Ianthe

Ianthe, age 27, fae, she/her

My oldest and dearest character, a bluebell inspired fairy

She is your typical fae, lives deep in the old part of the forest, in a mushroom house (inspired by a blue pink gill). Her daily life is spent collecting the items and resources she needs as they grow naturally around her, being sure to never take more than she needs so as to not harm the environment. Overall she has a very bright and positive outlook on life and the happy personality to match it, although she can be a little naïve about the real world as she was brought up to never stray too far away from the magic rich forest hart she lives in

THE FOREST

Ianthe lives deep in an old growth forest, amongst the thick underbrush. The forest itself is ancient enough to still have access to magic through its deep root system, being it up to the surface, in turn creating the environment that Ianthe needs to survive. These are spaces where enough magic is present to allow the fae to live, without being so noticeable that other inhabitants of the world can find and abuse these spaces. Tree roots are the paths that allow long buried magic to reach the surface again, and for this reason you often find fae dwellings between the roots of large trees. Each forest can have many areas of magic, however the space between these places if often perilous for fae to travel between due the to unpredictability of where the next safe zone will be, and the risk of running out of supplies before the journey is completed.

HER PEOPLE

Unfortunately as the world has progressed and magic has faded from it, so too have the fae. What once would have been a vibrant community within this area of the forest has now dwindled to just Ianthe. Whilst other fae do survive in the forest, they are isolated in different pockets of magic, too far from each other to travel safely between on a regular basis. As a people the fae prioritise optimism and looking to the future so often will not tell their children of the decline to ensure hope remains. The consequence being that, as magic has withdrawn beyond what they could have imagined, the fae no longer hold a shared sense of identity or the infrastructure to share with other communities. All that remains are a few pockets of fae who do no fully understand the how dire their situation is. A desperation to maintain hope has in fact meant that they missed the opportunity help prepare themselves for the future, meaning their obsession with hope is the exact thing that doomed them. The single truth that Ianthe knows well enough, and so chooses to maintain, is that her people were the guardians of small magics of the forest. She expresses this by befriending small creatures such as the fireflies, and tending to the forest floor to try and stave off the loss of any more magic.

THE TRUTH

the truth is, there are no fireflies, the blue lights, Ianthe is so fond of are Willow wisps, lingering spirits of those who got lost in the Woods and perished. These individuals often spent their existence after death, frightened of the forest, unable to pass on, unable to leave the place that doomed them. However, as Ianthe began to explore the forest and encounter the spirits she brought joy to them, in the forms of little songs, and happy chatter throughout her day. Now the spirits are not afraid of the forest, but unable to verbalise their gratitude Many of them choose to remain with Ianthe. Keeping her company so that she does not experience the loneliness and fear that they once did.

House: Blue pinkgill

the door open to a cosy kitchen and living room area, that is filled with little trinkets. A spiral staircase takes up up through the main stem area which doubles as a cylindrical library of many books. At the top is her bedroom in the cap of the mushroom, with a small circular window that is open more often than not. One of her favourite things to do is to rest her head on the window sill and watch as dusk settles in, and the forest comes to life with the lights of the fireflies. Outside of the house a wooden swing is tied from the overhanging roof, that she also highly enjoys sitting on.

Art to get: Ianthe exploring the forest, of her with a bluebell plant (she is smaller than the full plant, art of her with the blue wisps, design for the interior of her house (especially with the library around spial stairs in the centre of the mushroom stem)