Pixie

Among the faerie-kin, which also include brownies, sprites, nixies and leprechauns, pixies are probably the cleverest and the most mischievous. They stand about 2.5 feet tall, with elfin faces, extra-long ears and a pair of silvery moth wings for flight. They are normally invisible, and when seen they wear bright clothes, often with a cap and shoes whose pointed toes curl up. Along with their own speech they know the common tongue and sprite language.

Pixies wield tiny swords that count as daggers and little bows that reach half as far as short bows. They have three kinds of arrows, each +4 to hit (THAC0 16). The war arrow deals 1d4+1. The sleep arrow plunges a target that fails a save vs. spell into a comatose slumber for 1d6 hours. The memory arrow does no harm but, on a failed save vs. spell, wipes the victim's memory completely; only a heal from a cleric or a limited wish brings it back.

At will a pixie can polymorph itself, sense alignment and craft illusions with sight and sound that need no concentration and last until dispelled; once a day it can also choose to become visible. Its touch causes confusion (save vs. spell negates) that lasts until remove curse is cast. Once a day each can use dispel magic (as an 8th-level wizard), dancing lights and ESP, and one in ten can also cast irresistible dance once daily.

Their invisibility gives attackers -4 to hit unless they can see invisible things, and pixies suffer no penalty for attacking while unseen. Dispel magic that succeeds against 8th-level magic forces one into view for a single round before it vanishes again.

Pixies dwell in caves deep in the forest and dance in moonlit clearings to cricket and frog song. They live apart from people yet near enough to pester them. Their favorite sport is luring travelers off the path with illusions, which is where the phrase 'pixie-led' comes from. They also delight in scaring young women, knocking on walls, snuffing candles and splashing in water.

Misers are their favorite victims; pixies love scaring them into giving away their wealth with dire warnings. They carry no treasure, but many keep a large hoard at home to dazzle guests, and they use it as bait to tease the greedy, laying a trail of coins into a trap, for example, and tormenting the seeker until they quit. Someone who proves generous and laughs along with the jokes may be invited to pick one item from the hoard.

Their communities are made up of clans or families that copy human customs, each with its own surname, and loyalty to family and village matters deeply.

Like every faerie, pixies are beings of magic. They live on fruit and nectar and throw make-believe feasts and revels. Their best-known product is pixie dust, also called dust of disappearance: grinding 50 pixie wings into powder yields one dose, letting a larger creature mimic their natural vanishing until the dust is spent.