[center][hr][hr][h1]||| Fae |||[/h1][hr][hr][/center] [pre][hider=Fae Template] [b]Race:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Common Physical Traits:[/b] [indent]There may be exceptions to these but they hold true of most of the population.[/indent] [b]Court:[/b] [indent]The Court where the majority of the population of this fae reside. Depending on the type can be limited to a single Court or throughout all four.[/indent] [b]Abilities:[/b] [indent]What special powers are unique to this fae.[/indent] [b]Limits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Social Standing:[/b] [indent]What do most of these fae do for their society and how to the other fae view them?[/indent] [b]Historical Impact:[/b] [indent]Any events in the past of the fae or human realms in which these fae have had a lasting impact. This section is optional as some fae influence the world around them far more than others.[/indent] [/hider][/pre] [hr][h2]|| Fae Records ||[/h2][hr] [indent]It is human nature to romanticize the past. To remember fondly the advances of the Industrial Revolution and forget those that suffered to bring them to fruition. So too have they done with the monsters of their ancestors. They imagine fairy godmothers and helpful sprites forgetting the terror these things once caused in an age long past. A terror that was right in its grip. For the fae are not kind, nor helpful, nor benevolent. They are ancient creatures, cunning and guileful who's first interest is always their own welfare. Humans are nothing more than pawns and slaves to such beings of power. That is not to say that they are animals or barbarians. Laws set down in an age long forgotten hold to fae just as the force of gravity holds mortals. The highest of fae law is that words hold more power than any magic spell. The man who wrote [i]"The pen is mightier than the sword"[/i] had met the fae and indeed did fear them. Promises in the land of the fae are binding and debts must be paid. An oath once taken can only be voided if the one to whom the oath was made releases their charge from the responsibility of the oath. Barring that a promise must be fulfilled or death will follow. Promises and favors are often used as currency within the fae lands. Though be careful of making too free a promise for it could be used by a clever fae to force the one in their debt to do any task no matter how dangerous or destructive. Contrary to the belief of humans a fae is more than capable of lying but in their culture it is vehemently discouraged. Lying is seen as a cowards weapon. Far better to creep and slink your way around your prey, misleading them until they do not know if the sky is up or down than it is to simply lie to achieve one's ends. All Fae have the ability to glamour themselves. The glamour is an alteration of appearance bestowed by magic who's purpose is to assist the fae in remaining unnoticed in the mortal realm or to alter their appearance as they see fit. Many fae as they are vain creatures use the glamour to disguise imperfections within their own appearance. The glamour however is a simple illusion cast over the true features of the fae, it cannot alter their size or their shape only their outward appearance. Through training fae can (and often do) attain the ability to look through glamours with concentration though the older a fae the more complex and real in appearance the glamour they cast can become. The greatest weakness of the fae is the very thing that drove them from the mortal realm, harsh, cruel iron. Pure undiluted iron will kill fae easily, any wound inflicted with it will be impervious to magical methods of healing and severely hinder a fae's ability to recover naturally. The substance itself in its purest form also burns to the touch and causes sickness in fae merely by being in proximity to it[color=gray]*[/color]. To be more useful in weaponry while limiting the deleterious effects its presence has on all fae most armaments comprised of iron in the fae world are diluted. This altered iron compound will still burn the skin of any fae and hinder their recovery but does not cause the iron sickness. [indent][sup][color=gray]*Essentially iron effects fae in a similar though less severe manner to how green Kryptonite effects Superman[/color][/sup][/indent][/indent] [indent][h3]|| Half Breeds and Changelings ||[/h3][/indent][indent][indent][img]http://66.media.tumblr.com/51fc61ac770a524e9468f174afa94d7f/tumblr_inline_n1xc79Kcic1rb3m8r.png[/img][/indent][/indent][indent]While hybrids between different types of fae are not uncommon, fae human half breeds are decidedly less so. Taking a human lover is typical in the life of a fae but it is considered somewhat taboo to have a child with one. On the occasions when it does happen the child is either sacrificed or pressed into a life of eternal slavery. Fae blood is dominant so a fae/human child born in Faerie will not suffer from diminished abilities however being the offspring of a human will severely limit what they are able to do in the fae world. If a fae/human child is birthed in the mortal realm they will be for all intents and purposes human. Without a link to the magic of Faerie their fae genes will not surface. If at a later time they are exposed to Faerie they would either develop their fae characteristics slowly as their body becomes accustomed to Faerie or they will experience a violent transformation. In either case the changes are permanent. If a fae/human half breed was born in the mortal realm and then had children of their own the faery side of their heritage would be