TEXT: TM
  TM
  
  To use this companion, a Dungeon Master also needs the Player’s Handbook,™ and the DUNGEON MASTER’S Guide.™ 
  A player needs only the Player’s Handbook.™ 
  The Player’s Handbook™ and the DUNGEON MASTER’S Guide™ published by Wizards of the Coast, Inc. a subsidiary of Hasbro, Inc.
  Swashbuckling Adventures and Swashbuckling Arcana are ™ and © 2003 by Alderac Entertainment Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
  ISBN 1-594720-07-X
  Visit our website at www.7thsea.com
  TM
  Writing:
  NANCY BERMAN
  KEVIN P. BOERWINKLE
  LOREN DEAN
  DANA DEVRIES
  NOAH DUDLEY
  CHARLES LADESICH
  PATRICK PARRISH
  ANDREW PEREGRINE
  ROB WIELAND
  Editing:
  JENNIFER BAUGHMAN
  NANCY BERMAN
  KATIE YATES
  Creative Director: 
  MARK JELFO
  Art Director: 
  JIM PINTO
  Graphic Designer:
  JUSTIN LAWLER
  Cover Artist:
  BEET
  Cover Designer:
  STEVE HOUGH
  DAVE AGOSTON
  Interior Artists: 
  JONATHAN HUNT
  THOMAS MANNING
  Typesetter: 
  JUSTIN LAWLER
  Brand Manager: 
  NANCY BERMAN
  Brand Managers Emeritus: 
  ROB VAUX
  ERIK YAPLE
  Chief Executive Officer: 
  JOHN ZINSER
  Chief of Operations: 
  MAUREEN YATES
  Production Manager: 
  MARY VALLES
  Based on material previously published in the 7th Sea™
  and Swashbuckling Adventures™ line of products.
  Special Thanks:
  ANDREW: TO ANDY & TOOS, COMPANIONS ON THE ROAD.
  CHARLES: TO NANCY, NOAH, AND LAURIE FOR MANY YEARS
  AND MANY ALTERNATE REALITIES.
  DANA: SIDHE COME AND SIDHE GO, BUT MY WIFE IS ALWAYS BY
  MY SIDE.
  LOREN: THANKS TO KING ARTHUR, WHOEVER HE REALLY WAS.
  WITHOUT HIM, NONE OF THIS WOULD HAVE HAPPENED.
  NOAH: FOR SAUL, SEAN, BEN AND ERICA, FOR SHARING ALL
  MY WORLDS WITH ME.
  ROB W: TO DAN, FOR LETTING ME CON HIM INTO BEING THE
  O’BANNON’S BOYO …
  NANCY: MOST RESPECTFUL BOWING TO ROB VAUX, AS ALWAYS,
  FOR LETTING ME TROMP ABOUT IN THIS WORLD. SPECIAL
  THANKS TO DAVE REEVES, JEREMYTAYLOR, AND FLOYD WESEL,
  AND TO CHARLES FOR ASKING SO MANY DIFFICULT QUESTIONS.
  I SALUTE MARK WOODWARD, MARTIN HALL, DANA DEVRIES,
  AND PATRICK PARRISH — NONE OF QUEEN ELAINE’S KNIGHTS
  HOLD A CANDLE TO YOU GENTLEMEN!
  Dedication:
  TO THE GOODLY FOLKE OF AVALON WHO ARE UNFADING,
  FROM THOSE WHO MUST PERFORCE FADE AWAY.
  THE BRIGHTER THE LIGHT, THE DARKER THE SHADOW.
  TM
  TM
  
  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
  Book One: The Courts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  History of the Sidhe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
  The Bargain, the Barrier, the Pact, and the Graal . . . . . . . . 6
  Sidhe Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  Seelie and Unseelie . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
  Royals, Nobles, and Peasants . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
  Life, Death, Love and Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
  Crime and Punishment. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
  Sidhe Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
  The Wild Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
  Sailing on Waves of Mist . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  Sailing to Bryn Bresail. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
  Sidhe Ships . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
  Sidhe Ships and Crews . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
  Trading with the Sidhe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
  Language and Naming Conventions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
  How Do You Pronounce That?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
  Bryn Bresail — When Mist Meets Dream . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
  Walking the Path. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
  Fading into the Mists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
  Cast Out of Bryn Bresail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Chance Meetings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Places in Bryn Bresail . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  The River of Forgetfulness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
  Fae Villages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
  Summerfall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
  Castle of the Queen of the Sky. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
  Where Water Flows . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
  Relations with Théah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Nations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
  Secret Societies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
  Book Two: The Forge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  Cold Iron. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
  MacEachern Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
  New Swordsman Schools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
  Fadh-Righ (Long Arm) Spear School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
  Peecke Quaterstaff School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28
  Faileas (Reflection) Sword School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
  New Swordsman Knack. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
  New Prestige Classes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
  Fadh-Righ (Long Arm) Spear School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
  Peecke Quarterstaff School . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
  Faileas (Reflection) Sword School. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
  Book Three: The Magic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  Walking in the Mists. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  As a Player. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
  Sidhe (7th Sea
  TM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
  Sidhe (d20
  TM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
  Sidhe Blooded . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  Unforgiven Unseelie. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
  Advantages (7th Sea
  TM). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
  Specific Sidhe Blood Advantages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
  Sidhe Weapon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
  Blessings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
  Curses. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
  Sidhe Feats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
  Sidhe Frailties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
  Sidhe Glamour Knacks(7th Sea
  TM) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
  For the GM. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
  Book Four: The Folke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
  Prominent Sidhe and Mortal Allies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
  The Queen of the Earth
  (The Lady of the Lake). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
  The Queen of the Sky . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
  Queen Maab . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
  The Horned King and the Holly Prince . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
  Queen Elaine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
  Derwyddon. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
  Mad Jack O’Bannon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
  Sir Lawrence Lugh . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
  Meryth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
  Connie MacDonald . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
  Celedoine the Seven-Blessed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
  Creatures of the Sidhe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
  Firbolgs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
  Cobbies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
  Burn-righinn (Nymphs)
  and Ramh-righinn (Dryads) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
  Fae Swarm . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
  The Merrow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
  Spriggans. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
  Sluagh. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
  Book Five: The Veil . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
  NPCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
  Fiona dubh Gaoithe, 
  Witch of the Black Wind . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
  Templeton Hawthorne,
  Slayer of Sidhe. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
  Mordwyrr Taff,
  King of the Rogues. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
  Arianna Flynt, Explorer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
  Tearlaidh Partholan,
  The Wandering Druid of Théah. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
  Sir Gwydd, The Perfect Knight. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
  Adventures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
  The Battle beneath the Waves. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84
  W.K. Bainbridge Travelling Theatre Troupe . . . . . . . . . 85
  For the GM Only . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
  NPC Secrets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
  Special NPCs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
  Character Templates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
  The Sidhe Pirate Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
  Fallen Sidhe Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
  Sidhe Blooded Bard Template. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
  Avalon Wanderer Template . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
  OGL  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
  CONTENTS
  2
  Contents
  
  INTRODUCTION
  3
  If anything about the Sidhe is true, it is this — they care nothing for
  anything in the world but manners and a human, be it man or
  child, is valued in the eyes of the Goodly Ones, for good behavior is
  not unlike wealth. 
  The Sidhe are not confined to Avalon by any means. They have a
  presence in Montaigne where the precious and brittle machinations
  of the court appeal to them, although they do not derive much in the
  way of connection with the land itself. They can be found in Ussura
  and Vestenmannavnjar as well. They avoid the southeastern realms
  of Théah and for some reason known only to them, they never cross
  the boundaries into Cathay.
  This have I learned in the realm of Bryn Bresail where time as we
  know it is not invited into the realm of dreams where years can pass
  without so much as a whisper. The Dreaming Lands, The Twilight
  Lands, Land of Snowfallen Spring — by these names and many
  more do they call their land, yet none can describe this place of
  wonder and magic. 
  It would take a lifetime and beyond to learn the titles of those who
  attend the Seelie Queen. The Sidhe change epithets at will. He who
  is the Lord of the Silvery Twilight today may present himself tomor-
  row as the Duke of Darkest Midnight. There are those who change
  their garb to reflect their title, as they have seen humans do, while
  others simply have themselves announced without a noticeable alter-
  ation of garb or physiognomy.
  The creatures of the Sidhe are as varied as the Sidhe themselves and
  there is little that binds them to each other save their capricious
  natures. Other than the righinn, however, most have an element of
  grotesquerie about them which distinguishes them from the courtly
  nobles.
  Once I was taken, cloaked and hooded, to see a gathering of Unseelie.
  I hope that I never encounter them again. What is controlled within
  the Seelie is unbridled in their Fallen and Outcast counterparts. The
  raw power, the savage delight in pain and misery, the excesses are
  such that they are now imprinted on my mind for eternity.
  The Sidhe show a remarkable affinity for dramatic action but unlike
  humans, they do not suffer remorse. Even those who are not intrinsi-
  cally cruel can act in such a callous manner as to cause great pain
  and suffering. When confronted with the deed, they do not respond
  in a way that humans find comprehensible. We are at once a source
  of fascination, a subject of study, and an expendable commodity.
  If one can say that the Sidhe love anything, it is the land of the
  Glamour Isles. Nowhere else on Théah have they embraced with
  such complete devotion. No matter where the Sidhe may travel,
  when they say “here,” they mean Bryn Bresail and Avalon. It is as
  close to the concept of home as they can comprehend.
  I queried a lord of Seelie Court, a Sidhe scholar of some renown,
  regarding the ties between the Sidhe and the Syrneth. He did not
  answer me for a time and it was clear that he was composing his
  thoughts before answering. “There are those,” he said, “who would
  end your life where you stand for speaking the name of anathema.
  Fortunately for you, I am not one of them. I shall only say that we
  prefer to study than to be studied.” With that he turned and left me in
  the hallway and did not speak to me for the remainder of my visit.
  Introduction
  Excerpts from the Booke 
  of the Goodly Folke
  Regarded by many as a silly “lady’s romance,” The Booke of the
  Goodly Folke was written by Lady Mary Katharine de Beau-
  mont, an Avalon noblewoman who devoted her life to a study
  of the Sidhe. She claimed to have traveled to Bryn Bresail
  where she was invited as a guest of the Seelie Queen and
  wrote prolifically about all matters of Sidhe life. There is
  some conjecture that she was not actually human, but a Sidhe
  lady-in-waiting to the Seelie Queen tasked with disseminat-
  ing contradictory information to keep humans from learning
  too much. There is a rambling quality to her writing that
  often presents contradictions without any explanation.
  Lady Mary Katharine died under mysterious circumstances
  and may not actually be buried in the cemetery of Carleon,
  although an elaborately carved headstone marks her grave.
  It can be said that there are as many shapes and forms of Sidhe as
  there are classifications of  flowers or fish. Once you think you have
  catalogued them all, you find another that marks  your recordings as
  antiquated. 
  In addition to the political structure that mimics royal courts in
  Théah, the Sidhe can be classified into various “families,” many of
  which can be seen in the Highlands or Vodacce. Their devotion to the
  senior member of the family, whether male or female, is second only
  to that owed to their Queen.
  The Sidhe strive for perfection, whether in beauty or ugliness. Among
  the nobles, they are majestic, sleek, and slender, effortlessly graceful
  and impossibly tall. Their garments trail behind them like wisps of
  silvery fog or sea foam. Everything about them enhances their
  appearance. Yet there is not a mirror to be found in Bryn Bresail. The
  sight of themselves in anything other than shimmering water elicits
  glass-shattering screams from even the bravest warriors.
  A Queen and a King rule the lords and ladies of the Seelie Court,
  although no human recalls ever having seen the King. [the following
  was excised from the original version] I later learned that the term
  “King” is somewhat misleading. The creature of whom they speak is
  in fact more properly called The Horned King. It is he who holds
  sway over the woods at midsummer, a time when no female —
  Sidhe or human — is safe to wander alone, especially at moonrise.
  He is not seen at court until he has resumed his form as the Holly
  Prince. [The text resumes…] 
  It would appear that the three most powerful Sidhe are indeed sis-
  ters who have a complicated relationship not unlike that of any
  family in Théah. The confident and icy Seelie Queen excises defer-
  ence from her sisters, the placid Lady of the Lake, and the volatile
  Queen of the Sea.
  The Sidhe are not to be trifled with. They are ancient creatures who
  are tolerant of mankind to varying degrees. At best, they are fasci-
  nated and even apparently amused by our naiveté but they brook no
  insolence or rude behavior. We are fragile and temporary; they most
  certainly are not. To treat them with disrespect is to invite one hun-
  dred thousand dooms, each one more impossibly awful than the last.
  Death would be a blessing but it does not come quickly enough.
  
  INTRODUCTION
  4
  hopelessly lost. Pray that you never hear the wail of the Ban-
  sidhe or come face to face with Redcap. 
  Finally, Book Five: The Veil introduces you to six unique
  inhabitants of Avalon. You will then be as ready as anyone to
  go adventuring through the Gates between the worlds of
  Théah and Bryn Bresail to seek your destiny among the
  Goodly Folke. Know that should you return to this world,
  your life will never be the same. Even a glimpse of the Sidhe
  is often enough to set your heart longing for that which you
  can never have. The enchantments of the Sidhe are dazzling
  and deadly, and once you are caught in their spell, you may
  never escape — or, worse still, wish that you had not
  returned.
  There is so much of the Goodly Folke that could be said, but there is
  much more that cannot be said, and even more than should not be
  said.
  The Sidhe take great pains to distinguish between the Bargain and
  the Pact. Their hatred of the creatures of the Bargain is thinly veiled.
  There are even those who question the wisdom of the Pact, given the
  turn of events in Théah the past several decades. Some grow restless
  with the constant wars which give humans the opportunity to
  destroy each other arguing over petty matters, rendering the land
  uninhabitable. Perhaps, they reason, mortals are not the best keepers
  of the Graal…
  Avalon is the land of living legend. I need not return across the
  Bridge to know that goblins lurk outside my window and burn-righ-
  inn cavort at the edge of the glade beyond the copse of trees I can see
  from my window. The Sidhe are here even if I cannot see them; I can
  sense them in the air. Even as I sit overlooking my garden on this fine
  summer night, I feel them calling to me, beckoning to me… I long to
  walk the corridors of the palace, to hear the whisper of the trailing
  garments, to breathe the perfumed air — to be surrounded by such
  beauty!  If they would have me, I would return to Bryn Bresail and
  never cross the Bridge again…
  About this Book
  Since its inception, the world of Théah has continued to pro-
  duce a cast of remarkable characters, perhaps none more
  intriguing than the Sidhe. These ageless inhabitants of
  Avalon live in a rarified land that draws adventurers like the
  proverbial moths to the flame. When the original 7th Sea™
  sourcebooks were published in 1999, the Sidhe were pre-
  sented without stats because they were too powerful to be
  harmed by humans. Four years later, it is clear that players
  want to do more than encounter the Sidhe — they want to BE
  the Sidhe. In response to that, The Sidhe Book of Nightmares
  offers new and updated information about the ethereal
  denizens of the Glamour Isles. Adventurers should recall the
  ancient adage, “Be careful what you wish for…”
  In Book One: The Courts, you will learn more about the
  history of the Sidhe, their “history” (insofar as they reckon
  such things), their society, and the magical Bryn Bresail, the
  place to which they retreated so long ago. Book Two: The
  Forge offers more information about iron and presents three
  Sidhe combat schools. Hopefully, you will not suffer the same
  fate as the cursed MacEachern clan for learning what you
  need to know about how to protect and defend yourself
  against the Sidhe or about how they deal with each other.
  In Book Three: Magic, the ways of the Sidhe are revealed,
  including how the ranks of Sidhe Blood Advantage work. You
  will gain valuable insights about how to incorporate Sidhe
  Blood into your character’s persona. The Sidhe’s relation to
  Glamour and Scrying, will be explained more fully. New
  Feats, Advantages, and Knacks are offered to enhance your
  character. Book Four: The Folke introduces you, possibly
  for the first time, to this remarkable race. You will meet the
  important people of the Sidhe world including the Queens,
  as well as the Seelie and Unseelie Courts. Mothers in Avalon
  have a fully panoply of creatures with when to threaten their
  wayward children: beautiful burn-righinn who will drag you
  into a crystal clear pond and pwccas in the shape of seemingly
  friendly dogs will lure you deep into the forest until you are
  
  History of the Sidhe
  Our world is an orderly place. The sun and stars move on
  their appointed courses, mountains rise and then they fall,
  living things are born, grow, and die, aeons come and disap-
  pear. But there are other realms, other planes of existence
  that follow different rules, or have no rules at all, in realities
  about which humanity has learned only the smallest scraps.
  It is from such alien shores that the Syrneth races hail, the
  insect Thalusai, the vanished Setine, the beneficent Razd-
  host. It is from such an eldritch space that the Sidhe came
  as well, the strange creatures of magic that have taken up
  residence in (and given the name to) the Glamour Isles. 
  There was no human name for the great Gulf that birthed
  the Sidhe. There was no name, in fact, for the Sidhe them-
  selves. The people who found their way to safety after the
  great Flood called them “Sidhe,” an old Avalon word that
  means “Fae.” It is commonly thought that Bryn Bresail is
  the Sidhe’s native home, originally shapeless and empty but
  for the formless and timeless entities that existed there,
  until the coming of the Syrneth which gave them the very
  concept of form. There may be a deeper reality about the
  Sidhe’s birthplace that the eternal land of Bryn Bresail is but
  their first creation. Before the coming of the Syrneth, the
  Sidhe were simply instances of identity without purpose or
  structure, language or meaning. Over the aeons, it can be
  supposed, contact with other form of intelligence gave
  them some concept of self and other, allowing the Sidhe to
  evolve into sentience. None of this is known to the scholars
  of humanity, and is, in fact, largely unknown to the Sidhe
  themselves, due in part to the power of their investment in
  their roles.
  Another possibility is that at some point in their exis-
  tence, the Sidhe, who were formless energy, began a quest
  for a concept of form and pattern. The first exercise in this
  arena of which we are aware occurred when they came in
  contact with the Syrneth races. At first they were fascinated
  and delighted with the elaborate mechanical structure they
  saw, and took to the idea of substance and meaning with
  enthusiasm. The Syrneth, for their part, found the Sidhe (no
  one knows what the Syrneth actually called the Sidhe) to be
  a monumental source of power and they seized on the
  Sidhe ability to warp reality itself, apparently effortlessly
  and tirelessly. Not surprisingly, the Sidhe found themselves
  employed as slaves, incorporated into the vast and mysteri-
  ous Syrneth machinery created by the Setine or some other
  race of beings about whom scholars are currently ignorant.
  The Syrneth worlds are cold and mindless places, for the
  most part, adapting but not creating, growing but not evolv-
  ing, artless and joyless, nothing more than cosmic termite
  mounds. 
  Then came salvation. The Sidhe discovered humankind’s
  dreams in the world of Théah. The Setines had been in this
  land, and departed (or were destroyed), the Domae came
  and left, and returned and left again, great cities were built
  then abandoned, and all the while small and fragile crea-
  tures, humans, were growing and spreading. It was over the
  destiny of these humans that the Sidhe and the Thalusai,
  who arrived late to this world (epochally speaking), came at
  last to blows. The power of the human dreaming awoke in
  the Sidhe the power and strength to throw off their Setine
  shackles, and attack the Thalusai and drive them from Terra,
  forcing them beyond the Barrier erected by the joint efforts
  of the Sidhe and Radzhost. The Syrneth were denied easy
  access to Théah, leaving humanity (and the Sidhe with
  The
  COURTS
  Book One:
  The Courts 
  5
  
  CHAPTER
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  6
  Millennia ago, the Razhdost, intelligent non-human
  beings, had held sway in Théah as it was forming. Unable to
  procreate, they devised other beings — among them the
  Thalusai and the Setines — which were called collectively
  the Syrneth. The Razhdost unwittingly started a war with the
  Thalusai, the most powerful of their creations, and had to
  seek assistance from the Sidhe, the only power on Théah that
  they had not created. The last Razhdost (a being named
  Matushka) joined with the Sidhe to erect a magical Barrier
  that would protect Théah from Syrneth depredations. The
  amount of magical energy required for such a feat drained the
  Sidhe to the point where Matushka retreated to a cave deep in
  Ussura and the Sidhe returned to their home in Bryn Bresail
  and did not venture forth for thousands of years. It was
  during this voluntary retirement that the race of men came
  into being.
  Some time back in ancient history a great flood covered the
  world and mankind was eradicated, save for a boatload of
  people who somehow found their way to Bryn Bresail. Fasci-
  nated by these strange creatures, the Sidhe made a pact with
  them and permitted them to live on the only place that had
  survived the catastrophe, an island called Avalon where they
  coexisted peacefully until the arrival of the Numan General
  Julius Caius and his army. Unlike the people who had escaped
  the flood, these humans were brutal and aggressive and
  reminded the Sidhe of the Syrneth. In an effort to protect
  Avalon, the Sidhe hid the Glamour Isles behind mist, fog, and
  storms of immense power for 150 years.
  When they deemed it safe, the Sidhe allowed Avalon to re-
  emerge and things proceeded more or less peacefully, except
  of course for the petty wars among those who claimed to be
  “high king” of the land. Eventually, with the help of the
  Vestenmannavnjar, King Elilodd united the people and
  earned the respect of the Sidhe who granted him a magical
  artifact they called “the Graal.” Elilodd was charged with
  guarding the bejeweled cup. For so long as it was safe, and
  Elilodd and his descendants ruled Avalon, the blessings of the
  Sidhe would be with them. 
  Sidhe Society 
  Seelie and Unseelie
  When one speaks of “Seelie” and “Unseelie,” it would be an
  forgivable error to assume one means merely benign (to
  humanity, at least) and malevolent. Although this is partially
  correct, it is an oversimplification, and actually quite charita-
  ble to the Seelie, who can be as inimical and deadly as the
  Unseelie. The distinction is twofold, and has to do with the
  nature of the Sidhe and their adoption of human roles. 
  In one sense, the Seelie are those Sidhe who pay service to
  one of the three Queens. They obey certain laws, follow spe-
  cific principles, and while they may individually be capri-
  cious and unpredictable, they will observe the rules. 
  The Unseelie, on the other hand, are much less successful at,
  indeed uninterested in, integrating their personal creations
  with the rest of reality as they know it.
  them) free to flourish. (In some respects, it must be said, this
  was not an entirely noble act on the part of the Sidhe, but
  quite a selfish one. While they certainly freed humanity and
  themselves from enslavement under the Syrneth, they
  arranged things so they are the only non-human race that had
  easy access to exploit humanity, whether for good or evil.
  The aforetold facts may seem muddled, and the chronol-
  ogy suspect, even contradictory to other known facts. This is
  due to several factors. There are no records from that period
  and any Sidhe to whom one might speak regarding this his-
  tory will be oblivious, not out of ignorance or evasion, but
  because of the depth of the power with which they inhabit
  their current role. Memory and history are conceptions of
  creatures capable of comprehending the logical flow of
  events, the passage of time. And no one is asking the Thalusai.
  The Sidhe greedily attached themselves to the wondrous
  dreams and inspirations of humanity. They adopted roles
  based on the stories and legends humans created, they
  formed Bryn Bresail in the image of a Théan city, they popu-
  lated it with nobles, peasants, artisans, and merchants just
  like a Théan city. Many relocated permanently to the shores
  of Avalon, using the first and largest link between the two
  realms, on the Grey Isle (for more information on the Grey
  Isle and its Queen, see below). Other gateways were later
  opened, as the boundaries between Bryn Bresail and the rest
  of Théah became more permeable, but the Grey Isle is
  unique, and while many, many gateways are connected with
  water, the Grey Isle is the only gateway accessible by sea.
  Why Avalon? Perhaps because of the abundance of lakes
  and rivers, ponds, streams, the and surrounding oceans that
  calls to some ancient, buried memory of the Sidhe, remind-
  ing them of their original existence in a great, measureless
  misty sea. Perhaps it is the Druids, the men and women
  whose perception of the land is so profound they can create
  the laws of reality (the Geasa). Or perhaps because it was the
  only land that remained after the flood. For whatever reason,
  here they are and here they will stay… for now…
  The Bargain, the Barrier, 
  the Pact, and the Graal
  For those who are not familiar with the history of Théah,
  during the time of the Numan empire, a ruthless Senator
  named Octavius Montanus discovered a mystic rod that
  allowed him to summon supernatural creatures from a realm
  far-removed from the world in which he lived. Gathering a
  cabal of like-minded Senators, he went into a hidden cham-
  ber deep in the Senate building and called forth the beings in
  hopes of gaining sufficient power to defeat General Gaius
  Phillippus Macer and take control of the Numan empire for
  himself.
  Demonic creatures of unbelievable horror came flooding
  through the schism Montanus tore in space. Some senators
  fled screaming while others fell to their knees in terror; at
  least one went completely mad and tried to claw his way out
  of the marble chamber. Senator Montanus, however, began to
  bargain with the creatures and made wild promises in
  exchange for their help. At the end of the bizarre negotia-
  tions, the “Bargainers” offered Montanus the powers that he
  and his colleagues sought in exchange for a promise to teach
  the new sorceries to others and eventually pass the power
  along through their human bloodlines.
  
