So far I've been calling these people "elves", but it's a very poor fit. They're not forest-dwellers, not long-lived embodiments of human ideals; they're not archers, and I don't really care whether their ears are pointy. (I guess they do manufacture toys more efficiently than anyone else, but Santa's elves these are not.)
Instead, these people are:
- from a coastal hot and dry climate
- physically weak, bad at throwing things
- hive-based, where only a few Mothers and Fathers in each city breed, while the rest work
- excellent tool-users, with nimble fingers and specialized tools
- flexible and acrobatic
- milk-drinkers and bread-eaters
To the northern folk, these are the Strangers. It's a North-centric term (no Stranger would call themselves one) but considering three of the four intelligent species are indigenous to the North, I don't mind leaning in their direction.
What they call themselves almost doesn't matter, as they've never dealt with other intelligent species until now. When you don't know anyone else, you end up calling yourself something generic, like the People or the Ordinary Boys.
In the pseudo-American framework of Signs in the Wilderness, the strangers are inspired by English alchemists, sultans of Delhi, Malay pirates, master craftsmen of the Great Qing — people from all corners of the Old World, strange and exotic to the people of the New.
I'm still rolling the term around my head, but for now, I think I like calling the imperial folk Strangers. A few terms I've considered lately:
- elves
- strangers
- imperials
- southerners
(And yes, I'm being deliberately inconsistent with the capitalization of Stranger. On the one hand, I haven't decided which I prefer. On the other, I'll probably end up uſing more Capital Letters anyhow for that early modern Flair.)
I'd love to hear your thoughts and suggestions on the topic. I imagine there's no perfect solution, but I'm sure there's one out there that's good enough.
