#maud-lin

ironically this gives minthara plenty of time to sort her feelings out. after orin kidnaps her and then dies gruesomely, minthara has dialogue recognizing herself in orin and what orin is put through. by the time dirge actually opens his mouth about orin, years after the giant brain gets her ass kicked, mintharas had a lot of time to parse things. firstly, by that point shes well settled into her life in baldurs gate. she has a manor home and a retinue of servants much like her life back in menzo, she lives a life of politicking and scheming in comfort with a devoted partner who safeguards her from assassins whom she can trust absolutely, and shes doing what shes good at with someone she loves. its a very secure stable environment for her, and as someone whos demonstrated multiple times over a penchant for self awareness and introspection, the timeframe there really lets her contextualize her experiences with orin and the cult, and orins own actions within the cult of bhaal. while initially deeply hurt and upset by dirges choice to sacrifice himself, time has given clarity to the situation, and she has a better understanding of it as the act of selfless love it was in truth: better to die and let minthara live free than to live and make her a slave to another callous god through him.

which is all to say that, unsurprisingly, minthara achieves a better understanding of dirges reasons than dirge himself, who in typical fashion has been unsuccessfully trying to occupy himself so he doesnt have to spend too much time with the thought. minthara doesnt like orin, and never will, but orin was a pawn of bhaal who devoted everything to him and was unceremoniously discarded. the precariousness of her position, vying for the love of a god who had no intention of giving it to her, produced the only results it could: a desperate, lonely woman who rejected anything that could come between her and her faith, who craved nothing more than the validation that her efforts meant something to the one figure she did everything for. And for this, Orin was stripped of personhood the exact moment she had the slightest inkling of the futility of it all. Orin is a tragedy, one that Minthara has seen again and again, and was only spared that same fate by a long chain of circumstance.

On top of it all, Orin is Dirges sister. The fight to defeat the Absolute unquestionably cost Dirge the most out of everyone. He lost his mind, his body, his personhood was ever under threat of being subsumed twice over (if not the tadpole, then Bhaal), and to best their shared foe Dirge sacrificed his health, his sanity, and then his entire past, and when yet more was asked for he sacrificed his life, permanently, to secure not just a victory but a future, with only the grace of Withers sparing him. With Orin and Gortash dead by his own hand, Dirge has nothing and no one to refer back to for even the barest sliver of help understanding himself. His past is obliterated, his connection to Bhaal severed (who himself deigned only to remind Dirge of his servitude), and there is no one and nothing to give him any hints or guides on understanding himself in the grand context of history. There is no one to tell him the person he used to be, the things he said or did, the way others saw him, how he grew up, amongst whom, where, how he came to be as a grown man and what kind of man he was. Dirge sacrificed those things for a greater cause, and even many years out it gnaws at him still in a way that isnt easily remedied. Orin is a tangible connection to that lost past in a way no one else really is. Its just her

And also, Dirge himself is in the habit of a warlock. He keeps a note of connections, what has to be paid and what is owed. Regardless of intent, Orin freed him from Bhaal, and gave him a second chance at life, a chance he neither asked for nor deserved. Its a gift that gave him the love of his life, freedom, friends, and its one he never paid back, and he rewarded Orin with death. The scales are notably tipped and Minthara is well aware hes uncomfortable with things so ajar.

All this to say, surprisingly, shockingly, shes okay. She understands. Her own feelings on Orin are.... complex, and nuanced, and unpleasant, but Dirge makes a point of saying he doesnt intend to interfere between them. Bhaal stripped Minthara of her chance at catharsis too, and that business is between his sister and her. He wouldnt take that from her a second time. When Dirge does eventually stammer out hes been thinking about Orins fate, Minthara manages to shut him up completely by having a better grasp of things than he does (since its just been a persistent dissatisfaction impossible to shake ever since her death, and looking too closely at the feeling means uh oh! we have to acknowledge we are not in fact #coping! oops.) and reassuring him. Minthara is ever encouraging Dirge to take control of his life and climb ever upwards, and to that end she ALSO wants Dirge to have a fuller context of what his past is and who he is. God if anyone needs a journey of self discovery its this blue loser.

