Shardling Description
Shardlings are humanoid beings formed from living crystals, fractured glass, and mineral-like structures. Their unnervingly sharp and faceted appearance makes them seem both organic and inorganic. Their bodies have complex, angular features that catch and refract light in unnatural ways.
Their skin is composed of a crystalline or glass-like substance, ranging in color from deep obsidian, translucent quartz, prismatic blues, and purples, or even mirror-like silver. Their surface texture varies—some appear smooth and polished, while others have jagged, uneven edges, as if they were shattered and imperfectly reformed.
Their eyes are faceted like gemstones, often glowing faintly with inner light, reflecting many colors depending on their emotions. Some Shardlings have pupil-less, smooth, gemstone-like eyes, while others have shattered or fractured irises that shift unpredictably.
Shardlings do not have traditional hair; some have delicate mineral spines, crystalline growths, or smooth, glass-like scalps that glisten in the light. In rare cases, thin filaments of glowing fiber or metallic strands cascade like hair, shimmering with faint luminescence.
Their bodies are semi-flexible, able to shift and adjust their density, making them surprisingly agile despite their seemingly rigid forms. Light refracts off their surfaces when they move, sometimes creating brief rainbow-like distortions or faint echoes of their silhouette.
Unlike other fae, Shardlings do not bleed—when injured, their bodies crack, revealing an inner glow or swirling energy beneath the surface. Their wounds can seal over time, but deep fractures may leave permanent scars of broken crystals, creating web-like fissures across their forms.
They speak in a smooth, resonant tone, with voices that sometimes carry a faint echo or reverberation, as though speaking from within a cavern. Their voices may hum or ring with a faint, harmonic vibration, like a struck tuning fork, when agitated or emotional.
Shardlings cast strange reflections, sometimes slightly warped or delayed in mirrors or smooth surfaces, as though time struggles to keep up with their movements. Some have been known to manipulate reflections, making it unclear whether one is looking at the real Shardling or a refracted illusion.
Their hands and fingers end in sharp, chisel-like tips or clawed edges, making them adept at etching symbols into surfaces, cutting through softer materials, or leaving deep gouges in walls when they strike in anger.
Some older Shardlings have chunks of their bodies missing, replaced with smaller, floating shards that orbit them, held in place by an unseen force. Others have fractured faces or bodies, permanently etched with the remnants of past battles, yet remaining functional.
Shardlings can sometimes be mistaken for lifeless statues or decorative crystal formations when they stand still. Their inner glow dims until they choose to move again.