Arcadian Sidhe
The commoner kiths were long ago trapped in the mortal world, left behind in Concordia while the nobles fled to Arcadia during the Shattering. When the sidhe emerged from Arcadia during the Resurgence, they expected to return to a world similar to the one they left behind. What they found was drastically different. The commoners had actually thrived without them, developing their own leadership or eschewing it all together.
This first generation of returned Arcadian sidhe struggled to once again become a part of Concordia. They were a fragile race compared to the commoner kiths, more prone to the ravages of Banality and too reliant upon old customs. Arcadian sidhe were capricious and often volatile, with wildly fluctuating moods and fits of deep depression, which only served to further alienate them from the commoners. Some sidhe attempted to overcome this by retreating deep into the Legacies. The hopeful idealism of the Seelie sidhe became almost manic, while the darker Unseelie sidhe sank into the depths of depravity and corruption.
Their loss of dominance left them desperate and frightened, and as they saw themselves becoming more obsolete, they also become more ruthless. When the Evanescence brought a new wave of Arcadian sidhe to Concordia, more turmoil followed. Some of these houses adjusted quickly to their new lives, but others held more extreme views about their role in relation to commoners and humans, which caused further divisiveness. The Arcadian sidhe’s grabs for power gave way to betrayal, bloodshed, and finally war.
Instead of using their time to find new ways to adapt to life in Concordia, the sidhe have doggedly held on to the fantasy that they could restore the great fae society they continue to believe they rightfully rule.
The houses returning in the Resurgence have had almost half a century to reestablish dominance and adjust to the new technologies and politics of the mortal world, while those who returned in the Evanescence have still had more than a decade. On the whole, Arcadian sidhe have begun to adjust. Sidhe continue to return to Concordia, slowly trickling in through trods temporarily opened by Glimmers. They have some advantages over the first two waves of Arcadian sidhe to return, as many of the old traditions and courts have already been restored, and a new balance of power has been established with the commoners. These latecomers haven’t suffered the same culture shock as their predecessors.
In the wake of the Evanescence, many Arcadian sidhe closed ranks, consolidating power in their freeholds again in a way they hadn’t since the Resurgence. Class tensions, which had eased somewhat in the 1990s, intensified. New social and political movements threaten the power and security the Arcadian sidhe have established in Concordia, and they increasingly find themselves being unfavorably compared to the
Autumn sidhe.
Autumn Sidhe
Fae history talks about the Shattering, when the gates to Arcadia slammed shut and the sidhe fled Concordia, leaving the commoners behind. When those gates reopened on July 20, 1969, the sidhe that returned to the mortal world thought that all those nobles left behind perished in the cold winds of Banality. They thought they were the only members of the Shining Host in the mortal world. They were wrong.
Nobles from Houses Scathach and Liam chose to remain behind and take on the Changeling Way so as to survive the harsh centuries of Banality. Upon the Shining Host’s return, these sidhe of the mortal world emerged to greet their Arcadian cousins and offer assistance in adjusting to their new circumstances. Instead of being accepted, the sidhe of the mortal world were greeted by the Arcadians with distrust and fear. Dubbed Autumn sidhe, they were judged by many Arcadian nobles to be flawed, tainted by their long centuries of death and rebirth. In return, Autumn sidhe embraced the name with pride and became the shining examples of the synergy between true fae brilliance and the perfection of the mortal condition.
Autumn sidhe are markedly different than their Arcadian counterparts. While Arcadian sidhe are noted for their inhuman splendor, the grace and power of an Autumn sidhe lies in her more down-to-earth beauty. Autumn sidhe appear to be the pinnacle of human beauty with all its foibles, oddities, and asymmetry. These sidhe are stunning in a human way that makes them more approachable and understandable than the alien glory of the Arcadians. Being born and raised in the mortal world also gives these sidhe the grounded perspective their cousins lack. Autumns believe they are not owed power only through noblesse oblige, but by right of their time facing the Autumn world side by side with the commoners. That does not mean that they are always accepted by the commoners, and often find themselves trapped between the disdain of their fellow sidhe and the distrust of the commoners they wish to embrace.
The Autumn sidhe have a significant advantage to their Arcadian brethren in their understanding of the mortal world. Autumn sidhe are more in touch not only with the needs of the commoners but with mortal society and technology, giving them an edge when maneuvering through culture, industry, business, and society. Their sidhe beauty is seen as the pinnacle of human charm, charisma, and affability, a benefit that opens many doors for them in the mortal world. It’s not unusual for Autumn sidhe to gain celebrity status easily, and mortals flock to them. Despite their grounding in the mortal world, the Autumn sidhe are as powerful as any of their cousins and are not to be underestimated. In fact, their success in merging with the rest of the changeling population and modern society has convinced many Arcadian sidhe to take up the Changeling Way to join the Autumn sidhe in adapting to the mortal world.
Ferocious pride bonds these changelings together. They have survived in the Autumn world through dedication, perseverance, wisdom, and hard work, earning them the right to rule their Arcadian cousins so often take for granted. These sidhe straddle the line between the inborn otherworldliness of Arcadia and the earthy, complex beauty of mankind.
