Faerie

Second-Generation Faerie (F2s) — PC

Our folklore is filled with tales of benevolent faeries bestowing mortals with unimaginable gifts while their malevolent brethren trick, steal and curse humans for their amusement. The Sidhe are likely to claim they are in the former category in the days after the Breach, sharing their magic with a chosen few, though there are indeed tricksters who have bestowed abilities upon humans in mischief rather than good will.

For the most part, those who have been chosen to be gifted, for good or ill, are often artistic and creative spirits, as the Sidhe value beauty and culture above most other things. Likewise, those who are clever with words are sought out to help the Sidhe with their various enterprises in the entertainment industry through legal contracts or public relations deals. That’s not to say that every Sidhe or their new-generation creations (F2 OOCly, often dubbed “newshie” or “newsh” for New Sidhe ICly) is making big money in a corporate office. Some are still scraping to get by, busking on a corner or waiting tables at a Denny’s. Some find their hex or geas too hard to manage, letting it control their lives.

Socially, without the courts to dictate their actions, the F2s have free will, though there is a natural affinity between Seelie and Seelie or Unseelie and Unseelie; it is possible for the members of the two courts to be friendly, but there is always the chance that one side will be called to fight against the other, which can create tension. Unaligned F2s or Sidhe are not outcasts, though they may be pulled or pushed from either side. The only true outcasting comes from outright lying, breaking an oath or a contract, or treason against the court.

An F2 retains their human appearance except they have a slight luminescence, something of an aura, to their skin; Seelies' fall into the shades of green, Unseelies' are shades of purple, and those of the Unaligned, blue. They also age slower than usual, though they are not immortal by any stretch. A second-generation Faerie will age about 1 year for a normal human's 2, starting at their "becoming."

F2s are gifted with three abilities from the following list at a +6 (whereas all pure Sidhe have all of the gifts at 7-8); Seelie F2s may only choose one of the 2 Seelie powers; Unseelie F2s may only choose 1 of the 2 Unseelie powers; Unaligned F2s may only choose from the general powers):

  • Mind Fog: The ability to confuse and dull the senses of everyone within a 20-foot radius. Affected parties suffer temporary amnesia and have trouble making sense of their surroundings. The effect wears off within seconds once the targets are out of range. The spell can only be sustained for five minutes with extreme concentration (which makes doing other tasks impossible), regardless of size of group (area affect), and the F2 needs to wait an hour before the next use.
  • Incite Emotion: The ability to create or augment an emotion of anyone within a 20-foot radius. Targets may be crowds or specific targets, though smaller numbers will have more intense feelings. The effect can last up to 15 minutes but will fade within a few seconds once it is dropped or the F2 is out of range. Emotions include fear, worry, calmness, anger, optimism. The F2 must wait half an hour before it can be used again.
  • Soulgaze: On first eye contact with a mortal or mortal-born fey, the F2 gets a telling glimpse into their soul. Driving forces and general disposition are revealed. (Note: if the target is a vampire, the F2 is at risk for being mesmerized if the vampire has the Hypnotic Stare ability and the F2 does not have immunity).
  • Immunity to Dominance: This gives the F2 immunity to the werewolf ability of Dominance.
  • Immunity to Hypnotic Stare: This gives the F2 immunity to the vampire ability of Hypnotic Stare.
  • Self Healing: Allows healing at about twice the normal rate for all wounds except those caused by iron, a vampire’s bite or a werewolf’s claws or teeth.
  • If Seelie, players may choose either Glamour OR Plant Control (or may stick with the general abilities instead):
    • Glamour, or photomancy, is the ability to use illusions to mask or change the appearance of reality. Most Fey can see something is false, but they cannot see the true appearance. Humans will be deceived unless the illusion is too unbelievable. Glamours will wear off any item or person within an hour or once the F2 is no longer present to uphold the illusion. A visual Glamour on a living thing will create a false appearance, but any Fey or F2's true nature cannot be disguised (a vampire might be disguised to look human, but his true nature as a vampire will still be evident). A Seelie can either glamour up to four things (person, animal, or object) at a time affecting a single sense or two things affecting two senses, or one thing affecting four senses. An complex animation or speech, etc. from the object will take intense concentration that renders the Seelie incapable of other actions. Seelies with this ability must wait another hour before they can use it again.
    • Plant Control gives the F2 the power to manipulate plant life by accelerating its growth and manipulating its form. The target plants need to be within 20 feet of the F2. A plant or portion thereof may be made to grow to no more than twice its original size, and while this growth can be in unusual directions, it is limited by the nature of the plant; an oak may not sprout vines, for example. The plant may be animated, with concentration, and may strike or grapple with a strength appropriate to the plant — an oak branch may hit hard, while a vine would be better for grappling — up to a maximum of Might 6, in Stat Terms.
  • If Unseelie, players may choose either Necromancy OR Sleep Induction (or may stick with the general abilities instead):
    • Necromancy gives the F2 the ability to raise and manipulate any dead Fey or dead mortal within a 20-foot radius for up to an hour. (This ability does not include power over vampires unless they have been killed!) The corpses must be within 20 feet to be animated and must remain within 100 feet of the Unseelie, who can control them mentally to do very simple tasks (attack, guard, break). After an hour, the dead return to being inanimate objects. The Unseelie F2 may not use the ability for an hour before using it again.
    • Sleep Induction gives the F2 the ability to force an instant sleep upon a target (human, Fey or animal). The target must be touched by the F2 and they will wake as soon as the F2 is out of a 10-foot range or if violence is inflicted upon them (even if the F2 is present). Only one person can be affected by this ability at a time.

