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Autumn Court Trickster

Character

A trickster Fae of the Autumn Court. He is a shape shifting pooka of old Celtic magic, and he wields a number of glamours and mischievous illusion magics. As a low ranking member of the Autumn Court, Pyre's primary responsibilities are ushering the dead leaves off trees and getting the pumpkins and mushrooms to grow. But these responsibilities are boring, so Pyre usually finds himself tangled up in other affairs.

Pyre's real name is kept a secret, because knowledge of a pooka's full name gives the speaker total command over the pooka's actions. To that end, only the King and Queen of the Autumn Court currently know Pyre's full name.

Personality[]

Pyre is bored with his responsibilities and delighted by the frustration of others. This little Fae loves to push the boundaries of what he is allowed to do. He is a trickster at heart and loves to prank people. However, Pyre has a true dark streak to his antics. His tricks have never led to anyone's death so far, but he definitely doesn't let the risk of bodily harm dampen any of his fun. But more-so than that, if Pyre identifies a perfect crux within a system where one application of pressure can deviate the result drastically in the opposite direction, he will do it 6 times out of 5, regardless of what that opposite direction might be. As a Fae, his perceptions of morality are not anywhere in line with the common perceptions shared by mortals.

Despite the fact that this makes Pyre sound like a force of chaos and destruction, that's really not the case. On the flip-side, all the above applies to when things are going horribly wrong as well. If every part of a plan is already falling apart and things are going to hell in a handbasket and Pyre identifies a crux point that would radically shift the course of events back to the positive, he will do that as well.

When Pyre is "grounded," because he is in his Human glamour and unable to fly, all that energy bubbles up to the surface and gives him a restlessness where he finds it difficult to concentrate and becomes easily agitated. Because of this Pyre prefers to keep his natural form when he's not absolutely required to disguise himself. The other forms Pyre uses as glamours serve as vessels to help him think in different ways. He will take up his gremlin form when he needs to be better at breaking things, he takes up his raven form when he needs to be better at thinking things, and he will take up his rabbit form when he just wants to veg out.

SKILLS[]

HERBALISM[]

Novice

Pyre knows which plants and fungi are good and can heal people, and he knows which ones are dangerous and can kill people, but he has little practice actually concocting anything useful with this knowledge. He generally doesn't need to in the Nevernever.

KNOWING THE WAYS[]

Competent

Technically, Pyre shouldn't be using his time to explore the Ways within the Nevernever. His duties are purely in the natural realm tending to the passing of Summer into Autumn and Autumn into Winter. But that gets so boring for this little Fae sometimes. When he's not out being mischievous, Pyre loves exploring the twisting routes of the Ways and finding where they lead.

SELF-DEFENSE[]

Novice

Fae are naturally resistant to regular physical harm, but when in his normal Fae form and only 4 inches tall, Pyre has little to fall back on to protect himself besides his sharp teeth and claw-like fingernails. Anyone who is able to grab this nimble Fae should expect to immediately feel the sting of his teeth. In his other glamoured forms, Pyre is well versed in running away.

TRICKERY[]

Expert

Pyre loves nothing more than getting the upper-hand on someone. He's practiced at manipulating his words, and he's devious when it comes to pranks and mischief. He revels in throwing wrenches into the machinations of others.

POWERS[]

FAE GLAMOUR[]

Enhanced

Pyre's glamours are powerful things. They affect every sense and are completely convincing in every way. In some ways a glamour could be considered a low-grade form of shapeshifting. There are two major drawbacks: Pyre's glamours only affect his own form, and in rare cases a glamour can "fail" momentarily when glanced out of the corner of the viewer's eye. Pyre has a number of glamours he uses on a regular basis and is quite familiar with these set forms.

FAE INVISIBILITY[]

Enhanced

Many Fae have an innate invisibility to mortal eyes, unless they choose to reveal themselves. Magic practitioners and other supernatural beings can see Fae however. Furthermore, anyone looking through a stone with a hole in it can see Fae.

FLIGHT[]

Enhanced

Like many Fae, Pyre can fly. He is very fast and capable of reaching speeds up to 40mph in short bursts, but he normally tops out around 35mph. His flight is also incredibly nimble and Pyre is able to turn, dive, and double-back on a dime. His flight requires his wings, though it does not directly use his wings to generate lift. To that extent, Pyre could fly in a vacuum, though that scenario is unlikely. If his wings are magically bound, he cannot fly.

ILLUSIONISM[]

Basic

Pyre has some capabilities in general illusion magic. He can make small objects, sounds, smells, and physical sensations. Pyre generally can't do more than two of these at a time and they are limited to a close proximity to him. The length of each illusion is largely indefinite so long as Pyre continues his concentration.

MAGIC SENSITIVITY[]

Basic

As a magical being, Pyre is rather sensitive to magical energies and generally is able to detect and notice magic use that is happening close by to him.

MIRROR SIGHT[]

Basic

Another pastime Pyre preoccupies himself with sometimes. Starting with small reflective puddles, Pyre has slowly learned to peer into one reflective surface and out of another. His range is limited and he still hasn't learned how to traverse through mirrors, but Pyre has no lack of exuberance for practicing.

NATURE NURTURE[]

Basic

While Pyre has a small ability to aid all plants in growing, his powers are focused primarily on plants of the Autumn months or plants associated with the decay cycle of nature. Squash, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, parsnip, moss, mushrooms, and mold are all plants and fungi that Pyre can grow or enhance their growth.

ADVANTAGES[]

AUTUMN COURT[]

As a member of the Autumn Court, Pyre always has a place to call home and allies to fall back on.

WEAKNESSES[]

COLD IRON[]

Iron harms Fae, this is well known. Subtle nuances do exist though. Cold Iron is intended to harm Fae and is forged without additives. For a weaker Fae, such as Pyre, a wound created by a pure iron blade would be fatal. Close proximity to iron will physically weaken Pyre and destroy his mental focus. Contact will burn him and drain his magic.

OATH KEEPING[]

Promises and oaths bind Fae to keeping them, as well as ensuring that humans keep up their ends of any bargains made. If a Fae makes a promise thrice, it is as closely bound as they can be.

OVERCONFIDENCE[]

Pyre is simply bristling with unfounded confidence in his own abilities.

TRUE NAME[]

To know a pooka's true name is to gain power over it and the ability to command that Fae. Given this, it is common practice for pookas to keep their true name a secret.

TRUTHFULNESS[]

Fae are bound to speak only the literal truth. Pyre still loves misleading and manipulating the truth within that parameter though. Asking a Fae a question three times will also compel the Fae to answer; however, the definition of what an "answer" is might be up for debate.

UNSEELIE ACCORDS[]

As a member of the Autumn Court, Pyre is bound by the laws set forth in the Unseelie Accords.

WARDS[]

Fae, as highly magical beings, are heavily affected by wards or other contrivances designed to protect against sorcery and mystical powers.

One Autumn Equinox several centuries ago, a new pooka was born out of a pile of the first fallen leaves of Fall as the other pookas danced around him in a circle. They brought him to the Autumn Court where King Finvarra bestowed upon this new pooka his name and set Pyre out to go tend to his first Autumn flower.

Over the first few decades Pyre tended the Autumn plants as tasked to him and his life was simple and uneventful. But then after two centuries Pyre began to have the first inklings of boredom. It was an odd sensation, since he had never truly felt anything like it before. Instead of joining the other Fae dancing on the wind once he had finished tending to his plants, Pyre wandered off. He wandered around the Ways for a bit before returning home and continuing his tasks the next day. And that's how it went. For the next few centuries Pyre would split his time between exploring the Nevernever and tending to his plants. But one day in 1937, Pyre's life changed dramatically: he found a passage through the Ways to Earth.

The young pooka was delighted to discover so many new sights and sounds and places to explore. He discovered quickly that his natural Fae invisibility kept him hidden from mortal eyes, so he was able to flit about wherever he pleased and meddle with so many of the new contraptions and gizmos. It was the first time in Pyre's life that he was late in returning to his duties.

From several decades after that, Pyre's passion became exploring the mortal realm. He would spend entire days traveling unseen among Humans; he would put kinks in the engines of automobiles, spoiling milk, or nudging someone's hand as they played poker. But soon Pyre's neglect of his duties became apparent as his flowers and vegetables were consistently under-grown. When Pyre was brought before the King Finvarra to explain his actions, the King could see that Pyre had a wanderlust burning in his pooka heart. On the other hand, duties were duties and Pyre was still such a young Fae. So King Finvarra came to a simple solution: he commanded Pyre using his true name that anytime the pooka entered the realm of mortals, he must check in with the Autumn Knight. This served two purposes. Firstly, the Autumn Knight would now know exactly how many times Pyre visited Earth. Secondly, it greatly limited Pyre's ability to rove across the Earth, because if he checked in with Rey Devoss and then used The Ways to reach some distant place on Earth away from California, he would have left Earth and re-entered the Nevernever and thus would have to check in with Rey Devoss again when he came back to Earth.

With this new restriction on Pyre's movements, this pooka has to either learn some responsibility or get very good at manipulating the explanations for his Earthly visits.

Logs featuring Pyre Needle:

Coming soon!

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