Post by Lorekeeper on Feb 27, 2007 12:36:50 GMT -8
Mortal legends abound with stories of nymphs and green men, Fair Folk who protected the glens and wild places. While all changelings savor the magic of the wilderness and seek to preserve it, there are few who can match the Ghille Dhu for their ferocity in maintaining the ways of the wild. Although the circumstances of the modem world have made these Fae scarcer as time goes by, that has strengthened the resolve of those who stay bound to the earth still. Even the dedication of the trolls is put to the test when compared to the passion with which these strange and beautiful Fae devote themselves to their chosen lands. Though once they held accords with the trolls, Sidhe, Pooka and even some prodigal Werecreatures to maintain the wild, nearly all of those old pacts now stand forgotten, and many of the Western kith aren't even aware of this kith's existence. This has forged a powerful "us-against-them" attitude in the Ghille Dhu remaining, and makes many of them suspicious toward their Fae cousins. Only the Pooka and the Selkies, due to their natural affinity and shared disdain for kithain politics, are granted exemption from this distrust.
After the Sundering, their seasonal cycle of life and death began to slowly falter some Ghille Dhu began to live as babes until winter, others were often born out of the grave as mature adults. Many of the Ghille Dhu went mad. Some sought out the final death of iron, convinced of their own corruption. With the Shattering, the desperate followed the example of many other commoners and took on the mortal coils, in a vain attempt to save themselves and re-connect with nature.
Few Ghille Dhu have survived; many are hopelessly insane and have forgotten their lesson of life, death and rebirth. Ghille Dhu pay a much heavier price for incurring Banality than do other Fae. Each descent into Banality sends one into a new, older seeming. They have very short lifetimes, harkening back to their pre-Sundering existence.
Ghille Dhu avoid any profession that takes them to cities for long periods of time, and have a deathly fear of Banality; the rapid aging of their faerie selves makes them fear chimerical death more than almost anything else. Even in the wild, members of the kith tend to avoid professions dealing with large numbers of people, and as such are commonly found as park rangers, naturalists and environmental activists. In their Fae forms, Ghille Dhu have green skin, which goes from bright to medium to greenish brown as they advance in seemings. Ghille Dhu is often adorned with plants: flowers as Childlings, vines and grasses as Wilders, and leaves and mosses as Grumps. In their human forms, these Kithain make cute children, stunning teenagers and wizened elders, but they always wear something indicating their bond to nature.
Birthrights:
Note: Ghille Dhu have different birthrights for each season of their life until their death in winter, except for Nature's Bounty, which they have in all seemings. Thus, Childling (or Spring) Ghille Dhu receive Spin the Wheel, Wilders (Summer) get Rose and Oak, and Grumps (Autumn) get Wisdom of the Ages. These birthrights are not cumulative, as each season's birthright replaces the one before it.
Nature's Bounty: Ghille Dhu may harvest Glamour from beautiful natural scenes. Consider this process a form of Reverie, only it allows the Ghille Dhu to take the Dreamers Background as a favorite park or vista instead of a person. The time taken to gain Glamour is the same as usual, the Ghille Dhu must be relatively undisturbed and the scene pristine. A natural site may be ravaged, by accident or design, rendering it useless for the purposes of a ghille dhu.
Turn of Seasons:
Spin the Wheel: Childling Ghille Dhu can retest any challenge, no matter what it may be and without cost, once per game session.
Rose and Oak: Wilder Ghille Dhu receive free Gorgeous and Wiry Physical traits, reflecting the splendor of their summer forms.
Wisdom of the Ages: A Grump Ghille Dhu can use her deep connection with the Dreaming and its cycles to get the answer to a single question. She must meditate in a natural setting for one hour, during which time she cannot communicate with anyone, and spend a Willpower and Glamour trait. She may then ask a single question of the Storyteller, and make a simple test. If she wins, the answer the Storyteller provides will be mostly straightforward; if she ties, a more cryptic answer may be provided. If she loses, the question may not be asked again for at least a month. She may retest, but only at cost of another Glamour and Willpower trait per retest. This birthright is meant to be used once per lunar cycle, can fail or even backfire with false information on the Ghille Dhu if used for trivial purposes. Those who use it too often may find themselves gone into the wilds for good one night...
Frailties:
The Kiss of Winter: Before the Sundering, this kith lived one-year life spans before being reborn the next year, and Ghille Dhu still tend to live short lives even now. This Frailty is one reason. Any Ghille Dhu who is chimerically slain (reduced below incapacitated chimerically) automatically ages to her next seeming. Additionally, if a Ghille Dhu acquires a permanent trait of Banality, she must make a static challenge using her permanent glamour against a difficulty of her permanent Banality or suffer a similar fate. If a Ghille Dhu grump is forced to age another seeming, her faerie self dies, leaving only the mortal shell. She may be reborn, however, although there is no hope for a return in this mortal life. Note that this "aging" applies only to the faerie mien, not the mortal seeming.
Outlook:
Boggans - Wiser than the others take them for, but too concerned with things.
