Prince Vane

Fanart of Vane by tetsujou https://tetsujou.tumblr.com/post/125099986949/i-drew-this-before-the-latest-chapter-and-now-im

## General details

### Roles or Vocation

Economist; Prince; General of the Fie Ellyllon; double agent

## Physical description

### Hair color

Red

*'I’d rue the day that anyone not take the fie ellyllon seriously, especially one of their key Princes.' - Gwyn ap Nudd*

## Introduction

Vane was a fie ellyllon and served as a General on Gwyn's council of War Generals, frequently flirted with Gwyn during *The Court of Five Thrones*, and ultimately revealed his status as a double agent working for Crielle ferch Fnwy when he attempted to assassinate Gwyn at the last Wild Hunt.

## Appearance

Vane was slender and tall, with pale skin, freckles, vivid blue eyes, curly red hair, and long, pointed ears. He had pointed canines and sharp fingernails. As a fie ellyllon, he liked to always display his wealth and was often covered in enchanted, jeweled adornments such as neck-chains, bracelets, torcs, rings, circlets, and earrings, including some pearls, all of which make him jingle while he walked. He carried a wand for using magic, which he kept tucked in a leather belt at his waist. At one point, he carried a knapsack of blue leather to carry elfshot in, and Gwyn thought the leather might have been from some extinct fae animal.

Gwyn thought he looked similar to how humans tend to visualize the fae. Gwyn noted that Vane was a foot shorter than Princess Braith. Since Gwyn said that Vane is about a foot and a half shorter than himself, Vane was likely around five feet in height.

During the Masque, Vane wore fewer pieces of jewelry, because he was still recovering from Ifir's attack, although he wore 'a mask that represented no particular kind of fae, and was absolutely crusted with gems.'

## Personality

Vane was mischievous and over-eager, but a competent military leader despite his youth. He was quick to defend Gwyn and offer him compliments and advice, and even sweet and flirtatious towards Gwyn in particular, as well as heavily self-deprecating to garner sympathy. He often used childish behavior to conceal his cunning nature.

Vane stated that Ifir's attack, which melted much of Vane's jewelry and gravely injured him, made Vane more 'reluctant to wear too much of what could melt into' his skin.

Vane stated that outside wealth, his family mattered most to him.

## Life

Vane was a chief economist, prince, and general of the fie ellyllon, who brought his forces to help bolster the Unseelie military.

Earlier in his life, Vane served as a bowman for the fie ellyllon against the Seelie military, where he saw Gwyn in his Glasera armor a few times.

Since the An Fnwy family, prior to Gwyn, were always good to the fie ellyllon, and the Seelie military badly hurt the fie ellyllon, at some point, Vane spoke with Crielle ferch Fnwy about seducing Gwyn into letting his guard down and killing him. 'She said it would be easy to get [Gwyn] into bed if [Vane] played the lost, vulnerable, young, whimsical bowman. If [Vane] had a bow and simpered around [Gwyn], asked to be tutored – if [he] pretended [he] needed [Gwyn's] big, strong protection.' Vane swore a blood-oath with Crielle that Vane would be the one to make the killing blow on Gwyn. She gave him instructions on how to use mothersbane poison. Vane also entrusted at least three others among the fie ellyllon with his scheme.

Gwyn placed Vane on his Unseelie Court council of generals, and noted that Vane was initially the more receptive of the Generals, whereas many of the others distrusted Gwyn, due to his Seelie upbringing and military career. Zudanna later helped Vane improve his use of the longbow. Vane also practiced his work on the recurve bow.

Vane supported Gwyn's military decisions in council meetings by pointing out that some aspects of Seelie tactics could help the fie ellyllon for Unseelie reasons, like getting the fie ellyllon more resources. Gwyn initially distrusted Vane's fawning, since he didn't need fans, just coworkers. When Ifir criticized Gwyn for not detecting the shapeshifter posing as Augus Each Uisge, Vane stood up for Gwyn, which surprised Gwyn. Vane advised Gwyn in private that he had to do something about Ifir, who was working against Gwyn. Gwyn noted that most of the generals were working against him in secret.

