As of late, in Lingua, it seems there's been another odd species of creatures wandering about. They've taken our interest as researchers as we've come to understand the Paralogos species more. We prize our research into Paralogos in particular considering the species depends on us and we depend on them in many ways- but these Whifflings appear to be much more independent and aloof to us as a whole. We'll proceed to describe what we have observed thus far...
Whifflings are small, imp-like creatures that take on the appearance of various animals that center themselves around scents and smells.
The first Whifflings arose from the world of Lingua itself, in a similar, but slightly different fashion, than Paralogos did. For those curious, please refer to Chapter 5: Paralogos Life Cycle. While Paralogos were formed from a combination of the world's energy and human thought and language, Whifflings were formed from a more residual energy and a different "sense". They're more akin to "spirits", and do not have magical abilities themselves- however they can connect with Companions in a way that Paralogos cannot, and their Companions do have some minor magical ability. See Annex 1 for more information on Whiffling Pets. Whifflings are much more stable entities than Paralogos are since they are grounded differently in the world, and do not rely upon the inner "light" that Paralogos need to manifest.
When a Whiffling is born today in Lingua, they themselves are also a "tabula rasa" [blank slate] in the sense that they eventually come into their chosen scent, growing to resemble it and enjoying the company of it. They also smell of said scent choice. These days, many Whifflings in Sermos in particular have grown to resemble entirely human-made smells and concoctions.
They're usually a bit mischievous and overall intelligent, though this varies depending on the individual Whiffling. They are entirely sentient, to the same level as Paralogos and humans.
Most Whifflings that are not friendly with humans, and sometimes also not friendly towards Paralogos, live on the edges of human society, scavenging and causing pranks, though some have become popular as pets and helpers. They live very long lives. They are something of a mix between the physical and ethereal worlds- think of them like a sort of fairy or lesser demon, if you need a classification on type of spirit.
They range in size from 20cm - 40 cm (max), and their companions (pets) tend to be around 10 cm, but seem to follow similar "rules" to that of Paralogos companions. Whifflings have a society that prizes trades and barters, and we've observed them amongst themselves using bottlecaps and similar shiny or small trinkets to exchange items and services. Again, they do not rely upon humanity in the ways Paralogos do, they do not need our presence. They are much more choosy as a result in whom they reveal themselves to, and while we can observe some of their societal behaviors (we have heard rumors of a Shop hub) much more time will be needed to further explore those notions.
They cannot, as a species, necessarily "benefit" humanity in the ways Paralogos do. We will describe more in detail Whiffling Pets' magical behavior in a future entry, which can be useful, but Whifflings themselves do not have magical capacity in the same way. Though some Fae and Devilish traits on some of the species members seem to have some personal magical elements.
When a Whiffling has chosen to befriend and Bond to a human (in the way Paralogos do) a similar relationship does form, see Chapter 7: Bonds, but a Whiffling is able to more easily decide to End that Bond if necessary considering that Whifflings are more tied to "the planet" rather than "humans". After all, if we are considering these creatures as "sense" based- many creatures smell and rely on scents to navigate the world. Humanity has crafted the precise language Paralogos have centered themselves on, but smell and other senses have existed long before humanity.