As for the Tadpole Gang. Well. No one LIKES the idea, unleashing an unhinged unrepentant bhaalspawn changeling back on the world. But the thing is. Dirge really REALLY sucked as a bhaalist, and got a second chance. Everyone has an inkling of how shit he was. And he got a do-over, and objectively improved as a person outside the living hell of Bhaals temple. And on that point, he kiiiinda. Ya know. Personally took responsibility for overwhelmingly improving all of their lives. She IS his sister. Notably the only family member he grew up alongside (his three brothers were all much older than him and didnt really interact until his adult years, except for Zherimon who enabled the abuse and is sure as shit not going to confess to that and nobody wants to talk to him anyways). And by the point its being brought up, two OTHER situations got handled by him (Shadowhearts werewolf lineage finally manifesting, and then Dirge helping to cure Karlachs heart condition). So. Like. Does literally anyone have a leg to stand on here? Not really. Ulders alive, Cazadors dead, Shadowhearts living with her parents, Gales settling in as a college professor, Lae'zel is fighting for the prince of the comet free of Vlaakiths lies, and Karlach is rebuilding her life, and all of that is because of one (1) Neutral Evil serial killer deeply deeply invested in their wellbeing to the point of sacrifice

Dirge has LITERALLY never asked for ANYTHING from ANYONE. And it isnt some spur of the moment impulsive wish either. Hes sitting on a lot of good reasons for this. What are they gonna say? Dont repay your life debt to the sister you were forced to murder, and potentially get the only source for your childhood back, because I personally think shes yucky when you are ALSO not a great person, but YOURE fine? No absolutely no one is going to say this. Everyone makes a tight face but is too guilty to say shit to him. Yeah okay man after cleaning up literally my entire life ill help you rez your murderous sister and then we can just. Deal with that. Man.

i was talking to @arach-tinilith on discord and ended up having a LOT of jaheira thoughts on this so those are going in here too. minscs opinion is that like. Orin is evil and deserves justice, esp cuz the temple situation was profoundly unsatisfying for literally everyone. No one got what they wanted out of that. no justice was served, no catharsis was achieved, no revenge enacted. Just pointless, senseless tragedy. Minsc imo would not be down for it but i think could maybe be swayed, since he ALSO believes p strongly in redemption, but moreso by the idea that rezzing Orin would allow her to be confronted. Thats def Boo's angle at least. Jaheira on the other hand is a complication understander. She has a VERY good grasp on who Dirge is as a person, and she knows very well that hes. Well. Shit. But hes a shit person with priorities, and love, and Jaheira can work with that. More than anyone, Jaheira has the best understanding of what "Temple Of Bhaal Cult Leader" ACTUALLY entailed and what that means for who Dirge used to be, and the leaps and bounds hes improved from that. He isnt perfect, but hes better, and Jaheira respects that.

This also means that Jaheira understands that Dirge flat out didnt deserve this second life. That by ALL rights he should've died and been left to rot, and that would be justice, and rightous. But in an act of cosmic irony, or perhaps cruelty, Dirge is the one who got to get back up, instead of any of his victims. Because of Orin, a vast amount of good was done in the world, directly counteracting the obscene evils conducted in that temple, and a great foe was laid to waste. Orins assassination attempt kickstarted the saving of the world. Even if nobody else feels like thats something that needs to be paid back, Dirge does, and Jaheira understands exactly why that is. Shes also very pragmatic. The argument for "deserving" is out the window here. Orin doesnt deserve it, but Dirge didnt either, and we can see the results of it happening anyway. Shes cynical, theres a high chance this will go tits up and blow up in everyones face, but despite herself shes also an idealist. Shes seen the impossible things a bhaalspawn can do, Gorion's Ward dragged Sarevok back to life and sacrificed part of their soul, and in so doing set the foundations for Sarevok to completely turn his life around, even if that progress was destroyed in his fall back to the temple. If Orin IS capable of changing, of living, maybe not good but better, than the only person who would be able to do that for her is Dirge. I think she'd understand his reasons for it, and I don't think she'd try to stop him or begrudge him for it. If he does this, whatever happens is on him, and to an extent on her for allowing him, and I think she's okay with taking responsibility for Dirge. If Orin comes back and her actions force her hand, Jaheira won't restrain herself for Dirge's sake, but Dirge isn't asking that of anyone anyways. Just the chance to try.

