Domina Cultures – Fey

Fear is proper, fear is right

In both the day and the night

See the monsters run

Let them have their fun

But fear them proper, fear them right

For the fey claim everything in their sight

They sing, they dance, they laugh and play

They kill, they murder, they slay

Undying monsters of beautiful form

Undressed of clothes worn

So stay home, children, and watch the streets

Stay bundled up in your sheets

The fey stalk these broken homes

Leaving their monsters free to roam

Fear is proper, fear is right…

– The Fey

In the early years of Domina City, before the death of the warden and the fall of Eden, a psychological care facility was constructed. While the prisoners brought to the island were not especially prone to psychiatric breaks or other mental afflictions, the sheer volume of people ensured that the hospital was quickly overloaded with permanent patients. Other such hospitals were constructed, and this first, nameless institution was soon just another face in the crowd.

Until the toy maker.

The head of the hospital went insane with the possibilities, sealing up the institution and inflicting horrific tortures on the inhabitants. This was during Striga’s reign and the beginning of the Twilight War, so at the time few people noticed.

Official records kept by Artemis Butler claim that there were one thousand, one hundred and twenty-eight people in the hospital at the time it was sealed, between patients, staff, and even just visiting family members. Of these people, merely ninety-six women survived. The fey were born.

The fey wasted no time. They immediately made themselves known first by burning down the hospital, then unleashing their monsters on the streets in the first Hunt. The people of the city were not prepared for an attack of monsters led by a cruel and cunning intelligence, and were beat back long enough for the fey to make their announcements.

They explained their origins, and their giggling, childish insanity quickly became clear. Despite their armies, the fey refused to take anything seriously, often referring to their actions as part of some game, and called the monsters their peataí, or pets. The first fey to speak was killed within moments. This is when the fey unveiled the homunculi; using remote-piloted cybernetic clones created by the toy maker, the fey were largely immortal and immune to reprisal. They explained the nature of the thirty-two Courts, the Maiden, Matron, and Crone of each Court, and promised that the city would see them again.

Hunts were a regular occurrence for nearly fifteen years after that day. The fey are divided into four séasúir: Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter. From there they are divided into four treo: North, East, South, and West. Last, there are the two éadrom: Day and Night. There is one Hunt per treo, per éadrom. This means eight Hunts every twenty four hours. They are random, never in the same place twice in a row, but always swift and dangerous.

The regular nature of the Hunts, despite their randomness, allowed the city to adapt around them. They became little more than a weather pattern, hordes of monsters and mutated dogs led by naked women. While in the early days, people did everything they could to kill every fey monster they saw, this quickly became unfeasible. In time, fey monsters had filled every ecological niche in the city. The fact that the vast majority of the monsters were edible helped immensely.

Even if they couldn’t be exterminated completely, the monsters needed to be beat back, and so the monster slayers were born. They were not a culture, or even an organization. Just men and women who learned how to fight the things the fey created. Many, such as Derek Huntsman or Mohamed the Silver, became famous throughout the city for their exploits.

Each of the thirty-two Courts (listed below) has three fey: A Maiden, a Matron, and a Crone. Despite their names, the homunculi always appear as the exact same age, and in most cases the fey are interchangeable. They are always flirty and flighty, like children on a sugar rush. They never hold grudges, and are always happy to make deals—even if the person making the deal killed one of them in the past. If the fey have any concrete plans besides chaos, no one has been able to divine it. Not even the changelings, the horrifically modified slaves who escape with barely the skin of their teeth, know anything about their end goals.

One of the oddities of the fey is the Invitation. It goes by many names, but whenever a new warlord appears, the local fey (usually the Matron) appears in their domain and offers them either breakfast or dinner, depending on whether it is a Day or Night fey. When the fey is denied or the homunculus killed, there is no reprisal, and a new representative is sent one month later. This process repeats for as long as the warlord exists.