Vane later went with Braith to Gwyn's Triumphal Entry, where Vane presented a number of soldiers to Gwyn's Unseelie Court, and then, together, the pair of fie ellyllon presented Gwyn with six coffers of uncut, high grade gems, along with a seventh coffer full of pearls from Trearddur Bay, harvested from rare singing oysters.

Vane led 'a contingent of archers and mages' in battle against the Seelie fae, forming the bulk of the Unseelie Court's military at the time.

Vane became subtler in his approach to Gwyn in public, which Gwyn found more useful than bald praise. At some point, Vane observed Gwyn training in private, and Vane admitted he was impressed by Gwyn's abilities. Gwyn complimented Vane's improvements with the recurve bow, and Vane asked if Gwyn would help train him. Gwyn knew Vane was up to something with his flattery, but was unsure what. Vane explained that he wanted to learn how to use elfshot on different kinds of bows, and knew someone who could make elfshot for him. 'All the legends said that if a person was shot with elfshot, the tip of the arrow would break away immediately, falling even as the person who was shot fell – paralysed. [There was no] cure for the paralysis except to find the exact same arrow tip in a mess of dirt and battlefield and touch it to the place where the person was shot.'

Vane's seemingly youthful exuberance in learning about bows made Gwyn start feeling more affectionately towards him, as an older, more experienced soldier towards a younger one.

When Augus questioned the traitor Dogwill Burrough, Dogwill swore there was another traitor at the Unseelie Court, and Gwyn and Augus considered the Generals, including Vane, as possible suspects. Augus promised to be delicate about using his compulsions to question them all, and ultimately did question Vane again, though Augus didn't uncover the ruse.

Vane watched another of Gwyn's training sessions, after which he presented Gwyn with some elfshot-coated arrowheads, with tips coated in silver. Gwyn tested it on himself, which paralyzed his body, and Vane, shocked, hastily found the arrow head and used it to restore Gwyn's mobility. Gwyn partially did this out of his intense desire to touch the elfshot, which he'd never come across before, and to see what Vane would do. Given Vane's agreement with Crielle and comments about why he saved Gwyn's life during Ifir's mutiny, it's possible that Vane's actions here were because Gwyn accidentally leading to his own demise using something Vane provided didn't comport with Vane intentionally killing him.

Gwyn noted that Vane was likely trying to maneuver himself onto Gwyn's Inner Court, which Vane acknowledged. Vane again cautioned against keeping Ifir on the Council. Vane finally placed his hand on Gwyn's for the first time, commented on Gwyn's large hand size, and departed. On consideration, Gwyn realized that Vane reminded him a bit of Mafydd Brant in temperament: flattering and sweet.

Ifir tried to convince Gwyn's other Generals to join his mutiny, in part by pointing out that Gwyn's joining the Unseelie Court was suspicious, but Vane acted loyal to Gwyn and wouldn't join Ifir's side.

During Ifir's mutiny, when Ifir tossed a fireball at Gwyn, and Gwyn was moving aside, Vane jumped forward to take the blast himself and protect Gwyn, which actually pushed Gwyn back into part of the blast, and ultimately seriously wounded Vane. Vane later explained this seeming attempt to save Gwyn's life was because of his blood-oath to make the killing blow on Gwyn himself.

Aleutia the Rat-Maiden healed Vane, allowing him to make a full recovery. Gwyn visited him as he recovered, with Augus listening in. Vane again placed his hand on Gwyn's while they chatted. Vane repeated his offer to become Court treasurer. Afterward, in private, Augus pointed out that he was amused by how much Vane clearly 'adored' Gwyn, and wanted to sleep with him. Gwyn disregarded the idea.

Vane attended the Masque, where he sought out Gwyn's company. Vane was even more openly flirtatious, though Gwyn saw his maneuvering as aiming for a status increase.

