Slaugh


A strange study in contradictions, the Sluagh are often treated as pariah by the other fey. These creepy fey have a fondness for places that are dark and forgotten, equally at home in tiny crawlspaces and crumbling Victorian mansions. In fact, the Sluagh are able to fit just about anywhere, as a result of their unique ability to contort and twist their bodies. Sluagh detach limbs and turn themselves into knots with ease, all the better allowing them to hide in small, dark places. Legends say that the Sluagh were born from the night-terrors of dreamers who heard the noises of their own homes. The skittering across the rooftops, the scratching at the window, the groan and creak of the floorboards, the eye that stares back from the knothole, and the quiet, raspy breaths beneath the bed or in the closet... all of these are the marks of the Sluagh.

Many believe that the Sluagh were born of the dreams of children, and a child-like quality pervades the behavior of many Sluagh. Legends of spooky visitors in the night, of the bad faeries who came to steal away the children who misbehaved... all of these came to shape the Sluagh into what they are today. Many Sluagh have a particularly morbid sense of justice. While they are, for the most part, a gentle fey, refraining from violence more appropriate for Redcaps, Trolls, Morrigan, and their ilk, Sluagh are not above punishing those whose crimes have gone unnoticed. As most Sluagh miss very little indeed, with their razor sharp senses, the wicked should beware the eyes which glitter in the dark, and the ear pressed to the wall next door.

Other fey are often alarmed at how sharp the senses of the Sluagh truly are. These fae love secrets, and are consummate gatherers of gossip. Sluagh eyes are more watchful than a hawk's, and some claim that their ears are so sharp that they can hear the movements of the dead. It is just as well, really, for all Sluagh are unable to speak above a whisper. Sluagh will parlay with others for information; the best among their number are exceptional seers and spies, while the worst use their talents for blackmail or even more terrible practices.

Their love for antiques bespeaks a comfortability with history, and most Sluagh dress in old, ratty clothing, the tatterdemalions of the fey. Old, and even broken, items have great worth to these nostalgic fey, often in a manner which other fae find strange or perverse. Sluagh have a love of history, and are more impressed with items once they have stood the test of time. Sluagh also have a strange fondness for spiders; those who know this fey well claim that a Sluagh will perform almost any service for the payment of a perfectly preserved spider web.

On sight, Sluagh are sometimes mistaken for ghosts or other wraithly apparitions, with their gaunt appearances and ancient, worn clothing. Sluagh have a fondness for graveyards and other resting places, and their keen senses and strange magicks have allowed them to parlay with the dead more than any other fey. Rumors maintain that the Sluagh were the first to master the Art of Sorcery, and to teach its secrets to the Unseelie Court. Whether the dead hold the Sluagh in the same reverence as these fey do the Restless is difficult to say. Many Sluagh become cryptic or even more silent than usual when wraiths are mentioned, though some sort of connection clearly exists between their kinds.

Some claim that all among their number follow Unseelie ways, but the Sluagh are equally at home among either Court. It would be safer to say that the Sluagh are most comfortable among their own kind, no matter what their political allegiance. Sluagh are painfully formal with others of their kind, and their customs are difficult for others to grasp. They have a fondness for small gatherings, and take High Tea regularly. It is at such small groups that Sluagh trade rumors with their own kind; it is a high honor indeed for an outsider to be invited to such a gathering.

Despite the prestige of the honor, very few seek to attend these gatherings. Picture, if you will, a dark cellar, dripping water and covered in spider webs, and three Sluagh dressed entirely in black, serving cold watered-down tea to each other, nibbling delicately at stale cookies and moldy biscuits, and one quickly understands why the Underfolk (as some call them) so often dine alone. Sluagh senses cannot endure bright light, loud noise, or strong food or drink. Enduring Sluagh hospitality is a struggle for many fey.

Those who dislike these strange fae whisper all manner of terrible rumors about them. Stories of frenzied gatherings beneath the earth, of pacts with terrible creatures of Nightmare, and of the awful rites they perform with stolen children are par for the course among the Sluagh's detractors. The Sluagh rarely act openly against those who slur their names; such morbid gossip is a point of pride for the Unseelie among their number, and the Seelie Sluagh realize that these stories keep others from bothering them in their lairs. Most of these rumors are nothing more than rumors, but Sluagh can become surprisingly aggressive towards those who violate the sanctity of their barrows and hiding places.

In appearance, Sluagh are all pale and grotesque, yet oddly mesmerizing. Some unfathomable deformity seems to cling to them like leprosy. They have small, tired, mysterious eyes, and seem to carry a faint odor of decay about them. Almost all Sluagh are alarmingly thin, and their distended and skeletal bodies betray their ability to fit inside the tiniest places. Sluagh favor dark clothing, often archaic and intricate.

-Dislocating body parts is simple for these creatures. It is almost impossible to confine them, and Sluagh can worm and twist through all manner of openings and bonds. While they cannot change their shape or mass, they can contort into a shape suitable to pass through the bars of a cage, or slip between the walls of a house.

-Sluagh cannot speak above a whisper, no matter how hard they strain to be heard. While a Sluagh may not appear to whisper to mortal ears, the individual in question is usually quite soft spoken. They dislike social situations, and hold to very odd rules of etiquette.