Thought extinct by most of the current world, the Faedin also known as the 'Fourth Race' or 'High Magics' are a half-folk race like their cousins the Three Races (Dracanis, Marelis, and Vasati), but with humans. Most of the world thinks that they became extinct or disappeared alongside the humans from the First Immigration, but a group of them have secretly taken up residence in
Eron Lake.
Biological Characteristics
Appearance
The Faedin share physical characteristics with their human parents, and as such, their physical appearance is as varied as any human from this world. The rare individual has some non-human trait inherited from their Folk parent, such as: horns, wings, scales, extra eyes, etc. Those who have these Folk-traits also have the human-like disguise form that comes with it.
High Magics
Unlike their cousins who inherited mainly physical characteristics and minor magic from their Folk lineage, the Fourth Race inherited mostly magic. In fact, they were often even more powerful than their Folk parent. Almost every Faedin individual is a very powerful mage.
Genetics and Reproduction
Before the devastating illness that wiped out all of the humans from the First Immigration, the Faedin had become a true-breeding hybrid of Folk and Human and had settled most of the continent now known as Austra. They were known to others as High Magics. They did not, at first, seem to contract the illness that affected the human descendants of the First Immigration - but it was later discovered that most of them had become infertile, and there were not enough individuals left to propagate a new generation. Those few who remained were believed to be reabsorbed into the Folk society, and they became something of a myth even amongst the Folk. This myth is perpetuated by the fact that they appear basically human, and the genes involved in Human-Folk reproduction seem very recessive, resulting in any offspring of a Faedin seeming to the uneducated to simply be that race or the Human-hybrid of that race.
Growth Rate and Maturity
The Faedin have lifespans between that of their human parents and the nearly limitless lifespans of their Folk parents, somewhere generally between 300 and 1,000 years. They will physically mature at the same rate as their human counterparts, but are slower emotionally and mentally to catch up, and that can get them into some trouble if they are trying to 'blend' into human society.
Mannerisms & Social Structures
As a race in hiding, and a hybrid race, they do not have a defined social structure of their own, but rather tend to adopt the structure of those they are residing with. In
The Veil, they rule themselves with a traditional Folk structure.
Raising Young
The population is rather strictly divided on the subject of children and raising young. There is a group of High Magic Purists and Seperatists, who believe they should be trying to stick to their own society and create a strong force of powerful sorcerers who can eventually reclaim Austra and the rest of the world for the Folk. There is also a more moderate group who believe that the Fourth Race should be celebrated when it happens, but that their role is to find a way to integrate the Folk peacefully back into the world as it exists now.
Expatriots
As a race, it is believed that the Fourth Race is extinct. The odd half human-half Folk individual is accepted as a quirk amongst those who accept the Folk, but they do not make themselves generally known. To those who are trying to eliminate the Folk entirely, members of the Faedin tend to simply try to pass as exceptionally talented human magic users.
Interspecies Relationships
Relationships are hard if you don't really exist. That said, according to the stories, the Folk find other species and people fascinating and form enemies and friends on an individual principle rather than a species-wide one.
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