THE FEY

Since ever and ever the world began
They have danced like a ribbon of flame,
They have sung their song
through the centuries long,
And yet it is never the same.



The Fairies (fey) are not tiny, cute girls in diapers and butterfly wings (well, some are, but NOT ALL of them). They are the Fey of the Old World, the things from the dark forest and deep lakes. They are noble. They are haughty. They are dangerous, and they are fickle. Cross them at your own peril. But they are not evil, only uncaring towards the needs of humans. Sometimes they help, sometimes they harm. Depends on the person and the mood. But mostly of all, they are creatures of pure myth and magic. They don't use magic, they are magic.


Origins: The inspiration for the Fey are the countless sprites and spirits of the green that humans ll over the world have believed in. From the Sidhe or Ireland to the Xendhi of Eastern Europe to the Norse Alver, fairies have always been there for humans. This is my version of them, or more correctly, of their royalty. Because they are often portrayed as having royalty.

Things have been changed, as staying true to every myth would be impossible. The angle of this idea is that the stories are the humans version of the meeting between fey and mortal. Things have been misunderstood and exaggerated, but there is usually a seed of truth. Keeping this in mind, the fey can be anything. And they are.



Appearance: Fey are mostly humanoid in shape, though they often stretch the limits. Other than that they are a diverse lot, running the gamut of horns, antlers, hooves and whatnot. Some have green skin, some have brown, while others are covered in tree-bark or feathers. It can get a bit extreme with some of them, actually.

Types: Though it might seem otherwise, the royal members of the Seelie Court (The Daoine Sidhe)are not the only fey in existence. They are not even the majority, merely the select few who hold power. Throughout the land there are countless few who aren't as "noble" as the Sidhe, such as satyrs, dryads, naiiads, sprites, spriggans, kobolds and goblins. These "lowly" fey seldom hold as much magical power as their rulers, and usually don't participate in the political machinations. These are the fey most often encountered by humans, since they often live close to the borders to the mortal realms, and sometimes live wholly in the human world.

Indeed, these are the Fey entrusted with the interaction with the other worlds. If a fey noble makes a deal with a mortal to always proclaim the future of the newborn of his line, one of the "common" fey the noble rules will get stuck with the job. The same goes for the hundreds of domestic fairies who clean the houses and make the clothes of poor mortals, or help them in other ways. There are countless jobs for fey in the two realms, and the nobles usually delegate them to their inferiors.

They are described in further detail in the Common Fey section.
See also the Alver section, for the Elves, and their rather special place in Fey society.

Abilities: Fey are creatures of magic, and all of them have inherent magical talent of one sort or another, often called glamor. Though some effects are commonplace, like going unseen and creating illusions, some are also gifted with unique and powerful abilities that spring from their very soul. Some can fly, since they are so connected to the wind. Some can fling lightning, while others can make moonlight solid and spin it into yarn. One can never truly know what a fey is capable of or not.

Weaknesses: Fey are not subject to age nor disease, which mean that they often live to become exeptionally old. They do not wiew time as we do, since for them time isn't as apparent, yet for the oldest the years do indeed press down with their weight. This agelessness is the reason that they don't think that age differences is any problem for relationships. Wether one part is two thousand years old and another is six thousand years old matter little to them, mostly because they seldom notice that a year has passed.

It should also be noted that the tradition of Changelings tells you a lot about their mentality, and their attitude towards mortals.


I'll try to explain further later. Their most defining characteristic is that they are allways totally different from each other. Makes it kinda difficult to summarize them.


Back to the Seelie court.