The Fey
“We are the mistakes, the cast-offs, the half-formed ideas… we are the Fey”
(Note: All notes below refer to Fey in the Sidhe. A Fey that can find its way to the Prime can stay for up to one full moon per hit die. Longer than that, and the Fey loses its Host, the innate abilities specified here, and cannot find its way back to the Sidhe on its own. It is assumed this applies to any Fey PC. While in the Prime, the Fey feeds from the Flame automatically as it’s surrounded by life energy.).
At the time of creation, the Sidhe (Shee) was the “testing grounds” for the Valar as they decided how they wanted to shape the physical world of Arda. As a result, everything in the Sidhe is sharper, brighter, and darker than found elsewhere. The living creatures inhabiting it were named the Fey. However, they were created independent of the Flame, as they were not meant to be the permanent inhabitants of Arda. Therefore the Fey in the Sidhe must find ways to feed from the Flame in the Prime Material plane. They can link themselves to a specific thing, place, or group (a wolf pack, a tribe of humans, etc.). The most common example is a dryad tied to her tree or a satyr that protects a specific grove of trees or meadow. If their link (cynosure) is destroyed, they enter a Crux (system shock roll or dwindle). If they survive the Crux, they must find another cynosure and successfully bond (system shock roll again) within a number of days equal to their HD. The Cynosure also serves as the Fey’s link between the Sidhe and the Prime, which it can use at will.
In addition, the Fey are governed by the Law of Balance. If one gains, another must suffer. Every positive action requires a negative one, either to the same person or someone else. So, the Fey must always get something for what they give, or have to return the balance another way.
There are areas where the veil between the Sidhe and the Prime are thin, and creatures from each plane can cross into the other. One of the thinnest points is the Isle of Aman, where the Valar live just behind the veil and the Fey often travel from Valinor to the Prime. On the Isle of Aman, the Fey are given free reign to use the island as they see fit and their natural indication to play with trespassers is one of the defenses of Valinor. (The Vanyer, Star Elves, live on the Prime on the eastern side of Aman and a small island off the eastern coast.)
The Fey cannot reproduce on their own in the Sidhe. There are two ways that the Fey can reproduce. The most common is to travel to the Prime and mate with a mortal (their word for anyone native to the Prime). If the resulting child is born in the Sidhe, it is immediately fully fey. If born on the Prime (or another plane not the Sidhe) it is half -fey. If taken to the Sidhe before the next full moon, it becomes full Fey. Otherwise, it remains half -fey for its entire life.
The second method is for an unclaimed soul to be given to or stolen by the Courts to shape into a fey (or feed on its life essence instead if it so chooses). Should this happen, the soul loses all memory of its mortal life. An unclaimed soul is one not bound to a deity.
If the Fey in the Sidhe cannot feed, they face the Dwindling (fading away into nothingness.) Dwindling can happen to an individual, a group, or an entire land. Conversely, an individual, group, or entire land can receive an influx of energy from the Prime. This results in chaotic power structures that are balanced by the three Courts. Fey tend to be creatures of extremes, and so they feed on extreme emotions and energies fed by the Flame. The Fey don’t care what happens on the Prime, so long as something happens they can feed from. As the Fey are not tied to the Flame, and have not been infused with energy from the True Cycle, they have no after life. They simply dissipate. Consequently they have no clergy or religion, and worship no deities in the Sidhe (though they may respect the Valar and others powerful enough to do them harm as a group should they choose to
The Blood ties all Fey together, and any that swear an oath by the Blood are held to it and must tell the truth. To cut and expose the blood is especially binding. It is considered bad form to use for trivial things.
The Fey are incapable of governing their passions and feel things very deeply. Their decisions are based on emotion, not logic, though they may try to make logic fit later. The Fey must honor promises made within a year and a day, and they expect mortals to do the same. They know when a boon has become available and will come to collect. Their sense of Justice is also based on emotional benefit rather than tangible value… and what they receive they will repay in kind. They also tend to view things in the moment. Heinous deeds can be forgiven immediately if the harm is undone or made right. Small slights can be remembered for centuries until vengeance is sated or the harm undone.
