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| Species | Frosky |
| Order | Faerie |
| Classification | Vaettir |
| Court | Winter |
| Sphere | Ice |
| Origin | All faeries are born Nameless and must be given a True Name; froskies have wintry names |
| Lifespan | 2,000 years |
| Habitat | Subarctic mountains, forests, and tundras |
| Food | Frozen flesh |
| Description | Froskies usually appear to be small, bulky humans (between 9" to 27") with palest white and blue skin with furred coats and caps. They have icicles for teeth. Some froskies can take larger forms if they eat the flesh of a powerful enough being. |
| Procreation | Froskies reproduce sexually. |
| Esoterica | Froskies are beings of winter and brumal aether, poioumenon, and uafas. Like all faeries, they are users of The Tradition, a form of poioumenonic lore empowered by dream energies (in their case, uafas specifically). They also use seasonal aether, currents and winds aether, bestial aether, Damaskian powers, infernum, arnum, entropy, void, yahas, fate, kor, mystery, flux, symbolism, msawhat, and Raesian energy. |
| The Tradition | Froskies have these basic faerie powers:
Froskies have other powers. A frosky can change the temperature of a room by humming tunelessly. They can walk on ice without slipping by skipping every third step. If they miss this, they fall through instantly. They can snap their fingers to call polar bears or winter wolves if they have slept a night in said animals' dens. In the winter froskies can weave the snow into cloth using special looms made of fir. |
| Glamour | Froskies prefer to glamour themselves to be more bestial and dangerous. They never hide their icicle fangs. |
| Weaknesses | If they do not speak their True Name backwards into that same mirror in half a minute, froskies lose their True Names. They have a fortnight to recover it. If they do not, they will become targets of the Wild Hunt, become a boggin or hag, or be corrupted by energies and turned into a different Court. Iron or steel will bind a frosky into powerlessness. An iron horseshoe nailed over a door will bar a faerie from entering a house. Most froskies detest tobacco smoke, and it can be used to stave them off. Rubedian, solar, and summer aether harm them. |
| National Culture | Before they were the ruling class of the Winter Court, froskies lived in autocratic clans ruled by vicious, cannibalistic warlords. They dwelled in the mountain caves of the frozen north and conquered the valleys and tundras around them, enslaving those around them to build the Winter Court. Their clans were run by the most powerful warrior and their closest warrior allies. Each warrior had multiple spouses (gender remained very loosely defined among them) and many slaves. The clans were often at war with one another until Cliodhna took over. The warrior class ruled the clan; other crafts were done by slaves or by the handful of free craftsfolk. Each clan controlled a certain amount of territory in the mountains, hunting foxes, lemmings, and bears for food, living among the winter wolves, and herding elk. Their preferred meals, though, were the flesh of mortals, whom they would hunt along the coasts. They wore furs and snowweave. They created huge ice domes to live in where they studied ancient bones they dug up. Frosky children were raised by slaves until the age of 12. At this age, they were encouraged to become a warrior, a crafter, or a spouse. Most sought to become warriors, and those who failed became crafters or spouses. Some few found other roles, but these were rare before the rise of Gheimhreadh. Every year, the clans would gather for midwinter, a massive gathering that involved slave trading, feasts, concerts, contests, and displays of power. Legendarily, Gheimhreadh led her clan into the festival halfway through the night many Ages ago and attacked, taking control of all the clans at once and becoming their Queen. |
| Winter Culture | After Gheimhreadh took her "rightful" place as Queen, she seized the land of all the clans and sent most of the warriors to work the land. The best warriors she took into her service, making them her barons and knights. Thus she transitioned their culture rapidly into a feudal economy. This led to peasant uprisings for many millennia until she consolidated her power. On the outskirts of the Court's territories, the original frosky culture persists. The other nations of the Winter Court (sleigh beggey, corrigan, vodnik, and bohoken) are subject to the ruling froskies, but many of them are part of the aristocratic class as well. Each nation is split between aristocrat and peasant rather than whole nations being one or the other. This is a result of great conflict within the Court. There are still national tensions, but the closer one is to the Queen, the less these tensions matter beyond individual opinions. No laws dictate nation-based class relations. The Queen rules the Court. Her Winterguard are her elite protectors who have the most power, along with her advisers, the Circle of Shivers. These all have the rank of duke, and from among them are the consorts of the Queen. She has children who are her heirs as well, but they do not own land (until such time as they take over, if ever). These royal children abuse their power greatly and engage in political intrigue constantly. After the dukes are the earls; these are usually politically well-connected barons who have maneuvered themselves some extra land and power. The barons and knights are next; these are the bulk of the aristocracy. They maintain the armed militias that police the serfs. The serfs work and serve; they are rewarded for treachery against their fellow serfs and punished for any independence. Every midwinter, the Queen holds a Court-wide festival that celebrates her ancient victory. All must bring tribute to her on this date. Those who fail become the main course for the next midwinter. |
| Other Courts | Froskies in the Unseelie Court are welcomed, usually having some rank if they came from Winter aristocracy, or being recruited as warriors. Serfs remain serfs. The Summer Court arrests froskies. Most are sent back to the Winter Court except in times of war; prisoners of war are given the choice of lifelong imprisonment or being coverted to niskies through ritual dreamweaving. In the Seelie Court, froskies are treated warily, often seen as dangerous outsiders, but not imprisoned or killed unless they break a law or are a useful scapegoat. In the Kindly Courts, they are converted to niskies or allowed to remain themselves if they prefer; in the Unkindly Courts, they are welcomed as equals and inevitable members. |
| Mortal Interactions | Froskies kill and eat mortals, enslave them, or trap them. |
| Notables | Cliodhna, Queen of Midwinter, Frosky Manifest; Shrothig, Loneliest Frosky |
| Special Classes | Snowweaver, Winterguard, Circle of Shivers, Wolfherder, Midwinter Wyrder (uafas+winter aether), Tundrawalker (brumal aether), Frost Dome Builder, Hunter, Bonereader |
| Sample Stats | PRO 9 ATH 9 STR 8 AWA 8 WIL 8 ROG 9 Glamour 8 Vanish (30 seconds) Temperature Hum 9 Ice Skip 9 Wolf/Bear Snap 9 |
GrandGuignol
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