On some rare occasions, fey who fall from the Dream do not die, but become mortal. When fey fall from the Dream, they may join one of the former fey races, or they may become a unique being, possibly the progenitor of a new race. This is particularly true when an Anchor leaves the Dream.

Elves, dwarves, goblinoids, orcs, dromites, and gnomes are all races that once were fey. Each of them retains some traits indicative of their fey ancestry, distant though it may be. All of these races exhibit some degree of androgyny or gender change, and they have vivid, intense, and useful dream lives. Further, for the purposes of fey magic, members of these races may be considered fey or humanoid, as desired.

Most sages consider elves and gnomes to be former fey. Fewer are the sages who include goblins and orcs, and almost none include dwarves. Sages don’t know everything.

All the former fey races, once reaching adulthood, seem to stop aging. Once they reach the Venerable age category, they rapidly acquire the signs of old age, but rarely appear to age any further.

A few former fey races can hybridize with humans (notably elves and orcs). With the exception of half-elves and half-orcs, all cross-race unions with former fey races bear the race of the mother.

Goblinoids and orcs are a particular burden upon the Dream. Though these races long ago left the Dream, they retain a powerful hunger for its essence. To this end, many among them actively hunt fey in and out of the Dream. They typically capture fey and enslave them until they dwindle, at which point the mortals harvest the essence that pours off them. Goblinoids and orcs have also been known to capture elves, gnomes, and other Dreamers, to eat their flesh for a brief rush of essence.

Some other races are descended from fey stock, but the connection is tenuous enough that few scholars even suspect their origins. This includes nguak, neamuans, gnolls, giants, and hawk-folk. They have as much connection to the Dream as aquatic subraces have to the elemental plane of water — more suggestive than demonstrable. Their tie to the Dream has no effect on game mechanics.