Fey Traditions

The fey traditions honor the most ancient stories. They come in many forms:

---

The Ancients

Most fey honor the Ancients, the earliest stories, the oldest stories, the archetypes and sources of all that came after. They were born in dreams and tales so old language was the newest invention. Belief in them means belief in oneself, and the figures that are most prominent in these ancient tales live forever. Worship of them directly is an aspect of the Tradition, the rules and guidelines and order of stories, fey law, while more casual belief is the Lore, chaos, the changing ways, superstitions and cultural practices.

There are many Ancients, but the most prominent and powerful ones are these:

• Belphoebe, the Queen of All Faerie, she who rules all Faerie is Queen of all fairy queens as well. She is the source of all fey magic and holds the True Name of Faerie.
• Broccan, the Old Smith. He is the archetype of makers and artisans, the archetype of the one in the story who arms or provides for the hero. Broccan works a magical metallic forge and is a crafter of supreme skill.
• Ciar, the Black Walker, the unknown one, the mystery and the secrets, the shadows and the core of belief in things that cannot be known. Ciar is genderless and formless, but walks the land in darkness and knows all the secrets.
• Diarmait, the Multitudinous, a figure who represents whimsy and strangeness, the bizarre, microbes, fungi, and weird things that mortals have no names for yet. The mystic and surreal.
• Finvarra, the Sleeping King, Belphoebe's eternally dreaming husband, who rests on a bier and holds her heart in the form of a rose. He lives on in the subconscious minds and dreams of all.
• Flann, the Bloody King/Queen, an attempted usurper, one who wronged the Fairy Queen (or a fairy queen), the antagonist. A figure who owes a deep debt and pays it in blood.
• Luigsech, the Crone of Lights, a psychopomp who guides the hero beyond, who guides souls in the afterlife, a figure of guidance and wisdom and death.
• Muirenn, the Blue Lady, a figure of change, the plot embodied, a woman made of water and flowing, of the story as it evolves, a figure who catalyzes the tale.
• Rathnat, the Wanderer, the heroine, the one who goes on the journey, the soul of the story, the figure at the heart of it who faces the trials and follows the wind.
• Seanfergus, Old Stonearm, the strong one, the protector, a figure with a body of stone, a figure of ancient lore rooted in imaginary.
• Slaine, the Sword of Faerie, the hero, a warrior with a flaming blade, bearing a geas and seeking to fulfill a quest, burning with it.
• Tuathal, the Lord of the Bridges, a healer who connects to the emotional core, one who connects others, one who opens passages.
• The Unicorn, the protector of animals and forests, of plants and beasts, the embodiment of Faerie's living things.

Belief in or honoring these stories is an important part of the Tradition, as their stories are fundamental. It is said there are variations of all of these even more ancient and secret, often described in broader terms. Only the most dedicated know those versions of the stories.

---

Asarlaíocht

Asarlaiocht is a variation of the Lore that changes more rapidly and taps into ancient cycles and witchcraft. It is more malleable, and thus it cannot be written down, but it operates on an understanding of Lore and how it works, on the belief in it. It focuses on three goddesses, known as the Triple Goddess, Sadb (the Damsel or Daughter), Aife (the Mother or the Woman), and Mealla (the Crone or the Grandmother). The Triple Goddess is a figure of chaos, cycles, and witchcraft, and worship of her/them is always focused on rituals and Lore that tap into the cycles of stories. Though the cycles may change or have different moments to them, there is always a cycle. Whether it is the alleged monomyth or some Divine legend or some basic story structure, there is something there with a beginning, middle, and end that leads to a new beginning, middle, and end, and in that, there is powerful and ever-changing magic.

---

Carmelites

The Carmelites are an order of nuns who take vows of silence and gain insights into the mysteries and secrets of the world and their stories. There are no Carmelite convents in the Talunese region, but there are those who follow the religion, believing in mysteries and secrets as something sacred. This religion is very rare, and those who believe in it keep it to themselves. They may or may not have a deity; if a player chooses to be a Carmelite, the GM will reveal more if and only if they earn it.

