Faeries


Faeries have appeared in lore and legends for as long as people have been writing them. From tiny winged beings to beautiful female fey who lore men into the faerie mounds to be trapped forever. Fey are more than just stories though. They're real immortal beings who live in the Dreaming most of the time and the other part of the time among us in mortal seemings.

Being immortals, they stop aging once they reach adulthood, leaving the human looking fey with the appearence of a 20-30 year old mortal. While faeries do not die from old age there are some dieases that will kill a fey, but these are rare and far between. Fey can be murdered but this is not always easy to do.

If fey are immortal than why aren't they over running the place? Because faeries have low fertility rates, making children rare and special. It is also rumored that if a court's ruler is infertile, that this will effect the court also.

A group of faerie mounds exist within Mysteria. Faeries are often seen in the town because of this, the fey needing a break from the Dreaming before Bedlam sets in.

Dreaming
The Dreaming is a realm, or series of realms, infused with Glamour and apart from the Autumn World (human world). The Dreaming is the original home of the fae. It is home to both courts.

The Dreaming is also the manifestation or repository of all human dream, imagination, and creativity. It has been said that anything that has ever been created by human thought probably exists somewhere in the Dreaming. Others go a step further in conjecturing that existence of a concept in the Dreaming is actually a precursor to the ability of humans to imagine it.

Gateways to the Dreaming are found all over. Usually these gateways are linked to a mound that only faeries can cross. Humans can only get in with the help for a faerie. The Sithin or Faerie Mound has a life of its own and of its own volition often rearranges the rooms, halls, etc. The entrances are never in quite the same place and are not always visible; those seeking entry must locate the entrance though their magic. The Sithin also decides how large the opening will be; at times several Limousines can drive in side by side, at others a large party would be forced to enter on foot and in single file.

Time runs differently in the Dreaming. How the time runs is all up to the mood of the ruler of the court you have entered. One day out in the Autumn World could be months in the Dreaming. Or one day in the Dreaming can be weeks to months in the Autumn World.

The Dreaming, and the spark of inspiration fey need to live, are fading. Faced with an increasingly cold and hostile world, they must do whatever they can to preserve both the Dreaming and themselves.

The Courts:

The Seelie Court
The Seelie Court was originally known as the Summer Court and held dominance between Beltane/May Day and Samhain/Halloween. The Seelie Court has its own motivations and beliefs, summed up by the Seelie Code. Of course, this is in direct opposition to the Unseelie Code, and in modern days fae typically pick one Court or the other to belong to.

The Summer Court is the more warm and caring side, but is just as scheming as its Winter counterpart. Seelie fae typically are more nurturing of mortals, but this is not always true. Most of the lesser creatures of Summer are typically not malicious, but can seem so when they involve themselves in mortal affairs.

Admittance to the Seelie Court for outsiders is extremely rare, even more so if the outsiders are not of pure fey blood. Upon entrance to the court, visitors must be prepared with valuable and unusual gifts for the Queen of Light, or they might find themselves lost in an endless hedge maze. Suitable gifts for the Queen include figurines of wondrous power, gems of brightness, and magical jewelry.

Their lands in the Dreaming are bright, sunny, warm, and lush with vegetation. The physical appearance of the Seelie Court mirrors nature, to which the fey are intrinsically linked. White ash trees, strong and stately, with their branches intertwining to create a living ceiling, line the throne hall like marble columns. Gossamer streamers of iridescent blues, pinks and purples wind their way through the boughs. Phosphorescent flowers gleam like lanterns amidst the treetops. Semi-precious jewels of amethysts, tiger's eyes and topaz decorate flowers that float down the waterways lining the path to the throne. Statues carved of gold and adorned with gems further attest to the wealth and beauty of the current ruler, as each queen must display more splendor than the previous one or risk the gossip and scorn of her subjects. The throne itself, a and queen who sits on it, are the focal points of the room. The throne of the Seelie Court is shaped like a large ice dragon, as brilliantly cold and glittery as the fey nobility.

Queen Tatiana and King Oberon are the current rulers of the Seelie Court. An undisputed beauty, Tatiana looks unfavorably upon female courtier or visitors whose appearance rivals hers. This attitude is caused, in part, by the occasional wanderings of King Oberon's affection.

The Seelie Code
Death Before Dishonor
Love Conquers All
Beauty is Life
Never Forget a Debt

Unseelie
The Unseelie are often viewed as the night to the Seelie Court’s day. Seen as the “bad” fae (although it is unfair to say any member of the Dreaming is entirely “good” or “evil”) they mock the traditions the Seelie try to uphold and believe the Dreaming has deserted them. Valuing change, free-thinking, progress, and passion, they do not attempt to merge the Dreaming with the mortal realm again ; they believe wishing for the past is foolish, and look only to the future. The Unseelie are seen as radicals, twisting Seelie ideas for sake of personal gain. Glamour, which is needed for all fae, is abused for self gain and power. Known as the Winter court.