So generally, no one likes it, but no one stops him. No one helps him either, but thats fine. This is a personal mission, for his own sake. He's fine doing this solo.

Which leaves the actual rezzing itself and how THAT pans out.

So as a bhaalspawn, Orin's soul upon death is immediately drawn into the Throne of Blood, which shifts locations a LOT between appearances but I personally keep it parked in Gehenna, the plane of Neutral Evil. Partly because that makes sense to me for Bhaal's domain, and also because I'm just emotionally attached to the idea. So Dirge needs to: go to Gehenna, find the Throne of Blood, find Orin in the ToB, NOT get got by Bhaal, convince Orin to return to life (cant rez someone unwilling!), and then Get Out Successfully. EZPZ.

I dont have the nitty gritty worked out because I eventually plan on sitting down with this and fleshing it out but I do have some general plot beats.

Dirge opens a Gehenna Gate through a combination of diabolist portal magic and his own plane touched blood as a guideline, and safely traverses into it. Getting into the Lower Planes isnt as difficult as getting out, and Gehenna specifically is actually Dirge's plane of origin. He was created there and even bereft of his connection to Bhaal, he remains a creature of godly, Aligned flesh. (theres a potential discussion over whether or not its even possible for Dirge to shift alignments, but thats for another time), and this connection forms an easily traversed tether back Home.

The real fun is actually IN Gehenna. The getting to the Throne of Blood im actually iffy on, but i DO know that being in the Source of his divine spark actually gets his Main Character bullshit back up and running. In the intervening time between his resurrection and now, Dirge had more or less been living as an especially durable mortal adventurer, but he isnt. Dirge is a godspawn, a Titan, and Bhaal has kept knowledge of how to utilize his heritage FROM Dirge so that Bhaal could reap the benefits of his spawns power without any threat of insubordination. The reason why makes itself abundantly clear deeper in Gehenna, seperate from Bhaal's usual control issues and paranoia. Being back on home turf means the furnace that makes up Dirges soul (a mechanism of processing Faith and Divine Essence (cannibalized from other Godspawn, usually Bhaalspawn) into power) gets a kick strong enough to start up properly. As a Bhaalist, the faith Dirge received from the acolytes and initiates was funneled directly into Bhaal through him, using Dirge's innate connection. Through this means, Bhaal could safely juice Dirge up as much as necessary through "gifts", and it didnt matter if the congregation was technically engaging in idol worship of Dirge instead of Bhaal; by treating Dirge as functionally an extension of the god himself, and with no way of processing the faith he received into personal power, it just all funnelled back into Bhaal anyways. With Bhaal's connection severed, Dirge's innate divine aspect fires up as it should without interference, and Dirge gets to actually utilize his innate abilities as both a Godspawn and a Titan.

My personal thoughts is that, when Bhaal's essence is used to create a spawn, they inherit a personal aspect of his domain of Murder thats unique and personal to them. Bhaalspawn have souls distinct from Bhaal, are their own individual people, and thus arent recreating Bhaal's domain 1 to 1. These arent as broad and vague as murder, and are usually smaller conceptually-connected aspects. Dirges particular aspect of murder is Blood, and Bloodshed, and the plane of Gehenna jumpstarts that whole machine again. Everyone say yayyy for special snowflake powers yayyyy (with autistic focus on explaining the minutae of them, which is ALSO a different post).

Actually being IN Gehenna, the second order of business is finding the Throne of Blood. Being so FR i have handwaved this shit. Theres a nonzero chance Bane's Fortress is blocking it as a three fold gate into the Kingdom of Death (Banes domain leading into Bhaal's which leads into Myrkul's who tries to catch you before you go to Kelemvor) which potentially means a Gortash reunion but im not decided. Handwaving all this.

