Title: Fey Splatbook (30% done) Author: Lucyne Pastebin link: http://pastebin.com/8RmgCi6D First Edit: Thursday 16th of January 2014 09:36:47 AM CDT Last Edit: Thursday 16th of January 2014 09:36:47 AM CDT Dancing Lights and Invisible Lies - The Loreguide to the Fair Folk   - What exactly is "The Fair Folk"? - Fairies, Fey, Spirits, Demons, the Fair Folk is known as many different things, depending on who you ask. A extremely prevelant object of mythology throughout the world, the Fey are strange and unpredictable magical creatures that are said to lurk below barrow mounds, in the forests, even in our houses. The fey are as homogenous as they are predictable, not. There are many different types of fey creatures, with vastly different mindsets, appearances and demeanors towards mortals. Seeing as through Ghostleaf forest, fey have been established as existing, this splatbook like writeup will be an attempt to finally codify in lore who they are, what they can do and what they want from us. For the sake of a fun game, some things here are not based on well researched mythology and rather is freely invented and added in good fantasy style to make the lore presented here more fun and usable in our world.   - Physical and Magical Characteristics - No one Fairy looks like the other, but it is very important to make clear: The soft and beautiful gossamer winged fairies of Shakespearean and Victorian literature are NOTHING like the frightening and insane creatures that they were known as previously. If the fey are one thing, it is dangerous. Most fey possess powerful magical abilities, to strike people down with illness, to turn invisible, to bring bad luck, but also to bring good luck and prosperity, if they are so inclined. Many fey are tricksters, and are masters of Illusion magic, turning a barren cave filled with dried leaves and dirt into a banquet hall for an unwitting mortal they decided to play with. All fey are immortal, or at least age so slow that humans cannot perceive it. Therefor, fey have a vastly different perception of time, and find nothing odd about avenging a slight on them on the offendor's children 7 generations later, but they usually are quite swift when it comes to retribution. Many fey can turn perfectly invisible and can fly, shrink or change shape. They use these abilities to more effectively belittle and prank unwitting mortals, and it makes them quite the threat if angered. Their invisibility, being of a magic unlike normal kind, is extraordinary hard to pierce, most anti insibility spells being wholly useless. Some rare individuals, by birth or gift from the little folk, have a "second sight" which allows them to see invisible fey, and to sometimes pierce their illusions as well. Most fairies are not profficient melee fighters, but there are very noteable exceptions. The "Others", a prominently powerful folk of fey established, are preternaturally capable and terrifying warriors, being capable of slaying a full grown cave troll in a single blow. Most other fey avoid direct physical confrontation, instead using their invisibility and illusions to trick and hamper their enemies, often to deadly effect. Generally, the best course of action is to avoid conflict with the fey all together, before one may be cursed or worse, but if physical conflict is unavoidable, a substance known as Cold Iron, which is pure iron extracted from the earth and shaped without the application of heat, is the most affective in fighting them. Many fey are repelled by it like a foul odor, and direct contact can disrupt their magic and kill them quickly if they are wounded by it. Wounded by anything else, they are incredibly difficult to kill often, being able to still function and recover even from the most grotesque wounds, as long as they can make it back to their realm in time to heal. The physical appearance of fey is vastly different from individual to individual, to the degree one would usually hardly group them into the same category. Most fey are small creatures, from a foot or two in height to a single inch tall, many though can grow and shrink at will. Some resemble animals, some resemble ponies and, shockingly, some resemble humans. Some fey though, are monstrous creatures more akin to demons than what one would associate with fairies. Hags are grotesque and evil womanlike fey, while goblin and troll like creatures exist alongside nightmareish tricksters whose true form is always cloaked in illusion. A few fey, such as the Others, appear humanoid, often with exaggerated and inhuman features mixed into the whole. While the smallest prankster fey may be an inch tall, the lithe Others tower a massive 9 feet.   - The Mentality of the Fey - What strikes most people about the fey is how VASTLY different their mentality is. Fey have incredibly bizarre behaviors that borders on all out madness. Even the sanest and kindest of fey are prone to random bouts of cruelty and unpredictable behavior. Fey are like nature, unpredictable, wild, dangerous. One may feel at ease near the pretty fey, with their beautiful illusions and music, but only a fool would ever be comfortable around these creatures, nevermind trust them. Most fey are pathological liars, and will lie without pause or reason about anything asked. As such, the saying goes to always believe the opposite of what a fairy tells you. This is not necessarily always the case, but again, even the most mortal friendly ones will often lie and trick them for their amusement alone. Fey have a legendary lacking of understanding and empathy for mortals. They hardly grasp concepts such as death and pain, and often see them both as little more than fun things they can do to mortals. Some fey have motives, interests and agendas, but most are incredibly bored immortal creatures, and make their own motives up as they go along, whatever happens to amuse them the most at the time. One great exception to this is the (completely untypical for irish mythology) bindingness of contracts with fey. Not unlike pacts with the devil, many fey are very willing to enter into contracts with mortals, giving them things such as fairy food, fairy gold, good luck, information, pleasure or anything else they can be bothered to offer in exchange for favors of equal value from the mortal. What though equals in value, is wholly up to the fey in question. As such, it is HIGHLY recommended to never enter into a contract with a fey before clearly making the terms, even then it should be avoided, as fey are masters in misinterpreting and twisting wishes to their own cruel and amusing desires. As anyone who has dealt with them can say, you never come out on top, ever. An important facet of the fey mentality is their warped perception of honor and insult. Fey take insult VERY to heart, and often lash out with vastly inappropriately harsh responses to it. What results in such an insult is again wholly up to the fey in question, and can be anything from trespassing into their (usually unmarked) territory to mistakenly spotting them in the forest. Similarly though, fey often react hugely over thankful and friendly to mortals that do amuse them, whether by their behavior or offerings. They often shower a favored mortal with gifts of good luck, having his farm grow strong and healthily, shielding him and his family from diseases and even doing housework or fending off enemies and rivals. This help, of course, can turn sour just as fast as it started if one does not know how to properly converse and act around the fey in question, causing them to quickly revert that good luck into disaster. As such, one must know much about the fey in ones house and always dutifully treat it properly, or better yet keep them all as far away from you and your family as possible. Lucky for us, the fey around here barely register our existance, and generally leave us be as long as we leave them be.   - The Seelie and the Unseelie - In the twilight realm of Ghostleaf Forest, there exist two very loose "factions" of fey: The Seelie and the Unseelie. These less have to do with any proper allegiance and more with how moral and mortal friendly a fey considers itself. As a rule of thumb, the Seelie are kinder, prettier and more trustworthy than the ugly, cruel and dangerous Unseelie. This is not to say you can trust a pretty fairy that tells you it is of the Seelie Court, it might well be lying. True Seelie fairies though, such as the Three Troubadours, are generally much more predictable and safe to be around than Unseelie or unaligned fey, and usually only prank mortals in ways that won't permanently harm them. Unseelie on the other hand include absolutely horrifi and demonic creatures from hags to literal night-mares. They often take huge pleasure in torturing and killing mortals as they please, cackling at their misfortune and pain. One does not want to be near or interact with Unseelie, ever. They are closer to what people imagine demons to be like than what people imagine fairies to be. The majority of Ghostleaf inhabitant though, are unaligned chaotic creatures that each have their own individual senses of morals, further confusing the issue. The Three Troubadours are examples of true Seelie, Illurien and the Others are unaligned fey, and we (thank god) have not met any truly important Unseelie...yet.