  CHAPTER
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  The modern concept of “psychosis” is defined as the mind
  being disconnected with reality, believing in things that are
  not contingent upon or at odds with externals. In our world,
  we impose “reality” or order on that which appears chaotic.
  Sometimes, this enforced control is at odds with what we
  observe which causes conflict and distress. In a creature that
  can alter reality by an exercise of will, reality has a much
  tougher time of it. The Sidhe are still coming to terms with
  the idea that there is an objective, external “reality,” one that
  relies on those thorny concepts of time, cause-and-effect, and
  permanence. In the experience of the Sidhe, reality was what-
  ever they all agreed upon, and if there was disagreement
  between any two Sidhe, they just ignored each other. 
  When the Sidhe first encountered the Syrneth, they
  delighted in the discovery of an order and laws which was a
  dramatic change from their previous existence of what we
  would consider untidy frenzied chaos. That relationship went
  badly, however, as the amoral Syrneth found the Sidhe to be
  an unparalleled source of power, and the amoral Sidhe found
  themselves enslaved in great machines of metal and flesh.
  While the Sidhe were enchanted (literally) with order and
  pattern, the Syrneth are completely devoid of art and emo-
  tions beyond a fanatical drive to conquer and consume. The
  Sidhe find the relationship with humanity much more valu-
  able, as humans are the sources of boundless inventiveness
  and the elusive concept of passion. 
  When a Sidhe takes on the trappings of the human condi-
  tion, whether it be from a story she has heard, a dream that
  wandered into Bryn Bresail, or some mortal she has encoun-
  tered, she recreates the reality she perceives to the best of her
  experience. That experience, and the perception, may be lim-
  ited. Thus the beauty or ugliness, the good or evil, the logic or
  illogic is a result of the power of a particular Sidhe to enforce
  her understanding on her surrounding and indeed herself.
  The Queens hold that position, due in no small part to the
  fact that they have most successfully created the entire reality
  of themselves as queens, including the rich detail, but more
  importantly, with the most coherence to everyone around
  them. It is easier for others to “play along,” to join in that ver-
  sion of reality, to create and incorporate roles for themselves
  that integrate successfully. 
  The concepts of “beauty” and “ugliness” include elements
  of harmony, order and symmetry. The Seelie are invariably
  described as astonishing and breathtaking in their beauty,
  reflecting their Glamourous efforts to make themselves so.
  The Unseelie, often misshapen and deformed to the human
  eye and always unruly and unpredictable by human stan-
  dards, seem to be following a vision accessible only to them-
  selves. So an Unseelie will become obsessed with a particular
  idea, driven and preoccupied (similar to a modern mortal
  neurotic), exercising strange behavior and acknowledging no
  authority but their own. 
  In some respects, the Sidhe are the ultimate roleplayers.
  They choose roles based on whatever source, and conform to
  them utterly. Some are more successful than others at inter-
  preting the human origin of that role, but to these creatures,
  existence is the supreme performance art. The defining factor
  between Seelie and Unseelie may be as simple as a willing-
  ness or ability to cooperate with others, to “share the stage.” 
  To a mortal, it cannot be as much fun to be a Sidhe peasant as
  a Queen but such turns out not necessarily to be the case for
  the Sidhe. A Sidhe “peasant” is exploring the idea of being a
  peasant with just as much enthusiasm as the Queen because
  he is not hampered by the same sense of rank as a human.
  The Unseelie have become mired in some facet of their
  role, to the exclusion of all else. Thus a twisted troll will spend
  years, centuries, under a bridge, accosting travelers as he
  attempts to fathom “here” and “there.” Bridges are magic
  things because they literally span these concepts. A goblin
  will spend years in the deep of the forest making piles of
  rocks of specific size or creating little man-shaped figures out
  of twigs and hanging them from branches, for what purpose
  none can fathom but woe unto he who interrupts this activity. 
  So while it may appear the Sidhe in general, and the Seelie
  in particular, have mankind and Avalon’s best interests at
  heart (maintaining the Barrier and the Glamour Magic), and
  the Unseelie are only interested in their own obsessions. The
  truth is that the Seelie are just playing by rules that are more
  likely for humanity to figure out. Maab is Seelie, by defini-
  tion, but she is not nice, and hardly has mankind’s best inter-
  ests at heart. The Unseelie spriggans that abide in the glen
  beyond yonder sheep pasture may be hostile, but they will
  just throw rocks if you come too close. Unless you bring them
  green apples. Do not ever whistle.
  Although they would be baffled by the suggestion, the
  eternal, unchanging Sidhe are becoming adapted to the way
  things operate in the natural world of Théah. They have
  unconsciously accepted numerous laws that restrict their
  otherwise omnipotent powers. The laws of Cold Iron, the
  enchantments of music and dance, the tampering with time
  (in Théah, at least), the passage of night to day to night (as in
  certain magic starting and ending), are all sacrosanct.
  Royals, Nobles, and Peasants
  Like almost everything else about them, Sidhe society is
  stolen from the dreams of humanity. Sadly for the Sidhe,
  however, they have little visceral understanding of the laws
  and customs of the chivalric society to which they aspire. 
  As with so many things, the Sidhe are very aware of the letter
  of the law but totally miss the spirit and nuance of the princi-
  ple so their society is a more of a charade in which everyone
  knows their place and must be happy with things that way.
  This is all well and good if you are a noble in the court of the
  Queen of the Sky, but not so good if you are a Fae peasant
  working the fields of the Land of Mist.
  The Druids and the Sidhe
  There is a relationship between the sun and the moon
  that humanity is just beginning to comprehend. The Druids
  know of it, and intone mystic melodies about the Sun of
  Théah and the power of the Hunter joining with the moon-
  light of the Sidhe to create the Glamour magic. The Sidhe
  are known to refer to the night sky as “The Sea Above,”
  giving hints that they give special reverence to the stars and
  moon. There may be something to the strange philosophy,
  as it has been noted that the primary figures of the Sidhe are
  all female, and the native earth spirits of the shamanistic
  Druids appear to be male. It may have been the union of the
  two aspects (the sun and its energy, with the moon and
  stars and their magic) that gave birth and give power to the
  Glamour Magic. Then again, it may be that Glamour simply
  is. In any event, the Sidhe are very much creatures of
  thought and air while the Druids are humans whose connec-
  tion to the physical land gives them a power that even the
  Sidhe respect. (For more information, see Avalon.™)
  
  CHAPTER
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  To the Sidhe, everything has a place and everything should
  be in its place. There is no social mobility. Sidhe society is at
  present as it has always been and will always be. While the
  Queens of the Sky, Sea, and Earth may constantly argue about
  who actually rules their lands, there is little doubt that only
  they can contest the Sidhe throne. There will never be a lost
  prince or a new Queen to challenge them. If such a figure
  arose, it could only be at the head of a revolutionary army.
  They are following the dreams of humanity to a new level of
  existence and everyone has a part to play in that grand design.
  Some parts may not be as interesting, but being a part of
  things allows each Sidhe to reap the rewards of what the soci-
  ety as a whole learns. Only the Unseelie spurn the order of
  things, but even they do not want to see it fall, as the death of
  the status quo means a return to the days of darkness. Sidhe
  life is based on the dreams of humanity, even the dark ones,
  and without those, the Sidhe ascribe no meaning to their
  lives.
  The first and most obvious division between the Sidhe is
  between noble and peasant. The peasant class is made up
  mainly of the lower forms of Fae, the intelligent monsters
  and oddities that haunt the realm. Few of them regard them-
  selves as actual peasants in the human sense. They defer to
  the nobility as necessary but think of themselves as apart
  from rather than beneath their superiors.
  There are a few more human-like Sidhe who live in vil-
  lages. They are criminals or the descendants of those who
  offended one of the Queens and were cast from the social
  order. Their crimes were not so terrible as to warrant extinc-
  tion or exile; however, they were bad enough to be forever
  cast as peasants and farmers because the Sidhe perceive that
  description equal to punishment. From their small villages
  they work the fields of Bryn Bresail, which is an amusing con-
  ceit because the Sidhe do not actually need food to survive.
  The work is not as taxing as it would be for a human farmer;
  in fact, in the lands of the Seelie are quite idyllic (certainly by
  a human farmer’s standards!) The place is in a permanent state
  of late spring-early summer, where the work can be done in
  sunshine and warmth. Things are bleaker in the Unseelie
  lands where winter holds sway and nothing sown will ever
  sprout. There the peasants huddle round fires, drawing food
  from the always meager but never quite empty grain stores.
  There is one other thing that marks peasant Sidhe - they
  each carry an odd disfigurement as punishment for their
  crimes. This curse is often just a small thing but is enough to
  mar their natural beauty. Often it is an animalistic trait, such
  as whiskers, a tail, or a cloven hoof for a foot. Sometimes fea-
  tures are missing, such as an eye, an arm or even a mouth. For
  some the disfigurement is more obvious, and their arm is
  shriveled or horrible arcane marks cover their face. In some
  cases the mark is mental rather than physical. Many are
  cursed with voices in their heads, delusions, and memory
  loss. A few are given terrible gifts, such as hearing the worst
  thoughts of those around them or the ability to foresee the
  death of anyone they love. In all cases the marks are usually
  noticeable but not completely debilitating. 
  These curses are created at a Queen’s whim. Although few
  bear relation to any real crime or result in a truly horrible
  punishment, but every village shelters at least one poor soul
  who is mentally or physically disfigured in a most terrible
  way. They serve as a reminder to the other outcasts how lucky
  they are and how much worse things could be.
  At the other end of the social scale, Sidhe nobility fill the
  courts of the three Queens, and are a stunning sight to
  behold. Every one is possessed of an almost heart-stopping
  beauty coupled with inhuman style and grace. Their clothes
  are the finest any human will see, often made from impossi-
  ble fabrics like as spider silk and lover’s breath. It is beauty
  that is almost impossible to describe.
  However, underneath this Glamour is a dark aspect. Those
  who pay careful attention will easily notice the beauty is
  wholly inhuman, and after a while it becomes unnerving.
  Humans have gone mad trying to live with such enchanting
  strangeness. The Sidhe strive for true beauty in their 
  
  CHAPTER
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  THE
  COURTS
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  existence. However, they are also trying to transcend the
  human meaning of the word. Some acquire an appearance
  that haunts anyone who lays their eyes on it for eternity, with-
  out ever knowing why. Some draw their appearance from ter-
  rifying and hideous forms, becoming a gorgonesque twisting
  of beauty. Either way, those at the top of Sidhe society are the
  essence of their physical philosophy, while those deformed
  or imperfect (to the eyes of the Sidhe) are cast out.
  The courts on both sides of the great river in Bryn Bresail
  teem with nobles of every shape and size. They adorn them-
  selves with a variety of grand titles such as “Count of the
  Southern Marches,” “Marquis of the Lands of Passion,” or
  “Lady of Night and Lullabies.” This can be extremely bewil-
  dering to a human traveler, and noble Sidhe take great
  offense if they are not shown due respect. However, things
  are actually a lot simpler than they seem. For all their grand
  titles, Sidhe nobles have almost exactly the same standing.
  None are greater than the Queens and all are greater than
  anyone else. 
  When the Sidhe first formed the courts, they used the
  human feudal model. But no Sidhe parent dies and passes on
  their title so no noble can gain more land in conquest, and the
  Queens rarely pass out new honors. Over the centuries
  between yesterday and whenever now is, Sidhe nobles have
  imitated humans by creating florid titles for themselves.
  After all, they are born noble, and as such must have a title
  because that is how things are in the human realm. They add
  a new and more impressive title whenever someone they con-
  sider an inferior outdoes them with a grander sounding epi-
  thet. The only limit to this self-aggrandizement is that they
  must be able to practice what they preach. If you are the “Lord
  of the Northern Gateways,” you are well advised to seek the
  northern gateways and take control of them. The same
  applies for “Masters of Passion,” “Mistress of Laughter,” and
  the like. Mind you, the Sidhe bearing the title has no true
  concept of words like passion or humor or sadness, but they
  know that it sounds dramatic, so they do what they can to
  emulate those emotions. If the rest of the court discovers that
  title is hollow, the derision is as cutting as a crystal dagger and
  a fall from favor is imminent.
  A human visitor to Bryn Bresail must remember that while
  each Fae lord or lady is equal, the Sidhe to whom one is speak-
  ing must be given far more respect than other nobles in the
  room. To them, their personal title is the greatest and most
  impressive, and it should be obvious to even a fool of a human
  that they are superior to the others.
  The only true social ladder in Fae society is that of coali-
  tions and alliances. While each knows they can never hope to
  ascend the throne, they are all trying to be seen as the next
  most powerful being at court. As such, they target their rivals
  with vicious and complicated plots to destroy their standing
  and respect. They cannot do this alone so they recruit their
  “inferiors” into factions and use them to work against their
  rivals. The inferiors are promised great reward and power
  should the rivals be removed or humiliated. Unfortunately,
  everyone sees everyone else as inferior, so the politics inside
  each faction are in constant flux. Mix that with bluff and
  double bluff in a society where any plan may take centuries to
  come to fruition and the social map becomes the sort of thing
  that would make even a Villanova’s head spin.
  The purpose of this convoluted activity is not to kill their
  rivals, but to put them in disgrace. The best way to do so is to
  make them lose favor in the eyes of the Queens so courtiers
  are constantly trying to play one Queen against the other.
  When the Queens are fighting, they pay less attention to the
  court. It also means that “collusion with the other Queens”
  becomes a useful accusation with which to disgrace your ene-
  mies. While there do not seem to be Sidhe enclaves in
  Vodacce, it is fairly clear from this imitation of the Great
  Game, that they have been watching the residents of this
  nation closely.
  This non-lethal courtly battle appears rather harmless.
  Indeed, no Sidhe has ever died from it; however, a mortal
  must be on his or her guard constantly. As wild cards mortals
  are much prized as allies and pawns. A mortal cannot trust
  anyone since every faction is full of spies and traitors. Noth-
  ing occurs at a Sidhe court that has not been carefully consid-
  ered and delicately played. The plots are so complex that the
  slightest move can convey a thousand different meanings to
  the observer, and at court everyone is watching. Humans had
  best tread extremely carefully for Sidhe punishments are
  severe and there are those among the Fae who take delight in
  causing pain and suffering.
  The last and highest level of Sidhe society is the royalty.
  Three Queens rule Bryn Bresail, each in her own way. The
  Queen of the Sky is the most conventional, and dwells in her
  great castle where she presides over the court. Her sister the
  Queen of the Sea, who controls the waves around the Glam-
  our Isles, is mostly involved in her ongoing vendetta against
  the Black Siren. It is the Queen of the Earth, sometimes
  known as “The Lady of the Lake,” who seems to have stepped
  outside the social system. Her rule extends over Glamour,
  magic, and prophesy. Each Queen holds power over her
  chosen domain, but it is difficult to say who is truly in charge.
  The Queen of the Sky rules the island, but no one can leave or
  enter it without the permission of the Queen of the Sea. In
  turn, both Queens must respect the Lady of the Lake or the
  Glamour and magic of the Isles may fade. Her advice and
  guidance based on her foresight is also essential for protect-
  ing both the Sidhe and human realm. 
  None of the Queens has a formal consort but there is a
  Sidhe creature of great power known as the Horned King, a
  wild creature who roams the land in the form of a man with
  the head of a stag. He does not rule but rather is the living
  embodiment of the land at its most primal and visceral. The
  king is the spirit and avatar of the island itself, at one with,
  and inseparable from it. Some believe that it is his essence
  which enables the land to thrive. It is said that in times of
  strife or prophecy he has been known to appear to great
  heroes. Although he does not speak, per se, he is able to com-
  municate clearly. There is a darker side to an encounter with
  him, especially when he is hunting in the forests of Avalon.
  He is a wild and dangerous creature, inhuman and alien, even
  to the Sidhe and woe betide the mortal who thinks she can
  tame his wild spirit.
  
  CHAPTER
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  Life, Death, Love and Time
  The concepts of Love, Death, and Time as humans under-
  stand them are almost meaningless to the Sidhe. Sadly, if they
  could understand these three things, they would truly be able
  to come to terms with humanity and the dreams they chase.
  Thus they continue in their quest to achieve a level of under-
  standing. Pity the mortals on whom they choose to experi-
  ment! The Sidhe do not have even the barest reference point
  from which to gain any understanding, and end up torment-
  ing those on whom they rely for an epiphany.
  The human approach to time confuses the Sidhe; in much
  the way their concept of it confuses mortals. It quite simply
  does not exist for them in a conventional sense. It may pass,
  but it is always “the present” to them. This may seem idyllic
  — to have all the time on the world — but it is actually a
  curse because the Sidhe are constantly bored. Nothing
  changes in Bryn Bresail, so how can you plan for a future the
  way mortals do? What is has always been and always will be.
  As time goes on they grow bored of the court and spend less
  time there. They create plots that will take so long to come to
  fruition they have little to do anymore.
  Unfortunately, boredom to the Sidhe can be dangerous to
  mortals. Many are like eternal teenagers who are bored with
  everything and constantly complain there is nothing to do.
  Having all the time in the world makes them appear
  extremely lazy. Humans have been known to wither and die
  waiting for a Sidhe to do the simplest of tasks. 
  Some Sidhe actually enjoy building and attempting to
  effect change in the mortal world, something they cannot do
  in Bryn Bresail. They have the power to move inside time
  itself to complete a task. What they build is simply brought
  forward from the future to the now. Which is little more to a
  Sidhe than just showing the mortals where it is. Anything yet
  to be has always been there to a Sidhe, if you know where to
  look. This allows them to build houses overnight and do the
  work of a day in an hour. Some emulate the tradesmen and
  craftsmen they see in villages and ask for remuneration even
  though they have no need for money.
  Along with their failure to understand time is their inabil-
  ity to comprehend death. The Sidhe know they cannot die in
  the human sense. Even if their physical form is destroyed, it
  will reform again in time. It has always existed and so cannot
  be any different in the future. They know about the threat
  from MacEachern blades but are also aware that the blades
  are extremely rare and eminently avoidable. 
  Amongst themselves, the difficulty with the concept of
  mortality is not a problem. However, it can be a very big prob-
  lem in their dealing with the mortals, and usually for the
  mortals involved. As the Sidhe are not concerned about
  death, they are not concerned about dangerous situations.
  Sometimes the Fae will give very dangerous presents to their
  mortal friends, like a box of living lightning or living fire.
  They do not realize the mortals are going to get hurt or killed
  by the pretty thing and feel very disgruntled if their gifts are
  refused. What makes it most dangerous for mortals is when
  the Sidhe play games. Such games often have fatal conse-
  quences, and they genuinely do not understand why those
  who lose do not just get up afterwards. In most cases, this is
  not conscious cruelty on the Sidhe’s part; they just have no
  concept that there is risk for the mortal players.
  In fact the thing they have most trouble understanding is a
  dead body. Why is this person still lying there? When will
  they stop being dead? How could they have such little control
  over what is going on? This is all very odd to the Sidhe. Espe-
  cially as in the past the mortal is still walking about, so why
  not in the now as well, which is all the same to the Sidhe. 
  For all the danger in their failure to comprehend death and
  time, it is their lack of understanding about passion and love
  that has caused the most harm to mortals and to themselves.
  There have been many mortal and Sidhe romances, but
  almost all ended very badly. Often the Sidhe leave the mortal
  for a while to do something else and discover (due to their
  peculiar concept of time) that their mortal lover has died of
  old age. Mortals who stay with a Sidhe are opening their
  hearts to terrible hurt and suffering. 
  It is easy to fall in love with a Sidhe. They ride out of
  dreams, so beautiful, and desperate to know all there is to
  know about their paramour. Many look into the dreams of
  their mortal lover and actually form themselves into the fan-
  tasies they find there. As they cannot truly understand mortal
  needs and desires, they become twisted mockeries of what
  the mortal wants. But that is on the inside, and they remain
  very enticing on the surface. Like any other Fae, they have
  nothing but attention for the object of their desire. They want
  nothing more than to understand love, and what better way
  than to observe it in a mortal? They are extraordinarily atten-
  tive lovers and fill the relationship with Glamour and
  romance. After all, the only way they know how to express
  love is from what they see and hear.
  Unfortunately that is all they are doing, mimicking. After a
  while, the grand gestures can become very annoying. For a
  human in a relationship, it is the little things that count and
  the Sidhe cannot hope to notice such things. If their partner
  is upset they will perform some quest or daring escapade
  rather than think to put an arm around their lover and hold
  them. If by some chance they think of doing that, they will
  ask “How much longer should I do this until you are happy?”
  It is not that they are bored with the mortal; they just want
  easy answers and simple exercises to do so they can continue
  to “be in love.”
  Worse yet is a relationship that is failing because the Sidhe
  is unable to understand why. “How can I be rejected when I
  did everything properly? I put exactly the right number of
  roses on the pillow each morning, I know I did, yet now I’m
  accused of not caring.” When a Sidhe is rejected, their natural
  arrogance reasserts itself, often with horrible consequences.
  They feel wronged and tricked by the mortals they chose.
  They believe the mortal has used them and never had any
  intention of teaching them about love. How dare they do
  such a thing to their betters? A Sidhe becomes irritated if
  their efforts to show affection are unappreciated by some
  ignorant lower being. Quite often the mortal lover becomes a
  victim in some terrible Fae punishment, like being trans-
  formed into rock, aged many years or even imprisoned in a
  dark Unseelie place for eternity. Their only crime was to fall
  in love with a creature that could not hope to understand the
  incredible gift they were being offered.
  How can the Sidhe express anger if they cannot express
  true love? They appear to act illogically and dramatically
  because they have misinterpreted human response. Some-
  thing happens and they respond the way they believe a
  human would respond, but if either side of the equation is
  unfamiliar, they cannot react instinctually because they lack a
  common vocabulary of human experience. Perhaps they are
  
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  easier to anger because the overriding behavior they see in
  humans is characterized by conflict. Their degree of compre-
  hension might be regarded as horizontal rather than vertical
  which is to say, they can perfect the outward expression of
  emotion but they are never changed by it. 
  Crime and Punishment
  To the Sidhe, the rule of law is paramount. For all the chaos
  and seeming anarchy of their games, they all adhere to
  extremely hard and fast rules. They may often bend them, but
  few break them. What makes this system particularly Dra-
  conian is the Sidhe’s inability to understand the spirit of the
  law rather. Their concept of what is a crime also differs greatly
  from the human understanding. For instance, there are few
  crimes that demand a death penalty. You cannot truly kill
  an immortal Sidhe, so what sort of punishment is
  that? “Killing” a Sidhe so they spend a while
  returning from non-existence is a good way
  to punish a lesser transgression. It is there-
  fore a shame for humans that their lesser
  crimes will grant them worse and more
  terminal punishments than their
  greater ones.
  For obvious reasons, the Sidhe do
  not see murder as a crime because
  they have no experience of death.
  However, wounding and scaring
  someone does carry a stiff penalty.
  The Sidhe regard their beauty as a
  mark of status and purity. To mar it
  is a direct attack on their essence and
  being. To be condemned to live for-
  ever with even the slightest defor-
  mity is a terrible thought to any
  noble Sidhe. For the same reason
  they never tolerate an attack on
  art in any form. The destruction
  of beauty in any form dimin-
  ishes the race as a whole. This
  applies just as much to the twisted
  and ugly Fae; they just have a different
  concept of beauty than anyone else.
  Theft is of little concern to them
  as well. In the Glamour Isles it is a
  simple matter to craft whatever you
  need from the magic that pervades the isles. However, there
  are many potent and unique items that cannot be duplicated.
  Many of these items are really extensions of the owning
  Sidhe’s personal Glamour and essence, and are difficult to
  truly steal. The Courts do punish stealing, but not for the theft
  itself. For someone to take something from another is a crime
  of respect. So if a noble takes something from an inferior,
  there is little hue and cry. Should a commoner steal from a
  noble then he has committed a gross act. How dare the low
  creature assume it can take what it likes from its betters? How
  dare he consider his need to be above that of his superiors?
  There are also plenty of crimes that the human world
  would not deem worthy of punishment but are anathema to
  the Sidhe. Essentially, Sidhe law is whatever the Queen of the
  Sky decides it should be. The nobles may take offense at a
  variety of insignificant occurrences, but only the Queen’s
  opinion really matter so crime in Bryn Bresail is really what
  the Queen currently objects to most.
  Sidhe law is as complicated or simple as the Sidhe wish it
  to be, and they change it whenever they like. The crimes pre-
  viously mentioned are simply the ones most Sidhe find
  abhorrent most of the time. There are plenty more depending
  on the circumstances and the party wronged.
  Some Sidhe nobles take offense at the oddest things. For
  instance, the Lord of Crimson will not allow any other shade of
  red to be worn in his demesne while the Marquise of Misery
  will lock up anyone found smiling around her court. The GM
  is encouraged to invent all manner of misdemeanors and even
  capital crimes for characters to incur. They need not have any
  rhyme or reason for a human, but make sure the accuser has
  good reason to level the charges. Remember that the ways of
  the Sidhe make little sense to humans, but make perfect sense
  to them. Sidhe rarely concoct accusations, as they hate to tell
  an outright lie, even though many love to deceive. 
  Stepping out of place can have grave consequences.
  Sidhe society is the way it is for a reason. To try to
  move up or even down on the social scale sug-
  gests you are in the wrong place, and that the
  Queen has made a mistake. In the time-
  less lands, no one likes the status quo to
  change. This crime rarely applies to
  humans, who are not part of the
  system in the first place, but it has
  been known. The penalty for any
  attempt at social mobility can be as
  severe as exile. If the life of a Sidhe is
  not good enough, they try living
  among the humans.
  Disobeying a Queen is also
  ground for punishment. Sidhe logic on
  this point is quite clear.
  The Queen is the one in charge —
  you do what she says, whatever it is.
  Even questioning her is highly discour-
  aged and can even be regarded as treason.
  Under the category of “endangering the
  isle of Bryn Bresail” are two capital crimes.
  Doing anything that could be considered
  “endangering the land” is also grounds
  for terrible punishment. The first is
  traffic in iron. Just bringing it to
  Bryn Bresail is bad enough.
  Everything that touches it
  touches withers and dies. Plants
  and buildings can crumble into
  smoke and ash, and the land
  screams in pain. Anyone who enters Bryn
  Bresail with cold iron (or worst of all — a MacEachern blade)
  will instantly find a small army of Sidhe knights ready to exe-
  cute them on the spot. The harm iron does can be felt by
  every Fae within a five-mile radius and neither the Seelie or
  Unseelie tolerate its presence.
  The second crime is harder to prove, but no less severe.
  Anyone knowingly attempting to free the Syrneth races is
  not welcome in Bryn Bresail. The Fae dislike and distrust
  anyone infected with bargainer sorcery. However, they will
  not execute sorcerers without grounds. This is a very good
  thing since no sorcerer can hide their aura to a Sidhe. For a
  Porté sorcerer to wear gloves is not enough in Bryn Bresail. A
  sorcerer who refrains from using their art while there should
  get along just fine. However, they will always be regarded
  with distrust and suspicion, as will their companions. 
  
