Sprite

Sprites are one of the four sapient non-human species of Nideon. They tend to be shorter than humans, with the vast majority of sprites not standing taller than 5'6," and often have small hands and feet. Resembling the woods that they usually live in, most sprites have brown skin with markings that resemble tree bark. They usually have red or orange hair, similar to the color of autumn leaves, and either or blue or green eyes. Because sprites lived in isolation on the island of Zenxon for centuries, their culture is considerably more homogeneous than other species.

History

This is Zenxon, a world of never ending battles between the sprites born of the forests and the humans who later settled them with stone.

— Yellow by Hermes Swift and Olive Newell

The sprite villages in Zenxon are some of the oldest on Nideon, dating to roughly the same time as Brek and Brightland. But unlike these areas, there is no evidence of human life co-existing with non-human sapient species. For the most part, the sprites built towns within the forests, often nesting wooden houses in amongst the trees, as if they had themselves had grown there, with the The Stone City as an obvious exception.

There is no evidence of sprites interacting with humans until the 6th century, when a group of colonists arrived from Linakra. Believing the sprites had been corrupted by magic, the Linakrans fought, killed, and imprisoned as many as they could, all while settling the island and attempting to "cleanse" it. The final showdown came in 1136, in Pine, where the humans' use of biological warfare forced the sprites to surrender or die.

After the conflict at Pine, sprites were restricted to life in certain areas of cities. Adults were required to work, but only in specific jobs, for low pay. Children were sent to schools where they were taught that their magic was a tool of evil. For a short time, the government began a program forcing sprites to marry humans, in a hope to "breed out the demon," but when the vast majority of children were born with sprite skin-markings, and magical abilities, the program quickly ended. During this time, many sprites fled the country, often seeking better lives in Brek and Suxad, where non-human races were said to well-treated.

In 1421, laws outlawing magic in Zenxon were lifted, but it was another century before sprites started to see the effects of this. Facing negative consequences from deforestation and lack of care of wild spaces, cities like Pine began to offer sprites positions caring for the forests of Zenxon. As sick and dying trees took to new life, sprites branched out into related fields, such as gardening, and even medicines. Over the following centuries, human cities embraced this more and more, ending restrictions on sprite jobs and living spaces. In some cities, sprite architecture began to replace human architecture, creating homes that look as if they're growing. In other areas, humans lashed out at increasing speed against their sprite neighbors, possibly upset that they were losing the workforce that held unfavorable jobs.

In 1895, two major things happened. First was that nationally, all official documents switched to using the term sprite, instead of the previously used "dkun," which was a bastardization of the Linakran word for demon. Though the change had started already (centuries earlier, in some places), this made it official, and on a national scale. The second major event was the city of Pine declaring legal equality for sprites. While several smaller cities immediately followed suit, sprites continue to battle for such protections on a national level.

Care of the Forest

Sprites have historically been known to live in and care for the forests they resemble. Most sprite homes in Zenxon are built of wood, and frequently designed to look as if they are trees gown into the shape of houses. They are sometimes entirely covered in plant growth or built around trees, which continue to grow out of their roofs. Many sprite traditions are centered around wood and trees. Though they are not born with a magical connection to plants, these traditions have made the sprites, as a group, masters of plant life and plant care. Some botanists even believe that it is sprite traditions that have allowed such a variety of plants to grow in Zenxon.

During the early centuries of human colonization, the areas that sprites lived in always had thriving plant life. In contrast, human farms and cities soon faced problems such as infertile soil, fires, and flooding. In some cases, they could not get particular crops to grow at all, and in others, dead trees threatened to fall and damage human homes and roads. By the 14th century, these issues were threatening the national economy. It was not until sprites were brought in that forests and crops truly began to thrive again. While some argued this was a nefarious sprite plot, most understood that the sprites, having lived in Zenxon much longer, had a better understanding of the forests they lived in. Today, many sprites make up nearly three-quarters of the National Forest and National Park Services. Many others work as farmhands, though a bitter battle still wages in both of these areas for improved pay and working conditions.

Traditional Clothing

First, weave the yarn back and forth between your fingers, and then again, going the opposite direction. Each finger should now have yarn all the way around it.

— My First Finger Weaving

While cotton and linen can be grown in Zenxon, sprites have traditionally worn clothing made from the Aadia tree. They split apart the fibers of leaves which they spin into yarn and knit into garments. While some sprites use needles to make for a smaller knit, finger knitting and arm knitting are more common, especially as children learn these techniques at a young age to practice fine motor skills and build dexterity. Combined with natural dyes, this style gives sprite clothing a distinctive appearance. Shoes are usually made from softened strips of Aadia bark sewn together.

Naming Conventions

Most sprites name their children using nature terms, such as plants, animals, and weather phenomena. Compound names are most common, as they are usually combined name parts of the parents and loved ones. Sprite last names usually combine part of the mother's last name with part of the father's last name. For example, Melody Nightwind is the child of Ebony Nightbeetle and Snowcloud Waterwind. First names are similar, in that they often combine name parts of friends or family. Other sprites are named for physical features, such as Onyx Starwind, who was named for his unusual black hair.

