Reader

*'They’ll have a Reader that can peer all inside your head and rip every single terrible thing you’ve ever done or thought or felt right out of you.' - Eran Iliakambar*

## Introduction

Readers are empaths powerful enough to use their ability as a kind of telepathy, and often have unfortunate fates once their nature as Readers is discovered.

## Physical Description

The only known Readers are both common fae, and common fae appear much like humans. Pale brown eyes are not uncommon among Readers.

## Abilities

Reading itself is an innate ability. Readers are empaths powerful enough to work almost like telepaths, in that they can read the feelings and/or thoughts of their targets, or even just the people around them. When they first gain their abilities, they can pick up emotions/thoughts without even trying from the fae around them, and are trained to be able to focus. This is similar in some ways to diviners or prophets, like Ondine. 'Readers were not quite like empaths or other types of fae that sensed energy.' 'Readers worked on such a finely tuned level of empathy, they could attach an emotion to something very like a thought.'

Readers can also seemingly hide sound (e.g., voices) from other fae, like when Mikkel blocked his conversation with Gwyn ap Nudd from spies listening in.

'Readers weren’t like other empaths. They could not be blocked' by the same protections that block compulsions. Lower status fae have a harder time blocking their abilities, to the extent the ability can be blocked at all. Readers also cannot be compelled, but struggle to read fae who are skilled with using compulsions, like Augus Each Uisge, or hypnotism.

Reader powers appear to activate around the time fae come of age (225 years), but can occur earlier (e.g., Mikkel was 15).

Seelie Readers are particularly candid and struggle to omit the truth, but cannot circumvent it.

Gwyn thinks that Readers might be able to create good feeling in others, which is why they are so reckless.

## Characteristics (culture, habits)

During Gwyn's rule over the Seelie Court, Readers were 'vetted before they emerge'. Typically, Readers are taken by Courts (or other parties) to be trained and used by the more powerful, typically serving as interrogators. Gwyn stated that they are kidnapped and tortured into obedience.

Readers are also uncommon (rarer than endangered human animals).

Readers are typically 'cavalier, reckless.'

Mikkel said that 'People don’t fall in love with Readers. Ever. There’s stories about it. Sad ones.' He also said Readers are generally unhappy. Gwyn noted that over half of Readers 'suicide before their thousandth year. . . . The rest…are either killed when caught up in political intrigue or- Or they escape and are never heard from again, and are likely quietly put down for ‘betraying their kind.’ There’s contradicting information out there. Some papers say there’s only five in existence at any one time, others say there are five born a year, but that many of them suicide as soon as they’ve reached adulthood and realise what they are.'

When Mikkel asked Gwyn to build a refuge for Readers, to protect them from those who would abuse them, including Gwyn and the Courts, Gwyn reached out to Ondine and gave her monetary support for the venture. She was potentially already working on something similar for diviners/prophets, and later told him the venture was done, so hopefully the plight of Readers is better after that point.

Pia has noted on their tumblr that Readers can be any fae species, though 'they're most likely to be common fae.'

## Quotations

* Gwyn: 'those who could read emotions. Empaths, Readers, others who understood how to see into a mass of feeling and pull out the truth.'
* Mikkel: 'Do you know anything about a Reader’s abilities, aside from the fact that we can pluck emotions out of the fae? We don’t just *Read* people.'
* Mikkel: 'Do you not understand what it means that I was poached just about the day I left my family’s house? Sorry, the day I was kicked out? What do you think happened then? What would anyone do to a teenage Reader who didn’t want to Read for the Court? Hm? You have to make them do it. You have to force them to be suitable for the King or Queen. They don’t offer you a really high pay packet. They don’t bribe you with nice things. They take you away. To somewhere you can’t escape from. And then they make you ready. With whatever means they have at their disposal.'
* Gwyn: 'They’re stolen from their families and forced to serve an alignment.'

## Image Gallery

Fanart of Mikkel by Suis0u https://suis0u.tumblr.com/post/182736060518/mikkel-a-character-by-not-poignant-and-their-faeFanart of Gwyn ap Nudd and Mafydd Brant by intheendlessbluewine https://intheendlessbluewine.tumblr.com/post/187084407249/i-dont-know-where-these-gwyn-feelings-came-from
## References

1. ↑ *The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire*, Chapter 2: I'll Not Feel Pity. Accessed 21 May 2021.
2. ↑ *The Drawn Bead*, Chapter 1: Bold. Accessed 21 May 2021.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 28: Solidarity. Accessed 21 May 2021.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *Game Theory*, Chapter 26: Family. Accessed 21 May 2021.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 53: Arrow. Accessed 21 May 2021.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 55: Refuge. Accessed 21 May 2021.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *Game Theory*, Chapter 33: Invisible. Accessed 21 May 2021.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 *Game Theory*, Chapter 38: Underfae. Accessed 21 May 2021.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 2: Orphan. Accessed 21 May 2021.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 14: Pearl. Accessed 21 May 2021.
11. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 27: Healing. Accessed 21 May 2021.
12. ↑ *The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague*, Chapter 17: Singing Silver. Accessed 14 October 2021.
13. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 21: Fraught. Accessed 21 May 2021.
14. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 4: Suspicions. Accessed 21 May 2021.
15. ↑ The Court of Five Thrones, Chapter 59: Epilogue: Futures. Accessed 20 March 2021
16. ↑ Pia talking about Readers on their Not\_Poignant tumblr. Tumblr. Posted 04 August 2018. Accessed 09 October 2021.
17. ↑ *Game Theory*, Chapter 20: Nightmare. Accessed 21 May 2021.