General Q and A

zersergathant wrote:

This has probably been answered somewhere, maybe even on the wiki, but I can't seem to find that answer.

Why does Melany have antlers and purple skin? I thought she might be a canopy fairy, or a dusk nymph, or some other sort of catalogued fairy sub-species, but I couldn't find anything. She can't just inexplicably be the only fairy with purple skin and antlers, though, so what exactly IS she? Again, I'm aware the answer to this might be right in front of my face, but if it is, I just keep missing it somehow. What's the deal with Melany?

I think she is an as of now undocumented sub-species and/or tribe.

Her skin coloration, and antlers suggest that she is a different sub-species than normal fairies, and her tattos (which are magical in nature and can be re-arranged at will) suggests that she also belongs to another tribe/racial group.

I don't think Karbo has given an official explanation yet though, and he does have the final say on the matter.

The manga referred to her as a "trapper fairy" when she first appeared, but I'm betting that's a title more than a race.

zersergathant wrote:

This has probably been answered somewhere, maybe even on the wiki, but I can't seem to find that answer.

Why does Melany have antlers and purple skin? I thought she might be a canopy fairy, or a dusk nymph, or some other sort of catalogued fairy sub-species, but I couldn't find anything. She can't just inexplicably be the only fairy with purple skin and antlers, though, so what exactly IS she? Again, I'm aware the answer to this might be right in front of my face, but if it is, I just keep missing it somehow. What's the deal with Melany?

Well she just happens to be like this ^^ fairies are really supposed to vary widely in their colorations and they breed a lot with others species too.

Karbo wrote:

Well she just happens to be like this ^^ fairies are really supposed to vary widely in their colorations and they breed a lot with others species too.

Other species? From your perspective, Karbo, what different species can fairies breed with, aside from elementals? I have a feeling it may differ from the general consensus.

For future reference, however unlikely, what is the disclaimer?

Are you referring to this? If so it's a sticky in the New Ideas forum...

Karbo wrote:

zersergathant wrote:

This has probably been answered somewhere, maybe even on the wiki, but I can't seem to find that answer.

Why does Melany have antlers and purple skin? I thought she might be a canopy fairy, or a dusk nymph, or some other sort of catalogued fairy sub-species, but I couldn't find anything. She can't just inexplicably be the only fairy with purple skin and antlers, though, so what exactly IS she? Again, I'm aware the answer to this might be right in front of my face, but if it is, I just keep missing it somehow. What's the deal with Melany?

Well she just happens to be like this ^^ fairies are really supposed to vary widely in their colorations and they breed a lot with others species too.

I kind of suspected that at the back of my mind, but I was hoping for more of a consistent answer. I mean, if fairies are supposed to widely vary in their coloration, why do they only seem to come in purple (Melany), black (dusk nymphs), and Caucasian (pretty much everyone else)? But I digress. The reason I was asking was because I actually really like the purple skin/tattoos/antlers aesthetic and wanted to make a character in her sub-species, but if she's not actually a part of a sub-species, than that kind of shoots my idea down.

But by that logic, I get the impression that I could make a fairy character who, due to her heritage, has an unusual skin color (purple, blue, yellow, whatever) and other strange features (antlers, oddly-shaped wings, claws, whatever). Is that about right?

Very much so. There is no rules there and fairies are among the creatures that could really have any colors of skin or hair. And as long as it stays reasonnable, adding a few features to them is fine too.

Does this variance apply to Canopy fairies as well? Or do they all look roughly like Subeta?

I would imagine that canopy fairies are capable of showing variation just like the other fairies to certain extents.

As a relevant aside my mist fairy character Kaede has a very unique coloration and a set of plumose insect antennae. I think as long as you keep 'true' to the 'spirit' of what the fairy type is, you can have fun with the creation, coloration, and style of said fairy character.

Melany has purple skin because dat ass looks good in purple, and it gives Vivian's ridiculous rack a run for your attention.


Obviously.

zersergathant wrote:

This has probably been answered somewhere, maybe even on the wiki, but I can't seem to find that answer.

Why does Melany have antlers and purple skin? I thought she might be a canopy fairy, or a dusk nymph, or some other sort of catalogued fairy sub-species, but I couldn't find anything. She can't just inexplicably be the only fairy with purple skin and antlers, though, so what exactly IS she? Again, I'm aware the answer to this might be right in front of my face, but if it is, I just keep missing it somehow. What's the deal with Melany?

