Shadow Fey

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The Shadow Fey (or Arak, as they call themselves) are a species of darkness-loving, shadow-touched Fey native to the Demiplane of Dread, where they inhabit the dark faerieland domain known as the Shadow Rift. Originally slaves to a terrible demon-god from the Plane of Shadow known as Gwydion, a great hero of their people managed to lead them to freedom by finding a passage out of that dark realm and into the Demiplane of Dread. Which is the first time in history when getting stuck in Ravenloft was an actual improvement for anyone's lot in life.

Shadow Fey are detailed in the AD&D sourcebook "The Shadow Rift" and in the 3.5 sourcebook "Van Richten's Guide to the Shadow Fey".

A Diffuse Race

As with the normal Fey, the Arak come in many different shapes and sizes, each with its own particular focus and its own role to play in the greater Arak society. But, at the same time, the Arak are still one race at core; not only do they readily interbreed, but infant shadow fey resemble no specific species - they transform into a distinctive breed when they reach maturity, and may not take the same breed of either of their parents. The "Nine Breeds" listed here are simply the most common manifestations of Arak adulthood, and there are literally countless others; Van Richten's Guide to the Shadow Fey even contains specific rules for creating new kinds of Arak.

Alven

Commonly known as "Carrot Tops" or "Fire Flits", alven are the closest thing amongst the arak to the standard Fairy, appearing as ten to fourteen inch-tall butterfly-winged elves with green skin and bright orange hair. These "shadow pixies" are the Arak's gardeners and horticulturalists; they love plants of all kinds, but especially favor flowering plants, and tend to the gardens and groves of the Shadow Rift. When they deign to visit the rest of the Demiplane of Dread, they gravitate towards gardens and fields of wildflowers, particularly night-blooming varities. They can even shapeshift into the forms of insects to better blend into their surroundings; butterflies and bees in AD&D, but also wasps, dragonflies and moths in 3rd edition.

It goes without saying, but alven are fiercely protective of their gardens; picking the flowers or damaging the plants will incite their wrath, and they are surprisingly fierce fighters; by flitting about in mid-air, alven can generate magical effects through their "dance", which requires the victim to make two saves and causes them to be enthralled if they fail the first, or blinded & deafened if they fail the second, and also possess a number of druidic spells (cast spells of the Plant Sphere as if 5th level Clerics in AD&D, spell-like abilities of Barkskin 3/day, Disguise Self 3/day, Entangle 3/day, Hallucinatory Terrain 3/day, Plant Growth 1/day with a caster level of 5 in 3e). They're also immune to attacks with stone weaponry and to electricity, and they can see through invisibility in both editions, although it requires a Survival check for them to do so in 3e. To get on one's good side, try complimenting its garden or present it with gifts of seeds or living plants.

Alven have a mystical ability to communicate with plants, which makes it impossible for them to lose their way in their preferred surroundings (basically, they can Find The Path at will when amongst living vegetation). This may be why they regard cut flowers as an obscenity; presenting an alven with a picked flower will guarantee that it attacks you.

When an alven makes a Changeling, they invariably choose somebody who will be useful to them as a gardener, although sometimes that is just in the role of brute laborer doing things that the alven is too small and weak to do.

Brag

Small but strongly muscled, with a work-hard, play hard attitude towards life, the Brag are effectively the Arak equivalent to the Dwarf. Keenly interested in the fields of craft, especially architecture and other feats of engineering, as well as related fields like stonework and carpentry, the brag serve the denizens of the Shadow Rift as its builders and laborers. Every fey palace or manor was ultimately built by the efforts of one or more brags. When they deign to rest, they spend their time drinking like there's no tomorrow and telling amusing tales.

A brag stands between thirty and thirty-six inches in height, and physically resembles a human with equine ears - a hint at their ability to assume the form of horses, ponies and mules. Except for its hair, eyes and fingernails, which are solid black, a brag is completely pale white, something they emphasize by dressing in contrasting shades of black and white, with the occasional bit of gray for highlighting. This serves as the source of their most common nickname; "Whitemen" (or "Whitewomen" for the females). A brag in equine form can be distinguished by its jet black hooves and mane contrasting its pale white coat.

