#lesserfae

[the-ruby-enchanter]

Head-canon for the Spring Court 🍃🌸🌿✨

The Spring Court actually has the most lesser fae—real fae. You know, the ones with colorful skin, tails, antlers, claws, vine-like hair, or wings made of bark or petals. Not just “hot humans with pointy ears.”

Nudity is a normal thing there. Skin is just skin. some fae wear moonlight or nothing at all, unless ceremony demands a cloak of tradition

Forests and rivers everywhere. Poisonous flowers that sing. Trees that move when you're not looking. Glow-in-the-dark mushrooms lighting up mossy paths. Vines that curl like curious fingers.

There’s mischief in the air—never cruel, just clever. Lose your boots to a fox. Find your hair braided with wildflowers by giggling sprites. Discover a raccoon carrying your necklace like a treasure.

wearing shoes is rare thing. The earth is warm and breathing, and the fae here walk barefoot to stay connected to their land.

No brothels here, because sex isn’t commodified—it’s woven into their culture like music or magic. Passion and desire are honored, not hidden. This is the court of Calanmai, after all. 👀

To any person whom isn't spring citizent there are no paths in the land only suggestions. The same route never leads to the same place twice unless the land wants it to.

The forest is full of bargains. Want something? The right flower, rock, or creature will give it… for a price. You’ll probably forget you made a deal until it’s time to pay.

Laughter isn't always safe. Some fae laugh to lure, others to confuse. The clever ones just mimic yours to draw you deeper in.

[ashnadir]

nuadxa:

“I didn’t realize wolves could half-turn,” they said. It’d take a lot of control, they figured, like walking around with pants half on – with all the comedic effect that comes with the image of wolves wearing pants and only having them half-on while loping around half-turned. “Geography isn’t my strong suit. I keep thinking that Oregon is above us, not below, and that Black Rock City is only about twelve hours away. I keep thinking that it’s on the other side of New Mexico.” They laughed, happy that he had a passport. “I’m glad that you have a passport. It makes travel easier, doesn’t it?”

It wasn’t that they couldn’t stay mad at Iann, it was that their anger had flared quickly and once voiced, as he offered them food, it eased. They didn’t like to hold grudges, and they tried to keep present. Now that they told him that they wanted to be told about an adventure before they went on it, they carried on. The question about hunters made them frown. “Not – hm… really, no. I know they exist, but I haven’t come across any. Who wants to hunt fairies? What danger do we present?” they asked, but they didn’t need an answer because they weren’t being serious. They knew how dangerous they could be because of their glamour and being able to ascertain magic items and to craft them. “So we live in Themyscira – minus the Amazonians – and people can’t just – walk through the barrier like they could in the movie.” There was more important things to think about, so they shifted to that. “Do you think the barrier is going to fail again? Or is my mind thinking of worst case scenario and this community outreach happens every year?”

“Archfey, Lesserfae, High Fae…” they said, ticking off the ones they knew on their fingertips and would have kept going but the gnats started to swarm. The pair had chased away three of their brethren and they thought that they were just going to stand there and talk? Come up with a game-plan?

To the gnats, the fairy and the human were villains monologuing their evil plan, and they weren’t going to wait for them to finish talking. They rose in unison and Nuadia decided that no – climbing up on the van would not be a good option, so they turned and hurried after Iann.

“Are you blowing on it? Are you sure?” they asked, “Did they give you a broken whistle?” they asked, their ire over the spiders possibly granting Iann a broken favor outweighed their worry over the gnats.

Na-na-nas!  Na-na-nas! Na-na-nas! The chanting continued.

Na Na Na Na - Na Na Na Na – the chant changed, a rich deep tone came from all around them. “Iann,” the fairy hissed, as if he wouldn’t be able to hear it. Na Na Na Na - Na Na Na Na – no longer did it sound like a form of banana – and it didn’t seem to be coming from around them but from inside their head - Kit sat and scratched at his ear - he could hear it too. It wasn’t like the gnats buzzing, only translatable through a fae - this was something else. 

Na Na Na Na - Na Na Na Na –

Surrounding them on three sides came an army of spiders, none smaller than a tennis ball, some nearly as large as Kit. They swayed in unison as the gnats kept chanting about bananas. Na Na Na Na – hey hey-ey – goodbye, they sung in unison.

