faeshim | background

Daeshim comes from a modern-day world that's much like the one that we know. However, monsters have and do still exist, even if their numbers are much smaller than they once were, and the general human population no longer believes in them. Some have adapted well enough to live alongside humans, while most non-human creatures stick to the shadows and wild places - like the Ruinwood. This is the world that Daeshim comes from and knows, an old forest that shares its border with a young human city.

Daeshim is the progeny of a Seelie and an Unseelie, and therein lies many of his problems. The blood between the two is very different, and while Dae feels the pull of both, it's never been strong enough for him to fit in at either Court. Plain and wingless with a penchant for roughspun clothing, he was looked down upon by his mother's side. He was also deemed too gentle and cowardly to survive with his Unseelie kith and kin. So he basically raised himself, in a small area of woods within a much larger forest. Growing up his only company was the creatures you would imagine in such a place - deer, rabbits, and the crows that brought Daeshim news of the human city nearby, along with a little bit of its trash to trade with him.

Eventually Daeshim ventured close enough to see it for himself. The human world was strange, and so were the humans who lived it in. But Daeshim's curiosity was truly sparked for the first time. There were many things that he wanted to know about, but none more than the shiny humans. Daeshim calls them "shiny", because they shine like stars or tinfoil in the sunlight. It means anyone who's either passionate or gifted in something, whether it's art or math or human magic that sets them apart from the crowd.

Daeshim noticed one "shiny" human in particular, a young girl with cruel parents. In an impulsive decision, Daeshim stole her away to his woods, where an unlikely friendship began. Other Fae came to intrude, and humans followed. Frightened by all of this, the girl ran away, and sadly death found her before he could. Daeshim blamed himself for this.

This was the day the Ruinwood gained its name and its reputation, because that's exactly what it became - a place dark and ruined, with tales of a lone, twisted creature that lived within them. The animals fled, the water turned stagnant, and flowers stopped blooming. He became even more of an outcast with his own kind. Things remained this way for a very long time, long enough for humans to be born, grow old, and die. But his curiosity (and his loneliness) eventually called him back to the very edge of his forest and the shiny ones who lived outside of it. Again and again, Daeshim tried to bring people into the safehaven of his forest, but always with mixed results.