Fae nix (Snow fairy)
Common names: frost pixie, walking snowflake, frosty bit, bug jumper
Basic Information:
Size: 1-1.5 millimeters
Mass: 0.5-1 miligrams
Lifespan: Approx. 300 years, but have been known to reach close to 500.
Taxonomy:
Magion - Fae - nix
Description:
Snow fairies have coloring fitting with their favored icy environment, with pale skin, white hair and pale eyes that range from pale blue-grey or purple to red. They have a naturally high body temperature, which may be the reason for their preference of frigid areas.
Fae nix.
Fae nix prefer a polar climate, most choose areas that have -20 to -50 degrees Celsius, but can live in colder temperatures. They used to have communities in several polar areas, but nowadays they all reside in Antarctica, in small part because humans are rare there, but the main reason is the close ties they developed to the Antarctic springtail.
Fae nix with a Antarctic springtail companion.
Habitat:
Like all fae, Fae nix are not native to our world, and because they keep away from humans we have very little information about the realm they came from. It is known to have low temperatures, although it seems that - ironically - it does not have snow, only ice. Snow was one of the reasons Fae nix were attracted to our world, fascinated by its textures and the sight of snowfall.
Fae nix are a rare case of fae that settled in our world, building communities. Most fae stayed away from our world after humans began view magic negatively, and those that lived here left (see The Departure). However, Fae nix were unaffected by the change in human attitude - their size allowed them to easily avoid us, and their favored habitat was far too cold for humans to survive in until modern times. Therefore, they have some of the oldest fae communities communities in our world, the oldest one being approximately a thousand years old with a few generations of Fae nix born and raised here.
Diet:
Snow fairies are omnivorous, but live mostly on plants. Their favored food is a mixture of several plant parts that are gathered, mashed together and “cooked” by being buried in ice for a few hours. The mixture is then cut out of the ice and mashed to soup-like consistency.
Habits & Culture:
Fae nix are generally nomads, they enjoy carving their houses in ice, but when the house is complete, they tend to get bored with it quite quickly and soon move and start on a new one. This practice is one of the reasons they became attached to the Antarctic springtail, whose size (1-2 millimeters long) makes the larger ones a perfect mount for the Fae nix. Fae nix are non-winged fae, and while they can use some of their innate magic for traveling, they would usually walk. Having mounts made the travel much easier, and since springtails live in large groups, one fairy will usually have a few mounts to change between so that they won’t tire out. As for the springtails, the high body temperature of the Snow fairies allows them to venture into colder areas, so they are quite happy to have them around.
Fae nix abode. By the amount of snow and icicles gathered on its ledges, it can be assumed that this house was already abandoned by its builder, who moved on to sculpt a new one.
Aside from mounts for traveling, Snow fairies love to play with the Antarctic springtails. Like all springtails, the Antarctic ones have a folded limb that, when released, can propel them around 15 centimeters into the air, a very impressive height for creatures their size. Snow fairies enjoy having competitions, seeing whose springtail jumps higher, and who can hold on to the springtail’s back best, since the springtail’s jump is not quite balanced, and the landing – definitely unpredictable.
