Tales from the Celtic and Norse countries, with parallels around the world, tell of beautiful folk who become seals or swans by donning a magical garment. Neither fully of one world or the other, these selkies and swanmays live double lives. The similarities in the tales of these two animal folks are striking. It only makes sense that they must be from the same fey species.
And so, they are!
The craicne (CRECK-nuh, Irish for “skins”) are a fey folk whose two lineages share an affinity for animals, striking presence, and immunity to beguilement—so long as they retain their second skin. These typically reclusive beings can be found in the wilds of the world and beyond, often hailing from the Feywild, the Beastlands, Arborea, or Elysium.
Swanmays in D&D have been treated as a secret sisterhood of rangers, and they can certainly be that if you like. But swanmays and selkies have so many more possibilities! Of course there are rangers and druids, and even Oath of the Ancients paladins. Some of them use their natural charisma to entertain and beguile, becoming bards or rogues. Craicne sorcerers and warlocks of the archfey are also common among them, while those few who study wizardry usually specialize in enchantment. Clerics of nature deities with an inborn connection to the animal world are another good fit.
- from the publisher's blurb