New Arcadian
How is it possible to feel this... this depthless love for everyone and everything only to see it all reflected back as seething hatredWhen a native of Tairos thinks of a fae being, they picture a monolithic people all aligned to the ideals that almost destroyed this land. So much of what it means to be fae is lost now. The fae shared little of themselves when they first arrived in Tairos, and then after The Queen's Rebuke, anything that was shared... was burned. For the fae, they refer to themselves as Arcadians, so named because of the homeland they fled so very long ago - Arcadia. The ultimate fate of Arcadia isn't known, but most assumed it to be erased entirely or permanently poisoned. Whatever the truth, the doorway home is forever closed. Those that escaped Arcadia's fate brought with them whatever traditions they could carry, blended across hundreds of individual species, ethnicities, and cultures, until a new hodgepodge way of life was born. Those who follow it are the New Arcadians. The earliest New Arcadians known to Tairos were refugees walking The Black Road with The Autumn Queen, traveling from world to world and stealing away their magic. Time was meaningless on the road, and the stays on these host worlds were brief and terrible affairs. That changed with Tairos. When they came here, they found Leylines flush with unimaginable amounts of mana. They were able to settle, live among the people of this world, and raise generations of their kind. This is when the New Arcadian culture truly began. Much of the mercurial and capriciousness of the old ways started to fade as they became neighbors with Tairosians. Practicality, logic, and earnestness mellowed the otherwise bombastic nature of the fae. These are the fae that modified ancestral traditions and habits into a more manageable way of being. It's how fae could live and work alongside Tairosians for so long without the old ways destroying any hope of peace. This assimilation was ideally suited for younger generations born in Tairos, but the eldest fae rejected it. They receded deeper into their hiding places or integrated themselves into institutions of heritage and history like the Shadow Court. These older fae recognized the need for the blending of cultures but were themselves unable to do so. A rare few of these elders found the permanence offered by Tairos to be too off-putting and returned to the endless wandering of the Black Road. When the Queen's War began, the newest generations of Fae were largely unaware of the Autumn Queen's plan to strip Tairos of all its magic. All of them had lived their entire lives here, known only the peace and stability of this land, so when it turned against them, the newfound hatred hit like a punch to the gut. The Shadow Court and the Autumn Queen framed the conflict as one of racial animosity. They made the new generations of fae believe that Tairosians were disgusted by fae and were spreading lies to justify genocide or expulsion. This is how the armies of the Shadow Court were able to swell so quickly, mobilizing an entire culture against the forces looking to exterminate them. As the decades of war marched on, more and more fae started to learn of the manipulation, but for all of the native Tairosians, it was too late for nuance or subtext. The New Arcadians fled to whatever safety they could find, abandoning the Autumn Queen in her final hours. Still, for their trouble, they would be hounded by organizations like the Dread Hunters and burned alive. These pogroms would be responsible for the extermination of almost all New Arcadians. Today, only a scant few remain, often living in hiding far from the eyes of Tairosians. Some have chosen to stay on their own, living out quiet lives of anonymity. Others have allied themselves with what remains of the Shadow Court and its new High Lords. Regardless of where they are, these fae live in constant fear of being found by Tairos. The only shield New Arcadians possess is that most of Tairos believes they're all dead. Should they discover otherwise, the New Arcadians fear a second wave of pogroms that would arise to finish what was started.
Culture
Major language groups and dialects
Arcadian is the universal language of the fae, but most know the local languages of whatever Tairosian community is near.
Shared customary codes and values
It's essential to recognize that the New Arcadian culture is one comprised of several different species, all of which had their own individual cultures. Any discourse around the ways of the New Arcadians has to be from the perspective of generalities; actual nuance would require a library all its own.
Some values do transcend across all corners of the New Arcadian ethos. First, respect for nobility and peerage. This is almost written into their souls, the idea of kings and queens, lofty nobility, and the reverence they feel for crowns. All of this is so deeply connected to their history and many contributory cultures that abandoning it is completely anathema. Second, and more recently, is secrecy. In the last three and a half centuries since The Queen's Rebuke and the end of her war, any surviving fae have been forced to value secrecy above all else. Concealing one's presence, one's motives, what one truly loves or hates, all these things have to be hidden if one is to survive. Bottling these kinds of feelings up is such an excruciating thing for a fae to do, their nature is to scream their feelings from the rooftops, but it has become necessary to live one's life in muted colors if one is to live at all.
