| Species | Atomy (or Atomie) |
| Order | Faerie |
| Classification | Vaettir |
| Court | Summer |
| Sphere | Air |
| Origin | All faeries are born Nameless and must be given a True Name; atomies have airy Names |
| Lifespan | 2,000 years |
| Habitat | Mountain forests, low clouds |
| Food | Seeds, nuts, leaves, dew drops, etc. |
| Description | Tiny humanoid figures gaunt as to be skeletal, with transluscent butterfly wings and yellow hair. They are about 2" to 5" tall. |
| Procreation | Atomies reproduce sexually with each other. They do not usually do so with other fey, because of size issues. |
| Esoterica | Atomies are beings of winds aether, poioumenon, and dream energy. Like all faeries, they are users of The Tradition, a form of poioumenonic lore empowered by dream energies. They also use pattern aether, earthpower aether, mystery, flux, fortune, radiance, euphotonia, euphony, thorn energy, spirits, greenlight aether, bestial aether (for bugs), cacophony, self-denial, lunar aether, solar aether, iremia, b'qar, psionics energy, compelexity, recursion, possibility, kor, and yahas. |
| The Tradition | Atomies can use the following basic faerie powers:
Other powers:
|
| Glamour | Most atomies can glamour themselves using certain ancient rhymes. Atomies gather in groups to glamour, bringing together between 5 and 50 atomies to form one being. |
| Weaknesses | If they do not speak their True Name backwards into that same reflective surface in half a minute, atomies lose their True Names. They have a fortnight to recover it or they become targets of the Wild Hunt, corrupted into another kind of fey, or turn into a hag or boggin. Iron or steel will bind an atomy into powerlessness. An iron horseshoe nailed over a door will bar an atomy from entering a house. Most atomies detest tobacco smoke (or any kind of smoke), and it can be used to stave them off. This is just a preference, however, and not a weakness. They have very little physical strength on their own. Brown aether harms them. |
| National Culture | Atomies live in groups called clouds which are very informal and chaotic. Their dwellings are in the highest parts of the canopies or among the clouds above. Clouds are made up of hundreds of atomies, usually extended family groups and those intermarried with them. They are led by a gintleman and a gintlelady (gintlefolk collectively). These two are elected by the whole cloud, including the children as long as they can communicate. The roles are sometimes gendered, sometimes simply titles. The gintleman is expected to be a great singer, the gintlelady is expected to be a clever mimic. All clouds answer to a lord called a magnifee. The magnifee is the one tasked with protecting the atomy nation, and they are in charge of the atomy militias, which take volunteers from every cloud. Atomy soldiers are called mallowzots. They use needles, twigs, pebbles, and other tiny weaponry to harass enemies. The magnifee is chosen by a council of the eldest gintlefolk (usually 1,000 years+). Atomy children are raised by their extended families. Though marriage is an important part of atomy life, monogamy is not. Most atomies will be married to two or three people of varying genders. Children do not know their fathers, usually. They can vote and participate in cloud activities once they can communicate and fly, usually by age four or five. By the age of 11, they usually have begun courting and learning a craft. By age 25, they are allowed to marry. Their first marriage will usually happen shortly after they turn 25, and subsequent marriages will happen quickly beyond that. Marriages dissolve very easily among atomies, rarely with any ill feelings. They are mercurial folk. Clothing among atomies is made of small scraps of fabric, leaves, petals, and strands of vine or plant-fiber. Their clothing-makers are called stranders. Atomy weddings are huge gatherings that bring together many families or many clouds. They involve a night of feasting, drinking, singing, and dancing. Because the singing will cause many breezes, atomy weddings are considered a nuissance by other denizens of the forest. Atomies are gatherers first and foremost, picking fruits, gathering seeds and nuts, collecting dew and rain, drawing honey from hives. Bee-keepers among the atomies are called zeffiz; they work closely with the mead-makers, or donnops. They trade with other clouds or with other fey to get other necessities, offering either their small wares or services. |
| Summer Culture | When the atomies first moved into their forest homes, coming down from the clouds, they celebrated all night and day for two weeks. The winds through the canopies stripped the trees bare, frustrating the other faeries below. A group of faeries gathered to drive out the atomies, and an event called the Six Hour War passed. The other fey fled in terror with poked eyes, mouths sewn shut, eardrums pierced, legs tied together, noses bashed, and more bumps, bruises, scrapes, and stings than they could count. An armistice was called, and the fey summoned their Queen to try to speak sense with the atomies. That night, the atomies feasted Queen Mab, shared with her fine mead, seed mix, tea, and fruits. She was so delighted by the atomies that she granted them the right to their territories; in exchange, she would see to it the other fey did not pester them. She only asked two things: a group of atomies would join her to draw her wagon, and the atomies pay tribute to the Summer Court and serve when called. The atomies, smitten with her, agreed. Atomies are seen by most other fey as tolerated pests, save by sprites, who find them to be delightful and charming, and piskies and pookas, who like to play games with them. Within the Summer Court, atomies are considered a protected tributary nation. |
| Other Courts | Other than in the Kindly Court (which welcomes them), atomies who seek to join other courts are often ignored if they come alone. If a cloud tries to join another court (or even settle in a court's lands), they are usually met with attempts to drive them out. Atomies who bring something to buy their way into other courts are sometimes let in to the Seelie or Unseelie Courts. The Winter Court will at best enslave them and at worst kill them as pests. The Unkindly Court is very cruel to atomies. |
| Mortal Interactions | Atomies annoy mortals sometimes even more than they annoy other fey. |
| Notables | Gintleman Jay and his Betwixms, the Summer Wind Chorus who draw Mab's wagon; Gintlelady Zephyr Tig, Atomy Manifest |
| Special Classes | Puff (breeze-singers), Gintlefolk, Magnifee, Mallowzot, Zeffiz, Donnop, Strander, Wallowander (aerial acrobat) |
| Sample Stats | PRO 8 ATH 20 Flight 23 STR 1 AWA 9 WIL 8 ROG 8 Sneak/Hide 17 Vanish (30 seconds) Insubstantial (1 minute) Mimicry 9 Singing 9 Group Glamour 11 |
Topic revision: 28 Jun 2021, SallyJaneBlack
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