Faeries Will Come for You! the Faeries of Mythic Europe Live According to Roles and Stories, Drawing Vitality from Mortals Who Play by Their Rules
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You mustn’t call them by name ... they are the “good neighbors,” the “fair folk,” or the “gentry.” Don’t draw their attention, for those they notice are drawn into their stories, which no mortal can survive unchanged. Stay away from the edges of the dark woods, respect your superiors, and do what society expects. Or the faeries will come for you! The faeries of Mythic Europe live according to roles and stories, drawing vitality from mortals who play by their rules. Some vampiric faeries steal vitality from blood, while others draw it from the garlic placed over doors to keep them out. Some fey dragons live by devouring knights and feasting on the fear they create, while others exist to be defeated, drawing vitality from the knight’s victory. But afterwards, the dead dragon and the defeated vampire always take on a new role, to continue the faerie story. AG0290 • ISBN 1-58978-105-8 What story will they make you tell? AG0290 • ISBN 1-58978-105-8 • $29.95 52995 9 781589 781054 WWW.ATLAS-GAMES.COM ©2009 Trident, Inc. All rights reserved. Realms of Power: Faerie Credits AUTHORS: Erik Dahl (Faerie Wizardry, Touches of Faerie), Timothy AUTHOR BIOS Ferguson (Nature of Faerie, Faerie Characters, Bestiary), Mark Shirley (The Faerie Realm, Touches of Faerie, Faerie Stories) DEVELOPMENT, EDITING, & PROJECT MANAGEMENT: David Chart Erik Dahl lives in Davis, California, and would like to dedicate LAYOUT, ART DIRECTION, & PROOFREADING: Michelle Nephew his work on this book to his enchanting wife (who must not be named PUBLISHER: John Nephew directly), to thank her for all of her support and encouragement over COVER ILLUSTRATION: Grey Thornberry the past few years. In her honor, he’d like to get a few lame jokes INTERIOR ART: Keith DeCesare, Kelly Hensing, Bradley McDevitt, out of his system: this book required some faerie hard work, and for Jeff Menges, Robert Scott, Grey Thornberry faerie low pay, but writing for it was ultimately faerie rewarding, and ARS MAGICA FIFTH EDITION TRADE DRESS: J. Scott Reeves it will likely be a faerie good read. Whew, thank goodness that’s out PUBLISHER’S SPECIAL THANKS: Jerry Corrick & the gang at the Source. of the way! FIRST ROUND PLAYTESTERS: Mark Barltrop, Mark Lawford, David Staveley, Simon Turner; Chris “CJ” Jensen-Romer, Kevin Sides, Timothy Ferguson lives on the Golden Coast of the Unknown Luke Price, Lloyd Graney, Peter Hiley, Ben Hayes; Jason Fryer, Land in the South. He curates collections of stories, rationing Matt Dyson, Emily Dyson; Donna Giltrap, Malcolm Harbrow, where, and when, and to whom they go. He dedicates this work Aaron Hicks, Richard Love; Angus MacDonald, Sarah MacDon- to his wife, who is even now preparing a garden for their new fa- ald, Brian Watson, Quetta Watson, Wendell BSP Joyner, Steve miliars. He never loses a book, not even this one, and he is awake Woyach, Aja Hodge; Eric Menge, Ann Sasahara, Scott Benfield, while you are sleeping. Lynn Reed-Kendall, Christopher Day; Nicholas Peterson, Jen- nafyr Peterson, Michael Pisarsky, Kristi Pisarsky; Matthew L. Mark Shirley haunts the woods near Newcastle upon Tyne. He Seidl; Christoph Safferling, Andrew Smith; Carlo Veltri, Chad can be distinguished from other varieties of troll by his bright cloth- Vincent, Greg Palechek, Greg Rothwell ing and four-dimensional hat. His Sympathy Traits include Zoology, SECOND ROUND PLAYTESTERS: Donna Giltrap, Malcolm Harbrow, Epidemiological Modelling, Ferrets, and Woodcarving. His Tradi- Aaron Hicks, Richard Love; Angus MacDonald, Brian Watson, tional Wards are Beetroot, and the Incorrect Use of Apostrophes. Quetta Watson, Sarah MacDonald; Matt Ryan, Alexis K. Heinz, Mark dedicates this book to Richard, whose unmitigated and terrify- Tobias Wheeler, Mario Cerame, Rob Llwyd; Ulrich Willmünder; ing whimsy has helped defined Faerie for him. Neil Taylor; Sean Winslow; Erik Tyrrell Ars Magica players participate in a thriving fan community by subscribing to email discussion lists (like the Berke- ley list), compiling archives of game material (such as Project Redcap), maintaining fan-created web sites, and running demos through Atlas Games’ Special Ops program. To learn more, visit www.atlas-games.com/ArM5. You can also participate in discussions of Ars Magica at the official Atlas Games forums located at forum.atlas-games.com. Copyright 2011 Trident, Inc. d/b/a Atlas Games. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this work by any means without written permission from the publisher, except short excerpts for the purpose of reviews, is expressly prohib- ited. Ars Magica, Mythic Europe, The Lion and the Lily, and Charting New Realms of Imagination are trademarks of Tri- dent, Inc. Order of Hermes, Termere, and Doissetep are trademarks of White Wolf, Inc. and are used with permission. DIGITAL VERSION 1.0 2 Realms of Power: Faerie Contents Intro: Dreams & Nightmares 7 REGIONES ....................................... 