severely diminish with each generation and only be accessible if their descendant were to enter Faerie. When a fae gives birth to what they would refer to as "a defective child" not even familial love will save the child from its fate. Rather than simply abandoning it as that would be a waste of the effort put forth by the mother the child will instead be taken to the mortal realm. There in the dead of night the damaged fae child will be left with a human couple in place of their newborn. The changeling left with the humans will most likely be very sickly for most of its life and likely not survive long. The human changeling the fae stole will become a servant in their household. There is a certain prestige to being a changeling servant that is not afforded to other human slaves. This usually takes the form of increased privileges or responsibilities that would not be granted to other servants. Of course that prestige does not save them from the abuse that most human servants suffer at the hands of their masters.[/indent] [hr][h2]|| Classifications of Fae ||[/h2][hr] [hider=Tuatha Dé Dannan] [b]Race:[/b] [indent]Tuatha Dé Dannan[/indent] [b]Common Physical Traits:[/b] [indent]Most Tuatha have slightly angular features giving them a rather severe look. They have pointed ears and regardless of tone their skin glows ever so slight with an earthy light. They all possess butterfly wings of various shapes, sizes and colors though a pattern at least partially black is quite common. The defining characteristic of the Tuatha Dé Dannan however is their eyes. All Tuatha have sharp violet eyes of a brilliant hue which makes it nearly impossible for them to hide their identities.[/indent] [b]Court:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Abilities:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Limits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Social Standing:[/b] [indent]Though today it is not illegal to be a descendant of the surviving members of that tribe of Fae they are spit on in civilized society unable to gain any sort of respectable position in any of the courts.[/indent] [b]Historical Impact:[/b] [indent][/indent] [/hider] [hider=Fir Bolg EXTINCT] [b]Race:[/b] [indent]Fir Bolg[/indent] [b]Common Physical Traits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Court:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Abilities:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Limits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Social Standing:[/b] [indent]Considered to be nothing more than myth and legend. Stories told of the Fir Bolg are often used by parents to scare infant fae.[/indent] [b]Historical Impact:[/b] [indent][/indent] [/hider] [hider=Mara] [b]Race:[/b] [indent]Mara[/indent] [b]Common Physical Traits:[/b] [indent]The Mara are characterized by wildly out of control hair sixty percent of their body. The manes of hair on their head often stretch to waist length or further giving those who don't look closely the impression of a hairy goblin creature. Their eyes are the color of the sky at the time of their birth ranging from clear bright blue to dark night blue to stormy colored. When in the mists of a feed their eyes glow with the sheen of polished obsidian. They have extremely pale skin that is often obscured by their hair. Their teeth are pointed and razor sharp.[/indent] [b]Court:[/b] [indent]The organized tribes live in Winter and Autumn[/indent] [b]Abilities:[/b] [indent]The Mara are the source of the word Nightmare. Late at night when mortals are deep in sleep the Mara will slip into their houses and sitting upon their chests will enter their dreams. The Mara feed on the emotional energies that one produces when asleep. To this effect they will amplify the power of the dream to gain greater satisfaction. This does not necessarily mean causing nightmares as the Mara can feed on any of the slumbers strong emotions but terror and fear are the easiest to draw out. Feeding on fae while is more filling is also much more dangerous because even in dreams the fae are more conscious than humans. The Mara can grant a euphoric high feeling to its victims upon waking. Though they cannot enter a conscious mind the skilled are experts at manipulating the subconscious to evoke damaging emotions or extract information. The Mara are capable of putting to sleep those that do not actively resist the urge. This is usually used when humans are still half awake when the Mara comes to feed and has not entered the state of sleep where dreaming occurs.[/indent] [b]Limits:[/b] [indent]Mara are incapable of putting to sleep someone who is actively resisting the urge especially if they are aware of the Mara's presence. Manipulating the dreamscape of another mind takes energy from the Mara which they can usually make up for with the emotional energies they draw from their victims. If their interactions in the dream world fail to yield the desired result the feed can lead to them becoming even more drained of energy then they were beforehand.[/indent] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [indent]When an unwilling dreamer becomes aware of the Mara invading their minds all elements of their dreams will turn on the Mara. Being killed in a dream is not fatal but it is highly draining and requires a significant amount of time and feeding to recover from.