The Magic Mirror of the Mermaid Queen - Delia Sherman [82]
Demon(Everywhere): A kind of general term for bad guys of all sizes, shapes, and places of origin. A demon can have anywhere between no and twelve heads, and as many arms as will fit on its body. It’s usually a good idea to keep as far away from them as possible.
Djinn/Afrit(Middle East): Djinns are wind spirits. Afrits are fire spirits. Both are big, powerful, mean, and smart. When you make a bargain with a djinn or an afrit, be sure you get it in writing and read all the fine print before you sign.
Dryad(Greece): A guardian spirit of trees, groves, and woods. Dryads look like wispy girls, and basically, they’re only interested in trees. And dancing.
Duende(Spain): Duendes are related to brownies, but not as single-minded about cleaning. They do guardian-spiriting, too, and make excellent fairy godparents and artists’ agents. Their feet are turned around the wrong way, and they like hats with really wide brims, which make them look kind of like walking mushrooms.
Dwarf(Europe): Dwarfs are short, stocky Folk with long beards and axes. Mostly, they mind their own business, which is digging, building, magic technology, and gold. They can be nice or they can be nasty, depending on their mood. Duergs (Germany and Scandinavia) are pretty much always in a nasty mood.
Elf/Fate/Fay (singular) Alfar/Elle-folk/Sidhe/Peris/Daoine Sidhe (plural) (Europe): Different names for the mortal-shaped, tall, gorgeous Folk that show up most often in fairy tales. They tend to be as proud as they are beautiful, and kind of self-centered. They like music and the arts, treasure and beautiful things. And breaking mortal hearts.
Fairy(Europe): This is a general term that can refer to any kind of Folk. But most self-identified fairies are tiny, winged, mischievous, and have very short attention spans.
Faun(Greece): Half boy, half goat, with the goat half on the bottom. Fauns are nature spirits, basically, although there are a few who live in Lincoln Center, playing their pipes in the orchestra or dancing in the chorus.
Fox Maidens(Japan and China): Sometimes they’re girls and sometimes they’re foxes. They like mortal men, even going so far as to marry and live Outside for years and years. Sometimes this even works out. In Japan, they’re called kitsune.
Gnomes(Germany): Short, stocky, technophile, underground Folk, kind of like bald dwarfs. They make excellent Magic Technicians and Building Superintendents.
Goblin(Europe): Any small, ugly, beardless, mischievous spirit with a taste for practical jokes, frequently nasty. Hobgoblins come from England. Puck is a hobgoblin. He’s also a Literary Character.
Gremlins(England): Little devils who get into machinery of all kinds and gum up the works. They started out specializing in British airplanes, but soon spread to cars, trucks, telephones, and computer networks all over the world.
Iolanthe(Literary Character): A peri, one of fairy-kind, and the heroine of Iolanthe, an operetta by the mortals Gilbert and Sullivan. In Central Park, she’s a dancing teacher.
Jenny Greenteeth(England): A bogeywoman who hangs out in ponds covered with duckweed and slime, waiting for unsuspecting children to come too close so she can pull them into the pond and eat them. In New York Between, Jenny hangs out in Riverside Park and rides with the Wild Hunt. She’s tight with Peg Powler. They have a lot in common.
Kappa(Japan): Demon with webbed fingers, a head like an open bowl, and a gold star in manners. It likes drowning mortals. If you meet a kappa, remember to bow so its strength will pour out of its head when it bows back. Works every time.
Kazna Peri(Russia): On the steppes of Russia, it cooked gold over its magic fire in the spring. In New York Between, it brews really strong coffee.
Kelpie(Scotland): A nasty, hungry, mortal-drowning,