True Fae

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True Fae are the immortal, mighty and remorseless inhabitants of Arcadia, the realm which lies beyond the Hedge. Also known as the Others, Gentry, Old Gods, Kindly Folk or simply Fae, they are creatures that abduct humans to play out their stories and gradually transform those they kidnap into changelings. We have several defined Keepers you can choose between but you’re welcome to suggest a new Keeper and we will work with you on its creation. If one of the following piques your interest as a possible Keeper, let us know and we can provide more information. Remember that while traditional fairy tales can work as written, many of the True Fae have updated their stories to the cyberpunk age so consider adding a technological twist to the tales of old.

The Crypt Keeper

The changelings kidnapped into the caverns of this land must be clever and wary to avoid being afflicted by a mummy rot that decays their limbs. The Crypt Keeper “cleanses” such damaged limbs of the changelings they “like”, and encases the limb in what appears to be an augmentation. But when they escape to the real world, X-Rays discover their original sinew-wrapped bones still present and mobile within. There are many rumours of what happens when those bones are exposed to the air with the metal prised loose.

Further Information Known or Suspected by the Freehold:

Mardane and Raccoon Ricky recently escaped from the Crypt Keeper. They say they were made to cart around corpses for him. They were not completely human corpses. He used them for his creations…Frankenstein-like undead creations. He was fastidious in his work, piecing things together with fae magic, elements of tech, and potions. He was obsessed with his work. Obsessed with making something. The Crypt Keeper stole them because they both had some sort of use to him. They were Tech specialists, creating augments and deciphering codes.

When Ric Pepper was stolen, just before the TSS killed him for becoming openly suspicious about their wrongdoings, he had a bright blue stone in his wallet that he kept as a childhood keepsake in remembrance of his brother Mark. The fae sensed the strong connection to his brother, and stole him too, as he was another cyber-tech specialist, running the family store, Lend a Hand, in the Detroit tech district. Mark had kept a similar stone.

The Keeper made Ric a tunneler throughout his underground maze, connecting new rooms and morgues, and dragging bodies to the lab for him to work on. He was fast, and the Keeper made him run messages through his realm. The Keeper had made Mark into a dancing flowerpot, sitting on the bench in his lab, where he gyrated back and forth to the music that he played and the sounds of his tools and devices as he worked. His slender branches often held components as the Keeper worked and twisted new creatures into being, and he was made to emit a fragrance into the lab to cover the stench, and occasionally into the very creations the Keeper was making. Something in the lab had changed time, and aged Mark thirty years in just one.

By luck, Raccoon Ricky discovered the dancing flowerpot Mardane on the bench in the lab as he dragged in a corpse that the Keeper had wanted straight into the lab this time. The bright stony blue of the flower's face had somehow allowed him to recognize his brother, and he realized the Keeper had used the stone's connection to discover his useful brother, and he had stolen him too. In that moment of realization he knew he had been human once and that before him was his brother. He grabbed the flowerpot and ran, escaping the maze of tunnels he had helped create, and into the thorny Hedge. As they escaped the Crypt Keeper, the thorns shredded his brother back into a changeling as he himself remembered more of how they were once brothers. They were free of the Crypt Keeper - for now.



The Director

The Director obsesses over having the most perfect renditions of famous tales ranging from variants of Shakespearean works like “Midsummer Night’s Dreams” to Mary Shelley’s “Frankenstein.” The Director specializes his changelings for each role - making them eat, live and sleep at their roles. When he’s done with a story, he kills all 32 the changelings involved and starts afresh. He typically has several separate plays occurring at the same time in different parts of his realm so it’s quite possible to share a Keeper and yet rarely have one’s path’s cross.

Further Information Known or Suspected by the Freehold:



The Little Mermaid

It is said that to hear the Little Mermaid’s voice is to be drawn into her service. She typically targets intellectuals and artistic daydreamers who stray too close to the Detroit River or the nearby lakes, causing them to walk into the water and be dragged into her realm for a year and a day. The few escapees from this world show how dangerous that year and a day truly is. Her servants take care of her hoard of human and relic treasures, including a burning rock that bursts into flame if ever it is revealed to the air which has created a surprising number of fire elementals from such a watery plane.

Further Information Known or Suspected by the Freehold:


 * Lottie (Loyalist)
 * Bramwell (Loyalist)

Minotaur

This True Fae stalks Blended areas and lost areas of urban decay, tracking humans through unkempt factories and abandoned apartment buildings until they become lost and take a wrong turn into its realm. The Minotaur knows every nook and cranny of its seemingly endless domain. It stalks and hunts prey that fall into its home, many of whom who manage to hide long enough become darklings, or conceal themselves among the rubble and become elementals or scamper about and become beasts. Peter Pan Peter Pan is said to have evolved from the tale of the Pied Piper. He would go to neglected children’s and teenager’s rooms and offer them a magic dust that would provide them the power to fly and join him in never growing up. They join him in his adventures, stealing from his enemies, and playing his games until they either escape or are killed when they become too old (roughly the age of 30). He is known for his active loyalists in the real world and their many heists. He’s also known for stealing changelings from other True Fae.

Further Information Known or Suspected by the Freehold:



Prince Charming

Prince Charming replays the story of Sleeping Beauty where he finds people who spend days at a time hooked up to a VR rig. He meets them in VR, slowly seducing them either as a best friend or lover, causing jealousy and an intense desire to be together in their victims. Prince Charming then has their victim promise to “wake up” from VR and meet in the real world. The victim’s avatar is then kissed, on the hand or the mouth, and they are told to remove their rig. Should the victim do so within 10 minutes of the kiss, they will find Prince Charming looming over them in their room and be spirited away to a land of eternal slumber where previous lovers are fashioned into furniture, statues, or pets - or live their lives on the run, hiding in shadows.

Further Information Known or Suspected by the Freehold:



Red Riding Hood & The Wolf

These two Fae are at constant war, or perhaps is it one fae with two faces who competes with itself. Red Riding Hood must trick a group of people into fighting the wolf and the wolf must sate its hunger. But her champions can never permanently win and his hunger can never be sated. Red Riding Hood’s tactics vary each time as does her choice of kiths that she transforms her changeling hunters into and the tactics she uses to attack the wolf.

Further Information Known or Suspected by the Freehold:



Sandman

This True Fae appears as a woman bedecked in neon-lit plastic clothing who sells Better-Than-Life plugs on street corners. Those who accept them become ever-more-addicted to their particular brand of BTL and will eventually offer “anything and everything” for the secret batch. Use of that special BTL will cause their VR room to become a permanently blended landscape and their home to become a horror show of hobs and fae as all residents are dragged into a world of flashinglights and terrifying adventure. Mortals asked about the whereabouts of such people will state they’re just sleeping and that’s why they can’t be contacted. They don’t think much about it.

Further Information Known or Suspected by the Freehold:



Sweet Alice

This gentle-seeming Keeper poses as an academic, and claims only one or two loyalists at a time, who are sent to lure specific people into out of the way places before kidnapping them and dragging them into her lair where they are sacrificed to a pit. While most have their throats slit before being thrown inside, others are thrown in alive. Very few manage to escape the pit, or break their loyalist bonds, and most that do tend to end up being either darklings or fairests - especially of the musical kind. There are rumours she may maintain a small village of changelings in her realm who live out their days conducting rituals to her and the pit.

Further Information Known or Suspected by the Freehold:


 * Death Reaper (loyalist)
 * Crimson Nightfall (loyalist)