Changelings and You

Fairies and You: A guide
(Part The First: An overview)

Fairies, as a whole, are incredibly diverse, and the length and breadth of them is entirely unknowable. Infact, to characterize them in this guide would cause an even greater variety. It is a fruitless endeavor, not to be made. Certainly not by this author. We must first consider the fact that there is no such thing as a fairy as perceived by the eye: This is a form they have adopted, usually unintentionally. Fairies are metamorphic and dynamic, and the impetus for such changes is neither biome nor season, but rather the beliefs which others have - the stronger and more numerous the believers, the closer to that belief an individual fairy may skew.

It ought to be noted that, even if a one-to-one of belief and behavior/appearance is seemingly achieved, they still will act out in ways common to their particular region. This may or may not present maliciously. It is, however, unfortunate, that many behaviors are, whether inherently malicious or not, are simply untenable for most who draw their attentions.

Even the nicest fairies are often unintentionally physically harmful because despite the shaping of stories, they are not human, and as such cannot really comprehend simple human limits - Dancing too long isn't fun. Nor is eating too much. - They simply lack those limitations, or believe they can be bent.

An interesting adjacent phenomenon is this : Being in fay territory changes you based on the stories and beliefs they have. About you specifically, or where you come from. One's beliefs about the self will be a mitigating factor, but it is not recommended that any individual stay too long in areas widely known to be home to the Smallest.

(Part The Second: Biology [Such as it is])
A singularly difficult problem would be the description of fairies in any meaningful  way. As the astute reader may realize, to attempt to do so would likely result in errors becoming fact for one segement of this curious population. We may safely however conclude the following:

Fairies do not often have 'natural' offspring, and many deign instead to abduct, sadly, the children of neighbors, often replacing them with fetches or fakes that expire in a few years. This is not their only means of reproduction, but it is the one most often called to mind. These Arcadian-born, or Changelings, will be addressed shortly.

But 'often' is not never. It is however difficult to tell when one encounters a "young" fairy, as its appearance is usually pre-determined by something it itself is entirely unaware, but that shaped the fairy in question's parents.

Tentatively, we can conclude that fairies drink dew and eat berries, in their most benign incarnations. Others, with more predatory cants may drink blood or eat flesh, or even consume negative emotions outright.

(Part The Third: Arcadian-Born [Changelings]))
Changelings, as they are called, are a strange phenomenon. Often, they are humans, that were abducted at a young age and taken to live amongst the fairies. The more benign fairies tend to allow them to leave after a certain time, akin to a child moving out of their parents' house. The more maleficent ones may, or may not.

Very unfortunately, in some cases, the Changeling will demonstrate attributes not only of its "foster family", but also the beliefs of the fairy community at large, in addition to any beliefs the community had about the child specifically. Alarmingly, in some cases, to hold certain beliefs about a changeling one knows, can alter the changeling  on a very base level. This is not the issue it could otherwise be - many changelings  choose solitairy lives amongst an element of natural or artifice that they feel comfortable with and connected to (often giving  rise to ghost stories in the process, when they deign to intervene.)