The real meat of the matter is the metric fuckton of revelations actually IN the Throne of Blood. There is so. fucking. much. in this place for Dirge.

Firstly: the reason Bhaal didnt let Dirge use his bullshit titan heritage. Gorion's Ward is here! Cuz Dirge got them killed 🫶 Whoops. While I havent gotten to play BG1+2, I HAVE pinned down some core GW traits they have, like being canonically NB and physically taking after Bhaal's human form but having strong personality resemblance to the 4 gore spawned bhaalspawn Bhaal made in Dirge's variation of events (with GW and Dirge having the most overlap). GW is also solidly Chaotic Good but in a very Good Is Not Nice kind of way with an emphasis on Chaos. A true force of nature, whatever GW decided on was just going to happen regardless of whether or not it should be possible. The ToB also likes GW, arguably more than Bhaal, and responds to their will and desires readily, and GW has set up a small sanctuary for themselves and Imoen in the plane. GW was a goddamn menace for Bhaal, and despite being "only" a demigod, easily outstrips all the other spawn in power, and had to be killed through cheating in MiBG. GW shares Dirges strong familial inclinations and is overjoyed to meet him, unaware they had more relatives that didnt die over the course of BG1+2. Theyre also slightly miffed Dirge is taller than them. Little brothers seem to get all the height 🙄 (is 6 fucking 2)

GW quickly puts together SEVERAL things, that being: Dirge was a bhaalist, Dirge got them killed to secure Bhaal's resurrection, Dirge doesn't remember this, and also that something must have happened to Sarevok in the intervening years since they lost contact with each other (not unusual: GW is a druid/monk multiclass and shares Dirges hatred of Baldurs Gate, except GW considers the city their shithole, and no one else is allowed to ruin it; theyre not big on publicity or being contacted and had a habit of ducking out of the limelight and going off grid as often as possible). Logically whatever happened to Sarevok (who was freed from Bhaal's influence by the sacrifice of a part of GW's soul and eventually converted to Chaotic Good) happened before GWs death, as they've been miserably watching the influx of souls into the Throne of Blood ever since to reconnect with family and provide aid. Sarevok hasn't entered, which means whatever happened to him occurred before GWs vigil, which is. Upsetting. This information is a complete shock to Dirge, who has only known Sarevok as the abusive pitiful relic presiding over the tribunal, and the idea that someone as BLATANTLY good as GW having fondness for such a person is. Confusing.

Another major kick is that anyone Dirge slew on Bhaal's altar in dedication to Him circumvented the process of judgement and the condemned soul was fed directly to the Throne of Blood (this is implied by Withers if you sacrifice a companion after not killing Isobel in act 2, and this further implies that this is why Withers intervened to keep Alfiras soul away from The Dark Urge. There was apparently enough time (and leeway) to spirit her away, but the direct sacrifice of a companion to appease Bhaal doesnt really uh. have. that.) which means literally every single person killed by the Urge is here. By this point, most of them have been digested by Gehenna itself (which breaks down souls into grublike beings full of raw soul material (quintessence) which is a valuable resource in the lower planes) but a few have been able to resist the slow insistent grind of the plane. Most notably. Dirges parents :)

As the first kills of the Urge, the two of them were slain p explicitly in Bhaal's name by a child Dirge, and have persisted in the Throne of Blood ever since, maintaining a small recreation of their home (now ruined), in the hopes of eventually seeing their little boy again. They quickly figured out the kind of life that awaited Dirge in the temple, and when that life eventually killed him, they wanted to provide reassurance and love after a long miserable life in the service to a cruel, callous Father.