[/indent] [b]Social Standing:[/b] [indent]Mara are considered by most to be the dregs of fae society. Unless their services are required majority of fae will go to great lengths to avoid Mara in everyday life. Those that do not live among their own kind mostly reside alone or in the types of neighborhoods that only care about the powers you wield. The luckiest or often unluckiest Mara (particularly the women) are forced to become concubines to a Court Ruler or high powered fae for the pleasure their talents can provide. They can also be found in dens of iniquity selling the pleasure their skillset can evoke to any fae willing to buy it. The complete reverse of their abilities is also highly sought after. By extreme over feeding the Mara are capable of placing their victims in a coma from which waking is all but impossible. For this and their other talents they are often hired as assassins, torturers and interrogators.[/indent] [/hider] [hider=Wendigo] [color=gray][b]Race:[/b] [indent]Wendigo[/indent] [b]Common Physical Traits:[/b] [indent]The Wendigo was gaunt to the point of emaciation, its desiccated skin pulled tautly over its bones. With its bones pushing out against its skin, its complexion the ash gray of death, and its eyes pushed back deep into their sockets, the Wendigo looked like a gaunt skeleton recently disinterred from the grave. What lips it had were tattered and bloody. Unclean and suffering from suppurations of the flesh, the Wendigo gave off a strange and eerie odor of decay and decomposition, of death and corruption. Its head is similar to that of a dear, big antlers, sharp teeth, a horrible visage.[/indent] [b]Court:[/b] [indent]Almost exclusively Winter.[/indent] [b]Abilities:[/b] [indent]A Wendigo is a spirit of Winter, Greed, Hunger and Cold. Its name means "[i]Evil that devours[/i]". Its monstrous body is fast, nimble and full of unnatural strength. A Wendigo is also very difficult to kill, iron and fire are basically the two only options to fight these fae. Many fae love to hunt but none is made to be a hunter like the Wendigo. Their senses and bodies are perfected to hunt. A group of twenty soldiers of a King could be sent into a Wendigos cold woods at night and not one would survive until dawn. A Wendigo also grows stronger with every victim it has devoured, legends speak of Wendigos whose powers were so immense that their height rivaled that of the highest trees of the forest and their claws could split open the earth.[/indent] [b]Limits:[/b] [indent]A Wendigo is a being made of gluttony but at the same time always starving. Their strength weakens severely when they haven't eaten anything for a long time and they might even fall into a frenzy of hunger, launching themselves at everything and everyone whose blood they can drink and whose flesh they can devour.[/indent] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [indent]Since their hearts are out of ice hot drinks can kill them and fire is their weakness. A well kept secret is also that Lavender poisons a Wendigo, turning them blind.[/indent] [b]Social Standing:[/b] [indent]Wendigos are quite rare, even in the court of Winter. They are also quite feared. Many of the more elegant, peaceful and decadent fae see them as no more than monsters. Brutes and savages who don't belong in a court but in the woods and hills. This is true for the most part. Wendigos keep to themselves, having no interest in politics and diplomacy, craving only their next meal and the thrill of the hunt. The only times Wendigo get involved at all in the dealings of the more urban fae is when it is time to hunt. It has happened a few times that a Lord of Winter sent man into the woods to hire a Wendigo as a companion for his hunting party. After the hunt is concluded however the Wendigo and the Lord always went their separate ways, for a Wendigo does not belong in a palace. There's also a saying to never enter the hunting grounds of a Wendigo alone or without invitation. Even though the laws of the fae forbid it, many wandering and lost fae never came back from those woods and most families and friends are too afraid to go looking for them.[/indent][/color] [/hider] [hider=Dryads] [b]Race:[/b] [indent]Dryads[/indent] [b]Common Physical Traits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Court:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Abilities:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Limits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Social Standing:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Historical Impact:[/b] [indent][/indent] [/hider] [hider=Hamadryad] [b]Race:[/b] [indent]Hamadryad[/indent] [b]Common Physical Traits:[/b] [indent]There are nine known names for Hamadryads of specific types of trees. [list][*]Karya (Walnut or Hazelnut) [*]Balanos (Oak) [*]Kraneia (Dogwood) [*]Morea (Mulberry) [*]Aigeiros (Black Poplar) [*]Ptelea (Elm) [*]Ampelos (Vines) [*]Syke (Fig) [*]Meliai (Ash)[/list][/indent] [b]Court:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Abilities:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Limits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Social Standing:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Historical Impact:[/b] [indent][/indent] [/hider] [hider=Awenyddion] [b]Race:[/b] [indent]Awenyddion[/indent] [b]Common Physical Traits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Court:[/b] [indent]The Awenyddion are a scattered race who have no one place to call their home. They exist in groups no larger than five or six at most scattered throughout the four courts and often even in the Far Lands. When in the Courts they pretend to be fae of lesser importance to prevent their own persecution or imprisonment.