See Abilities for more information.

In addition, F2s can be gifted beyond human ability (to a +6) in three of the following skills:

  • Deceit (through manipulation of words, not direct lying, as an F2 cannot lie directly)
  • Conviction
  • Performance
  • Lore
  • Stealth
  • Alertness

In addition, all F2 Players must create either a geas or a hex (imposed on them by the Otherworld Sidhe who gave them their powers). Feel free to use any of the examples as well.

  • A geas is either a restriction or obligation the F2 must abide by; it may seem trivial, but to break it would mark that F2 as an oathbreaker in the same way lying would; in addition, the F2 will experience extremely bad luck (Player discretion/GM discretion or dice rolls may be used). Examples of geasa: Never take silver off a dead man; Can only make right turns; Must count grains of spilled salt; Cannot decline three requests (same or different) in a row.
  • A hex is a curse of some sort that the F2 has no control over. The effects of the Hex can be somewhat arbitrary, making it difficult to use to one’s advantage in a reliable fashion (in a GM-run scene, GM discretion or dice rolls may be used to determine effects). Examples of hexes: Technology malfunctioning in the F2’s presence, Food going bad when the F2 uses magic, Inability to be Glamoured, Getting hiccups whenever hiding.

Notes on Geasa and Hexes:
In general, the Seelie Sidhe tend to give either 1) a taboo geas that may be an attempt to protect the mortal from some future downfall — for example, if a Sidhe foresees the mortal choking on a peach pit, they may forbid them from eating fruit with pits — or 2) one that protects the aspects of the world that Seelie hold precious — life, growth, warmth, light. For example, one that demands the F2 give first aid to anyone in need.

The Unseelie courtiers tend to give a geas or hex that is more likely seen as a curse, mostly out of mischief than anything else, or one that requires them to pay homage to the things the Unseelie respect: cold, death, decay. For example, if they draw a weapon, they cannot put it away until they kill something with it. There are, as always, exceptions to these general rules.

When the F2s are given their abilities, geasa or hexes, it is through a quick, magical touch, usually to the heart or the head; the mortal takes on the luminescent glow of the Faerie and has a sudden intrinsic understanding of how to use their abilities and what their geasa or hexes are. While others may not know what the geasa is, they can tell when it has been broken through their Sight, and will shun the faerie as an oathbreaker. After a time period (perhaps six months), a Faerie can petition for a new geas if he can find a Faerie court to hear his case. Unfortunately, the Faerie courts are in hiding, but perhaps they could be found.