This is where like. The structure of things breaks down pretty bad and im less certain of the order of things. I know Dirge starts to tap into his divine abilities, I know he meets GW and has an awkward but positive time with his older (cooler) sibling, i know Dirge eventually learns that (in Dirges canon of things) Bhaal wanted to thoroughly ruin and despoil everything GW had achieved and got Sarevok killed so he could claim his soul and force more of his essence into him to overwrite Sarevok's will with his own, splitting his soul and reviving the man as a loyal husk, the current state of Sarevok as found in BG3 (which is its own thing ill expand on in more detail. later), finds his parents in the ToB and experiences All That, and that his parent's home is ALSO where Orin has been this entire time. Orin is unwilling to meet with Bhaal here in the ToB because the circumstances of her death were deeply upsetting and confusing for her. In much the same way Dirge has been avoiding confronting his grief and desire to return Orin's unintentional gift, Orin has been avoiding confronting the reality that her life thus far had been, in the grand scheme of things, utterly devoid of the meaning she had given it. This house was one of the only shelters from the storm, so to speak, and unassuming enough to not draw Bhaal's eye, so shes been hiding from him here.

The confrontation with Orin is closer to actual WRITING writing rather than just a characterization exploration, with an ebb and flow to the argument that conveys Orins turmoil, and thus I actually havent gotten around to ironing it out, but I have my guideposts. Orin doesnt want anything from Dirge, because she doesnt want to rely on him, because she feels like she spends enough time in his shadow already. Ironically, out of everyone Dirge cares about, the one MOST opposed to resurrecting Orin is Orin herself. She doesnt want Dirge to pay her back, she doesnt to be around him, and she doesnt want him to do anything for her, all because at her core she wants those exact things almost more than anything. Her grandfather has betrayed her utterly, Bhaal has never seen her as anything more than a lamb to slaughter, and the only person who has actually seen and cared for her is her brother, who she killed. By accident. Its painful truths on top of painful truths, and Orin doesnt want to confront any of it because that would mean turning her entire understanding of herself upside down and confronting the real feelings from her attack on Dirge that shes been repressing so long she forgot them in favor of the self serving lie she told in its place: that she hated him for his arrogance and presumptousness, that she always planned on ousting him, that she always wanted to kill him. But her brother was her only real friend, and the distance that grew between them when he was named Chosen wounded her deeply, and shes regretted hurting him ever since, and now theres a stranger with his face who wants to help her and its all her fault. Everything about her situation is her own fault, and she cant stand it, and she doesnt want to confront it, so she just routinely lashes out at Dirge instead.

Because this is an argument and not just events, I havent actually figured out the HOW for its resolution, just the pieces for assembling it. Those being that, pointedly "deserves" is off the table so Orin doesnt have to earn the chance Dirge is offering, that Dirge is doing this out of the love he still feels for his sister, that Dirge, BECAUSE of those feelings, wants to know her and know what their childhood was like together, that Orin does genuinely miss her brother and wishes she could go back to the days they spent training together, and that despite everything she says, Orin wants to be wanted. For herself, not for what she can do. Dirge doesnt remember her well enough to have any expectations, just the feelings hes been left with, and he genuinely believes she should have the chance to live free of their Father, and is willing to give her a chunk of his soul to make it happen.

All of that is much more important than the nitty gritty of getting in and getting out and while im sure theres some more character beats to be mined, im more concerned with hitting the major ones first. Whats important is that i DO think that Dirge IS capable of getting through to Orin, ONLY in the wake of her death being caused by Bhaal as a result of Dirge revealing the truth of her parentage. Its a level of consideration not even pre lobotomy Dirge had shown her, knowing the truth but concealing it in an attempt to protect her. In the short amount of interactions theyve had, Dirge HAS been consistent in trying to value Orin's autonomy, and I think that plus the connection and freedom he represents is enough to win her over.

Hand waving they get out and rez Orin. Dirge is a necromancer and literally makes flesh homunculi its fine.

Post Orin rezzing is... fun! Firstly is Minthara, who WANTS to fight Orin for her revenge and catharsis but... cant. Or rather. No longer wants to. In an endlessly frustrating realization, Minthara has introspected and self actualized enough that the vast majority of her rage and anger is pointed above Orin. Yes, she could fight her. She could even kill her. But what would that accomplish? What would it do? She would, what, kill another manipulated desperate woman who was compelled by fruitless faith to acts of horror, when she herself was that same woman? When she killed and tortured, first in Lolth's name, then in the Absolute's? Why did any of it happen? Why was Minthara tortured and traumatized? The same reason anything in her life happened. A God valued her less than dirt and demanded her worth be proven, through usefullness or suffering, and then she was thrown away when she could no longer serve or entertain. Its just the same shit. She hates Orin, but she hates the God that made Orin, the God that made her, more. What would vengeance give her here? It wouldn't matter a single whit to the master behind the screen pulling puppet strings. It be. Gods. It wouldnt even be satisfying. It wouldnt give Minthara anything.