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  The same is true for Syrneth artifacts and those who carry
  them. Some members of the Explorer’s Society have con-
  vinced the Sidhe of their good intentions and it is not
  unknown for Sidhe to bring them items they want kept
  safely. Most of the time such crimes are not too serious,
  unless the group are known repeat offenders. What the Sidhe
  really object to is anyone knowingly trying to destroy the Bar-
  rier or tainted with a Syrneth alliance.
  What happens if you break the law in the Isle of the Fae?
  The punishments, like the laws, are very different from the
  human world. Sometimes a human gets off lightly. More
  often than not, though, the punishment for odd and minor
  infractions brings dire consequences. The first option is
  imprisonment. This seems quite reasonable to a human until
  you realize the Sidhe are immortal. Their form of imprison-
  ment can last millennia and not just in a prison cell. No Sidhe
  wants to guard some cell for a thousand years. So prisoners
  are often turned to stone, or left under mountains. Some are
  bound and trapped for as long as it takes their bindings to
  wear away. If the criminal is human, they will obviously not
  last for the term of their punishment. Sadly, any form of
  prison crafted with Sidhe hands is brought into their space
  and time and will often make the occupant immortal or
  extremely long lived. Even though they do not understand it,
  death is rarely an escape from a Sidhe imprisonment.
  Slightly less terrible is a form of community service. 
  If there is one thing the Sidhe hate, it is responsibility. They
  all want to happily idle their days away doing as they please,
  so they are often told to guard an area or keep a dangerous
  item safe. There are plenty of places that could do with guard-
  ing, even though most could just as easily do without one.
  However, there are plenty of dangerous things that really
  need someone to take care of them. Such things are not
  always benign objects either. Criminals have had to look after
  deadly poison, dreams, violent memories, souls of the inno-
  cent, dragons, and even arrogant Fae princesses. In the case of
  criminal gangs, it is also not unusual to make one the guard
  over the others’ imprisonment. Often the difficulty of taking
  care of the item (either to keep it safe, or keep others safe
  from it) depends on the level of punishment required. How-
  ever, humans should beware that such things are judged by a
  Sidhe standard. Most Sidhe could see to the needs of items
  that are dangerous to a human. So even a minor infraction of
  a law can lead to terrible danger.
  For more serious crimes, there are darker and more terrible
  punishments for the Sidhe. Some are punished by demotion
  on the social scale. Nobles are cast out into the villages. This
  may not seem too terrible, but it comes with an additional
  price. As beauty is seen as a noble quality, those cast out are
  scarred or disfigured in some way. Their ethereal attractive-
  ness is torn away by permanent magic. Some are cast down
  worse than others, but it is never insignificant. For the more
  serious crimes a noble may retain his position, but still be dis-
  figured. They are therefore forced to suffer the ridicule and
  scorn of their peers. Any disfigurement can be a punishment
  in its own right. The worst is to age the criminal a few years.
  Although immortal, with magic any Sidhe can lose their
  youth, or spend eternity in old age and senility.
  If that is not severe enough, exile is sometimes considered.
  In such cases the criminal can be stripped of their Fae power
  and immortality. Those banished are simply cast out, alone
  into the cold of the human world. They are not equipped to
  deal with any part of Théan life, such as humans, emotions or
  even the weather. For a lucky few the loss of their Sidhe
  nature allows them to begin to understand true emotion. 
  For these Sidhe the punishment becomes their greatest gift.
  Not only the body can be punished in Bryn Bresail but also
  the mind. Often memories and dreams can be taken from a
  criminal. If enough is taken the Sidhe becomes a hollow
  shell. The Sidhe suffers a living death where their sense of
  self is gone and they understand nothing of the world around
  them. It is the punishment most Fae fear — an eternity of
  being nothing is worse than any imprisonment or disfigure-
  ment.
  The last and most horrible punishment is to be bound in
  iron. The Sidhe rarely consign others to such an act as those
  who enforce the punishment can be badly hurt. The worst
  criminals are taken to Théah (as iron cannot be brought to
  Bryn Bresail) and chained in iron by mortals. Then they are
  imprisoned under a mountain or at the bottom of the sea for
  eternity. The iron blocks their power and causes terrible
  burns. So the criminal is trapped for eternity in agony. Few
  are cast out this way; it is a fate reserved for the worst Sidhe
  criminals. It means these most despicable Sidhe are left on
  Théah, out of the reach and guardianship of their peers. There
  are not many left in agony deep within the human world.
  However, if only a handful managed to free themselves (or
  were freed by humans) the consequences for Théah would be
  terrible. They would be powerful, dangerous and most likely
  completely insane after centuries of torture. The Sidhe con-
  sider them safely locked away for now. However, they are
  aware that the last time they left the humans to themselves
  the fools bargained with the Syrneth for sorcery.
  Sidhe Culture
  When one considers the Sidhe, it becomes immediately obvi-
  ous that they are creatures of extremes.  Extreme beauty,
  extreme ugliness.  Kindness and generosity are abundant, on
  the one hand, but callousness and violence are just as
  common, on the other. Appearances, of course, can be deceiv-
  ing. The Sidhe possessed of the most transcendent beauty,
  speaking the most beguiling words, might well be contem-
  plating an act of complete savagery
  The Sidhe are drawn to all aspects of the human condition
  and are always trying to imitate the ways of mortals. Their
  appearance, interestingly enough, often reflects their suc-
  cesses or failure at the accuracy of that imitation.  From the
  noble Queens down to the least little gnome, the creatures of
  the Sidhe are investigating a mortal form and condition that
  has taken their fancy. That fancy frequently moves into the
  realm of obsession, for, as mentioned, the Sidhe are creatures
  of extremes. They do little in increments.
  The lesser Sidhe creatures, the goblins and sprites, the
  dryads and lurikeen, are enamored of some element of Théah
  that is more narrowly focused than that of their kin, and their
  physical stature, in some sense, reflects that. Compare the
  little spriggin, content in his grotto, collecting shells and
  rocks arranged in a particular way to the grand scope of the
  Queen of the Air with all attendant splendor and appoint-
  ments, including the nobles of the Hunt, the castle, the dig-
  nity and gravitas. The Lady of the Lake does not go in for the
  show, to be sure, but her kingdom is just as extensive, and she
  rules it with the same vigor. She just prefers to present a more
  “motherly” countenance. Maab, well. No time for frippery
  there, she has a war to conduct. And so it is across the spec-
  trum. 
  
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  This describes the trappings, but what of the deeper con-
  cepts? The Sidhe may take on the outward appearance of
  something in an effort to gain insight to the interior emo-
  tional experience. Thus the lhiannan-sidhe, the fairy lovers,
  will woo and charm mortals without realizing what is actually
  at stake, without truly comprehending the pain they cause. To
  them, it is just a role being played out, and they do not under-
  stand that to the mortal victim of their attentions the conse-
  quences are enduring (and frequently fatal).
  The externals are, of course, the most easily duplicated for
  the reality-warping Sidhe. The emotional elements, the state
  of the human mind, however, present a greater challenge.  Of
  all the things that seize a Sidhe’s interest and hold it, the most
  elusive and mysterious are the creative arts. The concept of
  chronological time and unchangeable past is utterly baffling
  to them, so they ignore it. But when it comes to the fine arts,
  they understand that mortals are able to do something that
  they themselves are incapable of: to create. A Sidhe taking on
  the semblance of a noble knight pledged to defend a lonely
  bridge against all comers can do an excellent job of fulfilling
  that role. The black enameled armor, the sinister steed, the
  bloodied lance, even the nobility, to some degree, can be cre-
  ated and employed, and the lonely bridge defended. A suc-
  cessful performance on all counts. But put on the guise of a
  Bard, or a painter, or a sculptor, and the artifice fails for lack of
  a crucial element: the Sidhe cannot invent. They can imitate,
  duplicate, reproduce, but seem unable to create original mate-
  rial. This frustrates the Sidhe so inclined to no end. (The
  spriggins do not seem to care; they’re busy making patterns
  out of rocks.) 
  So a Sidhe may be a dancer of breathtaking skill but never
  a choreographer. A singer of haunting loveliness, but the
  song she sings are not her own.  A Sidhe musician may play
  an instrument to charm the birds from the trees (and often
  does) but will never compose his own tunes.  All of the afore-
  mentioned may claim to have been the originator of a work,
  and with all sincerity, for they are so perfect in the adoption
  of their roles that they truly believe it to be so, but a mortal
  will always have created the works. Should such an anomaly
  be pointed out to a Sidhe, particularly in public, the charge of
  plagiarism will sting, but the greater offense will come from
  having the temerity to disturb the Sidhe’s theatrical perfor-
  mance and experience. 
  Of the arts, the more active are the more alluring. Music,
  dance, singing, performance all draw the Sidhe like prover-
  bial (all-powerful and eternal) moths to the (fragile and vul-
  nerable) flame. The results of passive arts (painting, sculpture,
  architecture, etc.) are seen as valuable, but only as “set decora-
  tion.” The true passion is for the act of “being a painter” rather
  than producing a painter. (In this view, it must be said, they
  are not far from the attitudes of many contemporary artists,
  who feel that the “doing” is the important thing, to the exclu-
  sion of the result, and certainly to the exclusion of apprecia-
  tion by an audience.) 
  Objects of power are not always in and of themselves pow-
  erful by nature, but by the Glamour invested in the their cre-
  ation. Whether this means that Glamour infused objects only
  possess powers because their makers believe they (the
  objects) do or whether the objects draw on the magic of the
  Glamour on their own is unknown and academic. Sidhe-
  inspired art objects are powerful indeed.
  The distinction is a simple one, in fact: The Sidhe are not
  engaged by the inanimate. They are drawn to spirit-infused
  living things, and the mortal intellectual capacity for pattern-
  finding and creation. There is a deep fascination with the
  “way things work,” the maze, the rhyme, the knot, harmony
  and symmetry, balance and progression. This may hearken
  back to time spent among the Syrneth or it may simply be
  part of their intrinsic nature.
  The Wild Hunt
  “Just row, boy!” The older man pulled hard on his oar while the
  younger pulled on his. The skiff lurched through the black waters of
  the tarn, into the misty moonless darkness, away from the shore
  where the howling of eldritch hounds echoed closer and closer.
  “But they fly above the trees! They can surely find us on open…”
  “Nay, our only hope is to get away from land! Row! I tell you I
  have seen the Hunt a-fore, and live to tell the tale!” They pulled
  onward, spurred by the fearful din approaching. 
  “It be not us they hunt, of that be sure. If we can but stay clear of
  their line, we are of naught to them.”
  If it was, in fact, the Hunt. If it was the Hounds, however, running
  riot, as had been known to happen, then no man or creature was safe.
  If they could get far enough out into the lake, they might find protec-
  tion. Perhaps.
  The Huntsman’s horn sounds just after sunset. Soon there-
  after, the Hunt sets forth, riding on unseen currents of air, the
  Shining Host glorious in its riding finery, their aughisky
  caparisoned in shimmering barding. Led sometimes by the
  resplendent Queen herself, the Lords and Ladies of the court
  put on their best finery. Around them swirl the Hounds,
  white and red, giving cry and leaping between the legs of the
  mounts. Amongst them ride the gray-cloaked Whippers-In,
  keeping the Hounds in order. At the head of this brilliant cav-
  alcade is the somber Horned Huntsman, his boar-spear in
  hand, and his horn on his belt. His antlered head is a stirring
  symbol to all of Avalon, despite the fearful enterprise he com-
  mands.
  The Wild Hunt is an uncommon but well-known occur-
  rence in the Glamour Isles. The sighting of the beautiful and
  terrible Sidhe caparisoned in their finery, riding through
  (and above) the forests, surrounded by the fearful pack of
  Hounds is a tale told over and over in taverns, in songs, and at
  children’s bedsides. In most cases, if one is at a decent remove,
  there is nothing to fear. Only rarely does the Hunt seek
  mortal prey, and if it is you, you will know it as the sun goes
  down. However, should a bystander interfere with the Hunt
  — be so unfortunate as to inadvertently “foil the line” (that is,
  disturb the scent of the quarry the hounds are following) or
  cause a “heads up” (distract the hounds by calling attention to
  yourself, whereby they lose the line), the consequences are
  dire indeed.
  The greatest of Hunts are those led by the nobles of the
  Sidhe Court. As is expected, the higher the noble’s rank, the
  grander the spectacle. The Queen of the Air herself, on rare
  occasions, takes out the Hounds, and those are fantastic
  events indeed. Her Sisters do not participate in this form of
  sport. The Lady of the Lake disapproves and Maab has no
  time, what with the war. The lesser nobility take to the field
  more frequently, albeit with smaller entourage.
  The Wild Hunt consists of the following components:
  
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  The Riders
  The nobles and their entourage for whose entertainment this
  sport was organized.
  The Whippers-In
  Servants of the Sidhe in great hooded gray cloaks who assist
  the Master of the Hunt.
  The Master of the Hunt
  A fearsome figure out of legend, the Master of the Hunt is a
  tall, powerful man in a gray cloak, armed with a hunting
  spear. Whether the rack of antlers he sports is a feature of his
  helm or part of his head is not clear. He leads the enterprise,
  controlling the Hounds and the whippers-in, and can be seen
  (although never heard) giving directions to the Riders. The
  Horned Huntsman is one of the Legends that provide a focus
  for the Glamour of Avalon. He represents the primeval spirit
  and strength of those that sought survival against a hostile
  nature, and the honor paid to the hunted. 
  This awe-inspiring figure is not, in fact, Sidhe at all. He is
  native to the Isles of Avalon and the world of Théah. The
  Druids know of him for he is their most revered power. He is
  not a deity in the sense that we understand it nor is he an
  anomalous creature like the Black Siren. He is a manifesta-
  tion made living, the spirit of the struggle between the glori-
  ous untamed nature and glorious untamed mankind.
  Whether he serves by choice or by force is unknown, he has
  never been known to speak. As the Druids are unconcerned
  that their primeval nature spirit is being held captive in
  human form, it can only be presumed that the relationship is
  voluntary and beneficial. 
  The Hounds
  The Hounds of the Wild Hunt are the stuff of
  terror indeed. Legends paint them as Hell
  Hounds, black as coal and burning red
  eyes, slavering jaws — flames spout-
  ing from their mouths. Reports of
  great leathery wings are not
  uncommon. In fact, the
  Hounds are, in appearance,
  white wolf-sized canines
  with red ears. The stories about leathery wings are most likely
  the result of the flying (which they do) and the flapping of
  the gray cloaks of the Whippers-In who attend them. They
  number between ten and twenty-four, but always an even
  number. They will pursue a quarry relentlessly, using a preter-
  natural cunning, although they are not, per se, intelligent.
  Tales are told of the Hounds being the spirits from previous
  Hunts transformed, or of the souls of the unborn, but these
  stories do not seem to aid in escaping — or surviving — their
  attention. 
  The Hunt is an extremely organized affair. It only appears
  for a specific purpose, and follows specific, unique and inex-
  plicable rules, none of which are made known to the quarry.
  The Hunt will frequently only ride within a certain boundary,
  such as a line of hills, a particular valley, or a certain forest. If
  the quarry can determine the nature of that boundary or
  crosses it by accident, it will be safe. Some Hunts will not
  cross a running river where there is a bridge is in view. Others
  will not come within the sound of a ringing church bell. Still
  others must take detours at crossroads. No matter the bound-
  ary, all Hunts avoid populated areas, even smaller villages.
  Some rules are unwavering: 
  • Shortly before sundown, the prey becomes aware that it is
  the subject of terrible and unwanted attention. An over-
  whelming sense of impending doom and anxiety is a clear
  harbinger that once full dark has fallen and the first star is
  visible in the night sky, the Hunt will ride. For those who
  have the courage, preparations can be made.
  • The Hunt always ends at cockcrow. If the quarry evades the
  Hunt till the first light of dawn, his life is safe forevermore,
  never to be hunted again. 
  • The Hunt will not pursue quarry through a gallitrap 
  (a mushroom ring) or Faery circle. Entering one of
  these, of course, carries its own hazard.
  •
  The Hunt respects the boundaries
  of the Sidhe Queens. Quarry that reaches
  open water (the sea, a river, or even a modest
  lake) comes under the protection of Maab or
  the Lady of the Lake, and pursuit will break
  off. This rule is the most successful means
  of surviving the Hunt in the damp and sea-
  girdled land of Avalon.
  No one knows what draws the
  Hunt’s attention to a particular
  person. Whether it is a partic-
  ular feature, some deed com-
  mitted, the caprice of the
  Master of the Hunt, or just
  random chance, no one can
  say. What is known is this:
  when you are the quarry, you
  are immediately aware of it.
  The sense of foreboding, the
  crawling sensation of immi-
  nent doom, the raw fear that
  accompanies is well docu-
  mented. Some collapse in
  
  CHAPTER
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  terror, some stand bravely to meet their fate, some run in an
  attempt to evade the pursuers. The end is always frightful. On
  some occasions the quarry is found the following day, having
  been torn to shreds. Occasionally the victim is discovered
  wandering, sometimes years later and leagues away, wits in
  tatters, memory gone. More often than not, the prey is simply
  never seen again.
  On rare and horrible occasions, the Hounds are loosed
  without the Riders and the Huntsman. To be anywhere near
  “The Hounds in Riot” is a terrible thing, indeed, for the
  normal rules of the Hunt are not in force. No warning given,
  the Hounds can strike at any and all. Although they still avoid
  towns and populations (and it is suspected are still checked
  by some of the strictures of the Hunt), is safe to say all rules
  are off, except for two: the Hounds will always avoid a Faery
  circle and they will disperse at daybreak. (The Hounds, unac-
  companied, are oblivious to political boundaries, however.
  They will pursue a victim into the demesne of the Lady or
  Maab, with spectacular consequences.)
  There are tricks available to confound the Hounds. As crea-
  tures of the Sidhe with limited intellect, they can be as baffled
  by the workings of this world as mortals can be by the ways of
  Bryn Bresail. Some methods are magical, some mundane,
  some require special knowledge, but all depend on extraordi-
  nary good luck.
  Ringing Fox
  A fox that runs in a wide circle, retracing its path, can confuse
  hounds by overlaying its scent. For a mortal being chased by
  Hounds moving at speed, completing a circle can be difficult
  at best. But with a swift horse and helpful geography, this
  maneuver has been known to thwart, however temporarily,
  an ensuing Hunt by playing on their misunderstanding of
  sequential time in the mortal realm. A hedge maze can be
  completely ensnared the Hunt, despite their ability to
  become airborne at will.
  Heads Up
  Some things can cause the Hounds to raise their heads and
  lose the line. The appearance of something distracting can
  pull the Hounds off the scent, at least until the Huntsman can
  bring them back to order and recover the line. The appear-
  ance of another Sidhe creature or the use of Sorcery has been
  known to create such a distraction. 
  Foil the Line
  No one knows just what it is the Hounds are following when
  pursuing a mortal. The mortal spirit, the fear, there have been
  many suggestions. It is certainly more than just scent. But
  there have been ways devised, some more successful than
  others, employed to spoil the Hounds ability to follow their
  quarry. A carpenter drove iron nails into his footprints. (Note:
  Using Porté to relocate forces the Hounds to cast about for
  the trail again, but does not put them off entirely. Escaping in
  this fashion does not seem to gain the benefit of the “never to
  be hunted again rule” because the escapee has not actually
  crossed the barrier of the Hunt. Apparently the Hunt feels
  this is cheating, and the chase will be taken up again on some
  later date. Pyeryem does not foil the line so much as up the
  ante.
  Heel Line
  The hounds are following the line, but in the wrong direc-
  tion. If the quarry can create a false impression of the direc-
  tion he is traveling, it is possible that the Hunt will track back
  the opposite direction. A tale is told of a miller who, when the
  Hunt fixed up on him just after moon rise on 30 Octavus,
  hitched his horse facing his wagon, and had the creature push
  the cart at breakneck speed to the sea. The Hounds, when
  they found the scent of the miller, followed the line back to
  the man’s mill, buying him precious time to reach the coast.
  They destroyed the mill, of course.
  Sailing on Waves of Mist
  It is not surprising that as an island culture, that the Sidhe
  have always held a great love of the sea. Water is the gateway
  to the soul of their island and its spirit makes up an important
  part of their souls. The Sidhe of both courts have a love of the
  ocean that rivals that of any Théan sailor. For the Seelie it is a
  way to travel to distant lands and trade for dreams; for the
  Unseelie it is a way to indulge in a love of piracy. 
  Théah remains a popular and intriguing destination for
  Sidhe sailors. While they are a rare sight on the ocean, and
  treated with much trepidation by any sensible captain, many
  mortal sailors have met such craft. Most meetings go quite
  well. Seelie captains have Glamour that will let them know
  the intentions of any other ship they come across. They can’t
  read the minds of the crew (well, not from a distance) but can
  tell if there is an aura of malevolence to a vessel. It is rare for
  another ship to spot the Sidhe vessel first, as their Glamour
  can let them pass unnoticed most of the time. This is why
  Unseelie pirates come out of nowhere on a clear day, and also
  why Reis has never met with a Sidhe ship.
  Most Sidhe ships are crewed by one court or another. There
  are almost no ships with a mixture of the two. This is mainly
  because on the closed environment of a ship, the differences
  between the courts can become pronounced, followed by the
  crews coming to blows. Most Seelie ships are travelling for
  the sake of adventure and trade. The sea is their playground.
  Most relish the chance to entertain human crews and share
  stories and songs. Sadly the Unseelie see the sea as a place to
  hunt. They are mostly pirates looking for all manner of plun-
  der. Some are interested in dark tales and twisted stories, and
  a crew who can entertain them may escape unharmed. Sadly
  their most likely fate is to be torn apart by the hungry
  Unseelie crew.
  It is not unknown for Sidhe to put into a human port. They
  have little need for supplies, and rarely enjoy the attention
  they receive. There is also the danger of cold iron when they
  visit humans, which makes them wary. However, now and
  again they will make a point of mixing with Théans. On occa-
  sion they are also willing to take on crew. Such recruits had
  better be very sure of themselves before they step aboard. The
  ways of the Sidhe are enticing but odd. Working such a ship
  takes some getting used to, although the adventure and the
  tales they will tell when they return make it all worth it. That
  is, as long as the ship returns to Théah years rather than cen-
  turies later.
  Sometimes lone Sidhe will take passage on a human ship.
  These souls are usually outcasts from Bryn Bresail, and being
  at sea is the closest they will come to home. Some hope for a
  glimpse of the Twilight Isle as they sail near Avalon. They are
  often a great help to a captain because of their special skills.
  
