Whisperers

Little is known about the whisperers, even on the Twilit Worlds. Though they were part of the Great Alliance against the dragons and in consequence were given though own territories in the ensuing peace, they had little to do with the other races before or after the Dragon Wars.

The whisperers’ magical adaptation is stealth. They are invisible both to sight and to Second Sight, and are difficult to perceive by smell or by sound - hence their name, which refers to the fact that their voices sound to others rather like the rustling of leaves in the wind. However, they seem to be able (at least) to see and hear each other clearly, given them a the great advantage of extreme stealth combined with clear communication.

From what can be gleaned from the footprints they leave when the ground is too soft to obscure them, they live in small tribal, or perhaps familial, groups, have human-like feet, and are probably a little shorter than humans. They are believe to be fur-covered, from when people have felt them, which is consistent with their apparent relative lack of need for shelter, but it is possible that it was worn furs that were felt. They make their own tools, of wood and flint, but never large: a handaxe seems to be about the largest object to which they can extend their invisibility. They are probably nomadic hunter-gatherers; certainly they leave no indication of permanent settlements, though traces of winter campsites in sheltered areas have been found.

Interaction with other races is always small-scale and at the whisperers’ discretion. Sometimes others will enter their territory and try to contact them, but it seems a matter of whim whether the whisperers will meet them. At other times whisperers will contact others, wanting to trade; though they have little interest in material goods, they will trade goods or services for superior small tools and weapons, and at times, in bad years, for food.

The only historic large-scale interaction was when goblins, perhaps believing the whisperers to have left their territory, invaded en masse to expand their land. The result was a massive death toll among the goblins, typically killed in their sleep, and a retreat. Since then no one has violated the whisperers’ borders, entering the lands only in small, lightly armed groups. Whether the whisperers similar respect the borders of others cannot with certainty be known.