From the west came the new Matriarch, silver in color with a black swatch against her back, her rich dark eyes held their own universe within them. At first, and from a distance, she looked no bigger than the old Matriarch, but as she neared, she seemed to grow in size until, as she stopped in front of the fairy and human, it became clear that she was nearly as tall as the average human. Spider Matriarchs, it could be gleaned, would grow to the size of their environment. She reached two of her legs up, one hand resting on Iann’s shoulder and the other on Nuadia’s. If she noticed Nuadia shudder, she didn’t take offense. “You called for us?” she asked, the hairs on her legs tickling against bare skin. “We’ve stayed where you put us – but now you call us here,” she sounded like she found something funny. “Is this where you need us now —?”  she called them something, a word that couldn’t be translated through her telepathic speech, it sounded like mother and father, aunt and uncle, godmother and godfather, all mixed into one feeling of familial belonging – like she, a grown spider matriarch, was speaking to a respected – and not often seen – part of the family.

And still, the spiders chanted in mockery against the gnats. 

"They can't, not really!  That's why loup-garou consider themselves separated from werewolves.  But you know, I've seen...uh...fast-action photos of a werewolf shifting.  And illustration plates," Iann said with a grin.  "Ha!  Oregon's beautiful though, but maybe I'm biased.  And yeah...having an actual good fake passport it...changes everything."  He was still a little nervous at Customs though. 

He smirked, although it wasn't a happy or cute smirk.  One of grimness, whenever it came to the subject of Hunters.  It was a complicated topic for a human, considering the concept of Hunters was to fight against supernaturals who were killing humans.  But of course that was usually due to the main three: vampires, werewolves, witches.  "Yeah, well,"  was the most Iann could say about Hunters, because it was kind of a moot point in Soapberry anyway.  And clearly Nuadia had managed to keep themselves more than safe while in Ireland, and New York.  "Like Themyscira?  Um, I guess...uh. Which movie?"  

He shrugged.  "Well I don't think it's a predictable thing, the barrier.  I couldn't say.  It's something far beyond my understanding."  Iann could understand and learn about magic, but there was always going to be a point where it was simply impossible for a human to really understand.

The matter of fae-designations was fascinating, but Iann would have to address it later.  Right now, he was just blowing on the whistle constantly.  "No, no I'm sure it's not broken! The Matriarch would...never.  Do you...?"  As he looked around, the 'na-na-na' changed pace, grew all-encompassing, and even when Iann tried to cover his ears to protect it from the din, it still didn't help.   And then the spiders showed up.  

"HOLY MOTHER OF GOD -"  Iann exclaimed, horrified and terrified and every single -fied in between.  He fell over onto his ass, then scrambled back up to his feet when the Matriarch showed up, huge and imposing and hairy and with all those legs and Iann kind of wanted to faint.  "They're singing...they're - they're singing,"  Iann said, reaching over to Nuadia's arm, just to grab onto them for support, for the feel of person rather than arachnid.

And when the Matriarch touched him, Iann made a sign of the cross.  "I - ah - I - yes - I was...wonderinnggggg if....you and yourrr...clan would accept myyyyeee...."  Iann stammered, voice jumping with how hard his heart was beating right now.  But this was a civic duty dammit, not something for himself; and his greediness pierced through his terror.  He wasn't going to use his boon on this.  He'd save his boon for something for himself.  He had to think of a way to spin this now.    "This is, ah, where we need you now, Matriarch,"  Iann said.  "Because--"

But the gnats fortunately sort of handled it themselves.  Because clearly their demand for bananas (and mocking the fairy and their human) was being out-mocked by the spiders.  The gnats grew enraged at the indignity, and with a unified screech, turned their full attention to the spiders.  "Ttattack!!!!!"  They screamed as one loud buzz, abandoning the elder trees and swarming onto the spiders.

And the spiders swarmed back. 

"Free meal!!  Go forth and multiply!" Iann said, wincing slightly from that quote; and he looked over at Nuadia with an apologetic shrug.  The Matriarch, turned slowly, just enough to regard her kin as her other beady eyes looked at Nuadia and Iann.  "You brought us a meal?"  The Matriarch asked, like a child asking if they were going to McDonalds for dinner.  

Iann nodded, and tried to grin.  "Uh-huh! Yup, enjoy.  And - and the grove is now yours, hm?  For you and your kind.  Change of location's good for the little one's growing up, don't you think?  These little buggers will feed you for months if you spin 'em right...."  Iann weakly leaned against his van, watching the carnage of spider and gnat in an awed disbelief.  "I...I'm..."

guhnat

[ashnadir]

nuadxa:

Wendigos. They knew of those, the rest they wanted to hear about, but not when they were on an adventure. They knew better than to ask for a story while they were living a story. Still, they did ask: “like, the Werewolf in London variety of werewolves? Two legged and rawr?” they asked, curving their fingers into claws in a pantomime of the creature from the old monster-flick. “Also, Canada. I’d be willing to go on a trip with you to Canada. But not for bugs.”

