Nobody knows, there is no lore added for them on Uesp yet, and I can't remember finding any lore books about them.

Seems they were added without any attempt at explaining them.

Someone said Faun?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ph2Qja6DoIU

Not creepy at all!

Fauns seem to be one of the many fey creatures that have existed in High Rock ever since the first TES games. Many of those are mysterious and are said to be seldom seen or live deep within the oldest forests, which is of course a convenient gameplay excuse but hey. I haven't seen the faun named before, but I distinctly remember reading a passage in one of the Daggerfall era books or quest where I was like "hey that sounds like a faun", so I was very positively surprised to see them in High Isle. The same goes for Indriks, when they first came out in Summerset I hoped they'd add them to High Rock eventually as they had such a fey creature vibe to me, and here we are. Speaking of which, I love how the island near one of the faun areas is called Feywatch.

I disagree entirely on the Hircine reference though. Not everything with antlers is connected to Hircine, antlers are a common theme with nature/forest related stuff throughout the setting, and fantasy in general.

Besides, daedra are vastly overrated.

Aside from that book, which some players have known about since High Isle was put on the PTS, there's some dialogue about them in a world boss quest:

"Fauns are... fickle. They're protectors of nature, but usually aren't vicious. Wise hunters steer clear of their lands, but Wildhorn is more aggressive than most.
Be careful. A faun lord can turn the forest itself against intruders"

"The faun lord commands the forest spirits - spriggans answered Wildhorn's call."

So they have a similar role to spriggans. That faun lord also summons "Indrik spirits" apparently, another often hostile "protector of nature". The implication is that they have something to do with Jephre.

Well, you see, when a deer and a furry love each other really much...

I find it interesting that fauns seem to carry garlic necklaces. Now garlic doesn't fend off vampires of werewolves in the Elder Scrolls universe, but it does seem like it could be meant to convey something to us as an audience who do associate garlic with these things. So perhaps the Fauns actually oppose Hircine and the Daedra, which would make it all the more interesting that Hircine appears in a similar shape as these Fauns. This would also be in line with the suggested connection to Jephre.
(It could also have no greater meaning as ZOS simply reused assets and built Fauns from Hircine's model.)

Thanks for all the feedback I love all of it!!! They are a wonderful lore addition and hopefully bode well for new creatures in the future. I love my garlic bros