The Unseelie Court is a more hospitable place for non-fey as well. Court nobles eagerly provide patronage for creatures who are extremely strong, dexterous, clever, beautiful, or talented. Obtaining the sponsorship of a court noble is not without its rewards, nor without its dangers. For instance, a gifted bard whose playing impresses a fey nobleman might be invited to his castle as a guest. Once there, the bard will be feted and asked to play every night -- and never be permitted to leave.

Outsiders not of fey blood are rarely admitted to the Unseelie Court. Visitors must be prepared with unusual and powerful gifts for the Queen, or they might find themselves the quarry of a nightmarish hunt. Suitable gifts for the Queen include figurines of horrific power, gems of darkness, and cursed jewelry.

After a millennia of indiscriminate breeding, the physical appearance of the Unseelie Court mirrors the macabre. Twisted columns, trees forced into unnatural growth by royal gardeners, are scattered haphazardly through the hall. Curtains of shadows hide blood-soaked alcoves. Drawn back for times of celebration, the gaping crevasses reveal uninvited guests captured for the amusement of the court. Riotous blooms of nightshades and blood warts glow red in the evening, providing a maddening light to the misshapen court. The throne of the Unseelie Court is shaped like a great shadow dragon, a creature of midnight and darkness, like the queen herself.

Ruling over all these oddities is the Queen of Air and Darkness: a fey of unsurpassed beauty and grace. The Queen of Air and Darkness has no current consort and no surviving children. The court is rife with gossip and political maneuvering as each noble curries the queen's favor in the hopes of being named the royal heir.

Unseelie Code
Change is Good
Glamour is Free
Honor is a Lie
Passion Before Duty

The two sides are engaged in a Cold War, in which both sides are mobilized for battle but never engage in anything more than skirmishes. Large battles between the two courts have great effects in nature including weather patterns, and are usually avoided unless there is no other choice. Each side is stronger during their namesake season, with the balance of power shifting during the Summer and Winter Solstices.

Wyldfae
The Wyldfae are creatures of Faerie which do not belong to either Winter or Summer. Most of them do freelance work instead, capable of choosing whichever side they want in a given conflict. During full-scale conflicts, the Wyldfae feel a "calling" which drives them to choose one side or the other. If they are forced to choose sides in a war between Seelie and Unseelie, they will align themselves with the faction most appealing to their personalities. Therefore the nastier and more murderous aid Unseelie over Seelie. There is no direct King of the Wyldfae, although the being known as the Erlking or Elfking is probably the closest counterpart. He is a Faerie at least as powerful as the Unseelie queen and it is said that he is King of the Goblins. He can be summoned by ritual to Earth in order to lead "The Wild Hunt" that will kill anything in its way unless it joins the hunt.

Changelings
The offspring of a fae and a mortal is called a changeling. They may have odd appearances depending on their parentage. The offspring of a human and a troll, for example, may appear as a human which is incredibly tall and broadly built with a bulky mass and well-defined jaw. Other changelings have been shown as simply having oddly colored hair, such as naturally green hair. Changelings must eventually Choose whether to become a mortal or to become a Sidhe. Upon making the Choice, the changeling becomes completely either mortal or Sidhe, no longer retaining any of the characteristics of the other half. It is unknown if there is any specific time or age at which a changeling must Choose, but during times of war, they are affected by the calling to Choose just as the Wyldfae.

Glamour
Fey have a trait called Glamour. It is the power that fuels all the wondrous and terrible miracles of Faerie. It is a measure of how much magical energy is within each fey. Glamour fuels the feys powers and allows them to hide or reveal their true form.

Seeming
Fey are born with two seemings: their fey seeming and their mortal seeming. Seemings are how a fey looks. In a fey seeming they look like they should no matter how beautiful or horrifying it might be. Their mortal seeming is just that, they look human to humans. Other supernatural creatures will see through a fey's mortal seeming.

Banality
Banality is the antithesis of Glamour. It is the power of human disbelief and mundanity, it is characterized and given strength by a lack of imagination or hope. Too long in the mortal world and a fey starts to suffer the effects of Banality.

Banality is harmful, even deadly, fey and all creatures similarly composed of Glamour.

Enough Banality can make a fey become Undone, and become a normal human or fade away to nothing.

Bedlam
Beings that have been too long in the Dreaming can go insane and become addicted to the magic there. This state is called Bedlam and is hard to cure.