After the Masque, Vane and his fie ellyllon placed magical traps on the battlefield, which Davix and his Mages potentially disarmed. But the fie ellyllon were canny, and placed non-magical traps full of elfshot on the field as well, which Fenwrel the Mouse-Maiden cloaked with illusion magic. 'The mines took out several thousand with paralysis – made it harder for the Seelie to ring around the Unseelie Court as tightly as they wanted. Those fae beasts; winged horses, scaled bears with saddles on their backs, giant wyrms with metal spikes attached to their heads for sweeping Unseelie out of the way – they did not have Court status, and the elfshot was fatal for many of them.'

After the battle, Vane sat on his own, nursing a drink, and Gwyn went to crouch by him for a time. They chatted about the fight, and Vane touched Gwyn far more, in ways even Gwyn knew were more than just friendly. Vane overtly offered himself to Gwyn, though Gwyn partly dismissed it as Vane burying his grief for those he'd lost in combat. Gwyn ultimately rejected Vane's advances, and left.

Vane attended the last Wild Hunt, and from the outset, planned to murder Gwyn, not even hiding his disdain when looking at Gwyn. During the Hunt itself, Vane lagged back with Gwyn to chat for a bit. Mikkel interrupted, and both fae vied for the other to leave them alone with Gwyn. Ultimately, Vane took his leave in disgust.

Later, at the feast, Vane shot an arrow coated in mothersbane poison at Gwyn, intending to kill him. Mikkel stepped in the way, so it hit him instead. Ash Glashtyn and Augus used compulsions to freeze Vane, and Ifir grabbed him and shoved him to the ground. Vane explained his ruse, revealing his hatred and much of the plans against Gwyn, as well as the mothersbane poison that Crielle gave to many assassins. 'It takes months to get the alchemy of it right, but even then it still isn’t potent enough for what she needed. The potion only activates upon the death of a mother, and only if she thinks hatred towards her child when it happens. . . . And then,’ Vane whispered, a malevolence shining from his refined features. ‘It will kill anyone, even if they are King.'

Vane then used magic to free himself slightly and scratched his hand over the tips of his own arrows to poison himself. Augus was able to compel him to reveal how many other people had access to the poison, but upon trying to learn their identities, Vane fought the compulsion to the point that his eyes and nose bled. He quickly succumbed to the poison and died.

Mikkel's own wound killed him shortly after. Vane's actions - attacking another fae at the Wild Hunt, which was meant to be a neutral place for inter-alignment cooperation - led the King of the Forest to permanently put an end to the Hunt and disappear from the forest.

## Special Abilities

### Fae Abilities

**Teleportation:** Vane could teleport.

**Dra'ocht:** Gwyn described Vane's dra'ocht as sugary, tasting like berries and wine in the back of the throat.

### Magical Propensity

Vane's knowledge of magic made him an effective leader of troops in battle. Vane carried a wand that he used for magic. He could also use magic to create toadstools large enough to sit on, and a fire that flickered green and blue. Vane and his people created magical traps to cause stillness and slowness, along with pain or voicelessness.

### Skills

**Combat:** Vane was skilled with the recurve bow and a weapon Gwyn referred to as a 'nasty length of wire'. He was also able to use his speed and his ability to blur in and out of sight effectively in combat. This made him 'famous for infiltrating enemy lines and sabotaging food stores, poisoning water, introducing flux and other diseases long before battles had formally begun.'

## Relationships

#### Aleutia the Rat-Maiden

After healing Vane, Aleutia called him 'a cutie' and 'poor dear', though it is unclear if this was actual or casual interest on Aleutia's part.

#### Augus Each Uisge

Vane seemingly viewed Augus as an obstacle to getting closer to Gwyn, but masked it by treating Augus as a rival, or at least someone holding Gwyn's leash in some way. Even Augus was fooled slightly by Vane's tricks, though he knew that Vane wanted *something* beyond sex, and supported Gwyn potentially taking advantage of Vane's advances. Augus also proposed caution, but even thought that Vane would be a good idea for someone whom Gwyn could reach out to as a friend.

#### Princess Braith

Braith and Vane's relationship is unclear, either as family, spouses, partners, or colleagues. Vane referred to her as 'My Lady Braith'.

