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Species: Homomimus Alatus (Common Fae)

Winged biped, Carnivore

Larva non volucris, is a species of wingless Homomimus which shares much of its anatomical traits with its winged relative. Examples of them are scarce, and mainly resigned to folklore, blamed for missing objects in the houses of 12th century peasants. They were often dubbed “borrowers” for their kleptomania, although rats and mice were a more obvious culprit. Constant references to people of diminutive stature fill the annals of many an occultists memoirs.

Its not often that Merrylin corrected himself, I have witnessed many diaries where it is clear that the final word on paper was his final thought on a species, often moving on once he had cemented his research. In this case a revision was made. Larva non Volucris was in fact not a separate species of Faerie, but a caste within the hive, foot soldiers if you will, born wingless with specific tasks to collect food, kill possible threats or seek out new nesting sites.

Merrylin witnessed this in the Amazon, around the time he identified various other “human mimics” that fell under his broad umbrella of Homomimus. Although many of these species were not related, they shared these unique humanoid attributes.

Whilst tracking a number of Larva non Volucris, he noticed that they appeared to be returning from a hunt to a nest. When he saw that the nest was covered in settled winged homomimus, he concluded that they were about to attack. Yet to his surprise they entered the peculiar spout at the base of the mass and disappeared, only to appear again an hour later, exchanging pheromones with winged and wingless alike, and amongst their entourage, a queen faerie, her wings massive in comparison to those around her. He realised that this queen was relocating, either a recent new born ready to make a new colony, or perhaps the nest was threatened. A day later, it was abandoned. On closer inspection Merrylin found that the nest was plagued by some kind of fungal growth, hence the evacuation. He followed the procession to a new nesting site and with much excitement studied the construction of their second home. A mixture of a mucus like excretion and leaf litter was used for the walls, the entire hive engaged in the task. Sadly, upon waking one morning, he found that construction had ceased. The ground was littered with the bodies of the faeries, They had succumbed to the spoors spread by the fungi in the previous nest. He collected them and a number of them are presented here, showing the life cycle of this species.

The prospect of caste systems within faerie hives fascinated him and he wished to find examples in his own country. On his return to England, he visited a number of homes which had reported sightings of these “borrowers” – and although it appeared that the species was no longer present in the British isles, evidence of their hives remained. In the excavation of an out building at the Rushley estate in Penningborne, Merrylin found a massive nest built within the cavity wall. At its centre a treasure trove of human objects – thimbles, pins, ribbons and coins. These were piled haphazardly within the chamber of the queen. Like Magpies they appeared attracted to colourful or shiny objects and presented them to their majesty. Although faerie intelligence was like that of a bee or wasp, the bond between the regent and her subjects was very strong. Many species are known to collect objects, such as Octopi,or various species of bird for courtship ritual or bonding, so this was not completely without precedent.

These examples show the pupal stage of faerie development, a newborn, the preserved skeletal remains, two examples of wingless Homomimus and a very young queen.