Otherworld Faerie — NPCs

Of the main kinds of Fey, the fair folk are the most diverse and most difficult to classify; almost anything not a vampire or a werewolf gets thrown into the mix. Faerie types range from tiny elementals and pixies no bigger than an agate stone on a ring to what most humans would call monsters — trolls and ogres (For the smallest and the largest, which are the least likely to run into in the city of Los Angeles, see “Other Faerie”). Like the other Fey, those from Faerie have been crossing the boundaries between their world and ours for eons, spawning fairy tales and myths in every culture.

A note on the word Faerie: To those from the Otherworld, Faerie is a place, not a person, and they do not refer to themselves as Faerie but as the specific type (i.e. pixie, goblin, Sidhe) amongst themselves. They are resigned to the fact that humans call them fairy or faerie. OOCly, they are classified under Faerie for simplicity's sake.

The Sidhe: Since the Breach, it is what most folklorists would call the Sidhe — as they can blend into civilization the easiest and survive the cities the best — that most humans will have interactions with among the faerie. It is also the Sidhe that can share their gifts with the mortals; the other Faerie types either cannot or choose not to. The Sidhe are the most like human in their physical form and their social structure. Tall and willowy in shape, with usually sharp features and luminescent skin and eyes, there is an ethereal sort of beauty about them that explains the myths that place them halfway between Man and Angel. The Sidhe, and all Faeries in fact, are usually allied with either the Seelie or Unseelie Court, though this by no way means good and evil. Neither side is purely one or the other. The Seelie Sidhe have powers of warmth, rejuvenation, growth and birth, while the Unseelie Sidhe claim the powers associated with cold, ice, sleep and death. Some Sidhe are unaligned with either, which can be both a curse and a blessing. No Sidhe can willingly and knowingly tell a lie, but they are masters at choosing their words carefully, often using them to mislead. They are also all bound to honor promises and contracts, and should they fail to do so, they are exiled and shunned by their society.

Most of the royals of the courts are in hiding since The Breach, though rumor has it the highest of the Seelie Court has taken refuge in the wilds of Scotland while their counterparts of the Unseelie Court are in New York City. The rest of the Sidhe have scattered across the globe, enjoying the freedom that the distance from the royals provides, but that freedom has a price — there is less unity and the world is a dangerous one. While true Faeries can live forever, they are not immune to injury or death by violence or illness, and the Sidhe are the weakest when it comes to physical ability of all the Fey. Their power is instead that of trickery, illusion and magic. For this reason, they (and the mortals they have made into their image) have become exceptionally powerful in the entertainment and public relations industries — no one can rival their showmanship or beauty, and their ability to wield words like weapons make them excellent bargaining tools.

The Sidhe have all of the abilities of a true Sidhe as well as those associated with their court if they are affiliated (at a 7-8 power level). A wound caused by iron cannot be healed magically and will take twice as much time to heal as a normal wound would a mortal; being surrounded by solid iron (such as in a cage) will render their powers useless.

Why do the Sidhe share their power with the mortals they choose? Either by whim or for survival; the Sidhe have never been very prolific in their offspring, but since the Breach, they have become sterile. Many of them view making the new generation a matter of numbers. Others do it simply because they find it amusing, while others do it in return for some favor. No matter the reason, there is always a price — either a hex to balance out the gift or a geas the new-generation Faerie must adhere to.


Other Faerie — NPCs

As a rule, the less human in shape and size, the less likely the faerie are to stay in the city. Small faeries like elementals and what one might call pixies are more apt to be weakened by the amount of iron in the world they live in, while the larger, human-sized faerie can manage to survive its toll. For this reason, such small creatures tend to stay out of the city limits, finding refuge in nature instead.

The more simple-minded faerie types, like goblins and trolls, dislike human civilization for multiple reasons; they are more feared than their “fairer” brethren and more likely to be endangered because of it, and they lack the cunning to manipulate the humans to their will. Thus, they prefer to live in the woods and mountains in small groups or alone. Once in a while, one may find one under the employ of a city dweller, likely as a hitman or bouncer, thanks to their brute force.


Cast

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