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  However there are some jobs they cannot do depending on
  any iron fixtures on board the ship. Being alone, most are
  happy to fit in with the humans, something any outcast is
  used to. Whether outcast or explorer, the Sidhe might stay
  with humans for a lifetime, or vanish mysteriously after a day.
  Some have been known to fall in love with their human crew-
  mates, who often share their wanderlust and love of adven-
  ture. The most famous Sidhe sailor is Celedoine who sails
  with Berek on The Black Dawn. Many would say she stays for
  all the reasons above, and is just as likely to be gone one day
  for the same reasons. There is little a human can do to predict
  them. 
  Most Sidhe travel back to Bryn Bresail using their magic or
  in the company of their own kind. Although some sailors say
  strange visitors have sometimes hired their ship to travel to
  an island not locatable on any chart. Such travelers are best
  not argued with or even disobeyed if the ship wishes to ever
  leave its destination.
  Sailing to Bryn Bresail
  The Sidhe navigate like any other sailor in Théah. Their tech-
  nology, while more accurate and more reliable than almost
  any except the Aldiz’ahali of the Crescent Empire, is much
  the same as any human device. However, their magic makes
  them privy to things no human can know. 
  A Sidhe navigator always knows in which direction Bryn
  Bresail lies. Even so, getting there is not easy, even for a Sidhe.
  They must first sail to the isle of the Grey Queen. Her tower
  functions like a lighthouse in the mists of the twilight lands.
  It lies on the edge of the reality where Théah meets Bryn Bre-
  sail. Due to the terms of her exile, few ships land and visit her
  isle. The Grey Queen is forced to watch from her tower as the
  ships of her kinsmen sail into the mists beyond to the home
  she is denied. Once past the Queen’s isle, any Sidhe navigator
  can find his way to Summerfall. 
  No human could make the journey without the aid of the
  Sidhe. However, plenty of devices that show the way are sold
  to the foolish in the ports of Avalon. Even so, the taverns are
  full of sailors saying they have crossed the mists, so maybe
  there do exist items that can show a human the way.
  Sidhe Ships
  Like their masters, the ships of the Sidhe are either beautiful
  or they are grotesque. The Seelie tend to sail in craft cut from
  a single piece of timber.  The joins are perfect. Most are mod-
  eled on human vessels but always seem that much sleeker
  and better crafted. Almost every panel and rail is carved or
  sculpted, making the ship a floating work of art. Yet for all
  these aesthetic qualities, they are neither delicate nor fragile.
  Their powerful cannons and Glamour magic can see off any
  sensible pirate. Even Reis knows to avoid such a craft.
  While almost exactly the same in terms of craftsmanship
  and ability, the Unseelie ship’s appearance is markedly differ-
  ent. Many look as if they simply should never float. Almost
  every timber is twisted and warped, yet still fit together seam-
  lessly. Like the Seelie, their craft have carvings and art
  worked into the rails and timbers. However, they are not
  inscriptions of birds and flowers, they are of men screaming
  and depictions of murder and decay. Some are so well done
  they flow and move, as if their intention is to make the
  onlooker lose their mind. The whole tangled and lopsided
  creation seems like a rotted hulk waiting to sink. However it
  moves with a speed and grace unmatched by any Théan ship,
  and has cannons that can crush a foe. Worse yet, the crew’s
  Glamour allows the ship to rise out of the mist to attack their
  prey taking advantage of a complete element surprise.
  Statistically, Sidhe ships are much like human ones. Create
  them as you would a normal ship of that size and add a couple
  of bonus points as you see fit. The difference is that the Sidhe
  ships are often made in designs no human could make float,
  let alone outclass a galleon, and they have the advantage of
  powerful Glamour magic. A few have been noted in books
  before, but there is no reason to restrict a Sidhe craft’s magic
  to these items alone. Remember that any magic item on a
  Sidhe ship is not hastily bolted on but is almost an “organic”
  part of the ship as it was built. To the Sidhe it is just a normal
  part of the ship.
  Sidhe Sails (Waves of Blood™) function in just the same way.
  However, they are a little more resistant to cold iron on a
  Sidhe vessel because they are protected by its Glamour. Even
  so, a cold iron cannonball does three times as much damage
  to the sails as it normally would. Iron is, of course, terribly
  dangerous to a Sidhe ship in general, doing twice its usual
  damage to the ship as a whole. 
  A Keel of Rowan Wood (Swashbuckling Adventures™) func-
  tions as normal, doubling the movement rate of the ship. As
  most Sidhe ships have both, they appear to fly but in reality
  they move significantly faster without leaving the water. The
  Sidhe in Théah must stay in contact with the sea or lose their
  contact with Bryn Bresail.
  Sidhe Ships and Crews
  The Queen’s Gambit
  Captained by the glamorous Seelie cavalier Lord Steele, the
  Queen’s Gambit is one of the most famous Sidhe pirate ships.
  The crew are all Seelie creatures with a passion for adventure
  that would put a Castillian to shame. The ship itself is huge
  and bristling with guns. Somehow the cannonballs miss any
  human target, even though they can reduce a ship to splin-
  ters. The Gambit will chase a vessel from the horizon, simply
  because it is taken with the thrill of pursuit. Inevitably, it will
  catch up with and pound the prey until it surrenders. Then
  the crew will board and take the ship. Lord Steele himself will
  come aboard and walk around the captured vessel. When he
  has inspected it thoroughly, he will announce what he will be
  taking. Sometimes it is the ship’s cargo, but more often than
  not it will be a story from a particular crewman or a single
  bottle of wine. He has been known to depart with no more
  than a kiss from a lady, a gift any woman would happily
  bestow on the devastatingly attractive man. A visit from the
  Queen’s Gambit is often an exciting and glamorous adventure,
  even for the victim. However, any crew should surrender
  quickly, as many have died when the pirates board their prey.
  They are not trying to kill, but easily forget that humans do
  not get up when the game is over.
  The Screaming Lover
  The Screaming Lover is an Unseelie pirate ship. It is crewed by
  nothing that comes close to resembling a human being and is
  fittingly commanded by Captain Lovelace, a huge ogre-like
  creature with lanternesque eyes and immense hands. He
  seems comical until he takes out the carved club he uses as a
  weapon and beats anyone who comes near to a pulp. The ship
  is so twisted that the prow and the stern are almost at forty-
  
  CHAPTER
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  five degrees to each other, and not one place on the vessel is
  level. Anyone boarding her suffers penalties (7th Sea:™ 1
  unkept dice; d20:™ –2 to hit) for any fighting they try to do.
  These penalties do not bother the crew who are used to it;
  besides, many of them have more than two legs for balance!)
  The ship sails on the orders from the Queen of the Sea to
  destroy the Black Freighter. Unfortunately, it passes its time by
  capturing human vessels and taking them apart, ship and
  crew, to see how they work.
  The Eternal Kiss
  This stunning craft is a sailor’s dream, crewed by beautiful
  Sidhe men and woman, all looking to live out eternity in sur-
  reptitious pleasure upon the high seas. It is filled with the
  exceptional food and wine in plentiful supply, and always
  brings good weather and sunny skies with it. The Sidhe on
  board only wish to experience pleasure in its myriad forms,
  and are known to offer humans the chance to join them.
  These happy souls, the envy of their crewmates, are never
  seen again. Their friends think they simply never want to
  leave such joy, whereas in fact most die screaming.
  The Eternal Kiss is not a Sidhe trap or crewed by Unseelie
  looking to do harm. The crew genuinely wishes to experience
  joy and pleasure. They also know humans are the best teach-
  ers, and so are keen to bring aboard a kindred spirit. However,
  they do not know when to stop. There is no rest from the
  delights on board. It is wonderful for a time, then wearing,
  then painful, and finally agonizing. The more a human calls
  for ease and release, the more the Sidhe try to ease their pain
  with pleasure. When that fails they assume they have got it
  wrong and try alternative ways of pleasing the human. Below
  decks are all manner of equipment and devices to help their
  search. The Sidhe often learn much, but the human dies
  screaming for mercy and release.
  Trading with the Sidhe
  With all the power of Glamour and magic at their command,
  it is odd to think there is anything the Sidhe could want from
  humans. However, there are plenty of things the Sidhe not
  only want but positively crave although their cravings are not
  in line with human cravings. What the Sidhe want, humans
  have in abundance, but find difficult to trade.
  The Sidhe love stories. Many a sailor has been held at gun-
  point by a Sidhe pirate and forced to tell a story. Possessing no
  innate imagination, the Sidhe find even the blandest story
  fascinating. They hang on every word simply because they do
  not know what will happen next and lack the imagination or
  the experience to predict it. They are used to knowing the
  future to a greater or lesser degree, so the idea of not knowing
  intrigues them.
  Poems and music interest them for similar reasons. They
  can replicate human music and literature but have none of
  their own. Humans are good at creating new twists and varia-
  tions on themes that the Sidhe find extremely entertaining. 
  
  CHAPTER
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  However, as always, there is something darker that
  intrigues the Sidhe — emotions and memories. The Sidhe
  will offer to trade vast sums of gold and jewels for feelings
  and experiences. Through powerful Glamour magic the
  Sidhe can draw the emotion from a human and experience it,
  which is as close as they get to having emotion. The Seelie are
  willing to trade for such things, like love or friendship that
  can be passed on willingly. However, Unseelie pirates are
  often interested in rage, greed, and jealousy, which can be
  stolen quite easily and in fact they have come to understand
  that “stealing” is part of the process.
  Some Sidhe have mastered the art of storing their pur-
  chased emotions in objects. Sometimes these are lost and are
  precipitous if they fall into human hands. They are often
  filled with a pure and primal form of the feeling at hand,
  which will overwhelm any human who comes into contact
  with it.
  At its basic level this trade is good for the humans who can
  become wealthy even though they share little. Sadly for
  many Sidhe, little is not enough. They want all of a person’s
  rage or love, effectively stealing a part of the victim’s soul. A
  life without rage may seem desirable, but it would be a life
  without passion too. A person’s emotions and feelings come
  together to create their soul, and the loss of the darker parts
  diminishes them. This brings a Sidhe a fleeting glimpse of
  something they are denied. The feelings they buy are only
  theirs for a moment before they vanish entirely.
  Language and
  Naming Conventions
  There is no special separate Sidhe language, at least as far as
  anyone knows. While the Sidhe may have communicated
  with each other by telepathy or through a communal mind
  aeons ago, they are now fully entrenched in the expression of
  their “lives” in Théah and Bryn Bresail. They use the human
  conventions of title and nomenclature. They are creatures of
  idea, and will adapt their persona to wherever they might be
  at that moment, the Glamour Isles, Montaigne, or even
  Ussura. So adept are they at re-creating themselves that a
  Sidhe may have many “identities,” each of which is equally
  real.
  The Sidhe as they appear in 7th Sea™ are not elves in the
  sense of other fantasy worlds nor are they exact duplicates of
  the Sidhe in folklore of the British Isles and Brittany. While
  they often appear as tall, thin humans, the Sidhe in this world
  have the ability to change their appearance at will and thus
  cannot be characterized as having a particular physiognomy
  or body type, despite what Lady Mary Katharine might have
  written. A GM is encouraged to choose whatever style(s) suit
  the campaign, keeping in mind that the Sidhe seem to strive
  for extremes in their appearance, even if that means being
  what they regard as extremely “normal.”
  How Do You 
  Pronounce That?
  The language as presented in this book reflects a combination
  of real-world Gaelic, Irish, and Welsh. 
  Table 1–1: Pronunciation Guide
  Word
  Pronunciation
  Banesidhe
  Ban-SHEE
  Bryn Bresail
  Brin Bruh-SAIL
  Burn-righinn
  Bur-ruh-GEEN
  Derwyddon
  Der-WITH-un
  Dubh
  Doo
  Fadh-Righ
  Fah-DREE
  Fae
  Fay
  Faileas
  Fahl-yahs 
  Fål
  Fail
  Firbolg
  Fear-VOLG
  Gaoithe
  Gea
  Gwydd
  Gwyth
  Lhiannan-sidhe
  Lee-ANN-un-shee
  Lugh
  Lew
  Maab
  Mab (or) Mave
  Mordwywr
  Mor-duh-VEER
  Morrigan
  Mor-uh GEEN
  Padyn
  Peyton
  Ramh-righinn
  Rom-ruh-GEEN
  Sidhe
  Shee
  Sluagh
  SLU-ah
  Tuatha de Daannan
  TWA-tha da dan-on
  Tearlaidh
  TUR-lee
  Théah
  THAY-uh
  Bryn Bresail — 
  When Mist Meets Dream
  If queried, the Sidhe would be at a loss to define themselves
  in terms of a “history” because that would require them to
  understand the human concept of time. Insofar as anyone is
  able to give the Sidhe a history, it goes something like this…
  In the age of the Syrneth races, long before the coming of
  man, there were the Sidhe. They came out of a formless place
  they called Bryn Bresail which may have existed in a
  between-place, in the gaps left in creation. The laws of cre-
  ation did not apply here because they were not made for such
  a place. In Bryn Bresail there was no time and space, only
  mist and nothingness. Despite this, the void contained inhab-
  itants, beings built of little more than consciousness. They
  came out of the void longing for purpose and existence, just
  like the races they saw in the newly created world of Théah.
  These beings were immortal, which gave them the poten-
  tial for vast power because no law of reality limited them.
  They understood nothing of existence or how to be alive, so
  they looked to the races of Théah to give themselves form.
  They looked into the minds and dreams of the Thalusai, the
  Setines, and the other Syrneth.
  
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  At first what they saw was metallic, a technological utopia
  in visible. The Syrneth thirst for power and conquest
  enslaved the ethereal Sidhe who found themselves trapped
  within monoliths of iron and fire. Luckily the Sidhe managed
  to sever the link with these Razhdost creations, and returned
  to the formless Bryn Bresail with only a vague memory of
  their previous existence on land. 
  From time to time, they returned to Théah. Something
  new was taking shape there, creatures that had only just
  learned to walk and make sounds but even so, their dreams
  had a quality the Sidhe had never seen before. Slowly they
  began to reach out to the dreams of these creatures, but this
  time they were more cautious. They still bore the scars of
  their encounter with the Syrneth, and iron was now a poison
  to them. They kept themselves at a safe distance from the
  physical reality and moved carefully and thoughtfully, never
  permitting a link to form between themselves and this prim-
  itive race.
  As they watched, the Sidhe reshaped Bryn Bresail but this
  time it was connected to Théah. As before, it took its inspira-
  tion from the inhabitants’ dreams, which in this case were
  full of wildly conflicting images, some preposterously beauti-
  ful, some devastatingly ugly. The land reflected this, con-
  stantly adjusting to the dictates of man’s dreams. Of all the
  places in Théah, the Sidhe found the isles of Avalon the most
  appealing. Shrouded by thick foliage and heavy mists, they
  could get closer to these “humans” without being detected. 
  From this vantage point, they learned a valuable lesson:
  humans were not nearly as inspiring as their dreams made
  them out to be. It seemed more sensible, if such a word can be
  applied to a race without emotion, to model themselves on
  humanity’s dreams, and not on humanity itself. This time
  they would not make the same mistake they had made with
  the Syrneth. Only by divorcing themselves from humanity
  could the Sidhe protect themselves and Bryn Bresail. It was
  obvious that these humans were unworthy of the gift the land
  offered them.
  The Sidhe could form themselves as they pleased. They could
  look like humans (or mostly human) and they could speak
  the humans’ language, but they lacked something that made
  them both fascinated by and contemptuous of men — the
  ability to express emotion.
  They began to appear to human travelers and demand
  answers to questions that always sounded like riddles in the
  spirit of “Why do you smile when you are sad?” or “Why do
  you cry when you are happy?” They treated humans with the
  same disdain that a ruler might treat a peasant. Some people
  learned the hard way to answer with respect and humility.
  Others were not as wise and found themselves hopelessly lost
  in a place they had known all their lives. Obviously these
  Sidhe were a powerful and dangerous force to be avoided at
  all costs. For the most part, this has been the way of things for
  over two thousand years. 
  The Sidhe have used their collective power in defense of
  Théah only once. When they realized that the battles among
  the Syrneth races threatened the nascent human population,
  they sought help from Matushka to expel the Syrneth from
  Théah and raise a Barrier to keep them out. This effort
  required enormous energy and forced them to retire to Bryn
  Bresail for hundreds of years to recoup their power. 
  They have returned to Avalon relatively recently but what
  they found was most disheartening. Their effort and sacrifice
  was apparently for naught because the weak-willed humans
  had struck an unholy Bargain with the Syrneth to gain the
  power of sorcery. Every act of sorcery weakened the Barrier
  and hastened the day when the Syrneth could return to
  Théah in force.
  There are those among the Sidhe who suggest that if they
  could find a way to save Avalon, they should let the Syrneth
  return and take over the rest of Théah. If the power-mad
  humans want to keep sorcery that badly, they are welcome to
  the apocalypse.
  Walking the Path
  Humans know Bryn Bresail as a place where spring  springs
  eternal and where the riot of color is as dazzling as jewels in a
  sultán’s royal treasury. A thin layer of frost — or “Fae dust,” as
  some have called it — holds everything suspended in
  unearthly sparkle. Bryn Bresail and its inhabitants are like an
  image in a mirror — perfect and cold. It is often said that the
  land is a place of summer inhabited by beings with hearts of
  winter. However, winter does lurk in the dark places of the
  land, and few humans live to tell of it, leading to the illusion
  the island is only bathed in summer sun.
  The ghostly island of Bryn Bresail appears at dawn and
  fades at dusk. It is a dream that you see out of the corner of
  your eye but cannot gaze upon full face or it disappears.
  The land is divided by the River of Forgetfulness; upon one
  bank it is eternally summer while the opposite bank resides
  in insufferable winter. Many human travelers have visited
  Bryn Bresail, some of them by choice. It is a land of great con-
  trast — beauty and horror — that leaves its mark on every
  visitor, sometimes as a gift and sometimes as a scar.
  The first thing a traveler to Bryn Bresail must accept is that
  time does not behave the same way it does in the rest of
  Théah. It is always the same day, a concept that has driven
  people mad. The time you enter is also the time you leave, as a
  visit takes no time at all. Because time in Bryn Bresail and
  Théah are not synchronous, you might return home in an
  hour, a week, a year or a lifetime. Even those with Sidhe blood
  Avalon
  Bryn Bresail is often called the “Ghost Island.” In ancient
  times, a great flood covered the world. In the frigid waters
  of the north, known now as the Trade Sea, a group of
  people escaped destruction in a sturdy boat that found its
  way to Bryn Bresail. This was the first direct encounter the
  Sidhe had with humans and fortunately, it was a good one.
  The Sidhe guided the humans to the only spot of land in
  that part of Théah that remained, a trio of beautiful islands
  called Avalon.
  For centuries, the Sidhe watched the people of Avalon,
  who believed that they were the only people in the world.
  When General Julius Caius and the army of the Numan
  Empire arrived on Avalon’s shores, the Sidhe waited 150
  years before they intervened. For fifty years horrific storms
  kept anyone from reaching Avalon, during which time, the
  Numans decided that the place was cursed and gave up
  trying to conquer it. 
  When the storms subsided, no one in Avalon had aged.
  Those who had been trapped on the island had become
  part of society there and all memory of the Numan inva-
  sion disappeared from everyone’s memory, removed by a
  powerful form of Sidhe magic called Glamour.
  
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  never fully grasp this concept because they are locked in the
  linear temporal existence. The only hope a human has of nav-
  igating the land is by following the Path.
  This is by no means as easy as it sounds. There is no magi-
  cal road for the traveler to be wary of losing track of. The jour-
  ney is completed even as it is begun, so the traveler must try
  to retrace his steps, even though he has no idea what they
  were or what they will be. The Path is manifested by offering
  the traveler brief glimpses of his essence — something that
  may look and feel familiar tells the traveler he is probably on
  the right path. You may see a woman who looks like your
  mother or sister, hear a tune from your childhood whispered
  on the wind, or uncover an old toy in a Fae market. You must
  allow these signs to lead you or you will become hopelessly
  lost not only in Bryn Bresail, but also in time itself. 
  Those who do get lost are in more than just a little trouble.
  They are not just cast away on the sea of time, but can
  actually become an anomaly in
  existence. The Path becomes
  the way they went on a jour-
  ney that they have not yet
  taken. While in theory they
  cannot step off it, they will
  and when they do, the uni-
  verse will react in the only
  way it knows how to prevent
  paradox, by attempting to
  remove the character from exis-
  tence by gradually erasing his
  essence.
  Many travelers use a Guidelight (see
  Sophia’s Daughters™) to point the way.
  However, such things cause ripples in
  the magical essence of the island, letting
  everyone know the traveler’s location.
  Worse yet, a guidelight can only take some-
  one to a certain place; it cannot follow your
  path for you. Many travelers have used
  them to return to the path when lost.
  However that is only due to luck, as all
  the guidelight can do is show you to a
  place. If that place is on your path it will
  lead you back to safety. If not it will take
  you further into the mists.
  Fading into the Mists
  In game terms this erasure of human existence is
  represented by the loss of character traits (7th Sea™) or
  Abilities (d20™). In the 7th Seas™ system, a character loses one
  point from one of traits every hour that they are in Bryn Bre-
  sail. In the d20™ system, a character loses two points from one
  ability every hour. Traits or abilities should be determined
  randomly each time, per the following charts:
  Table 1–3: Lost Traits (7th Sea™)
  Roll & Keep (d10)
  Trait
  1 – 2
  Brawn
  3 – 4
  Finesse
  5 – 6
  Wits
  7 – 8
  Resolve
  9 – 10
  Panache
  Table 1–4: Lost Abilities (d20™)
  D6
  Ability
  1
  Strength
  2
  Dexterity
  3
  Constitution
  4
  Intelligence
  5
  Wisdom
  6
  Charisma
  The effects of these losses are reflected in the penalties usu-
  ally associated with low attributes. However, when an
  attribute reaches zero there are additional effects. 
  Brawn/Strength
  When this attribute fails the character no longer has the
  strength to support his own body weight. He is unable to
  move or lift anything at all. His legs no longer support
  him and he cannot raise his arms.
  Finesse/Dexterity
  A character who has lost this attribute can still move
  around but trips over his own legs all the time. He
  drops anything he picks up, and cannot master
  the skill to pick it up again. He cannot walk for
  more than a few seconds without falling over.
  Resolve/Constitution
  A lack of this attribute makes a character
  incredibly tired. He no longer has energy to
  do anything at all and falls into a deep sleep.
  Friends can wake him from this sleep, as it is not
  magical in nature, but without some magical
  intervention, he will be asleep again in sec-
  onds.
  Wits/Intelligence & Wisdom
  Devoid of his mind the character
  becomes like a walking zombie. He
  must be told everything twice
  because he forgets it the next
  second. He is dazed and confused,
  no longer able to remember
  something as simple as his
  name. Walking is difficult and
  he must be shown how to put
  one foot in front of the other.
  Panache/Charisma
  Luckily this is the least threat-
  ening attribute to lose. Even so, the
  character becomes devoid of personality. The term “friend” or
  “enemy” becomes meaningless. Such characters become irra-
  tional, as they are no longer able to determine the meaning of
  any gestures and remarks. They become paranoid but also
  easily manipulated. Rumor has it that Unseelie wait for this
  attribute to fail in lost humans before coming to their rescue.
  Then they keep the human as their slave for eternity.
  If the character manages to leave Bryn Bresail or find the way
  back on the path then the attribute losses stop. Points are
  regained at a rate of one a day (either system) until the uni-
  verse has restored them and settled again.
  
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  Cast Out of Bryn Bresail
  Sometimes a character gets lucky. If he is near the borders of
  Bryn Bresail, the land actually expels him. Such expulsion is
  quick but essentially confusing. One moment the character is
  wondering where he should go next, and the next moment
  finds himself in the middle of a bathhouse in Pavtlow. Bryn
  Bresail can expel characters anywhere in Théah, but it is
  always into a body of water. Unfortunately many souls have
  drowned somewhere between Théah and the Midnight Arch-
  ipelago or elsewhere in the lonely ocean. The lucky ones find
  themselves in a lake near civilized areas. A few have even
  become trapped in the middle of the Huang He, the great
  Yellow River that runs through the middle of Cathay.
  Chance Meetings
  There are a variety of creatures and characters you could run
  into on your way about the twilight lands. Here are a few
  random ideas in an encounter table to get you started. (Use 1
  d10; the chart works for any game system.)
  Places in Bryn Bresail
  The River of Forgetfulness
  The river that divides Bryn Bresail in half is the most impor-
  tant landmark on the Grey Isle. Every Sidhe child is brought
  here to bathe in its waters. Over time, the Sidhe have come to
  believe themselves the epitome of the greatest of man’s
  dreams and that man himself is a corruption of those dreams
  so they purify themselves in the river of the taint of man.
  Humans would do well to avoid the river. The Sidhe would
  consider anyone who bathed in it to be corrupting a most
  sacred place. It would be the same as a pig farmer coming into
  a church to wash off the dirt in the font. The Sidhe will most
  likely kill the trespasser, if he is lucky. However, he is
  unlikely to care, as the river was not made for mortals. Any
  vestiges of humanity the Sidhe may have does not vanish into
  the ether, but remains trapped in the river. For a bather with
  human blood the opposite happens and all the “soul dirt”
  washed away by the Sidhe rushes into him. The O’Bannon
  was dipped here and driven mad by the souls who found
  release in his mind. Even so, he only freed less than half of the
  voices from the river. Without the protection of Sidhe blood,
  the victim’s mind is utterly destroyed, killing them in a fugue
  of screaming souls.
  The river divides Bryn Bresail in half. One bank is spring-
  time, and becomes summer the further you go into the Seelie
  lands. The other bank is a harsh autumn, and drives into
  winter as you enter the lands of the Unseelie. Although it
  divides the land, its width varies wildly. In some places it is at
  Table 1–6: Chance Encounters in Bryn Bresail
  Result
  Outcome
  1
  An old man is very rude and abusive to the characters.
  2
  A coach drawn by flame-colored horses almost runs down the group. A lady inside cries out as it passes 
  and drops her handkerchief (or some item) onto the road.
  3
  A young knight challenges the strongest looking player to a non-lethal duel.
  4
  A haughty noble lady stops her coach to inform the group they are untidy and offensive. She will take 
  exception to any who try to argue with her.
  5
  A small ugly Sidhe creature begs for gold. It will try and steal something if they refuse.
  6
  A huge monster demands the characters defeat him before they can pass.
  7
  A cloaked shadowy figure offers delight and wonder to the group, for a price. All they need do is follow him 
  a little further …
  8
  A group of peasant or noble Sidhe dissolve in hysterical laughter at the sight of the party.
  9
  A lovely young Sidhe peasant girl is beset by tiny creatures who assert that she has stolen valuable some
  thing from them.
  10
  A strange animal like Sidhe creature stares at the party from a short distance. It has a powerful magical 
  aura and seems to mouth their names without speaking. However, if they approach it will vanish into 
  the forest.
  Table 1–5: The Book of Lost Memories
  Result
  Outcome
  1
  A Fae maiden reminds you of your sister before she turns to face you.
  2
  You find a piece of parchment with your name written on it.
  3
  You hear a lullaby you used to hear your mother sing
  4
  You see a tree you had growing outside your house
  5
  A low Fae taunts you the same way the bullies of your youth did.
  6
  You smell your mother’s cooking.
  7
  You see a Fae dwelling with the same front door as your old home.
  8
  The laughter of the first person you loved echoes around you.
  9
  You find something trivial that you lost many years ago (i.e., a sock or a handkerchief).
  10
  An old man sits the road whittling wood, or pursuing some other craft that reminds you of your father.
  Lost Memories
  For players who have developed a reasonable amount of
  background, finding memories along the Path will be rela-
  tively easy. For those who have not, the chart below will be
  useful. These encounters provide markers to show the
  characters he is still on the Path, and which direction they
  should take along the route. (Use 1 d10; the chart works for
  any game system.)
  