Deeply, overwhelmingly aggravated by this revelation, understood initially only logically but now felt deep in her core, Minthara does not, in fact, confront Orin. Neither does she forgive Orin, but she understands her, and Dirge by extension, just a bit more. Dirge and Orin have a lot to unpack with each other, and much as Minthara loves Dirge, she has no desire to be partial to that conversation. Orin and Dirge don't really achieve closure, per se, and that front is still unsatisfying, but in a way thats more. Final. The brother Orin knew is gone, but the one she still has isn't. Bad. It might even be nice to get to know him, but the point is that its a new relationship. Dirge is... fine with this. That person wasn't him, anyways, but he can still hear about him in the way a family member can reminisce about someone they wish you got to know. Orin doesnt make any grand plans beyond figuring out what to do with her life, and she cannot stand to do it here in Baldur's Gate, surrounded by memories of her past and the people shes lost.

More handwaving but the gist is that Orin leaves Baldurs Gate but remains in sparse contact with Dirge and starts rebuilding her life in a different city, where she eventually falls into the worship of Loviatar, where she excels (and subsequently starts up her habit of mocking her brother for weaker faith again, this time with less consequences on the line), and also notably is NOT causing intervention-necessitating trouble. Its a strained, awkward relationship, because the two siblings have entirely different social circles who are opposed to crossing over, but theres an earnestness there thats still detectable. Extremely important to me to mention, but Orin is SIGNIFICANTLY better at setting up her life than Dirge is, like she is ON THAT SHIT. Despite being sheltered, Orin is much more competent and independent than shes given credit for, and outside the Temple that rly gets a chance to shine. Comparatively Dirge is still majorly floundering and I know in my soul she bullies him for it and then tapers off because its concerning enough to stop being fun.

Faerie Lore And How It Applies To YOU

-Archfey are broadly aligned to two courts. The Seelie Court, ruled by Titania, Queen of Summer, and the Gloaming Court, ruled by the Queen of Air and Darkness. The two are on somewhat friendly terms, and often engage in good sport competition with each other. Fey can choose to align with either of these courts, or strike out as independent. 

-Court Fey enjoy several benefits, such as allies and manpower, but are also beholden to the relationships of power within that court, even ones that do not directly involve them. Independent fae do not have access to these resources, but their allies and their enemies are solely their own. 

-The Seelie Court is associated with the warm half of the year and the season Summer, and on the whole embodies active change, that which changes because you influence it. Culturally, the Seelie Court is known for their decadent and hedonistic lifestyle, valuing passion and excitement above all else, and will take any excuse to party and celebrate to excess. 

-The Gloaming Court is associated with the colder half of the year and the season Winter, and on the whole embodies passive change, that which changes without your influence, such as the passing of seasons or the growth and decay of nature. Culturally, the Gloaming Court is known to be more restrained and melancholic, and while still prone to the decadence inherent to all Fey, they take a particular delight in guilty pleasures, and that hidden behind closed doors. Instead of the unrestrained festivities of the Seelie Court, the Gloaming is known for several annual balls and masquerades.

-Archfey embody certain specific concepts found in existence. While a god may embody “Life” or “Death”, an archfey will embody something like “the feeling of being caught between two somethings, such as the two halves of one’s heritage, or the in-between space between planes”.

-The more powerful an archfey, the broader and more encompassing their domain. A weaker fey may embody something as “this specific tree I reside in”, a weak archfey may embody something like “the feeling of creating something from clay”, but Titania, the Queen of the Seelie Court and an entity of near God-like power, embodies the entire breadth and width of the concept and reality of Summer, the pleasure, the hedonism, the heat, the storms, the leisure, and the tragedy.

