Realms of Power: Chapter One: Nature of Faerie - Revision history

Yair at 05:29, 12 December 2025

2025-12-12T05:29:55Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:29, 11 December 2025
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	[[File:ArM Open License logo.png\|200px\|link=Ars Magica Open Content Conversion Tracker]]		[[File:ArM Open License logo.png\|200px\|link=Ars Magica Open Content Conversion Tracker]]

			''This page is part of the [[Realms of Power: Faerie Open Content]]''

	Faeries are spirits with bodies made of incidental matter, held together with a type of spiritual energy called glamour, and moved with stolen vitality. The bodies of faeries are constructed as temporary vessels for interacting with humans, out of symbolically significant matter. Each interacts with humans through a role, which is a series of symbols that the faerie cannot change, and rules that the faerie cannot break. The intricate mystical rules a faerie must follow are called its glamour, and define its nature and its supernatural powers. The faerie’s glamour also defines how the faerie must appear to humans, and how it seeks vitality.		Faeries are spirits with bodies made of incidental matter, held together with a type of spiritual energy called glamour, and moved with stolen vitality. The bodies of faeries are constructed as temporary vessels for interacting with humans, out of symbolically significant matter. Each interacts with humans through a role, which is a series of symbols that the faerie cannot change, and rules that the faerie cannot break. The intricate mystical rules a faerie must follow are called its glamour, and define its nature and its supernatural powers. The faerie’s glamour also defines how the faerie must appear to humans, and how it seeks vitality.

Yair at 06:41, 23 November 2025

2025-11-23T06:41:48Z

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Yair: /* Regio Levels As Acts */

2025-11-21T18:45:23Z

Regio Levels As Acts

← Older revision		Revision as of 12:45, 21 November 2025
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	===Regio Levels As Acts===		===Regio Levels As Acts===
	When two powerful faeries clash over a site, they play a game of symbols that may result in the glamour of one infecting the other. This makes the victorious faerie the principal faerie of a site, dominant over the other, but not to such a degree that the lesser faerie is drawn into the immediate orbit of its superior. This, too, creates regiones: the humans see their real world as interpreted by the increasingly powerful faeries that they encounter, which are progressively more-potent lieutenants of the principal faerie. Each level of the regio corresponds to a discrete series of tests that the human must face. If the experience were written as memoir, each chapter in the book would represent one regio level in the magus’ quest. Jerbiton magi often report that a principal faerie prefers to have two lieutenants, with each of the three supervising one level of a regio. Merinita magi dispute this. They suggest that complex regiones are rare, and that the faeries are just responding to the observing magi, giving them encounters that have the five-act structure of a play by Seneca because Jerbitons enjoy that structure. Regardless of whether this structure is indigenous to the faeries for mystical reasons, used by the fairies because humans respond emotionally to trinities, or provoked by humans, it is common. In the five-act structure, humans are motivated to visit the faeries by something outside the regio. Though those who criticize this structure note that the provocation of human action is often a servant of the principal faerie. In the next two encounters, the human quester draws closer to the final confrontation, gathering information and equipment while being exposed to the motif of the regio, and two variations on a moral or theme. In the highest level of the regio, the human has a final confrontation after which his success or failure is obvious, and he leaves the regio. The human then returns to real life, either stronger or weaker for the story’s outcome.		When two powerful faeries clash over a site, they play a game of symbols that may result in the glamour of one infecting the other. This makes the victorious faerie the principal faerie of a site, dominant over the other, but not to such a degree that the lesser faerie is drawn into the immediate orbit of its superior. This, too, creates regiones: the humans see their real world as interpreted by the increasingly powerful faeries that they encounter, which are progressively more-potent lieutenants of the principal faerie. Each level of the regio corresponds to a discrete series of tests that the human must face. If the experience were written as memoir, each chapter in the book would represent one regio level in the magus’ quest.

			Jerbiton magi often report that a principal faerie prefers to have two lieutenants, with each of the three supervising one level of a regio. Merinita magi dispute this. They suggest that complex regiones are rare, and that the faeries are just responding to the observing magi, giving them encounters that have the five-act structure of a play by Seneca because Jerbitons enjoy that structure. Regardless of whether this structure is indigenous to the faeries for mystical reasons, used by the fairies because humans respond emotionally to trinities, or provoked by humans, it is common.

