Fair Folk

The Fair Folk are powerful fey beings, infamous for their cruelty and pride. Where many fey take joy in teasing mortals with simple pranks, the fair folk have no concept of mercy, bringing misery and torment to mortals foolish enough to draw their attention. They name themselves the fair folk, but they are far from any mortal comprehension of fairness, either in countenance or conduct, and to call them otherwise is to invite trouble.

Appearance

In stories, they are often depicted as ancient and foul mortals, with withered faces peppered with pustules and ragged clothing stained with filth. And this is a guise they often take, though if they truly enjoy this form or merely enjoy the way it causes many mortals discomfort to witness this gross exaggeration of old age. Other times, they take forms of an unearthly form so beautiful it hurts - those who look upon them in this guise have found themselves struck blind, with blood seeping from their pupils - some recover, many do not.

Immortal Rebirth

The fair folk are immortal beings, and each of them has existed for countless millennia. This does not mean, however, that they cannot be killed, at least temporarily, a task which many a mortal will gladly set themselves when pressed too far. But when killed, their fey spirit persists, impotent to do aught but whisper. Often, such spirits will spend this time whispering torments into the ears of their killer and those who love them, bringing misfortune down upon them. To be reborn, 2 fair folk, taking male and female forms, must procreate - a process functionally similar to that of mortals, but one that can only be done if a fair folk is dead and their spirit wanders. Once a child is born, the immortal spirit is drawn inexorably to the child, providing the murdered fair folk with a newborn body with all the knowledge and personality of the fallen. This process appears to cause the child some form of debt to their parents, for it is rare that a fair folk child has been seen except in acting as an agent of one of their parents.

A Strange Code of Fairness

While their concept of fair play is far from mortal expectations, the fair folk do have a strict and complex set of rules that determines which mortals can be targeted. Some of these are obvious: those who insult the fair folk (even unintentionally or behind their backs) or seek them out are considered fair game, for instance. However, a number of other seemingly random actions have been identified (correctly or otherwise) as being capable of drawing the attention of one of the fair folk.
Finally, the fair folk seem to be governed by the concept of obligation - they are very keen on collecting debts owed to them and avoiding owing a debt to others. Favors are often offered but rarely accepted. A mortal foolish enough to take an offered favour without providing recompense becomes Indebted to the fair folk individual who made the offer. Such favors are rarely particularly beneficial in the first place, but failure to pay off this debt opens up the Indebted to any penalty the fair folk might choose to deal out.