Caedaren

The Caedaren, also known as the darklight fae, pale fae or snowghosts are from the depths of Deepwild, a place where only the toughest of humans can be found. Among the anardes, they are the most curious and likely to find ingenious answers to problems, though they're hardly the strongest or magickally most potent of the tribes.

If translated from Old Daren, their name means Leafpeople.

Anatomy

In the past ten generations, their originally straw or honey blonde hair has begun to lose its colour - some even have white lashes. Hair is generally either curly or wavy, with the rare straight hair being considered a beautiful trait. Their eyes tend to be a mixture of two colours, although some single-coloured and mismatched eyes exist. Their mouthes aren't particularly narrow, but never very broad either.

The stereotypical Caedaren is a wiry, pale creature. The average height is around 5'3". The giants amongst them (such as Varus) can reach heights of around 5'8". Their bone structure differs very little from human bone structure, except for sharper teeth, a slightly more compact ribcage with the vestiges of an extra pair of ribs and a generally lighter build. Even the muscular ones among them seem athletic at best. The emphasis in their evolution has been more on stamina and flexibility than strength.

The difference between males and females isn't entirely as pronounced as with humans since both sexes are hunters and gatherers. It's for this reason that active Caedaren women, by no means anorexic stick figures, tend to have a body consisting of both muscle mass and a healthy layer of fat. The males still have a narrower waist, but their shoulders are often just barely broader than the women's.

Cycle of Life

A perfectly normal pregnancy lasts ten months.

Like all anardes, Caedaren remain children for at least twenty years before they are even considered to be adolescents. Physiological changes continue until the age of sixty, but the more recent generations appear to reach the end of this portion of the cycle at the age of forty, at which age they are able to have children. At this age they often begin their apprenticeships, find their first jobs or enlist in one of the many traditional factions. Some remain at home until the age of one hundred, although these are mainly the "second class" nobles, who aren't seen in a very positive light to begin with.

At the age of one hundred they are no longer considered adolescents, but adults. This phase of their life has been known to last for millennia, but it remains a relative mystery to the Caedaren why it should be that some die earlier out of natural causes. (Of course, they consider getting killed by a bear or by war a natural cause... -Snog) The oldest are often asked by the magickers of the Caedaren Nation to submit themselves to testing and research, a prospect elders do not find fascinating at all. Generally, some have concluded, it seems as if a sense of purpose keeps the older Caedaren alive; all of the elders past a thousand years old are active, strong, devoted and keenly intelligent specimens.

The eldest Caedaren often have remarkably smooth skin with no wrinkles, but look slightly different thanks to the sheen of their skin. They're also likely to sport hair colours other than chalk white.

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They are known to appreciate the phrase "tickle the ivories", for twisted reasons.

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