Brilliant Gameologists Forum

The Thinktank => Talespinning => : Prime32 October 27, 2011, 09:56:45 PM

: The Fey
: Prime32 October 27, 2011, 09:56:45 PM
My image of the fair folk, as pieced together from mythology and pop culture:


Any comments?
: Re: The Fey
: veekie October 28, 2011, 01:28:50 PM
  • I Think Therefore I Am What I Think: A fey exists in exactly the way it sees itself. The least of the fey are flighty, shifting constantly, and are usually visible as little more than balls of light. The most powerful fey (the lords and ladies) are those with strong personalities, and are more or less fixed in their current shape.
  • There Are No Boundaries: Most fey have trouble telling the difference between fine clothing and rags, between people of different ages/races/genders, between mortals and fey, or even between physical things and abstract ones. As such, they freely offer humans drink not safe for mortal consumption, and can steal someone's eyes or voice as easily as their wallet. For this reason the Wild Hunt treats all things as prey. Feycrafted weapons have powerful magic effects, being shaped from raw concepts. The names for different "species" of fey were invented by mortals, and the fey themselves do not understand them (using only names and titles).
  • We Are The World: Fey as a whole are connected to nature - disrupting one has an effect on the other. For instance, killing the lord(s) who embody Spring would prevent Spring from coming; a fey who lives in a river is most likely river-like, and damming the river could kill it or mutate it into a different form. Industry symbolises man's dominance over nature - thus most fey are harmed by manufactured items which do not occur naturally (eg. high-grade iron, plastic) and have trouble entering settlements larger than a small town. Canny fey will abuse this by hiring/tricking humans into killing their enemies.
  • Glamour: Because of the nature of their existence, fey have the ability to create powerful effects which blur the line between illusions and reality warping. The most common examples are transforming one substance into another (eg. dirt to gold) or making themselves appear inhumanly beautiful.
  • Geas: Fey also have the power to enforce commands on themselves and others, which are permanent until rescinded (though not all can be). Generally this is used by a lord to control their subjects, but it can also be used to punish mortals or enforce deals. This also means that a fey who has decided on something is almost impossible to convince otherwise.
I personally like to treat these as parts of one whole concept, that of unity and separation.
Firstly they have no inherent boundaries in the literal sense. Everything is not part of one organism, everything is one organism. However, while in this state, nothing can interact with another, because they cannot have will, volition or even action. By taking on boundaries, they gain identity and distinctness but lose much of the power of the whole.

So the most fundamental boundary is a mind, the mind gives a continuity and identity to a given being, without a mind they won't remain distinct for long, and will just meld or disperse before long. However, since all they are is their thoughts, their ideas must be to some extent real, or it threatens their own stability. So when they say something, the world reflects it as truth(true magic) and glamour(lesser magic, without enough power to stay real). When they give their word, it is binding upon them, because their word is what keeps their identity, breaking it would break them.

Hows that?
: Re: The Fey
: Prime32 October 28, 2011, 01:41:33 PM
I personally like to treat these as parts of one whole concept, that of unity and separation.
Pretty much, which is why I grouped them together.
Firstly they have no inherent boundaries in the literal sense. Everything is not part of one organism, everything is one organism. However, while in this state, nothing can interact with another, because they cannot have will, volition or even action. By taking on boundaries, they gain identity and distinctness but lose much of the power of the whole.

So the most fundamental boundary is a mind, the mind gives a continuity and identity to a given being, without a mind they won't remain distinct for long, and will just meld or disperse before long. However, since all they are is their thoughts, their ideas must be to some extent real, or it threatens their own stability. So when they say something, the world reflects it as truth(true magic) and glamour(lesser magic, without enough power to stay real). When they give their word, it is binding upon them, because their word is what keeps their identity, breaking it would break them.

Hows that?
[spoiler]
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[/spoiler]Yes.

I should note that there are stories of mortal warriors taking on geasa, and following them appeared to make the warriors "exist" more. In D&D something like this could be instituted by placing a series of level caps on characters (similar to E6 - maybe at 6th level and every even level thereafter), each of which can be broken by taking a geis. Wu jen already have something similar.
: Re: The Fey
: veekie October 28, 2011, 03:18:55 PM
Well, bindings and restrictions are a common theme amongst magical myths in general, either they are constrained by words(in the form of being bound to literal truth or binding to oaths) or action(with forbidden actions and mandatory actions).

Not many go to the extent of the Irish geasa though. Most such bonds tend to be limited to the power the bound gain, or an inherent part of the supernatural being.

Could still be an interesting 'hook mechanic' for characters in general though.
: Re: The Fey
: oslecamo October 28, 2011, 05:58:13 PM
  • I Think Therefore I Am What I Think: A fey exists in exactly the way it sees itself. The least of the fey are flighty, shifting constantly, and are usually visible as little more than balls of light. The most powerful fey (the lords and ladies) are those with strong personalities, and are more or less fixed in their current shape.
I believe it's the other way around. A weak ball of light is shifting because it has little power and has to adapt if it wants to do anythihing. A fey Lord is born with powerful powers and that naturally leads to a strong personality.

In particular because what's the last time you heard of a lower fairy developing self-confidence and suddenly becoming a Wild Lord?

Doubly because disguising themselves as other things is a fey classic even for the higher ups.

Also one aspect I believe you missed here is "Life". They love forests and lakes. Meanwhile you won't find fairies at all on the Mt.Doom of fiery death even if it's a natural place, or in that wasteland desert. You do find fairies in artifical homes if they have warm active families the fairy grows attached to. They may be tied to the seasons, but that's because each season brings a new change of life.
: Re: The Fey
: Bozwevial October 28, 2011, 06:06:08 PM
  • I Think Therefore I Am What I Think: A fey exists in exactly the way it sees itself. The least of the fey are flighty, shifting constantly, and are usually visible as little more than balls of light. The most powerful fey (the lords and ladies) are those with strong personalities, and are more or less fixed in their current shape.
In particular because what's the last time you heard of a lower fairy developing self-confidence and suddenly becoming a Wild Lord?
For one, the Dresden Files.
: Re: The Fey
: veekie October 28, 2011, 06:37:34 PM
Theres also the association with dreams, but I think thats a more recent association, and falls under weak boundaries.
EDIT:
Also the Life connection is weaker than you'd think, a lot of traditional fae are strongly associated with death(the original banshee for one), while other classics are associated with unliving forces(generally the elements, but especially where one element transitions into another).