The Exiled

Overview


The Exiled in the City of Lost Angels are a group of sidhe, who for one reason or another have chosen to make their home in the city, far away from the reach of the old courts in the Hollow. While the city does not offer the lush, green space and density of magic found in the traditional home of the Fae, it offers something else...the chance to unravel the binds between this realm and the other.

Many of the Exiled are fugitives of the Unseelie Court, and most will be some form of changeling, including each of the founding leaders of the group. The Exiled are mischievous troublemakers, who consider themselves superior to other mortal beings. They are immortal, their forms powered by magic, and therefore they do not generally have a fear of death or dying (although most sidhe can, in fact, be killed—it is rare).


 * Change is good.


 * Glamour is free.


 * Honour is a lie.


 * Passion before duty. 

Traits
The following are a list of general traits and characteristics found in sidhe of the Exiled. This is not an exhaustive list of traits, there are many more that would apply to various species of sidhe. However, the below are some baselines that we will expect members to adhere to.


 * χ Self-serving:  While they may help a person one day, they might betray them the very next day.  The sidhe will rarely, if ever, sacrifice themselves in any way for some type of ‘greater good’.  There are no ‘good’ sidhe (certainly not within The Exiled), although that is not to say that they are evil by nature. It is more they do not consider themselves bound to such norms as benevolence, loyalty, right, or wrong.


 * χ  Chaotic: Unseelie sidhe, which is the foundation for the Exiled, do not like order or structure like that found in the courts of the Hollow.  They esteem chaos, change, dynamic, ever-changing circumstances, wildness even as befitting nature in it's truest form.


 * χ Oath Bound: While a sidhe will not think twice about betraying a person, or lying outright to fit their circumstances, they are bound by the terms of an oath.  To be considered a binding oath, the sidhe would have to name it as such to the other party.  Further, the sidhe will be very, very careful in their wording of the oath, oftentimes allowing them a way out and a means to not have to technically comply with the ‘spirit’ of the agreement, only the exact terms specified.  Any who make an oath with a sidhe should be extremely careful that it is worded exactly to ensure no loopholes.


 * χ Cold Iron Weakness:  Cold Iron is to sidhe, similar to what silver might be for lycans, or holy water for vampires.  It will not outright kill or harm them by its mere presence, however, cold iron will dispel any magic that is being used.  For example, if someone is wearing a necklace made of cold iron, they may see through any appearance magic (see glamour) being used by the sidhe.  If they are struck with an object made of iron, it may easily rend them unconscious for some time, and unable to perform any type of magic. It is important to note that iron content in say...blood, will not be of impact to sidhe.

Rules
Because of the sheer complexity and variety of sidhe characters and lore, as well as the potential to have an overwhelmingly powerful character, the Exiled will have a few rules to enable conformity of in character values and aims for the faction, as well as a more balanced character for role-play. If your character has any of the below, you are encouraged to seek a different faction as your abilities and/or aims will not match ours in the city. The following rules apply to Exiled faction members:


 * χ - No full, pure blooded sidhe (generally speaking).


 * χ - No one of rank or clout from either the Unseelie or Seelie Court.


 * χ - No one who has based their character on some type of god/demon/diety, from mythology, religion, etc.


 * χ - For each strength, there must be a matching, equivalent scope weakness.


 * χ - Shifters may only have an affinity for one animal (this does not mean players cannot glamour or use illusion to appear to be something else, it does mean that you cannot claim to have the powers or abilities of anything other than one animal).


 * χ - Elementals, same as shifters, may only have control or affinity to one element, not multiple.

Key Terms

 *  χ The Hollow:  Is the generic name given to describe the realms of the Unseelie and Seelie Courts, AKA the magic land of faerie.  In the Hollow, sidhe and faerie magic is at its strongest.  It would be a place described as lush, beautiful, full of intrigues and political scheming of the nobility and pure blood sidhe.  Time in the Hollow also passes at a different rate than in the mortal world of CoLA.  For example, you could spend a week, a year, a hundred years in The Hollow, and return to CoLA to find hours, days or only weeks had passed.  Of course, you could also find that you return at some time previous, or 200 years in the future.  All that is known is that time passes differently in the two realms, and it is a gamle to enter the Hollow in large part because there is no guarantee of how, when or if you will make it out.


 *  χ The Divide:  Is the name given to the space separating the Hollow and the world of humans or Lost Angels.  Someone who has escaped from the Hollow will have to cross through the Divide in order to enter the different realm.  The Divide may be different depending on the player and which Hollow they have fled.


 *  χ Changeling:  Is used to describe an individual who was thrust into the Hollow either voluntarily or involuntarily, who stayed long enough to have their physical form altered by the magic there.  A changeling may be as powerful as a pure blood sidhe who has been exiled or cut off from the power of the Hollow.  A changeling will rarely be as powerful as a pure blood sidhe who is in the Hollow and a member of the nobility of the Seelie or Unseelie Court.  Changelings may be shifters, or elementals, or other variants – if they were bound to a sidhe or nature/animal element in the Hollow with those traits.  Their magic traits may also be assumed as a result of an innate affinity with some thing or another.


 *  χ Glamour/Illusion Magic:  All sidhe have the ability to do illusionary magic. Sidhe are not able to conjure something from nothing, merely transform the perception of the viewer or participant into something else. For example, a sidhe might offer you a glass of water and tell you it is wine in an elaborate goblet. Unless the recipient is immune to glamour magic, they will see the goblet, they will taste wine, they will even feel drunk.  Glamour may extend to visual appearances as well as emotions or physical states.


 *  χ Unseelie:  Is considered to be the 'Dark’ Court of the sidhe. While beautiful, they are in some ways considered second class citizens of the sidhe world, as they are not pure or light enough to be in the Seelie Court.  Lore on the unseelie is mixed, however, for the purposes of The Exiled, the unseelie will represent those who are aligned with the underbelly, dark side of the sidhe. An unseelie sidhe would never be welcome in the Seelie Court.


 *  χ Seelie: Is considered to be the ‘Light’ Court of the sidhe.  Also beautiful, the seelie are every bit as vicious as the unseelie and are by no means considered good in intent or deed – they may be considered to be even more unscrupulous than the unseelie. If a sidhe is kicked from the Seelie Court, they would usually have the option to seek home in the Unseelie Court.


 * χ Refine Virus: Is a mutigen that alters the host both internal, as external. During this change, the host suffers an intense episode of pain. It's not, however, unheard of that an individual manages to fight the virus, and in its stead, suffers the flu. There was a time when the city of Lost Angels was filled with the Change; an amorphous parasite that carried the virus in its veins. But now it's become drastically harder to get infected.


 * χ Refined: This term is used for those that have been infected by the Refine virus, and have been altered by this mutigen. A refined being doesn't have to be a sidhe by nature, but due the magical nature of the virus, it's not uncommon for those that have been infected to be granted fae-like, or shifter-like qualities.