Very few people have ever taken the fey up on this offer. The Mother Monster is the most famous, having stopped one of the early Hunts by accepting the Invitation she had been offered a week previous. Another would be Glasya, who uses these dinners to broker deals with other cultures, gaining new tricks and toys in exchange for apparently random gifts. Necessarius received the initial copies of the toy box through this method, using her as an intermediary.

The revelation of the Composer’s identity changed things yet again.

Many had thought that the Composer might be one of the fey. Despite the screamers being nothing like anything the fey had created before, they were the only ones even approaching the ability in the city. After the truth came out, the fey were silent for a time—no Hunts at all. This was extremely disturbing to those paying attention to such things, and some theorized that the Composer had killed them all.

When they returned, they did so much diminished in number, but no less dangerous. Six fey homunculi appeared in six apparently random locations around the city, claiming that there had been a war among the fey, and that only six had survived, divided into the Seelie and Unseelie—Summer and Winter. They were even wearing clothes. Furthermore, they would now be accepting applicants, warlords and servants. Not many took the initial offer, and most of the city tried to just forget about it all.

On Halloween night, the Wild Hunt began.

While this newest Hunt was interrupted by the Composer, the fey’s part in events was still shocking. Mortal men and women, not homunculi, led armies of monsters to attack a small square. The exact purpose of the attack was unclear, or why they chose this location, but it has been noted that both the Paladins and a number of warlords were present, including the newly-crowned Nyashk and Eccretia of the Never-Known Thieves. Now, the fey’s plans for themselves and their servants remains unclear, as they have been suspiciously silent since the failed attack. It has been confirmed, however, that at least one of the fey Princes joined in the attack against the Composer that night.

Every fey homunculus appears to be a genetically identical woman of Irish descent, perhaps twenty-five years of age. They are primarily differentiated by their hair: The maidens have boyishly short hair, the matrons a bit past shoulder length, and the crones much longer, past their waists. Color is also important; Spring is yellow, Summer red, Autumn brown, and Winter black. As is likely to be expected, Day fey have dayeyes, and Night fey have nighteyes. If the fey differentiate their homunculi by treo at all, no one ever noticed.

Fey Honored are called Chosen, while their deviants are Forgotten. Warlords are Princes (even when female), while the fey themselves are the Ladies. The Ladies are the Maiden (Princess), Matron (Queen), and the Crone (Queen-Mother). Novices are referred to as fetches by the majority of the members of the Courts, while the fey themselves call them changelings. Fey domains are called demesnes.

Before the restructuring, the correct honorific was [Court], [rank], [Court type]. For example: Princess of Killing Sparrow, the Maiden of Night’s Southern Autumn. The former is the name, the latter is the title. So Lady Princess and Honored Maiden would both be appropriate.

After the restructuring, the correct honorific became Lady [name], [title], [rank]. For example: Lady Maeve, Princess of Wind and Frost, Maiden of the Unseelie Court. Honored Maeve, Honored Lady, Honored Maiden, Honored Princess, and Lady Maeve would all be correct.

Fey Courts (before restructuring)