  CHAPTER
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  least several meters wide, at others it is a stream barely inches
  wide. Be forewarned though, even when it is simply a mere
  trickle of liquid, the river loses none of its power to those who
  touch it. Travelers should also be aware that it must always be
  crossed to pass from one land to the other. However, where is
  it thin many poor souls can cross without knowing they have
  done so, and find themselves in the dark land of the Unseelie. 
  Fae Villages
  The Goodly Folke live together in very human communities.
  The island is littered with towns and villages very much in
  the human mold. In these places it is the population that is
  strange and bizarre, as the buildings look much the same as
  they do in Théah. The Sidhe also “create” the community lead-
  ers that they establish in human settlements. So each place
  has a mayor or village elder. Unfortunately they are doing the
  job because they feel it needs doing, even though they have
  no real idea about what they are meant to do. So such “elders”
  are often of very little use to a traveler, as they have little
  power. 
  None of these settlements have any real purpose. The Folke
  live in them because that seems to be what humans do, but
  each place has no specific reason to be there. These are not
  centers of trade or settlements built because of good water or
  defensibility. The Sidhe simply place towns where they need
  them. The Folke who prefer city life live in the towns, and the
  ones who like life in the country choose the villages
  Summerfall
  The island of Bryn Bresail has only one port, but it is
  the most incredible harbor any human has seen. It is a
  huge town that clutches the island where the river of
  forgetfulness meets the sea. It is part of both the Seelie
  and Unseelie lands, and is considered neutral territory
  for both courts. In its waterside taverns are the most
  incredible variety of Sidhe creatures and adventurers.
  Seelie and Unseelie drink and carouse together in the
  center of the city. However the nearer to the edges
  you go, the more dominated by one side or the other
  the port becomes.
  While it lies at the mouth of the River of
  Forgetfulness, the town is still split by it. So the
  great bridge of spring and autumn connects the
  two sides. As you cross you can feel the sea-
  sons change. The two sides of the port are
  considered one town and therefore both
  courts can mix freely, as long as they don’t
  leave the confines of the town. Travelers
  who consider themselves safe because they
  are on the Seelie side are fools. Plenty of
  Unseelie work the summer side looking
  for just such silliness, and plenty of Seelie
  go to the winter side to engage in darker
  business.
  The waterfront does not consist
  only of taverns. It is littered with dan-
  gerous and bizarre creatures, each with
  different services and wares to trade. Such
  curiosities range from the exotic to the malev-
  olent. These shadowy merchants will trade you
  gold for a lock of hair, and tell you the future if you gift
  them a memory of the past. Such deals seem simple and
  tempting. But any experienced traveler in Bryn Bresail
  knows that these folk more than most will deliver a dark and
  dangerous bargain for the unwary. However tempting, their
  wares are best avoided. The most amazing sight on the water-
  front remains the ships that moor there. Those of the Seelie
  and the Unseelie tie up side by side. Proud swan-like Seelie
  galleons nestle up to the dangerous pirate warships of the
  Unseelie. 
  Castle of the Queen of the Sky
  The grandest sight in all of Bryn Bresail is the great castle of
  the Queen of the Sky. It is a massive building that lies in a
  summer valley surrounded by trees and flowers of incredible
  beauty. Peasant folk laugh and play in the fields outside. The
  castle is gigantic, its huge walls of white stone rising to an
  impossible height. However, the thin towers that rise from
  the walls and buildings inside outstretch them. The walls and
  turrets are decorated with flags and banners of vivid color and
  design. Meticulously stained glass adorns the windows. Only
  one great door made of silver allows visitors to enter the inner
  buildings. Two huge wolf-headed men , each at least ten feet
  tall and bearing a massive polearm, guard the gates and will
  admit no interloper. Only those accompanied by, or with per-
  mission from, a noble Sidhe are allowed to pass.
  Once through the gate, characters can pass into the inner
  garden. Here Sidhe nobles and their guests sit and laze away
  the sun in talk and play. The castle itself can be seen in its full
  glory by anyone in the garden. It is a delicate and asymmetric
  
  CHAPTER
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  THE
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  building built of the same white stone as the walls. It is lit-
  tered with thin towers and linked by walkways in a represen-
  tative Vodacce style. However, no Vodacce even with Sorte
  magic to assist them could create this marvel of architecture. 
  Inside the castle the Queen holds court in a massive throne
  room. She sits on the throne of Bryn Bresail, a great chair
  built of a delicate silver material that nevertheless casts an
  aura of power across the room. The throne room seems to fill
  the whole castle. In actuality, the Queen’s whims mold the
  building’s interior. It is as large or small as she wishes it to be
  at any given moment, regardless of the limits of its outside
  appearance. The Queen can create or delete rooms and whole
  wings of the place with a thought.
  Théans who travel to the castle had best have something
  important to say. As soon as they enter the throne room, con-
  versation stops and the assembled noble host will turn to
  them. If they fail to impress the lords and ladies they may
  share the fate of Bonnie McGee. In a corner of the court lies a
  large model of the island of Cabora surrounded by those who
  find its contents amusing. Trapped inside it Bonnie can be
  seen fighting her final battle with a ghostly Captain Reis over
  and over again…
  Where Water Flows
  As noted above, humans can enter the twilight lands as well,
  although such travel is sometimes accidental. Many humans,
  particularly in Avalon, go to sleep and find themselves
  waking in a strange world. If unprepared for a visit to Bryn
  Bresail, the traveler is in great danger and few manage to
  return unscathed.
  A Scry sorceress can travel into the isles when she wishes.
  However, even she can only travel to the lands through a
  gateway pool. (Sophia’s Daughters™). To do this she needs a
  pool of water linked to Bryn Bresail. Sophia’s Daughters have
  a good idea of where most of these pools are and share these
  secrets with their sisters.
  No one, perhaps not even the Sidhe, can travel to the lands
  whenever or wherever they wish. They need some form of
  gateway. Such gateways are places where the veil between
  Théah and Bryn Bresail is thinner, so most, but not all, lie in
  Avalon. Ironically, these gateways always lead to the same
  place in Bryn Bresail. The areas are linked in the same way
  like the ends of a tunnel. If a Fae grove leads to the Spring
  Faire, it will always lead there. However, just like anything
  else in Bryn Bresail, everything else may have moved around
  so just because the grove they enter the land in is near the
  castle of the Queen of the Sky on one visit, one cannot
  be assured it will be so conveniently placed the
  second time around. The traveler will reach the
  same grove, but the castle could be miles away, or even on the
  other side of the river. Rarely do gateways lead to places of
  any importance in Bryn Bresail. For the Sidhe it is like living
  near a train station.
  Water plays an important part in any portal to Bryn Bresail.
  It is a manifestation of the great river, which some have gone
  so far as to suggest is the source of all rivers. However, water
  need not always be present. Some Fae gates rely on moon-
  light to enchant them. Such gates are more difficult to pass
  through and best traversed on a bright moonlit night. 
  Many Glamour sorcerers have learned the old ways to open
  such areas for passage. However, only a master sorcerer can
  do this and even so, not always. The ritual is quite simple, but
  it can only be performed in a place of Sidhe magic, on a
  moonlit night. Such places are reasonably common in
  Avalon, but rare anywhere else. On special nights (the sort
  that come around once every hundred years or so) such
  places sometimes open to the traveler, whether he wants to
  travel or not. 
  Getting home is rather tricky. A Scry sorceress need only
  find a pool again, and she is home. However, unless she has
  used that pool before, she will not know where it emerges in
  Théah. For everyone else the return journey is more difficult.
  Any Sidhe noble has the ability to open a way to Théah, but
  why should they do a human a favor? Only the nobles have
  the legal right to open such portals. However, a great many
  low Faes regularly travel to Théah for fun and mischief. They
  can often be convinced to return a traveler, but usually not do
  it for free. As always, humans should take great care in such
  bargains. The simpler and easier it sounds, the more danger-
  ous it usually is. The Fae have no use for coins and prefer to
  collect stories, dreams and especially memories.
  The last and easiest option for travel is to book passage on a
  Sidhe ship. Of course you need to find Summerfall first, and
  the right captain. But once on the ship, although strange, the
  journey is much like any other sea voyage. As always the trav-
  eler should take care in choosing a captain. After all, once the
  ship sets sail, he is at the mercy of the Sidhe crew in an ocean
  of mists.
  
  CHAPTER
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  The
  COURTS
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  Relations with Théah
  Is it is customary in works of this sort to give thumbnail
  sketches of the attitudes and perceptions of the subject
  towards the various Théan nations, nationalities, and secret
  societies. This is not possible with the Sidhe, as they have
  little in the way of a cohesive agenda and even less common
  attitudes. They are creatures of striking individuality and idio-
  syncrasy, so at best we might be able to outline a typical
  stance or two, and the hero must trust to luck or what he has
  been told by more or less reliable sources.
  Nations
  The Sidhe are devoted, in their strange way, to the Glamour
  Isles. This is not quite the same thing as being devoted to
  the nation of Avalon. The Sidhe likely view the dis-
  tinctions of Inish, Marcher, and Avalon as styl-
  istic choices, as if one can choose one’s accent
  and heritage the way one would select clothing.
  The same would hold true for foreigners, as a
  Sidhe would make no distinction between a Mon-
  taignard and a Castillian beyond the personal level,
  although the human concept of “foreigner” seems to
  have penetrated to some degree. Thus the Sidhe
  appear to take sides on behalf of Avalon more
  often than not. Bear in mind that the
  Unseelie are a law unto themselves and
  thus entirely unpredictable.
  The Sidhe are rarely observed in other
  lands. This is not to say they are not pre-
  sent in other places, just that they are
  usually not observed. Perhaps they are
  uncomfortable being such a distance from
  access to Bryn Bresail, perhaps they are
  wary of foreign magic (Sorté certainly
  makes them unhappy), or perhaps they
  simply lack the itch for novelty that is
  scratched by exploration. It is also possible that
  when traveling, Sidhe take on disguises and travel
  incognito, although some people acquainted with
  them consider the idea preposterous. 
  Avalon (The Glamour Isles)
  The Favored Lands, the Triple Kingdom, the
  place that the Sidhe regard as their own and
  which they will defend against all foes with
  all their power.
  Castille
  Between the overweening presence of
  the Church and the enclaves of El Fuego
  Adentro sorcerers, Castille is not regarded
  as a favorable place for more than a brief
  visit. On the other hand, there is a clear
  fascination with the drama of fiery
  dances and the generally passionate
  way in which the Castillians con-
  duct their lives.
  Cathay
  The gods of the Seven Kingdoms gave a gift to the people to
  ensure that no Syrneth races would cross into their lands. The
  Sidhe have visited Cathay, but out of respect for the ethereal
  powers there, they do not make their presence known nor do
  they linger. They much prefer to obtain Cathayan items from
  their agents in Vodacce, much the way they see that mortals
  do. Sidhe pirates enjoy watching the flow of sea traffic to
  Cabora and sometimes enjoy the entertainment afforded by
  taunting mortal ships. They do not sail beyond Cabora, how-
  ever.
  Crescent Empire
  The Sidhe cannot survive without water, which means that
  vast areas of the Crescent Empire are inhabitable for them.
  They have been known to visit the forests of the Kurtlar-
  dag and Hayalet-dag, but
  they rarely venture much
  beyond that. Sidhe pirates
  like to sail to the Dakalan’ya
  and Cinada’ya but they have
  great respect for the Aldiz’a-
  hali and so do not harass
  them. 
  
  CHAPTER
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  THE
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  Eisen
  Although there is no threat from Dracheneisen, the land is
  simply too blighted for comfort. Not to mention there are a
  lot of iron-based weapons being brandished and many dead
  bodies — a place without much loveliness if the truth be
  known.
  Montaigne
  Before the Revolution, Montaigne was the place where the
  Sidhe went to learn more about how to conduct oneself as a
  courtier. The Musketeers were also amusing, dashing around,
  waving their rapiers about and carrying out their noble mis-
  sions. Since the Revolution, Montaigne has become tedious
  with it commoner-run government. However, the people still
  posture and thus act as models for Sidhe. Montaigne has had
  visitations on many occasions, as the proximity and familiar-
  ity make that country accessible. In some respects, the Courts
  of Montaigne are the exact opposite of the feasting halls of
  Vestenmannavnjar: for all the refinement and culture, the
  courtiers are frequently (although, to be fair, not completely)
  duplicitous and conniving, and the shifting sands of alliance
  and treachery are difficult — and exciting — to navigate.
  Ussura
  This is allied territory where the Sidhe know that they are
  safe. The Sidhe discovered something that is perhaps less well
  known to their human counterparts. The Ussuran soul is one
  for great drama and torment, the range of emotion as deep as
  it is wide. Storming about clad in silvery furs and emulating
  an Ussuran noble in full rant appeals to the sensation-seeking
  Sidhe. While Vestenmannavnjar is a barbarous but light-
  filled nation, Ussura reveals the darker side of human sorrow.
  Vendel
  As a rule, the Sidhe find the passionless merchants of Vendel
  simply too boring to waste their time on. They understand
  that wealthy people have items in their homes important to
  the Vendel but those can be obtained through agents without
  having to conduct business in person
  Vestenmannavnjar
  The Sidhe regard the home of their ancient allies with great
  respect. Although they do not normally embrace barbarians
  such as these, there is a deep-seated respect for the nature-
  worshiping people of the north. There have been Sidhe sight-
  ings in Vestenmannavnjar, as these are like-minded folk, if
  perhaps a bit cruder. The Sidhe can expect, at least, a guarded
  welcome and pleasant treatment. Despite the bearskins and
  fleas, the loud voices and bawdy songs, the hounds and chil-
  dren running riot during mealtime, the Vestenmannavnjar
  are privy to a clear and practical moral code, and the sense of
  honor runs deep in their blood.
  Vodacce
  Here there is more than enough water and more than enough
  drama, but the Fate Witches make the Sidhe uncomfortable
  so they tend to limit their contact to courtesans and duelists.
  Still, watching (and maybe influencing) this “Great Game”
  makes for amusing impromptu theatrical entertainment…
  The Seas
  With the exception of the Corridors of Flame and the south-
  ern tip of Cathay, sailing Sidhe can be found in The Trade and
  Frothing Seas, perhaps even as far south as La Boca de Cielo,
  and westward as far as humanity has cared thus far to venture.
  Individuals
  Certain persons have managed to make sufficient impression
  to warrant special mention. Queen Elaine maintains a posi-
  tion of importance to the Sidhe, if for no other reason than
  she occupies a position equivalent to that of the Queen of the
  Air or Queen Maab, and thus must be treated with appropri-
  ate protocol. She is also the keeper of the Graal. To raise your
  hand against Elaine is equal to raising your hand against the
  Sidhe Queen of the Air, an act will bring severe repercus-
  sions. Perhaps not swift, but sure. These strictures apply only
  to the Seelie Sidhe; the Unseelie will, of course, react accord-
  ing to their own definition of “appropriate.”
  Derwyddon and the Druids are also held in particularly
  high esteem. These humans seem to have a profound under-
  standing of “how things work” and are particularly attuned to
  the ways of nature, and the workings of that most elusive of
  concepts, time. Even the most powerful of Unseelie will
  avoid crossing Derwyddon. 
  Sir Lawrence Lugh and Elaine’s Knights present a
  dilemma. On the one hand, they are the favored by both
  Elaine and the Lady of the Lake, and must be accorded honor
  and respect. On the other hand, they are debased as Sidhe by
  their affiliation with mortals, and worthy of scorn and pity.
  Truth be told, the Sidhe are likely experiencing a form of jeal-
  ousy (not that they can recognize it as such), as Lugh and the
  other demi-Sidhe appear to be able to “have it both ways” —
  they share in some of Sidhe’s power and they can exercise the
  much-envied ability of humanity to create and invent. 
  Certain Sidhe have, over the years, attached themselves to
  a particular person or family in the Glamour Isles, and fol-
  lowed their fortunes for good or ill, often taking a hand in
  turning fate one direction or the other. This association often
  extends through the family line. These “adoptions” are indi-
  vidual choices, however, and rarely involve the Sidhe at large.
  Clan MacCodrum has a kinship with selkies and protect
  them from danger. No one outside the clan may cross their
  stretch of the shoreline and no foreign ships may pass
  through MacCodrum waters. 
  The MacLeods, like most of their Highland brethren, are
  not fond of the Sidhe, but are sensible enough to treat them
  as honored guests. Despite the scorn (and in some cases, out-
  right hated) from their fellow Marchers, they have good
  reason — the bargain they struck with the Sidhe made them
  the most powerful clan in Avalon. Glamour abounds in the
  MacLeod line, which they have used to increase their pres-
  tige. Since the Revolution, however, their fortunes appear to
  have taken a turn for the worse. Losing the flag is a grave
  insult and the Sidhe are far less inclined to visit MacLeod
  lands these days. If Sarah MacDonald waves it three times,
  the results may affect more than just the MacLeods.
  A less felicitous relationship exists between the Sidhe and
  the MacEacherns, a clan who dared to use their skill to
  destroy the Fae. The few MacEachern who remain are scat-
  tered amongst the Highland clans. Those with the secret of
  forging cold iron must pass it along to another before they die
  despite the danger. (For more information on these clans and
  their connection to the Sidhe, see Avalon.™)
  
  CHAPTER
  1
  The
  COURTS
  26
  The Inish refer to the Sidhe by the ancient name of Tuatha
  de Daanan (people of the goddess) and revere them as the cre-
  ators of Inismore, the most beautiful place in Théah. The
  Sidhe made a separate pact with the Inish, which is repre-
  sented by the presence of the Fål Stone, a holy stone that
  sings and weeps when kissed by the true High King of Inis-
  more. The O’Tooles, however, have brought the Vaticine faith
  back to Avalon to bolster their campaign against the Queen,
  her heretical love of magic, and those foul fae creatures. (For
  more information, see Avalon.™)
  Secret Societies
  Explorer’s Society
  These voracious adventurers would love to get to the bottom
  of every secret in Théah, including the Sidhe. 
  Invisible College
  Elaine issued an edict supporting all scholarly learning and Sir
  Bors keeps a sharp eye out for the Inquisition. What a perfect
  opportunity for Blood Scientists to do research on the Sidhe!
  But one must remain vigilant. The Inquisition is everywhere.
  Knights of the Rose + Cross
  The modern Order was basically founded in the Highlands in
  the time of King Robert, although it is generally viewed as
  Montaigne in character since so many members are Mon-
  taigne second-borns. However, they have retained a High-
  lander’s pragmatic view towards the Sidhe. Their philosophy
  basically calls for the removal of crutches such as Glamour,
  which does not work with the Secret. In the meantime, there
  is no reason to anger such powerful beings as the Sidhe
  unnecessarily, so the Knights are cautious and polite.
  Die Kreuzritter
  One should not disregard the creatures who created the Bar-
  rier and drove back the forces of darkness. However, it is far
  safer to do so in the Highland Marches, away from Elaine’s
  Knights, the insufferable Rose + Cross, Derwyddon and espe-
  cially Mad Jack O’Bannon who has made his feelings about
  the group extremely clear.
  Rilasciare
  Queen Elaine uses Sidhe magic and Glamour sorcery to gain
  power. This is bad. There are Sidhe among her Knights. This is
  worse. Bringing her down and sending the creatures back
  where they came from is a high priority — but how?
  Los Vagos
  As usual, the Castillian underground is much too busy trying
  to save lives and restore order to the ravaged kingdom to
  worry about ethereal creatures in Avalon.
  Sophia’s Daughters
  Sophia’s Daughters, as “family” must be given their due place.
  They are the direct descendants of the Lady of the Lake. They
  take their responsibility of prophecy and duty seriously, often
  turning to the Sidhe for aid, information, and support. They
  are respectful, to be sure, and know the proper forms, but
  they also seem to know every hiding place, and can navigate
  the most multifarious obstacles to breach privacy and inter-
  rupt endeavors. For now, their Scrying pools in Montaigne
  are safe and secured, which makes contacting the Sidhe rela-
  tively easy.
  
  Cold Iron
  The substance usually referred to as “cold iron” is, in actual-
  ity, ordinary unworked iron. Throughout history, Théans
  have used carbon in the form of coal to extract the metal
  from the earth. This produces a brittle form of iron not par-
  ticularly suitable for crafting but the Sidhe find this metal
  disturbing nonetheless. The reason for its effect is simple
  — it is utterly ordinary. Its banality represents the complete
  opposite of the intrinsic Sidhe nature and, thus, cuts
  through the illusions they weave through their existence.
  Heating and tempering iron to make it more useful fun-
  damentally changes its nature. When iron is heated and
  forged into a weapon, it ceases to be cold iron. What makes
  a MacEachern weapon so powerful is that the item retains
  its cold iron properties without compromising strength or
  durability. They have tried to adapt the process for arrow-
  heads or firearm shot, but the application of this process is
  limited. Such ammunition tends to shatter inside the barrel
  and foul the weapon. Even the greatest MacEachern smiths
  could not make anything except blades with this method.
  Cold iron also affects the Scrying practiced by the
  Sophia's Daughters. Any attempt to use Scrying to spy on
  someone wearing or carrying a cold iron item has its TN
  increased by 5 (d20:™ DC 4). Standing in a circle made of
  cold iron will increase the TN by 15 (d20:™ DC 12), and
  being in an area extremely rich in iron ore (inside an iron
  mine or a mountain extremely rich in iron ore) makes it
  impossible to use Scrying to spy on someone.
  Cold iron on its own cannot seriously harm the Sidhe,
  but it does cause them great discomfort, and many Sidhe
  Lords and Ladies take offense at having it in their presence.
  Travelers from Avalon know to remove any iron items
  before presenting themselves to the Sidhe. (Conversely,
  there are times when they hold iron tightly in their fists to
  protect themselves from a Sidhe whom they suspect wishes
  them harm.)
  Other Weapons and Artifacts
  Other than cold iron and MacEachern blades, there are very
  few human-produced weapons that can injure Sidhe.
  Dracheneisen contains no form of base metal and thus has
  no special power over the Sidhe. (See Book Three for more
  details about weapons, as well as Vendel-Vesten,™
  Montaigne,™and Swashbuckling Adventures.™)
  Many of the Syrneth races fought against the Sidhe and
  information about those items are detailed in other books,
  including Player’s Guide,™ 7th Sea Compendium,™ and Swash-
  buckling Adventures.™ GMs are encouraged to review these
  sources to create new items, keeping in mind that killing a
  Sidhe is nigh unto impossible, even for the Syrneth.
  The
  forge
  Book two:
  The Forge 
  27
  
