Fae

Tier: Kindred

Size Range: M Proficiencies: N/A

Traits: Airborne+, Heartless, Natural Flier, Rifted+2, Wild

See Also: Traits

Description
Humanoid Kindred with four insect-like wings, peculiar legs and a natural covering of vines that are actually a form of shell. While Fae are usually described as humanoid, it would actually be more accurate to describe humans as Fae-like, as humans originally spawned from the corpses of Fae. The vine coverings of a particular Fae is unique to that Fae, much like a fingerprint or any other personal indicator, and will change as the Fae does. Skilled Fae can even quickly shift these vines to deflect attacks or focus their energy, however this is a very difficult skill to master. A Fae's skin colour may be any number of colours, and will simply be based on the essence at the point of birth, rather than the creature itself. Their skin colour is typically very washed out, as if seen through a fog.

Culture and Relations
Fae are born in clusters from the corpse of a Belladon, with anywhere from 50 to 500 members per cluster. A single cluster of Fae will share one Spirit, and will therefore be virtually unable to have any emotional connection to a creature outside of their cluster. Due to this, Fae communities are highly isolated and feared, with many who are lost in the woods being assumed killed by Fae for fun. While a singular Fae is a fearsome creature, a cluster of Fae is a near unstoppable, and is known to cause widespread devastation to even the likes of Belladon should it not be stopped.

The limitations of Fae rest in their strengths, where they only hold such immense power as a group, and an entire cluster of Fae is unlikely to desire anything, especially anything that would disturb their daily lives, as Kindred need not want. Should a singular Fae stray too far from their cluster's wishes, that Fae risks being severed from the cluster. A Fae which has been severed from a cluster will be diminished, and will simply not have the power to undertake catastrophic action without first reclaiming their strength, and will likely die before doing so. Thus, Fae politics tend to be quite nuanced. Very few Fae risk angering their cluster when they can instead direct that anger towards the chosen target, slowly influencing other members towards their goal.

Relations between Fae tend to be familial, as Kindred do not have any desire, purpose or means to reproduce. They still take pleasure from physical and emotional closeness, as does any living thing, however this will almost always take place within a cluster, as forming an emotional bond with an outsider is extremely difficult. Bonds like these tend to be temporary, with little need for a permanent partner or set of partners when a member of a cluster will never be alone. For ousted Fae, this can vary wildly.

Death
A Fae may die of aging, and doing so will cause the creature to simply die. However, if a Fae is killed, its body and essence will host a new life, spawning three humans from its corpse, for Body, Mind and Name. These humans will be 13 years old, and will take a full day to develop to this age. This does not apply to diminished Fae.

As the Player
Fae are one of the few Kindred that actually fit fairly well in a regular campaign, as diminished Fae are fairly adaptable. The only important thing to note is the ability to fly, which may alter the difficulty of some tasks. Generally though, they are fairly well balanced without their Tier bonuses as they are fairly frail and solitary, removing the main threat of a Fae cluster.

Augmenting
As Fae are Kindred, ascension simply creates a new Belladon, and will have a completely unique form. Generally, ascension will create a Hoxen Belladon, but in rare cases this is exempt. The only catch of this is that a Fae will likely retain their bond to their cluster, and might be prevented from ascending because of this. Unless all members of a cluster are to ascend, no single Fae that is a part of that cluster may ascend.

Diminishing
A Diminished Fae will lose its connection to its cluster, and all associated benefits. It will also lose either the Airborne augmentation or Natural Flier trait. A diminished Fae will appear slightly more haggard than usual, with various visual changes based on the Fae themself.