Cultural Overview

To the amusement of many fae humans have gotten their culture utterly and thoroughly wrong throughout history. For example with the old tales of changelings and kidnappings, the faerie would often nudge nearby fae to safeguard the vulnerable, leaving behind a fae who could stand fast against a corrupt guardian, or simply vanishing someone at risk entirely. They have cherished the downtrodden and rejected, often giving safe spaces to those whose voices were threatened by other mortals. It is why many brilliant thinkers, artists and inventors found their way into faerie courts.     One strong example was during World War II when the Nazi’s began rounding up the ‘undesirables’ the fae welcomed countless Jewish people into the sitherns. They could not save those the Nazi’s had already claimed, but they did their best to save who they could. There is a neutral ground in every faerie sithern where humans live and flourish, and while they live a little longer than in the mortal world they are still mortal and still pass on to another life. They build lives among the fae according to their individual skills and passions, and are good and bad, like all people.     The notion of balance and diversity are very important among the fae culture, indeed they are often bewildered by human behavior in that regard. Among the faerie it is rare for someone to be attracted to only one gender, or only one person. There are countless genders to the fae, and none of them truly matter, for as ageless creatures most have gone through transformations of self in one manner or another, even if they identify purely as one gender they honor all. Now attraction among fae doesn’t always mean willingness to have sex, it sometimes is as simple as acknowledging the beauty of another.     Additionally all fae must be bound to something, which is why the Court system is so strong among them. They may appeal to the mercy of rulers to shift Courts if they feel a call to do so, but there are no solitary fae within the faerie itself. Those who might be termed solitary are stripped of much of their power, exiled to the human world and typically bind themselves to a particular family to anchor themselves. This is a fate saved only for the gravest offenses, a measure below final death itself.     It should also be noted that faerie culture is largely matriarchal, as the feminine energy is thought to have come first, and then all else. Most energy among the faerie is often devoted to protecting the feminine, understanding that the feminine energy granted them the start. Those who possess a womb are revered, as immortal beings who do not often successfully carry a child to term. The choice is always in the hands of the fae who might hold a life within themselves if they do not feel ready. What children they do have are cherished fiercely and sharply protected. The more powerful a fae is the harder it is to carry new life, so while a brownie might easily have a child, a Dioane might struggle, and often turn to the fertility blessed fae in the Spring Court for aid.