Fair One
The title fair one (Sylvan: anhaen) is a generic form of address in Emain (Sylvan: Imhaen). In Common, the plural is fair folk. The title's use is expected among strangers, and thus it came to be used outside of the Sylvan language as a name for the "species" of fae that dominate the fae plane of Emain.
Basic Information
Anatomy
Many types of fair folk exist throughout Emain. Their biology is not the unifying trait of the creature category; indeed, their biology isn't always stable, as a good number of them are shapeshifters of some variety. Instead, the fair folk are identified by the way they interact with each other and with outsiders. This page goes into detail on those matters.
Additional Information
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
The fair folk have an innate sense of magic. It's almost impossible to use magic without them noticing, though they're liable to feign ignorance out of politeness if they pick up on an effort to hide the casting.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
The Sylvan writing system has a "name sign" — a letter that does not represent a sound, but instead means that the word is a name. All Sylvan names start with this letter, and spelling one's own name in Sylvan requires using the letter for the fae to acknowledge the word as a name.
Because Sylvan is a partially magical language, there are some consequences to the weight the language and the fae give to names. To name something in Sylvan gives it some power and gives the namer some power over it. For outsiders, this is the root of the advice to learn how to say one's own name in Sylvan before visiting Emain. Among the fair folk, this often strengthens the parent-child relationship, mostly to the benefit of the parent. Fair folk frequently change their names upon reaching adulthood, taking more power over themselves in both a metaphorical sense and in a literal, magical sense.
Major Organizations
The fair folk have established a set of Courts that are organized into Circuits. The Courts are nearly synonymous with fae society, serving as self-selected communities, governments, religious groups, and other social institutions, with each Court varying in accordance with its own values and philosophy.
There are four Circuits with four Courts apiece. The Directional Circuit contains the Northern Court, the Eastern Court, the Southern Court, and the Western Court. The Elemental Circuit, which is currently considered imbalanced, contains the Water Court, the Earth Court, the Fire Court, and the Wood Court. The Seasonal Circuit contains the Spring Court, the Summer Court, the Autumn Court, and the Winter Court. Finally, the Sky Circuit contains the Solar Court, the Vapor Court, the Lunar Court, and the Stellar Court.
A fair one may be a member of up to four Courts, so long as none of them are part of the same Circuit. Some combinations are more common than others, as most Courts maintain some alliances across Circuits. The Summer Court, for instance, is allied with the Solar Court and the Fire Court.
The Courts impose a semblence of order throughout Emain, with Courtless fair folk having a reputation for being difficult to deal with. That reputation, of course, is mainly spread by the Courts.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
The fair folk speak Sylvan, a magical language that makes use of their magical senses. While speaking or writing Sylvan, a fair one infuses inaudible or invisible magical signals into the words that help communicate more detailed, more nuanced, and more specific ideas than most languages can fit into the same amount of time or space.
Sylvan can be studied by other creatures, but the magical aspect is almost an entire language unto itself. Without the magical signals, spoken or written Sylvan tends to "feel" vague.
Common Etiquette Rules
The highest values of the fae are those that form the foundation of a Sky Court: truth and change (the Solar and Lunar Courts, respectively), variation and surprise (the Vapor Court), and pattern and symbol (the Stellar Court). These same values are the basis of "the fair way of dealing," a code of interaction that outsiders frequently contest the fairness of.
According to the fair way of dealing, it is proper to speak technically truthfully but attempt to catch the listener by surprise. The stereotypical example of this guideline is the fae who steals a person's name. It is also proper to speak somewhat poetically, in accordance with pattern and symbol. Some fae take this rule to mean that they should have a "rule" (a pattern) in their speech, such as rhyme or alliteration. Others spend more time alluding to things than stating them outright, making all of their speech abstract and symbolic.
Because of the value of variation, most fair folk strive not to interpret the fair way of dealing exactly the same way as those around them do. Once again, this causes endless frustration to outsiders.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
The fair folk occupy a dubious place in the minds of non-fae. They are certainly more respected than the goblins they share Emain with, and those who put in the effort can come to appreciate the fair way of dealing. However, it's much more common to approach them as if approaching a known trickster or charlatan — carefully and coldly.
Geographic Distribution
