The Nain Rouge

Fanart of the Nain Rouge by Em / Papayaparty https://thedoublepp.tumblr.com/post/179067067421/bitch-you-thought-i-love-the-nain-rouge-so-much

## Fae details

### Appetite

Everything, but preferably the power and souls of other fae

## General details

### Aliases

* Grandma and Granny (Ash Glashtyn)
* Lady (Gwyn ap Nudd)
* that seething darkness (Old Pete)

## Physical description

### Hair color

Red

"*I’ll taste you one day, King.*"
―The Nain Rouge[[The Court of Five Thrones, Chapter 29: Classless]]
**The Nain Rouge** is an Unseelie classless fae who serves as a member of Augus Each Uisge's Inner Court during his Kingship, before he demotes her, and she later serves as Gwyn ap Nudd's liaison to the Unseelie classless fae, where she is key to gathering the Coalition of the Classless together. She serves as an ally to Gwyn and his party during the ice plague.

## Appearance

#### Status

* Capital (as of *The Court of Five Thrones)*

* Underfae (former)

The Nain Rouge is 'tiny, no taller than an eight or nine year old child.' She has spindly limbs and tends to wear various rotting animal pelts, and her eyes, which are the dark red color of dried blood, do not glitter or reflect light. Her hair is red-brown and tangled. Her fingers end in broken claws. Her teeth are broken and rotten. Gwyn notes that she smells like gun oil. Her face is pale but is nearly always covered in a layer of dirt, dried gore, and other filth.

## Personality

The Nain Rouge is playful, violent, and likes manipulating people. She is also crass, filling her speech with expletives and insults, and often references human realm pop culture. Though she often acts childlike, she can negotiate seriously when needed, and she is clever and extremely knowledgeable about the history of the fae realm along with what powers are currently at work within the realm. Marika states that the Nain Rouge has 'a dark but accurate intuition.'

Gwyn notes that 'she’s a member of that old guard, from long before, when etiquette was everything. She is, in many ways, a remarkable old lady.’

## Life

The Nain Rouge is described as ancient, being far older than many of the other characters, and having lived before Davix and Olphix use their magic to create the statuses and set alignments in stone. She initially finds the Nightingale after his appearance in the world, and teaches him how to feed and live. When he starts working with the underworlds creatures, she distances herself from him, and supports his imprisonment. She is sometimes able to sense him in the underworlds.

During Augus' reign as King of the Unseelie, the Nain Rouge serves on his Inner Court, though he later demotes her to underfae.

The Nain Rouge attends Gwyn's Triumphal Entry at the Unseelie Court, though she is uninvited. When Ash Glashtyn greets her informally, she snaps at him. She tries to attack Augus, but Gwyn intercepts her, and traps her on the ground. When Gwyn angrily reminds her that they follow the old laws and do not attack fellow fae within Court walls, she accedes to him and is allowed to remain.

Gwyn later approaches the Nain Rouge at her home in Detroit, Michigan, in the human realm, to ask if she will help him form a Coalition of the Classless by contacting Unseelie classless fae. She agrees to assist in exchange for a status upgrade. Gwyn promises her Capital status, but only once she assists him to his satisfaction. The Nain Rouge gathers eleven other Unseelie classless fae for the Coalition while Marika gathers the Seelie, and they later meet with Gwyn, Albion, and their respective Inner Courts to lay down sanctions in order to prevent the Seelie Court from destroying the Unseelie. The ceasefire between the courts will last for ten years, at which point the Coalition will reconvene. After the meeting, Gwyn makes good on his promise and grants the Nain Rouge Capital status.

After Gwyn, Augus, Eran Iliakambar, Mosk Manytrees, Ash, and Julvia Dubna Vajat escape the ice plague at Oengus' Tower, the Nain Rouge ambushes them by attacking Eran and stealing some of his life force. She proceeds to tell Gwyn about the classless fae losing their powers, but refuses to elaborate without being granted another status upgrade. When Gwyn hesitates, she shoots him twice in the torso with one of her guns, and he agrees to negotiate. The Nain Rouge then tells the group how the classless and current status system didn't exist until Davix and Olphix created them, with a particular emphasis on the classless serving as power sinks from which the twins could draw at a time of their choosing. The twins also killed the fire dragons for their time magic, and put a geas on the world so that no one could talk about it, which only broke on Davix's death.