[/indent] [b]Abilities:[/b] [indent]The Awenyddion are spirits of knowledge and things yet to come. The Awenyddion are believed to get their power from their connection to a mystical reservoir of knowledge, of everything that is, was, or ever could be. They call this well the Awen, an ancient word meaning "inspiration". The Awenyddion have no power to access the Awen consciously but when consulted on matters they consider important they can place themselves in state in which the Awen speaks through them. The Awen never delivers an answer to any inquiry clearly, instead speaks with many preambles, and talks in a nugatory and incoherent manner. Their speech is ornamented and confusing but buried within is the desired explanation conveyed in some turn of a word for those skilled enough to hear it. [/indent] [b]Limits:[/b] [indent]Conscious contact with the Awen is considered taboo amongst the Awenyddion. Though none have attempted it in the last eight thousand years or so it is believed that such a contact would result in death or madness. There are also certain questions an Awenyddion is forbidden to answer in any state. If forced to comply with the request the Awen will destroy them rather than let the answer be spoken aloud.[/indent] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [indent]After having answered the questions, they do not recover till violently shaken by another; nor can they remember the replies they have given. If consulted a second or third time upon the same point, the Awenyddion will make use of expressions totally different from the ones used before.[/indent] [b]Social Standing:[/b] [indent]In an age past the Awenyddion were feared by fae for the power they possessed. For creatures of deceit nothing could be more dangerous than those with access to pure unadulterated truth. Therefore the Awenyddion were hunted and enslaved. Fae rulers kept a handful alive to make use of their secrets but most were massacred. Only a small number of Awenyddion still exist and those that do hide their true abilities from the rest of the fae, instead they take on the guise of Gentry Fae or other species most disregard. [/indent] [b]Historical Impact:[/b] [indent][/indent] [/hider] [hider=Pixie] [b]Race:[/b] [indent]Pixie[/indent] [b]Common Physical Traits:[/b] [indent]There may be exceptions to these but they hold true of most of the population.[/indent] [b]Court:[/b] [indent]The Court where the majority of the population of this fae reside. Depending on the type can be limited to a single Court or throughout all four.[/indent] [b]Abilities:[/b] [indent]What special powers are unique to this fae.[/indent] [b]Limits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Social Standing:[/b] [indent]What do most of these fae do for their society and how to the other fae view them?[/indent] [b]Historical Impact:[/b] [indent]Any events in the past of the fae or human realms in which these fae have had a lasting impact. This section is optional as some fae influence the world around them far more than others.[/indent] [/hider] [hider=Siren] [b]Race:[/b] [indent]Siren[/indent] [b]Common Physical Traits:[/b] [indent]There may be exceptions to these but they hold true of most of the population.[/indent] [b]Court:[/b] [indent]The Court where the majority of the population of this fae reside. Depending on the type can be limited to a single Court or throughout all four.[/indent] [b]Abilities:[/b] [indent]What special powers are unique to this fae.[/indent] [b]Limits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Social Standing:[/b] [indent]What do most of these fae do for their society and how to the other fae view them?[/indent] [b]Historical Impact:[/b] [indent]Any events in the past of the fae or human realms in which these fae have had a lasting impact. This section is optional as some fae influence the world around them far more than others.[/indent] [/hider] [hider=Gentry Fae] [b]Race:[/b] [indent]Gentry Fae[/indent] [b]Common Physical Traits:[/b] [indent]There may be exceptions to these but they hold true of most of the population.[/indent] [b]Court:[/b] [indent]The Court where the majority of the population of this fae reside. Depending on the type can be limited to a single Court or throughout all four.[/indent] [b]Abilities:[/b] [indent]What special powers are unique to this fae.[/indent] [b]Limits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Social Standing:[/b] [indent]What do most of these fae do for their society and how to the other fae view them?[/indent] [b]Historical Impact:[/b] [indent]Any events in the past of the fae or human realms in which these fae have had a lasting impact. This section is optional as some fae influence the world around them far more than others.[/indent] [/hider] [hider=Cat Sidhe] [b]Race:[/b] [indent]Cat Sidhe[/indent] [b]Common Physical Traits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Court:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Abilities:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Limits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Social Standing:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Historical Impact:[/b] [indent][/indent] [/hider] [hider=Naiads] [b]Race:[/b] [indent]Naiads[/indent] [b]Common Physical Traits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Court:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Abilities:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Limits:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Weaknesses/Drawbacks:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Social Standing:[/b] [indent][/indent] [b]Historical Impact:[/b] [indent][/indent] [/hider]