Fey
Defining Fey is very difficult. They are both wild and civilized, dishonest and true to their word, chaotic and following a strict rule, and both free and bound. They represent parts of nature, but not like raw Elementals do. You can put most of them in a forest encounter, but they aren't Plants. They are nature spirits, tricksters, and beings of mischief. What should not be forgotten is the shadow side of the Fey. Not all of them look and act like pestering little fairies. Sometimes they look and act like the most terrifying horrors that come out at night. These are the bogeymen, the bad dreams, the reason kids shouldn't stay up late at night, and why the farmer's crops are ruined.
- They are created from magic and emotions or are transformed by powerful magic
- They are inherently magical
- They are mysterious, capricious and/or whimsical
- Most of them are bound to their location
- Most have an elusive ability that makes them hard to hit, to spot or to catch
- In rare cases, it is able to lure creatures towards it or enchant/charm them
- Replacing wine with water
- Putting an acorn inside a shoe
- Putting traces of gunpowder in a fireplace
- Writing fake love letters to people
- Bribing with fake gold
- Shrinking someone's underwear
- Casting Speak With Beasts on a farmer without him knowing it
- Starting a game where you can't give the right answers
- Smearing grease on a flight of stairs
- Placing chestnut husks on a seat
- Filling someone's pleasant dreams with ugly trolls
- Placing an illusory bridge
- Destroying every scarecrow the farmer places
- Taking an item from a house and teleporting to a different one to place it there
- Tying shoelaces together while invisible
- Putting glue on a toilet seat
Basic Information
Anatomy
Most Fey are impossibly beautiful and colorful because they believe they are. They can modify their appearance in minor ways at will, all they need to do is to just think it.
Behaviour
Lots of creatures follow normal alignment system with two axis signifying Good vs. Evil, and Lawful vs. Chaotic. However, Fey are different. The Fey divide themselves on axis of Spontaneous/Methodical, and Natural/Constructed. Basically, Natural vs. Constructed boils down to their tolerance of human-created stuff, and I map it to Seelie vs. Unseelie courts. There can be exceptions, but not for long - if the Fey changes its mind, it literally converts from one court to another. As for the other axis, Methodical has got plans to work on, while Spontaneous does what it finds the most fitting at the moment. While I usually avoid giving stuff alignments in my games, I find these pretty nice since they aren't directly mappable as "Good" and "Evil". Yes, one could argue that Natural is Good, but there's always another point of view. Whenever I create Archfey, I need to give it alignment like this.
Civilization and Culture
Major Organizations
The Summer Court
Yellow
The Summer Court (known also as the Seelie Court) controls the Land of Summer and is led by Queen Titania (also known as the Summer Queen), the sister of Mab.
Oberon is the King of the Summer Court, though he is still subservient to Titania.
There are two Princesses of the Summer Court. They are Aurora, the Dawnmaiden, and Sarissa, the Lady of the Sun.
There are currently no princes in the Summer Court.
Summer Lords Include:
- The Lord of the Wild Hunt
- Mesikammen, the Bear Lord
- Iliene, the Nixie Queen
- Verenestra, the Lady of the Woods
- Mialee, the Shepherdess
- Morrinn, the Ice Maiden, the Crystalline Lady
- Brianag, the Shadowed Lady
- Onchu, the Houndmaster
- Teàrlach, the Instigator
- Jorlais, the Mad Lord
- Ulorian, the River Lord
- Reynard, the Fox Lord
- Hyrsam, the Prince of Fools, the Satyr Lord
- Bertcha, Grandmother of the Wood
- Relkath of the Infinite Branches, the Treant Lord
- Taog, the Wise Lord
- Pantihir, the Lord of Mazes
- Chelas, the Lord of Rays
- Liciperos, the Lord of Blazes
- Caebis, the Lady of the Power
- Anasaris, the Lady of Healing
- Quillian the Drained, Lord of Hunger
- Thorne the Sleeper, Lord of Domination
- Lavinia, the Lady of Youth
- Valaine, the Lady of Passion
- Aranbaver the Bright Dancer, Lord of Joy
- Hornis, the Cobbler, Lord of Ways
- Magrynna, the Lady of Doves
- Elyse, the Lady of Hares
- Nicnevin the Moonweaver, Lady of Witches
- Neifon, the Lord of Bats
- Uriwyn, the Darkhidden
- Ailíse, the Silent Keeper
- Lurue, the Unicorn Lady
- Anthea, the Pixie Lady
- Galthas, the Stardust Lord
- Dayvier, the Lord of Maps
- Count Ranalc, the Traitor (currently banished to the Shadowfell)
- The Erlking
- The Lantern King
- The Lost Prince
- Magdh the Seer
- Ng, the Hooded
- Ragadahn the Water Lord
- Shyka the Many
Common Myths and Legends
They can't lie
Self explanatory. They simply can't lie, that's all. If they want to lie, they either avoid telling or tell something that is technically true.
True name
Widely known. I'll spare you the long explanations - if you know the True Name of Fey, it has to serve you. This is why they keep their true names a secret from anyone, even other Fey. Archfey usually know though.
Lack of Boundaries
The Fey have troubles telling differences between stuff. For example, they often mistake humans for other Fey, or can't tell whether something is or isn't safe to eat or drink. They can steal stuff that normal creatures couldn't, like face, mood or memories, and their Wild Hunts consider anything their prey. On the opposite end, they can also consider intangible things completely real and tradeable. In my game, I consider Respect of Archfey a currency of Fey. Even I can't tell how many GP it's worth, and you have to earn it to earn it.
Fair Folk
They like to make deals, and when they make a deal with someone, both sides are bound to fulfill it. Whether it's a trade of a material stuff, intangible stuff or service, both sides are compelled to give to the other side their part of bargain.
Eldest
These are the Titans of the Feywild. Okay, they might not be that big in size, but they are a big deal anyway. These are the oldest of the Fey, even older than the Archfey. There are lots of them imprisoned, each Archfey has got at least one hidden somewhere at their home. As for their prisons, get creative - amber walls, eternal sleep, chains, marble graves... Point to their existence is, that any of their prisons is broken each 10001 years. When they are released, they are extremely dangerous and could attack at any time, and so Archfey have to deal with them. What's so dangerous about them though, besides them being able to kill Archfey? Well, I added one more detail to make them scarier - when they kill Fey, they "reset" their souls. By reset I mean that the memories of these souls, their personalities and attitudes are removed and it has to learn anything and everything all over again. What kind of Archfey would want to lose followers in this way?
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Fey love anything about humans, with some exceptions that is. Once they figure out there's a human within their proximity, they try their best to keep their attention on themselves, and to figure out anything and everything about them. They don't get many chances to meet humans, this might be the only one! Elves? Pshhh. Dwarves and Halflings? Okay, maybe. But HUMANS?! YES PLEASE! They try to figure out their mannerisms, wear clothes just because humans do too, and imitate their qualities as best as they can - both good and bad. Imagine a 5 year old girl excited about fairies. The Fey are this excited about humans and getting to know them.
Origin/Ancestry
The Feywild
Related Organizations
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