---

Ceiliúradh

Ceiliuradh is a part of the Lore focused on celebrations, on finding pleasures in life, a hedonistic philosophy wherein wine, parties, games, and indulgences are the point of life. It is very popular among certain subsets of the fey and looked down upon by others. The primary deity is called Diven, the God of Wine and Merriment, but many other spirits, fey, Ancients, and others are part of this Lore. It is bacchanalia and orgies, joyous unions and poorly thoughtout benders. It is living life to the fullest (when possible) and luxuriating in between.

---

Cuairteoir

Cuairteoir, or the Visitor, is the God of Dreams. Said to be the originator of all the fey, he is seen as a mixture of Creator, Guide, Sage, and Trickster. Those who worship him believe in the power of dreams, the magic of illusion, the energy of imagination. They believe dreams are sacred and profound, that there is deep meaning there, and that recording them is paramount. This is a major part of both the Lore and the Tradition, and those who follow it (called Dreamers or Aislingeoir) have many practices and rituals they follow, especially before they sleep. Their temples are full of murals and mosaics, mirrors and mirages, and they believe the Visitor will come to them to bring them visions and messages when they dream. They know they can enter the Dream Realm one day, and they seek to understand their dreams.

---

Cult of Istigh

The cult is a small cult mostly in the countryside, but they can be found anywhere. They follow a leader known as Istigh (said to be the embodiment of the inner mind), a formless figure of fey magic who comes ot them in dreams, visions, and sudden thoughts out of nowhere. Istigh also manifests physically as a silhouette of violet smoke, but this is very rare, and only the leaders of the cult, called the Ciorcal Istigh (inner circle) have frequent contact. Members of the cult, called ahra, practice meditation, special kinds of sleep, and study to learn how to access their own inner minds.

There are two kinds of ahra: those who are full-time members of the cult and have no other work, and those who have mundane dayjobs and spend time with the cult in their free time. Both are capable wielders of the cult's power. Most people who join the cult are initiated by other members whose role is to recruit; they are passed on quickly to those who teach the precepts and ways of the cult. They find sleep to be sacred, they believe in meditation and other practices that heighten the mind, and they trust their instincts over their conscious mind. They have many legends and stories, all of them relating to figures who acted on intuition, instinct, or followed dreams and visions.

Ahras believe that eventually, they will enter a slumber or meditative state that will bring their body, heart, and soul into their subconscious mind, merging them with Istigh. This is the goal they all have.

---

Draiocht

A counterpoint to Asarlaíocht, Draiocht is the orderly approach to magic. It is the belief in the Tradition and the recording of spells and rituals, formulae and rites, to invoke the powers of magic. They worship the Triple Goddess as well, but she is seen as a three-in-one figure called Ban-draoi (the Wizardess). The followers of this Tradition often ignore the goddess entirely and worship the concept of magic, follow the ley lines, and perform rituals and sacrifices to the magical ideal. They are seekers of obscure and strange Traditions that are half-forgotten.

---

Ealainism

Ealainism is the belief in the six Ancients known as the Ealain. They represent stories, Lore and Tradition, of making and shaping, of being those who create:

• Adomnan, the Teller. He is the framing device, the storyteller who is part of the story, the one who lives to tell the tale.
• Broccan, the Old Smith. He is the archetype of makers and artisans, the archetype of the one in the story who arms or provides for the hero. Broccan works a magical metallic forge and is a crafter of supreme skill.
• Faoiltiarna, the Mimic. They are a mysterious masked figure who can copy anything, be like anything, appear as anything, a trickster and rogue.
• Gelgeis, the Young Weaver. She weaves tales as much as cloth, they are attuned to fate, fortune, past, present, and future.
• Midabaria, the Dream Painter. She turns dreams into beautiful images painted in the light and air.
• Ualgharg, the Great Harper. He plucks the strings of his harp and turns the world inside out with his music.

