an alternate dimension adjacent to the human realm. it is populated by faeries ('the fae'), a nonbinary species of nature spirits who can manipulate the natural order of the universe.

the specific magical abilities of faeries vary based on affinity and strength. however, all faeries share the power of the FAE BARGAIN, which is the ability to use language and belief to manipulate the natural laws of the universe. if they can trick a human into making a deal, the universe will bend to accommodate the terms of that deal.

for all their impressive power, no faerie is capable of creation, including the propagation of their own species. as a result, the fae realm is in decline — without enough energy, magic, and life being created, the dimension is slowly crumbling and decaying.

for this reason, faeries learned to cross dimensions, moving into the human realm to steal humans with an exceptional knack for creation — e.g., artists — to bring back.

cw: coercion, pregnancy/childbirth, domestic violence, forced marriage, kidnapping, body horror

the most notable example of faeries trying to save their realm involved the use of fae bargains to turn humans into faeries, believing they'd become faeries capable of creation. in ancient times, the human sorceress MORRIGAN (she/they) was pushed into a miserable marriage to a rich man who abused her. when king titania (they/them) came to the human realm and offered her a bargain: in exchange for her power of creation, she could have freedom.

morrigan took the deal. she married titania, and after eating food in the fae realm on her wedding night, she became a faerie. titania pushed her to make good on her end of the deal, spinning a story about how they might save the fae realm together, rebalancing it through creation. seduced, morrigan fulfilled her part of the bargain and birthed titania's child.

however, it turned out that while these manufactured/converted faeries could reproduce in ways the proto-faeries could not, the process wasn't ideal. morrigan gave birth to a succubus named CAHAL (he/him), who needs to feed on the life/creation energy of humans to sustain himself.

titania was disgusted, but they both hid this fact from the public, instead celebrating their success as the only faeries to produce children. seeing the way titania reacted to the child, and the way they used it, morrigan realized that titania was a narcissist.

morrigan left cahal with titania and fled. because she was still the only faerie to give birth, a cult of personality formed around her under the belief that she, equipped with the unique ability to create, could save the fae realm. thus formed the SEELIE court. she took on the title of queen mab, and the name morrigan has been lost to time.

outraged by mab's power grab, titania used cahal as an emblem of their unique power, a promise that they had the power of creation and could use it to restore the fae realm. he named his court UNSEELIE. over time, these political tensions have led certain fae ethnic groups to develop a stronger affinity with different physical facets of the universe — the seelie court over order and the elements, and the unseelie court over death and decay. due to the present state of the fae realm, titania currently has more power than mab.

however, both courts redoubled their efforts to draw humans in, kidnapping and imprisoning humans, forcing them to create and perform in the courts as a way of generating power.

cw: kidnapping, coercion, rape, pregnancy/childbirth, forced marriage, starvation, suicide

unsatisfied with their child and marriage, outraged by mab's betrayal, king titania redirected their efforts. they ordered faeries to imprison humans in the faerie realm. harmless tricks and fair bargains escalated to kidnapping. these humans are forced to create art, but also to bear faerie children. while these humans were often returned to the mortal realm, they would often be temporally displaced due to the physical limitations of dimensional travel.

note: because fae are genderfluid, any fae can reproduce with any sex of human! the fae will simply change shape to suit whether they'll bear the child or the human will.

eager to test the theory themselves and correct their error with morrigan and cahal, titania again crossed into the mortal realm. in a pre-celtic inspired village, they met éADAOIN (she/her), the village healer, who was tending her garden. éadaoin taught titania the name of every flower in her garden. titania returned every day after that, telling her of their realm and all the beautiful things they could provide for her there. eventually, titania proposed marriage, but éadaoin declined. according to the village's cultural beliefs, healers could not marry because it would interfere with their responsibility to care for the entire village.

unwilling to accept her refusal, titania tricked éadaoin into a fae bargain. they manipulated the villagers into turning against their healer. the village came after her a la witch trials. titania appeared to her as she was trying to flee/survive and offered to help. éadaoin said she'd be happy if she could merely outlive her attackers and stay beyond their reach, and the deal was struck.

titania brought her back to the fae realm. at first, éadaoin starved herself, refusing to eat the food and become trapped there, but she discovered that the bargain had also made her immortal. she could not starve to death. thus, she remained imprisoned for centuries of time in the human realm, repeatedly refusing to marry titania.

cahal was made jailer to the healer as a punishment for (something). however, cahal too fell in love with her, and the healer used him to break free of the fae realm.

once free of the fae realm, the fae bargain's repercussions persisted. éadaoin dies when she hits 35, the age at which she made the deal. each time, she is reborn without memories of her past lives.

to punish cahal for his role in freeing her, titania banished cahal to the human world to keep an eye on éadaoin. they struck a bargain for how cahal could 'make up for his mistake.' he is not allowed to speak to her (unless she speaks to him first), but he must find her new reincarnations and keep tabs on them so that titania can approach her. each time, titania takes advantage of her missing memories, appearing in the mortal realm to renew their offer — but each time, éadaoin declines them again.

this cycle continued for centuries until the 21st century. at the time, éadaoin was working as a clinical psychologist — she entered the field out of a desire to understand herself better. however, her schooling made me realize that something about her personality didn't add up with her life experiences — as if she had repressed trauma of some kind. she started pursuing hypnotism, tarot, astrology, and other kinds of pseudoscientific means of treatment. this is how she came across queen mab. in order to strike at titania, and out of some sense of personal affinity from the sublimated urge to save herself from her own past mistakes, mab returned éadaoin's memories of all her previous lives.

• empathetic, selfless, caring, giving, supportive
• passionate, ambitious
• clever, curious
• charismatic, sarcastic, outgoing
• distant, closed off, hard to get to know
• haunted

• medical training (all varietals)
• languages
• healing magic (passive)

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