16 Warping and the Finding A Regio Entrance ..............16 Passage of Time ............................30 WHAT IS FAERIE? ................................ 7 Ephemeral Exile .............................16 Living in the Story .......................30 Faerie & Other Realms ...................7 Faerie Roads..................................17 SPINNING TALES IN Faerie and the Divine .......................8 Regio Levels as Acts .......................17 THE FAERIE REALM ............................ 31 Faerie and the Infernal......................8 Some Regiones Are the Audience Participation .................31 Faerie and Magic ............................8 Past Made Present .........................18 Player-Driven Stories ....................31 Time in Faerie Regiones ...............18 Player-Influenced Stories ................31 Ch 1: Nature of Faerie 9 Withering Away To Dust ..............18 Pitfalls in Player-Run Stories ........32 VIS ................................................ 18 ARCADIA ......................................... 32 COGNIZANCE: UNDERSTANDING Encased Vis ...................................18 The Inhabitants of Arcadia ..........32 THE NEED FOR HUMANS ..................... 9 Anchors.........................................18 The Path of Chance .....................33 Incognizant Faeries ..........................9 Accrued Vis ...................................19 Typical Arcadian Narrowly Cognizant Faeries ............9 Sleeping Vis ...................................19 Guardians of the Threshold ............33 Highly Cognizant Faeries .............10 Abstract Vis ..................................19 Arcadian Stories ...........................33 GLAMOUR: RULES Planning Arcadian Stories .............33 INSTEAD OF A SOUL .......................... 10 ELYSIUM ......................................... 34 Bodies: Incidental Matter ...............10 Ch 2: The Faerie Realm 20 The Bible .......................................34 Ownership ....................................10 THE THREE WORLDS........................ 20 Legends of Ancient Stock Characters ...........................11 GETTING TO FAERIE ......................... 20 Greece and Dead Rome ..................34 Taboos ..........................................11 Sources of Threshold Points ........21 Pagan Legends ...............................34 Pretenses ........................................11 Geographical Thresholds................21 Romances and Märchen .................35 The Open Body is Temporal Thresholds ......................22 A Thousand and One Nights ........35 Vulnerable to Glamour ...................11 Personal Thresholds .......................22 The Road of Destiny ....................35 VITALITY: ENERGY TO Artistic Endeavor ...........................23 Typical Elysian ACT AND CHANGE ........................... 12 Assistance of Threshold Faeries.......23 Guardians of the Threshold ............35 Stories Guide Assistance of Faerie Magic .............23 Identification as the Hero ................35 Humans and Faeries .....................12 Arcadian Mysteries .......................23 Elysian Stories ..............................36 Expressed Emotion Feeds Faeries .....12 The Guardian of the Threshold ...23 Planning Elysian Stories ................36 Artistic Expression Feeds Faeries .....13 ADVENTURES IN FAERIE ..................... 24 Adding New Scenes .......................37 Traditional Offerings Feed Faeries ....13 Environment and Running Elysian Stories ................37 Certain Types of Theft Feed Faeries ...13 the Faerie Aura .............................24 The Measure of Success..................38 Spirits of the Borders ...................13 The Mother Road ..........................24 EUDOKIA ........................................ 38 Murder & Eating People ...............13 Glamour .......................................25 The Forking Path .........................38 Violence .......................................13 Lands of Story and Fable ...............25 Typical Eudokian WHAT ARE FAERIES LIKE Vitality and Fable in Faerie ..........25 Guardians of the Threshold ............38 WHEN NOT SEEKING VITALITY? ........... 14 Gaining Fable Points .....................26 Eudokian Stories ..........................38 FAERIE AURAS .................................. 14 Becoming Faerie Through Fable .....26 Planning Eudokian Stories .............39 Faerie Presence .............................14 Creativity in the Faerie Realm .....27 Leaving Eudokia ...........................39 Epic Events ....................................14 Crafting an Offer ..........................27 Faerie Boons ..................................39