Origin: The silvereyes are the fey of Rivendon, fey of the northern woods and mountains. They have hunted the forests since before humans came to the Kingdom, and though they have ancient feuds with the wolves and the filifernai, they do not speak of the time before they began to appear in the royal records.
Appearance. Silvereyes look enough like the humans of Rivendon- tall, well-muscled, and dark-skinned- to be mistaken for them at a distance or in faint light. However, they are undeniably fey. Their hands boast long retractable claws, slightly curved; these make for good weapons, being sharp as skinning knives. They have fangs, though these are not quite as formidable as a wolf's and do not interfere when they speak human languages. Their most striking features, however, are their eyes, which are indeed silver and glow fiercely in the light of a fire or in deep darkness. Physically, they are stronger and quicker than humans and boast keener senses, able to follow a trail by scent unless weather interferes. They are almost exclusively meat-eaters. Sometimes, to be polite, a silvereyes traveling among humans will eat fruit or vegetables, but these gestures are rare and usually imply intense affection.
Silvereyes do not feel the cold, and see extremely well in the darkness. They rarely wear clothes. If necessary, they can spring a long distance like cougars, or run for a short time on all fours.
Magic. Silvereyes have two kinds of magic, one much better known than the other. They can call on the spirits that float bodiless in much of the world, longing for a taste of blood, and form bodies of animals for the spirits to inhabit. In such cases, the animals all have silver eyes, are usually black in color, and are directly under the control of the silvereyes, moving along in a pool of magic that extends from the commanding fey's body like another limb. If the animals are destroyed, the fey feels the pain, but as long as the pain does not cause him to fall unconscious, he can form new bodies for the spirits and send them back to the attack. The only limitation is that the animals will hunt only the kind of prey whose blood they first taste.
The second type of magic relies on the shining light that fills the air of the Kingdoms. The silvereyes can see this light and weave it into nets. These nets can wrap around that which is unnatural (such as a filiferna) and strangle it, or, if bound to a mind, confuse it with illusory memories. Silvereyes use this kind of magic sparingly, since it can be more powerful, if wielded correctly, than that which calls on spirits.
Life Cycle. Silvereyes live in packs, and most children grow up with not only their parents but a small number of their parents' friends and sometimes other relatives. The pack has a definite hierarchy, based on contests that the silvereyes win by cleverness and strength, but children are seen as outside the hierarchy and tolerated by all the adults.
Silvereyes children take about twenty years to mature, after which they look like young humans and go into their first hibernation, which usually lasts from two to five years. They do not age in this sleep, but dream of silvereyes history and hunting knowledge. When they wake, their claws and fangs will have begun to grow, and they will probably only remain with their birth pack a short time before growing restless and moving on. Their adult packs will consist of friends and perhaps more distant relatives such as cousins, a precaution that prevents much inbreeding. They will hibernate from then on in the company of these packs, and each later hibernation (which come every few decades, and rarely last more than four years) will teach them more about their magic and history.
Most silvereyes will take a mate in time, though if they are not pack leaders they may have to leave the pack to do so; like alpha wolves, pack leaders tend to have the first pick of mates. Like humans, silvereyes will couple out of season; unlike humans, there is never a child unless the silvereyes is ready to mate permanently and settle down. They are loyal and do not abandon their mates. Only death breaks such a bond.
Silvereyes will in general live nearly a thousand years awake; if the hibernations are added in, they may live nearly two thousand. However, most silvereyes die in the hunt or in battle with the filifernai before then.
Interbreeding With Humans. There are many half-silvereyes children, since silvereyes will accept any invitation to couple (not having human ideas about sex) and do not have the exquisite control of reproduction with humans that they do with their own kind. A small minority of silvereyes males will abandon pregnant human women, but most males will stay with their mates. Silvereyes women pregnant by human men always remain. This can sometimes cause trouble in more conservative Rivendonian towns where most people fear the fey, and make little distinction between filifernai and silvereyes.
Half-blood children will sometimes have silver hair, and always silver eyes. They will also have weaker versions of silvereyes magic, such as being able to command a small number of spirts for a short time (losing control the more bodies they try to form and the more time passes) and being able to see the shining in the air but not use it. Their hibernations are shorter but more frequent, and they do not dream of silvereyes history nor grow fangs and claws. Not counting the hibernations, they will usually live about four hundred years.
