Did I mention the small folk? Like any magical tall tale, there have to be Small Folk in Lux and The Shadowmaker, especially on a full moon. I hesitate to use the word ‘fairy’, even spelt the fey way (faerie), as these days the F-word tend to be rather too glittery and resolutely female. I could say wee folk, but that would be me pretending to somewhat more Gaelic than I am. I quite like Fey Folk, come to think of it, as it is a word I remember my mother using when she would describe someone as a little bit Fey, aka away with the fairies.

So, Small Folk, Fey Folk, yet to be decided.

I’ve been trying to sketch the look of them. I know they will play a big role in the game as a Useful Thing for you, the player, to light a path through darkness, and will probably be throwable up to a certain point. That point will be reached when they have had enough of being lobbed around at shadows and they will hide in their little holes around the garden and have to be winkled out, cursing.

When you don’t look too closely the Small/Fey Folk will be like bubbles of light, glimmering against the night sky. When you catch and inspect them, they will look a bit more humanoid in shape. Does anyone remember Flower Fairies? I quite like the look of this flower:

Inspired by this flower image I’ve been playing around and started some sketches to see what sort of colours to use. Not sure whether deep purple will show up – but if the wing-things that sprout from the shoulders are a silvery-white (the colour of honesty seed pods) then that might work. And mostly they will be in bubbles. Oh, and they may be a bit less ‘gendered’ than this first sketch. I’m off to look at ballet dancers and yoga practitioners to get some more poses.