Siren

"*A burst of heavy, thick song came from the sea, and Mosk blinked towards it. Words he didn’t recognise, a woman’s choir of music that seemed to speak of brutality.*"
―The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire, Chapter 31: The Sky is Falling
**Sirens** are a kind of sea fae known for using song to lure or assault other fae.

## Physical Description

When sirens joined in attacking Gwyn ap Nudd, Augus Each Uisge, Mosk, Eran Iliakambar, Ash Glashtyn, Julvia Dubna Vajat, and the Nain Rouge on the beach during *The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire*, they appeared 'half-covered in feathers, some with wings, all of them bearing gleaming golden brown fish scales on their bird-footed legs.'

## Abilities

Sirens can sing songs that make fae feel 'small' and hopeless, like death is inevitable. Their songs are laced with compulsions, which they use for hunting.

They appear to be quite physically strong, as they could lift a person up in the air and carry them a long distance.

## Characteristics (culture, habits)

Sirens can be of other alignment, and sirens of both alignments 'always lived together'.

There is a particularly rare underwater plant that can block siren song, which was supposedly combined with a few other rare underwater plants that Albion then gave to Dogwill Borough to protect him from being interrogated via Augus Each Uisge's compulsions. Augus noted that sirens were *very* interested in destroying the plant, which might be part of the reason for its rarity.

Sirens can be militaristic, such as when some joined in to attack Gwyn's party on the beach. Ondine also kept sirens as crewmembers on the Mantissa. They sang almost every night on the Mantissa.

The Seelie gryphons of Paelfort are very skilled at 'practiced at dealing with sirens'.

Ondine seems to be allies with at least some sirens who carried her ashore to the Aur forest.

## Quotations

* Mosk: 'Their magic was strong and prickly, and felt by everyone on the ship when they sang. They didn’t sing to hunt, not now, but the Seelie and Unseelie sirens always lived together, and compulsions were embedded in their music. Right now, he thought they might be singing about battle, or pride, and he wanted to stopper his ears.'
* Eran: 'The sirens were singing in the distance, of good food and feasts, of the wonders of special treasures found in rare stalls.'

## Folklore/Mythology

'In Greek mythology, the Sirens (Ancient Greek: singular: Σειρήν, *Seirḗn*; plural: Σειρῆνες, *Seirênes*) were dangerous creatures, who lured nearby sailors with their enchanting music and singing voices to shipwreck on the rocky coast of their island. It is also said that they can even charm the winds. Roman poets placed them on some small islands called Sirenum scopuli. In some later, rationalized traditions, the literal geography of the "flowery" island of Anthemoessa, or Anthemusa, is fixed: sometimes on Cape Pelorum and at others in the islands known as the Sirenuse, near Paestum, or in Capreae. All such locations were surrounded by cliffs and rocks. . . . . Sirens were believed to look like a combination of women and birds in various different forms. In early Greek art, they were represented as birds with large women's heads, bird feathers and scaly feet. Later, they were represented as female figures with the legs of birds, with or without wings, playing a variety of musical instruments, especially harps and lyres.'

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 2 - The Seething Seas.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 10 May 2019. https://archiveofourown.org/works/17959874/chapters/44564854. Chapter 5: Unexpected Guests.
2. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 7 October 2017. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036105/chapters/27929826. Chapter 4: Splendour.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 19 October 2018. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036105/chapters/38239544. Chapter 31: The Sky is Falling.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 5 August 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/102269367. Chapter 40: A New Season.
5. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 1 August 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/4478196. Chapter 5: Unsolicited.
6. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 2 - The Seething Seas.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 7 May 2019. https://archiveofourown.org/works/17959874/chapters/44466025. Chapter 4: Damaged Instincts.
7. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 5 November 2020. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/66966274. Chapter 6: Intrusions.
8. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 2 - The Seething Seas.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 19 July 2019. https://archiveofourown.org/works/17959874/chapters/47044390. Chapter 10: Veils.
9. ↑ "Siren (mythology)". Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siren\_(mythology). Accessed 25 May 2021.