Black, white, and red watercolor illustration showing a slightly green eye peaking through a gap between gray and red leaves splattered with black and red droplets. The eye looks human, but the eyebrow sweeps up in an uneven, jagged arc that looks like tufts of fur. This image has been modified from a watercolor by Nika_Akin.
Overview: Pixies are the embodiment of turmoil and disturbance, such as the turmoil that causes, and is caused by, storms. Physically, pixies are one-foot-tall, vaguely-humanoid beings that are a mixture of insect and other animal traits.
Physical Description: Pixies appear more insect-like than anything else, but they are vertebrates, meaning that they have bones. They do have many insect traits, such as chitinous armor, segmented bodies, multiple sets of legs, mandibles, jagged claws, and stingers, with a scattering of traits from other animals, such as shark teeth, goat eyes, lizard scales, snake mouths, and tiger fur. Most pixies have wings and their faces and upper bodies tend to be humanoid. As might be expected for a species embodying turmoil and disturbance, their physical forms are diverse and frequently unsettling.
Gender: Pixie genders are as varied as their bodies.
Senses: The senses each pixie has depends on its physical form. Many have the same senses as a human, but others have a mixture of sensory organs from animals, which alter how and what they perceive.
Diet: Most pixies are omnivores, but some have physical characteristics that alter their diet, such as having a feline digestive system that requires them to be a carnivore.
Common Mental Characteristics: Most pixies feel the urge to stir things up. Different pixies direct this urge into different outlets. Some become truth-tellers who urge their communities to face things they’d rather hide from. Others become innovators and experimenters who shake things up with new ideas and new ways of doing things. Some become troublemakers who trick or disrupt those around them. Others become investigators who dig up and reveal secrets. Some become artists who disturb people, make them laugh, make them cry, or do all three together. Others become weirdos and outsiders who do strange, inexplicable things that creep people out. Yet others do combinations of these things, using different approaches in different areas of their life.
In addition, many pixies are also drawn to environments full of turmoil and disturbance, such as the turmoil caused by contentious politics, extreme weather, or warped magic. Those that feel this pull usually find creative ways to combine it with their urge to stir things up, such as becoming an investigative journalist that dives into heated political issues, or a botanist that explores Warped Magic Zones for new magical plants. Unfortunately, while this pull matters to many fae-descended pixies, it is so intense for many full fae pixies that they can’t be comfortable unless they are surrounded by turmoil and disturbance, giving them an incentive to cause chaos everywhere they go.
Magical Affinities:
- Air Magic
- Water Magic
- Weather Magic
- Less Common Affinities: Plant Magic, Animal Magic, Shapeshifting Magic, Emotion Magic, Sensing Magic, Summoning Magic
Common Species Traits:
- Flight
- Additional Limbs
- Permanent Defense
- Heightened Senses
- Built-in Tool
- Amphibious
- Skill Aptitude for Stealth
- Less Frequent: Plant Talker, Animal Talker, Additional Sense, Poisonous Skin, Limited Shapeshifting, Regeneration
Common Vulnerabilities:
- Danger Amplification
- Character Flaw, especially being arrogant, blunt, impatient, nosy, reckless, selfish, spiteful, or zealous
- Intense Curiosity, especially for delving into anything unknown or forbidden
- Less Frequent Vulnerabilities: Moist Skin (those with amphibian skin), Dietary Restriction, Poisonous Skin, Location Tether
Origins: The Three Rulers of the Other Realm shaped pixies out of the turmoil and disturbance that happens in nature, such as the churning in storms that brings nutrients up from the ocean depths, spreads seeds and pollen, and removes old vegetation to make way for new growth.
Prominent Cultures: Pixies vary widely in how socially oriented they are. Some live on their own, while others live with small or large groups. Because a large number of pixies in the same place can easily become explosive, most pixies that live with large groups live in mixed-species communities. There are, of course, exceptions, such as the large, bohemian pixie community of the Inhabited Wood that channels their urge to stir things up into avent-guard art, pranks, and festivals.
Because many of the ways pixies stir things up, like playing pranks and rooting out secrets, benefit from stealth, it is a skill many pixies develop. Stealth is also frequently used by those who need to escape retaliation for their actions. As a result, more than a few pixie families teach stealth to their young as an important life skill.
An Interesting Fact: It is said that pixies’ affinity for disturbance is so great that the mere presence of a full fae pixie makes storms worse.
Pixies are part of the Crossroads Setting for the tabletop role-playing game, Magic Goes Awry. Click here to go to the list of vibrant and unique magical people from the Land of Crossroads.