Oldman's tongue-in-cheek answer
alternatively
Oldman's answer that is probably High Octane Nightmare Fuel if you think about the implications too hard

Well, variations in appearance tend to come about due to variations in genetic structure, and variations in genetic structure tends to come about through mutation. However, we would expect to see this sort of extreme variation in all species if the source of mutation was in the ground or air, so the source of the mutation must be from something the fairies and only the fairies do. Obviously, one very good candidate is their ability to shrink and grow at will, and their tendency to do it often. It would seem that the shrinking and growing process is not perfect, with a tendency to scramble the fairies' DNA, and possibly intermix it with the DNA of food that was in the fairies stomach when it shrunk or grew. This explains why fairies often have fully formed anatomic features from other species. Felarya's healing nature would keep the millions of resulting cancers under control, and if fairy society exiled any baby mutants that did not look enough like fairies, that would explain both why all fairies look mostly humanish, and why there are tons of monsters living in Felarya, many seemingly made out of collections of parts that normally wouldn't go together.

Oldman40k2003 wrote:

Felarya's healing nature would keep the millions of resulting cancers under control, and if fairy society exiled any baby mutants that did not look enough like fairies, that would explain both why all fairies look mostly humanish, and why there are tons of monsters living in Felarya, many seemingly made out of collections of parts that normally wouldn't go together.

Echidna's everywhere just became your enemy for even daring to suggest that they might not be the mother of all monsters.

Oldman40k2003 wrote:

Oldman's tongue-in-cheek answer
alternatively
Oldman's answer that is probably High Octane Nightmare Fuel if you think about the implications too hard

Can I just stick to normal unleaded?
What you proposed is horrifying.

Anime-Junkie wrote:

Oldman40k2003 wrote:

Oldman's tongue-in-cheek answer
alternatively
Oldman's answer that is probably High Octane Nightmare Fuel if you think about the implications too hard

Can I just stick to normal unleaded?
What you proposed is horrifying.

It totally is, but, maybe it's because I'm a fan of horror, it just made fairies a lot more interesting to me. I just got a new idea for a story, a story that nobody will want to read because it'll be disturbing as hell!

I've came out with a question that I've half resolved myself:

Is there a precise "multiplier" at the moment to calculate one character's height as a giant?
I mean for exemple, if we have a human sized fairy of height 'X', and then she decides to change size to giant one ; by how much do we have to multiply 'X' to have a height proportional to an average giant?

The tricky part about this is that we need a giant average height and a human average height, and I'm unsure about that. (The result should be Giant average height/Human Average height, correct?)

Between the various giantess calculators and Karbo's size chart you should have all the data required to answer your question, at least from a Felaryan standpoint.

I use 110 for the average giant height and 6 for the average human height.

Alright, supposedly this has been discussed before, but could a Dusk Nymph actually live in Negav?

Cauldronborn is of the opinion that they can't, as he thinks the Isolon Eye forces them to remain in shadow form and, even if it didn't, they'd be discovered by Negav security.

...Related question:

How out of place would someone dressed as a ninja be?

The Wiki The Isolon Eye wrote:

Very few understand how it (the Isolon eye) works, but what matters is that it seems to keep many gargantuan monsters at bay, through some unknown magic. In fact, some researchers have established that the Crystal effect is related both to the size of a creature, and to its degree of appetite for humanoids. In clear, the larger and the more voracious the creature, the more pronounced the warding effect is...There is exception to this rule though, and some rare beings seem to be much less affected. The reason why is a complete mystery.

The Wiki Dusk Nymphs wrote:

Once, a dusk nymph caused a great panic in Negav and ate several citizens before being chased away. For some reason, this kind of fairy appears to be totally immune to the effect of the The Isolon Eye, the main defense of the city. Even the Ps'isol magiocrats are utterly clueless as to the reasons for this immunity.

Now can they get in and change to their humanoid form yes, but whether they were found out or not is a different question. Keep in mind that being fully clothed from head to toe is very suspicious your best bet at moving would be merging with shadows and maintaining a small size to avoid anyone spotting you, because if you get spotted and caught you are dead. No one will try to save a predator in Negav.

But would being covered from head to toe really be that conspicuous?

I mean, there are plenty of reasons why someone would need to clothe themselves like that.

I would think so. It most certainly would draw unwanted attention on yourself. The number of reasons one would want to disguise themselves are the reasons why it would draw attention, and for a dusk nymph trying to survive in Negav any attention is bad attention. Keep in mind that the people of Negav aren't know for being tolerant to people of differing races.

What you forget is that Negav's walls are lined up with detection devices and mages casting identification spells. If they saw a guy wrapped up from head to toe, they'll get a mage to cast a spell to reveal what he or she really looks like if he's not compliant.

Ah, but she didn't walk in thought the gates, she hid in a couple of adveturers' shadows.