			In the five-act structure, humans are motivated to visit the faeries by something outside the regio. Though those who criticize this structure note that the provocation of human action is often a servant of the principal faerie. In the next two encounters, the human quester draws closer to the final confrontation, gathering information and equipment while being exposed to the motif of the regio, and two variations on a moral or theme. In the highest level of the regio, the human has a final confrontation after which his success or failure is obvious, and he leaves the regio. The human then returns to real life, either stronger or weaker for the story’s outcome.

	===Some Regiones Are the Past Made Present===		===Some Regiones Are the Past Made Present===

Yair: /* Faerie Roads */

2025-11-21T18:42:43Z

Faerie Roads

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 ===Faerie Roads===
-Faeries do not need permission to enter an area when they have the “right of way” — the ancient right to travel through a locale. In many parts of Europe there are certain paths known to be used by the fairies as they travel. These roads are also, commonly, the paths used to carry corpses from isolated villages to a central church for burial. In many areas it is considered unlucky to use a different road than the traditional one when carting a corpse. How the faeries and the corpse roads are linked varies from place to place. In some areas the faeries made the roads in ancient times, and thus own them. In others, the carrying of a corpse creates a liminal space — a space where the living and the dead travel together. The road is not entirely of the mortal world anymore, and the faeries can claim it. Characters traveling a faerie road are usually left unmolested, although they may be aware that invisible spirits are traveling around and through them. Faeries are particularly careful not to molest funerals on the road because these processions have a greater right of way, and they may actively assist pall bearers. For instance, along most corpse roads are places to rest coffins. The faeries who dwell near the road keep these places clear, and protect the springs that are sometimes found at stops. Other travelers, unaware that they are on a faerie road, are punished if they desecrate such places. As an example, pall bearers are allowed to camp at certain sites on the faerie road, but others may not be. If camping is allowed, humans will still be punished if they camp in the wrong place, or break a taboo. In many places a camper would be punished for chopping down trees, going to the toilet inside the cleared area, or failing to leave beer or bread as a token of thanks. Characters with Supernatural Abilities who camp on corpse roads often see dead travelers, but these encounters should not lead to combat. Fighting on the road is generally taboo. Also, characters with mystical abilities traveling a faerie road may slip onto an aspect of the Mother Road, described in Chapter 2: The Faerie Realm. Characters traveling on a faerie road do not feel that they are traveling faster than normal, because they are required to make every step along the road. The unpredictable flow of time in faerie is what differs from that of the normal world, so that they arrive at a distant place more quickly or slowly than usual. Characters bearing a corpse never miss the funeral, because of the strange flow of time on a Faerie road. Each faerie road has an owner or caretaker. If a human slips into the regio along the road, he must meet this threshold faerie. It is usual to pay a traditional toll for use of the road. Some people fight the faerie instead, and use the road by force. But if the faerie is merely the caretaker for a greater power, this may rouse all of the faeries of a region against the transgressors. Corpse roads are the most common form of faerie road, and faerie roads are the most common type of trod (see Chapter 2: The Faerie Realm). Not every road a corpse is carried along remains a faerie road, although many become one, briefly, while the corpse passes.
+Faeries do not need permission to enter an area when they have the “right of way” — the ancient right to travel through a locale. In many parts of Europe there are certain paths known to be used by the fairies as they travel. These roads are also, commonly, the paths used to carry corpses from isolated villages to a central church for burial. In many areas it is considered unlucky to use a different road than the traditional one when carting a corpse.
 ===Regio Levels As Acts===

Yair: /* Pretenses */

2025-11-21T13:02:05Z

Pretenses

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:02, 21 November 2025
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	===Pretenses===		===Pretenses===
	Faeries pretend to have human Abilities, but instead simulate them with minor magical powers called Pretenses. Pretenses do not cost Might, and faeries use them without Concentration — they are an expression of glamour. Players use the mechanics for Abilities when using Pretenses, but faeries cannot learn Abilities through experience as humans do. They instead develop the power to mimic superior human models, causing their Pretense scores to rise through the methods described in Chapter 3: Faerie Characters. If the faerie is deliberately using a Pretense to accomplish things no human could, then any character who is a master of the simulated Ability notices this immediately. Other characters may notice, or not, depending on their level of credulity. A character who has mastered an Ability, which is represented by a score of 6 or more, may notice that the faerie is using subtle magic instead of that Ability, even if it stays within human possibility. This requires a Perception + Awareness check of 12 – the Ability score the faerie is pretending to have. The fata, for example, are faeries who inconspicuously join the sessions of weaving and gossip among elderly ladies in some villages. These women, who are mistresses of the craft of weaving, might notice that the fata’s fingers are not making all of the movements required to weave cloth, and are not moving fast enough to create it in such volume. It’s rude to point this out, because it tells the fata she is playing her role badly and scares her away, but they watch what they say in her presence.		Faeries pretend to have human Abilities, but instead simulate them with minor magical powers called Pretenses. Pretenses do not cost Might, and faeries use them without Concentration — they are an expression of glamour. Players use the mechanics for Abilities when using Pretenses, but faeries cannot learn Abilities through experience as humans do. They instead develop the power to mimic superior human models, causing their Pretense scores to rise through the methods described in Chapter 3: Faerie Characters.