Those who follow Ealainism are makers, crafters, artisans, artists, musicians, and entertainers. They believe in the Ancients' ability to inspire and infuse their work with something deeper.

---

The Fates

Inné, Inniu, and Amárach, the three Fates, weave what is to be in a vast tapestry, and those who worship them risk being trapped within it, unable to avoid the fate they are given. Those who worship them believe in predestination. Some are fatalistic, some believe there's some wiggle room. But they all believe Fate is the ultimate power writing their stories.

---

Firinne

Those who honor and seek true tales over fictions, myths (which are often symbolic), and legends (which cannot be proven or disproven). This worship of truth is separate from a celestial or popular faith in that it focused on the tales and the sharing and telling of them rather than on a broader honesty. It is a philosophy of objective reality found through subjective analysis, a reverence for history, and an understanding of stories as tools of finding deeper truths.

---

Fortuno

The God of Fortune, the Wheel of Fortune, the Gambler, an Ancient who follows the winds of fortune and knows them well. He is a figure of capriciousness, the counterpoint to the Fates, the shifting wings, the changing times, the bounce of the dice. Those who worship Fortuno believe that happenstance and luck define the world and their stories, and they put themselves in the hands of Fortune itself. They believe in taking risks, in calculating the odds and going for it anyway.

---

Maoimhism

Belief in boasting and tall tales, maoimhism (mah-iv-ism) is a popular religion among the fey. It is overconfidance and boldness made into a religion; it is absurd self-confidence mixed with absurdity, the kind of stories where people do the impossible and everyone knows it's absurd, but they believe in it anyway. It's like believing that Paul Bunyan really made the Grand Canyon.

---

Momentarianism

The philosophy and religion of momentarianism is an ancient one, though the practitioners have poorly kept records. The original momentarians sought to "live in the moment" out of a deep need to cope with the dangers of their world. This evolved over the millennia into a philosophy of leaving the past behind and the future to itself, of understanding the moment one is in as an isolated, perfect moment, and in doing so, having a deeper awareness and ability to affect that moment.

In the broader population, this faith has been adopted sparsely, usually people who believe in it but don't practice it deeply. Those who engage with it on a deep level become monks, living in monasteries that are usually not far from populated areas (for practical purposes), but also not deeply tied to them. The practices of momentarians are focused on pushing their awareness to the present moment above all else. In doing this, they lose their memories of the past and have little thought for the future. For practical purposes, they also have a few techniques to retain functional memory and basic understanding of the future in order to do the basic work to meet their basic needs. While there are very practiced and powerful momentarians who have achieved a state of awareness that means their bodies no longer need food, water, or air, nor any other outside comfort or necessity, most are not so skilled or devoted. Thus, there are monks in the monastery whose roles require them to have some form of memory.

Momentarians make up for their lack of memory by keeping personal journals, monastic logs, and dream journals. Dream journals are used to analyze and try to figure out subconscious needs or indications. Personal journals help them keep track of their personal needs, and the monastic logs are a communal effort to keep the monastery running. Individual momentarians also use a string system to remember their daily duties. They tie colored strings to their fingers before they go to bed so they know which tasks they need to do the next day. The code for this is written on the walls of their cells.

Momentarians use sensory methods to heighten their understanding of a moment. By taking in every sight, sound, smell, tactile feeling, and flavor they are experiencing, they guide themselves into a meditation that allows them deeper awareness. In order to do this, they use special tools - music to fill their ears, foods for their tongues, incense for aromas, clothing for tactile purposes, and special designs on the walls of the monasteries for visuals. As such, many momentarians have skills in cooking, creating incense, or playing music, especially. The tasks of the monks vary, but the lower-ranking ones need to do the cooking, cleaning, playing of music, mending and repairs, making and burning of incense, logistical tasks, and so on. Some also keep gardens to grow food needed in the monastery, and others are tasked with maintaining the monastic logs and doing basic administrative work.

