An Aisling's Guide to Faeries

In Temuair, mention of the fae is likely to bring but one thing to mind: The Tuatha. Of course, some will argue that we ourselves are the Tuatha, but such is not the case. We are the ancestors of the Tuatha, children of the union of the corporeal and the mundane. The Timeline, that venerable and ancient fresco so lovingly painted upon the walls of the most ancient libraries of Loures, tells of mundanes in Temuair long before the Tuatha appeared.      It was the Tuatha who brought with them the love of the goddess Danaan, and their masterful elemental magic. This enlightened the mundanes and led to their becoming the great civilization of Hy-brasyl, while the Tuatha happily carried on in the land of Finach, now modern day Mileth. Following the beginning of Danaan dating, little is said of the Tuatha, but it is then that their history begins, a rich tapestry of song and dance, of ancient scrolls in their unique languages, of beautifully sewn rugs and the explosion of faery culture. In their wisdom, they saw the slow turn that Hy-Brasyl was taking to their own destruction, and the oral tradition of the fae speaks of their turning to the ground for refuge.      They made their homes beneath the burghs and whatever small and grassy bits of land they felt comfortable. It was there that they hid when the darkness came, and the water rushed over the lands, drowning the foolish Hy-brasyl. There they lived for close to three hundred years, coming out once again in the year Danaan 1815, returning the wise to the worship of the goddess, only to once more slip away, out of the realm of darkness. But, like all cultures, the Tuatha were not without their rebels, and fae slipped out, to breed and to learn, some to even turn to darkness in those trying times. It is from the Tuatha that all fae come, to populate Temuair with their magick.      There are many different types of fae populating today's Temuair. There are good fae, such as the seasonal faeries known only as the Fae, and there are bad fae, like the demonic and perverted Succubi. We are driven to some fae, and pushed away by others. Temuair swarms with them, both visible and unseen. The fae make their home in the plane known as Dłthaich de Sidhe, the fairy land. This land lies across two worlds, with one foot in the solid world of Temuair, the mundane world, and with the other in the world of magick, that venerable land where all the knowledge of Hy-Brasyl lives on in all its glory. That is the same place we tap into whenever we make an invocation and cast a spell, it is there from which we draw our mana, our magickal energy. It is in this land that the fae make their home.      Because of this, the fae can, like us, work their own magick (as so aptly demonstrated by the destructive powers of Succubi). They can work to help, to harm, or, in most cases, to make mischief.      The most widely recognized bit of fae magick is the Tuatha's beothaich deum, more commonly called Red Potions, or, "reds". The potions are mixed in the faery glades within the Enchanted Woodlands, in an age-old ritualized mixing of the two blessed Ardmagh berries, cherries and grapes. The glades where they are mixed are said to be the sites of the faery revels, where the fae dance in the moonlight, waiting for the early dawn, where their footsteps paint the dew upon the flowers. The mixing of this crimson elixir is said to be the direct recipe of Danaan herself, giving Aislings one last chance to escape the realm of Chadul, who no faery ever, in the history of time, has ever served.      At times, though, the faeries work for their own agenda, which may prove harmful to us, whether the Little People realize it or not. Many stories passed through my home of mundane children being stolen from their beds and replaced by changelings, the sickly children of the fae. While most believe the child is better off in the magick land of the fae, the loss of a child is never easy, and my family has even lost a child to this age-old practice. Fortunately, though, in recent ages, since the spark of Deoch reached us all, reports of these changelings has dramatically decreased for the first time in aeons, as more and more children are born with the flame of Deoch burning bright inside of them. Instead of hearing the heartbreaking tales of children waking glassy-eyed and unresponsive, we hear of mothers finding their children playing with licks of flame or balls of light, things which they have created for themselves with the magick flowing through our veins. And, if you ever have a chance, watch a child at play in nature. See them talking to that which you can not see? I have no doubt it is the fae they speak with.      Benevolent faeries surround us every day, making their presence known in wee ways, from a rumpled blanket, a sweet scent without explanation, or a bag of food gone from the table. Many Aislings take the presence of these fae to be a sign of light blessing their home, and lure these fae to take up residence with bits of bread, wine, butter, or milk set out specifically for these folk. One can also place small bundles of twigs from the sacred trees, ash, elm, and elder, and place them throughout the home. The fae also love the smell of apple candles, but do not let the wick burn long, for fae loath the presence of smoke (I'm told that it make their wings heavy). Also, be sure that, when you put up your bundles of sticks, do not put the ash, elm, and elder together, for that is considered a fae insult, undermining the power that each holds on its own. Also, wizards take note that the fae are elemental creatures, also, so do your best to ally with those of your own or an allying element.      The fae of Temuair live in three very distinct areas. Of course as individuals they are known to stray, just as we all do, but generally, the races keep to one of the triad, Mileth, Undine, and the Isle of Man, across the sea from Loures. I have researched and tried to make contact with nearly every types of fae living, and made many interesting discoveries about their culture. In recent ages, almost all of these fae reside solely on the plane of magick a world almost physically identical to ours, only on rare occasions, and usually without their knowledge, appearing to Aislings. Priests, due to their constant interactions with their fae teachers and the wielding of Danaan's Light in magick, are most likely to see them, but the faeries themselves do not discriminate. I have made these discoveries mostly through the act of Dreaming, an ancient faery art taught to me by the tribes outside of Undine, but that is something different altogether.      Remember, always, in your dealings with the fae, that they are individuals much like yourself, so please be respectful. Mileth      The oldest land in Temuair, the first populated, and the home of the Tuatha who landed on their journeys from the north. Undine     So densely populated that even its name is that of the first fae inhabitants. Isle of Man     Home of the dark fae. Miscellaneous ~ Cliona Malkier al' Fae Spiorad Acair