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sparkindarknessI'm in a world building mood. This won't really fit in the discourses because it's not something to debate - they're accepted facts. Still, it gets my head around thinsg more solidly.
Anyway, onwards to faerie weaknesses
A guide to faerie weaknesses. AKA the reason why faeries largely hide from humans these days (not that they would EVER admit it. They have more important priorities. That’s all. And they’re guiding from the shadows. Yesss, that’s it, from the shadows, subtle like).
There are 4 major kinds of weaknesses that the fae suffer from:
1) Property of substance. Some substances (like Iron) are poisonous to the fae. Basically, they’re vulnerable to them in the same way that humans are vulnerable to cyanide – it just messes them up pretty badly.
2) Oaths. In the distant past fae often made oaths to humans in exchange for worship, service, etc. While many have been breached buy forgetful humans (which is generally one of the last things those forgetful humans or forgetful human’s descendants do – fae take oath breaking very seriously) and are no longer binding, others remain as superstitions, common practice or are simply unbreachable (eg. Ancestor has did a task for the fae and all descendent get the benefit – if the ancestor has done the task then nothing the descendants do can breach the oath).
Most of these oaths are either remembered by the fae, or, more usually, have a magical ‘alarm’ on them. The original oath maker casts a spell on the oath to signify to future fae that an oath exists. Oath Signs vary – obviously a Pooka commoner wanders through an area has no power or right to bind the local Sidhe duke in an oath. The Sidhe can sense the Oath Sign, but isn’t obliged to accept it – the Pooka is dishonourable for swearing an oath he cannot keep.
Many oaths are not enforceable per se, but are respected. A Sidhe can enter a house with a blue door frame, for example, but fae culture places such emphasis on the importance of oaths that the Sidhe will be exceed9ingly reluctant to break it, maybe even accepting pain or even death rather than cross the threshold. But there is nothing physically stopping the Sidhe crossing the threshold and he won’t suffer for doing so.
Such is the prohibition against oath breaking that though the aforementioned Pooka can’t bind the Sidhe with his oath, the Sidhe may repsect it anyway (and go find the Pooka and give him hell) because no fae wants to make another fae an oathbreaker, even a lying, dishonourable Pooka; especially not to the humans as it would reflect on the honour of all fae.
There are 2 kinds of enforceable oath. The first merely has an almost impossible to find alarm attached to the Oath Sign. If it is broken, the one who swore it (or anyone else he has designated as an Oath Keeper or Oath Guardian) will feel that it has broken. They are then honour bound (and bloody furious) to make amends to the offended human and punish the offending fae however they can (the above Pooka will apply all his trickery to make the Sidhe’s life hell. A Sidhe Lord will probably all for sa duel and will even start a vendetta against the other Sidhe’s House). Among the Seelie breaking someone’s oath is considered a challenge and a grave insult. Among the Unseelie it’s considered to be a bloody annoying thing to do worthy of some serious pain.
The second kind of enforceable oath actually has a curse attached to the Oath Sign. This can be an obvious warning or a hidden trap. The Sidhe are especially fond of this. The last person to breach one of Lord Brionachan’s oaths spontaneously combusted with unquenchable fire.
3) Magic. Even when the human doesn’t realise he is using it – he makes the sign against the evil eye and doesn’t realise that it is an actual ward that disrupts fae magic. He makes a gestures and doesn’t realise that the old superstition actually disrupts Ley Lines, etc. No human could do this alone (and human trying to go one on one in a magical contest with a Sidhe fully deserves the embarrassing and rapid death that is sure to follow). But he is actually building on centuries upon centuries of human wizards who have created these vast spells over generations of working to be triggered by humans in trouble. These are often limited to area as all the human wizards who ever lived creating their web of protective spells over Ireland were never able (or considered it necessary) to extend them to Romania.
4) Glamour. In a way this should be included under magic, but it sufficiently different to deserve its own section. Glamour is the magic of self – magic of belief, imagination, the mind, creativity and dreams. This magic is very intimate to the fae and all of them posses it in large amounts it is said to be integral to their own souls. It is almost food to the fae – they thrive on dreams and imagination, it gives them strength and power. Glamour is, ultimately, the magic of the fantastic, the part of all beings that is willing to believe the wonderful exists. All humans have Glamour, vast wells of imaginations, dreams and potential. Ins ome ways they are more capable with their Glamour than the fae, they can imbue their creations with it, enrich their world with it, generally stir the world and the realms around them with it without even realising. When around humans who are filled with Glamour or in areas that are enriched with human Glamour, the fae are powerful, boosted and almost high with joy. Their magic, and their very existence, is boosted by the human Glamour – all that dreaming feeding into them and energising them.
The flip side is many humans have ‘broken’ Glamour. The world rejects the fantastic, the mystical and the wondrous. They still produce Glamour – but even their dreams are mundane. Even their hopes and fantasies are boring, limited, restricted. Even in the height of imagination, their wonderful Glamour actively denies the fae’s power, denies that magic can exist, denies that they can exist. While the fae have never come across someone who is so mundane that their presence negates fae magic and drives the fae off, the presence of such people is still not great for the fae. The presence of lots of negative dreamers, being surrounded by teeming hordes of boring, mundane people thinking boring, mundane thoughts and dreaming boring, mundane dreams is very unpleasant. It makes magic much harder and can, in extreme cases or in areas that have been thoroughly saturated with negative glamour, cause physical pain to the fae.