-As long as a concept exists in this world, when the Archfey embodying it is slain, they will inevitably be reborn. While there isn’t an Archfey embodying *every* concept, the older a concept is, such as ones found in nature like the seasons, the more likely it is for an Archfey to govern it.

-An Archfey may shift their perspective or the aspects of their embodying concept throughout their life, although being reborn almost always results in a shift in personality and thought. As a result, even fey aligned with the more positive and uplifting Seelie court can be cruel and malicious. An Archfey may embody the concept of “gatherings that bring you joy” but instead shift their focus to “gatherings of evil people that delight in causing suffering”. While the overall concept is the same (they still embody gatherings that bring you joy), the focus is drastically different, and thus so is their behavior.

-The language of Fey, Sylvan, reflects their natural, conceptual origins. To speak Sylvan is to communicate a concept in its breadth of your understanding to another person. In this sense, one cannot say something that they do not believe or does not exist, as the concept for it would also not exist. Thus, lying is impossible in Sylvan, and other means of deception must be employed instead.

-For this reason, Fey became masters of circular logic and twisting words to deceive others. This is also what led to the perception of Fey themselves being unable to lie. This however, is not true. A fae is perfectly capable of lying in any other language, and some will even take advantage of that perception.

-Titania travels in a travelling procession, her court a constantly moving caravan, as she brings the entirety of her retainers, attendants, advisors, knights, cooks, musicians, and a retinue of followers who are free to travel alongside or leave as they desire. While she does visit some locations with regularity, Titania mostly travels the breadth of the continent as she whims, making locating her a matter of luck rather than skill. Despite the massive procession of traveling carts, Titania’s presence invigorates and replenishes the surrounding nature, and the damage wrought by the many wheels and hooves is healed in moments after they’re gone. 

-By contrast, the Queen of Air and Darkness resides in a castle set far into the frozen north, hidden deep within the mountainous taiga. She communicates exclusively through an artifact known as the Black Diamond, and her name and appearance are unknown to all.

-Archfey are powerful enough to have their own demiplane, nestled within the Feywilds. These are known colloquially as Wonderlands, though some may have their own names. These spaces are made by the sheer power held by the Archfey and are entirely at their whim. The architecture, the wildlife, the local flora, everything within exists at the behest of the Archfey. Some Wonderlands have existed for so long that, suffused with power as they are, they begin to produce their own Fey native within.

-Fey have an inherent appreciation and adoration of beauty, but the manner they define it is different from mortal perceptions. Being entities of nature and concept as they are, to a fae, what is “beautiful” is less determined by physical appearance (which is transient and varied, and thus entirely secondary to beauty) and more by the expression of one’s true self, and the natural changes one goes through during their life, both physically and emotionally. 

-One who acts according to one’s nature is “good” and “beautiful”, while those who strain against it and fight it, to be someone they are not, have their beauty diminished. Those who work to corrupt and twist people away from their true natures are “evil” and “ugly”. Hags are considered hideous to Fey because of their love of corruption, and twisting those with strong convictions and beliefs. The Hag’s repugnant physical appearance isn’t even considered a factor to other Fey. 

-In that sense, beauty to a fey is not limited by personal alignment. An Evil Aligned person can be considered beautiful to a fae, as long as they don’t restrain their true natures. However, if that person also seeks to corrupt and twist the natures and selves of other people, a fae may find them hideous. 

-Manipulation and taking advantage of others' natures is not considered ugly, as it is the natural way of things, generally. All living things manipulate each other for their own and others benefits, and the action is considered neutral. 

-Beauty is also in change. Fey are born with a connection to Chaos, and as such are aligned with Chaotic ideologies, and above all value change and freedom. As such, one's nature is expected to change, and their beauty along with it. Stagnation, especially forced stagnation, is considered hideous, be it in nature or in one’s self. By denying the truth of yourself, by ignoring it, or fighting it, you corrupt that which makes the world beautiful.