Momentarians are seen by most as a novel religion, one that is a little strange and different, but generally innocuous. Some who take it up casually do so just for the mental benefits of a clear mind. Some seek it out because they have something they want to forget. Others find it adapts well to their own mental circumstances. Others still simply find it an interesting or moving philosophy and are drawn to it. The leaders of the monastery are the Laithreach, monks in the meditation chambers who remain in a state of total present awareness and never leave, but the ones who do the running of the monastery are middle-ranking monks who do the real work. These are called Suntasach. New monks are just called acolytes; above acolytes are the manachs (monks). Most are manachs.

---

Puckism

The Puck is the first puca, the most powerful trickster in the world (arguably), and those who worship them believe in mischief. In trouble. In cons and tricks and pranks and foolishness.

---

Suiomh

Suiomh (sui-ov) is the belief in the stories of places, of the stories that are embedded in the world, and the sacredness of seeking them out. This is the faith of the bifronti - the belief in wandering the world seeking the stories of everywhere you go. It is as much about the seeking as it is about the finding. The journey, the crossroads, the passages, the places, the beginning, middle, and end are all part of the story, all sacred, all special, all imbued with legend and myth and tale.

---

The Wild Hunt

The Wild Hunt is the legendary hunting party that rides out at different parts of the year (usually autumn) and collects the souls of seven fairies or fey, as well as the souls of anyone who owes them a debt, anyone near death, and anyone whose story is ending.

The Wild Hunt is led by the Erlking, the ancient fey lord, and is a collection of hundreds of fey spirits, wild hunters and other strange spirits, such as Herne the Hunter, the Estadea, Gudrun, Dandoh the Houndsman, Cainmeagna, Albrecht the Gaunt, Old Cockern, Cerunnos, Carno-on-os, Tubal-cain the Huntsmith, Karnayna the Huntress, Janicot of the Under, Actaeon the Hunted, Pashupati the Keeper of the Beasts, Atho the Disciple, Gwyn ap Nudd, the Old White Crone, Herla Cyning, Holda Hludana, Spillaholle the Spinner, Frie, Fuik, and Fu the Fraus, Old Mother Frost, Dunkle Grossmutter, Frau Holle, Werra of the Fields, Ragfair, Frau Gauden, Frau Gode, Frau Gaur, Frau Goden, Frau Wohl, Mutter Gauerken, Lussi and Lampa, Mannanan, Fand the Queen, Cathal O'Cein the King, Orbsen, Aoifhe the Crane, Clidna Mhannainn and Niamh Nhannain of the Golden Hair, Curcog the Beekeeper, Saint Athractha of the Causeway, Duartaine O'Duartaine of Mag Mel, Gilla Decair the Rogue, Frau Berchta, Frau Faste of the Ember Days, Berigl of the Soft Pine, Stampa the Warrior, Lutzl the Huntress, Quantembermann, Kvaternik, Zlobda Pehta, Pudelfrau Goosefoot, Rauweib, Zamperin, Perchata, Bercthold, Posterli, Fronfastenweiber, Waur the One-Eyed, Wuid the Bold, Berholt the Black, Huckelbernd the Storm Hunter, Wotk the Wind Hunter, Knecht Ruprecht, Jarnilo,Zimskasestra, Gerovit, Jarnik, Santa Compagna, and many others.

This sprawling pantheon of Ancients, hunters, and other spirits is deep in the Lore, wild and uncontrolled, and those who worship the Wild Hunt do so in its service.

---

The Word

The Word is the belief in language as a concept, the belief in the power of words themselves, and the use of the First Language in the Tradition and the Lore. The First Language comes from another place, far off, but it is universal when spoken. Those who learn even a little of it can learn languages much easier, and the magic of it allows for communication on other levels most cannot fathom. The belief in language is a worship of communication, poetry, and the power of words that is rare but profound.