Feylings

Feylings, often called or confused with changelings, are fey children left with mortal parents when a fey steals their child. Fey are said to enjoy stealing mortal children due to their preferable behavior to their own children.

Feyling children grow slower than their mortal counterparts and take on the race of their parents. As they grow older they will often begin to display strange behaviors which can single out any feyling.

Every area has different views on feylings. In some areas, it is seen as a blessing and they are revered. In others it is suggested cruelty to a feyling will cause the "true child" to return. However, once a feyling has replaced a child, they cannot be switched again.

Many feyling have a natural gift with magic, in some cases displaying as sorcery, in others it displays itself as a natural gift with related skills.

Behavior
Feylings may display any of the following social behaviors: failure to respond to name, resisting physical contact, poor eye contact, reduced facial expressions, selective mutism, delayed speech, abnormal tone, difficulty understanding others' feelings, difficulty with nonverbal cues.

There may also be any of the following patterns of behavior present: repetitive motions, set daily rituals that cause extreme distress if disturbed, coordination issues, strange movements, fascinated by details while lacking understanding of the purpose of the whole, sensitive to textures, light, or sounds, abnormal fixation on an object or activity, very specific and abnormal food preferences.

These behaviors cannot be changed without causing harm to the feyling, they are a natural part of the child.

Appearance
Any feyling, once left with parents, takes on their race and features close to theirs. Though, it should be noted, this is just close. The child will often take on odd traits from the parents, or recessive ones. This results in many feylings having unusually light hair, red hair, or strangely colored eyes.