The fennek are a reclusive race. To see one participate in the Arena is shocking. To see one rise to become Arena Champion is almost unfathomable. Yet there are rumors that the fennek secretly run the Arena, searching for Heroes worthy of defending the far-flung roots of the Deeproot Tree. Indeed, those rare few Heroes who have defeated the reigning Arena Champion have all gone on to achieve legendary deeds in service of the Deeproot. Perhaps there is truth to the rumors after all?
We found the idea of the fennek actually running the Arena's to be an enjoyable one, and wanted to explore that dynamic further. This began with expanded fiction on the Arenas and the fennek's connection to them.
The reclusive fennek have long guarded the Deeproot Tree’s far-flung expanses. Their Warren Runners patrol its pervasive root system, and rings of their sharp-eared sentries guard those places that its offshoots break through to the surface. Little is known of them, for they have long stayed out of the eye of most species. Rumors hold, however, that they have spent centuries watching for others who might serve as guardians and champions of Crystalia. These wily and cunning people arrange for adventurers to find themselves in one of the fenneks’ numerous arenas, which tests their skills, character, and spirit in unexpected ways.
Even the fennek cannot (or will not) define their connection to the Deeproot Tree. They lack the direct descent of the branchborn or the symbiotic link of the gladeborn, yet their obvious fae nature and use of its power marks them as the Tree’s creatures. Their lives are literally entwined with its roots, and their warrens appear everywhere those roots reach save the deepest glades of the Fae Wood. Whether the Goddess or the Tree itself created them as guardians, or whether the fennek bound their race to the Deeproot in ancient days, as some scholars (mostly gnomes, it must be said) claim, matters not at all. The fennek have formed the thin, furry line defending the Tree’s roots for as long as they—or anyone else—can remember. They seem to have understood centuries ago, however, that the land needed more than wardens. It needed Heroes to actively take the fight to the darkness. So they created the so-called arenas to identify, test, and hone such would-be champions.
The arenas began as rumors among adventurers. Many famous champions of the land never set foot in them. Many more did so unknowing and learned the truth of what happened only later, if ever. Stories spoke of mystical interludes to other quests, of places that Heroes could step out of the world and test their skill and mettle against others and themselves. Intrigued, more and more Heroes of all levels began seeking out the arenas for their own reasons. Some were selfish, others selfless, but motivation mattered less to the fennek than a willingness to learn from the experience. They examined and appraised each potential candidate from the shadows and admitted only those that they though would benefit from the experience. This practice went on for centuries, and generations of Heroes emerged from the experience stronger, wiser, and subtly changed.
The branchborn are the undisputed guardians of the Deeproot, and their gladeborn descendants are the unquestioned stewards of the Fae Wood. But the Deeproot Tree is more than just the progenitor of living things and connection to the divine power that shaped Crystalia. It is an avatar of life itself, and while it seems to have no consciousness, it undeniably possesses both will and intent. The Mother Tree acts in a variety of ways, though the most obvious and common are through its roots. These reach deep into every realm of Crystalia (and into the Nether Realms as well) and act as conduits for the Tree’s generative power. And these distant, often isolated, outposts of life possess their own protectors in the fennek.
The fennek tell a number of distinctly different stories of their origins. The one most outsiders hear first is that the Deeproot Tree formed them from common rabbits and hares living around its roots. Most people seem to accept this for its logic, but mortal logic rarely applies to the workings of the Mother of Mothers. A small group of tales claim that a root once grew near a natural rift to the Nether Realms and the interaction of the two powerful magics created the fennek. A few scholars support this theory based on behavior, if nothing else. In the end, of course, it matters little. The fennek have dug their warrens around the roots of the Deeproot Tree for as long as anyone can remember, and they have served its will and the Goddess’s purpose loyally all that time.
