Fairies

One of the most sapient and advanced races on Estaerith, the fairies have developed a society that rivals even that of the humans. Within their society exists a strict caste system, in which every single creature is allocated their life roles before they are born, their bodies reflecting such choices. To the outside they appear to be an incredibly matriarchal society ruled by the queen and soldiers, yet at their heart lie the drones, male fairies organising every last piece of their lives. Fairies are quite well known to the rest of the world for their magical prowess too, for having both prowess in their abilities and an abundance of magical energy.

Anatomy & Appearance
 Fairies are an insectoid race with six limbs, two of them possessing structures similar to human hands. More often than not they stand upright and are quadrupedal in this position, with large translucent wings protruding from their backs, although these can be folded in. Their faces are small and pointed, with small crushing and gripping structures located above their mouths of small, pointed teeth. In order to keep the colonies working at full capacity, fairies have evolved bioluminescence and clear bodies. This is used both to aid work in the dark and for various methods of communication, although has often led them to be mistaken for wisps by other creatures, which are both much rarer and solitary creatures. Fairies have also developed stingers on their lower abdomens, used not always at close quarters but more so for magical purposes, helping them to channel and control it. By far, the most potent of these stingers lies with the soldier caste.

Life Cycle
 Even with the mass of hatcheries within a fairy colony there are usually only a few queens located away from them, whose eggs are all shipped off by labourers to their respective location. These eggs usually take about ten days to hatch from the moment they are laid, and are treated by the nurses within each hatchery to determine their caste prior to birth. Once hatched, the fairy grubs are all fed a similar yet altered diet by the nurses, which is specifically tailored to reinforce the caste they were influenced towards whilst still in their eggs. These grubs are eyeless, and due to their incredibly small size, that similar to a pinhead, many are able to be feeding on the same nurse simultaneously. From birth they pupate within the week, having grown to about half a centimetre during this time. The nurses also assist with this process, spinning the silk required for such cocoons over the grown grubs. From here the majority of the variation between castes take place, with those destined for the drone caste taking two weeks to emerge, nurses ten days, labourers and scouts little over five days and expendable soldiers after just twenty-four hours. Following leaving their pupae they continue growth alone, periodically shedding their exoskeletons to increase dramatically in size. Drones and nurses cease growth within two months, labourers and scouts within about three weeks whilst soldiers continue to grow for the entirety of their short lives.

The Caste System
Before each fairy is born they are nursed and incubated so that their minds and bodies become part of their caste. These castes are each responsible for a different role in society, where some organise raids on beehives others stay back and birth more fairies, so that their race may continue to prosper. Furthermore, these castes are often representative of social status, with soldiers at the bottom and the queen at the top. It is also worth noting that each of these castes is just as sapient as another, even if their lives are completely different.

Soldier - The life of a soldier in fairy society is a dull one, from the moment of birth they usually have between two and five months to fulfil their life goals and die a miserable death. Despite this, they are relatively large in comparison to the rest of their brethren, averaging at approximately 5" with a much more aggressively manufactured body. Their stingers are often well pointed in comparison with other fairies, as well as long enough to leave a gash in the most ferocious of creatures, whether it be by magic or a direct sting. They also possess large crushing mandibles, which coupled with their surprising agility makes them a real threat to many a forest critter. Of course, an aggressive body was not enough when these creatures were designed, and so imprinted in them upon birth is a ferocious, aggressive nature that compels them to undertake their jobs although may lead them to detest the rest of their society. This distaste is often enhanced by the views of others in fairy society, who look upon them as the disposable caste, the word "replenishable" often being used in conjunction with them. Every soldier in fairy society is female, but none of these are able to reproduce. Any magic associated to soldiers is often solely offensive without much variation, their stingers doing a good job of augmenting its power. Soldiers also have the ability to induce temporary anarcania in other fairies and in swarms, larger foes whilst simultaneously boosting their own magic. This is achieved by clamping their jaws down on an enemy and allowing a fluid to enter their bloodstream, which in turn binds with magical energy throughout their bodies. From there, this fluid is then sucked back out, inducing both temporary anarcania and increasing the power of the fairy in question.

