| House Aesin Adapted from BOLH, pp. 33-52. -- House Aesin created by Krister M. Michl. Summary: This proud House of prophets, warriors, and bards follow the ancient pagan traditions of Scandinavia. They have returned to the Autumn World to prepare for Ragnarök, the coming great battle against the Jotunns (Fomorians). Viewing mortal flesh as a curse from the Fates -- whom they revere -- for an ancient wrong, House Aesin tries to follow its code of virtues in a world that no longer understands them. Affiliation: Unseelie. They regret, however, the friction between their courts that led to the great kinslaying of Vengeance Night, in which most of their Seelie were massacred by their Unseelie, and work hard to understand their Summer cousins. More important, however, than the tenets of the two great Courts are the House's own Nine Virtues. Their relations with other Houses, Seelie and Unseelie, are varied, but the oppose the Shadow Court. Even more than other sidhe, the Aesin are surprised to find commoners claiming equality or even the right to rule -- obviously the Houses of the Resurgence were too weak to keep them from running amuck. House Boon: "Nature's Touch": Aesin fae can speak to and understand (though not necessarily control) woodland animals with a successful static Mental challenge against a difficulty equal to their own Banality + 2. House Flaws: "Empathic Blindness": Aesin sidhe keep their Deep Dreaming Flaw; "master-slave" describes their ability to relate to commoners, although they feel duty-bound to protect those in their service and may even feel affection for them. They have two of the following negative traits (or one twice) which apply in all Social challenges (even Leadership or cantrip challenges) against anyone who is not a noble: Callous, Condescending, Tactless. Titled commoners will probably not count as "noble" in the average Aesin's worldview. This Flaw does not come into play when dealing with the mortal family of an Aesin's "host" body. House Beaumayn Adapted from BOLH, pp. 5-31. -- House Beaumayn created by Peter Woodworth. Summary: This House of seers and prophets once was convicted for a crime so great that they were imprisoned in the Dreaming and memory of their very existence was for a time erased. Now they have returned to the Waking World, claiming that with the appearance of the Dark Star in the sky their most dire prophecies are coming true. Despite their dimly remembered reputation as depraved experimenters with cold iron, House Beaumayn may hold the key to the survival of all fae -- if anyone deigns to listen to them. Affiliation: Seelie -- but most other seelie, if they remember Beaumayn at all, remember only the House's disgrace and imprisonment. For Beaumayn sidhe, unseelieness is usually only a brief phase brought on by despair (and with their grim visions and hostile reception by other fae this is not uncommon). "Career" unseelie are not welcome in the House. As can be expected from the exception to their House Flaw, Beaumayn fae are most likely to get along well with members of Houses Fiona and the also-disgraced Liam, and they respect commoners, although commoners may not reciprocate, as (especially in Concordia) they've not been big on the idea of sidhe with cold iron. House Boon: Beaumayn sidhe have inborn prophetic abilities (separate from the Soothsay art); cryptic visions of the future come to them unbidden during dreams and meditation. These visions can be deciphered with a successful static Mental challenge using the Gremayre ability (difficulty 8). Beaumayn usually have no control over the timing and subject matter of their visions, but they may attempt to induce a vision on purpose once per session by spending a Willpower trait and succeeding in a static challenge pitting their permanent Glamour rating against a difficulty of 11 (minus Remembrance). Remember that these are only possible futures and may be changed (or only come to pass) depending on the Beaumayn's actions. -- Beaumayn sidhe have clearer memories than most of Arcadia (especially memories of their imprisonment) and receive one free Remembrance background trait. House Flaw: House Beaumayn has long opposed the efforts of the Shadow Court and its Fomorian masters. As a result, Thallain and members of the Shadow Court can sense when Beaumayn sidhe are around, perceiving the purple fires of the Dark Star burning within them (static Mental challenge using the Kenning ability, difficulty 7 or a number equal to the Beaumayn's Mental traits, whichever is higher). What the Shadow Courtier does with this information depends on circumstances and personal inclination. (Note also that while memory of House Beaumayn is better preserved among its ancient foes, not every redcap anarchist is going to know what he's dealing with -- but he will sense the purple flames, and have certain, if inexplicable, knowledge that he's dealing with a significant enemy.) -- Also, because