Sidhe

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The Sidhe

"Their reign has never ceased, but only waned in power a little, for the Sidhe still pass in every wind, and dance and play at hurley, and fight their sudden battles in every hollow and on every hill; but they cannot build their temples again till there have been martyrdoms and victories, and perhaps even that long-foretold battle in the Valley of the Black Pig."


'The Sidhe' describes all the peoples of Tir na Nog: Some believe them to be fallen angels, others say they are powerful spirits who have long since forsaken the mortal world; others still say they are the remnants of old and terrible gods that abandoned the realm of men in favor of the realm of infinitude. No one knows for certain, and The Sidhe themselves are unwilling or unable to say. They hold dominion over the otherworld known as 'Tir na Nog', a paradise of eternal youth and boundless magics. The Sidhe very rarely leave their own realm for the mortal plane, as their powers are drastically dampened therein. When they do, it is often due to exile, exploration, or because they have been summoned there by their True Name (which they will not speak or reveal without immense and nearly inconceivable recompense, electing to go instead by chosen nicknames which describe them) in order to strike an accord with one who dwells there. Aside from the rag-tag assortment of The Wydlefae, each of The Sidhe is bound to either the Summer or Winter Courts, also called 'Seelie' and 'Unseelie', respectively. Those belonging to the Summer Court wear warm colors, while those belonging to the Winter Court wear cool hues to demonstrate their allegiance. Each court is ruled by its Queen: Medb/Mab, Queen of Air and Darkness, presides over the Winter Court. Titania, Queen of Light and Creation, controls the Summer Court. While the Courts contrast distinctly in demeanor, with those of the Summer caring and those of the Winter aloof, both are genuinely good-natured overall and the primary goal of each is to maintain balance with the other (which is said to keep the seasons of the year faithfully locked into their natural order). As such, balance, equality, equitability, and fairness are the guiding forces of The Sidhe: A gift must be met with a gift of equal value, each party much keep their word in any agreement, hospitality is to be met with politeness, and politeness with hospitality. These hold true for any of the Fae, although the further up in the hierarchy of The Sidhe, the more 'rules' must be followed, in order to ensure that those with the most power work the hardest to maintain equilibrium between the Courts of Summer and Winter. That said; to violate the rules of the Sidhe when dealing with them, knowingly or not, is to invite disaster.


Good/Evil Alignment: Aside from the Wyldefae and Fomorians (neither of which are typically counted amongst the Sidhe), The Sidhe do not have a good or evil alignment, and do not generally understand such concepts or their importance to mortal society. The Sidhe are compelled to maintain balance between the Summer and Winter Courts, and all of their actions serve that end: no matter how cryptic, abstruse, or enigmatic that may seem in the short-term.


The Courts:


The Summer Court: Sometimes called 'The Good Neighbors' or 'The Gentry', The Summer Court are known for their compassion toward the mortal races, often becoming involved in the affairs of men and monster or drawing them into Tir na Nog in order to preserve the balance in their own unfathomable way. They wear warm hues, and are generally possessed of a positive, helpful, and amiable demeanor. They are the epitome of the Sidhe's benignity and good will, no more benevolent than their Winter Court counterparts, but lack the reservation and detached attitude associated therewith. They are ruled over by the magnanimous Summer Queen, Titania. While she holds never-ending court and revelry in the Summer Palace, her Daoine Sidhe are each sovereign of vast swaths of the Summer-Lands, where they act as earls or lords in service to their Queen.

The Winter Court: Often referring to themselves only as 'An Interested Party' or, collectively, 'Those Who Follow', The Winter Court are famously aloof and cynical, and are loathe to concern themselves with the mortal realm or the lives of its inhabitants. Though they are often more austere and reserved than their Summer brethren, they retain the general virtue and beneficence shared by all the Sidhe. Their method of preserving the balance often involves maintaining the equilibrium of power in Tir na Nog and slaying the Fomorians who threaten it on any plane upon which they find them. Clad in cool hues, their monarch is Medb/Mab/Maeve, Queen of Air and Darkness; a threefold being with multiple modes of existence, holding an eternal banquet in the Winter Palace upon the frigid tundra of the Winter-Lands, in which the souls of those mortals who have perished in Tir na Nog battle eternally for her amusement. Her Daoine Sidhe rule over their demesnes with an ice-cold fist, brooking no threat to the balance of the Courts.