Average technological level
New Arcadians are the most likely of their collective species to engage with technology. In older times, they'd have preferred magic over science, but now they embrace whatever tools present themselves. A fae is now as likely to be an Artificer as they are a Bard.
Common Dress code
In modern times, clothing is often kept plain so as not to draw attention. Most fae are in hiding, and the last thing they wish to do is earn attention for their outlandish dress. In times past or in places where they feel truly safe, ostentatious and colorful clothing is preferred.
Art & Architecture
New Arcadians adore art. In all forms, of all qualities, they love it. Many practice some kind of art, but all of them have a handful of forms they seek out and enjoy. Particularly popular are dance, singing, and music. They tend towards these arts that are very of-the-moment, brief, and beautiful. Things that bring crowds together and evoke passion for large groups. Not to say they don't enjoy physical art, they very much do, but the New Arcadian attention span is such that only the most dedicated can finish long projects—those who do often find themselves labeled as creative geniuses.
Foods & Cuisine
So many of the foods and drinks that fae once cared for have vanished. They had their own Alcohols and even their own Tea but exterminating the fae also meant putting their cherished things to flame as well. Fae foods and drinks are particularly difficult to find. However, some of their fruits, herbs, and vegetables can be found growing wild in the Queen's Scar Woods. For obvious reasons, apples now occupy a rather auspicious place in the mind of the New Arcadians. They're no longer just food but a symbol. For some, it is a symbol of a better time or a promise of future prosperity. For others, it's a symbol to be reviled, representing the one who led their people to ruin.
Birth & Baptismal Rites
New Arcadians have inherited a fascination for the stars and moon. They have many varying rites and rituals around birth that match up with constellations, obscure zodiacs, beliefs about fate, and the destiny of the newborn. Once in Tairos, they adopted their new home's sky as their own - working Tairos' stars and moon into these beliefs.
Funerary and Memorial customs
Before Tairos, on Arcadia itself, dead fae were buried with all the honor and wealth one could muster. The common folk had their small funeral plots, and the nobility had tombs the size of palaces. Something changed when the fae fled Arcadia and took to the Black Road. The Gods of the Road could use the dead to find the fae, keeping constant eyes upon them or even calling the dead back to life to serve. Reluctantly, the Autumn Queen began requiring that the dead be burned in order to keep safe the living. Now, funerals are dour affairs where a corpse is burnt upon a funeral pyre. Always at night and when possible on a starry-skied night. The belief is that one's body and soul are being cast back to the stars and the winds of fate.
Common Taboos
New Arcadians have long since left behind many of the more strict taboos and strange fae idiosyncrasies they carried from their homeworld. Many of the older generations still hold these ways, but New Arcadians share more in common with Tairosians than their ancient counterparts. The only true taboo is breaking covenants or alerting the outside world to the presence of the fae.
Common Myths and Legends
New Arcadians are relatively ignorant of the old myths. Elder fae like those of the Shadow Court choose to conceal much of the past, believing those sins and dark truths will do nothing to make fae survival easier. The few who do know the old myths will know stories of powerful Curses, the barren worlds the fae visited before Tairos, and even the soul-chilling horror of the Black Road. Worse still, some may even know how to reach out to the old gods of the Black Road and forge pacts with them.
Historical figures
The Autumn King, The Autumn Queen, The Kindly Lord, The Gods of Arcadia, the Jabberwocky, and many many more
Ideals
Beauty Ideals
Varies from species to species, but all New Arcadians have a fascination with royalty, heraldic titles, and nobility. These are universally beautiful concepts to each of the species that make up New Arcadian culture
Courtship Ideals
New Arcadians, like their ancestors before them, are enamored by the ideas of romance, love, and passion. Their fae natures demand so much of their hearts, pushing them to do everything with their fullest self, including courtship. While the means of romance and courting may vary from individual to individual, you will never find a New Arcadian who isn't fully invested in whatever relationship they're pursuing.
Major organizations
Shadow Court, the courts of the True Arcadians
Related Organizations
Related Locations
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