Rites and Rituals

Birth Rites

When a baby is born in sprite culture, the parents plant a tree, usually away from the home in a favorite forest. Some parents also bury the placenta with the tree. The tree is considered a sibling to the child, who will eventually return to it during their coming of age.

Coming of Age

As your brother (sister), I vow to watch over you and your and your forest for all my days and defend you with my life. I will pass this duty on to my children and my children's children, that you may thrive forever.

— From the Oath of the Forest

When a sprite child reaches fifteen, they traditionally seek out their birth tree in the forest and spends the night with it, tending to it. This is often accompanied by a pledge to tend to the tree in particular and the forest in general throughout their life and into death, in return for the way the tree and its forest have protected themselves and their family.

In Feeling My Heritage Tilitsitane Todetse draws a portrait of herself in which only half her face bears the tree-bark like markings that sprites are famous for.

by Molly Marjorie

Related Myths

• The First Government of Antarand

Related Materials

• Wood

Sprite Isolation

While there is documentation of magical mutations creating the Mermish and Elves, there is no such documentation about sprites. Nevertheless, the prevailing theory is that this species came to be in much the same way. It is odd, however, that sprites lived in Zenxon for centuries with no humans present, as humans continued to live among these other two groups. Some scholars believe that, unlike the mutations which occurred in Brek and Brightland, all of the early humans living in Zenxon underwent mutation. Others believe that because the society remained isolated on its island, the humans and early sprites intermarried, and what we know today as sprites are actually the result of these intermarriages.

Because sprites remained on Zenxon for so long without human contact, their culture is more homogeneous than that of other non-human species. They have their own clothing style, naming traditions, and customs that are unique from any other human group. While many of these customs, aside from naming traditions, have been abandoned by sprites in other countries, sprites in Zenxon, as well as those living in the tropical region of Nefrale, maintain many of the traditions they have held for millennia.

Sprite Religious Belief

While sprites have a wide variety of religious beliefs among them, there is a higher population of Calistian followers than any other group on Nideon. While some sprites merge these beliefs with other religions, many only hold to the Calistian stories. Though these stories do not contain stories of the beginning of the world, a high population of sprite believers also hold with an apocryphal story that the world was created by a greater deity who left it in the hands of the immortal magic lords.

Sprite Magic

Though sprites physically resemble the forests in which they live, their natural-born magical gift is not associated with plants, but with wind. All sprites are known to have wind abilities, and some stories say they are so good with these that they can steal a person's breath, rending them mute or even killing them. There is some debate, however, that sprites have multiple inborn magical gifts, as they tend to do well with plants of all varieties and learn languages incredibly quickly. Others argue that sprites' "plant abilities" are due to living for centuries in the forests of Zenxon, and they learn languages quickly because they learn everything quickly. Supporting this theory are recent Nefralaen studies have shown that on average, sprites have a higher intelligence than humans.

Sprite Languages

Anyone who thinks Roex is a dead language has never met a sprite.

Because sprites have a natural gift for languages, most are polyglots. They typically speak whatever language or languages are spoken in the area where they live, but the language originally spoken by sprites in Zenxon was Roex, which is also one of the oldest languages on Nideon. In fact, the term "sprite" comes from a Roex word also found in ancient documents referring to a race of people magically connected to the forest. While Roex has died out among other races, it is still spoken by sprites throughout Nideon.

by Unsplash

Marriage and Divorce

When sprites are interested in courting, they usually present their prospective partner with a bouquet of flowers, or sometimes a necklace or crown of flowers. If the other is interested, they accept the gift and courting commences.

Sprite weddings are traditionally very simple. Like courtship, they often include an exchange of gifts, usually wooden carvings. Common gifts include wooden rings, wooden spoons, and wooden whistles. The object will usually bear a symbol of the recipient's name. The exchange of gifts may occur during the wedding or before it, as a sign of engagement.

The wedding itself requires the couple to hold hands and declare themselves married in front of a witness. A particularly fancy ceremony might include special dress and flower crowns. Though any witness is acceptable, it is considered bad luck for a couple to marry without their parents present, and many sprite stories include parents tracking down disobedient children and declaring them very much not married. If a parent is dead at the time of wedding, the wedding is often held in the forest where the parent's ashes were buried or scattered.

Divorce is as simple as weddings are. The parties make an agreement regarding the terms of their divorce and promise to abide by these terms, declaring themselves divorced in front of a witness. Though the witnesses often include parents, having parents present at a divorce is not considered lucky the way it is to have parents present at a wedding.

Sprite weddings may take place between any two people. Heterosexuality and homosexuality are both accepted in sprite culture, though polyamory is not. Furthermore, sprites only recognize cis-male and cis-female genders.

Death Rites

Like much of sprite culture, sprite funerals center around the forests of Zenxon. When a sprite dies, their body is usually cremated and their ashes are used as fertilizer for a tree. Often, this is the sprite's birth tree, but they may wish to have their ashes instead taken to another tree, or even another forest. Pine Hill is a common place where sprites wish to have their ashes go after their deaths. Some sprites have their ashes scattered throughout a forest, or divided between their birth tree and another location.