Post by Toe Knee on May 15, 2014 22:29:50 GMT -6
| { THE FAIR FOLK } |
 The Fair Folk, also known as the Fae, Faeries, and other spellings and variations, are a race of beings made of pure, nearly unfiltered magic. They are descendents of the now mostly-extinct Old Fae, of which there are only three currently living. Fae are a part of a matriarchal society, with most of their courts and lands being ruled by queens, and the females of their race have much stronger magical ability than the males by far, though those with no gender trump even the women in that department. Faeries are tricksters at heart, sly and curious. Seelie Fae (the Spring and Summer courts) are more the playful variety of this; Unseelie Fae (the Fall and Winter courts) are the malicious sort. Fae come in an assortment of different types; there are Goblins, and Hobgoblins, Changelings, Brownies, Elves... the possibilities are nearly endless. They do like to put on a facade of being human, though, for the most part. They're a very secretive race, and some that spend most of their time around humans are even ashamed of their true forms.
Long before the advent of humanity as we see it today, the Old Fae ruled both the faerie realms and the earth. The species was divided in two, into the court of Summer Himself and the court of Winter Herself. Summer's Court was full of light-hearted fae, spirits of nature and frivolity, but Winter's Court was... less savory, at least by human standards. The fae within were cold and hard, playing cruel games for laughs and feeding off of the misery of others. Winter, who named herself Mab, ruled them with an iron fist, and they feared her more than anything else, even if they loved her. It came to pass that Summer had a child born of a flower, a daughter who he named Titania. He loved her and spoiled her, and so too did his subjects. Titania had everything she could have wanted. Soon after her birth, Mab bore a child with no father. She named him Oberon; he was her first son, but as he had come from her body, he disgusted her. Oberon became not much more than Mab's serving boy. He tried, in vain, to please her, and endured abuses emotional, physical, and sexual at her hands. As humanity started to strengthen and create their own civilizations, the Old Fae grew weaker. It was prophesied that Summer's Daughter and Winter's Son would unite to bring their salvation, and so, after the two defeated Mab together, they were joined as husband and wife. But the Old Fae did, eventually, fade out of the world; their "salvation" was for their legacy to be carried on through Titania and Oberon's children. Titania became the Earth and Air of the faerie realm, Oberon the Fire and Water, and they together made the race we now know as the Fair Folk. Though some Fae have bits of other races in their veins -- sometimes human, sometimes demon or even were -- all can trace their lineage back to Oberon and Titania.
MAGIC MANIPULATION: All Fae can use and manipulate magic without the use of formal spells, but the how of this as well as the extent of the power is dependent on the individual as well as the race from which they hail. For example, elves, having a lot of human content and being a warrior race that rely mostly on their swords, have very weak magical abilities and have to learn spells for anything more than conjuring small objects; brownies, however, use magic in their day-to-day, and so are much stronger. On top of this, the magic they use tends to reflect their race as a whole and any elements it may embody. They're mostly limited to race-related magic, but all Fae can use their ability to glamour themselves into a guise that looks human. GLAMOUR: All Fae can glamour themselves to look however they please, usually something that looks more human than their true forms. The vast majority of fae have very grotesque, alien true forms, the exception to this being elves, who are mostly human. IMMORTALITY: Fae are functionally immortal; all can be killed by iron weapons, but most do not age past maturity, and the few kinds that do age very slowly past that point, so are "immortal" by human standards. OTHER ABILITIES: Different races have different abilities they can utilize.
IRON: All Fae are repelled by iron and just touching it can burn their skin, but the amount of human content in their bloodline can affect just how bad the burns are. Circling yourself with iron shavings or placing iron shavings in doorways and windows will keep you safe from Fae. As such, cities are very hard for the creatures to navigate. SILVER: Certain types of Fae cannot touch silver without their skin bubbling. It's excruciatingly painful and will leave scarring. INABILITY TO LIE: Faeries physically cannot lie (though some with higher human content can, but badly, and it hurts them to do so). But don't think that means they can't trick you. Not being able to lie makes one very clever with ones words, and the Fae are famous for their silver tongues. They can say something and make you think they mean something completely different through the use of vocal inflection and misleading wording. TRUE NAMES: All Fae have the name they are called by, then their true name. True names are very important in Fae society, and are only to be told to someone that can be trusted; it is therefor usually only given to ones partner or partners at a marriage ceremony. Anyone who knows a Fae's true name can control them with it. OTHER WEAKNESSES: Different races have different hindrances.
Other than regular procreational methods, Fae have a few other ways to make new members of their race. CURSING: A more obvious one. Fae royalty can curse someone of another species into being a monstrous sort of Fae themselves. MARRIAGE/"BINDING": When Fae love someone or multiple someones, and they know that it's real, true love, they won't stand for a Mayfly/December romance. That's fine and dandy if who they love is another Fae or otherwise immortal like them, but when their object of affections is mortal, it can throw a wrench in the works. Luckily, when Fae marry, they bind their souls to that of their partner(s). This means that so long as the Fae is alive, the partner(s) will also live, and because of the induction of magic to their systems, the partner(s) will slowly become Fae, themselves, whatever sort they become reflecting the type of person they are. BLESSING: The same as cursing, but with good intent. This is an incredibly rare happenstance, and can only be done by royalty. ADOPTION: A child adopted into a faerie family through the goblins or through the changelings will become whatever sort of Fae their adoptive family is, through the use of spells and through the contact with the magic of the Fae realm.
