The Fade

The Fade is a mysterious affliction, perhaps partly psychological but certainly with physiological consequences and with a magical element too. It can rarely afflict any member of the Fey species, eroding their natural immortality and making them susceptable to the same vulnerabities of aging that affect any human in the evolutions.

Case Histories

Telynor Melysaf by DMFW with Art Breeder

There are a number of well known victims of the Fade throughout history. The earliest may be the much beloved singer Telynor Melysaf, one of the Unelmien Lapset who brought the people together with the first Festival of Song in the Age of Wandering, became the mother of Acynte Hequindos, the first consort of the first king of the fey and was instrumental in ending the First Rift War. None of these great achievements saved her from a lingering death due to the Fade in the Age of Lost Memory, but it is said that she welcomed it, suffering from much melancholy after the death of her lover Batai Pollock in the Second Frost War and with her daughter already dead before the both of them, when she became a victim of a crime of passion.

Ibhafidon by DMFW with Art Breeder

Nowamagbe by DMFW with Art Breeder

During the Age of Lost Memory, king Ibhafidon and his son Nowamagbe, both fell prey to the Fade, a double tragedy that changed the course of history when queen Efeomo determined to alter the rules of royal succession thereafter, to favour queens over kings, fearing that males must be inherently more susceptable. In truth, there is no compelling reason to suspect such a thing but the unfortunate coincidence of two cases of Fade in the same family certainly gave that impression.

Lathkelle by DMFW with Art Breeder

Iceina Lanti by DMFW with Art Breeder

In more recent times, the great grandmother of Queen Mab, Iceina Lanti died due to a case of rapid onset Fade, whilst amongst living fey, Lathkelle is the best known sufferer, the condition lending urgency to her desire to restore the fortunes of her daughter Jassindra.

The Fey Lynodyth by DMFW with Midjourney

All of the above examples are highborn aristocrats who lived (or live) within the archetypal realm the fey call home. But the most famous example in the wider worlds of the Discontinuum is surely Lynodyth, the lost singer and musician who became the founder of the Way of the Harmonic Path on Magicians' End. She faded there in the long years after the Sundering and attained the status of a saint amongst her many followers.

Symptoms

The precise effects of the Fade vary from individual to individual. In the form known as "rapid onset fade" it can lead to the sudden aging and death of the patient in timescales as short as a year. At the other end of the spectrum, it may take centuries to slowly age the patient, acting like no more than an extremely attenuated form of the type of aging that affects mortals. In this form it may take a long time for the patient to even realise that they have the condition, but eventually the common signs of aging will become undeniable.
Usually, any fey who does not look to be in the prime of youth and life can be assumed to be afflicted with the Fade. There are some interesting contested possible exceptions however. The Unelmien Lapset, Mam Gyntaf, Tad Cyntaf and of course Keiju herself are most commonly shown as aged in the protraits that have survived of them. Whilst some scholars think that this means they were suffering from the Fade, the prevailing explanation is that in fact they were simply pushing the extreme limits that fey "immortality" permits. It has to be remembered that these three individuals were exceptionally ancient even amongst the Unelmien Lapset and were possibly just exhibiting the more natural ravages of time over such an enormously long life span. Where, after all, is the difference between the effects of such an enormous age and the results of an extremely mild case of the Fade? Perhaps they are just on a spectrum and perhaps there isn't one. These are matters of debate which are far from settled.

Prognosis

There is no known cure for the Fade and the afflicted must resign themselves to suffering the uncertainties of life and death understood by all mortal men and women.

Type

Physiological

Rarity

Rare

Affected Species

• Fey