FAQ Part 2: NPCs, Fair Folk, and Protection
NPCs, Fair Folk, and Protection
faeries? really? that seems light...
Throughout history, faeries have been seen as both creatures of benevolence and capriciousness. As time went on, it seemed that the true stories told to keep people safe were discarded for a happier, safer image.
This image could not be further from the truth, as your character may soon find out. Faeries are a wild, incomprehensible folk. It would be wrong to call them ‘good’ or ‘evil’, as they can swing from one extreme to the other with no qualms in the slightest. Their wildness, however, remains dangerous.
Fae have been known to cause storms, to cast curses, to kidnap children and to kill mortals. They have also been known to grant wishes, to give wisdom, to bless homes and to cure ills. They are not held back by the moral beliefs we understand, though they follow their own, often perplexing, code to the letter.
Crush your eggshells, carry your iron, and wind a crown of rowan for your head. The faeries are not sweet, not kind, and not gentle.
what is the significance of the temple?
This information can be discovered in greater detail as the game progresses. For now, suffice to say that the Temple is extremely important to Demeleier, and doing it harm is a bad idea.
How can harm be done to it? Neglect is a large factor. If anyone tries to destroy any of the statues or wall hangings, or if they commit acts of violence within the Temple or, indeed, physically attempt to break the building, they are doing it harm.
The Temple is also used during Location Events. This is one of your only chances to give your character a break! Why not be nice?
what are the crystals?
From time to time, residents will come across small shards of crystal. They are often small in size, but feel incredibly heavy. Some shine brightly, others glimmer with myriad colours, a heat haze will surround some - they all look different, but they all have the same feeling of condensed power.
Both the Guardian and the Faery Queen seek these shards, and both may well request that residents find and give these crystals to them, thus imbuing either of them with more power and allowing them to alter Demeleier in more ways. While some crystals may turn up in Demeleier itself, most of them will be found during Location Events, where the Guardian and the Queen will send their agents to collect them.
However, residents may decide to keep the shards for themselves. Doing so will grant them greater strength and magical potential; collecting more will eventually give them the power to warp reality while in Demeleier. The price, however, is that holding these crystals will cause residents to lose control of themselves, driving them to behave in ways that they normally would not. They are incredibly dangerous trinkets and not to be handled lightly.
who are the visitors, the guardian, the merchants, and the queen?
The Queen, the Guardian, and the Merchants are important NPCs who appear periodically in Demeleier. The Visitors (Black Annis, the Dullahan, Der Erlkönig, Jenny Greenteeth, Robin Goodfellow, and Tam Lin) are powerful fae who come to Demeleier, sometimes at the request of the Queen or the Guardian, and sometimes just to play with the residents.
More information on them can be found in the Important NPCs & Visitors post. Players can feel free to request the presence of the Visitors from the mods at any time. Similarly, the mods may post with any of these characters in demeleier_logs or over the communicators from time to time. The Queen and Visitors use the journal sidherioghnach, the merchants use the journal dem_merchants, while the Guardian uses the journal dat_guardian.
what are the demeleier nasties? how do they work?
The dem_nasties are there to cause you trouble and woe. True, some of them may offer you a beneficial boon or harmless mischief, others of them are cruel and known for harming humans or other beings. The list of them is incomplete, and more can be added from time to time, but for now we are sticking with what we have. If you wish to be visited by them, or have them interrupt a thread or log, we can assist with this!
Please recall that you are allowed to use this journal yourself! Simply PM the mods with one of your character journals, let us know what you’re up to, and we’ll send you the password!
To be clear: the moderators will play out the nasties if you want. However, you are also allowed to NPC them and use the journal if you so choose.
The bestiary contains a list of creatures.
what is the night mare?
The Night Mare is a horse that trails dream dust over the town of Demeleier, sending the residents to sleep and causing strange dreams to occur. She is only ever seen during one of the Night Mare events (see the event information for more details).
At this point in the game, residents are unsure of her purpose.
what is the significance of rowan and iron?
Rowan is a tree of protection. Its wood can be used to repel the supernatural - though, if treated correctly, it can also be used to boost magical power. In Demeleier, Rowan is primarily used to allow residents to see through the glamour of the fae.
You will wake with a crown of rowan twigs and berries upon your head. If you lose this, it will not be replaced, and you will have to remake one.
Cold, hard iron is known as a repellent for the fae - wrought iron is specifically mentioned. Weaker fae cannot abide iron and will do all they can to avoid even looking at it. Stronger faeries are damaged by the metal and tend to avoid it during a fight. Extremely powerful fae, such as Der Erlkönig or the Queen herself, are able to touch and be in the presence of iron, but find their powers drastically lowered.
There are exceptions to this rule, and these are mentioned in the Bestiary.
does anything work on or weaken the fae?
See above! However, we will go into detail here.
Pure iron. Residents are advised to head to the forge upon arrival to receive a small link of iron, which they should keep on their person at all times. Iron is in a very finite supply within Demeleier, though small patches of it can be mined up in the ogre caves. From time to time, Residents are also able to bring back a small amount from whatever world they visited during a Location Event.
Iron is used to both ward the fae away, but also to harm them. Some fae are not damaged by regular physical attacks, and some do not react to magic. Iron, however, will hurt most fae within Demeleier. Even dragging a small amount over the surface of their skin will cause them pain. Very few fae in Demeleier are immune to iron.
Iron is the only sure-fire way to harm most of the fae. However, there are other ways to ward them off.
One of these is collecting the bark, leaves, and berries of the rowan tree, twisting them into crowns and wearing them. This will allow people to see through the glamour of the fae in Demeleier, or at least be more aware that there is something wrong. Especially powerful glamour, such as the Fideal’s Song, the Glanconer/Leanan Sidhe’s seduction, etc, will still be difficult to resist while wearing the crown, but wearing it will give residents more of a chance to break free.
Sticks of the tree built into the houses offer luck and protection, but not to the same extent as iron. The fae are not harmed by the rowan tree and can in fact use it for their own ends. That said, however, if a member of Demeleier runs to the circle of rowan trees and sits within it, they will be safe from any malevolent force that may have been chasing them.
On a final note, some fae are reluctant to cross running water. If a chase is important they may force themselves across it, but there are those who simply cannot do so.
where will my character stay?
Your character can stay in one of the Inn's free rooms when they first arrive. They are, however, encouraged to stay in one of the crofts dotted around the town. If you decide that you'd like for your character to take a croft of their own, please see the Housing Post!
Got any other questions? Ask us here!
> FAQ 1: Out of Character
> FAQ 3: The Communicators