Moerae

The Moerae keep track of the Mortals in their area by marking their passage through time. Most Fey have great problems with understanding how time in the mortal realms works, and often leave the business of keeping records up to the Moerae. They appear to each human on each of the three important milestones in their lives: Birth, Marriage and Death.

They give newborn babies birthmarks, and in some cases foretell the child's future. Great care should be made to clean the house and leave offerings of honey, bread and three white almonds if such premonitions are desired. Sometimes these offerings are supplemented with water and money. The door should be left open, a lamp should be left burning, and the house should be quiet. They will not consider themselves properly invited unless these signs are displayed, and they will not approve of mortals blatantly watching them. Listening through keyholes is acceptable, if only for respectabilitys sake.

They are also invited to marriages, for courtesys sake, and those who don't invite them often suffer misfortunes, as the fairies haven't been notified that the couple is married. This often leads to grave misunderstandings. Women about to marry, or about to give birth, often leave offerings of cakes and honey by the caves where the Moerae live, in the hopes that the Moerae will help them.

Whenever a mortal dies, the Moerae appear to register the death and escort the mortal soul out of this life and into the next. Sometimes they even allow the poor soul to go to Faërie if he has served the fey in some manner.

The Moerae either look like beautiful, slender girls dressed in white, or as hideous old women, depending on whether they work for the Seelie or Unseelie Court. Not all houses employ Moerae, yet those who do have extensive records of the mortals they govern, and can plan accordingly. Eylem are widely known to have the largest contingent of Moerae in their employ, and they have rather high status in that house, despite being commoners.


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