Anyway, onwards to faerie weaknesses
A guide to faerie weaknesses. AKA the reason why faeries largely hide from humans these days (not that they would EVER admit it. They have more important priorities. That’s all. And they’re guiding from the shadows. Yesss, that’s it, from the shadows, subtle like).
There are 4 major kinds of weaknesses that the fae suffer from:
1) Property of substance. Some substances (like Iron) are poisonous to the fae. Basically, they’re vulnerable to them in the same way that humans are vulnerable to cyanide – it just messes them up pretty badly.
2) Oaths. In the distant past fae often made oaths to humans in exchange for worship, service, etc. While many have been breached buy forgetful humans (which is generally one of the last things those forgetful humans or forgetful human’s descendants do – fae take oath breaking very seriously) and are no longer binding, others remain as superstitions, common practice or are simply unbreachable (eg. Ancestor has did a task for the fae and all descendent get the benefit – if the ancestor has done the task then nothing the descendants do can breach the oath).
Most of these oaths are either remembered by the fae, or, more usually, have a magical ‘alarm’ on them. The original oath maker casts a spell on the oath to signify to future fae that an oath exists. Oath Signs vary – obviously a Pooka commoner wanders through an area has no power or right to bind the local Sidhe duke in an oath. The Sidhe can sense the Oath Sign, but isn’t obliged to accept it – the Pooka is dishonourable for swearing an oath he cannot keep.
Many oaths are not enforceable per se, but are respected. A Sidhe can enter a house with a blue door frame, for example, but fae culture places such emphasis on the importance of oaths that the Sidhe will be exceed9ingly reluctant to break it, maybe even accepting pain or even death rather than cross the threshold. But there is nothing physically stopping the Sidhe crossing the threshold and he won’t suffer for doing so.
Such is the prohibition against oath breaking that though the aforementioned Pooka can’t bind the Sidhe with his oath, the Sidhe may repsect it anyway (and go find the Pooka and give him hell) because no fae wants to make another fae an oathbreaker, even a lying, dishonourable Pooka; especially not to the humans as it would reflect on the honour of all fae.
There are 2 kinds of enforceable oath. The first merely has an almost impossible to find alarm attached to the Oath Sign. If it is broken, the one who swore it (or anyone else he has designated as an Oath Keeper or Oath Guardian) will feel that it has broken. They are then honour bound (and bloody furious) to make amends to the offended human and punish the offending fae however they can (the above Pooka will apply all his trickery to make the Sidhe’s life hell. A Sidhe Lord will probably all for sa duel and will even start a vendetta against the other Sidhe’s House). Among the Seelie breaking someone’s oath is considered a challenge and a grave insult. Among the Unseelie it’s considered to be a bloody annoying thing to do worthy of some serious pain.
The second kind of enforceable oath actually has a curse attached to the Oath Sign. This can be an obvious warning or a hidden trap. The Sidhe are especially fond of this. The last person to breach one of Lord Brionachan’s oaths spontaneously combusted with unquenchable fire.
3) Magic. Even when the human doesn’t realise he is using it – he makes the sign against the evil eye and doesn’t realise that it is an actual ward that disrupts fae magic. He makes a gestures and doesn’t realise that the old superstition actually disrupts Ley Lines, etc. No human could do this alone (and human trying to go one on one in a magical contest with a Sidhe fully deserves the embarrassing and rapid death that is sure to follow). But he is actually building on centuries upon centuries of human wizards who have created these vast spells over generations of working to be triggered by humans in trouble. These are often limited to area as all the human wizards who ever lived creating their web of protective spells over Ireland were never able (or considered it necessary) to extend them to Romania.
4) Glamour. In a way this should be included under magic, but it sufficiently different to deserve its own section. Glamour is the magic of self – magic of belief, imagination, the mind, creativity and dreams. This magic is very intimate to the fae and all of them posses it in large amounts it is said to be integral to their own souls. It is almost food to the fae – they thrive on dreams and imagination, it gives them strength and power. Glamour is, ultimately, the magic of the fantastic, the part of all beings that is willing to believe the wonderful exists. All humans have Glamour, vast wells of imaginations, dreams and potential. Ins ome ways they are more capable with their Glamour than the fae, they can imbue their creations with it, enrich their world with it, generally stir the world and the realms around them with it without even realising. When around humans who are filled with Glamour or in areas that are enriched with human Glamour, the fae are powerful, boosted and almost high with joy. Their magic, and their very existence, is boosted by the human Glamour – all that dreaming feeding into them and energising them.
The flip side is many humans have ‘broken’ Glamour. The world rejects the fantastic, the mystical and the wondrous. They still produce Glamour – but even their dreams are mundane. Even their hopes and fantasies are boring, limited, restricted. Even in the height of imagination, their wonderful Glamour actively denies the fae’s power, denies that magic can exist, denies that they can exist. While the fae have never come across someone who is so mundane that their presence negates fae magic and drives the fae off, the presence of such people is still not great for the fae. The presence of lots of negative dreamers, being surrounded by teeming hordes of boring, mundane people thinking boring, mundane thoughts and dreaming boring, mundane dreams is very unpleasant. It makes magic much harder and can, in extreme cases or in areas that have been thoroughly saturated with negative glamour, cause physical pain to the fae.