Púca (P-oo-k-ah)

Púca are sentient fey creatures that live in Dolochán, they are well known for their mischief and shapeshifting abilities. They are both feared and revered by rural surface communities, who see them as mythical spirits. However, past their mischief is a hidden love for the preservation of knowledge.

Appearance & Abilities

  Púca have the innate ability to shapeshift into any creature on a whim. However, some forms still take a stronger flow of magic to hold than most púca possess which results in exhaustion or illness for the púca trying to push themselves farther than they can go. To be on the safe side they are most commonly seen in simpler forms like those of a horse, goat, rabbit, dog, eagle, goblin like creature, or elderly human.   They appear black in colour with luminescent golden eyes in the majority of forms that they take. They are most known for this striking appearance in their horse form. The only exception being humanoid forms, in these forms it is only the hair of the form that is black, skin colour is determined by the individual púca's preference.   While having their own languages púca can also speak and understand any other creature's language almost without fail. This goes for every human and animal method of communication out there. Once the púca can either hear or see the form of communication they can understand it. For returning the form however it is a bit more complex. Due to different forms possessing different vocal cords or non-verbal aids they cannot always reply. The basic rule of thumb is, if they can shift into it or something similar, they can return the communication.
The humans that they communicate with often remark of the púcas' perfect grammar, wide vocabularies, and fluidity while signing.

Púca have inherently strong flows of magic, which gives them their aforementioned abilities. These flows also grant them the ability to curse or bless those around them. There are stories of entire bloodlines of human farmers being cursed so that anything they planted would be completely inedible. Yet, it is also said that certain fields have been blessed with healthy and plentiful crops as thanks for kindness from the farmer.      

Tendencies & Behaviours

Púca like all sentient beings are not innately good nor evil. What does stand to each of them though, is their love of mischief. Whether they are bewildering their poor targets with knowledge or scaring drunks by taking them on joyrides across the hills, the púca revel in the chaos their mischief causes.   Púca are most well known for offering rides home to humans drunk humans when in their horse forms. While this may seem like a quick way home, it is anything but. The unlucky human is forced to hang on for dear life as they are taken on a high speed joyride across the countryside. Dawn is the only thing that marks the end of the ride. The human is thrown from the back of the púca, leaving them to stumble home--that is if they can remember which way to go. While the púca dashes back to the nearest gateway lake.   Despite the inference, sunlight doesn't have an effect on the púca, their haste to return to Dolochán is mostly in case a wandering human spots them entering the gateway and tries to follow them. Other times it is simply because they are due home for lectures--púca rarely complete their education, most choose to continue their education until they are elderly.   Due to their love of knowledge, some púca families pick and follow a human family through the generations to record their activities and achievements. This can bee done from just watching the family, but is also done by listening in on them or just having a conversation with them in their human form. Some púca respect the humans' privacy, but others use the information to inspire more mischief. The latter of these púca are usually just messing around with the human by reciting niche or private knowledge about the human's family. Sometimes however, they spill the beans to other humans or to family members that don't know about their significant other's affair.   Púca have also been known to forewarn their human families of looming threats or particularly severe oncoming storms.
This has earned the púca the role of prophets in the humans' stories. While this is misguided it is understandable, as the information the púca have may not have reached that area of the world yet.

Unfortunately, not every púca has subscribed to the same benevolent ideology. These púca take insults to heart and like to push the boundaries when dealing their 'justice'. Some choose to curse crop yields or break down fences. A few especially severe cases include luring hunting dogs to their deaths, and chasing unsupervised cattle far away from the farmer's land. This toxic few may push the boundaries, but even they dare not break the 'Human Rule' , there have been accidents, but these are few and far between. The púca involved in these accidents have been ostracized or even attacked by their fellow púca--taboo is an understatement.        

Society & Brief Politics

Púca society prides itself on the preservation of knowledge and the growth of wisdom.
They have enormous archives with records on everything, from their own history and magical discoveries to that of the humans, other fey, and even the Neársa.   Their society's decision making and rule passing is done by the Púca Council. Which is made up of appointed heads from each of the most prominent púca families in Dolochán. Due to Dolochán's lack of societal borders the Púca Council meet near the centre of Dolochán in an old village that once resided beneath another prominent gateway lake. Since The Great Divide the gateway lake is now submerged beneath the sea, leaving a unique array of magical flows visible in the old lake.    

Brief Political relationships

The faerie folk and púca have a very fragile relationship. The púca see the faeries as malicious and are disgusted that they harm and even kill humans just because they violated a faerie rule that the poor humans didn't even know existed. They see them as being too violent and have strong suspicions that they have pushed the war to continue after the The Great Divide. The majority of the faerie folk also strongly dislike the púca for their benevolent interaction with the humans. So, it suits both parties well to be polite, but to generally avoid large scale interaction.   The kelpies are a little bit better off in the eyes of the púca, yet there is still a lot of tension and long built up resentment on the side of the púca. The kelpies share some of the faerie folk's taste for blood, but where the faerie folk harm for fun the kelpies harm for food.
Humans are not necessary for a kelpies diet--they mainly have a plant based diet supplemented by deer or wild boar--and as such the púca tolerate their presence. They are also indisputably valuable to protect the gateway lakes from humans that are a bit too curious. The púca also feel strong kinship with the kelpies over shared appearances and shapeshifting abilities, which helps them overlook the kelpies violent tendencies. The kelpies see the púca as being too peaceful, but are content with being able to protect and live alongside them.   The sluagh and the púca get on the best out of the lot. The púca are aware of the good it does these plane bound souls to stay together and most would gladly calm them when they get distressed. The púca help the sluagh keep track of their ranks and record their individual life stories. This gives the sluagh a rare bit of comfort, and allows the púca to add to their overall records and even helps with finding answers for the more niche research topics.