Brags are not a particularly mischievous breed, but have been known to bedevil mortals by attempting to pilfer work supplies and tools; a brag's pride compels it to finish any masonry or carpentry task it begins, no matter what it must do. Other times, they sneak onto the sites of construction work; depending on how impressed the brag is, it often either lends a helping hand (if it finds the work respectable) or else sabotages the worksite in disgust at the original worker's ineptitude. Cairns often mark the boundaries of a brag’s property, although low stone fences are not uncommon. All brag stonework is unmortared. The best way to befriend a brag is to show it an architectural secret it did not know before – for example, how a flying buttress works. They reward their friends with very potent brag ale.

Earning their respect, though, is not without its risks; like all Arak, in their own twisted minds, the greatest demonstration of that respect is to offer a mortal the "gift" of immortality as a changeling. Bragkin spend the rest of eternity assisting brag in their labors.

If motivated to join battle, brags are quite dangerous. Surprisingly nimble, which gives them an uncanny ability to dodge attacks, they also hit like an angry bear - worse, anyone struck by a brag can be temporarily driven mad, overwhelmed by an unshakable delusion that they are, in fact, a horse. Fortunately, this wears off after 24 hours. Brags can also induce sleep in anyone who meets their gaze. They cannot be harmed by weapons made of wood, and are likewise immune to temperature-based attacks - ice and cold in AD&D, fire in 3e. However, they do have one key weakness: perhaps because of their symbolic tie to horses and mules, weapons made of leather can pierce their supernatural resilience, meaning one can quite literally flog them to death with a horse whip.

Fir

Firs are unique amongst the Arak in that their depiction changes markedly between editions. The basic premise of their nature as the Arak's artificers, fascinated by precision engineering, mechanics, clockwork and related fields of study, remains the same, but the implementation very much differs.

In AD&D, firs resemble pale sprites whose fingers are extremely long and thin, tapering to needle-like points, and who have the ability to transform into hedgehogs. They have a manic-depressive sort of mentality, resulting in them switching between two different phases of mentality; an intent working phase when they labor nonstop and a ruminating stage when they meditate on their next project. Unusually, their diet is influenced by their alternate form; though they tend to skip meals except grabbing a bite of whatever's on offer when in their working phase, in meditative mode. they prefer slugs above all else but will also eat grubs, worms, bugs, and other such small fry. Inoffensive by nature, firs rely on traps, clockwork-based Animated Objects or even small golems to defend themselves and their lair, and will usually flee whilst their guardians defend them. If absolutely forced to fight, firs can induce confusion with their mind-bending rambling diatribe about theories, designs, engineering principles and so forth, as well as the ability to charm people who meet their gaze. Immune to attacks from stone weapons and to the cold, a final weapon in the fir's arsenal is their ability to cast spells of the creation and guardian spheres as 5th-level clerics.

So, how did 3e change this? Well, a lot of the core details remain, such as their resilience and their ability to cause confusion. However, 3e firs now come in two varieties, based on courtly allegiance. Firs of the Seelie Court, commonly called Tolly-Knocks, resemble pale-skinned, long-haired human babies with long, thick, pointed claws instead of fingernails. Firs of the Unseelie Court, commonly called Gremlins, also resemble claw-fingered human babies, but much uglier, and completely hairless. Both retain their original AD&D version's fascination with engineering, but the purposes they put it to differ; tolly-knocks prefer clockwork devices of all sorts, whilst gremlins like making traps, weapons and explosives. This manifests especially in their combat tactics; tolly-knocks tend to lead armies of animated toys in their defense, whilst gremlins are more likely to rely on cruel traps and explosive "surprises". Both versions can change into the shape of rodents, with tolly-knocks preferring mice and hedgehogs, and gremlins favoring rats. Tolly-knocks can charm person with their gaze, whilst gremlins instead cause fear.

One special trait given to the 3e fir is that, whilst they function as 4th level sorcerers in terms of spell-casting abilities, these spells serve as simple "base mechanic" to cover their various contraptions and toys; any "spell" a fir casts actually originates from one of its magical devices, and thus all fir spells require material components. As this sourcebook couldn't reference Ebberon, it would be perfectly kosher to instead replace both their spell-like abilities and their Favored Class with Artificer.

