Pooka

A pooka is, in basics, a trickster fey that can shapeshift. But, that is hardly all that there is too them. pooka are a very complicated, and often very misunderstood type of fey hailing most often from the Seelie Court.

To other fey, and those who know about them, there is a fairly often repeated saying about pooka: "You can always trust a pooka, but no one in their right mind would ever believe one." This page will, hopefully, explain why that statement came to be and what exactly pooka are.

Personality and Nature
Pooka are natural tricksters and compulsive liars, however their personalities are kind, sometimes even going into almost being child-like in their innocence. They are generally so friendly and good at keeping secrets (After all, they always lie unless forced. Who better to keep things quiet?) that it is said that even the hardest heart can be melted by pooka and their antics, and it has been noted more then once that people tend to reveal everything including  their closest-kept secrets to a curious pooka who befriends them.

Pooka are also, in general, rather passive creatures. They do not actively seek out conflict and strife; preferring instead to just cause mischief, play word games, and play jokes on people. That is not to say that they do not have "downtime" where they just hang out though, as they are quite social and do like spending time with people in pretty much any manner. They also can be serious, if the situation calls for it...well, if they think the situation calls for it at least.

That said, it should be noted as mentioned earlier that it is very unnatural for Pooka to ever willingly tell the full truth about anything at all if they are questioned. Doing so takes great, great effort on their part and always comes out as sounding very forced and strange. The lies of a pooka may be blatant and rather easy to see through, so that they can encourage the appropriate interpretation, or far, far more sneaky so that they can just have the enjoyment of seeing people play a "guessing game" where they try to work out what exactly was being said. The lying, however, is not to annoy people as many seem to believe. It is, in fact, a way that the pooka use to make people stop and examine things more closely; getting them to think harder about things and the nature of their current situation. Because of this, a pooka is always delighted when someone figures out their word games and has learned something from it.

However not every single part of a statement pooka have made is always untrue. Sometimes, yes, it is the whole whole statement, but a lot of the time it is only a small part of it that is key to the message which they are trying to convey. Pooka also do not ever make their lies painfully obvious like using double negatives or saying opposites. Even at their most obvious, they are not that obvious. If they are being that obvious...they are most likely lying about some other part of what they said and are trying to mislead you. Pooka lies range from exaggerating certain elements of the statement to redirection of questions, changing the conversation topic to something that may seem tangentially related, or any other number of things.

It also should be mentioned that pooka, when talking normally without questioning, do not always lie. They are usually just deliberately confusing then unless giving important orders. Though why anyone would want a pooka giving those is unknown...most of the time. Remember that what other people, be they human, angel, demon, vampires, or even other fey see as important may seem like a good chance for fun in a pooka's mind.

Appearance and Animal Forms
Each and every pooka in existence has two forms. The first is their human-like form which is what  they tend to blend in with people in cities and towns. The second is their animal form which they use to either interact with other animals (though in their human form, some pooka can communicate with their connected animal's species) or cause mischief amongst the humans. Neither of these forms is their "true" form. Some say that they do not even have a true form as they are inherent shape shifters. Others, including the pooka, say that both forms are their true form.

Appearance wise, pooka always have something about them that gives them away as inhuman and reveals their connection the animal kingdom. Be it a deformity of some sort or just the way they present themselves and keep themselves groomed. Examples would be such things as having claw like nails and a whiskery mustache (cat pooka) to having really rough skin that feels like scales to the touch (lizard pooka). The way they dress is also  somewhat indicative of their animal affinity, like wearing stripes if they are connected with tigers...or bees. Often times their personality is indicative of what kind of creature they are connected to as well. (pig pooka not caring much about hygiene/weight, dog pooka being really loyal, etc.)

As mentioned before pooka can shape-shift. However, they can only shape shift into the animal that they are connected with and nothing else. Also, unlike lycans or other types of shape-shifters, pooka can only do it when no one, And this means no one, is looking at them. It is part of their nature as tricksters to never reveal their full set of tricks, after all. When in their animal forms, they can still speak and understand language even though they really do not like revealing that. When in animal form, much like their human form, there is often something rather off about them that gives them away (this is usually manifested by the creature they change into having luminescent golden eyes that can be seen from several feet away).

Pooka FAQs

 * This all seems really lighthearted. How does a pooka fit into a dark RP setting?

A: Pooka, much like angels, may not seem like they fit into a dark RP setting right away. However, also like angels, they can fit in very well. Just because pooka are in general good natured and cheerful, it does not mean they are without their dark side. An angry or vengeful pooka can easily switch from being a silly prankster to being something similar to the Joker from Batman towards the object of their ire; at their very worst outright torture as part of their games. It should also be noted that pooka are fey, and have very different morals then anything that was ever human. This goes doubly so for pooka at times; for example a spider pooka would see nothing wrong with stringing someone up and sucking their guts out while they are still alive...while they are still making playful jokes.


 * Can pooka use magic?

A: Yes! As they are a type of fey; pooka are very adept at, and naturally have, magic that involves deception, tricks, transmogrification and similar things. Though, some pooka are able to use other kinds of magic similar to a wizard, witch or other kind of spell caster, most are limited to their innate talents. Some have also been known to have the ability to brew magical potions that can cause happiness, increased luck, or other beneficial effects...though those occasionally have the typical pooka mischief as a side-effect.


 * Do pooka eat, drink, and sleep?

Yes! Pooka do all of those things, sleeping especially. A pooka can, much like many animals, hibernate for extended periods of time. They most often do this in "Dream Burrows" that exist in the realm of faerie. As for food, pooka tend to enjoy all kinds of food and their tastes are often linked directly to the type of animal that they are connected with. Horse pooka eat lots of oats, for example. There is one food that all pooka seem to enjoy though, and that is blackberries. For some reason, the pooka as a whole seem to love them. It is the same with drinks.


 * Are pooka insane?

A: Nope! They just operate on an entirely different level of sanity then most things, including other fey. Pooka are very intelligent and mentally stable, they just put all of that into making things as they put it "fun".


 * Are there evil pooka?

Fey do not really have a sense of "good" and "evil", but there are unseelie pooka out there. They are much rarer then seelie pooka however. Unseelie pooka (called beasties) tend to take the trickster nature of pooka in a direction more focused on chaos and discord rather then mischief and fun. They often find people's fear amusing as well.


 * Are there pooka changelings (AKA fey-touched or half-fey)?

Yes, there are. However unlike many changelings, pooka changelings are never forced on the person due to the natural kindness of the pooka. The way pooka get changelings is by convincing people that they should go with the pooka, or allow their child to go with the pooka to the Hollow to become changelings.


 * Q: How powerful are true pooka?

Pooka are physically the weakest of the true fey. They do not have immense magical powers and dangerous spells at the disposal, nor do they have magical weapons that can sever minds. Pooka, in general, tend to avoid violence entirely and just want to go about their games and pooka-plans. However, it is their ability to change form and natural talents toward trickery, deception magic, and other such things that often make considered just as strong as any other fey. Though, as an interesting note..some types of Fey are immune to pooka magical trickery.)

Resources
A great resource site to learn more about pooka in the World of Darkness setting, should you be interested, is:

http://dreamburrow.digitaldreaming.org/index.htm