Nurse - At the heart of fairy society lie the nurses, who are responsible for the incubation of eggs and their early growth stages once hatched. As such they are designed to live naturally for approximately eight years, and seeing that they are not often involved in combat this is often fulfilled. Nurses have small rudimentary wings, rendering them flightless and as a result keep them inside the cities and hives at all times. Nurses are also able to birth drones infrequently, which unlike soldiers and labourers are tended to much more carefully and for a much longer period of time due to their position in society. They also produce a sticky, thick substance in sacs on their abdomen, which grubs bite into and use for nourishment at a young age. Nurses are often well respected in society, due to their raising of grubs and healing of any other fairies that may need it, whether it be through basic technological feats or their signature healing magic. Nurses are approximately 4" in size, most of which is dedicated to their abdomen. Their role in society often contributes to their personality too, with a large majority being very sheltering and maternal towards others.

Labourer - With the fairy population almost permanently increasing, new settlements and facilities are in constant demand. These labourer fairies are heavily built in comparison with other castes. with small wings and strong mandibles tailored to moving resources and construction. They are incredibly dextrous, allowing them to build in the most inaccessible of places with relative ease, opening up previously uninhabitable areas to the rest of Fairy society. They have small wings in comparison with their bodies, allowing them enough flight to get about easily but no particular flight specialities like those of the soldier and scout castes. Their role within fairy society can change from day to day, some days construction whilst others simply maintaining food production. The entire labourer population is female, however none of them are able to reproduce. They may, however, be pulled out of active duty as labourers and converted into queens, should the birth rates fall, the colony expand or a queen pass away. They are approximately 3" in size and live for around three years. Labourers have some magical prowess, although it is not focused on one aspect, more a little bit of everything.

Scout - Between fighting, birthing and building colonies the rest of the fairies within society have very little time to get messages across to one another, and other races for that matter. The job of a scout is to do such things, sending messages from the Court to the rest of the colony, as well as scouting out new races and sending messages to those already known by them. Due to their job, they are the most commonly seen caste outside of the city, but naturally, being a small insectoid creature they face many problems. One in particular is solved by their slender, graceful bodies that are often coloured pink or purple to camouflage with the local flora. They stand at about 3", similar to the labourer caste and are exclusively female, and also like the labourers, can be pulled out of active duty and converted into a queen. Prior to this they are unable to reproduce however, yet are given a reasonable life span of four years or so. Also similar to labourers is their use of magic, a jack-of-all-trades and yet master of none.

Drone - From the outside, fairy colonies appear to be some of the most seamlessly run in the world, and with the majority of the population working there must be someone responsible for this. The drones of fairy society are those who organise things in so-called 'Courts'. Within these Courts, decisions for the future of the population are made, although occasionally not carried out until checked with the queen and other courts prior, using the scout caste for such correspondence. As such, drones are the 'brains' of fairy society for which they are widely respected. Every member of the drone caste is male, with the ability to mate with the queen and infrequently other castes, although the latter is purely for recreational purposes. Drones size up at about 2" with majestic wings that are mostly for show and a reasonable bulk, living on average for fifteen years. Without much in the way of strength, Drones largely rely on magic to defend themselves should they need to, at which they are extremely adept compared to some of the other castes.

Queen - Whereas a nurse lays the eggs of those higher up in the colony, the queen is responsible for the bulk of the population. A queen is responsible for the laying of scout, labourer, soldier and even nurse eggs and has a body that reflects this. The queens are often 8" in stature, some even reaching a foot when required. Queens have a very large abdomen capable of holding many eggs at a time, with thick, long limbs and an exceedingly large wingspan that allows flight despite their unnatural bulk. All queens started life as either a labourer or scout and as the name might suggest, all are fertile females. Occasionally the queen's job can stray to making decisions in society as well, although this is very infrequent do to her permanent states of eating and egg laying. With queens always required in society, coupled with their large bodies, they have a long life span of between twenty five and thirty years, most of which is spent in indulgence. Much like drones, they also possess an affinity for magic, in a wide array of schools.

Crime & Punishment
All things considered, society is relatively ordered and civilized for fairies, a result of the near hive mind and strict caste system. Despite this, crimes do occur infrequently and range from minor to extremely serious, the punishments reflecting them accordingly. With minor crimes, labourers tend the be the most frequent offenders, often stealing small pieces of food during its transportation. Such minor crimes are often received with a warning when discovered but after a few instances can lead to being expelled from the colony, which almost serves as a death penalty should another colony not accept them. Major crimes, such as sexually assaulting a drone or killing another fairy, even just assaulting a queen are met with much harsher consequences. Any felons are usually punished by cannibalization, stripped of both dignity and life as they are eaten in front of swarms of fairies by said swarms. On the contrary, punishments are mostly non-existant for drones, and they are often the ones punishing. More often than not other fairies 'look the other way' when a drone offends, only seeking to enhance their height in society. Queens are also generally immune to punishment, although abuse of her status can sometimes lead to her being expelled and replaced with a new queen.

