faeries

Episodes three to eight are now on tapas! Click the images below for links to each chapter.

(Adopt a sprig from our etsy shop! Six available.)

It’s been a busy week at the SFI- festive preparations, major storms and power cuts abound! The greenhouse heater has given up, so some of the more sensitive occupants have come inside.

Meet the sprigs; a faeries species also known as wandering roses or meadowmaids.

During the summer months they are often found in the company of bees and other pollinators- so much so that at one time they were thought to be farming the insects.

In a way, they are- flocks of sprigs will wander towards bee hives for a taste of honey; and, naturally, the bees are drawn to their flowers.

During the winter, however, cold conditions threaten the survival of these fae creatures.

And so, we have guests for the festive season, and tiny footprints everywhere. Good luck keeping them out of the chocolate.

Bird feeders watch out! The Phoot is about- and it’s stocking up for the winter!

During October and November, the phoot consumes nearly three times its body weight DAILY, in preparation for its hibernation from December to march.

It’s during this time of feasting that you can best hear the distinctive call that gives it its name: ffff-oot! ffff-oot!

So consider putting extra on your bird table this year- to give the birds a chance.

When the faerie and human realms were sealed off from one another by the great Nightwarp storm; what happened to those left behind?

Some, like the Filauny we have covered previously, formed remote and reclusive colonies. Others turned feral: for example Hominus Minimus or the Little Fairy.

Preserved specimen of *Hominus Folium* being handled before framing.

These faeries, once playful and mischievous, suddenly found themselves lost without the guidance of their lost courts; turning scavenger and hunter to survive.

These days it’s rare that you’d see faeries like these in the wild- they favour remote places where the skin between worlds is at its thinnest, where they feel closest to their lost people. However, many natural history collections have preserved specimens like the ones you see here, available to study.

(Like what you see here? These framed fairies are now available on our etsy store!)

Clearing out the archives, I found a few posters that might be of interest.

BE FAIRIE AWARE — An official poster produced by the SFI in the early 2000s as part of a government campaign.

repot copy — Keeley’s homemade sign that goes up without fail every late spring. Heed its warning!

sketch1502367185233 — Pre-seaflower poster I picked up at a sale a few years ago. This was made in the 90s, when there was a fad amongst teens to try out some necromancy rituals for a fun night out. Necromancy: not even once.

Name: Minluth, Filauny child

Designation: Fauna

Class: Benign??

Description: Small grey-furred humanoid with powerful hind legs; solid blue eyes; face markings: intentional, possibly traditional (some sort of dye?).

(Note on the name Filauny- we couldn’t ascertain if this was the name of her species, or just of her people/family group. One and the same? Are there others?)

I try to keep these entries purely factual, but today I’ll have to descend into anecdote. I apologise.

We came across the filauny child Minluth in our own back garden/courtyard at the seaflower institue when she tried to use it as a short cut. We were outside, making the most of a rare dry day, when the small figure scrambled down the fence.

Needless to say, she was not expecting a curious party of researchers; just as we were not expecting a small intelligent humanoid no one had ever heard of.

At first we weren’t sure if she could speak english, though she seemed to understand it. Turned out she was just shy; and after Thursday offered her a piece of chocolate the pair of them got quite chatty.
A forest dwelling species of intelligent small humanoids, we gather that the Filauny are proud hunters and have a complex societal structure and culture- more than could be learned in such a short, chance meeting.

Minluth is ten years old, and seems to be taking part in a coming of age ritual, wherein she carries three vials from her home settlement across the countryside to a sacred location. One contains soil from the forest, one an assortment of seeds, and the third water. Once she reaches the sacred place, she tells us, she must plant the seeds with the water and soil, then fill her three bottles with sap tapped from a particular tree. She then makes the return journey and, if she survives, becomes an adult.

She’s not allowed to ask for help on the journey, but is allowed to accept if it is offered to her freely and without prompting. Until the chocolate we gave her, she said, she hadn’t eaten for three days.

She had to leave and continue her task, much to my disappointment, but told us that her people live in deep woodland east of here. Who knows, maybe one day we’ll visit and learn more?