  CHAPTER
  2
  The
  Forge
  28
  MacEachern Weapon
  Although almost all of the MacEachern clan is dead, occa-
  sionally one of their treasured weapons surfaces. 
  D20™ MECHANICS
  The blade is considered a +1 non-magical weapon that dam-
  ages a Sidhe no matter what Glamour or defensive abilities
  the creature possesses, including damage reduction. Damage
  is doubled for every successful hit on a Sidhe target; on a crit-
  ical hit the damage is doubled again. MacEachern weapons
  provide a +3 circumstance bonus to Glamour saving throws.
  7TH SEA™ MECHANICS
  When rolling damage against a Sidhe, do not make a Wound
  check; instead the Sidhe target takes a number of Dramatic
  Wounds equal to the total Flesh Wounds divided by 5. The
  bearer of such a blade also gains a bonus of 1 unkept (1k0) die
  to resist Glamour magic.
  New Swordsman Schools
  (7th Sea
  TM)
  Fadh-Righ (Long Arm) 
  Spear School
  Country of Origin: Bryn Bresail
  Description: The Fadh-Righ school is based on one of the
  oldest legends in Inismore, the crafty Sidhe warrior known to
  men only as Long-Arm, who defended his homeland from
  the Firbolgs and helped establish the most beautiful nation in
  Théah.
  The Fadh-Righ fighter uses a spear in his primary hand and
  a buckler in his off-hand for defense. As befits a Sidhe Lord,
  Long-Arm’s extremely flashy style relies on a dazzling array of
  weapon flourishes to hold the enemy at bay. This showman-
  ship is both its strength and its weakness.
  Students of Fadh-Righ do not gain membership in the
  Swordsman’s Guild for free when they take this Swordsman
  School; instead, they get one free Rank of the one of their
  Swordsman Knacks.
  Basic Curriculum: Buckler, Polearm
  Swordsman Knacks: Exploit Weakness (Fadh-Righ),
  Bind (Buckler), Lunge (Polearm), Tagging (Polearm)
  Apprentice: Apprentices of the Long-Arm School do not
  suffer any off-hand penalty for using a buckler, and may use a
  spear in one hand without any penalty. Your daring style
  allows you to add your Tagging Rank to any Taunt Repartee
  Actions you make.
  Journeyman: Journeymen keep their enemies at a dis-
  tance, thereby reducing damage from counterattack. When
  fighting an opponent whose weapon is smaller than yours,
  you may use your superior reach to your advantage. When
  you make an Attack against such a target, you may make any
  number of Raises. If successful, you may increase your TN to
  be Hit by your opponent’s next Attack against you in that
  combat by 5 times the number of Raises you made.
  Master: Masters of Long-Arm strike hard and true. When
  you make Raises for damage with a spear, the first three
  Raises you make for damage give you extra kept dice (+1k1
  each) for your damage roll instead of extra unkept dice. Any
  Raises made for damage after the third one only give unkept
  dice (+1k0) as normal.
  Peecke Quarterstaff School 
  Country of Origin: Avalon
  Description: In 1631, an Avalon man named Lester
  Peecke (pronounced “Peek”) gave a demonstration of his
  skills with the quarterstaff at the royal court of Montaigne.
  He fought alone, defending himself simultaneously against
  three swordsmen armed with rapiers and daggers. Peecke
  stunned the court by winning this match easily, but had to
  beat a hasty retreat home for having bested the sons of three
  very important noblemen. By the time he landed, the story of
  his feat had already reached Avalon’s shores, and Peecke
  found himself besieged with requests to teach his new
  method; however, he resisted these demands for personal rea-
  sons. He died in 1642, without ever having taken on a student
  and with no known relatives.
  Firinbrand
  Firinbrand is a special Sidhe Sword created by the Lady
  of the Lake. The sword seems to be made of ice and water,
  with the flickering fire of Glamour cascading along its
  entire length. It has been a tool of the Oracles for
  centuries, and its current wielder is Sir Lawrence Lugh.
  Firinbrand can be used with either the Heavy Weapon or
  Fencing Skills, depending on the whim of its wielder. It
  does 4k4 damage to man and Sidhe alike. If the wielder
  has the blessings of the Lady of the Lake, there is no
  Unskilled Penalty for wielding it. This blade can cut
  through any material including Dracheneisen which
  means no armor bonus applies against Firinbrand.
  Firinbrand’s sheath also has special powers. While
  within Avalon, Inismore, or the Highland Marches, the
  wearer of the sheath takes no Wounds from any bladed
  attacks.
  The Oracles of Sophia’s Daughters have special powers
  over Firinbrand. Each Oracle has the power to summon it
  from wherever it may be, thereby ensuring that even if its
  wielder is dead, it will return to the Daughters to serve
  their purposes.
  There are rumors that the blade has other powers, such
  as operating independently of its owner and having the
  power to repair or destroy entire sections of the Barrier,
  but no actual evidence of these powers exists. Such
  actions may occur at the GM’s discretion, but he must pay
  one Drama Die whenever he chooses to have the weapon
  do such a thing. (For d20™ details, see Swashbuckling
  Adventures,™ pg. 178)
  
  CHAPTER
  2
  The
  Forge
  29
  Mysteriously, in 1656, coinciding exactly with the return
  of Glamour, a tall, strong man appeared in Avalon, calling
  himself Jasper Peecke and claiming to be the grandson of
  Lester Peecke. Whether this is true or not, he fought with the
  same style, according to the stories of those who had seen the
  elder Peecke. After ten years of teaching, Jasper Peecke
  simply disappeared, leaving it up to his students to carry on
  the tradition.
  The Peecke style uses a quarterstaff and teaches balance as
  its central tenet. The practitioner attacks from left or right
  with equal frequency, and combines swings and thrusts to
  keep opponents off balance. The style’s weakness is that the
  length of the staff makes it easy for an opponent to trap or
  otherwise move the weapon out of position
  Students of Peecke do not gain membership in the Swords-
  man’s Guild for free when they take this Swordsman School;
  instead, they get one free Rank of the Balance Knack, as if it
  were a Basic Knack of the Athlete Skill.
  Basic Curriculum: Athlete, Staff
  Swordsman Knacks: Exploit Weakness (Peecke), Beat
  (Staff), Feint (Staff), Corps à Corps.
  Apprentice: The Peecke fighting style employs a double-
  handed approach that attacks and defends with equal ease to
  the right and the left. To most opponents this is akin to fight-
  ing someone who is left-handed, but worse. When you are
  using a quarterstaff, any Active Defenses made against your
  Attacks and Beats (but not Haymakers) have their TNs
  increased by a number of Raises equal to your Mastery Level.
  Journeyman: Journeymen have learned the value of
  defense. At the beginning of each Round, you may choose to
  discard one of your Action Dice to increase your TN to be Hit
  by the Phase showing on that die for the rest of the Round.
  Master: Peecke Masters learn an unbalancing attack
  intended to force their opponents to fall to the ground. When
  you make any successful attack with the staff, your target
  must make a Finesse + Balance or Finesse + Footwork roll
  with a TN equal to the damage you inflict with this blow.
  Each Raise for damage increases the TN by 5.
  Staff (7th Sea
  TM)
  (Reprinted from previously-published material)
  Staves are more easily constructed than swords or
  polearms, and thus are erroneously perceived of as less of a
  threat. While most of your practice fighting with staves is
  focused on weapons like the quarterstaff of Avalon or the
  gwon of Cathay, even a long walking stick can be used as a
  weapon with this Skill. Staves require both hands to use.
  BASIC KNACKS
  Attack (Staff): Attack is the ability to hit your enemy.
  Parry (Staff): Parrying is the act of putting your weapon
  between yourself and your enemies’ strikes. This Knack can
  be used as your Defense Knack while you are wielding a staff.
  ADVANCED KNACKS
  Haymaker: A haymaker is an aggressive staff swing attack
  that leaves you open for a moment. When you declare a Hay-
  maker, use this Knack for your attack. You roll two extra
  unkept dice (+2k0) for damage if your attack is successful.
  However, your TN to be hit drops to 5 for this Phase only, and
  you may not use any Active Defenses for the rest of this
  Phase.
  Whirling Blow (d20
  TM)
  (reprinted from Xuan Feng, Cathay™)
  Prerequisite: Dex 13+, Weapon Focus: Quarterstaff
  A staff in the hands of one trained in its possibilities can
  deliver a devastating attack, as the Whirling Blow shows.
  When attacking with this Feat, which must be declared, base
  damage is doubled (i.e., the roll is doubled before adding
  Strength modifiers or other bonuses). If you score a critical
  hit, increase the multiplier by 1. This technique, while pow-
  erful, focuses all of your energy on the attack, leaving you
  defenseless. For the rest of the turn, you lose all dodge
  bonuses to AC.
  Faíleas (Reflection) 
  Sword School
  Country of Origin: Bryn Bresail
  Description: Faíleas is one of the many styles of sword-
  play the Sidhe have developed. It teaches the student how to
  use an attacker’s skills and sword style against him by follow-
  ing the movement of his weapon and his body language. It is
  very difficult to master, and requires an extremely keen eye
  for observation, as well as highly skilled swordsmanship.
  These motions seem natural to the Sidhe, who are used to
  observing the actions of humans in minute detail; very few
  humans have the same ability to perceive another being with
  such intensity. Any human who wishes to learn this school
  must have Wits of at least 4 and the Cold Read skill at 4 as
  well. Then they must find a Sidhe willing to teach a human.
  The Faíleas student always uses a weapon in the opposite
  hand to the opponent, which confuses and unnerves most
  fighters from the outset. They also copy facial expressions in
  an attempt to gauge what the opponent is thinking (and fur-
  ther unnerve them.) They almost always keep their blade
  touching the opponent’s, never letting the steel part so that
  they can feel each subtle movement and counter it. Fighting
  such a swordsman is extremely annoying. As you move for-
  ward the Faíleas swordsman retreats; as soon as you retreat, he
  comes for you. The swordsman seems to know your every
  move before you make it. 
  The Faíleas School is primarily defensive but it can provide
  a devastating attack as well. The opponent finds his own
  strengths being turned against him as his style is copied and
  understood. The weakness of the school is quite simple. An
  opponent who is aware of his own flaws as a swordsman can
  pass them on to the student trying to copy them, and thus
  gain an opening.
  Basic Curriculum: Courtier, Fencing
  Swordsman Knacks: Exploit Weakness (Faíleas), Feint
  (Fencing), Wall of Steel, Reflect (Fencing).
  Apprentice: The first thing a Faíleas student learns is mis-
  direction and observation. He always use uses his weapon in
  the opposite (“mirror”) hand to his opponent, so he always
  gets the bonus of being “Left Handed” while fighting, and
  also learns to negate the off hand penalty. Students of this
  School do not get free Membership in the Swordsman’s
  Guild; instead, they learn to copy the movement of their
  opponent and may use their Panache Rank as the base for
  their Passive Defense instead of their Footwork or Parry
  (Fencing) Knack.
  
  CHAPTER
  2
  The
  Forge
  30
  Journeyman: Journeymen have learned to get inside their
  opponent’s mind. They look for the expressions and body lan-
  guage that betray the attacker’s next move. If they can make a
  Wits roll against a TN of 5 times their opponent’s Wits Rank,
  they can predict the opponent’s next attack and gain a Free
  Raise for any Active Defense against it. Even if the attack
  scores a hit, the damage roll suffers a penalty of 1 unkept die
  (–1k0) as the defender rolls with the blow.
  Master: Faíleas masters have learned how to taunt their
  opponent silently. They convince the attacker that he cannot
  possibly win the fight because every move he makes will be
  countered before it is even made. Once per round, when the
  opponent attacks, the Master may roll his Panache to rattle
  his opponent’s nerves. (This does not count as an action.) The
  opponent must make a Resolve roll against a TN equal to the
  result of this roll. If he fails, his confidence is shaken and he
  loses his attack. If his opponent succeeds at any of his Resolve
  checks, he may immediately make his attack and is unaf-
  fected by this ability for the rest of the Scene.
  New Swordsman Knack
  (7th Sea
  TM)
  Reflect: You attempt to mirror your opponent’s style and
  form. You may use any one of his Swordsman Knacks
  against him as if you had that Knack yourself. The first time
  he uses a Knack, you may make a Wits check with a TN
  equal to your opponent's rank in this Knack times 5. If
  you succeed at the check, you gain the Knack at Rank 1
  for the duration of the Scene. Each time thereafter
  that he uses the same Knack against you in that
  Scene, you may make another Wits check. Success
  improves your skill in that Knack by another Rank.
  The maximum gain is your Rank in Faíleas or your
  opponent’s Rank in his Knack (whichever is
  lower). This only applies for one Knack against
  one opponent due to your intense focus on his
  moves.
  You do not retain the Knacks; you merely imi-
  tate them. At the end of the Scene, you lose all
  of the Ranks you have gained against that
  opponent. This Knack can only be used
  against an opponent bearing same type of
  weapon as the student. (It is useless, for
  instance, to copy the moves of a quarterstaff
  or Panzerhand with a fencing sword.)
  New Prestige Classes 
  (d20
  TM)
  Fadh-Righ (Long Arm) 
  Spear School 
  The Sidhe gave this highly effective spear school to a great
  Sidhe warrior to fight the Firbolgs in Inismore. Many believe
  the Inish taught it to the Vestenmannavnjar who developed
  the Halfdansson School from it. The school teaches the use of
  a spear in the primary hand with a buckler in the off hand for
  protection. Its reliance on clever and showy moves to taunt
  and intimidate an opponent is also its weakness.
  Requirements
  To qualify as a Fadh-Righ Spearman, the character must ful-
  fill the following criteria:
  Base Attack Bonus: + 4
  Nationality: Avalon
  Feats: Weapon Focus (Spear), Unarmored
  Defense Proficiency (Basic)
  Skills: Balance +2, Intimidate +6, Sense
  Motive +10, Perform +6, Tumble +4
  Special: The character must be
  taught by a Sidhe Master. Although
  it is usually only taught by Sidhe
  to other Sidhe, there are instances
  of Avalon mortals receiving
  instruction. (This requirement
  may be changed or waived in non-
  Théan campaigns.) 
  
  CHAPTER
  2
  The
  Forge
  31
  The prospective student must also have a Charisma of at
  least 13 to have the necessary panache to adopt this style.
  Game Rule Information
  Alignment: Any
  Hit Dice: d8
  Class Skills
  The Fadh-Righ spearman’s class skills (and the key ability for
  each skill) are Balance (Dex), Bluff (Cha), Climb (Str), Intimi-
  date (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Perform (Cha), Search
  (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), and Tumble (Dex). 
  See Chapter 4 in Player’s Handbook™ for skill descriptions.
  Skill Points at Each Level: 4 + Int modifier.
  Class Features
  The following are class features of the Fadh-Righ spearman:
  Weapon and Armor Proficiency: The student is profi-
  cient in all forms of spear and buckler, but does not have pro-
  ficiency with armor.
  Buckler Master: At 1st level, during the student’s action,
  he may designate an opponent and receive a +2 circumstance
  bonus to his Armor Class against any attack from that oppo-
  nent. This bonus may only be gained while the student wields
  the buckler in his hand (and not while strapped to his arm).
  The student may select a new opponent on any action; select-
  ing a new opponent is a free action.
  Dashing and Daring: At 2nd level, the student gains the
  feat “Dashing and Daring” (see Swashbuckling Adventures,™ 
  Ch. 4: Feats) even if he lacks the prerequisites. If he already has
  this feat he may temporarily raise his Charisma bonus 1 point
  during combat to increase his AC. 
  Distant Reach: At 3rd level the student has mastered the
  art of keeping opponents at a distance. No opponent may gain
  any attacks of opportunity during combat on the spearman
  while he uses this style. Other normal attacks are unaffected.
  Note: the PC has to use an Attack action when fending off
  opponents to use this ability.
  Showmanship: At 4th level, regardless of Charisma
  rating, the student gains the feat “Showmanship” (see Swash-
  buckling Adventures,™ Ch. 4: Feats).
  Stone Thrust: At 5th level, the master spearman knows
  how to deal terrible blows to an opponent. The threat rating
  of any spear he uses becomes 18-20 rather than just 20. If his
  ability is already at this number or greater, he gains +1 to its
  threat rating.
  Peecke Quarterstaff School 
  The originator of the Peecke School died in 1642 without
  ever training a single student. However, with the return of
  Glamour to Avalon in 1656, a man named Jasper Peecke
  claimed he had inherited the style from his relative. Whether
  or not this was true, Jasper showed quite an incredible ability
  with the staff and unlike his ancestor he was happy to train
  students. He teaches students to maintain their balance,
  come at a foe from all angles, and beware of letting an oppo-
  nent move in too close where the staff is less dangerous. 
  Requirements
  To quality as a student of the Peecke Quarterstaff School, a
  character must fulfill the following criteria:
  Base Attack Bonus: + 4
  Nationality: Avalon
  Feats: Weapon Focus (Quarterstaff), Unarmored Defense
  Proficiency (Basic)
  Skills: Balance +2, Concentration +2
  Game Rule Information
  Alignment: Any
  Hit Dice: d8
  Class Skills
  The Peecke Quarterstaff practitioner’s class skills (and the key
  ability for each skill) are Balance (Dex), Climb (Str), Craft
  (Int), Handle Animal (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move
  Silently (Dex), Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis),
  Tumble (Dex), Wilderness Lore (Wis).
  Class Features
  The following are class features of the Peecke Quarterstaff
  School:
  Weapons and Armor Proficiency: A student of this
  school is proficient with any form of quarterstaff, and gains
  proficiency with light armor. 
  Table 2–1: The Fadh-Righ Spearman
  Base
  Attack 
  Fort
  Ref
  Will
  Level
  Bonus
  Save
  Save
  Save
  Special
  1
  +1
  +0
  +2
  +2
  Buckler Master
  2
  +2
  +0
  +3
  +3
  Bonus Feat — Dashing 
  and Daring
  3
  +3
  +1
  +3
  +3
  Distant Reach
  4
  +4
  +1
  +4
  +4
  Bonus Feat — Showmanship
  5
  +5
  +1
  +4
  +4
  Stone Thrust
  Table 2–2: The Peecke Quarterstaff School
  Base
  Attack 
  Fort
  Ref
  Will
  Level
  Bonus
  Save
  Save
  Save
  Special
  1
  +1
  +2
  +2
  +0
  Flurry of Movement
  2
  +2
  +3
  +3
  +0
  Beat
  3
  +3
  +3
  +3
  +1
  Patience of the Forest
  4
  +4
  +4
  +4
  +1
  Disarm Master
  5
  +5
  +4
  +4
  +1
  Felling Blow
  
  CHAPTER
  2
  The
  Forge
  32
  Flurry of Movement: At 1st level, the student has learned
  how to confuse an opponent by coming at him with the staff
  from all sides. The opponent loses his Dex bonus to his Armor
  Class against that attack. You may not use any feats (such as
  Power Attack or Great Cleave) and still receive the penalty to
  the opponent’s AC, although you still receive a bonus for
  weapon skill feats like Weapon Focus. Note: PCs with
  Uncanny Dodge still receive their Dex bonus.
  Beat: At 2nd level the student gains the Feat: Beat (see
  Swashbuckling Adventures,™ Ch. 4: Feats), even if he lacks the
  prerequisite. If you attack as normal and hit, your opponent
  takes no damage but may not use his primary or secondary
  (your choice) weapon during the first attack of his next turn.
  If he is not armed with two weapons, he forfeits that attack
  and also loses any Armor or Dodge bonus for wielding the
  weapon. He must make a Ref save (DC 10) or the weapon flies
  out of his hand and he is disarmed.
  Patience of the Forest: At 3rd level the student has
  learned how to watch his opponent and block his attacks. If
  the Peecke student wins initiative against an opponent, he
  may forego his attack, in which case he gets a bonus to his
  defense equal to the difference in the initiative totals between
  him and his opponent. This bonus lasts until the end of the
  round, and only applies to attacks from the chosen opponent.
  Disarm Master: At 4th level the student becomes a Master
  of Disarming. If you disarm your opponent, you may immedi-
  ately take an Attack of Opportunity against him, assuming
  you can do so; that is, you have not made a previous Attack of
  Opportunity on him this round and he has not made his max-
  imum number of Attacks of Opportunity this round.
  Felling Blow: At 5th level the student is taught how to
  smash his foe to the ground by putting the full force of his
  body behind the attack. The Peecke student must forego both
  his Dex bonus for the attack. A successful attack allows an
  opposed Strength check as in a trip attack, modified by the
  amount of damage. The student does normal damage but adds
  twice his Strength bonus to the damage roll. The opponent
  must make a Balance check (DC 15) to remain standing. If the
  attack did a greater amount of damage than the opponent’s
  Strength, the opponent must make a Balance check (DC 20).
  The fallen target suffers all the standard penalties of a prone
  target. This attack may not be combined with any attack feats
  such as Power Attack and Great Cleave. 
  Faíleas (Reflection) 
  Sword School
  The Faíleas School allows a student to mirror the moves of their
  opponent. The Faíleas fighter even copies the facial expressions
  of their opponent in a bid to read their body language. The
  effect is similar to fighting one’s own reflection. The school is
  practiced only in Bryn Bresail by the Sidhe, so a prospective stu-
  dent must train with an inhabitant of the Isle to learn its secrets.
  Requirements
  To qualify as a student of the Faíleas Swordsman School, a
  character must fulfill the following criteria:
  Base Attack Bonus: +8
  Nationality: Bryn Bresail (Sidhe); Avalon with GM
  approval.
  Feats: Weapon Focus (Rapier), Unarmored Defense Profi-
  ciency (Basic)
  Skills: Concentration +6, Sense Motive +8, Spot +6
  Game Rule Information
  Alignment: Any
  Hit Dice: d8
  Class Skills
  The Faíleas Swordsman’s class skills (and the key ability for each
  skill) are Balance (Dex), Concentration (Con), Gather Informa-
  tion (Cha), Jump (Str), Listen (Wis), Move Silently (Dex),
  Search (Int), Sense Motive (Wis), Spot (Wis), Tumble (Dex).
  Skill Points at Each Level: 2 + Int modifier
  Class Features
  The following are class features of the Faíleas Swordsman
  School:
  Weapons and Armor Proficiency: A student of the
  Faíleas School is proficient with any form of fencing weapon.
  (Note: the style of this class may be adapted to a different
  weapon group with the GM’s permission.)
  The Wrong Side: At 1st level the student has learned to
  attack on the opponent’s “off side.” He gains a bonus of +1 to
  hit in any round in which he can make a Sense Motive check
  (DC 15). He also gains the Feat: Ambidexterity even if he
  lacks the prerequisite but does not gain training in two dif-
  ferent weapons. (See Players Handbook™ for a description.)
  Dodge: At 2nd level, the Faíleas student gains the Feat:
  Dodge even if he does not meet the requirements. (See Swash-
  buckling Adventures,™ Ch. 4: Feats).
  Cannot Touch the Glass: At 3rd level the student is a
  Journeyman and has learned how to move away as the
  attacker advances. He may subtract his Dex bonus +1 from
  any damage taken from a single attack in any round. 
  Lightning Reflexes: At 4th level, the Faíleas student
  receives the Feat: Lightning Reflexes even if he does not meet
  the requirements. (See Swashbuckling Adventures,™ Ch. 4: Feats).
  Reflection of the Mind: At 5th level the Faíleas master
  learns how to copy the tricks of another swordsman’s style.
  When an opponent uses a Feat in the combat, the master may
  attempt to repeat it by making a Concentration check (DC
  20). If successful, he can use his opponent’s Feat against him
  in the next round. If he chooses not to do so, he loses the abil-
  ity and must make the same check to try again (either for a
  new ability or the one he did not use).
  TABLE 2–3: THE Faileas Sword School
  Base
  Attack 
  Fort
  Ref
  Will
  Level
  Bonus
  Save
  Save
  Save
  Special
  1
  +1
  +2
  +2
  +0
  The Wrong Side
  2
  +2
  +3
  +3
  +0
  Bonus Feat — Dodge
  3
  +3
  +3
  +3
  +1
  Cannot Touch the Glass
  4
  +4
  +4
  +4
  +1
  Bonus Feat — Lightning Reflexes
  5
  +5
  +4
  +4
  +1
  Reflection of the Mind
  
  Walking in the Mists
  As a Player
  This book updates many of the rules about Sidhe heroes
  originally published in the Game Master’s Guide™, Player’s
  Guide,™ Avalon,™ Sophia’s Daughters™ and Swashbuckling
  Adventures™ sourcebooks. As noted in the Avalon™ book:
  “While the Fae represent a potentially unbalanced element in any
  party, if portrayed properly, they can make a fascinating addition to
  any troupe. But they must be handled carefully, lest they dominate
  play and/or create too much conflict within the party… Playing
  one just to be an unstoppable god isn’t going to work. Similarly,
  using the Sidhe as some sort of gimmick just to make an interest-
  ing character will lose much of its charm after just a short while.”
  (Avalon,™ pg. 108)
  The first thing to remember when playing a Sidhe is that
  they have no real emotions. They have read about human
  emotions, they know that there are rules of human behav-
  ior, and they watch humans constantly, but the majority of
  them feel nothing. Sidhe knights are intrinsically brave
  because they have no understanding of fear and cannot die,
  so their actions are not hampered by fear of possible loss.
  They can make oaths of loyalty and friendship that they will
  never break but they never really know what it means to
  have a friend. They can be the most romantic creatures in
  the world but they will never understand love.
  Most Sidhe focus on perfecting a single "persona."
  Unlike human beings who have different aspects of their
  personalities, Sidhe are one-dimensional beings who
  always act in specific ways. A Sidhe who believes that the
  correct response to a man staring at her is to turn him into
  stone is likely to do so every time a man stares because that
  is what she thinks she is supposed to do.
  Sidhe are incapable of forming a true emotional attach-
  ment to anyone, Sidhe or human. They can pretend and
  perhaps fool themselves into thinking they are in love but
  their efforts will be completely focused on that action to the
  exclusion of all else. Likewise, arrogance and pride are sim-
  ulated expressions of their observations from watching
  human interaction in Théah. Regardless of the apparently
  realistic behavior, it is naught but skillful artifice.
  The Sidhe are always concerned with doing what is
  appropriate or “authentic.” Having seen a mortal stand in
  the rain at the end of a love affair, a Sidhe might do so as
  well, believing that standing in the rain is what one must
  do, or perhaps, that if he stands long enough, he will feel
  something. If you try to tell a Sidhe that despite his best
  efforts, his behavior is more performance than reality, he
  will be very insulted (which could have a deleterious effect
  on your health.)
  Despite their lack of human emotion the Sidhe are very
  volatile. A good technique when playing one is to act like a
  teenager whose emotions fluctuate madly in a very short
  time. For instance, he does not understand why he cannot
  take what he wants because the concept of delayed gratifi-
  cation is completely foreign to him. The Sidhe lack of self-
  control goes unchecked and like children, they can throw
  some very spectacular tantrums if they do not get what they
  The
  MAGIC
  Book Three:
  The Magic 
  33
  