Technology & Architecture
As a whole, fairy technology is simple and limited to what they can obtain within the forest. This however is aided by their magical ability, which in itself serves a tool for both expansion and defense. Fairy cities or hives are usually built within the hollowed out trunk of a tree, kept alive via magic so that the forest may still exist and tree sap can be harvested in case of food shortages. Each of these cities can consist of many trees, each having many floors, layers and chambers within formed for a specific purpose. At the centre of fairy civilisation is a meta-colony once belonging to the arborea, the most prominent of its kind which consists of many huge converted trees and plants, with the hollowed out shells of the ancient arborea lining the forest floor. Their way of life allows them to be extremely industrial, constantly expanding and using whatever they can find effectively.

Destruction of the Arborea
Initially, fairies attempted a somewhat symbiotic relationship with the arborea, seeing as they were both forest-dwelling races. The arborea's exoskeleton which is similar to that of a tree trunk gave the fairies the idea of setting up colonies within them, whilst keeping them alive with magic. This backfired horribly however, and each arborea they attempted this on died and was left hollow, incapable of harbouring fairies effectively. Nonetheless, they continued their destruction of this once prosperous race for their magical attributes, which by hollowing them out could be extracted and used to advance fairy colonies. This over-exploitation of a once large and peaceful race drove them to near extinction and now almost total isolation.

Communication
A fairy's voice originates from an elongated, hollow and muscular area of their abdomen, which contracts and vibrates to give off sounds that are akin to speech. This allows them to not only communicate with each other but with other races, members of the Scout caste tending to be highly proficient in learning other languages. At a distance, fairies may also communicate with eachother using bioluminescence, to warn of dangers or returning scouts. The light given off by a fairy may often be directly associated to their emotions too, and can be way of expressing them to others. Oddly enough, the queen's voice is the quietest of all of the castes, whilst the scout's far exceeds that of others.

Sexual Relations
Although 95% of the fairy population are female, there are still a great number of sexual acts that occur within society, even between those castes that are unable to reproduce as a result. Most commonplace in society are homosexual relationships between the female castes, who more often than not prefer to keep any of these acts within their own castes. Despite this, a vast majority will go to great lengths in order to mate with the drone caste, the sole males within a fairy colony and as such extremely desirable. Sexual activity often corresponds with a caste's life span, with queens being much less likely to mate for recreation, and soldiers trying to enjoy every last second of their short existence. Such dominance and persistence from the soldiers has led the drones to hide away and protect themselves from predatory soldiers using magic, with the few that leave the safety of their courts being caught and mated with. In many cases, this is overcome by the soldier using her jaws to induce temporary anarcania and in turn subdue the drone, which also somewhat arouses her further. Fairies do not form couples as such, however do form close bonds with other fairies, which to other races can appear to be romantic partners.

Diet
A fairy's diet is most certainly shaped around their habitat, unlike many other races who being much bigger have a wider access to the world and it's food. They mostly hunt and eat small invertebrates, lizards and when the opportunity arises, small mammals. A particular delicacy in fairy culture is honey, only obtainable by them from bees which can be quite a challenge in some cases. When food is in short supply they can also feed off of fungi and tree sap, although when such situations arise, more often than not, the only sufferers are the soldiers. Fairies also eat offenders of serious crimes, and when food in exceedingly scarce and so much as tree sap is unobtainable similar measures may be followed, although once more it is the soldiers who mostly suffer. Being as destructive as they are, they may also eat members of any other races who wander near to their colonies also.

Naming Conventions
The names of fairies are typically, but not always, reflective of their role in society. For example, a scout may be named Iridescia, relating to her signalling via her luminescence whilst a soldier may have a name like Valor, reflecting her bravery. The 'surnames' of fairies are often just a reference to the colony to which they belong, and as such each member of the colony will share the same name. These 'surnames' as a result are rarely used within the colony, limited to contacting other races or fairy colonies.

Interracial Relations
Humans - The relationship between humans and fairies is somewhat complimentary, whilst they don't communicate immensely when they do it's generally peaceful. A fairy's exoskeleton, shed periodically during growth can be crushed down and used in minor potions involving magic, including treatments for mild anarcania. These exoskeletons are usually given to the humans in exchange for well-sought-after honey.