First Passage of the Autumn Moon

Reports of missing hunstfolk. Sightings of pixies and tyver within city walls. Nightfae stalking Jalpa.

Faeries have always been a part of our world, but through the ages our ideas of them have shifted.

"History shows us dramatic and vivid shifts," says Kalain, a sage who specializes in the history of the Fae. "During one era the Fae will be feared and hated, in the next they will be romanticized, and fifty years later they will have mostly disappeared from the scene."

Whether these shifts emerge from changes in faerie behavior, or simply from of our changing perceptions of them isn’t clear. But there are certainly periods when the faeries seem to become much more populous and aggressive.

"One thing we often note during ‘emergent’ times," says Kalain, "is ‘grouping’ behavior. For instance, tyver are usually solitary creatures. But lately, and I would not hesitate to call our current era an ‘emergent’ time, we have reports of tyver descending on people in groups of six or seven. They will raid caravans, steal children or women, and cause all manner of lesser mischief."

Since we are just coming over the cusp of a period where faeries were at once very rare and very romanticized, this newly aggressive behavior is even more dangerous than usual.

"Faeries aren’t dangerous if we have awareness," says Kalain. "Of all the faerie races, only the goblins, the trolls, the harpies, and the Sereg are truly violently aggressive. All others will utilize guile and deceit in an attempt to capture people. Even the aforementioned groups of tyver are very non-violent. They will use cunning and confusion to capture people."

By maintaining vigilance, especially in wilderness areas, people can stay out of trouble. Don’t approach people who look ‘native’ to the woods, and if you are actually approached, attempt to scare the faerie away.

"Whether it is a nymph, a pixie, a tyver, or a daetaur, faeries will tend to flee from loud noises and aggressive behavior. Approaches are becoming much more common, and most of them we don‘t even hear about. That’s because the approaching faerie appears beautiful, innocent, or lost, and uses glamour and guile to lure unwary people into the woodlands, never to be heard from again. Although a few faeries can be beneficent or friendly, the chances are against you. No matter how beautiful or tempting a man or woman might look, don’t go with them."

If that simple rule was followed, Kalain insists, we could prevent almost all abductions by Fae. What happens to people who are whisked away?

"There is no clear answer. Most people are probably traded from one faerie to another until they land in the grasp of a creature that will eat them or permanently enslave them."

What is clear is that the woods are alive again. Without the active Fae hunts enacted by the Goddards, the faeries are emerging into our world again, and we have to realize that our world is going to be a little different and a little more dangerous.

Tania

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