Types of Fae:

Boggan
Boggans are the essential workers in the background - they're the good old hardworking people of the fae, always willing to lend a hand or a sympathetic cup of cocoa. They're not to be trusted with everything, though; every knows they're notorious gossips. Boggans are good at figuring out social relationships with a glance, and their ability to do labor quickly and efficiently is unparallelled. A Boggan, even Unseelie, is rarely able to resist a person in need.
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Clurichaun
A fae that is common only in Ireland, Clurichauns developed from the dreams and legends of leprechauns. They are excellent performers, and collectors of oddities. They are able to vanish from sight in the "Twinkling of an Eye" if you take your eyes off of them for even a moment. They also have tremendous natural insight as to just what to say or what not to say in a given situation. They are quick drunks, and either mean or morose when in that state.

Eshu
Eshu are reckless wanderers, rogues, and storytellers extraordinaire. Eshu seem to always turn up in the right place at the right time, especially if there's a good story to be had. Eshu involved in said stories grow wiser than the normal fae, but because of their epic tendencies, they sometimes bite off more than they can chew...
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Ghille dhu
Another uncommon fae, seen mostly in the British Isles. Green skinned (in their fae mien) and tied inexorably to nature, the ghille dhu are able to harvest Glamour (the power behind faerie magic) from nature itself. They also have powers that change at different times of their life. The children (Spring) are lucky, the youths (Summer) are strong and attractive, and the adults (Autumn) are able to divine answers to perplexing questions. Every time they are slain by chimerical means, they advance to the next stage, until (after Autumn) they are undone, and the faerie spirit is lost until physical death allows them to go on to the next incarnation.

Merfolk
The mer are the fae of the seas. Arrogant enough to make the sidhe look downright humble, they nevertheless have had to swallow their infamous pride some in recent times to come to the land-dwelling fae for assistance in dealing with the threats to their domain. The merfolk are all linked to a marine animal which their lower body reflects, usually being some sort of fish tail, but this splits into legs when they venture onto land. Merfolk gain some advantages of the creature they are tied with, usually have gills (though some tied to marine mammals or amphibians have to surface for air periodically), and all possess a peculiar alien beauty. Banality is very fearsome for them (indeed, losing one's fae nature at the bottom of the ocean is fatal), and certain skills are unavailable to them due to their being cut off from mortal society. There are three noble houses of the merfolk.

Nocker
Nockers are amazing craftsmen; perfectionists and surly bastards, the lot of them. Their vocabulary could outmatch most sailors, and it gets put to good use - they expect perfection from everyone around them, and get insulting when this impossible standard isn't met. Their abilities are such that they can create their own chimera, and their verbal skill so frightening that even nonliving objects are sometimes intimidated into working correctly. Their crafts always have some trivial flaw, however, which tends to drive them insane with the need to constantly fix them or make them better.

Oba
The rare and little known nobility of the eshu. Many eshu have noble blood, but the oba are descended directly from the orisha, Eshu. They are similar to eshu in their younger years, but after taking a title and undergoing secret rites they emerge as rulers of their people and spiritual leaders. After assuming a title, their features become more perfect and regal, and their eyes change to become glowing orbs. They lose their predilection for danger and become bound to the land they rule, unable to leave for extended periods of time without danger of death.

Piskey
Piskey in the singular. Cute changelings that love humans, children in particular. They have long silver hair, olive-brown skin that becomes more craggy and dark with age, large pointed ears, and large luminescent eyes of usually gray or green. Piskies are very dextrous, and very perceptive when it comes to others emotional states. They have a tendency to steal anything that takes their fancy though, and are just as quick to forget that they had taken anything.

Pooka
Pooka... ah. Pooka. There is a saying on Pooka - "You can always trust a Pooka, but no one in their right mind would ever believe one." Tricksters and compulsive liars, but their personalities are almost child-like in innocence. Their appearances are always somewhat indicative of their animal affinity, which they can change into when no one is watching. Even the hardest heart can be melted with appropriately applied Pooka pressure, and one tends to spill their closest-kept secrets to a prying Pooka. The greatest Pooka flaw? They always lie. This may be blatant, to encourage the appropriate interpretation, or subtle, to confuse the hell out of everyone present.
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Redcap
Redcaps are simply nasty by definition. They revel in bloodshed, and their mouths are almost as dirty as any given Nocker. Most are Unseelie, and almost all are shunned by the more conscientous fae. They can eat anything, and often do, and they may intimidate anything just as easily (easy to do, when you can tell a door you'll eat it). Redcaps are universally hated, though, even by other Redcaps, and this is reflected in social situations.
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Satyr
Satyrs have no restraint, and they love taking away other peoples' inhibitions as well. Their passion is both a boon and a curse, able to sweep others away, but also creating interesting situations when said Satyr enters wild mood swings (usually this has to do with a drunken state). Satyrs are also very well known for their stamina, able to run great distances without tiring because of their goatlegs. (That wasn't what you were thinking when I said 'stamina', was it? Shame on you.)
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Selkie
A kith found only by sea shores, and only near waters that seals inhabit. This kith inherits a seal skin from another selkie, usually resembling a mundane piece of clothing. When putting it on and submerging in the water they become seals. They are excellent swimmers, and able to move more freely in the water than on land. They also possess an "animal magnetism" making them extremely seductive to members of the opposite sex. They gain Banality for every day that they are away from the sea shore though, and won't be found very far inland.