Greening Leaf: The Court of Day’s Northern Spring

Spinning Dawn: The Court of Day’s Eastern Spring

Dayborn Light: The Court of Day’s Southern Spring

Dying Dusk: The Court of Day’s Western Spring

Hidden Leaf: The Court of Night’s Northern Spring

Forgotten Dawn: The Court of Night’s Eastern Spring

Neverborn: The Court of Night’s Southern Spring

Singing Dusk: The Court of Night’s Western Spring

Harvest Burn: The Court of Day’s Northern Summer

Early Day: The Court of Day’s Eastern Summer

Eternal Silver: The Court of Day’s Southern Summer

Ceaseless End: The Court of Day’s Western Summer

Harvest Black: The Court of Night’s Northern Summer

Darkest Light: The Court of Night’s Eastern Summer

Ashen Bones: The Court of Night’s Southern Summer

Dying Jade: The Court of Night’s Western Summer

Relentless Hate: The Court of Day’s Northern Autumn

Essential Light: The Court of Day’s Eastern Autumn

Knowing End: The Court of Day’s Southern Autumn

Virtuous Dusk: The Court of Day’s Western Autumn

Lightless Past: The Court of Night’s Northern Autumn

Fevered Day: The Court of Night’s Eastern Autumn

Killing Sparrow: The Court of Night’s Southern Autumn

Murdered Asp: The Court of Night’s Western Autumn

Powerless Name: The Court of Day’s Northern Winter

Rightless Shadow: The Court of Day’s Eastern Winter

Yellow Sun: The Court of Day’s Southern Winter

White Compass: The Court of Day’s Western Winter

Loveless: The Court of Night’s Northern Winter

Leafing Tree: The Court of Night’s Eastern Winter

Orange Day: The Court of Night’s Southern Winter

Deadly Dusk: The Court of Night’s Western Winter

Fey Ladies (after restructuring)

Seelie Court

Maiden Aurora

The Princess of Soil and Flame, Aurora is kind, compassionate, and more dangerous than she looks. She is an excellent spokeswoman for the fey, and has recruited more to the cause than anyone else. Feyborn who have chosen to speak with outsiders mention she spends a lot of time with her opposite number, Maeve.

Matron Titania

The Queen of Earth and Light, Titania is warm like a bonfire: Get too close, and you’ll burn. She can be helpful, but rarely kind, and is often blunt and to the point. Regardless, she is credited as an excellent healer, and her Princes are often hired out as doctors as part of her deals.

Crone Ériu

The Queen-Mother of Summer, Ériu mostly keeps company with Cailleach and no one else. She is credited with a number of the more virulent diseases the fey have come up with since their restructuring, and many have taken a look back to see if any older diseases have her distinctive flair.

Unseelie Court

Maiden Maeve

The Princess of Wind and Frost, Maeve puts up a strong front, but underneath is one of the kinder Ladies. Records suggest that she was the first to successfully recruit any feyborn, rescuing a pair of injured kemos when she fought the Composer at her very first outing. Her Princes tend to be unique, often with wings or other obvious enhancements the rest of the city isn’t capable of yet.

Matron Mab

The Queen of Air and Darkness, Mab is one of the most dangerous of the fey. Her Princes are well-trained and highly buffed, with few cosmos to distract from strong muscles and quick reflexes. Unlike the other Ladies, she rarely uses monsters any more, much preferring intelligent servants. She seems to have the largest number of feyborn in general, and outsiders theorize that she is the fey equivalent of Sargeras or Raziel; a soldier and a general.

Crone Cailleach

The Queen-Mother of Winter, Cailleach prefers to spend her time with Ériu, her Seelie counterpart. She has no known Princes and a very small number of feyborn, typically preferring to borrow Ériu’s on the rare occasion she needs servants. Despite her anti-social behavior, rumors suggest the new status quo was her idea, which leads to the belief that she was behind the fey war in the first place—or at least the end of it. The feyborn refer to her respectfully as “Grandmother Winter,” and give her a wide berth.

Fey Princes

Gealach Tapaidh

One of the first Princes of the Seelie Court, patroned by Aurora, Maiden of Summer. “Gea” has already made quite an impression by dueling the Composer to a standstill despite being completely nightblind due to his dayeyes. Experts who observed the recorded footage after the fact have noted his sword skills to be absolutely astonishing. Many theories have been put forth regarding his identity, but none have been confirmed. There is one persistent rumor that he is Akane Akiyama, a famous swordswoman in Derek Huntsman’s employ, and that she has been heavily modified to hide her identity. The fact that Akiyama was present at Tapaidh’s debut has done little to stifle these rumors.

Aitil Péine

One of the first Princes of the Unseelie Court, patroned by Maeve, Maiden of Winter. She is immediately recognizable by her large insect-like wings, which enable her to fly around at startling speeds. Other than the fact that her skeleton must be as weak as an eggshell to allow such flight, little is known of her, though she was the spokeswoman at the Wild Hunt. No meaningful theories have been publicized regarding her pre-fey identity.