The Great Spirits

Animal	Name	Epithet	Gender	Alignment	Ability	Deity
Wolf	Selypis	the Packleader	F	LE	Strength	Tyr
Tiger	Shentara	the Gladestalker	F	CN	Dexterity	Uller
Bear	Arcturion	the Wanderer	M	LN	Constitution	Aegir
Ape	Pansilla	the Treesoul	F	CG	Intelligence	Heimdall
Eagle	Equilax	the Skywatcher	M	TN	Wisdom	Freya
Elk	Alcesides	the Swiftfooted	M	NG	Charisma	Balder

While there are many animal spirits that roam the Feywild, six stand proud above the rest. They are the great spirits, primal beings older than even the elves. They were the first to walk that plane, and it is said that their avatars still roam deep in the untouched wilderness of the Feywild.

The magic of the great spirits is infused into the land itself, and is the source of the Feywild's magic. All fey creatures are descended from and influenced by their magic, including the elves.

Primal Fey

The great spirits were each spawned by one of the gods, to walk the Feywild and embody their ideals and qualities. The first to emerge was Arcturion, the great bear, delivered by Aegir to give life to the oceans of grass that dominated the young and empty Feywild.

In the forests, Tyr and Heimdall made a bet to see whose ideals were the most powerful. Tyr fathered Selypis, the great wolf, whose pack hunts and howls in the woods. At the same time, Heimdall spawned Pansilla, the great ape, and gifted her the use of tools. While Pansilla's apes are no match for the wolves on the forest floor, they utilize tools and weapons, and can avoid the wolves by spending most of their time among the tree-tops. Thus, the bet remained unresolved.

The Huntsman Uller, not wishing to be outdone in his own domain by Tyr, sired Shentara, the great tiger. Where she stalks, nothing is safe. For a time, the Feywild was a savage battlefield, where the god-spawn and their offspring battled each other for superiority. With no winner in sight, the conflict was set to spread to other planes, or even to Asgard itself.

To bring peace among the spirits, Freya and Balder intervened. Freya hatched Equilax, the great eagle, to keep an ever watchful eye over the Feywild from its dusky skies for any skirmishes in order to break them up. At the same time, Balder raised Alcesides, the great elk, who was granted his master's gift for eloquent speech in order to mediate between the spirits. Alcesides brokered peace between the children of Selypis and Pansilla, and the bet between Tyr and Heimdall was considered a draw. From the gods, Alcesides also brought the Sylvan language, which he taught to all the spirits.

Ever since, the children of the great spirits have lived in relative harmony with each other. Over the ages, some have found their way from the Feywild to the Material Plane. Some become rulers over small colonies of the beasts they descend from, others join societies of elves or humans.

Mortal Descendants

Each of the spirits left progeny in their image. These people call themselves Sylvanites, as they all share the Sylvan language. The largest society of Sylvanites is the city of Ancalos in the Feywild. Non-sylvanites are welcome in Ancalos, as long as they do not cause any trouble. Ancalos is ruled by a council, with one representative descended from each spirit.

In the Estian Islands, the Sylvan Sanctuary on Cottenhorn is home to many Ursinians and their distant relatives, the Smallkin.

The elves, while not direct ancestors of the spirits, have been shaped over eons by the primal magic of the Feywild, and some have learned the Sylvan language.

Avatars

While the great spirits themselves have ascended and become part of the magic of the Feywild itself, some claim to have seen their avatars roam the deepest parts of that plane. They are said to appear in translucent glowing forms, many times larger than a regular animal. Second only to the gods themselves, these spirits might the wisest and most experienced creatures in existence.

Each of the great spirits are represented by a constellation of stars in the sky, and some even believe the spirits migrated to the heavens in order to always watch over the Feywild where stars are always visible from the eternal twilit sky.

Blessed with foresight, Odin has prophesized that during the Ragnarok, the end of times, the spirits will fight on the side of the gods against the dark forces of Surtr.

Selypis the Packleader

At the head of her pack, the great wolf Selypis leaps through the forests. Her howl can be heard for many miles, and the pack is strong enough to fell any quarry.

She was spawned by Tyr, who later would lose his hand to the other great wolf, Fenrir, who roams the Shadowfell. It is foretold that during Ragnarok, Selypis and Fenrir will meet in battle.

The caniores are descended from the pack of Selypis. Caniores are stoic and fiercely loyal to their family and those who manage to earn their friendship.

Shentara the Gladestalker

Shentara the great tiger roams the eternal jungles, always prowling for her next kill. The huntress supreme, she embodies the stealth and speed required of an ambush predator.

She is the progenitor of the tabaxi and the leonin. The tabaxi are the most numerous Sylvanite race on the Material Plane, and not an uncommon sight in many human and elven settlements.

See: Hide of Lenthora

Arcturion the Wanderer

Alone on the sweeping plains, the great bear Arcturion treks ever forward. His goal is uncertain, but he embodies the grit and determination needed to reach it.

The ursinians are offspring of Arcturion. While they are slow to anger, the ire of a great ursinian is ferocious to behold. The smallkin are smaller relatives of the ursinians, and they often live in shared societies.

Pansilla the Treesoul

The great ape Pansilla is said to live in the boughs of the great trees of the Feywild. She was granted her skill with tools from Heimdall himself, and has passed that on to her offspring.

Her children eventually became the simians. Swinging from tree to tree, they are curious beings, always eager to learn something new.

Equilax the Skywatcher

From his perch among the clouds, the great eagle Equilax observes the world. Wisest of the great spirits, his word is deeply respected by all who hear it.

Hatched over the eons, the aarakocra, owlin and the aquilon are his children. Long-lived and always watchful, the aquilon prefer to gather all available information before taking action, which sometimes can appear as inaction to outsiders.

Alcesides the Swiftfooted

Ever running, the great elk Alcesides roams through the wilderness. Gifted the Sylvan language by Balder, Alcesides brought communication and peace to the Feywild. He is the most graceful and well-spoken of the great spirits.

His progeny survives to this day as the centaurs and the faunkin. The faunkin keep the oral histories of the Sylvanites to this day, and perform their theatrics at the great elven courts of the Feywild.