After their discussion, Gwyn decides that her information, while interesting, is not actually useful, to her annoyance. She admits, 'I want to help, because if anyone’s going to destroy this goddamn realm it’s gonna be me.' In the end, she joins their party to continue their investigation into the ice plague. She and Gwyn make a blood oath that she will use her ability to take Gwyn's light back from Olphix and give it to Gwyn, in exchange for Court status, and that she wouldn't kill them all first. She separates from the group a short time later when Gwyn calls Ondine and the Mantissa for assistance, as the Nain Rouge is unable to cross the sea.

The Nain Rouge rejoins Gwyn's group in Zhitovar, to Gwyn's apparent alarm. 'When she saw Luridan, she made a face, like she’d seen something disgusting.' She notes she was waylaid multiple times and Olphix didn't want her anywhere near him. When she playfully threatens to devour the powers of some of the party members, and Mosk stands before Eran to protect him, the Nain Rouge jumps him, and dares him to fight her. When her banter makes him laugh, she seems to approve, and gets off of him.

She joins Gwyn's party around Eran's fire in Zhitovar, and explains how her ability to take abilities works, and talks about dragons for Eran.

During the battle with Olphix, she leaps for Olphix. While Olphix uses Gwyn's light to attack, the Nain Rouge fights through Olphix's defenses and bites him, not even letting go when he attacks her arm. She calls to Gwyn to take the power, as she can't hold onto it. Her injuries worsen, but she refuses to let go of Olphix, and she finally gives Gwyn his power back.

After Olphix's death, the Nain Rouge runs around 'laughing maniacally, shouting something about all the powers she’d eaten out of Olphix.'

Even four years after Olphix's death, she hasn't yet come to Gwyn to claim her status increase, and Gwyn assumes it was in part because she was so gloated on the powers she'd taken.

## Skills

### Fae Ability

**Ability theft:** She can take abilities, eat them, or keep them.

**Teleportation:** She can teleport using dark tunnels through the ground.

**Shadow Manipulation:** She has the ability to manipulate shadows, and can steal life force by putting her hands on someone's neck. 'She had an ability to project her voice into all the shadows at once, though she only used it to laugh'.

### Skills

**Guns:** She most often wields pistols in combat.

### Appetite

It seems to be pure life-force, or the innate abilities others carry, but she's shown just as often eating rats and animals. It's possible she can feed from all of these things. Augus claims that she, 'feeds on *everything*, but her preferred food is the raw power and souls of other fae. Particularly powerful fae.'

## Relationships

### Ash Glashtyn

Ash is oddly fond of the Nain Rouge and often semi-jokingly calls her 'grandma.' She in turn seems to gravitate between tolerating him and possibly being at least tickled by it. They share a love of the human realm and pop culture with each other, which means that when they are both present in the same scene, they're often making pop culture references that can seem incongruous with the rest of the dialogue. Ash once offered her some of his dra'ocht, which she refused. He also likes her taste in music, and seems to share it.

### Gwyn ap Nudd

The Nain Rouge is playfully antagonistic to Gwyn, often threatening to eat his powers, while Gwyn is cautious of her, doing his best to hold her back from hurting others.

### Luridan

The Nain Rouge doesn't seem to think much of Luridan for some reason. Luridan appears ambivalent to this.

### Mosk Manytrees

Mosk stands up to her when she makes to attack Eran a second time, and when she attacks Mosk instead, he still stands up to her, and even laughs at her banter, seeming to gain her approval.

### The Nightingale

The Nain Rouge often calls the Nightingale her 'younger brother.' She is the one one to initially find the Nightingale and teach him to feed and live. She distances herself from the Nightingale when he becomes close with underworlds creatures. She can sense him in the underworlds. She has fondness for him, but also claims not to miss him, likely due to his connection with the underworlds.

### The Spider Queen

The Spider Queen calls the Nain Rouge her young cousin.

## Quotations

* 'I didn’t bring you any presents . . . I mean aside from me. Being here. That counts, doesn’t it?'
* Augus: 'You're not the first fae to have a power that would go haywire if unchecked. The Nain Rouge comes *immediately* to mind. She would have turned the world inside out, given enough time. She still might. You might be in a race with a few other fae, to see who will destroy the world first. But she still uses her power.'
* ‘Alrighty-roo. Guns before bros, ho.’
* To Gwyn, about Olphix: ‘He can stop bullets, but he doesn’t like ‘em. Besides, I have the dark, and he only has fire. Ten to one, the darkness always wins.’