#### Gwyn ap Nudd

Vane despised Gwyn, considered him stupid and ill-suited to be King of the Unseelie Court, and worked hard to get close to Gwyn, supporting him as needed, and even flirting with him. Gwyn thought warmly of Vane, and even encouraged him when Vane seemed too self-deprecating, but was hesitant around Vane's flirtatious advances, and ultimately declined them, out of a desire to be entirely Augus' (outside of post-combat situations). Gwyn views not seeing through Vane's deception as a personal failing.

#### Ifir

Vane didn't support Ifir's tactics, but also seemingly despised Ifir nearly murdering Gwyn, simply because Vane wanted to be the one to kill Gwyn.

#### Mikkel

Vane didn't seem to think much of Mikkel, and disliked him more for getting in Vane's way during the last Wild Hunt. Mikkel read him easily, but didn't give away what Vane was up to.

## Quotations

* ‘If the Unseelie Kingdom had more honour, it would have greater trust, more investors, and the fie ellyllon would have access to greater resources, which means more wealth for me.’
* ‘We’re taking a gamble. That’s what we do, you know? My Lady Braith has always been astute and we both have faith in your ability to rescue this Kingdom. You are the one who comes forward when all looks lost, are you not? You are a walking library of battle scrolls, and I think some of the others – Ifir, especially – do not want to see that when you defeated the Nightingale and the Each Uisge, you saved *us* too. You halted a very great danger that threatened all fae. Not just the Seelie.’
* 'Come, Gwyn, you know as well as I do that the magic of the wand has nothing on the School of the Staff. We can hold our own against non-magical fae, even some of the ones that can craft spells. But King Albion has a very powerful Mage in his Inner Court. Davix will recruit skilled fae to his cause, and land battles will see a more extreme magical element. We’ve talked about this, yes? I want to learn how to wield elfshot.'
* 'How have you managed to come so far, with such a youthful attitude?’ Gwyn said, raising his eyebrows. ‘That game of yours, you play it well.'
* 'No one takes children seriously, do they?'
* 'I’ll steal all your time if you let me! We can’t have that, can we?’ Gwyn: 'It’s always time well spent, Vane.'
* 'You’re the King,’ Vane said, his voice lower than usual. ‘If you can’t collect Seelie spoils as your due, there are other spoils you could consider.'
* 'You are a prince, a general, admired by the fie ellyllon for longer than I have been alive. I am a King that has just lost our most significant battle. Find better for yourself. You’ll have no trouble, looking the way that you do.'
* ‘There’s no cure,’ [Vane] said, smiling with an innocence that didn’t fit him, looking back at Gwyn. ‘And you’ve always underestimated me. Always. Could there have been someone more…ill-suited- After everything you’ve done to us. For three thousand years. You thought there wouldn’t be consequences? You are hated. And I am not…the small, weak prince you all seem to think I am.’

## Trivia

* Gwyn implied that Vane was older than Gwyn, despite acting younger.
* Vane was one of the few named fae in the canon to carry a wand while not being a Mage.

## Folklore/Mythology

*'Tylwyth Teg* (Middle Welsh for "Fair Family"; Welsh pronunciation: [ˈtəlʊi̯θ teːg]) is the most usual term in Wales for the mythological creatures corresponding to the fairy folk of English and Continental folklore and the Irish *Aos Sí*. Other names for them include *Bendith y Mamau* ("Blessing of the Mothers"), *Gwyllion* and ***Ellyllon***. . . . The term *tylwyth teg* is first attested in a poem attributed to the 14th-century Dafydd ap Gwilym, in which the principal character gets perilously but comically lost while going to visit his girlfriend . . . In later sources the *tylwyth teg* are described as fair-haired and covet golden-haired human children whom they kidnap, leaving changelings (or *crimbilion*, sing. *crimbil*) in their place. They dance and make fairy rings and they live underground or under the water. They bestow riches on those they favour but these gifts vanish if they are spoken of, and fairy maidens may become the wives of human men. These fairy wives are however still bound by traditional taboos. They must be careful to avoid touching iron or they will vanish back to their realm never to be seen by their husbands again. . . . According to the folklorist Wirt Sikes the *Tylwyth Teg* may be divided into five general types: the *Ellyllon* (elves), the *Coblynau* (fairies of the mines), the *Bwbachod* (household fairies similar to brownies), the *Gwragedd Annwn* (female fairies of the lakes and streams) and the *Gwyllion* (mountain fairies more akin to hags). The *ellyllon* (singular *ellyll*) inhabit groves and valleys and are similar to English elves. Their food consists of toadstools and fairy butter (a type of fungus) and they wear digitalis bell flowers as gloves. They are ruled by Queen Mab and bring prosperity to those they favour.'

