Fairies

Fairies, Faeries, Fae, the Little Folk, the Goodly Folk, the Fair Folk, and all things of Wonderland

Not all things that go bump in the night are born of flesh and bone…

"Come away, O human child! To the waters and the wild with a faery hand in hand, for the world's more full of weeping than you can understand." ~ William Butler Yeats

pans.jpg

Fae are almost universally preternaturally fast and strong. They have a tendency of being very resilient. Unlike shifters and vampires, silver is particularly harmful to fae. Cold iron on the other hand is very dangerous to a fae. The old legends says that it can unmake a fae.

The fae are very powerful creatures. Glamour or the power of illusion is one of the powers traditionally associated with the fae. It is said that certain things can disrupt a fae's glamour, such as a four leaf clover, St. John's wort, verbena, and daisies. Ointments made from these things and spready over the eyes, mouth, ears, and nose, can make someone immune to a fae's glamour. It is also said that throwing salt on a fae or the person being influenced by the fae can shatter the glamour.

Many fae also have an unnerving rapport with nature. It is almost like plants and animals bend to the will of the fae. Fae, and those that bear their blood, also have a tendency to have a high magical or psychic potential.

In general, the creatures of fae can be divided up into two categories: Seelie and Unseelie. Unseelie are bad fairies, and Seelie are not unseelie. That is not to say that Seelie are good, it just means that they are not unseelie, just as unseelie are not seelie. Confused? Welcome to the fae…

The Unseelie

The Unseelie are not legally permitted to enter the United States. Now this does not mean that there were not those of the Unseelie that were already here when that edict was issued. Nor does it mean that there aren't those who come anyway, after all, the American borders have a long history of not being the most secure.

The Unseelie are the stuff of nightmares, the thing in the closet, the monster under the bed, the monster that snatches little children that are outside after the sun has set. Most Unseelie are monstrous and cannot pass for human. The Unseelie are source of many pieces of folklore about the things that go bump in the night. The reason that no one ever sees the tooth fairy is because no child that ever wakes to see the creature putting the coin in exchange for the tooth is ever seen again. On the other hand, like all fae, the unseelie are bound by rules and geas that they must adhere to.

The Seelie

The Seelie are not good faeries, they are if anything more neutral in their actions. The majority of the Seelie that humans ever interact with are the Daoine Sidhe, a powerful and ancient race that predates humanity's presence in Europe. The Sidhe are more like Tolkien's elves; tall, beautiful, and very powerful.

"And I shall not be dark, but beautiful and terrible as the morning and the night! Fair as the sea and the sun and the snow upon the mountain! Dreadful as the storm and the lightning! Stronger than the foundations of the earth! All shall love me and despair!" - Galadriel, Fellowship of the Ring