduring remnants of Feidísfolk art are the jewellery pieces they left behind.
No trace of weaponry or armour (aside from the aforementioned clothing) still exists, and yet the most plentiful remnant of theirs is the metal that they wove into impossibly beautiful pieces, the most common of which is a knotwork brooch.

The exact method by which these pieces were formed is unknown - modern copies are not able to maintain the same strength or enchantability, even when using the same or similar materials - and Feidísfolk pieces have thus become known as some of the more impressive ancient artifacts to come across even with their relative commonality.
Notably, it was through these lost artifacts that the Feidísfolk's name and some scant hints at their links to the fey were discovered. Fey enchantments lie alongside more standard divine magic, giving vibrant colour to the magic itself and helping to weave tales that no voice can still speak. In these tales, hints at an integrated fey-human society are sprinkled throughout.
One particularly special find shares the details of a marriage between a nymph and a human, inscribed in both Feidísfolk languages throughout the knots in a manner only visible with the Detect Magic spell. It speaks on how the two will share their bond with their peoples, and how their love will unite both. The ring was discovered quite by chance in the mines beneath Kynngisdalr; no further artifacts have been found close by.

Study of the Feidísfolk by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Related Locations

• Gate of Dust
• Iskaldhal
• Kynngisdalr

Iskaldhal

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The continent of Iskaldhal is a wild place. Witch-Tribes rule in the shadows as dragons soar overhead and mysterious artifacts from lost millennia lurk in distant icy reaches.

Feidísfolk Clothing by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Disappearance of the Feidísfolk

We'll never know the truth, really. Those truths are kept safe in the minds of gods and immortals.

— scholar

As milennia have passed since the Feidísfolk walked the face of Istralar, very little can be determined of what happened to them. Their remains are silent when queried with magic, long since having moved on past where all but the most powerful magic could reach them, and neither their ruins, artifacts, nor graves give any indicator as to where they went.
There are some main schools of thought in what their fates may have been, formed through years of archaeological studies and extraplanar explorations; these are distilled here as a simplification.

Departure

Feidísfolk Ruin by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

They were so close to the fey in ways we cannot hope to understand. No evidence is left of what they shared but the traces in language and art, most of which we cannot understand...

— scholar

The first school of thought is not that the Feidísfolk were wiped out, but that instead, they left. They had very close ties to the fey, and so the prevailing theory in this space is that they crossed into the fey's own plane to leave behind their mortal lives.
If this is true, then they may well have later returned to Istralar in other forms, having either forgotten their former lives or decided to keep those secrets to themselves. The gnomes have a lengthy history with similar travel between planes.
They may also have chosen to be like the elves, who travel as a society from planet to planet when calamity is upon the horizon. One theory is that the Feidísfolk may have seen the impending Second Divine War, or even signs of the eventual Worldrend, and may have fled the world in fear for their people's safety.
Their magic seems to have been particularly potent in fortune-telling, based on magical artifacts found in areas like Kynngisdalr that were built on the ruins of Feidísfolk settlements, lending some credence to this theory of departure.

Destruction

Nothing lasts forever, but I wish we could have at least met them.

— scholar

The second school, then, is the most obvious: through some means or another, the Feidísfolk were destroyed. It would not be an uncommon fate anywhere on Iskaldhal; indeed, many attempted colonies have either met with similar ends or have fled to neighbouring settlements. The establishments of nations like Volkur is largely due to luck and magical strength rather than their own preparedness for the devastation Iskaldhal can bring.
Chief among these theories is the theory of natural disaster. Magical leystorms, caused by the rise of arcane magic, were not present prior to the Second Divine War, but their absence did not lessen the impact of winter storms. A sufficiently strong storm could have collapsed their settlements, ruined their fields, and starved the population - even with the aid of druidic magic and fey trickery to summon food and protection. Equally, Iskaldhal is prone to volcanic activity and earthquakes, either of which could have caused conditions inhospitable to life in the Feidísfolk's lands.
They may also have fallen foul of Iskaldhal's many other inhabitants. Though no extant Iskaldhan civilisation, like the ever-ancient Gildómar, holds records of a war against the Feidísfolk, there were many other nations that rose and fell. One such group may have taken issue with the Feidísfolk or may have sought their land, and they may have been destroyed in the warfare that ensued.
The Shrines of Stone had also been built prior to the Feidísfolk's time, and due to their proximity to at least the Eastern Diamond Shrine, there is significant potential for them to have been captured within the Shrine or otherwise taken (alive or dead) by the dragons reigning over much of Iskaldhal. Whilst most other theories would at least leave trace for archaeologists to eventually find, this would explain the utter lack of such.

Feidísfolk Brooch by Hanhula (via Midjourney)

Displacement

Lost in time could be more literal than we thought.

— scholar

The last, and by far the strangest, school of thought suggests that the nearby Gate of Dust was to blame. The civilisation that lived there, known as the Timeless, have had no proven connection to the Feidísfolk, and yet it is possible that the two could have existed at the same time. Indeed, the magical prowess of the Feidísfolk indicates traces of the same skills that the Timeless went on to cultivate years later.
Perhaps, then, the Feidísfolk were forced to abandon their homes and joined the TImeless, or perhaps they were early adopters of the chronomantic magics the Timeless wished to practice.

Whatever the case, the Feidísfolk left before Istralar could truly grow into what she is today. Their absence is but one thread of the world's rich tapestry, their myth one part of the greater whole. They are missed, as every lost culture is, but their impact will always be felt in the annals of history's many stories. Indeed, without them, Fjolkandr would not exist.