'The Ellyllon are the pigmy elves who haunt the groves and valleys, and correspond pretty closely with the English elves. The English name was probably derived from the Welsh *el*, a spirit, *elf*, an element; there is a whole brood of words of this class in the Welsh language, expressing every variety of flowing, gliding, spirituality, devilry, angelhood, and goblinism. Ellyllon (the plural of ellyll), is also doubtless allied with the Hebrew Elilim, having with it an identity both of origin and meaning. [Pughe's 'Welsh Dictionary.' (Denbigh, 1866)].

. . . The hollows, or little dingles, are still the places where the peasant, belated on his homeward way from fair or market, looks for the ellyllon, but fails to find them. Their food is specified in Welsh folk-lore as fairy butter and fairy victuals, ymenyn tylwyth teg and bwyd ellyllon; the latter the toadstool, or poisonous mushroom, and the former a butter-resembling substance found at great depths in the crevices of limestone rocks, in sinking for lead ore. Their gloves, menyg ellyllon, are the bells of the digitalis, or fox-glove, the leaves of which are well known to be a strong sedative. Their queen--for though there is no fairy-queen in the large sense that Gwyn ap Nudd is the fairy-king, there is a queen of the elves--is none other than the Shakespearean fairy spoken of by Mercutio, who comes

*In shape no bigger than an agate-stone*

*On the forefinger of an alderman*

['Romeo and Juliet,' Act II,. Sc. 4]'.

## Image Gallery

Fanart of Prince Vane by tetsujou https://tetsujou.tumblr.com/post/125099986949/i-drew-this-before-the-latest-chapter-and-now-imFanart of Prince Vane and Ondine by Kaza999 https://kaza999.tumblr.com/post/99708686919/ok-so-vane-and-ondine-from-the-newest-coft-chapter
## References

1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 1.13 1.14 1.15 1.16 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 13: Advice. Accessed 04 May 2021.
2. ↑ 2.00 2.01 2.02 2.03 2.04 2.05 2.06 2.07 2.08 2.09 2.10 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 4: Suspicions. Accessed 04 May 2021.
3. ↑ 3.00 3.01 3.02 3.03 3.04 3.05 3.06 3.07 3.08 3.09 3.10 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 53: Arrow. Accessed 04 May 2021.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 23: Confrontation. Accessed 04 May 2021.
5. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 7: Debut. Accessed 09 May 2021
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 46: Masque. Accessed 09 May 2021.
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 3: Disintegration. Accessed 09 May 2021.
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 8.4 8.5 8.6 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 50: Wayward. Accessed 09 May 2021.
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 53: Grief. Accessed 09 May 2021.
10. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 8: Court. Accessed 11 May 2021.
11. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 10: Battlefields. Accessed 09 May 2021.
12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 20: Mirror. Accessed 09 May 2021.
13. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 28: Solidarity. Accessed 09 May 2021.
14. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 41: Interrogation. Accessed 09 May 2021.
15. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 37: Explosion. Accessed 04 May 2021.
16. ↑ 16.0 16.1 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 39: Want. Accessed 09 May 2021.
17. ↑ 17.0 17.1 17.2 17.3 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 49: Battle. Accessed 04 May 2021.
18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 *The Court of Five Thrones, Chapter 54*: Fraught. Accessed 04 May 2021.
19. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 38: Realisations. Accessed 07 April 2021.
20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 52: Unravel. Accessed 09 May 2021.
21. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 44: Nostalgia. Accessed 09 May 2021.
22. ↑ "Tylwyth Teg". Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tylwyth\_Teg. Accessed 09 June 2021.
23. ↑ Sikes. *British Goblins* (1880).