#/ i've been wanting to write about fae feasts; their and their alluring and addictive nature for a while so im glad that i got to-

[caemthe]

Fae Feasts.º

Unlike humans and all creatures of this world, they don't need to eat to stay alive. Everything they need to survive is in the mana from the air, the greenery, the bodies of water, the Otherworld, they don't need anything else. But the fae still eat, for pleasure, out of boredom, curiosity, to get closer to humans, who knows. Because they eat, they also hold feasts. And what feasts they are. The most delicious food you'll ever eat, the most you ever danced, the most fun you ever had, you'll experience it in a fae feast.

It's unlikely but not impossible to come across a feast held by the good folk. The fae abide to the rules of hospitality, so any human who wanders to one of their festivals or feasts is more than welcome to participate in them and enjoy themselves to the fullest. All should be fine as long as you're careful with what you say and do, right? Unfortunately, it's not as simple as that.

It’s so easy to lose track of time when you’re having fun, and time in the Otherworld doesn't work the same as in this world. Some who are taken in the world of the good folk never return, while others return far too late. A month in the Otherworld can be a day in this world, just like three years in the Otherworld can be three hundred years in this world. The human body will naturally apart the moment you return to this world if too much time has passed.

But just because you returned from the Otherworld in time doesn't mean you're safe. The food served at these feasts is the most delicious you'll ever eat, but no one is sure why that is. Maybe it’s because they had an eternity to perfect their recipes and ingredients for them. Or maybe it's just something simpler than that, and they simply don’t follow the rules of this world. Some say that it's actually because they have a little bit of fae blood in them, granting the dishes the same addictive qualities as the fae. You get to taste all you ever wanted, all your needs are met with a single bite, you get your fill of 'true' happiness and every bite is as delicious as the first one.

What matters is that eating their food will cause you to go crazy or starve to death because you will lose taste for all regular food. Nothing will ever compare to the food you enjoyed there, the music you listened there, the dancing and fun you had there. You've become a husk of your former self, wasting away or going deep into the forest, hoping to come across another fae feast. But it'll never happen, it's a once in-a-lifetime experience only.

Of course, that doesn't mean all food given by the good folk will doom you. If a gift is given in reciprocity, if it is paid (though they'll never ask for something in exchange), all should be fine. If there's an equal exchange, it should be fine, right?

The rules of hospitality: When a friend, enemy or stranger enters your home, you are expected to be gracious and accommodating to them until they prove, by their words or actions, to be undeserving of such hospitality.

Fae as a vice: There are levels to how alluring and addictive they can be, from a banshee that makes people run away in terror, to an each-uisge who appears as a docile and beautiful horse that makes children want to pet it, to a leanan sídhe who makes her lovers live a short but inspired life, to the gancanagh (the love-talker) who appears as the ideal man for his victim and only needs one touch to render them instantly, insatiably, and irreversibly addicted to him.