  CHAPTER
  3
  The
  MAGIC
  34
  want precisely when they want it. Another possibility is to
  portray them as if they were shopping for clothes, trying on
  dozens of outfits until they find one that looks best or elicits
  the most dramatic reaction. The Sidhe, like the aforemen-
  tioned human youngsters, are in constant need of entertain-
  ment. They are fascinated with the process of creation and
  marvel that it should come so easily and naturally to such
  short-lived and limited creatures like humans.
  The Sidhe may present themselves to humans with a cer-
  tain arrogance. They know they are superior beings; they are
  more powerful, more attractive, and immortal. Thus, it baffles
  and annoys them that lowly creatures like humans can under-
  stand and experience something they cannot. This fact moti-
  vates them to prove their superiority by traveling to Théah to
  test humans. When the humans fail to best them, they return
  to Bryn Bresail until the urge to test rises again or until they
  are insulted or directly challenged.
  The last thing to remember about the Sidhe is that they live
  in a very cold world. Without emotion there is no true pas-
  sion and without passion there is no true art or inspiration.
  They can reproduce music they have heard, played on beauti-
  ful instruments and sung with voices that would reduce a
  brave human warrior to tears. However, they are only imitat-
  ing what they have heard over and over again. Human artists,
  with their creativity, bring something new to each perfor-
  mance while a Sidhe gives the same flawless — and identical
  — performance each time.
  The Unseelie go the other way, encouraging raw passion
  around them without any need or desire to understand what
  it means. They are great balls of rage, violence, and drama
  without true emotion. If the lands of the Sidhe are summer
  places covered in ice, the Unseelie lands are trapped in a
  winter of flame.
  Playing a Sidhe is a tremendous challenge. You must simul-
  taneously be an explosion of romance, adventure, and expres-
  sion while remaining hollow inside. You crave things you do
  not understand in a world unlike Bryn Bresail where the rules
  seem to change daily. Every time you follow the rules, your
  human companions tell you that you are doing it wrong. These
  lesser beings treat you like a child or a simpleton; in response,
  you rage at them and may feel compelled to punish them.
  A final word of caution — the Sidhe are not elves in the cin-
  ematic sense nor are they delicately winged little fairies who
  blush and giggle and sip dew out of hollyhocks. They have
  deadly weapons and powerful Glamour magic. Many enjoy
  twisting reality and reforming it to serve their whim. Most can
  cut a mortal in half with ease. A female player who thinks that
  her character will be able to tame the Horned King or a male
  player who believes that he will melt a Sidhe Queen’s heart
  with his charm had best be prepared to face the consequences
  of close contact with such immensely powerful beings.
  Sidhe (7th Sea
  TM)
  There are a number of reasons why a Seelie would traverse
  the human world, most often because he is on a mission from
  one of the Queens. A Seelie character retains the benefits of
  his Sidhe blood. He may be played as a condescending noble-
  man (think Montaigne and immortal) or as an enthusiastic
  adventurer (a young bright-eyed Avalon knight) or even a
  curious but benign scholar of humankind. He may be utterly
  pathetic and self-pitying about being sent on a mission in the
  human world or he may have a truly child-like naiveté about
  everything he sees, asking questions galore at inappropriate
  moments. Even if he looks human, he is going to stand out
  the minute he walks into a room or opens his mouth.
  Sidhe characters gain marvelous abilities unknown to their
  human counterparts, but there is a price. The rules below are
  updates and corrections on the previously published rules
  about the Sidhe (see Avalon™ and Sophia’s Daughters™):
  General Rules
  • It is up to the GM whether to allow Sidhe characters as PCs
  in the game.
  • Sidhe characters receive 100 Hero Points, the same as
  mortal heroes.
  • Sidhe characters start with a Reputation of 10.
  Traits
  Sidhe characters begin the game with their Traits at Rank 2
  instead of at Rank 1 and are considered to have the Legendary
  Trait Advantage in all five Traits. (See Player’s Guide™.) They do
  not receive a Free Rank in a Trait from a Nationality Bonus.
  Skills and Knacks
  At character creation, Sidhe characters have access to any
  Skills except Criminal, Crossbow, Dirty Fighting, Doctor,
  Firearms, Merchant, Panzerhand, Pugilism, Servant, Street-
  wise, and Wrestling. They may not pursue any Knack in these
  Skills, regardless of whether it appears in a Skill that is other-
  wise permitted. This ban applies only for the initial creation
  of the character; new Skills may be purchased with Experi-
  ence Points normally as long as the character can find some-
  one willing to teach them these new skills. GMs may add
  other Skills to this list for this list for their campaigns. Note:
  any Skill that involves contact with Cold Iron (Artillery, Gun-
  nery, Firearms, etc.) would not be a logical choice.
  Swordsman Schools
  Sidhe characters cannot begin with a Swordsman School that
  does not originate in Bryn Bresail. Later on, at the GM’s dis-
  cretion, Sidhe may learn new Swordsman Schools by spend-
  ing Experience Points (assuming they can find a human will-
  ing to teach them.) 
  Shapechanging
  The Sidhe, as the embodiment of Glamour, are not
  bound by their visible appearance. While some prefer to
  maintain one shape, they may change their form at will.
  Those who do gain all the powers and abilities of their new
  form while retaining their normal skills, powers, advan-
  tages, and traits in the new form, except Brawn and
  Finesse which match their new form. This ability, in both
  systems, should be handled more as an augmentation to
  role-playing and the story line than as an objective
  mechanic.
  
  CHAPTER
  3
  The
  MAGIC
  35
  Advantages
  Sidhe characters may select one of each of the following
  Advantages and Blessings (pg. 39) for free during character
  creation:
  • Dangerous Beauty, Appearance: Stunning, or Appearance:
  Hideous. A Sidhe character may purchase Appearance:
  Intimidating or Appearance: Blessed Beauty Advantage for
  10 fewer Hero Points.
  • Either Combat Reflexes or Keen Senses (but not both).
  • Either Large or Small (but not both).
  • Immortal.
  • Slow Aging and Immunity to Disease.
  • Smell Glamour.
  • Iron Susceptibility, Iron Vulnerability, Sea Bound, or
  Strange Poison (choose only one).
  A Sidhe character can take additional Sidhe Blessings, but for
  each one taken, a Sidhe Curse must be taken as well.
  • Sidhe characters may begin with Sidhe Weapon (–1 dis-
  count to the total cost) and may have more than one Sidhe
  Weapon, for a total cost up to 10 HP, after the discount.
  However, Sidhe have no exceptional ability to use more
  than two weapons at a time
  • Although a Sidhe can understand any spoken language he
  hears, the only language in which he is literate is Avalon.
  Sidhe cannot read and write any more adroitly than a
  human unless they have studied, and must follow the same
  rules as humans for adding more literate languages.
  • All Sidhe are Full Blooded Glamour Mages and begin with
  the normal 7 points worth of Knacks. However, they may
  purchase more ranks in Glamour Knacks with Hero Points
  as if they were basic skills. They may also select from any
  Knacks, including multiple Knacks of the same trait (i.e.,
  the character may have both Queen Maab and the Stone
  Knight, even though mortals may not have two Knacks
  based upon Resolve.)
  Arcana
  Sidhe characters may not purchase Arcana nor can they use
  Drama Dice to activate a villain’s Arcana. (See note on Drama
  & Glamour Dice below.)
  Drama & Glamour Dice
  Sidhe characters do not earn Drama Dice. The only way a
  Sidhe can have a Drama Die is if another Hero gives them one
  via a game effect (such as a Virtue). Instead, they receive
  “Glamour Dice.” These are similar to Drama Dice, but may not
  be spent to activate (or prevent activation of) Arcana, and do
  not turn into Experience Points at the end of the Story. Glam-
  our Dice may also be used to activate Glamour Knacks. You
  receive an initial allotment of Glamour dice equal to a combi-
  nation of your Reputation dice and your highest Trait, and
  earn more the same way human characters earn Drama Dice.
  Other
  • Sidhe do not need sleep in the human sense. However,
  once per diurnal cycle (24 hours) they must rest in the
  presence of dreamers. They focus on a human within 10
  feet of them and attune themselves to that person’s dreams;
  walls and doors present no barrier to this power. Some
  dreamers can detect this silent invasion (at the GM’s
  option), but usually the Sidhe is a silent observer. The only
  way to prevent the Sidhe from establishing contact with
  the dreams is to cast magical wards.
  • Sidhe do not require food, although they can eat if they
  desire. Many actually become gluttons when they discover
  the wonders of Théan cuisine, although they do not gain
  weight unless they adjust their appearance. Unfortunately,
  they make terrible cooks because their tastes can be very
  odd and extreme.
  • All Sidhe are largely immune to normal weaponry. Reduce
  all damage to them from normal weapons by 2 kept dice.
  Cold Iron, MacEachern blades, Montaigne Puzzle Swords,
  Laerdom enchanted blades, and Syrneth weapons
  enchanted with lan affect them normally. Dracheneisen
  affects the Sidhe the way it affects humans.
  
  CHAPTER
  3
  The
  MAGIC
  36
  Sidhe (d20
  TM)
  Medium Size (if trying to pass among humans, select
  “normal” size.)
  Base Speed: 30 ft.
  Bonus Feats: See below
  Bonus Skill Points: None
  Automatic Language: Avalon (see below)
  Bonus Languages: Special (see below)
  Favored Class: Glamour Sorcerer (see Swashbuckling Arcana™)
  Abilities: +1 Str, +1 Dex, +1 Int, +1 Cha
  Challenge Rating: +7
  Damage Reduction: 10/Cold Iron 
  Note: These are generic rules for the Sidhe, to be adjusted by
  the GM as needed. 
  Base Height (to appear Human)
  Sidhe, man
  5 ft. + (3d6+2) in. (Height Modifier)
  Sidhe, woman
  4 ft. 8in + (3D6+2) in. (Height Modifier)
  Base Weight (to appear Human)
  Sidhe, man
  100 lb. + (Height Modifier * 1D8) lb.
  Sidhe, woman
  65 lb. + (Height Modifier * 1D8) lb.
  Available Classes
  • All Sidhe may begin as Glamour Sorcerers at 1st level.
  • They may pick other classes for 2nd level and beyond, or
  continue as Glamour sorcerers if they desire. As Glamour
  sorcerers they may never have any other type of sorcery,
  including Wizard, Sorcerer, or Witch.
  • They are banned from any class that requires true emotion,
  feeling, or dedication as a prerequisite, such as Cleric, Pal-
  adin, Druid, or Inquisitor.
  • They are banned from any class requiring a non-Sidhe cul-
  tural background, such as Barbarian, Monk, or Wanderer.
  • They are also banned from any class they could not have
  gained in Bryn Bresail unless they have the opportunity to
  observe or train with humans, for example, Alchemist,
  Musketeer, or Spy. 
  • They must receive the GM’s permission to train in any
  Prestige Class regardless of prerequisites. 
  Available Feats 
  At character creation, they get one from each of the following
  categories:
  • One of the following: Appearance - Above Average, Sex
  Appeal, or Unnerving Countenance.
  • Either Combat Reflexes or Keen Senses but not both.
  • Either Large or Small but not both.
  • Full Blooded (Glamour) Feat for free.
  • Immortal.
  • Slow Aging and Immunity to Disease.
  • Smell Glamour.
  • Strange Poison (Iron), Sea Bound, or Strange Poison (GM’s
  choice of one only).
  Sidhe may not take Arcana feats. However, they may take
  additional Sidhe feats at a cost of adding one Sidhe Frailty for
  each additional feat. This may only be done at 1st level.
  Other
  • Sidhe characters may begin with one Sidhe Bow (with
  arrows), Sidhe Dagger, or Sidhe Sword. 
  • While a Sidhe can understand any spoken language he
  hears, the only language in which he is automatically liter-
  ate is Avalon. Sidhe cannot read and write any more
  adroitly than a human unless they have studied, and must
  follow the same rules as humans for adding more R/W lan-
  guages.
  • All Sidhe have a –1 penalty to all saving throws and skill
  checks while within 10 feet of Cold Iron. As a rule, it
  causes some discomfort but no pain unless otherwise stip-
  ulated. As with the 7th Sea™ system, players are encour-
  aged to role-play this effect.
  • All Sidhe have Damage Reduction 10/Cold Iron unless
  otherwise stipulated.
  • All Sidhe have Spell Resistance 10.
  • A Sidhe Blooded character may select one Sidhe Blessing
  from the Sidhe Blooded chart other than those marked
  Sidhe and Fallen Sidhe only. The player may also pick a
  second Sidhe Blessing as long as he takes a Sidhe Curse as
  well.
  Fallen Sidhe
  The Fallen Sidhe is a Seelie who has been cast out of Bryn
  Bresail, usually for displaying an unseemly interest in human
  affairs. It is one thing to imitate humans or take them as
  lovers; it is quite another to get involved in their business.
  These outcasts should not be confused with the Unseelie,
  who have rejected Seelie values. Most Fallen Sidhe are quite
  young by Sidhe standards and have not quite come into their
  true power. You will need approval from your GM to play a
  Fallen Sidhe, as they are extremely rare. Some never associate
  with humans, some blame humans for their exile and seek
  revenge, and still others choose to immerse themselves in the
  ways of humankind. 
  
  CHAPTER
  3
  The
  MAGIC
  37
  Fallen Sidhe(d20
  TM)
  A Fallen Sidhe is treated as a Sidhe character except for the
  following changes:
  • Despite an interest in humans, most Fallen Sidhe have dif-
  ficulty dealing socially with humans and non-Sidhe crea-
  tures, and thus suffer a –5 penalty on social interaction
  rolls involving a human. They may reduce this penalty by 1
  for every 2 levels they spend on a “human class” (in either
  Swashbuckling Adventures™ or the Player’s Handbook™). The
  penalty may never be reduced below –2 because a Sidhe
  can never pass completely as human; there is always some-
  thing “different” about him that can be regarded as any-
  thing from oddly fascinating to very disturbing.
  • Damage reduction 10/Cold Iron.
  • Fallen Sidhe have the Half Blooded (Glamour) Feat.
  Sidhe Blooded (d20
  TM)
  A Sidhe blooded character is half human, half Sidhe. For
  most purposes, they are the same as another human of a
  Théan nationality of their choice (although certain nationali-
  ties such as Crescent or Cathayan are unlikely.) However,
  there are a few extra penalties and bonuses:
  • A Sidhe Blooded character need not begin the game as a
  Glamour sorcerer, but may become one with training and
  the correct prerequisites at any time. Like his Full-Blooded
  brethren, he may not gain any other form of magic user or
  sorcerer. He does gain the Half-Blooded (Glamour) Feat for
  free, however.
  • A Sidhe Blooded character is pained by the proximity of
  Cold Iron and suffers a –1 penalty to any action attempted
  while wearing or holding a Cold Iron item. While within
  10 ft. of Cold Iron, he suffers a –2 circumstance penalty to
  all rolls, as it causes some discomfort but no real pain. The
  physical effect of Cold Iron should be role-played as well.
  • A Sidhe Blooded character may also select one (1) Feat
  from the Sidhe Feats list (other than those marked “Sidhe
  and Fallen Sidhe only”) which then replaces one of his
  standard Feat slots. These Sidhe Feats may only be taken at
  1st level. The player may also choose a second Sidhe Feat as
  long as he takes a Sidhe Frailty as well.
  • The Challenge Rating (CR) for Sidhe Blooded Characters
  is +1.
  • A Sidhe Blooded character may purchase Half Blood Glam-
  our either at character creation for 18 HP, or afterwards for
  50 experience points.
  Sidhe Blooded (7th sea
  TM)
  See Advantages pg.38, for updated rules.
  Fallen Sidhe(7th Sea
  TM)
  A Fallen Sidhe is treated as a Sidhe character except for the
  following changes:
  • Fallen Sidhe are especially vulnerable to the Repartee
  System. Characters who use the Repartee System on them
  gain a bonus of 2 unkept dice (+2k0).
  • Fallen Sidhe may not purchase any Sorcery besides Glam-
  our. They begin the game with Half-Blooded Glamour
  (reflecting their disconnection with their former selves in
  their new mortal incarnations,) and may spend 20 HP to
  have Full Blooded Glamour.
  • Fallen Sidhe characters may not take any Backgrounds at
  the start of the game. New Backgrounds may be acquired
  later in the normal fashion, per the GM’s approval.
  • Cold Iron and MacEachern weapons do an additional +1k1
  damage to a Fallen Sidhe character, who is also pained by
  the proximity of such substances, and all rolls made while
  wearing or holding a Cold Iron item are at one fewer kept
  dice. 
  Unforgiven Unseelie
  Worse than Fallen Sidhe, the Unforgiven have been banished
  for a real (or imagined) crime that is much worse than dis-
  playing an overriding interest in the human world. Perhaps
  they have exercised magical powers against fellow Sidhe or,
  worst of all, displayed evidence of actual emotion. Once they
  are tainted by the mortal world, they are bound to it and must
  be excised lest they “infect” Bryn Bresail and their fellow
  Sidhe.
  They have lost their immortality, and while they retain the
  gift of Slow Aging, mortal death is now a very real part of
  their life. They are no longer invulnerable to mortal weapons
  and they will feel true pain if wounded. The flood of real emo-
  tion is as painful as any physical blow and far more confusing.
  The PC and the GM should develop a background for this
  character that takes this all into account and provides a logical
  reason why the character is where she is in Théah.
  Unforgiven Unseelie(d20
  TM)
  An Unforgiven Unseelie is treated as a Sidhe character except
  for the following changes:
  • They begin with a reputation of –10.
  • These characters lack the Immortal Blessing, although
  they still have Slow Aging and Immunity to Disease.
  • Unforgiven Unseelie have great difficulty dealing socially
  and thus suffer a –5 penalty to all social interaction rolls.
  They may reduce this penalty by 1 for every 2 levels they
  spend on a “human class” (see below); otherwise, they
  reduce the penalty for every 2 levels they gain while adven-
  turing on Théah with humans. 
  
  CHAPTER
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  • Strange Poison (Iron).
  • Cold Iron and MacEachern weapons do 3 extra points of
  damage to a Sidhe blooded character who is also pained by
  the proximity of Cold Iron and suffers a –1 penalty to any
  action attempted while wearing of holding a cold iron
  item. While within 10 feet of Cold Iron, he suffers a –2 cir-
  cumstance penalty to all rolls because it causes some
  discomfort but no real pain. This effect
  should be role-played as well.
  • He gains both Iron Susceptibility and
  Iron Vulnerability.
  • Challenge Rating (CR) for an
  Unforgiven Unseelie is +3.
  Unforgiven Unseelie
  (7th Sea
  TM)
  An Unforgiven Unseelie is treated as a
  Sidhe character except for the following
  changes:
  •
  Begins with a reputation of –10.
  • Lacks the Immortal blessing,
  although they still have Slow Aging
  and Immunity to Disease.
  • Especially vulnerable to the Repartee
  System. Characters who use the Repartee
  System on them gain a bonus of 2
  unkept dice (+2k0).
  • Begins the game with a
  2–point Hunted (Sidhe)
  Background.
  • Cold Iron and MacEach-
  ern weapons do 3 extra
  points of damage to an
  Unforgiven Unseelie character, who is also pained by the
  proximity of Cold Iron and suffers a –1 penalty to any
  action attempted while wearing of holding a cold iron
  item. He loses one unkept die to all rolls while within 10
  feet of it. The Cold Iron causes some discomfort but no
  pain; this effect should be role-played.
  Advantages(7th Sea
  TM)
  Unless stated otherwise, the rules here are for the 7th Sea™
  system. d20 System™ variations for these rules are described
  beneath the appropriate entry.
  Appearance (Varies)
  Physically, you are more appealing to others. This can take the
  form of something obvious like a perfectly sculpted face, or
  something subtler, like a pair of radiant eyes. Regardless, the
  game effects are as follows:
  Consult with your GM before taking the Intimidating or
  Blessed Beauty version of this Advantage. If you take any of
  these Appearance Advantages, you may not take the Unnerv-
  ing Countenance Advantage.
  Unnerving Countenance
  (Varies)
  Ordinary people find you down-
  right unpleasant to look upon,
  and often feel uncomfortable
  around you. While this can be
  awkward, there are times when
  being ugly can help. Many people
  simply assume that your soul
  matches your form in its hideousness,
  they are often more easily cowed because of
  it. Your lack of beauty could take the form of
  something obvious like a hunchback,
  excessive scarring, warts, missing teeth,
  etc. or it could be something more
  subtle like eyes that never blink.
  Regardless of the cause, the game
  effects are as follows:
  Sidhe Blood (Varies, minimum 1,
  Avalon or Sophia’s Daughters
  Only) 
  (These rules supercede those printed in the
  Avalon™ and Sophia’s Daughters™ sourcebooks.)
  Through some ancient (or perhaps not-so-
  ancient) tryst, you have Sidhe blood running
  through your veins. Normally, only Avalon-born
  people possess such blood but the Daughters of
  Sophia have spread far enough throughout the
  world that traces crop up in members from other
  countries as well.
  Characters with Sidhe blood have both benefits and hin-
  drances. The cost of this Advantage varies depending on
  which traits you inherited from your Sidhe side. The Bless-
  ings cost Hero Points, while the Curses return points to you.
  The minimum cost for this Advantage is 1 and you cannot
  have more points in Curses than Blessings.
  One need not purchase this Advantage in order to have
  Sidhe blood. It simply means that your blood is strong
  enough to convey some tangible benefit or drawback. Daugh-
  ters with Sidhe blood who do not posses this Advantage have
  no abilities imparted through their inhuman heritage.
  Table 3–1: Appearance
  Above Average
  5 Points
  –1 unkept die (+1k0) for all social rolls
  Stunning
  10 Points
  +2 unkept dice (+2k0) for all social rolls
  Intimidating
  15 Points
  +3 unkept dice (+3k0) for all social rolls
  Blessed Beauty
  20 Points
  +4 unkept dice (+4k0) for all social rolls
  
  CHAPTER
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  MAGIC
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  Specific Sidhe Blood Advantages
  (all are Avalon Only):
  In the Avalon™ sourcebook, the GM is encouraged to create
  specific Sidhe Blood Advantages, giving each a 1 Point dis-
  count to adjust for the lack of flexibility. Players may only use
  this bonus with the GM’s permission. Here are a few exam-
  ples:
  Selkie Blood (also known as MacCodrum
  Heritage) (5 Points)
  Blessings: Appearance: Stunning, Child of the Sea, Slow
  Aging and Immunity to Disease
  Curses: Cold-Hearted, Iron Vulnerabilty, Sea Bound
  Pooka Blood (2 Points)
  Blessings: Slow Aging and Immunity to Disease, Variable
  Features
  Curses: Mischievous
  Sidhe Weapon 
  (Varies, Avalon Only)
  Some adventurers have been blessed with a Sidhe weapon.
  Those with the Sidhe Blood Advantage and the Good Stand-
  ing Blessing can purchase a Sidhe Weapon for one HP less
  than the listed cost. A weapon purchased with the Sidhe
  Weapon Advantage can be used against a Sidhe, but its damage
  is dealt as if it was an ordinary weapon of the same type. 
  Sidhe Sword (4 Points)
  A Sidhe sword is as light as smoke and as deadly as fire. It can
  be wielded by anyone, Sidhe or human, who uses the Fencing
  Weapon or Heavy Weapon Skill, at the user’s choice. These
  blades are regarded as 4k2 weapons in the Triple Kingdoms
  and 3k2 weapons elsewhere. When rolling for Initiative, the
  user may lower one of his Action dice by one at the start of
  the Round. 
  Sidhe Bow and Arrows (3 Points)
  Sidhe bows and arrows are special gifts. A Sidhe bowstring
  can never be broken, and the six arrows that come with it can
  always be retrieved after firing. Those struck by a killing blow
  with a Sidhe arrow do not die but rather fall into an
  enchanted sleep which lasts as long as the GM sees fit (a
  single night is normal, but periods of up to one hundred years
  have been known).
  Sidhe Dagger (2 Points)
  A Sidhe dagger can be as deadly a weapon as its larger coun-
  terpart. It is a 2k2 weapon (1k2 when away from Avalon) and
  shares the same qualities as a Sidhe sword, including Initia-
  tive bonuses.
  Sidhe Spear (5 Points)
  A Sidhe spear is similar in heft and lethality to a Sidhe sword.
  It requires the Polearm Skill, and does 6k2 damage in the
  Triple Kingdoms and 5k2 elsewhere. It acts as a +2 keen
  (sharp-edged) longspear, which extends the critical range to
  19-20 and makes the weapon slightly more deadly than a
  normal spear. In addition, when rolling for initiative, the
  wielder rolls 2k1.
  Unseelie Ally (2 Points, Avalon Only)
  Through some means, you have gained the favor of an
  Unseelie Sidhe. While this will hinder your negotiations
  with the Seelie, it also means that you can get an Unseelie
  who is bothering you to leave you unharmed just by men-
  tioning your Ally’s name. With this advantage, however, you
  have one less Reputation die when dealing with the Seelie.
  You may not be sure why that Unseelie Sidhe has taken such
  a protective interest in you, nor do you know how long this
  arrangement will last.
  Blessings
  These are benefits you have received from your Sidhe her-
  itage. Each Blessing may be taken only once:
  Existing Advantage (Varies)
  One, and only one, of the following Advantages may be taken
  as part of your Sidhe Blood Advantage package for the listed
  costs: Appearance: Above Average (4 Points); Appearance:
  Stunning (8 Points); Appearance: Intimidating (12 Points);
  Appearance: Blessed Beauty (16 Points); Dangerous Beauty (2
  Points); Keen Senses (1 Point); Large (4 Points); Small (1
  Point); Unnerving Countenance: Below Average (1 Point);
  Unnerving Countenance: Ugly (3 Points); or Unnerving
  Countenance: Hideous (5 Points).
  Child of the Earth (2 Points)
  You have an affinity for Avalon’s bountiful earth. You can feel
  the heart of the mountains slowly beating beneath you. You
  can sense impending earthquakes like an animal, and when
  you take Falling Damage the surface you land on is always
  considered to be one category softer than usual.
  Table 3–2: Unnerving Countenance
  Below Average
  2 Points
  Penalty of –1 unkept die (–1k0) on all social rolls except those where being 
  unpleasant to look at can be an Advantage (Haggling, for instance); those social 
  rolls get a +1k1 bonus. This bonus applies to Intimidation attempts as well.
  Ugly
  4 Points
  Penalty of –2 unkept dice (–2k0) on all social rolls except those where being 
  unpleasant to look at can be advantageous; those social rolls get a +2k2 bonus. 
  This bonus also applies to Intimidation attempts.
  Hideous
  6 Points
  Penalty of –3 unkept dice (–3k0) on all social rolls, except for those where being 
  unpleasant to behold can be beneficial. Those social rolls get a +3k3 bonus, 
  which also applies to Intimidation attempts. Furthermore, you may spend one 
  action per turn displaying your ugliness to add +1 to your Fear Rating for the 
  remainder of the turn. If you do not have a Fear Rating, you temporarily gain 
  a Fear Rating of 1.
  * Consult with your GM before purchasing the Hideous version of this Advantage. You may not take the Appearance Advan-
  tage if you have this Advantage. 
  