Coats of Every Color[]
Fennek within each realm tend to exhibit more common characteristics than not. Many people familiar with them come to learn these traits well enough to tell a Dragonback fennek from a Glauerdoom fennek at a glance. Those who spend more time among these friendly, if reclusive, people soon learn to distinguish between individuals from different regions within a realm with a surprising degree of accuracy. To the practiced eye, an off-white fennek from Rock Tooth Quarry is obviously different from an off-white fennek from Barrel Roll Pass. Not all observers could tell you exactly how the fennek differ, though. For some, it’s the set of the shoulders and carriage of the body. Others point to the glint in the eye and swagger in the walk. The fennek themselves identify much more subtle differences, as might be expected. “He’s built like an Arcadian bounder,” they might say of a tall, lithe fennek. “Pale as a Glauerdoom hauntsman” often refers to an apparently sickly or frail fennek. Even these descriptions, though, are based more on perceptions and stereotypes than actual, chartable groups. Yet they serve as an easy and reasonably accurate shorthand.
The tallest fennek hail from the Arcadian Dunes. Lean, with long and powerful legs, they are renown for their endurance and vertical leap. Unlike most fennek, the dune bounders are semi-nomadic, most often moving seasonally from one warren complex to another. They tend to be hardy and more resistant to magic.
The Dragonback and Frostbyte fennek vie for the title of strongest among their people, and both have a good claim. Dragonback fennek are almost invariably broader in the shoulders and frame with plenty of physical power. Frostbyte fennek, by contrast, are usually denser and possess greater endurance and constitution. It takes a lot of work to sicken or poison and a Frostbyte fennek.
Clockwork Cove fennek are renown for their manual dexterity, though the vast majority of them refuse to have anything to do with the inventions and mechanics of that strange realm. They prefer to display their talents through performance and feats of prestidigitation. There are times and places in the Cove where you can literally trip over fennek street performers.
Warren Warriors[]
Every single warren takes seriously their duty to guard and nurture the roots of the Deeproot Tree no matter where they run. Though not excessively prolific (certainly not compared to humans), fennek are remarkably widespread. They seem to have an instinctive feel for how large a warren can grow without too great a danger of discovery or depleting its available resources. In safer and richer areas, warrens can grow to tremendous size—the Flicker Fire Grove warren in the Fae Wood, for instance, housed over thirty thousand fennek and covered almost six miles at last survey. Most are far smaller, of course, averaging a few score inhabitants and covering an area perhaps a mile square. For all their social nature, fennek often jealously guard their personal privacy, and will spread out their dwellings as far as the land will accommodate to preserve this. In every case, however, these warrens begin at a root of the Deeproot Tree and spread from there. The root is always the central feature and center of the community.
Everyone acknowledges the fennek’s role as defenders of the great roots, but few understand what that means. Given the many ways that the fennek interpret their mission, some confusion is understandable. The obvious duty of patrolling the root systems and attacking any evil they find, along with resisting any attempts to reach and destroy the roots, occupy a large number of fennek. Yet this is not all they do. Sages among them study the roots to try and predict their locations, paths, and reasons for growing in certain areas. Mages and spiritualists examine the magical effects of the roots to better assist the Deeproot Tree in its spread and protection of life. Some try to find new ways to use the roots in their struggle. Many spend their days preserving warrens and their communities, growing food, healing wounds, making music, and otherwise supporting the Heroes of their people.
Called to the Roots[]
Those fennek called to do more than preserve their warrens and patrol the roots find numerous tasks ready and waiting for their willing hands. Warriors by far make up the majority, though the number of fennek alchemists has increased steadily over the last century. Those relatively few inclined to magic often follow two increasingly divergent schools, the illusion and life-based power of the Fae Wood tradition or the tainted magic of the sanctioned witch. No fennek has ever practiced necromancy; some suspect that they cannot.
More common, however, are professions such as the warren runner. These courageous and (some say suicidally) reckless rogues maintain the connections between warrens and along the great roots themselves. They act as both couriers and scouts, and while they are often fearsome combatants, they cannot stand alone. They prefer to hit and run, strike with surprise, and rely on their speed to carry them through. Most people are frankly surprised at how often they succeed.
Fennek of Crystalia:[]
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