Fairy

Fairies are humanoid, sentient creatures native to the Aleutian Islands, an archipelago north of the continent of Noreia in the world of Meridia; they are most common in the Confederacy of Cynosure, where they make up a majority of the local population.

Physiology
Fairies are the lightest and shortest humanoid species of Meridia, the average fairy being 12 centimeters tall and weighing 35 grams. They have slender frames, and it is very hard for them to gain either fat or muscle.

Due to the very low levels of testosterone produced by the average fairy, fairies are completely devoid of body hair, and even the male specimens of this humanoid species have a somewhat androgynous appearance; fairies are also the most neotenic out of all humanoid, sentient species, in that they retain the appearance of an adolescent human being from their birth to their death. They are set apart in appearance from human beings by their bioluminescent skin and insect-like wings.

Fairies have developed characteristics similar to those present in eusocial insects, being subdivided into three castes: king fairies and queen fairies are the only fertile fairies in any given community, and the most long lived as well, their average life span being of 25 years. They are oviparous mammals: fairy queens incubate several dozen eggs inside their bodies every season, that can be internally fecundated by several dozen fairy kings - it is in theory possible for each egg to be fecundated by a different male fairy, to ensure genetic diversity. Fairy kings tend to be hairier and more muscular than the average fairy, while fairy queens tend to be bigger and plumper.

Fairy workers are by far the most common fairy caste, living around 19 years, while fairy soldiers are the shortest lived fairy caste - rarely living longer than 13 years - as well as the most fit and muscular, even more so than fairy kings.

When fairy eggs are hatched, all newborn fairies belong to the soldier caste; according to the needs of the community, they can be turned into kings/queens or workers through hormones and magic, a process that can also be undergone by adult fairies - it is not uncommon for a soldier fairy to become the king/queen fairy of a new colony, if deemed suitable enough for the role by the members of their community of birth.

Fairies become self-sufficient shortly after birth: fairy communities are covered by a network of subconscious magical and telepathic connections between the members of the species, and bits and pieces of disparate knowledge are thus thrust into a fairy's mind shortly after their egg has hatched.