There are creatures who exist beyond the ken of mortals. Creatures with the power of gods who pluck men, women and children from the world, and change them into something else. They drag them over the Thorns of the Hedge, the world between their realm and ours, and tear their souls to ribbons. Into the gaps they pour magic, and what’s left is a changeling. A fae creature.
Like any fae creatures, changelings are bound to the Wyrd. It dictates the rules and balances of their lives… and as any of the Lost will tell you, the Wyrd giveth, and the Wyrd taketh away.
Because as a changeling grows in power and potency, able to invoke stronger contracts and stoke their innate abilities with glamour, the Wyrd exacts a cost from them. Because as they grow closer to the Gentry in power, they also become inflexible in some ways. There are rules they must now follow, compulsions they must bow to and dangers they must avoid. These things are frailties, and they are the weaknesses a fae creature gains in order to compensate for the power they can otherwise wield.
The frailties are split into lesser taboos, lesser banes, greater taboos and greater banes. And while the language in many of these frailties is intended for use by changelings, these same frailties could affect any particularly powerful fae creature… including the Gentry themselves. For power always comes with a price.
Here are some sample results:
Never Between Shall They Meet: The Lost are creatures of two worlds, and this can often manifest in strange and unexpected ways. One of the odder is in this particular taboo, which always seems to revolve around the consumption of goblin fruit. Some Lost are only able to consume goblin fruit while they are within the Hedge. Others are only able to consume it while they’re in the mortal world. While it can seem like a bizarre taboo to develop, the trend is fascinating to scholars of the Wyrd who attempt to understand the why of the rules it forces the fae to adhere to.
Taste of Man Flesh: Several of the fae are known for devouring people; sometimes metaphorically, but other times quite literally. Among some of the Lost, however, the taste of human flesh is particularly toxic. If they eat human flesh (something substantial like skin and muscle, or an entire mouthful of blood as examples) it harms them… whether or not they knew that was what they were eating. The flesh must be from one who is entirely human; no creatures with a supernatural template of any sort trigger this bane.
Wanderer: The Gentry have their own realms, and many of the Lost emulate this tendency by building their own kingdoms in the Hedge, or the mortal world. Others, though, avoid this tendency in the extreme. Those bound by this taboo cannot own any kind of land or home, whether in the mortal world or in the Hedge. Though they may be guests in others’ homes, the only place they can call their own is in Arcadia… something even powerful Lost would rather avoid. Many Lost who develop this taboo will either abandon their former haunts, or sign them over to those they know so they now belong to someone else. In some instances, they’ll even leave the property in trust to certain entities as they wash their hands of it.
Ghost Bane: There are many among the fae who deal with the dead… but there are others who are drained by the merest touch of their shades. These Lost are understandably uncomfortable in the presence of ghosts, but this frailty triggers whenever a Lost in question makes contact with a manifested spirit… or if they find themselves in the twilight realm where the dead can touch them far more easily.
Released: 8th October 2022 Pages: 21
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“There Are Rules”
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