of the infamy surrounding their imprisonment, when their true lineage is known (and remembered) Beaumayn sidhe are two traits down in all Social challenges with sidhe of other Houses, excluding Liam and Fiona. House Daireann Adapted from BOLH, pp.53-73. -- House Daireann created by Dee McKinney. Summary: A Celtic House descended from a woman most famous for driving Fionn MacCumhail mad with her potions in revenge for his ill-treatment of her, House Daireann is primarily a warrior House -- but there are also those who, for good or ill, still practice the potion-brewing arts of Daireann herself. The Daireanns' modern reputation comes from their skill atarms, their vengeful nature, their (in some eyes) rather quirky notions of personal honor, their legendary hospitality, and their inability to keep a secret. Affiliation: Unseelie. They disagree, however, with their Unseelie brethren over the the Unseelie tenet that "Honor is a lie" -- but their ideas that personal definitions of honor can be more important than, for example, bonds of fealty will make them suspect in the eyes of many Seelie. There is also no love lost between the usually tolerant Fiona and members of this House, and it is rumored that some Scathach as well bear a grudge against the Daireann, which, unlike the Fiona/Fianna enmity, is not necessarily reciprocated by Daireann sidhe. On the Unseelie side, the Daireann respect Ailil, but despise the Balor; apparently they have no strong feelings either way about the Leanhaun (i.e., that paragraph was skipped in the book).-- Like most of the recently returned sidhe from the "Lost Houses," the Daireann don't "get" notions of commoner equality. Nothing against the commoners, you understand, 's long as they know their place... House Boon: "Battlewise": Daireann sidhe are one trait up when invoking the Dragon's Ire, and (presumably) are trained in the use of this ancient ability. They are steadfast in battle, and will not flee the field unless ordered by their commander. House Flaw: "Loose Tongue": Daireann fae like to brag, and often in doing so let slip secrets that perhaps they shouldn't have. When bragging (a frequent occurence) in what at least seems to be friendly company, a Daireann sidhe must make a Willpower test (difficulty 7) or spend a Willpower trait to avoid blabbing some secret ("D'ye see this spear o' mine? There's no better enchanted spear in all Hibernia! Why, there's no defense against it save the wearin' o' th' Daireann blazon -- it knows its own, that's certain..."). House Varich Adapted from BOLH, pp.75-93. -- House Varich created by Carla Hollar. Summary: Once worshiped as gods in their homeland, the area around the Russian city of Novgorod, House Varich even ruled the Russian Inanimae. Forbidden the joys of love by an ancient vow, House Varich finds fulfillment in war, in politics, and in the arts; above all, in seeking and mastering patterns. Now they have returned to the Autumn World wherever the descendants of their andient Dreamers are found, to oppose the designs of the Fomorians and to rule, as is their right, through the coming Winter. Affiliation: Unseelie. Though they respect House Ailil and feel a strange fascination towards House Balor, Varich's opposition to the Fomorians makes it unlikely they would serve the interests of the Shadow Court -- though it might occur to some Varich sidhe to try to make the Shadow Court serve their interests. As for the Seelie houses, their views range from respect to contempt, depending on the House; House Gwydion in particular, though reasonably able warriors and rulers, are in House Varich's view "poster children" for all that is wrong with Seelie narrow-mindedness. From commoners, Inanimae, and human Dreamers, House Varich expects obedience. An ancient betrayal makes the Varich hostile to all sluagh, and no sluagh is welcome in a Varich court unless he binds himself with heavy oaths. House Boon: "Pattern-sense": Members of House Varich understand patterns. Given three turns to watch a series of actions performed by another, such as fighting, dancing, or sport, they gain 2 bonus traits when engaging that person as opponent or partner. An opponent's patterns can be observed even while fighting him, although a Varich sidhe cannot fight one person and observe another. If a Varich can observe someone's patterns on three separate occasions, he also gains a free retest in all relevant challenges against that person. House Flaws: "Loveless": Varich fae cannot swear a vow of love to another. -- "Challenge-bound": They must accept all challenges, or lose a Willpower trait for each day that they ignore the challenge; these traits may be regained only when the Varich finally takes up the challenge. If prevented (e.g., by imprisonment) from answering the challenge, the Varich sidhe lose one Physical trait per day, then, when the Physical traits are gone, one chimerical Health level per day. |