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| Species | Volcji Pastir (plural Volcji Pastirji) |
| Order | Faerie |
| Classification | Vaettir |
| Court | Wild Hunt |
| Sphere | Moons |
| Origin | All faeries are born Nameless and must be given a True Name; volcji pastirji have lupine or lunar Names |
| Lifespan | 2,000 years |
| Habitat | Woodlands |
| Food | Meat-heavy mortal fare |
| Description | Volcji pastirji appear to be human-like figures with greenery growing from their bodies in the spring and summer, which wilts in the autumn and winter. They have blue grey eyes which glow under the shining moon, and they have lupine facial features, usually facial hair, fangs, and a slightly snout-like nose. |
| Procreation | Volcji pastirji reproduce sexually with other pastirji, other fey, sometimes mortals. They are only fertile in the spring, Beltane, summer, and harvest times. They only have children in late winter. |
| Esoterica | Volcji pastirji are beings of lunar aether, b'qar, poioumenon, uafas or dream energy. Like all faeries, they are users of The Tradition, a form of poioumenonic lore empowered by dream energies. They also use bestial aether, spring aether, summer aether, winter aether, harvest aether, nourishment, the gates, Damaskian powers, shadow, blood energy, brumal aether, greenlight aether, radiance, |
| The Tradition | Volcji pastirji have these basic fey powers:
When a pastirji captures a fey, one of these things happens:
If a pastirji howls at the moons, they will summon the rest of their tribe to them. All pastirji can speak to wolves and form bonds with them. Under a full moon, pastirji can sing a song that will let them commune with the night. During the spring, non-binary pastirji bring greenery and life where they step in the fields. During summer, male pastirji are supernaturally strong and can command thunder. During winter, female pastirji are supernaturally powerful in their mystic arts and can speak to the dead. Pastirji can bestow fertility on a plant or animal by singing to it during the spring or Beltane. They can do this for wheat any time other than autumn, fallow, or winter. All pastirji are supernaturally skilled at combat. They remain youthful up until the last century or so of their lives. The Hunt takes place between midsummer and harvest. |
| Glamour | Volcji pastirji can glamour themselves using certain ancient rhymes. Their most common alternative form is that of a horse, but they take many mostly animal forms. |
| Weaknesses | If they do not speak their True Name backwards into that same mirror in half a minute, volcji pastirji 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 pastir into powerlessness. An iron horseshoe nailed over a door will bar a pastir from entering a house. Most pastirji detest tobacco smoke, and it can be used to stave them off. This is just a preference, however, and not a weakness. |
| National Culture | It is said that the male volcji pastirji Manifest was stolen upon his birth and taken to a land far off where the birds migrate to to be raised by an enemy and forced to herd cattle. His twin sister took on the role of Manifest and her children, led by wolves, brought back her brother, whom she married at the summer solstice. Pastirji live in tribes that focusing on their herding. Each tribe is led by elders, but the bulk of work is done by the most skilled herdsmen and hunters. Every triple full moon, all pastirji tribes in a region gather to trade, exchange news, and meet new pastirji. Children are raised by their parents and extended families, and by age of three they begin to learn to hunt and herd. Courtship is complex. While casual sexual relations are expected and accepted, marriage only happens for those truly in love. Courtship involves elaborate rituals that always end with the mass weddings that occur at the summer solstice. One pastirji must take on the role of the spring or summer-bringer, and the other the winter-bringer, and they must honor those roles very closely during their courtship or risk disturbing the seasons. Most pastirji couples have many children, and many twins. The primary work of pastirji outside of the Hunt is herding cattle, wolves, and horses. Their primary crop is wheat. On the last night of the year, the pastirji choose the new leaders of the next year's Hunt, a pair, usually of different genders, usually in love with each other. They have a symbolic (sometimes real) wedding in midsummer, then ride the Hunt from midsummer til harvest. After the Hunt, one of them steps down, and the other leads through the hard times of winter. The Hunt is a ritual sacrifice used to ensure abundance from the harvest. Their biggest festival is zeleni jurij, or the Festival of Green George, during which a doll made of straw, a man or child adorned with green branches, or a girl dressed as a man is placed on a horse to ride at the lead of a procession through field, village, and forest. As they proceed, they sing songs of rebirth and return. Indivdiual pastirji love to play pranks and games. This is very common at their full moon gatherings and zeleni jurij. |
| Court 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 vocji pastirji is to lead during the moonlit nights and draw with them the wolf packs. |
| Other Courts | Volcji pastirji are feared and discriminated against in other Courts. They are unwelcome in all but the Summer Court, where they must give up the Hunt for taking up a role as lunar fey, or the Kindly Court, where they must prove themselves reformed. |
| Mortal Interactions | Volcji pasitrji are honored by mortals for their role in ensuring a good harvest. Mortals hold their own zeleni jurij festivals near where the pastirji live. |
| Notables | Jarnilo, Volcji Pastir Manifest, Spring Herdsman; Zimskasestra, Volcji Pastir Manifest, Winter Herdswoman, twin to Jarilo; Gerovit, Lord of Summer Rising; [Jarnik]], Harvest Hunter |
| Special Classes | Elder, Wolfherd, Cowherd, Horseherd, Hunter, Winter Crone, Summer Lord, Spring Warrior, Farmer, Night Mystic |
| Sample Stats | PRO 14 ATH 12 STR 12 Summer 15 AWA 12 Smell 15 WIL 12 ROG 12 Vanish (30 seconds) Whistle 9 Howl 12 Wolf Speak 12 Night Communion 14 Greenery Step 12 Thunder Power 12 Speak to the Dead 12 Fertility Song 12 |
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