Madadh-Ruadh (MAH-dah ROO-ah)
Not a fox! Not a deer! You know, you know!
Before now, you knew very little about the fey creature on the other side of the woods. It once tried to lure Rose across the river by disguising itself as an injured fawn, then turned into a terrifying fawn-human hybrid before becoming a fox and vanishing. Emyr loathed it but kept his distance rather than trying to antagonize or engage with it in any way. He told Rose that he would have no power to protect her if she went into its forest.
Between Vanya's bardic lore and the input of the pixie-like fey, you discovered that Madadh-Ruadh is a type of unseelie fey called a "teg." The teg were were vicious and bestial, eschewing the baroque politics of the fey courts for the pleasures of the wilderness and the hunt. The pixies explained that Madadh-Ruadh has a hatred for mortals, and wished to see nothing in the world but the wild and the fey; druids actually earned more of his ire than most mortals, because they arrogantly believed themselves true friends of nature but were still mortal under the skin. He was spiteful and bored, and found Emyr a pleasant way to while away a century.
The pixie-like fey don't particularly like Madadh-Ruadh, but they see him as more of an obnoxious relative than an enemy. He values his little jokes more than he values the welfare of the forest, but he's still a "child of Arak," and the fact that he cares more for the wilderness than for the machinations of the sluagh and the other members of the Unseelie Court makes him a better friend to the Seelie than most unseelie fey.
Last night, Emyr explained to Rose that he had entered into a bargain with Madadh-Ruadh a hundred years ago. When Emyr first came to the forest, Madadh-Ruadh had wanted him gone and began to play a series of increasingly malicious pranks on him to drive him away, culminating in harming some of the animals under Emyr's care and setting traps that would have killed Emyr if he hadn't noticed them in time. Emyr, at the end of his rope at this flagrant violation of hospitality and etiquette, threatened to accuse Madadh-Ruadh before his court, and Madadh-Ruadh went into full "please don't throw me into the briar patch" mode. The court ruled in Madadh-Ruadh's favor, and Emyr was cursed. If he was ever less than anything but a perfect host to anyone who came to the forest, he would become everything he hated about Madadh-Ruadh. Madadh-Ruadh had tricked the people into the forest into asking Emyr to do truly terrible things; he didn't want to elaborate on what they were, only that he now felt he had always been a predator and an animal desperate to save its own skin.
Known Powers and Vulnerabilities
You aren't sure what Madadh-Ruadh's powers are beyond either illusion or shapechanging, based on his ability to either make Rose see a fawn that wasn't there or to turn into one. Emyr said that Madadh-Ruadh hates fire, and if the cold iron scimitar that he gave you is any indication, the rumors about fey being vulnerable to cold iron are based in reality. It was also unable to harm Rose, although it clearluy thought that it could if it lured her into its territory.Relationships
Alignment
Chaotic evil
Current Location
Spouses
Siblings
Children
Pronouns
He/him/it
Related Reports
Ruled Locations
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