Eshu - Wise, but unfocused.
Nockers - Simple, if loud. They suffer from the same malady as the Boggans.
Pooka - Our spring embodied.
Red Caps - The beast is part of life too.
Satyrs - Too concerned with the spring and summer of life.
Selkies - Imps of the Sea, they have a bond with nature that we cannot remember.
Sidhe - The best often fall far.
Sluagh - In the darkenss of their holes, do their secrets fulfill them?
Trolls - They are what the Sidhe have forgotten.
After the Sundering, their seasonal cycle of life and death began to slowly falter some Ghille Dhu began to live as babes until winter, others were often born out of the grave as mature adults. Many of the Ghille Dhu went mad. Some sought out the final death of iron, convinced of their own corruption. With the Shattering, the desperate followed the example of many other commoners and took on the mortal coils, in a vain attempt to save themselves and re-connect with nature.
Few Ghille Dhu have survived; many are hopelessly insane and have forgotten their lesson of life, death and rebirth. Ghille Dhu pay a much heavier price for incurring Banality than do other Fae. Each descent into Banality sends one into a new, older seeming. They have very short lifetimes, harkening back to their pre-Sundering existence.
Ghille Dhu avoid any profession that takes them to cities for long periods of time, and have a deathly fear of Banality; the rapid aging of their faerie selves makes them fear chimerical death more than almost anything else. Even in the wild, members of the kith tend to avoid professions dealing with large numbers of people, and as such are commonly found as park rangers, naturalists and environmental activists. In their Fae forms, Ghille Dhu have green skin, which goes from bright to medium to greenish brown as they advance in seemings. Ghille Dhu is often adorned with plants: flowers as Childlings, vines and grasses as Wilders, and leaves and mosses as Grumps. In their human forms, these Kithain make cute children, stunning teenagers and wizened elders, but they always wear something indicating their bond to nature.
Birthrights:
Note: Ghille Dhu have different birthrights for each season of their life until their death in winter, except for Nature's Bounty, which they have in all seemings. Thus, Childling (or Spring) Ghille Dhu receive Spin the Wheel, Wilders (Summer) get Rose and Oak, and Grumps (Autumn) get Wisdom of the Ages. These birthrights are not cumulative, as each season's birthright replaces the one before it.
Nature's Bounty: Ghille Dhu may harvest Glamour from beautiful natural scenes. Consider this process a form of Reverie, only it allows the Ghille Dhu to take the Dreamers Background as a favorite park or vista instead of a person. The time taken to gain Glamour is the same as usual, the Ghille Dhu must be relatively undisturbed and the scene pristine. A natural site may be ravaged, by accident or design, rendering it useless for the purposes of a ghille dhu.
Turn of Seasons:
Spin the Wheel: Childling Ghille Dhu can retest any challenge, no matter what it may be and without cost, once per game session.
Rose and Oak: Wilder Ghille Dhu receive free Gorgeous and Wiry Physical traits, reflecting the splendor of their summer forms.
Wisdom of the Ages: A Grump Ghille Dhu can use her deep connection with the Dreaming and its cycles to get the answer to a single question. She must meditate in a natural setting for one hour, during which time she cannot communicate with anyone, and spend a Willpower and Glamour trait. She may then ask a single question of the Storyteller, and make a simple test. If she wins, the answer the Storyteller provides will be mostly straightforward; if she ties, a more cryptic answer may be provided. If she loses, the question may not be asked again for at least a month. She may retest, but only at cost of another Glamour and Willpower trait per retest. This birthright is meant to be used once per lunar cycle, can fail or even backfire with false information on the Ghille Dhu if used for trivial purposes. Those who use it too often may find themselves gone into the wilds for good one night...
Frailties:
The Kiss of Winter: Before the Sundering, this kith lived one-year life spans before being reborn the next year, and Ghille Dhu still tend to live short lives even now. This Frailty is one reason. Any Ghille Dhu who is chimerically slain (reduced below incapacitated chimerically) automatically ages to her next seeming. Additionally, if a Ghille Dhu acquires a permanent trait of Banality, she must make a static challenge using her permanent glamour against a difficulty of her permanent Banality or suffer a similar fate. If a Ghille Dhu grump is forced to age another seeming, her faerie self dies, leaving only the mortal shell. She may be reborn, however, although there is no hope for a return in this mortal life. Note that this "aging" applies only to the faerie mien, not the mortal seeming.
Outlook:
Boggans - Wiser than the others take them for, but too concerned with things.
Eshu - Wise, but unfocused.
Nockers - Simple, if loud. They suffer from the same malady as the Boggans.
Pooka - Our spring embodied.
Red Caps - The beast is part of life too.
Satyrs - Too concerned with the spring and summer of life.
Selkies - Imps of the Sea, they have a bond with nature that we cannot remember.
Sidhe - The best often fall far.
Sluagh - In the darkenss of their holes, do their secrets fulfill them?
Trolls - They are what the Sidhe have forgotten.