Hyphae

Foxish Hyphae is an exiled Wild Fae who spent some time as a low Autumn Court member. She has a strong affinity for rot, death, and decay and little understanding of or care for common fae social graces. She is sneaky but skittish and has a strong sense of self-preservation. Although she mostly deals with the aftermath of death and does not directly kill for fun, she has a dark sense of humor and jokes about it constantly.

## History

Hyphae grew up solitary with no known family. She lived outside of the Courts system for over a century, taking care of her own personal needs, before meeting Cillian, who assumed she was an Autumn fae and hesitantly befriended her. Through Cillian, she met and befriended his sister, Aine. Although she continued to live on her own, she spent a great deal of time with the two of them, mostly Aine.

One night in the days between winter and spring, Hyphae heard a strange voice in the woods, threatening Aine's life with an "accident." Despite her best efforts to warn Cillian in time, Aine fell through thin ice and drowned. In his grief, Cillian blamed Hyphae for Aine's death, claimed to the Autumn Court that her abilities to rot anything she touched leaned too far into Winter, and had her exiled. Hyphae was barred from attending Aine's funeral.

For decades after, Hyphae tirelessly hunted for any hint of the voice she had heard, believing that if she could just find proof she was uninvolved in Aine's death, Cillian would change his mind. She never did, and eventually she began to wonder if she had been hearing things.

Though exiled, Hyphae found she was not shunned by all fae, and she maintains strong friendships with some members of her former Court. In particular, her friendship with Teague led her to discover Cillian had used some sort of magic to steal the memories of Teague's human fiancee, Nat. In order to help him discover the plot, Hyphae snuck into Cillian's house to retrieve the device housing Nat's memories and brought it back to Teague.

## Abilities

Hyphae brings on fungi and rot wherever she goes. She is capable of decaying organic substances at an alarming rate but prefers to let them proceed at their own pace if possible. Her work is responsible for the scent of the Autumn air as the fallen leaves begin to rot.

As a foxish creature, she also has sharp fangs and claws with which to defend herself if absolutely necessary.

## Relationships

### Cillian

Cillian was the first fae Hyphae truly got to know; however, after Aine's death and his exiling of Hyphae, their relationship soured. She now goes out of her way to antagonize him in every possible way, from sneaking up on him to trying to grow mushrooms in his books. Lately, her actions have become more vengeful.

### Aine

Before Aine's death, she and Hyphae were close friends and often went exploring the woods together. Hyphae still thinks about her a lot and misses her fiercely.

### Juniper

Juniper never believed Cillian's assertion that Hyphae had anything to do with her mother's death and the two are close friends. She is one of the few fae Hyphae would die for.

### Jac

While Jac was confined to her parents' house, Hyphae was forced to observe her from a distance, but she was there the first time Jac snuck out and has been helping her explore the woods ever since.

### Teague

Hyphae and Teague have been friends for a long time, and their humor and generally sunny dispositions complement each other well. Hyphae grew concerned when Teague's demeanor shifted and determined to find out what had happened to the person he had lost.

### Nutmeg

Nutmeg was the first person who saw what Hyphae does as useful - Hyphae helps Nutmeg create compost for her fertilizer. Although they are both aware of how dangerous it could be for Nutmeg to be harboring Hyphae, they have plans in place should they ever get caught.

### Luna and Rory

Hyphae bonded with these siblings over their shared experiences with exile and their mutual hatred of Cillian. Her and Luna's humor gets particularly dark when they're together.

### Deimos

She met him long ago. He gives her a strange sense of calm.

## Trivia

* As far as she is aware, Hyphae was not born into any Court and could not say for sure if she was ever meant to be in the Autumn Court to begin with. She isn't particularly torn up about being exiled, just the circumstances around it.
* Hyphae carries a jar that contains spores for all her favorite mushrooms, so she can grow them wherever she likes.
* Hyphae has a morbid curiosity for anything that cannot be rotted out. She has a collection of human plastic things in her den that she's found in the woods over the years.
* For a long time, Hyphae was not comfortable with physical affection. Teague has mostly broken her of this, and now she is quite fond of hugs.

## Original Meme

A fox wild fae, who is very good at sneaking into places, and finding plot things, like souls. She's morbidly curious about anything that can't be rotted out.