Here is the background info sent to the players:
In the Faerie-lands, an uneasy truce was struck almost
a millenia ago between the Seelie Court and the
faeries loyal to it and the Unseelie Court. For half
of the year, the Queen of the Seelie Court, Titania
would rule. Then, on the night of Samhain, the rule
of the Faerie-lands would transfer to the Courts of the
Unseelie and their Queen Mab. The Unseelie would rule
until the festival of Beltain.
Despite this truce, the two courts and the faeries who
are loyal to them know little of the other side.
Interactions between the two sides of the Faerie-lands
are usually limited to the time of the festivals.
The players are subjects of the Seelie Court, and as
such may inhabit the forms of any sentient fae
creature that could reasonably be said to pay fealty
to the Summer Queen. Perhaps an utterly lovely elven
Lord? A talented human taken from her own time and
kept ageless in Court? A mortal stolen at birth?
Whatever they might be, the player characters called
to an audience with the Queen are each in their own
way the best and brightest the Fae have to offer.
Available PC Fae (and non-Fae) races:
Elf (also known as Aes Sidhe, "the faeries of the
hill.") - Beautiful and graceful, the Aes Sidhe claim
to be the descendents of the goddess Danu. They have
longed been the ruling race of the Faerie-lands.
Queen Mab and Queen Titania are both Elves. Besides
having tall, slender features and pointed ears, the
skin of elves come in many colors, an almost infinite
selection of color. However, there are more common
colors that tend to dominate. Many Seelie nobles
have skin in green or blue, while many of the
less-ranking elves have "human pink" skin. The
unseelie Fae that have been seen by the characters
most commonly have skin of blue or grey with higher
ranking nobles having skin of darker shades. Elves
also range very greatly in height from the 3' to 7'
tall.
Human- Humans age quite slowly when in the
Faerie-lands, making them almost immortal. Most
humans in the Faerie-lands are here at the request of
an Elven noble. A human would be foolish to decline
that request as it may insult the Fae honor.
Nymphs- Nymphs have green or brown skin with leaves
growing in strategic spots arround their bodies.
Their skin colors and the color of the leaves seems to
reflect the season as their skin is almost pink in the
spring and the skin turns to golden browns in fall and
stays that way until spring. Exclusively female,
Nymphs are not born as normal but grow as plants.
Perhaps because of this, Nymphs are known for their
sexual curiosity. It also believed that Nymphs may
seek out lovers from the other fae because of the need
for heat that will keep them alive through the cold
months of winter.
Fauns- Fauns appear to be related to Satyrs, although
both races deny any connection. They both have the
horns and the lower halfs of goats. Fauns tend to
have smaller horns. Fauns are playful creatures and
have an almost sweetness to them. They are peaceful
and tend to stick the most untamed forests of
faerie-land. The Fauns possible cousins, Satyrs are
almost exclusively part of the Unseelie court as much
as the Fauns are allied to the Seelie.
Dwarves- Most Dwarves remained neutral in the wars
between the two courts and since most live in the
distant Dwarf kingdoms, they had little interest in
the struggle. However, some Dwarves have come to live
in the Faerie-lands and most of the ones who have,
live in the Summer Queen's territories and swear
allegiance to her Seelie Court. Dwarves tend to stand
between 4' and 5'6" tall and have a very stocky build.
(This may seem tall to those used to the D&D Dwarves,
but these are meant to be Norse Dwarves.) Men tend to
be very hairy and very muscular. Dwarven men raised
in the Dwarf-lands tend to learn weaponsmithing or
mining as well as another chosen career as all Dwarf
Men are required to be prepared for when a god comes
calling to have the Dwarves create a weapon which
often happens. Women tend to be less muscular, but
still more muscular than most fae women. They do not
tend to have beards, although a few Dwarven women have
grown a beard, leading to the common misconception to
outsiders that they do. Dwarven women raised in the
Dwarf-lands are called on my the society to learn to
be warriors in addition to other careers as the
Dwarven women have often had to defend the homelands
while the men make the great weapons. The Dwarven
"Shield-maidens" are legendary for their martial
prowess.
Pookahs- Pookahs have the features of both animals and
and humans. They can shapeshift back and forth
between the animal their appearance suggest and
completely human looking. Like elves, they are often
found in both courts, but the Seelie Pookahs are known
to be more playful tricksters while the Unseelie are
said to be quite cruel in their tricks. In the days
of long ago when interaction between the human lands
and faerie-lands were common, both the Seelie and
Unseelie Pookahs were notorious for tormenting
unsuspecting humans with their trickery. The victim
of a Seelie Pookah's torments would usually be left
with some gift at the end for their time. An
Unseelie Pookah's victim could be lucky to survive.
Selkies- Another shapeshifting form of Faerie, Selkies
can transform into seals.
Cait Sidhe (traslates to "Cat Faerie")- Like the
Selkies and Pookahs, the Cait Sidhe can transform back
and forth between human-looking and looking like a
large black cat. They are known for their powers of
sorcery and consider themselves the magical guardians
of the Faerie-lands.
Brownies- Brownies are usually about 4-5 feet tall and
have pleasant appearances with big ears and cheeks.
They are known for their fondness for the finest
clothes, of which their tastes are quite picky. The
surest way to offend a Brownie is to give the clothes
of poor appearance or quality. Many Brownies are
almost obsessive about cleanliness. Some brownies have
taken this love for cleanliness too far, even cleaning
houses that do not belong to them. They are a
hard-working folk, partially because they are not
nobility and they need to work hard to get the fine
things they like. Leprechauns are related to
Brownies.
Pixies- Although Pixies are quite diminutive when in
human lands, in Faerie lands, they stand as tall as
any Brownie or Dwarf. There are many varieties and
appearances for Pixies but they all have wings and the
ability to shrink. Shrinking is difficult in the
Faerielands for them and takes some time, but is easy
and necessary of they travel to the human lands as
their wings are unable to support their weight without
shrinking when they travel to the human world.
Other races- There are of course many more races that
could be played and as I write this, I realize I could go
on and on. As long as the faerie has some sense of
honor or tradition he or she fits within the Seelie
Courts and can be played, so a Centaur, a
Naiad....whatever you want to create as long as it
works.