They tried not to get angry. There were better ways to spend their time than allowing their own hot-headed emotion to get the best of them, not when there were better ways of expressing their displeasure, but sometimes, they couldn’t contain themselves. Sometimes, they exploded in a concentrated burst of emotion only to just as quickly cool back down and re-assess what they had just done. Thankfully, Iann didn’t seem to have had his feelings hurt in a way that would make the rest of this adventure awkward. Spiders. Spider-webs. Things that could entrap them, wrap around their wings and make them worthless. Their anger came from fear, and like their mother, when they were afraid, they lashed out.

“What happens if the barrier disappears?” they asked, letting Iann fill them in on what he knew, which was certainly more than what they did. “Has it happened before?”

They looked back to the gnats, unsure of how to explain it. They understood the creatures, but it wasn’t so strange, was it? “I… maybe they’re super lesserfae? I can call Freddie-dear and ask if he can understand them, but really…” they swatted at a gnat that flew at their face, irate that they had chased off three of its kind and unwilling to take the chance that they’d berate another group into leaving. This was Gnat Territory and they’d defend it from the large, stinky -

Oh a banana.

One moment, Nuadia thought they had everything completely in hand, but in the next, there were gnats devouring what they had offered to Iann.

“We’re not bananas!” they yelled, attempting to duck behind Iann to little success, as the gnats realized that human food was much better tasting than the trees that they’d been devouring. “Don’t even think about eating us!”

Looking to Iann, they quickly explained: “Yellowstone has a rule about feeding the bears - we just fed the gnats and they may like the taste – how about that tin whistle, friend? Summon our army, go all in.”

"Yeah!  Two-legged and rawr, but most of the time they kind of just loped around on all-fours, so they really just ended up looking like half-way transformed werewolves who got stuck in that ugly midway part."  Iann grinned.  "Well we're not that far from the border.  Oh! And I have a passport now that works, thanks for Freddie!  I used it in Europe and no one even blinked an eye.  I'm a real person, Nuadia."  Iann said, puffing his chest out proudly.  

Iann certainly knew about flaring hot tempers that generally dissipated, both as the giver and receiver.  And when he was in the wrong, there just didn't seem to be any point in being wounded by someone else's anger, when it made more sense to right the wrong and move onto the more interesting things.  Because ultimately, Iann just wanted to mutually enjoy his company, and particularly Nuadia.

"The barrier's there to protect the town against Hunters..."  Iann looked at Nuadia curiously.  "Is that a thing you've ever encountered?  Hunters?  I don't know how many Hunters really know about fairies, they mostly go after the big three, you know.  Witches, werewolves, vampires.  I guess some hunt merms.  And fairies, but anyway.  No Hunters, and no humans who know nothing about supernaturals stumbling into the town like idiots, hm?  The barrier, from what I've learned, sort of just...nudges them around the town, so they just never can find it."  He nodded,  "Ah, yeah - it broke down once since I've been here, and lo and behold, Hunters got through." Lesserfae.  That was an interesting concept, and Iann felt somewhat intrigued.  It wasn't like humans.  Humans were humans and arguing that, say, a chimp was a 'lesserhuman' was inaccurate.  But lesserfae for whatever reason seemed to make sense.  "What's so fascinating about fae is that there are just....so many different types of you.  Like literally different, not just human ideas of different."  Iann caught one of the gnats, watching it struggle and buzz angrily at him, and then thought about BumblePineBoots the fae fauns.  How diverse, truly.   But then the banana (or as the gnats seemed to start chanting 'nananas') was the tipping point for Nuadia, and Iann let go of the gnat, and put aside his wonder.  The gnats chanting 'nanana' at them got mocking, but loud.  Like a cicada swarm only without the screeching.  

"Right - yeah.  Righ!"  Iann fumbled with the whistle as he motioned for Nuadia to follow him further into the forest, where the elder trees were being devoured.  It had to be done close to the source, Iann figured.  And the gnats flying about were even thicker and everywhere, all over everything.  Gorged gnats lay on the forest floor, and Iann crushed them without a second thought.  He pulled out the whistle and blew.

Nothing happened, so Iann blew it again, then continued blowing until he was cross-eyed from the effort.  "Does it take a while?  Shit!" He shook the whistle.  "C'mon!"  

"Na-na-nas!  Na-na-nas!!"  The banana-crew of gnats followed them in, buzzing their awful chant.

guhnat