The Fey

[Prime32]

My image of the fair folk, as pieced together from mythology and pop culture:

• Alien: While they are generally mischievous rather than cruel, fey have a serious case of Blue And Orange Morality going on, with completely different senses of morality and value to mortals. A fey might pursue a vendetta against ten generations of a family for helping him, or remain cheerful while his friends are killed around him, or trade a kingdom for a piece of string, and yet this will make perfect sense to other fey.
  
• 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.
  
• Eternal: Fey as a whole are immortal, though they may not exist with the same form or the same mind over the span of their existence. It's even possible for fey to merge together or split apart, though few beyond the least of their kind are willing to do so - the strange woman dressed in white who wanders through the forest might be a school of minor fey acting together, which could solidify into a true individual or disperse the next morning. Generally, "killing" a fey disperses its essence into minor fey or recreates it in a death-related aspect; some fey lack the ability to die altogether, having no understanding of the concept. Or maybe killing a fey causes it to be reborn as a mortal, and killing a mortal causes it to be reborn as a fey.
  
• 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.
  
• The Between Places: Fey live somewhere which is not quite a separate world, but not quite this one. Certain places exist in both worlds, some are larger in one than the other, and a rare few have no equivalent. Entering their realm requires specific paths, which are not always two-way and do not necessarily require travel (eg. falling asleep in a mushroom ring). In any case, it's impossible to tell when you have crossed over except occasionally by a feeling of wrongness. At certain times of the year (such as the solstice), more of these paths open and fey travel between worlds more freely.
  
• Time? What's Time?: Time flows differently in the fey realms. Someone who spends an hour in a court might return seconds after he left, or crumble to dust as soon as he sets foot on mortal soil. The fey themselves don't notice or care.
  
• 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 must always keep their word, and can compel others to do so to a limited extent - lords can use this to command their subjects. Many fey become vulnerable when held in a certain way or when one of their possessions is stolen, cannot enter a house without an invitation, or are unable to lie. These restrictions are always to the letter rather than the spirit, meaning that plenty of loopholes exist.
  
• Humans Are Cool: Fey will frequently try to imitate others, and since they see humans as no different from fey (and certainly more interesting than most animals) this leads to their lords adopting some human customs... more or less. While they have a better understanding of humans than most, extended interaction will show that they are still alien. Plus, they tend to mimic negative human qualities as well, like jealousy and vanity. At best, some lords have been known to find particular humans impressive and offer them eternal life and comfort in their lands (eg. King Arthur, ); others do not make it a choice.
  
• Give In To The Lizard Brain: Fey are primal beings, and uncontrolled exposure to them and their creations can send humans mad or turn them into fey themselves (there is not much difference between the two). Some lords will place mortals under their custody, protecting them from their lesser siblings; others induce the effect from excessively beautiful glamours.
  

Any comments?

[veekie]

• 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?

[Prime32]

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.

[veekie]

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.

[oslecamo]

• 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.

[Bozwevial]

• 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.

[veekie]

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).