Fir are attracted to human craftsmen and mechanical artisans - clock-makers, gunsmiths, locksmiths, trap-makers and engineers, whose talents they may seek to preserve as changelings or who they just may want to compare ideas with. They do compete with brags over the engineers.

Muryan

Muryans are the warrior-caste of the Nine Breeds of Arak, bloodthirsty berserkers who eagerly seek to pit their mettle against each other or against anyone who looks like they might be a challenge. Muryan resemble pale-skinned, long-eared elves, with hair that spans the spectrum of autumn colors and eyes ranging from piercing blue to dark brown. Never seen without their trusty scimitars, muryans always dress in flowing clothing that doesn't restrict their movements, such as cloaks, kilts and loose tunics. Like all arak, they can shapeshift into animal form, specifically that of mustelids; weasels, martins, ferrets, badgers and wolverines.

Having the standard lack of fear for death that characterizes the shadow fey, muryans will pick fights at any opportunity, casually whistling or humming as they do battle. Of course, the deck is rather stacked in their favor; these arak exude a mystical aura that can slow and then deafen foes, whilst another power of theirs allows them to try and compel anyone whose blood they have drawn with a weapon to begin dancing uncontrollably, which naturally interferes in their abilities to fight back... especially because they must make a second save in the next round or be struck blind as well! Muryans take a macabre delight in "matching" their partner's dancing motions as they fight, and even when doesn't happen, rely on agility and quick motions to protect them instead of armor; this is the source of their common nickname of "Dancing Men". Wooden weapons have no effect on these creatures, and neither do electrical attacks. Only mithral can easily cut through their hides.

To do battle with one of these fey whirling dervishes is highly risky; if you fall, the best you can hope for is to be killed, but if you impress the Muryan, they may offer to spare your life... if you agree to become their changeling. Those who become muryankin become the arak's soldiers, and spend their eternities fighting bloody mock-battles for the amusement of the arak.

Portune

Dedicated healers.

Powrie

Spiteful little pixie-redcap hybrids.

Shee

The most classically elf-like breed.

Sith

Macabre neo-elven necromancers.

Teg

Feral and savage predators.

The Lesser Breeds

Whilst the nine breeds listed above the most common and prominent forms that an Arak can take, other species do exist. However, only two varities of them have ever been officially statted.

Waffs, or "Shadow Dryads", appear in the Shadow Fey VRG sourcebook. These ephemeral, malevolent shadow fey are essentially sapient clouds of vampiric mist, hiding from danger within a host-tree and pouring forth to drain the life from whatever catches their eyes.

Gwytune appear in the Ravenloft Gazetteer V. Extremely rare, these court-neutral Arak care only about studying and mastering arcane magic, making them a breed of wizards amongst a race that normally is happy to be sorcerers. They appear as wizened and spindly elf-like beings with long, dexterous fingers, faintly lilac-tinged skin, auburn hair, golden goat-like eyes, and curling ram's horns. Able to shapeshift into the form of sheep and goats, gwytune are physically inoffensive, but powerful casters, and like certain other breeds of Arak, have a special connection with fate that makes them much harder to hurt than you'd expect.

The Courts

The Arak divide themselves into two Courts, each headed by one of the children of their slain hero-king, who helped free them by tricking Gwydion and then sacrificed himself to hold the line against the umbral demon-god's pursuit.

The Seelie Court

Sworn to Maeve, mostly containing shee, portune, alven and fir.

The Unseelie Court

Sworn to Loht, predominantly sith, muryan, powrie and teg.

Relationships with Mortals

In typical Gothic fairytale fashion, the Arak don't exactly see mortals in a very positive light. The most typical way to describe it is that the Arak view mortals as fascinating, wonderful toys; the Seelie are those shadow fey who play nicely with their toys, whilst the Unseelie are those who enjoy breaking them.

The Arak can magically separate victims from their souls by stealing their shadows, a ritual they can use to turn the stolen soul into a magical drone they call a Changeling.