Fairies

Everyone has friends who claim to have seen a Fairy, and everyone's cousin swears one landed on their hand.

In reality, actually seeing a Fairy is difficult. Fairies never appear directly in front of you. They can be glimpsed as a glint or flicker in the corner of your eye. The little motes dancing in a sunbeam are Fairies, but the closer you look, the harder they become to see. You might sense someone nearby, but when you turn you only catch a vague outline of where they were.

Fairies take all forms from microscopic to large, but are always humanoid and nearly translucent. When you catch light glinting off morning dew or feel a sense of wonder in a peaceful meadow, those are fairies dancing in the sunbeam.

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There is great debate whether Fairies are actually aware of our world or possess any intelligence at all. No records exist of any Fairy holding or wearing manufactured items, and while their movements appear deliberate, they don't seem guided by purpose. It's unknown if they're aware of the physical world or even of other Fairies.

Fairies move between worlds at will but seem nearly oblivious to ours with one exception - they are drawn to beautiful things like gems, flowers, sunlight, and art. Peaceful meadows in deep forests often teem with Fairies dancing in sunbeams and among flowers. Intricate gems glitter with the effects of Fairies flitting in and out of existence near them.

Fairies can be found near all beautiful things, perhaps reaching toward them or dancing around them. While they seem to avoid physical objects in our world, this might be more like how water flows around rocks - not because the water consciously avoids the rocks, but because that is its nature.

Though Fairies avoid physical things in our world, they can pass through them. They are more likely to move through non-living things than living things, and more likely to pass through mundane objects than enchanted ones.

Fairy Dust

When a Fairy visits a place in our world, it leaves behind a small burst of magic that spreads out and infuses the area. While not a physical substance, people often use the term "Fairy Dust" to describe this effect - like a residue left by the presence of Fairies.