A few weeks ago, there was a lovely thread asking how common Faith Points are, and a spinoff asking how common are Angels. I think it led to some fun discussion, so now I'm curious about the shadow of angels - how common are Faeries in Mythic Europe?
As creatures inhabiting mortal dreams and fantasies, are they always everywhere, below every blade of grass and behind every lintel, simply exhibiting the patience of immortals waiting for an opportunity to enter from the wings, or are they relatively few in number, having to pick their moments to step in very strategically to avoid burning through the dwindling vitality available to them? Can every peasant expect to meet a faerie at some point in their lives even if they don't realize it, or is that something that only happens once in a generation per village?
This is a place where some of the Rules as Written and the desired fantasy, living in a mishmash of real history and folklore, come into conflict of course - the magical cannot affect history or the setting falls apart, yet one would assume that any Marcher Lord worth his salt (and without very religious courtiers) would be actively seeking out Satyr shock troops or an ogre to throw at his enemies, even if it requires subterfuge to keep the sprite's story in tact.
Everybody, they are all faeries. Angels, Demons, even the mundane people you meet are in reality all faeries. The magic only works the way it does because those are the rules the faeries agreed upon. Everyone not in the PC group are all faeries living inside the SG's head who feed on your creativity...
I believe they are common enough to be at the bottom of your garden. At the rarest, they are common enough that someone will tell a story of someone meeting one in their grandfather's time.
Faeries are common enough that there are only two kinds of travelers. Those who bring wards to avoid faeries and usually don't see any, and those who are looking for faeries and usually find some.
While 'as common as the SG wants' is the true and good answer, here's my thoughts when I'm running things:
Anyone travelling has a 15-20% chance of running into a faerie, but only about half that of noticing. A more rural town will probably have 1-2 faerie-tied traditions or rituals it performs every year, and then 1-2 random run ins with nearby faeries every year. Smaller villages probably half that chance, but no less powerful, maybe more so. Any community with magical shenanigans going on probably has double that, as would any character with a Story flaw (ie, not grog).
They're all over the place in my campaign. The covenant has a pact with one group and a contested vis source with another, a reoccuring plot every 21 years with a third.
I see it similar to the other realms in the sense where they are everywhere but invisible to the untrained eyes. They say that an angel has eyes on every soul and for every soul, a demon wanting to corrupt it. Fey want to be part of the daily life of people and be recognized with small simple gestures. Leaving a bit of milk on the window's seat, changing the phrasing to please them, do a bunch of folk traditions.
I think faeries are stupidly common- they actively seek out humans, they regularly spawn due to local folklore (which pretty much every settlement has) and often dwell in or near pagan ruins (which aren't that rare).
I do think dominion scares many of them off, but outside of that and infernal auras I wouldn't be too surprised if one practically has faeries living next door.
Ofc there's the regional differences. It's much easier to find or encounter faeries in ireland than it is in normandy.
(Yes, of couse: "as common as the story demands" - but ignoring that one....) I would say "as common as medieval peasants thought they were." So, common enough that every village probably has one or two running around, although they aren't often seen.
Some folks have a knack for running into them, whereas others can go years without even suspecting that they're around. But again: likely rarely seen, unless they want to be seen.
Iirc most faerie types are very common by medieval thought.
Irish people thought every mount had a sidhe, and there were a lot of mounds that were easy to reach. Likewise, muslims thought groups of jinn prayed at their masjids regularly.
One way to look at this is the level of faith of the characters, the higher there closeness to God, the less Faerie involvement. On a generalization, the higher the social status, the increased piety would be a turn off for the Fae. But the people closer to the land, with more pagan roots would find faerie encounters or fear of them would be very much on their mind. This in turn enforces the local faeries story..etc etc..
This is the kind of thing to discuss at the start:of the saga amd that is influenced by PC choices.
Imagine dials for the supernatural in general and for the four realms specifically. Each saga will have its own setting. I know that I turn the supernatural dial lower than most. In my previous game the players were vibong well with the faeries and one PC had faerie blood, so the Faerie dial was the highest of the supernatural realms. The party went to yearly faerie courts for their audience with the ice queen.
In my current game, there are two minor and one major infernal related flaw for 3 mages. So guess what, the infernal dial got cranked up, at the expense of the faerie one. They attended 2 faerie courts but deal with demons a lot more often than the previous troupe.
Oh, what a classic blast on Ars Magica! The topic of expanding the enchanting essences of Mythical Europe will always give rise to a lot of debates, because here the rules of the game (RAW) interfere with our imagination and folklore.
As for me, it’s true here in the middle, but it turns out that fairies are everywhere, it’s just that for most of the time the stench is “dry” or inactive. You can live for the sake of history and human reality: while the villagers are relying on the house-elfs for biscuits, beckoning from the fox and beads on the paths - the fairies feel miraculous and sit under the skin leaf, watching for their exit It doesn’t mean that the stench is now vlashtovoyut bali chi throw themselves at their feet. Most of the stench is similar to fog - you don’t notice it until you go to the bottom, but it’s there.