Sluagh
Sluagh (SLOO-ah): Thin and pale and smelling of death and decay in their fae miens, these fae exist to strike fear into the hearts of wrongdoers, children in particular. They are able to escape from practically any bonds, other than cold iron, and can contort themselves into disquieting shapes. They have incredibly keen senses, and are able to see through illusions, and see unembodied wraiths as well. The sluagh are often tolerated by other fae only for the knowledge and secrets that they so prize. They are unable to speak above a whisper though, due to an ancient curse upon their kith.
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Troll
Trolls are big, blue, and honorable. They are known to be intensely loyal, as well as fierce fighters. Their strength and stubbornness are legendary, but they may never renege on an oath (the consequences are even more dire than for most). If a Troll gives you his word, you may trust him with your life. Just don't look to take one to any wild parties.
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River hag
River Hags: An offshoot of redcaps, by all appearances, these are ugly creatures that live in rivers and drown puppies, children, and anything else stupid enough to get too close. They have the same abilities and weaknesses as redcaps, but also have the ability to breathe water. They are always ugly, and cannot leave the area of their specific river for longer than a week without starting to die.

Sidhe
The Sidhe are the major power Faerie. They are exceptionally beautiful, usually sport triple color irises, a bright glowing skin, and are known for possessing high magic; some have been considered gods by men at one time or another, however, not all gods have been benevolent. The Sidhe may bargain with the other denizens of Faerie, which may resemble humans or nightmares, for personal gain or to resolve conflicts. Blood, sex and magic frequently figure in the negotiations.
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Bogies
Bogies (BOH-geez): Related to the sluagh, although more distantly than most fey. Bogies are probably among the least pleasant beings on Earth. Often appearing as famished or bedraggled mockeries of humans, they have no regard for human life whatsoever. Their fae mien is even more warped, and grotesque. Once a day, a bogie is able to emit a dark, foul cloud of inky blackness, that is very difficult to see through. They are also able, curiously, to become invisible to technological devices for one hour. Bogies usually have a craving for some fluid or organ in the human (or non-human) body, they will not die if this hunger isn't sated, but it will increase if ignored. Unlike sluagh, bogies are unable to release themselves from confinement, and hate confinement so bitterly that being bound or imrisoned can actually damage and eventually destroy them.

Spriggans
Spriggans (SPRIH-guns): The spriggans are the fey cousins to the piskies. They are exceptionally cruel and greedy, and are usually frowned on by even Unseelie piskies (though a few of the worst ones will work with them). They appear as ugly piskies, with gray matted hair, the dark craggy skin of a piskey grump, and small, beady eyes. Spriggans smell bad, and usually wear dirty clothes. Spriggans do make good guardians, getting bonuses when watching over something, and are able to summon rain and hail storms at will. The thing that really makes them unacceptable to the piskies, is their tendency to kidnap children (fae children are favorite targets). These victims are usually not harmed, the spriggan just delights in the fear this causes the children and the parents.

Morrigan
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Nymphs
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Butterfly Faerie

Butterfly faeries are the ones that when you see a cloud of butterflies, well they may not use be butterflies. The smallest of all the fey, the butterfly fey are beautiful with just about any color of hair and eyes and sport a pair of large butterfly wings are their back. Shy, these fey normally hide when mortals get to close. They can usually be found fluttering around the Seelie court or when outside the Dreaming, playing in the woods or meadows. Some will even find a garden they like and take up home there. Some butterfly fey have the ability to grow larger until they are of average height for a human. The wings are always present though and can only be hidden with glamour.

Demi Fey

Demi Fey are the Unseelie Cousins of the Butterfly Faerie. They are the same in looks but are not as light and carefree as their Seelie cousins. The Demi fey enjoy flesh and blood and will trade you knowledge or services if you offer up blood in return. A swarm of Demi is not to be taken lightly as they can cause damage to you with their sharp little teeth. They can be found in the same places you find Butterfly Faeries but the two never mix. Some Demi fey also have the ability to change size.


Fey Feuds ~ The Unseelie Court's Phases of the Moon celebrations ~ The Seelie Court's Turning of the Seasons Celebrations ~ Life in a Noble House ~ The Dark Hunters