| Species | Veitha |
| Order | Faerie |
| Classification | Vaettir |
| Court | Wild Hunt |
| Sphere | Might |
| Origin | All faeries are born Nameless and must be given a True Name; veitha have mighty Names |
| Lifespan | 2,000 years |
| Habitat | Subarctic coasts |
| Food | Meat-heavy human fare |
| Description | Veitha appear to be one-eyed, tall, human-like figures garbed for war. |
| Procreation | Veitha engage in sexual reproduction with each other and other fey. With other vaettir, it follows the child-bearing parent. |
| Esoterica | Veitha are beings of oalkhaylaoataa, b'qar, mansam, poioumenon, and dream energy or uafas. Like all faeries, they are users of The Tradition, a form of poioumenonic lore empowered by dream energies. They also use other Damaskian powers, mystery, the gates, shadow, arnum, infernum, glory energy, long path, euphotonia, soul energy, psionics, mijjit, humors (especially blood), kor, spirits, gebvel, and various aethers. |
| The Tradition | Veitha have the following basic fey powers:
When a veitha captures a fey, one of these things happens:
Veitha are often accompanied by two dogs, one which barks loudly and one which barks faintly. They move with incredible stealth, being heard but seen as they ride, usually the barking of their dogs and an unpleasant whining sound. Sometimes, shots are heard. Sometimes the dogs are large birds. Veitha hunt those fey who violate the prohibition against hunting on feast days, especially nobles, or those who prey on the weak. They ride out the night after a feast day to Hunt. When the veitha ride out on a Hunt, they bring with them a change in the weather or war or unrest in their wake. They follow the old roads, the ones they remember from their first Hunt, and anyone who builds over the roads will find their buildings burned down. However, their Hunts are short in distance, traveling no more than the distance an ox could travel in a day. They target different areas on different days, however. The leader of the veitha is a one-eyed lord, wearing arms and spurs, with a broad-rimmed hat and one-eye. They can transform a flock of sparrows into new veitha. They often ride in a one-wheeled cart. |
| Glamour | Veitha can glamour themselves using certain ancient rhymes to make themselves look slightly more intimidating. |
| Weaknesses | Mortals can avoid the Hunt of the veitha if they throw themselves to the ground. They could also throw down steel to force the Hunt in front of themselves to force the Hunt to change paths and feed old bread to the dogs to distract them. If they do not speak their True Name backwards into that same mirror in half a minute, veitha 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 veitha into powerlessness. An iron horseshoe nailed over a door will bar a veitha from entering a house. |
| National Culture | The veitha are a small collection of clannish raiding parties who have a poioumenonic geas on them to engage in a Wild Hunt. For the veitha, these Hunts are short, repeated in different spots throughout the Hunting Season, which lasts through the nine weeks before the first day of spring. When they begin their Hunt, any fey not aligned with a Court in the area will be swept up in it. Their goal is to Hunt those who have violated Hunting laws and any who are in their path. The veitha number in the thousands, but only a few ride out to Hunt at a time per party. Like their cousins among the wild huntsmen, they spend their off-seasons trading, selling, and feasting. The slaves they take are never traded, but they do sometimes work them to death. Those who join the Hunt are allowed to leave after seven years. The soul trade is much the same as with the wild huntsmen, whom they consider rivals. Their main trade partners are the Summer and Winter Courts. Each tribe is led by a wodan, a war-leader, who answer to the Rider With the Broad-Rimmed Hat. This title is given to the rider who catches the most converts, slaves, and souls during the last hunting season, and they select all of the wodans. Riders who catch no one get seven lashes each at the end of the season. At the start of the new season, the Rider With the Broad-Rimmed Hat holds a feast where he shares bounty with the wodans and the tribes. If a rider goes seven seasons with no catches, they are sacrificed to the Greatest Rider. Every tribe is made up of the veitha and their captives and slaves. Some fey unaligned with a Court choose to stay with the veitha after a Hunt is over. Among the veitha, one must earn their place; strength and prowess are highly valued. Captives, slaves, and outsiders may earn spots of honor if they are powerful enough. To be a wodan, they must alter their Names to be veitha, however. Almost all veitha are hunters, but there are those who take up other crafts. Tanners, butchers, teachers, grooms, cartwrights, masons, carpenters, shamans, fishers, smiths, milliners, houndsmen, tradesmen, mystics, and tailors are common. Children are raised by their parents but are quickly abandoned to survive on their own; however, the whole tribe keeps track of them quietly to make sure nothing truly terrible happens to them. Slowly but surely they are tested, making sure they're ready for different tasks and roles. When they are deemed ready for the Hunt, they are taken out, but kept safe until they are deemed ready to ride on their own. After they take their first fey, slave, soul, or captive, they are considered an adult. Courtship among the veitha is based on displays of prowess and strength to impress the target of one's desire. Gender is secondary to feats of strength and skill. Courting someone weaker than you is an embarrassment. On high feast days (there are seven each year, chosen by the year's Rider With the Broad-Rimmed Hat), couples swap partners. During thunderstorms, all veitha ride out (not on a Hunt, just a ride) to chase after lightning strikes. |
| Combined Culture | When all of the Hunts come together for the Great Wild Hunt, they answer to the inmortal Master of the Wild Hunt (at present, the Erlking). This happens every seven years. The united Hunt is chaotic. All national, social, and cultural boundaries dissolve as the Hunt rides out throughout all of Lyrilla to take fey, vaettir, and mortals who have violated The Law of the Hunt, an ancient law about when, where, and why one must hunt, but which has implications beyond the mere act of hunting. The seven parts of The Law of the Hunt are
This can be taken metaphorically, however. For instance, a police officer who makes a wrongful arrest (5), a lord who is too stingy (7), a wasteful farmer (3), a builder whose materials are not good enough (6), etc. will be likely prey. Those captured during these Hunts belong to the Master of the Wild Hunt alone. The Master will decide their fate. The role of the veitha in this Great Wild Hunt is to be the core of strength at the heart of the Hunt. |
| Other Courts | A veitha who leaves the Hunt is scorned and hunted down by their former hunt companions, even if they change their Names. They live lives of constant fear for their "moment of weakness." |
| Mortal Interactions | Mortals can avoid the Hunt of the veitha if they throw themselves to the ground. They could also throw down steel to force the Hunt in front of themselves to force the Hunt to change paths and feed old bread to the dogs to distract them. If a mortal violates the laws of the Hunt or if they hunt out of season, they can be targets for the veitha. When the veitha ride through mortal territories, they take the old roads and burn down anything built over them. The veitha sometimes trad esouls to mortals. |
| Notables | Waur the One-Eyed Hunter, Veitha Manifest; Wuid the Bold Huntswoman, psychopomp; Berholt the Black, cursed for hunting out of season; Huckelbernd the Stormhunter; Wotk the Wind Hunter; Knecht Ruprecht, sidekick to Waur |
| Special Classes | Hunter; Hjultillverkare (cartwright); Fiskare (fisher); Naringsidkare (trader); Stormjagare (storm chaser); Hundhallare (houndsman) |
| Sample Stats | PRO 14 ATH 12 STR 14 AWA 12 WIL 9 ROG 11 Vanish (30 seconds) Glamour 4 Steed Whistle 11 Soul-taking 9 Other Powers [Varies] |
Topic revision: 12 Nov 2021, SallyJaneBlack
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