Faeries

Faeries are a form of Chimeric spirits, native to the Fae Realms within the Ether. Born from the power of mortal Dreams, faeries are the most active and universally intelligent form of Chimera, involving themselves in affairs on the Tellurian and throughout the Ether alike. Faeries tend to be whimsical and capricious beings, prone to odd fixations and quirks of personality. Born from human dreams, they are impressed with an initial personality by the mortal mind that spawned them, and often, characters within men's dreams are prone to odd behavior.

## Creation

Every faerie begins as a Chimerling, summoned forth to act as a character within the dreams of a sleeping mortal. On rare occasions, a human has a dream potent enough that one of the figures within it comes to life, being endowed with such psychic energy as to gain self awareness. When the dream that birthed them ends, the newborn faerie bursts forth, ascending from beyond the Dreamscape and colliding into one of the Fae Realms. There, they at last take on a fixed form and consciousness, transcending from their position as Chimerlings.

## Classifications

### Higher Fae (Sidhe)

The Higher Fae, also called the Gentry or Faerie Nobles, and most commonly, the sidhe, are the ruling class of the faeries, divided into one of the faerie Great Courts. Being a member of the Gentry grants a faerie access to a greater pool of power, and makes their Native Visage the regal and mighty Highborn shape (for more on Visages, see below) that reflects their status. Sidhe visages are always humanoid in general shape, but tend to be taller than the average man, with most sidhe lords and standing several inches over seven feet. Sidhe Visages also tend to have an otherworldly beauty, and exhibit features not common in mortals, such as slitted, catlike eyes, strange skin, hair, or eye colors. They also universally possess pointed ears.

### Lesser Fae

The Lesser Fae are on a whole, more diverse than their peers of the Gentry, being less constrained by the mortal vision of power and nobility. As such, Lesser Fae have far more diverse default Visages than their loftier kin. Most Lesser Fae are members of one of the four Great Courts, offering their services to the Gentry in exchange for patronage and protection. Others, however, form courts of their own, banding together for mutual defense against the Great Courts and other spirits of the Ether.

## Visages

Visages are the forms that faeries take, in simple terms. Every fae has a Visage, a unique form, typically humanoid but sometimes slightly deviant, that they take. Faeries are able to assume multiple Visages in order to gain access to different abilities, but every Fae has a "default" Visage (called their Native Visage) which they spend most of their existence in, and revert to if they are sufficiently damaged within the Ether. When possessing a host on the Tellurian, a faerie is most easily able to transform into their Native Visage, though if they are willing to expend more effort they are able to take on other forms as well.

While each faerie has a Visage that is unique for them, Visages can still be lumped together into various classifications, based on their common body shapes and abilities that Visages possess, such as the Highborn Visage of the Gentry or the Otherling that is the Native Visage of most common Fae.

### Noble Visages

Noble Visages are available to members of the Gentry of the Great Courts, and as a whole, are more forceful and potent than those of the Lesser Fae. Members of the Gentry can assume Common Visages, but most refrain from doing so, considering the forms beneath them and having better Visages available as members of the fae nobility. Notably, all Gentry have the Highborn as their Native Visage, without exception.

* The Highborn:
* The Wonderbeast

### Common Visages

Common Visages are employed by Lesser Fae, and lack the potency of Noble Visages. However, there are many more of them, and while most Lesser Fae have the Otherling as their Native Visage, it is possible for Lesser Fae to make such fervent use of alternate forms that their Native Visage shifts.

* The Otherling: The Otherling tends to resemble the standard mythological elf or faerie scamp, and is the most common Native Visage among the Fae. Of comparative height and build to the average human, the Otherling is distinguished by its signature pointed ears. Elsewise, their forms vary, with many having strangely colored eyes, hair, or skin. Most unwary individuals who glanced at them would assume them to be humans from a distance, and those who looked at them up close could be convinced they are in some form of costume.
* The Sprite
* The Rider: The Rider is said to have inspired myths of the centaur, for it is a form with a humanoid torso rising from where an animal's head would normally reside. The human form resembles the Otherling, while the bestial lower half is likely a strange approximation of the natural animal. Horses are most commonly part of the Rider visage, and might possess odd coloration, spines along their back, etc. Other creatures are also possible, such as goats, lions, serpents, or even spiders, with small animal forms manifesting as sufficiently large to incorporate the humanoid body. The only limit is that the bestial portion of the Rider be terrestrial; they may neither be a creature of the water or the air.
* The Wildling: The Wildling is possessed of several bestial features, based around a combination of beasts of the individual faerie. A faerie in the Wildling visage might possess the horns of a bull, a monitor lizard's claws, the legs of a goat. Another might possess a monkey's tale, falcon wings upon their back, and the head of a shark. The potential mix of bestial features is almost endless, but the Wildling does maintain a vaguely humanoid structure.
* The Wight

## Material Existence

As Chimera, beings of pure oneiros, faeries find it a struggle to interact with the Tellurian. Materialization is extremely difficult for them, and is virtually impossible without a substantial tear in the Veil through which they can draw power to maintain their physical form, or aid from a numinous spirit. Due to these troubles, faeries prefer to use possession when visiting Earth. Due to their Chimeric nature, faeries are unable to inhabit inanimate objects, but moreover, due to their genesis from the potent dreams of mortals, nonsapient animals are unable to host them without dying. As a result, faeries are only capable of possessing living humans.

Faeries engage in possession by trapping the minds of their hosts in a private realm within the Dreamscape, leaving the body free to be controlled by the possessing faerie.

## The Arts of Glamour

Faeries refer to their powers as the Arts of Glamour, or simply "the Arts". Each of the Arts covers a range of effects and general abilities. The act of producing a supernatural effect with the Arts is known as "weaving a glamour".

Binding

Naming

## Weaknesses

Like most supernatural beings, spirits especially, faeries are possessed of a number of weaknesses.

* Host Death**:** Faeries are unable to possess physical matter without a sapient mind with which to anchor themselves. As such, they are only able to possess living humans. If their host is slain while the faerie inhabits them, the fae is forced violently out of their body, out of the Tellurian and back into the Ether. The process is tremendously painful, and leaves most faeries temporarily dazed and disoriented. Furthermore, the force of the human soul that the faerie was anchored to detaching from its earthly shell causes damage to the faerie essence, tearing away a chunk of their energies and leaving the considerably weakened until they recover.
* **The Law of Three:** Three has been a number of mystical significance in many human cultures for ages, and somehow, has managed to permeate the fabric of the Faerie Realms. This effect is known as the Law of Three. Any time a faerie is asked a question three times in a row by an individual, they are compelled to be truthful with the third question. This does not mean they mean to be especially specific or helpful in their answer. If asked "What did you do to my brother?" an irascible faerie might answer "I spotted him", omitting the fact that, after spotting him, they proceeded to turn him into a toad and crushed him beneath a shoe. Faeries are bound by the letter of the question, and must answer within its confines as they are phrased, but they are able to winkle their way around answering if the question is not specific. Once a faerie has answered a question, the Law of Three cannot be used to draw forth information on the subject by any mortal who was present when they gave their answer.
	+ It should also be noted that only beings of mortal stock can invoke the Law of Three on a faerie. This includes ordinary humans, mages, changelings, cambions, vampires, skinchangers, or ghosts. In essence, anything that is or was once possessed of a human soul.
* Iron: