A Fae secret worth killing over?

[Mr. Draco]

I'm working on a batch of plots for a game I'm planning on running in a few months, and amidst brainstorming I came upon an idea based on the Prometheus myth: some powerful Fae has decided that now is the time to reveal a secret/impart a gift upon the humanoid races of the world. Unfortunately for our mystery Fae, he hasn't succeeded just yet, as the act of revealing the secret/imparting the gift requires an extensive magical ritual which he's still working on. Even more unfortunately for our mystery Fae, others in the Sidhe court (I don't draw a distinction between Seelie/Unseelie courts, though there are certainly both good and evil Fae) have caught wind of his plan, and they're after him (possibly the Wild Hunt is on his trail as well?).

All through this, there's one major outstanding question in my mind: "What secret/gift is the mystery Fae out to deliver?"



So far the only real candidate in my mind is that the mystery Fae is out to reveal that the humanoid races were all originally offspring of the Fae themselves (thus explaining the similar shapes), and by revealing that secret, the mystery Fae would allow all of the members of the humanoid races (gradually, of course) to unlock the power of their own Fae bloodlines (as the Bloodline variant in Unearthed Arcana).

I'm not married to the idea of the Fae bloodlines though, and any suggestions about just what this mystery Fae is up to, or further postulating about the bloodline idea would be very welcome.

 

[Nifft]

Well, if revealing this secret involves a long arcane ritual, we can be sure it's not something you could sum up in one or two sentences. Like, "I'm your father, Luke!" No ritual required, it's a basic hand off.

So, I'd change the nature of the secret to something that (a) PCs will like, and (b) isn't something that you could just say.

- The secret magic of the Beguiler and the Duskblade
- The secret lore of Soul Binding
- The secret ingredients that let you cast some new spells from the Spell Compendium
- The secret to safe teleportation and more accurate planar travel

Cheers, -- N

 

[frankthedm]

The secret would grant humanoids the ability to [Su] See Invisiblity or [Su] True Seeing, that only works on the Spell Like and Supernatural abilities of Fey creatures.

That will really motivate those lollygaggin' Fae. That is something the Fey might commit genocide to keep from happening.

Check out the MMIII for the murderous Redcap fey for some decent shock troops.

Wild hunt? If you use the Mid Summer crowd as well, team up Horn Head with Oberon, Titiania and Puck for a real fun showdown with the Fey equivalent of a high level adventuring party.

 

[starwolf]

Immortality.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Immortality.

This was my first thought as well. It's the one thing the Fae have, that they are known for, that humanity does not, and desperately covets.

Also, the idea of an immortal humanity, considering its destructive nature and propensity to rapidly propagate, would strike many faeries as an absolute catastrophe.

It also presents the PCs with some interesting questions. Do they try and help the faerie Prometheus to succeed? Or do they stop him? When you start to think about it, It's not really as easy a question as it may seem.

 

[Baron Opal]

Or, would the boon of immortality sap the drive from humanity, their need to strive, claim territory because they now have all the time in the world? Since many campaigns are humanocentric, they tend to be the bulwark against the other aggressive and high birth rate races. If humans gain immortality and become laconic, who would defend what is from the goblins, orcs and kobolds of the world?

This change might not even make itself apparent for 50 years. Now that humans have time to gather their resources and aren't in such a darn rush, some foes may become extinct. But, eventually, humanity becomes sleepy and withdrawn like the elves and the dwarves. And the hobgoblin tide washes over them all.

 

[kigmatzomat]

I'm working on a batch of plots for a game I'm planning on running in a few months, and amidst brainstorming I came upon an idea based on the Prometheus myth: some powerful Fae has decided that now is the time to reveal a secret/impart a gift upon the humanoid races of the world.
All through this, there's one major outstanding question in my mind: "What secret/gift is the mystery Fae out to deliver?"

Hmm, here's the idea I was going to use as the basis of my next campaign.

Elves and orcs are humans, but humans radically altered by the Fae. Elves were the servants of the Shining Court and orcs of the Shadow Court. Mystical tinkering explains the almost pathological hatred the two races have towards each other and the odd ability for humans to crossbreed with both.

Prometheus (Puck?)'s ritual will tap the controls bred into the elven and orcish peoples to make them all instantly know and believe the truth.

More importantly, it will reveal that Gruumsh is actually the Shadow King and Correlon is the Bright King. These revelations would cause both orcs and elves to cease worshipping their Fae masters and decreasing the power of the Kings. The erratic weakening of the Kings would cause millenia old grudges to see oportunities, resulting in attempted assassinations and ritual challenges, ultimately culminating in civil war.

Both the Bright and Shadow Court are willing to kill Prometheus for this treasonous act.

 

[smootrk]

I would also say that the Secret of Immortality is a prime secret, especially when that Secret is tied to the Location of the Fey Realm itself.... as in, Exposure to or some sort of contact with the environment of the Fey Realm is a necessary part of the Secret of Immortality.

The fey do not want to share this, and also fear that the human races will either spoil the effect or drive them out of the fey realm.

 

[green slime]

Especially if the ritual tied to the Secret will in someway unravel the Imortality of the Fey themselves:

The secret is thus the immortality of fey, but in revealing this to the non-fey, it is prophesised to lead ultimately to the death of all fey.

 

[smootrk]

Especially if the ritual tied to the Secret will in someway unravel the Imortality of the Fey themselves:

The secret is thus the immortality of fey, but in revealing this to the non-fey, it is prophesised to lead ultimately to the death of all fey.

Yes, you get 'it'. That is essentially where my mind was going, even if I didn't articulate well.