-By nature, fey are also tricksters and bargain makers. While their keen senses are honed towards the art of debate and verbal battle, a fey can be tricked or manipulated by the promise of bargains or deals. This aspect is one of their greatest strengths, and most vulnerable weaknesses. One does not defeat a fae by a battle of swords, but through a battle of wits, and as such even a child is capable of besting them, yet even mighty warlords may be laid low.

-One of the more extraordinary senses of the Fey is their ability to sense one’s true self, and how in line the person currently is with it. This is best embodied by the Sprite’s heart sense, as they have taken this perception and refined it to the point of being able to glean mood, and even alignment. For others, it is akin to a tingling sense that the person they’re engaging with is restraining or battling themselves in some way. They appear “off” or “sideways”. 

-Fey often speak in metaphor, used to the lilting concept of Sylvan as they are, and phrase things strangely, though those with frequent interactions with mortals may adjust their vernacular to something more appropriate or understandable.  

-Fey have a keen awareness of the dynamics of power between themselves and the person they’re engaging with, and use this sense to guide conversation and action accordingly, although their perceptions of power differ from typical mortal understandings. Power is determined by who is doing what, at whom’s behest. When you ask someone to do something for you, you are giving them a modicum of power over you, as you now rely on them. As such, servantry positions are highly respected, and disrespect towards the servants or the work they do is seen as incredibly rude, disrespecting not only the servant but the host they work for.

-A Fae with a great deal of political power may boast by having a large retinue of servants, indicating that they feel free to give so much power away to show that it does not threaten them. On the other hand, a lack of servants may indicate paranoia. As servantry is a highly respected position that comes with an amount of power from the host, servant positions for the most powerful Archfey are often declined, due to the sheer amount of pressure and responsibility foisted upon them. Taking power from Titania is incredibly stressful, as you now have a responsibility to use that power appropriately, befitting the Queen of Summer. Very few will seek that position out, and Titania usually has to request servants personally.

-It is because of this that manners are so intricate, and that violating them has such severe consequences. Partaking of a meal offered to you without negotiating a means of repayment means that you have taken power that was not yours, and that now a debt is owed, in addition to the disrespect paid, which exacerbates the punishment. You have disrespected the servantry, both the cooks and the servers, by eating before permission was given, thus disrespecting the work it took to create the food and serve it to you. You have disrespected the host, by disrespecting their servants, and by ignoring courtesy by taking what was not yet yours, that you had no right to, and further by declining to engage in good faith negotiation that would treat your host as an equal, instead simply taking it and by doing so indicating that you believe your host beneath you. And finally, you have created a debt with no set terms, by not negotiating repayment beforehand, even simply in good hospitality, that the host is now free to determine as they please. Hence such a drastic punishment, such as no longer being capable of leaving, being cursed to no longer gain sustenance from non faerie foods, falling into an eternal slumber, or being transformed into a pig for their gluttony. While it is commonly believed that the food of faerie possesses such extraordinary tastes as to render other food inedible, in truth it is simply the curse of impoliteness that binds one. 

-Because the Fey have such a strong focus on being true to oneself, this also translates into an ambition that reaches only as far as it feels right. Overstepping one’s bounds, reaching too far, or selling oneself short are all anathema to true fey. While a fiend may have unbridled ambition, seeking the position that is on top, a fae instead seeks for the position that's right. Not too high, not too low, a position that both caters to one's natural talents, but also provides just the right amount of challenge, providing plenty of opportunity to grow and change, but not so much that it is an impossible standard to meet.

-All of these contribute to an overwhelming amount of Fey pact warlocks. Archfey have an inborn inclination to bargain and deal, and for a patron, the sheer amount of power wielded feels like a kettle about to overflow. There is a strong drive to seek out those with the inclination to make a pact, or simply those with a particularly eye catching appeal to them. Warlocks are born, not made, after all. As such, Archfey will often bring non fey into the circle of Sylvan politics, sometimes just as trophies to show that they can divide their power amongst so many and remain undaunted. Other times, it is because the Archfey seeks agents to help enact its schemes and to carry its will beyond its Wonderland into the Material. None of this necessarily means that the warlock is informed of its newfound position in the sprawling hierarchy of faerie power dynamics, which often leads to an early death.