Fey economy is based on magic and favors. What one can’t do, another can, so they trade in power. They rarely have the need for goods that a mortal does, and to swindle or get the better of a Fey is to invite their wrath. Fey in the Sidhe don’t need to eat, but enjoy it, and will often make candies, cakes, breads, cheeses, wine, etc., infused with magic that act as potions. Their effects can be dangerous on humans and other mortals. In Fey Markets, they often trade for mundane things they can’t grow, such as wheat and other crops or wool. Thefts are rewarded with curses and baleful threats. Markets run by Uninvited won’t reveal themselves until it’s too late. Fey trade is based on what they want, and they’re known to trade a pound of wheat for a pound of gold.
On Host celebration days, each Host tries to outdo the others on preparations as they are critiqued. Each Host has its own feast days, but Grand Convocations span all realms. They are held on Summer and Winter Solstice (Summer from sunrise on the longest day through the shortest night and Winter from Sunset starting the longest night through the shortest day). Games including riddles, rhyming, games of succession, archery, hurling, and spell casting are common. These events can determine territory for a year or the fate of a group of mortals that has moved into their lands. EVERY area in Arda has a corresponding Fey territory. However, some Fey make their presence known more than others.
Fey Courts in the Sidhe:
Courts are not determined by species, but a Fey will change to take on the characteristics of its Court while it is a member. Their differences in groupings (hosts) lay in how they interact with the Prime, not each other, so Courts rarely war against each other. A fey who is expelled, however, is a target for capture or death.
Dream Court- (* - good aligned). Uphold the virtues of justice, purity, altruism, and passion. Members of this court will gravitate to one of the following Hosts:
- Gentry- Gentry include noble fey who travel the land fighting wrongs and seeking justice. They are strong hunters, beautiful and handsome. Their skin color varies from human tones to translucent primary colors. They are perfectly proportioned with angular features.
- Yarthkins- These are the protectors of life and healers. They are devoted to purity and keep pristine places in nature pure. They favor surroundings uncorrupted by civilization. Physical characteristics include having plant features for flesh or hair.
- Portunes- Genesis, the first spark of an idea, the germination of a seed, the beginning of a journey. They are the builders, architects, workers and craftsmen. They are drawn to mortal homes, hiding in the walls or cellars and helping out by making things out of scraps left lying around. They take food left around in exchange, but often get angry at other offerings left as they don’t want to become indebted. They hate noise and disarray and will leave homes where their reverie is interrupted by chaos. Physically, they are small with exaggerated features (thin becomes gangly, fat becomes round.)
- Revelry- Change, birth of a child, emerging of a butterfly, spark becoming a flame, the moment where one thing becomes another. These are the tricksters and wise folk of the fey. They focus on emotion and entertainment, and are what humans tend to think of as kindly fey. They see passion as the highest goal of Fey existence and are often charged with trade and as liaisons to the mortal world. They have the best parties and run Fairy Markets that mortals stumble upon. Exaggerated features by species become more so, with other features becoming more delicate.
- The Horde- Secrets and vengeance. The fog that hides a path, markings that camouflage a predator. These Fey are deceptive and vile. They are known to ride in packs when on a Hunt. They make war on mortals without honor and tend to have demonic bodily features of some type. Horde Riders are the Nightmare Court’s shock troopers.
- Grims- Ending, destruction, the setting sun, a dying ember, the wolf biting a deer’s throat. Grims seek destruction for non-fey. Undead fey are of Grims. They want to cleanse the world of mortal taint. Lands held by them begin to be befouled and corrupt. The look wizened and old and live in abandoned places.
- Bogeys- Luck gives one child his father’s strength and another his stupidity. The early thaw that comes just in time, and the early frost that kills a crop. It is nature’s whim. Bogeys are concerned with material gain and hoard things to the detriment of others. They are slavers who take over small farms, villages, or mining operations. Will move into settlements in secret and slowly drive them out. Love to torture humans, like setting home on fire on the coldest day of winter.
- Uninvited- Consequences and rewards. Harvest or famine. Nature’s ability to give or take. Buyers and sellers know a man’s price and are willing to meet it. Will wander roads at night and find men at their most desperate, ready to meet their needs. Find passion in causing pain and love to put mortals at each other’s throats. Will hold midnight markets to sell stolen children and buy men’s souls.