## Trivia

* When the Nain Rouge is on Augus's Inner Court, she has a throne made of broken bones tied together with rope, but it is unused.

## Folklore/Mythology

The "Nain Rouge" (French for "red dwarf"), also known as the "Demon of the Strait", is a legendary creature of the Detroit, Michigan area whose appearance is said to foreshadow misfortune. Its origins are believed to derive from Norman French tales of the lutin, a type of hobgoblin, along with Native American legends of "an impish offspring of the Stone God."

The Nain Rouge legend has become part of Detroit culture and every spring, the city hosts a community festival and costume parade known as the *Marche du Nain Rouge*.

## Image Gallery

Fanart of the Nain Rouge by Em / Papayaparty https://thedoublepp.tumblr.com/post/179067067421/bitch-you-thought-i-love-the-nain-rouge-so-muchFanart of the Nain Rouge and the Nightingale by Ravenemore https://raven-nemore.tumblr.com/post/150105937721/nightingale-and-nain-rouge-will-destroy-your-assFanart of the Nain Rouge by meat--clown https://meat--clown.tumblr.com/post/151064991307/not-poignant-made-out-of-mostly-hair-fur-andFanart of the Nain Rouge by tiniestrebelwitharainbow https://not-poignant.tumblr.com/post/88562388973/rereading-the-sal-series-and-wanted-to-post-someFanart of (left to right): Ash Glashtyn, Augus Each Uisge, the Nain Rouge, Gwyn ap Nudd, and Gulvi Dubna Vajat by Ravenemore https://raven-nemore.tumblr.com/post/141402640371/omg-im-done-my-hand-is-dead-yay-anyway-i-hadFanart of the Nain Rouge by Ravenemore https://raven-nemore.tumblr.com/post/129785587566/nain-rouge-by-raesalander-my-version-ofFanart of the Nain Rouge by StardustingQueen https://www.deviantart.com/stardustingqueen/art/Nain-Rouge-427224285
## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 5 September 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/4957257. Chapter 8: Court.
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 6 February 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/7205945. Chapter 29: Classless.
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 6 September 2018. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036105/chapters/37093806. Chapter 28: Like Batteries.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 not\_poignant. “The Court of Five Thrones.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 14 August 2015. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1749290/chapters/10409742. Chapter 56: Islands.
5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 not\_poignant. "All That We Were, All That We Will Ever Be." *The Fae Tales Verse - canon extras. Archive of Our Own,* 18 August 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/40955040/chapters/103059351. Chapter 2.
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 24 August 2018. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036105/chapters/36709188. Chapter 27: A Bad Turn.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 21 July 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/101357655. Chapter 37: This Is My Power.
8. ↑ 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.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 7 July 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/100527858. Chapter 36: The Light Fades.
10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 3 August 2022. https://archiveofourown.org/works/26266345/chapters/102149304. Chapter 39: Impossible Things.
11. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 21 September 2018. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12036105/chapters/37471571. Chapter 29: Don't Look.
12. ↑ not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 5 November 2013. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2059069. Chapter 25: Soldier.
13. ↑ not\_poignant. "The Ash and Gwyn Interludes." *The Fae Tales Verse - canon extras. Archive of Our Own,* 2 October 2017. https://archiveofourown.org/works/12246879/chapters/27826650. Chapter 1: Things Are Fine.
14. ↑ not\_poignant. “The Ice Plague: Book 3 - The Ice Plague.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 30 September 2021. https://archiveofourown.org/chapters/85040659. Chapter 16: Trowna.
15. ↑ not\_poignant. "The Nightingale and Terho the Mouse-Lad." *The Fae Tales Verse, Archive of Our Own,* 5 May 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1571246.
16. ↑ not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 27 October 2013. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2030837. Chapter 23: Truth.
17. ↑ not\_poignant. “Game Theory.” *The Fae Tales Verse. Archive of Our Own,* 5 January 2014. https://archiveofourown.org/works/915296/chapters/2257937. Chapter 35: Release.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 "Nain Rouge". Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nain\_Rouge. 27 May 2021.