Much has been written about the beasties on the moors, on rivers, at sea and other places that send people astray. Whether it be horses that ditch drunks in the middle of nowhere or one of the umpteen sexist tales of creatures turned into beautiful women (the ones that are true always handily ignore the males of those species as well as failing to record the lost human women). But little is known of those that do help lost and weary travellers.
One such creature is the Safety Sprite who live across the globe on moors, in forests and jungles, deserts, ice plains and anywhere else where there is no human habitation. To the human eye (and that of most beasties) they are almost always invisible, they are so small. Descriptions of captured Safety Sprites, however, say they are tiny creatures, only a couple of millimetres tall with humanoid bodies in proportion with our own but with the addition of wings that allow them to fly or hover, though usually they fly no higher than grass - except in forests where they have been seen flying higher, but will not stray more than a few centimetres away from the nearest tree or tree branch.
Some medieval and later writers have claimed they live in burrows in the ground (whether earth, ice or sand) or in trees in huge communities who employ lookouts that seek animals or humans in need. Others believe them to live in another dimension where they watch over ours (and possibly others) so as to transfer across when needed.
Whether to guide a lost soul home or to help an injured party be found, these creatures reveal themselves by lighting up. A lost person on moors may suddenly find thousands of small lights in the grass appearing and that following them will take them towards home normally to the appropriate road - they have been known to line the roads, ensuring the lost party will head in the right direction, fading out only when they are sure the person is no longer lost.
How these creatures know where people need to go is thought is often put down to psychic powers but is probably largely luck and a good knowledge of the land they call home.
One such creature is the Safety Sprite who live across the globe on moors, in forests and jungles, deserts, ice plains and anywhere else where there is no human habitation. To the human eye (and that of most beasties) they are almost always invisible, they are so small. Descriptions of captured Safety Sprites, however, say they are tiny creatures, only a couple of millimetres tall with humanoid bodies in proportion with our own but with the addition of wings that allow them to fly or hover, though usually they fly no higher than grass - except in forests where they have been seen flying higher, but will not stray more than a few centimetres away from the nearest tree or tree branch.
Some medieval and later writers have claimed they live in burrows in the ground (whether earth, ice or sand) or in trees in huge communities who employ lookouts that seek animals or humans in need. Others believe them to live in another dimension where they watch over ours (and possibly others) so as to transfer across when needed.
Whether to guide a lost soul home or to help an injured party be found, these creatures reveal themselves by lighting up. A lost person on moors may suddenly find thousands of small lights in the grass appearing and that following them will take them towards home normally to the appropriate road - they have been known to line the roads, ensuring the lost party will head in the right direction, fading out only when they are sure the person is no longer lost.
How these creatures know where people need to go is thought is often put down to psychic powers but is probably largely luck and a good knowledge of the land they call home.
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