| Species | Sanziana (plural Sanziene) |
| Order | Faerie |
| Classification | Vaettir |
| Court | Summer |
| Sphere | Hope |
| Origin | All faeries are born Nameless and must be given a True Name; sanzianas have flowery Names |
| Lifespan | 2,000 years |
| Habitat | Flowery fields in the mountains |
| Food | Nectar, milk, bread, herbal tea, other light fare |
| Description | Feminine fey humanoids with pointed ears, translucent wings, and flowery crowns in their hair. They range from 6" to 6' tall. |
| Procreation | Sanziene reproduce sexually with other fey and sometimes mortals. |
| Esoterica | Sanziene are beings of spring aether, nectar energy, hope resonance, 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 liberation power, Elysian energy, radiance, other seasonal aethers, greenlight aether, currents aether, winds aether, pattern aether, dumaqu, euphony, euphotonia, euergasia, euskepsia, long path, glory, curacion, some heavenly lights, some hegnhic energies, mijjit, qi, fortune, symbolism, kor, yahas, spirits, mana, and flux. |
| The Tradition | Sanziene have these basic fey powers:
Sanziene have power over several different kinds of flower: crosswort or smooth bedstraw, lady's or yellow bedstraw, and springfoot. They can make these flowers bloom in the middle of the summer night, make them grow to great heights, or make them reverse their growth any time during the spring. Furthermore, they can use the petals of these flowers to create certain teas: crosswort tea to alleviate dropsy and make one swift of foot, yellow bedstraw tea for calm, for flea repellant, and for the protection of unwed girls, and springfoot tea to give one the power to speak to flowers. They have three special moonlight charms:
During a full moon, sanziene become sharp of eye and keen of nose, skilled huntresses for the moonlit hours. When dressed in white, they are able to go among mortals undetected as fey for a night. They may only wear white one night of the year, the 24th night of the fourth month (June). On this night, they gather flowers, and they must gather at least one yellow bedstraw flower, and make a crown of it. They then throw the crown over the houses of the local communities. Those where the crown stays are granted good harvest and prosperity in the next year. Those where it falls off will see someone die unless they make tribute to the spring and summer. At the start of the festival, they take a wheel of hay, light it afire, and roll it down a hill to welcome the setting sun. If they dance with someone around a bonfire, that person will fall in love with them. If they jump over the embers, they will bring health to those that jump with them. On the night before their festival (the 23rd), sanziene fly into the night sky and open the heavens, releasing Elysian energy and radiance that makes their mystic powers stronger. Any plant harvested this night will have radiant energies. On this night, miracles happen. They empower the crops and bestow health on people this night. |
| Glamour | Sanziene can glamour themselves using certain ancient rhymes. |
| Weaknesses | If they do not speak their True Name backwards into that same mirror in half a minute, sanziene 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 a sanziana into powerlessness. An iron horseshoe nailed over a door will bar a sanziana from entering a house. Sanziene detest tobacco smoke, and it can be used to stave them off. This is just a preference, however, and not a weakness. |
| National Culture | Sanziene are all-female fey folk who dwell in the flowered mountainsides. They live in fete, small communities, led by mai mare, elders who are chosen from by the rest of the community on the night of the 24th day of the fourth month of the year. This night is a special night for them, a festival that brings all sanziene together to interact with other fey and mortals. On this night, they take lovers, pick flowers, bestow blessings, and choose their leaders for the coming year. This festival is the end of the long spring that they honor, and it is the coming of summer. They honor the flowers on this night in special ways. During the day, they gather flowers, and at night, they perform many rituals. Among the sanziene, flowers and colors have great importance. White is only worn on the festival night. Yellow is worn year-round. Blue, green, and platinum hues are worn only in the long spring (roughly mid-rebirth season to the start of summer). Children are raised by the whole fete. By age six, they begin to learn and become part of the group. By age 16, they are free to take part in the festival. By age 25, they are adults and allowed to come and go, help choose leaders, and take on responsibilities for the fete. They often take lovers among themselves, but as they are all female-assigned (gender variation is welcome), they do not reproduce with one another. Instead, they take brief lovers with mortals or other fey, usually on one of their festival nights, to have children. It is almost unheard of for a sanziana to keep a non-sanziana lover for more than a week or two. Marriage is compeltely unthinkable. Sanziene have no real warriors among them, but they do have hunters, mystics, poets, singers, dancers, artists, gardeners, gatherers, and weavers. They rely on their mystic arts to protect the fete. Every fete is connected to the greater sanziana nation. This nation is led by extremely powerful sanziene chosen by each fete every 25 years during the festival. These 12 special leaders are called the gradina galbena. In times of crisis, this council calls them all together. They create some rules for all fete to follow, but mostly, they are there to provide guidance and wisdom from their special flowery bower in the high mountains. |
| Summer Culture | Sanziene are revered members of the Summer Court, which the gradina galbena chose to bring them into during the dark wars that endangered their people. They mostly keep their national culture, providing tribute to the May Queen, but a group of them known as the petale serve as attendants directly to the May Queen. Otherwise, they are considered a curiosity, a nation on the edges who provide for other nations through their mystic arts and service. Some view them as a servile class, but most simply view them as odd. |
| Other Courts | Sanziene are welcome in the Kindly Court, and indeed, many fete are part of it. The Seelie Court welcomes them as peasants or servants. The Winter Court kills them, and the Unseelie enslave them. The Unkindly also enslave them. |
| Mortal Interactions | Sanziene take mortals as lovers, invite them to their festivals, and take tribute from them on their special nights. |
| Notables | Culoare, Sanziana Manifest; Voinicului, Flower Dancer |
| Special Classes | Culegator (flower picker), Ceai (tea maker), Dansator (dancer), Vanator (hunter), Mistic (mystic), Poet, Cantaret (singer), Si Tesator (weaver) Gradina Galbena, Mai Mere |
| Sample Stats | PRO 8 ATH 11 Flight 12 STR 8 AWA 11 WIL 8 ROG 8 In White 18 Vanish (3 seconds) Glamour 7 Whistle 7 Moonlit Charms 13 Moonlit Hunting 11 Flower Powers 11 Flower Crown 11 Ember Jump 11 Love Dance 11 |
Topic revision: 28 Jun 2021, SallyJaneBlack
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