You're not restricted to just these types of Fae, as there are some Fae who have no others quite like them; these are just guidelines to let you know how the different types work. If you do make up your own sort of Fae, make sure they are CONSISTENT in every way, especially in their powers. PIXIES: The pixies are a relatively unorganized race, compared to the rest of their brethren. They are normally very small, winged creatures, what you would think of when "faerie" comes to mind, but they can make themselves larger, if they must. They are very powerful magic wielders, and very tricky sorts. They adore mischief, and will go out of their way to mess with someone, if they think it will be funny. ELVES: Fae Elves, not to be confused with the Nordic Light and Dark elves, are a race of warriors, each of them more battle-hardened than the last. Though they are ruled by the Sophronia king (currently king Dmitri), their lands are divided into separate tribes. The different tribes are nearly always feuding. Because of this, wars amongst the elves are frequent. Elves tattoo their families, conquests, and crimes on their skin, and go into battle wearing no armor and no covering but for a loincloth, so that whomever they defeat will know exactly who it is that defeated them. Outside of battle amongst allies, they can actually be fairly friendly and bawdy folk. They tend to enjoy the art of the dance, as well as the sport of drinking other people under the table. GOBLINS: Goblins are creature of song, led by their king, Jareth. They make themselves appear to have an almost alien sort of beauty, though in reality, their true forms are some of the ugliest amongst the Fae. They adore Jareth and consider themselves his children, and many of the trends amongst the people stem from things they have seen him do. Goblins are beautiful singers, powerful with magic, and perform all of their spellwork through song and dance. They are known to "steal" children for Jareth, though in reality, each and every child they take was given to them willingly. They act as a sort of faerie adoption system, giving every child they take to a loving fae home. HOBGOBLINS: Hobgoblins are one of the more rare races amongst the Fae. Their leader is Puck, the oldest child of Titania and Oberon, and they consider him their sort of father-figure. Like Puck, Hobgoblins are notoriously tricky and often find themselves pranking the humans. They are not malicious, however, as they tend to do what they will out of a desire for fun instead of a need to hurt. ELEMENTALS: Sometimes known as (read: mistaken for) nymphs, elementals are fae who reflect an aspect of the world around them. The four most common are earth, water, fire, and air, though other elements, such as light or shadow, exist as well. Elementals wield very powerful magic pertaining to the element they embody. They are unorganized as a race. BROWNIES: Brownies are helpful little spirits who like to reside in human homes, doing small chores for the masters of the house while they sleep. Brownies are simple and sweet things, and like gifts of cream and milk. Just be sure you never call these gifts "payment". KELPIES: Kelpies are another fairly unorganized race, known throughout Scotland as the monsters that haunt the lochs and will carry away any unattended children that play too close to the water. Kelpies are able to stretch their necks out in order to carry more riders, appear unnaturally beautiful to anyone they wish to make their prey, can breathe underwater, and have incredibly sticky skin they use to keep their riders from escaping. However, they can be controlled if you manage to get a proper bridle or even a simple strap of leather in between their teeth. Kelpies are much like salmon in that they will drop dead after producing offspring. Kelpies are mid-range when it comes to magical abilities. ROYALTY: Royal fae are the rulers of whatever race or court they belong to, or, in Oberon and Titania's case, the entirety of the fae. The only consistency amongst them is the fact that each of them has two familiar spirits. These spirits are reflections of the two most prominent aspects of their masters' souls, and act as advisers to them.
The Fae are divided into two courts, both of which are further divided into two more courts. All are ruled by Oberon and Titania. The Seelie Court The Seelie court can be defined as "more inclined to be helpful"; they are not the "good" court, just as the Unseelie court is not the "bad" one. Members of courts that fall under Seelie have a better attitude towards humanity as a whole, but individually, this attitude can vary.The Spring Court Members of the Spring court are generally cheerful and playful, loving to make merry and, most especially, to make well-intended mischief. Despite this, they have just a bite of Winter to them. If you slight them or theirs, they are not likely to be forgiving.The Summer Court Best described as "jolly", the Summer court takes after Summer himself. They are vibrant and full of life, burning with heat and intensity. However, intensity can get out of hand; when you anger a member of Summer, unless they are willing to forgive, they will not skulk around and await their revenge. They will either lob your head off, or curse you then and there. The Unseelie Court The Unseelie court can be defined as "more inclined to be harmful"; they are not the "bad" court, just as the Seelie court is not the "good" one. The Unseelie court tends to have a poor attitude towards humanity, though this varies individually.The Autumn Court Members of the Autumn court still hold some warmth to them. They are often somber and polite, but it is more out of a wish to delay confrontation than anything else. But they are, of course, Winter oncoming; they can be just as cold as they have to be to kill off whatever they feel needs killing.The Winter Court Perhaps the most infamous of the faerie courts, Winter is cold, and sometimes overly cruel. They are not kind to their enemies, of which they often have many, as most of the members of the Winter court are the hunting, killing sort of fae. There are, however, some hidden kindnesses to them, to those they wish to show those parts of themselves to. |
