Fae Culture

If you have chosen to play a fae there are a few roleplay points you should know before you hit the field. Firstly, that Fae have quite a lot of lore to their creation and function different to a lot of races which were created by gods. Fae however were not created by gods, they are more akin to magical spirits each one having their own concept that brought them to life. This is the basis of where the Fae have come from, some situations have played out in game that have changed some of these traditions, so this informs you of rules Fae were bound by and some of these points and now down to the characters personal choice.
What is a concept?
A concept is an event, emotion or experience which includes a large amount of power behind it. Concepts can range from ‘the first dawn’ to ‘the grief felt when a loved one passes’. Each event can bring the spark of life to a fae who is bound by these aspects. A concept is like a soul, you can only have one of them and it is the entire life force that creates a fae. A fae is alive for as long as its concept is. If the concept is destroyed so is the fae's immortality, this does not mean that your concept can never change or evolve it just is like trying to change a cat to a plant with magic. It can be done, it's just not easy.
Immortality
Once a fae has received the spark of life from the concept it has the potential to live forever. Fae can manifest into the physical world, using their glamour (magic) to create a physical body for themselves. This body can be injured or killed but this does not mean that the fae is dead. If the fae's concept is still intact and it has not been severed from it, what will happen is the fae's spirit will go to a place called the Summer Lands. This is a magical realm between life and death at the furthest reaches of faerie. Here the fae will remain until it's time for them to return either to Faerie or the physical world.
As a fae has the potential to life forever their lives are considered sacred, if a fae has a grudge against another, it's is often followed by an intricate game between them. To kill another fae is considered grievous crime, as to take eternity from a being is to show you have no respect for life. Killing of mortals is acceptable as they only have a few years of existence regardless as to what they might achieve.
What is Faerie?
Faerie is the realm that the fae originate from. This land is not fixed and everything about it is pure magic, there are a number of layers, and all sorts of terrain can be found within. The land is divided between the royal courts and again by particular fae's nature. This land is not a safe haven, it is twisted and dangerous even to fae, let alone to a mortal that has been taken here or has become lost and wandered in accidentally. Some fae who are just born may not know about the land of Faerie if they have only existed in the physical world.
Natures
The biggest divide with faerie nature is often seen when the individual is dealing with lesser races. The Seelie courts are often less malicious (although not always) and are typically fun-loving spirits who enjoy games between each other. Fae often cannot comprehend mortal emotions or understand the ties mortals might feel towards each other. They are often more social and enjoy being the centre of attention.
The Unseelie however are consider the more malevolent fae. These are fae that do not regard life other than faerie life as anything more than something to entertain them. They have been known to kill mortals for sport and often thrive on fear and sadness surrounding them. This does not mean that the unseelie are evil, they are just less likely to engage in anything they consider pointless such as having fun for funs sake. They are often happier to take the side-lines in comparison to the seelie fae.
There are fae that do not belong to either faction and there are fae that are in houses that might be aligned to seelie or unseelie who aren't such. The fae does not have to pick one or the other these are just listed attributes for each party which you may or may not want to identify with.
Oaths
One of the biggest faerie laws that is widely known is that fact that fae are oath bound. Fae do not lie. It is a grievous insult for anyone to accuse a fae of lying as if any fae does so they are then shunned by all their kind regardless as to whether they are seelie or unseelie. Any fae found to be lying or breaking any oath they have made, can have a blood hunt called upon them. Once a hunt is called the WyldeHunt will arrive to take the life of the blood hunted. Fae who are not part of the WyldeHunt cannot kill the marked fae, only the WyldeHunt themselves can collect the tithe.
Fae don't lie, BUT they can be somewhat ... creative with the truth! Fae often twist words, phrase their answers and promises carefully, so that they might seem to be saying one thing while meaning another. This very literal use of words is also handy if you get your True Name used against you - you can take the commands as literally as possible and perhaps avoid doing what your 'master' wanted you to do. For example, if someone commanded you to 'go and get Cortez', then you could go to Cortez and grab hold of him, then immediately let him go, because you were not told to take him back! Also, because we don't lie, our word is our bond, and any insinuation that we cannot be trusted is a SEVERE insult. The worst thing a Fae can be called is OATHBREAKER - this is given like a title, to mark out a Fae who does lie. Fae known by this title are seen as having lost or abandoned their Faerie nature and are anathema - no other Fae will deal with them in any matter of commerce, alliance or trust. Which can make things very difficult for them!
Since the Wyldefire burned in faerie, the original Oaths binding all fae have been broken with the destruction of the Oath tree. Many Fae still hold them as a point of personal preference while the War of Three Kings continues for the ashes of Faerie. You can now lie, but there might be repercussions from other fae folke.
Metal
As beings of pure magic manifest, anything that can disrupt the flow of magic can cause great pain to a fae. The only magically conductive metals are pure metals such as Gold, Silver and Copper. Anything made from steel or Iron is painful for a fae to touch and Cold Iron feels like fire to the fae folke. This often results in fae having to have specially crafted armour to take the field in or use other materials like leather or bark to protect their ‘mortal’ forms.
Fae have an aversion to impure and non-precious metals, specifically iron. This aversion can range from just not liking to touch it, to feeling intense burning pain upon contact with your skin (usually depending on how long you touch it for). Hence,they cannot wear armour made from non-precious metal (and using weapons made with them is tricky to say the least).
True name
All Fae have a True Name. This is kept a closely guarded secret and NEVER used by the Fae in question, because it has a huge power over them. If someone finds out a Fae's True Name, they can command that Fae to do anything - ANYTHING - and that Fae has no choice but to obey, if they are commanded by their True Name. A Fae under this control acts much like a puppet, being no longer in control of their own actions. It is not like mind control in that respect, and the Fae can still show their disapproval of the actions they are taking - unless instructed to hide it!
Traditionally it has three parts and is either in an obscure language or is comprised of seemingly nonsense words. For example, 'Rath Roiben Rye'. This Fae used 'Roiben' as his 'Calling Name' or 'Given Name'. Using a part of your True Name for your Calling / Given Name is traditional too, but not vital. If you don't want to have a True Name, you are quite free to say your character doesn't know it - not all Fae are aware of their True Names, and some deliberately go out of their way to forget it or not find it out to begin with! Because if you don't know it, you can't be forced to give it to anyone ...

The main thing about being fae is to remember to have fun, to explore the different situations you find yourself in as the fae game is very different go anything else you might play at Skully. This is just a very brief collection of the basics if you would like to read more in depth, please do not hesitate to ask for forum access or to join the face book group.