Faerie Care!

I'm not here to teach you about the abilities these lovely little creatures have, their powers or their skills - we all know about these already. I'm here to teach you about keeping faeries. Get your light faerie notepad, dark faerie pencil and your earth faerie eraser out, sit down and pay attention.

As you will have noticed by now, there are several "tameable" species of faerie to be found around Neopia that are ideal for the hobby of Faeriekeeping. These Elemental species are just a few inches tall at maturity and are by far the most suitable for beginners.

Do your research: find out all you can about the type of Faerie you want FIRST, then carefully consider if you can provide the care they require. The most important thing you need to learn before you start is that faeries should really be housed individually. Keeping a mixed collection can be dangerous and is NOT recommended for beginners: faeries have a tendency to get out of control when confined to close quarters with other, different faeries. Once you've got some experience under your belt, you'll discover which ones are complementary and work well together.

They can be purchased from private sellers, or Kauvara at her magic shop, but do make sure you check them over carefully (ensure the wings are in good condition, eyes bright, in general good health...) and make sure you're getting a good deal. The price is so high because there is only one specialist in the industry known to be able to capture wild faeries: Balthazar.

Rumour has it that this bounty hunter was originally abandoned and begged for help from the faeries in the woods. Unluckily, he'd stumbled across a pack of Dark Faeries whom took delight in swapping his few items for bruises, sending the young pup packing. Since then, he's grown up to be one of the finest bounty hunters known to Neopia and takes delight in capturing all faeries in magical bottles, as a revenge for this misdeed.

He's caught and kept each of the six available varieties, and appears to have also captured several of the mysterious grey faeries. Quite what for, we don't know; the grey faerie is supposed to be powerless, ragged and miserable, prone to depression and sulking. The scant information I have garnered is that these appear to be standard elementals with their wings removed, destroying all use of magic. A rather dull creature and not nearly as attractive as the other varieties, but this is not a problem, as he's keeping them to himself for now. (We all gotta collect something, I guess.)

Here's a tip for wannabe keepers: every Wednesday morning at 6 am NST, Balthazar gives away a chunk of his formidable faerie collection at the Money Tree.

Feeding Faeries is a simple job, as many of them are more than happy to use their powers to conjure up some tasties, though the Earth Faerie is known to enjoy making some of her own dishes if you supply her with a few simple ingredients. You can nearly always win a Faerie over with a Plain Faerie Cake!

Health problems are very rare in these creatures, though in the unlikely event you may find something as simple as a Healing Potion I will work wonders - they're much smaller than most people after all.

When it comes to housing, most faeries prefer a more tropical environment, warm with just a touch of humidity - the feel of a warm summer's day. As by now, they'll be used to the confines of the bottle, I suggest a simple glass tank in your Neohome. You can make one quite easily by fitting together some Large Plain Windows and you can create some nice backdrops by swapping in some Stained Glass Windows - the Primella one happens to look very good with Water Faeries, creating an awesome aquatic feel. You can then add items and comforts to customise it best to your Faerie.

For example, with my Water Faerie group, I've made them feel at home by adding an Amber Coral Coffee Table or two, some Hewn Stone items (Bed, Chair, Table etc), a cute Pink Coral Coat Rack, a Faerie Koi Mobile and some funky plants (Wiggling Sea Weed Plant and Anti Gravity Tulips). This medley of seemingly unrelated items actually presents a wonderful vision of exotic ocean beds and corals... If you're having Water Faeries, don't forget the bookcase - they love NOTHING more than books, and are likely to magic you something nice in return! However, you may want to purchase a laminator to stop all the pages disintegrating in the water...

Hewn Stone items work well in nearly all Faerie habitats, looking chic whilst remaining practical. For example, blended with mossy rocks, sparkly seagrass, dwarf trees and grassy bridges, it makes a wonderful, outdoorsy home for Earth Faeries. A Deluxe Tree House will make them feel safer and give them the illusion of being high up in the trees. Be careful quite which magical items you give your Earth Faeries - whilst they adore them, you don't want a tank fogged up with magical mist. You'd never see them!

You'd probably be best with a similar layout for Air Faeries - luckily you can buy most things with a cloud design, Cloud Pillow Sets and Cloud Rugs should make them feel like they're up high in the skies. Do make sure you have a good Full Length Mirror, as this gives the illusion of much wider, airier spaces and allows this pretty little creature to apply as much makeup as you can keep her supplied with!

Light Faeries tend to be much more stable, more reliable creatures all round. My Light Faerie is so good natured, I feel comfortable allowing Meglos to look after her and taking her out with us. We often take her to parties because she's so sociable she can brighten anyone up! Light Faeries have a passion for collecting things - collectable cards are affordable, countable and portable. If you meet her, don't forget to say hello. Her name is Nuff. Fairy Nuff.

Fire Faeries require particular caution - be sure to have a Fire Extinguisher of Diversion handy, just in case: These hot little creatures can have very fiery tempers! They can be easily soothed with the purchase of something nice to wear, but do be warned - this can make them very expensive to maintain, especially if they get the taste for jewellery. A Cheap Earth Ring just isn't going to cut it!

Dark Faeries likewise are risky, as you can't ever quite predict what they're going to do next. Do NOT mix them with other faeries, and try not to have more than two in the same container if you need to move them. They're awkward little creatures, jokingly known as "Contrary Faeries" as they're so fickle. This short attention span can be kept occupied for a surprisingly long time with the use of some simple toys. Quite literally mental elementals.

So in summary, these are exciting, active, colourful little creatures to care for. If you'd like some more information on this topic (including the rarer and more dangerous Faeries such as the Space Faeries), please feel free to contact me.