Dryads, Nymphs, Dwarves, Elves, Faeries, Leprechauns, etc.

[Regina Terra]

Ahhhh, okay then. Thanks Levins.

[Levinthross]

no probs

[Mr. Kreepy]

Or are they different completely? & what about orcs? Are they a modern day fictional thing, or do they come from legends & myths as well?

The idea of an orc as most people know it comes from J. R. R. Tolkein's Lord of the Rings series, and all of the myriad media that have been inspired by it.
The word "orc" originally meant a generic ogre/demon/undead creature in Celtic, Germanic, and Nordic myths.

[Regina Terra]

That makes sense.

[redeyes]

has any of you ever meet any of these umm fay fairies etc. watever else there is out there?

[Regina Terra]

Nope, I've never met any myself.

But from hearing some of the stuff about them, I'm quite glad.

[Levinthross]

Ive met brownies before a couple of dryad's and once a water sprite, a spirit, and several ghosts but as far as the fey have told me there are trolls, several magical creatures dragons and the like, elemental's, djinn and elves although Ive never heard mention of dwarfs.

[Regina Terra]

I sorta think dwarfs & elves were originally the same thing. The only difference were that dwarfs lived in mountainous regions. So modern day writers decided to make them different.

I think I spelled "dwarfs" wrong, but stupid spellcheck keeps telling me that is how it's supposed to be. >.<

[Mr. Kreepy]

Nope, you spelled dwarfs right. J.R.R. Tolkein used the spelling "dwarves" in his stories, to seperate his race of mortal creatures from the beings of myth. This spelling has entered popular usage because of the popularity of the Lord of the Rings series, but the former is the correct one.
As for dwarfs and nymphs being the same thing...Many ancient mythologies drew no clear distinction between the many beings of Faerie that we recognize today. The vast majority of the legends concerning faeries come from Celto-Germanic and Nordic myth, and both of those consider dwarves as a type of faerie, and sometimes even consider dwarfs the same thing as elfs.

[Regina Terra]

So basically they are all the same type of things, just with certain specialties of magic?

[Mr. Kreepy]

Yes, there is a little bit of that, but more than anything it's because the words "dwarf", "elf", "fairy", etc. are all particularly ambiguous, and they aren't the words originally used by the cultures that invented those concepts. Also, though in this day and age coherent information is more possible because of the internet, but back then two neighboring tribes might have completely different words for the exact same thing, thus leading to confusion as to what was what.
There is quite a bit of evidence to suggest that fairies/dwarfs/elfs/etc. are all diminutized versions of ancient European nature Gods, that were reduced to the status of minor nature spirits when more anthropomorphic Gods began to be worshipped by the pagan tribes.

[redeyes]

exactly wat do they look like actually?

[Regina Terra]

That question was asked a while back.

Basically:

1. It depends on the exact region you are getting your info from.

& 2. some of the Fae can choose to appear as whatever you wish, so if you have a pre-set idea of what they should be, then they will appear as that.

[redeyes]

oh

[Regina Terra]

Lol, yeah, not the answer that I was expecting either.