Seelies

Meliorn, a Seelie

**Seelies** are beings who are half-angel and half-demon.

## Description

Due to the legend of their origins, the Seelies are associated with the beauty of angels and the viciousness and malevolence of demons. Like angels, they are the least understood of all magical people—the great ancient mystery in the Shadow World. Although they are widely believed to be hybrid descendants of demons and angels—something that their kind has seemingly not bothered to deny—Seelies possess human souls just as other Downworlders do, and they are counted as members of the human race by the Angels. That may be due to the fact their Queen was once human.

The Fair Folk are known for their unearthly beauty, many faeries said to be extremely attractive with perfect brown skin and regal features. Though they mostly resemble human beings, they have pointed ears and Seelie Stems, plants that sprout in their flesh and are unique to each Seelie.

They are very long-lived and become only more artful and powerful as they age, though they are not immortal.

They are known for their cunning and they especially delight in tricking humans—both mundanes and Shadowhunters alike. They are committed to notions of honor and etiquette, and while Seelies always exactly follow the letter of any promise they have made, they deliver these results with great irony and often use clever wordplay to their advantage in order to create loopholes.

The Fair Folk are also unable to lie. They might, however, tell what they believe is true, even if it is not. They may also expertly weave lies into sentences by using methods such as not telling the whole truth, letting others assume things, or not correcting the people with whom they're speaking; this does not, however, apply to half-Seelies, who can lie as easily as any other being. Seelies are also capable of manipulating one another.

## Abilities

Seelies, like vampires and werewolves, possess the unnatural abilities of swiftness and grace, and heightened senses of smell and hearing.

The magic of the Seelies is unique. It is very old and powerful, but neither demonically nor seraphically aligned. They can harness the powers of the ley lines, along with other strange magics. The Seelies are older than the Accords, older than the Nephilim, and are said to even be the oldest among all races of Downworlders. They possess their own magic that the Gray Book can only partly and imperfectly protect against, at best; however, there does exist Nephilim Marks that protect Shadowhunters from Seelie glamours for this very reason. The Seelies often refer to their magic as "Nature's Power", and often imply that Shadowhunters use artificial magic, magic that is not theirs. Most have great disdain for Nephilim, for they are small and have to use magic that does not belong to them to survive.

The Seelie armies are also legendary in terms of their might in war.

Seelies are in tune with nature. Seelies live among them, and the Queen has power over even inanimate beings in her territory. They can also harness the power of the earth and procure weapons from it.

## Politics

Though the Seelies are active members of the Downworld, faeries are generally removed from the affairs of the world. They usually keep to themselves, and have their own complex politics and social structures within their own people.

#### The Seelie Court

Seelies are organized and classified within the Seelie Court. Though there was once more than a single Seelie Court, the Seelie Queen had all wild or rogue Seelies hunted and either forced into the Seelie Court, or killed. The only Seelies that do not belong in the Court are the Guardians, though they do respect the power and place of the Queen.

Specific subgroups of the Seelie Courts are Seelie Maids, Seelie Knights and Seelie Envoys.

#### Guardians

Guardians are a class of Seelies that is not part of the Seelie Court. They do not answer directly to the Seelie Queen.

Guardians are responsible for the Seelie Treasure, amongst which are books, inventions and magical objects. They are the most powerful practitioners of Seelie Magic, making their lair impossible to find if you are not wearing one of the Seelie Queen's jewels, enchanted to let the doors to the lair open.

The Seelie Treasure holds the Scrying Glass, a powerful artifact.

#### The Downworld

Seelies have cold but relatively harmonious relationships with all of the Shadow Kinds. They do consider Vampires and Werewolves as diseased mundanes, leading to them often showing disdain towards them. They have a good relationship with the Warlocks, being part of the Great Magic Conference that is held every 50 years.

The Seelie Queen has also been known not to discriminate in the lovers she chooses, with the exceptions of course of mundanes, whom she's not allowed to touch, and Shadowhunters, whom she does not desire to be involved with.

#### The Nephilim

The Seelies are generally allied to the Shadowhunters and comply with the Accords. They do not often wish to spend much time in their company, unless they are specifically tasked to. The Seelie Meliorn initially only spent time with the naphil Isabelle Lightwood for information, though their bond grew deeper.

## Creation

#### Origins

The first of the Seelies were born of the union of demons and angels, both of whom were present on Earth in the early beginnings of the planet's history. However, most known Seelies nowadays are in fact the offspring of other Seelies.

The Seelie Queen however was born human, and her humanity was corrupted.

#### Breeding

Seelies are capable of bearing children. However, they apparently do not reproduce often as it is very hard for them to get pregnant.

A union between human and Seelie will result in a human offspring that may retain some Seelie-like aspects or have a penchant for certain kinds of Seelie magic. Additionally, the children of Seelies and Shadowhunters will be Shadowhunters, though they, too, will often have some Seelie-like physical attributes, such as pointed ears.

Half-Seelies tend to be affected less by faerie weaknesses: half-Seelies are able to lie, and they are not typically hurt by things like pure iron outside of some minor irritation, nor will their true Seelie names hold any real power over them.

## Weaknesses

Iron, particularly those merely wrought but yet to be heated and shaped, is toxic to Seelies. Steel, an alloy of iron, is usually not toxic to Seelies, as it is the purity of iron that grants its power over the Seelies, though it does weaken them to some extent.

Their weakness to iron is used by the Seelie Queen to subdue criminals into Seelie Knights, using the Iron Seed.

Damage to their stems may also result in Seelies going mad.

Additionally, knowing a Seelie's real name gives one power over them. This does not apply to people who are part-Seelie.

## The Seelie Realm

The **Seelie realm** is the hidden dwelling of the Seelies. Also found within the realm is the **Seelie Court, the Seelie Glade, the Wander Woods, and the Seelie Palace.**

## Known Seelies

* Seelie Queen
* Kaelie
* Helen Blackthorn (half-Seelie Nephilim)
* Björk
* Sia

## Trivia

* In their culture, if Seelies are surrounded by butterflies, they are in mourning, and Seelie Envoys wearing Seelie armor signifies that they are at war.
* All Seelies are bi.