Language: The Sidhe communicate through Clarion, a language of music and truth unique to their kind, typically used only by the Daoine Sidhe and Aos Sidhe. Outside of Tir na Nog, it is almost exclusively played on musical instruments. Those able to sing the dulcet tones of Clarion within the realm of men are referred to as Bean Sidhe (ban-shee) and regarded with some degree of regard and respect. Otherwise, outside of Tir na Nog, all Sidhe speak the Common tongue.



The Daoine Sidhe (dow-en-shee) Whimsical

✮ A gift must be met with a gift of equal value

✮ Each party much keep their word in any agreement

✮ Hospitality is to be met with politeness, and politeness with hospitality

✮ May not knowingly speak a falsehood

✮ May not refuse a favor if an equal favor is offered in compensation

✮ May not refuse a request for Single Combat while the sun shines (This is a favor)

✮ Must play a musical instrument


The Daoine Sidhe are the lords of Tir Na Nog, nobility with god-like power in their own domain. Each are like kings or queens in their own right, and each is tasked with maintaining the balance between the Courts at all costs. They are often absurd, eccentric, and seem quite mad to most mortal creatures. They can read and "speak" Clarion, the musical language of the Sidhe, and are those bound most stringently to the restrictions of their station. In turn, the Daoine Sidhe are typically able to manifest a portion of their immense power in small, sometimes mundane ways in the mortal realm. They can be identified by their aristocratic attire: knickerbockers with stockings, and formal/semi-formal sleeveless waistcoats, jerkins, surcoats, etc. They wear dark (usually black) attire, highlighted with metallic colors representative of their Court, and are commonly adorned with metal armlets.

Naming Conventions: The Daoine Sidhe tend to make nicknames of verbs that describe their essence or driving forces most succinctly. Examples: Meddle, Tip, Kick, Follow, Whisper, Flip



The Aos Sidhe (ow-shee) Eccentric

✮ A gift must be met with a gift of equal value

✮ Each party much keep their word in any agreement

✮ Hospitality is to be met with politeness, and politeness with hospitality

✮ May not knowingly speak a falsehood


The Aos Sidhe are the gentry of Tir Na Nog, and account for over half of all Sidhe. They are beautiful, timeless beings, possessing sorcery of the highest order while within Tir na Nog. They are powerful enough to manifest their abilities in the mortal realm in the way of skills, talents, or aptitudes beyond the ken of explanation. As they are not beholden so strictly to their Court as the Sidhe Lords and thus not bound by so many rules, they live relatively carefree lives that lead them to make their own adventures whenever they may while striving to preserve the balance between the Courts. They may seem a touch odd or inscrutable to mortals, but not so much as the unfathomable Daoine Sidhe. They are differentiated from the Daoine Sidhe by their more casual sleeveless vestments, highlighted with neon colors representative of their Court.

Naming Conventions: The Aos Sidhe usually choose adjectives that describe their core being as nicknames. Examples: Brave, Clumsy, Jumpy, Lucky, Misty, Wicked, Wild



The Firbolg (fear-bolg) Jolly

✮ A gift must be met with a gift of equal value

✮ Each party much keep their word in any agreement

✮ Hospitality is to be met with politeness, and politeness with hospitality

✮May not refuse a request for Single Combat while the sun shines (This is a favor)