			If the faerie is deliberately using a Pretense to accomplish things no human could, then any character who is a master of the simulated Ability notices this immediately. Other characters may notice, or not, depending on their level of credulity. A character who has mastered an Ability, which is represented by a score of 6 or more, may notice that the faerie is using subtle magic instead of that Ability, even if it stays within human possibility. This requires a Perception + Awareness check of 12 – the Ability score the faerie is pretending to have.

			The fata, for example, are faeries who inconspicuously join the sessions of weaving and gossip among elderly ladies in some villages. These women, who are mistresses of the craft of weaving, might notice that the fata’s fingers are not making all of the movements required to weave cloth, and are not moving fast enough to create it in such volume. It’s rude to point this out, because it tells the fata she is playing her role badly and scares her away, but they watch what they say in her presence.

	===The Open Body Is Vulnerable To Glamour===		===The Open Body Is Vulnerable To Glamour===

Borbetomagnus: Added the ArM Open License logo to the top of the page.

2025-11-11T13:55:40Z

Added the ArM Open License logo to the top of the page.

← Older revision		Revision as of 07:55, 11 November 2025
Line 1:		Line 1:
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	Faeries are spirits with bodies made of incidental matter, held together with a type of spiritual energy called glamour, and moved with stolen vitality. The bodies of faeries are constructed as temporary vessels for interacting with humans, out of symbolically significant matter. Each interacts with humans through a role, which is a series of symbols that the faerie cannot change, and rules that the faerie cannot break. The intricate mystical rules a faerie must follow are called its glamour, and define its nature and its supernatural powers. The faerie’s glamour also defines how the faerie must appear to humans, and how it seeks vitality. Faeries are drawn, instinctively, to the mutable lives and passionate emotions of humans. Faeries can borrow these capacities from people. This human energy, called vitality by magi who study these things, allows faeries to feel, grow, learn, and age. Many faeries do not know why they are drawn to humans: they lack a quality that Hermetic magi call cognizance.		Faeries are spirits with bodies made of incidental matter, held together with a type of spiritual energy called glamour, and moved with stolen vitality. The bodies of faeries are constructed as temporary vessels for interacting with humans, out of symbolically significant matter. Each interacts with humans through a role, which is a series of symbols that the faerie cannot change, and rules that the faerie cannot break. The intricate mystical rules a faerie must follow are called its glamour, and define its nature and its supernatural powers. The faerie’s glamour also defines how the faerie must appear to humans, and how it seeks vitality. Faeries are drawn, instinctively, to the mutable lives and passionate emotions of humans. Faeries can borrow these capacities from people. This human energy, called vitality by magi who study these things, allows faeries to feel, grow, learn, and age. Many faeries do not know why they are drawn to humans: they lack a quality that Hermetic magi call cognizance.

Yair: Created page with "Faeries are spirits with bodies made of incidental matter, held together with a type of spiritual energy called glamour, and moved with stolen vitality. The bodies of faeries are constructed as temporary vessels for interacting with humans, out of symbolically significant matter. Each interacts with humans through a role, which is a series of symbols that the faerie cannot change, and rules that the faerie cannot break. The intricate mystical rules a faerie must follow a..."

2025-11-11T03:47:58Z

Created page with "Faeries are spirits with bodies made of incidental matter, held together with a type of spiritual energy called glamour, and moved with stolen vitality. The bodies of faeries are constructed as temporary vessels for interacting with humans, out of symbolically significant matter. Each interacts with humans through a role, which is a series of symbols that the faerie cannot change, and rules that the faerie cannot break. The intricate mystical rules a faerie must follow a..."

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