Innate Abilities

## Introduction

Innate abilities are one of the three ways a fae can be powerful, in addition to magic and glamour. Pia has specified that innate abilities differ from magic, and while they often compliment each other, a fae can have powerful innate abilities while having little to no magical capability.

## Details

Nearly all fae possess non-magical powers, or abilities, that are innate to them and are often shared among others of their species. Like magic, the specific abilities as well as the strength of them can vary widely between individuals. Fae consider it important to honor their innate power by learning to use it effectively. Some fae, such as Stertes, possess an innate ability to block the abilities of other fae, even including preventing them from shifting forms, but this can be overridden by a sufficiently skilled magic user.

## Examples

**Compulsion:** Predatory waterhorses such as the Each Uisge and the Glashtyn have an innate ability to compel humans and other fae to obey them. The intended use for this is in hunting, but it is also used to great effect to settle conflict, obtain information in interrogations, and otherwise make people behave as the user desires.

**Divining/Prophecy:** The ability to read someone else's future to some extent, possibly only by touching their hands.

**Growth:** An innate plant-growing ability that seems common to waterhorses as well as dryads. Augus Each Uisge regularly used this ability in his home lake to encourage the many plants to thrive.

**Invisibility:** The rare ability to turn invisible, rendering a fae unseen by others. However, they can often still be detected by other means unless they are capable of complete invisibility, which is even rarer. Tigbalan, and later Augus, have this ability, allowing them to be undetected even by sound, scent, etc.

**Plant Communication:** Dryads are capable of speaking to plants, and as plants can communicate with each other across a wide distance by their root systems, a dryad can effectively use this to locate nearly anyone or anything they desire.

**Reading:** Reading is the ability to detect the emotions of other fae. Skilled Readers are able to 'pull people's emotions from their head to such a nuanced degree, they could practically read thoughts.' This is a very rare ability.

**Teleportation:** All fae capable of teleportation draw from their innate abilities in order to do so, such as Gwyn ap Nudd using his light to teleport, Augus and Ash Glashtyn teleporting through water, etc. This differs from portal making, which is magic, or the magical form of teleportation.

**Water Manipulation:** Some fae, such as sea fae and waterhorses, are capable of sensing water in their vicinity and manipulating it, as well as controlling their own buoyancy and the buoyancy of other objects.

## References

1. ↑ https://not-poignant.tumblr.com/post/186973845136/ive-been-rereading-some-chapters-from-tip-1-and
2. ↑ *Game Theory*, Chapter 22: Stymied. Accessed 18 May 2021.
3. ↑ *The Ice Plague: Book 2 - The Seething Seas*, Chapter 13: The Glory of the House of Atros. Accessed 18 May 2021.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 *The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire*, Chapter 32: Somewhere Safe. Accessed 20 March 2021.
5. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 27: Healing. Accessed 13 June 2021.
6. ↑ *Game Theory*, Chapter 30: Trade. Accessed 18 May 2021.
7. ↑ *Game Theory*, Chapter 33: Invisible. Accessed 18 May 2021.
8. ↑ *The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire*, Chapter 12: Empty Whispers. Accessed 18 May 2021.
9. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 2: Orphan. Accessed 18 May 2021.
10. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 14: Pearl. Accessed 18 May 2021.
11. ↑ *The Court of Five Thrones*, Chapter 21: Fracture. Accessed 18 May 2021.
12. ↑ *The Ice Plague: Book 1 - The Forest of Fire*, Chapter 4: Splendour. Accessed 29 April 2021.