The Firbolg are both the laborers and warriors of the Sidhe. They are immense in size and strength, standing nearly 30 feet tall in Tir na Nog, but still tower over most even within the realm of men and retain the strength of their true stature. Culturally, they value revelry, hard work, and martial prowess, forgoing homes and lands of their own to travel nomadically throughout both Tir na Nog and the mortal plane. It is said that eons ago, they were betrayed and enslaved after fulfilling a compact by the Gods of Ancient Greece. After one hundred years of servitude, the Firbolg ate the gods, consuming their strength in repayment for their many years of quiet enslavement. Since, they have separated into many nomadic tribes, that never gather in groups of more than two, so that never again could their kind be subjugated. Due to this, no one knows how many Firbolg there actually are. They seem very much like jovial barbarians to mortal folk, their values difficult to grasp and their behavior sometimes unpredictable. They can be identified by their belted kaftans, and either silver or gold cuffs on their wrists representative of their Court (Silver for Winter, Gold for Summer) to symbolize their slavery.

Naming Conventions: The Firbolg lean towards common nouns that describe their nature when choosing nicknames. Examples: Stone, Anchor, Storm, Hook, Hurdle, Sabaton



The Ailill (ah-lil) Playful

✮ A gift must be met with a gift of equal value

✮ Each party much keep their word in any agreement

✮ Hospitality is to be met with politeness, and politeness with hospitality

✮ May not refuse a favor if an equal favor is offered in compensation


The Ailill are an elf-like people, slender of frame and pointed of ear, who live at one with nature in the gargantuan and ancient forests of Tir na Nog, living in close-knit communities in small cities constructed of deadwood dwelling in the treetops. They are a playful people, with a passion for wild places and untrodden paths, venturing into the realm of mortals more often than the other peoples of the Sidhe. In Tir na Nog, they are possessed of mysterious and powerful magics tied to the forces of life and nature, which translate into an otherworldly affinity with plants and animals and supernaturally spectacular vision that lends itself to tracking and archery when they pass into the realm of men. They seem to mortals silly and a bit off, as one who has spent too much time in their own company; often talking to themselves, answering their own questions and laughing at their own jokes (whether they make sense or not), but besides this are the most human-like of all the Sidhe. They are clad without fail in inobtrusive earth-tone colors representative of their Court, often diverging from their Sidhe brethren by choosing to wear long sleeves to display their humility (as well as more effectively camouflage themselves).

Naming Conventions: The Ailill are given to take agentive nouns that describe them most aptly as nicknames. Examples: Strider, Chopper, Runner, Burner, Dodger, Drifter.



The Wyldefae (wild-fay) Mischievous

✮ A gift must be met with a gift of equal value

✮ Each party much keep their word in any agreement

✮ Hospitality is to be met with politeness, and politeness with hospitality


The Wyldefae are any Sidhe which are not bound to a Court. They may or may not be of Tir na Nog, and while most adhere to the primary tenets of the Sidhe, there are some that do not. Being a collection of individuals rather than a cohesive group, there is no codified or cultural attire associated with the Wyldefae. As they are not associated with either Court, they are the only type of Sidhe with a Good/Evil alignment and are generally unconcerned with maintaining the balance that the rest of the Sidhe are compelled to preserve. This results in some disdain from no small part of both Courts, although this rarely devolves into actual animosity. The Wydlefae, of course, have no naming conventions.


The Fomorians (fom-or-ee-ens)

The Fomorians are generally not counted among the Sidhe, as they do not dwell in Tir na Nog. Their origins unknown, the portals to their realm long since swallowed by the sea, and their forms twisted by the never-ending darkness that pervades the remnants thereof, the Fomorians are a monstrous race whose only driving forces are conquest of mortals and upsetting the balance between the Courts. It is said that if the Courts are upset and the never-ending cycle of the seasons interrupted, the ensuing cataclysm will sunder the Earth and Sea, breaking open their world so that they may walk the world and drown it in the blood of mortals on their path to conquest. It is this cataclysm they seek above all else. There are many types, but very little is known of this chthonic race of murderous monstrous from beneath the depths. The only mortal survivors of encounters therewith are said to have been driven mad by the mere sight of the ghastly horrors hastily forged when the world before this one was new.

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