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  Child of the Sea (3 Points)
  You have an affinity for the sea. You can smell the sharp tang
  of the salt air no matter how far inland you travel. You can
  sense impending storms, and when using the Drowning rules
  your Resolve is 3 higher than normal.
  Child of the Sky (3 Points)
  You have an affinity for the sky and a faint tie to the Queen of
  the Sidhe. You are always lulled to sleep by the gentle sound
  of rain, even in the worst of droughts. You can sense another
  world out of the corners of your eyes. You may use a Glamour
  Knack once per Act without paying a Drama Die.
  Good Standing (2 Points)
  The Sidhe side of your family is in good standing with a
  Seelie Queen so you receive one extra Reputation die when
  dealing with the Seelie Court. In addition, those with Good
  Standing may purchase the Sidhe Weapon Advantage for one
  less HP.
  Immortal (Sidhe, Fallen Sidhe only, 5 points)
  You are immune to the effects of aging once you reach the age
  of maturity.
  Slow Aging and Immunity to Disease (2 Points)
  Thanks to your Sidhe heritage, you age more slowly than
  normal mortals (divide your age in half, rounding down, for
  Aging rule purposes) and you are immune to all disease
  (including the White Plague).
  Smell Glamour (3 Points)
  Because of your Sidhe heritage, you can “smell” Glamour.
  Pick a distinctive smell, like ripe oranges, wintergreen, or
  brimstone. This smell fills your nostrils when a Sidhe or
  Glamour Mage is using his powers within 30 feet of you.
  Some characters with Sidhe blood hear Glamour and a very
  few can even taste it.
  Variable Features (3 Points)
  Many Sidhe are shapeshifters, and you have just a touch of
  this power yourself. Not enough to turn into an ox or a horse,
  but enough to alter your eye color, facial features, skin tone,
  and hair color just enough to make yourself unrecognizable.
  You must expend a Drama (or Glamour) Die to do it. 
  Make a Panache roll, the result of which is the TN for
  anyone who sees you to recognize you. You cannot imitate
  the appearance of any specific person in this fashion; the
  effect is merely enough to hide your own identity. You have
  no ability to disguise your scent or voice, and you cannot
  create or eliminate scars, birthmarks, or missing body parts.
  Curses
  Alas, there are also drawbacks to having a Sidhe heritage.
  Each Curse may be taken only once.
  Cold-Hearted (2 Points)
  Your Sidhe heritage has left you with a hard heart. You may
  never experience True Love (except through magical means),
  and your romances are doomed to fail once because you grow
  bored with your lover. In game terms, any romances in which
  your character gets involved must be ended by the beginning
  of the next Story. Each completed romance lowers your Rep-
  utation by 3 Points. Worst of all, you begin the game with a 2-
  Point Lost Love Background from which you never receive
  bonus Experience Points.
  Diurnal (2 Points)
  You grow weak when shielded from the light of the sun.
  Unless you are in direct sunlight, all your rolls suffer a
  penalty of two unkept dice (–2k0). You cannot take the Noc-
  turnal Curse.
  Gifts (2 Points)
  The giving of gifts is a powerful ritual in the lands of the
  Sidhe. Your heritage has made it a curse. Whenever you
  accept a gift, you must return the favor as quickly as possible.
  For every day that you do not, you lose once unkept die
  (–1k0) to all your rolls. This effect is cumulative.
  Huge Appetite (1 Point)
  Many kinds of Sidhe are known to eat and drink more than
  their size would indicate, and evidently you come from this
  stock. You must eat twice as much food as the average person
  of your size. Consequently, you need to make sure to take
  along twice as many provisions when you go on an expedi-
  tion. You find it very hard to turn down offers of food or
  drink, and must make a Resolve roll against a TN based on the
  amount of food being offered. Snacks have a TN of 5, small
  meals or drinks have a TN of 10, medium-sized meals have a
  TN of 15, large meals have a TN of 20, and feasts have a TN of
  25.
  Iron Susceptibility (1 Point)
  You are susceptible to Cold Iron, but to a much smaller extent
  than some of your cousins. Touching the metal with your
  flesh causes mild discomfort, but no actual penalties. If you
  are struck with a weapon made of Cold Iron, your opponent
  rolls one additional unkept die (+1k0) on Damage Rolls.
  MacEachern weapons roll and keep one additional die (+1k1)
  on Damage Rolls against you. You cannot take the Iron Vul-
  nerability Curse if you have this Curse.
  Iron Vulnerability (2 Points)
  Your Sidhe heritage has left you vulnerable to cold iron.
  Whenever the dreaded metal comes into contact with your
  flesh, you suffer extreme pain and lose one unkept die (–1k0)
  from all your Actions until the end of the Scene. If you are
  struck with a weapon made from cold iron, your opponent
  rolls and keeps one additional die (+1k1) on Damage Rolls.
  MacEachern weapons affect you as if you were a full-blooded
  Sidhe. You cannot take the Iron Susceptibility Curse.
  Mischievous (2 Points)
  You cannot resist tricking people or playing practical jokes. If
  you do not perform at least one such prank per day then you
  will suffer a cumulative penalty of one unkept die per day
  (–1k0) since the last time you played a prank.
  Nocturnal (1 Point)
  You have trouble functioning in direct sunlight, and are at a
  penalty of one unkept die (–1k0) when doing so. You cannot
  take the Diurnal Curse.
  
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  Running Water (1 Point)
  You cannot cross running water without a bridge but you do
  not know why. (Remember that this is a curse, and should be
  role-played as such. Most Sidhe have a deep affinity for the
  water.)
  Sea Bound (2 Points)
  You are left feeling weak whenever you cannot feel the salt
  spray from the sea on your skin. When you are more than ten
  miles from any body of salt water, all your rolls are at a penalty
  of two unkept dice (–2k0).
  Sidhe Feats(7th Sea
  TM)
  These feats may only be taken by Sidhe, Fallen Sidhe, Sidhe
  Blooded, and Unforgiven Unseelie characters.
  Alternate Form (Sidhe or Fallen Sidhe Only)
  You may assume a different form almost at will, although it
  costs 1d4 hit points every time you transform. You retain the
  same hit point total when in the new form, but assume the
  attributes of a normal member of that species. You must
  choose the form at character creation and it must be approved
  by the GM. Any small or average sized animal is acceptable,
  such as a crow, rabbit or a horse. (Drachen or other monsters
  are not acceptable.) It is possible to have another Sidhe form
  (but not a human one) with a different appearance, or even a
  different sex. However, you retain all your Sidhe Feats and
  Frailties in the new form as well. Clothing and most items
  will transform with you. 
  The only problem is that a little of the other form’s person-
  ality tends to sneak through at all times in minor ways. If the
  form is a cat you may be sleepy in the daytime, if a crow you
  may have a rather dubious diet, and if a rabbit…
  Creature of Beauty
  Add 1d6 points to Charisma to a maximum of 18 for Sidhe-
  blooded characters, but a maximum of 22 for Fallen Sidhe. If
  the character is a Fallen Sidhe this Feat may be taken twice.
  Child of the Earth
  You are in touch by the spirit of the earth. You always know
  when an earthquake or other natural cataclysm is about to
  occur a few minutes beforehand. You may halve damage
  received from falling if you fall onto a natural earth or rock
  surface.
  Child of the Sea
  The song of the ocean calls to you. You are always aware of bad
  weather at least an hour before it hits. You may also breathe
  water as if it were air as long as you are in a sea or ocean.
  Child of the Sky
  You are in touch with the power of the sky. You always
  know what the weather will be like a day in advance just by
  looking up at the sky. Any avian creature knows you for a
  friend, and will be well disposed towards you upon initial
  meeting.
  Fearful Countenance
  No matter how beautiful or ugly you are, there is something
  completely terrifying about you. You may use this aura to give
  you a +4 insight bonus to an Intimidate roll.
  Family of Good Standing
  You come form a line of noble and respected Sidhe. You gain
  a +2 circumstance bonus to all social actions with any Sidhe
  in good standing with either the Seelie Courts or Unseelie
  Courts. You may take this advantage a second time and gain
  the bonus to both Courts.
  Immortal 
  You are immune to the effects of aging once you reach the age
  of maturity.
  Immune to Poison (Sidhe or Fallen Sidhe Only)
  Sidhe are unaffected by any natural poison. Those crafted by
  man from mixtures and alchemy may be resisted with a +4
  circumstance bonus.
  Immunity to Weapons 
  (Sidhe or Fallen Sidhe Only)
  The character may select a weapon group, and any normal
  weapon from it does not harm him. However, if the weapon is
  magical it does the normal damage. The GM may also rule
  that any special but non-magical weapon may also do damage,
  such as a treasured family sword or weapon crafted by some-
  one with a loathing for the Sidhe. This power may be taken
  multiple times to gain immunity from more groups of
  weapons.
  Legendary Ability (Sidhe or Fallen Sidhe only)
  You may add 2 to any one (1) ability, which may raise that abil-
  ity to a maximum of 20. This Feat may be taken twice, and
  used on the same ability if desired.
  Resilient
  You increase damage reduction to 15/cold iron and increase
  spell resistance to 15 (for Sidhe and Fallen Sidhe only.)
  Sidhe Weapon
  You carry a Sidhe crafted item of power. In general, the
  weapon grants a +2 magical enhancement bonus to all rolls
  while you in Avalon, and +1 anywhere else. Thanks to its
  extremely fine and delicate craftsmanship, the weapon is
  only half as heavy as its human counterpart and twice as resis-
  tant to any attempt to break it. At the GM’s option you may
  forego the usual bonus and choose a weapon with a Sidhe
  power, such as arrows that put a person to sleep rather than
  damage them. This Feat may be taken more than once.
  Slow Aging and Immunity to Disease
  Sidhe have such a powerful constitution that they are
  immune to any natural disease. They also gain a +4 circum-
  stance bonus to any save versus magical or unnatural diseases.
  
  CHAPTER
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  Smell Glamour
  The character is always aware of the hint of Glamour around
  them and any Glamour spells or effects in their immediate
  area are readily apparent. They will also know if any person is
  a Glamour mage or has been enchanted by one. The “smell”
  does not tell them the nature or type of magic involved,
  simply its power, area of effect, and intensity. It has no affect
  on other forms of magic and sorcery. This power may instead
  be used to detect Bargainer’s Arts or Syrneth as separate Feats;
  however a character should only have one.
  Sidhe Frailties
  Aura of Beauty
  Whatever your appearance there is something magnetic
  about you. Humans find you fascinating even if you are repul-
  sive and do not quite understand the attraction unless you are
  staggeringly beautiful. Whenever you enter a room everyone
  notices you. You cannot walk down the street without attract-
  ing followers. Your presence is always noted and even if you
  arrive cloaked and hooded, people are still drawn to you,
  which can be unfortunate if there are those whom you are
  trying to avoid.
  All Move Silently/Hide checks are made at –2. Any NPC
  who interacts wit you add +2 to any rolls which involve
  remembering your presence.
  Diurnal
  You grow weak when sheltered from the sun. Any action
  attempted out of direct sunlight is at –2. If you select this
  Frailty, you may not take Nocturnal.
  Frightful Visage
  Yours is a twisted idea of beauty and you have modeled your-
  self on it. Reduce your Charisma by 2d4 points. 
  Gifting
  You are bound to return any favor or gift given to you. Any
  time you receive a gift or favor you must repay it in equal
  worth. For every day you do not, you gain a cumulative –1
  penalty to all actions.
  Misconceived Habits
  You just do not understand the human world. What is dis-
  gusting to them is beautiful to you. You are attracted to unre-
  solved parts of the human world. Anything twisted fills you
  with longing and wonder. You know to draw the line at crime,
  but not quite, Once per day, the GM may force you to act in
  ways that humans will find repulsive or extremely unusual.
  Nocturnal
  Sunlight causes you physical pain, and only the night brings
  comfort. Any action attempted while in sunlight is at -2. You
  may not take Diurnal.
  Responsibility
  You have a responsibility to the Sidhe, which may take sev-
  eral forms. It could be to keep an item or a person safe or
  learn all you can about a specific human emotion. You may
  have to gather a certain number of stories for the Sidhe court
  each year. Guarding is another possibility, but not suitable for
  an adventurer unless it is to take a turn with others. The GM
  has the final word; remember that this is a penalty, so do not
  expect to guard a powerful magic sword. 
  Sea Bound
  You need to be close to the water to feel truly alive. You suffer
  a –2 penalty to any action attempted when not in sight of, or
  travelling on the sea.
  Strange Fear
  There is something in particular about the human world that
  is so strange to you it fills you with dread. It could be an emo-
  tion or organization; however, it is not something that could
  be part of the Sidhe or the natural world. Whatever it is, it is
  wholly human. Whenever you encounter the object of your
  fear, you must make a Will Save (DC 15) or flee it. Even when
  you make your save, you will avoid the object when possible.
  Sidhe and Scrying
  While they have far more power than a human, the Sidhe
  possess less free will. Despite this, scrying and predictions
  involving the Sidhe are almost never correct, a fact that has
  driven prophets and soothsayers insane for centuries. 
  The primary reason for this is inherent in the means of
  prophecy. Any means of foretelling the future does so by
  using the laws of reality and understanding. While the
  uncertainty of the process often displays itself in cloudy or
  misleading predictions, the laws of reality dictate that
  certain causes will always have a definable effect. No
  matter how many times you leap off a cliff, you will fall
  every time. All methods of foretelling rely upon these laws
  of reality to remain inviolate, they build one action upon
  another until a prophecy is revealed. 
  However, the Sidhe are not simply powerful humans.
  They are a force of nature manifest in physical form and
  care no more for the rules of reality than they care for the
  rules of man. Whenever the Sidhe act, their actions twist
  and change the very nature of reality. When a Sidhe steps
  off the cliff, he only falls if he feels like it. While the Sidhe
  act true to form when they use their powers, any predic-
  tion of their actions will go awry. Few people with methods
  of predicting the future realize this aspect of reality and are
  startled to discover the future turning out far differently
  than they had expected. This is one of the primary reasons
  that the Lady of the Lake has not become the most power-
  ful Sidhe, her predictions of the future only hold true while
  herself and the other Sidhe do not interfere.
  
  CHAPTER
  3
  The
  MAGIC
  43
  Strange Poison
  Something completely innocuous in the human world is dan-
  gerous to you. Sadly, the only way to find out is to come across
  it in your travels. The GM picks a common and unthreaten-
  ing substance, and doesn’t tell you until you come across it.
  You take 1d4 damage for every round you are in contact with
  the substance and feel slightly sick when nearby it. Depend-
  ing on the substance (which can also be an emotion or a
  place), the GM may impose other penalties. Hope the GM
  does not choose ale.
  Tragic Love
  You are fated to fall in love far too easily. Unfortunately, you
  are also fated to destroy or hurt whatever or whomever you
  come to love. This frailty should be role-played to the extent
  that the players can handle.
  Sidhe and Glamour
  A human Glamour mage is able to touch a bit of the fame and
  renown of a Legend, which allows him to accomplish fantas-
  tic feats beyond his own natural capabilities. By emulating
  Robin Goodfellow, for example, an archer can make an
  incredible bow shot while someone who emulates the Seelie
  Queen wraps an aura of regal authority around herself. Great
  heroes and villains have Glamour, the magical spark to their
  souls that allows them to be unforgettable, something that
  makes others want to be them — or be with them. The
  Legend lives apart from the mage, but he is able to tap into its
  power as his own for a short time. However, that is not how a
  Sidhe uses Glamour.
  Every Sidhe is a legend, a force of nature and myth. They
  can bend and warp reality all around them because they stand
  apart from its laws and their only limitation is their own
  fame. Although they emulate human behavior, they draw
  upon their own innate energy to achieve things beyond the
  greatest mortal. Through the power of illusion, they can
  change their form at will or transform object. While this
  force is not unlimited, it is far greater than any human could
  ever generate.
  Most Sidhe use Glamour in a focused and consistent way.
  The Sidhe monarchs are the greatest examples of this; the
  three Queens know who they are and what they command.
  As the centuries have passed, they continue to gain renown
  and power. 
  Sidhe Glamour Knacks(7th Sea
  TM)
  While most humans cannot have more than one Glamour
  Knack for any given Trait, Sidhe and some humans are
  exempt from this restriction. For every point a character pos-
  sesses in a Trait above 5, he gains an additional Glamour
  Knack in that Trait. For example, a character with a legendary
  trait of 6 in Panache could have both the St. Rogers and Berek
  knacks. Such power does not come without responsibility or
  danger, however.
  Human Glamour Mages tap into legends and myths as the
  source of their power. Those who use Knacks based upon
  other mortals, living or dead, take on some aspect of that
  person’s reputation without risk. However, when a human
  taps into the Sidhe’s power, he risks gaining the Sidhe’s atten-
  tion. Whenever a Glamour Mage uses a Sidhe Glamour
  Knack, the GM must roll 1k1 (2k2 in Bryn Bresail). If the
  result is 20 or higher, the Sidhe who owns the Knack notices
  the sorcerer and may become curious…
  
  CHAPTER
  3
  The
  MAGIC
  44
  These new Knacks for Glamour Mages should be treated
  like previous Knacks (i.e., a mortal cannot take two Brawn
  knacks). The exact effects of this are left up to the GM. 
  D20™ MECHANIC
  Whenever a Glamour Mage taps into a Sidhe Glamour
  legend, the GM checks to see if the legendary figure whose
  power was accessed noticed (1% chance, increasing to a 10%
  chance when the PC is in Bryn Bresail.) The exact effects of
  this are left up to the GM.
  Queen Maab (Resolve)
  The Queen of the Sea controls and commands all beings
  beneath the waves except for her hated rival, the Black Siren
  and her kin. Maab is a spiteful Sidhe who lashes out against any
  insult or slight; her powers beneath the waves are unparalleled.
  Apprentice:The Apprentice may speak with any sea-based
  creature and understand what it is saying. This does not nec-
  essarily indicate that the creature will be friendly, though,
  and the power only lasts for five minutes of game time per
  Rank in this Knack.
  Adept:The Adept can survive without breathing and adapt
  to underwater conditions for the next 6 hours. This also
  allows the mage to survive in other situations without breath-
  ing such as while buried alive, while being strangled, or when
  surrounded by poisonous gas.
  Master: The Glamour mage can activate this power only
  while standing in at least a foot of seawater. For a number of
  rounds equal to the mage’s mastery level, she gains two extra
  kept dice to all rolls and Fear 2.
  D20™ MECHANICS
  Apprentice: The apprentice may speak with animal to any
  nautical creature. The spell’s duration is one minute per caster
  level. (DC 10)
  Adept:The Adept can survive without breathing and adapt
  to underwater conditions for the next 6 hours. This also
  allows the mage to survive in other situations without breath-
  ing such as while buried alive, while being strangled or
  when surrounded by poisonous gas. (DC 15)
  Master: The Glamour mage can activate this power
  only while standing in at least a foot of seawater. For a
  number of rounds equal to one half of the caster level,
  she gains a +6 circumstance bonus to all rolls and has
  the effect of cloak of fear. (DC 20)
  Lady of the Lake (Wits)
  The Queen of the Earth watches over all of Avalon
  and Bryn Bresail and gently guides both lands
  towards the future.
  Apprentice: The apprentice may
  activate this power to succeed at a
  perception check automatically.
  
  CHAPTER
  3
  The
  MAGIC
  45
  Adept:The Adept gets flashes of the future and its possible
  consequences, which guide them forward. She can activate
  this power after making any roll to immediately reroll it. You
  may use this power a number of times equal to your mastery
  level of Glamour in each act.
  Master: The Glamour mage may activate this power to
  look into any body of fresh water and see the events occur-
  ring within sight of any other body of fresh water. She may
  also look at events that occurred in the past or future. How-
  ever, a perception check (TN 30) is necessary to select the cor-
  rect body of water and the correct moment. Only the Glam-
  our mage sees the events and the images only last for five
  minutes per mastery level.
  D20™ MECHANICS
  Apprentice: The apprentice may activate this power to
  automatically succeed at a Spot, Search, or Listen check. (DC
  10)
  Adept: The Adept gets flashes of intuition about the future
  and its possible consequences. She can activate this power
  after making an immediate attempt to reroll it. (DC 15)
  Master: The Glamour mage may look into any body of
  fresh water and see the events occurring within sight of any
  other body of fresh water as per a scry spell. She may look at
  events that occurred in the past, present, or future. Only the
  Glamour mage sees the events and the spell’s duration is only
  15 minutes. (DC 20)
  The Seelie Queen (Panache)
  The Queen of the Sky acts as the sole monarch of the Sidhe.
  While her sisters may disagree with the extent of her domain,
  they do not dispute it publicly because of her shrewish nature
  and ability to slowly drain their power from them.
  Apprentice: The Apprentice may activate this power to
  increase her stature and aura. This grants her +1 kept dice to
  all social rolls for a number of hours equal to the ranks of this
  Knack. 
  Adept: The Adept may summon rushing winds to disori-
  ent and overwhelm opponents. Activating this power causes a
  small whirlwind to surround a person or area within her
  sight. It causes no damage, but it does reduce all of his rolls by
  a number of kept dice equal to her mastery level of Glamour
  for a number of rounds equal to her ranks in this Knack.
  Master:The Glamour mage may activate this power, target
  any person within her sight, and pick a trait. The target loses
  one point of that trait (to a minimum of 1) until dawn of the
  next day.
  D20™ MECHANICS
  Apprentice: The Apprentice may activate this power to
  increase her stature and aura. This grants her +5 circumstance
  bonus to any Charisma based rolls for a number of hours
  equal to her Glamour mage level. 
  Adept: The Adept may summon rushing winds to disori-
  ent and overwhelm opponents. Activating this power causes a
  small whirlwind to surround a person or area within her
  sight. It causes no damage, but all of the target’s rolls have a -
  5 circumstance penalty for a number of rounds equal to the
  mage’s caster level.
  Master: The Glamour mage master may activate this
  power, target any person within her line of sight, and choose
  a statistic. The target loses 1d6 points from that trait (mini-
  mum of 3) until dawn of the next day.
  The Horned King (Brawn)
  The Horned King is an embodiment of all that is masculine
  and powerful among the Sidhe. No woman, human or Sidhe,
  can resist his embrace and few even consider it after catching
  sight of his magnificent form. (Note: The Horned King is a
  primal power. There is nothing romantic about an encounter
  with him. GMs should modify use of this character to accom-
  modate the players’ sensibilities.)
  Apprentice: The Apprentice may activate this power for
  +1 kept dice to seduction and social rolls versus someone of
  the opposite sex. 
  Adept: The Adept may activate this power to move from
  any forest to any other forest within a 100-mile radius. How-
  ever, he cannot control exactly where he will arrive within
  that forest. 
  Master: The Glamour mage master may assume the form
  of any male creature of bear size or smaller until dawn of the
  next day, though specific beings are not possible. The Glam-
  our mage gains the lecherous hubris during this time.
  D20™ MECHANICS
  Apprentice:The Glamour mage may activate this power to
  double his charisma bonus for all rolls for an hour and gain
  the Dangerous Beauty Feat. 
  Adept: The Adept may activate this power to move from
  any forest to any other forest within a 100-mile radius. How-
  ever, he cannot control exactly where he will arrive within
  that forest. 
  Master: The Glamour mage master may assume the form
  of any male creature of Large size or smaller until dawn of the
  next day per polymorph self, though specific beings are not pos-
  sible. The Glamour mage gains lecherous hubris during this
  time.
  Red Cap (Finesse)
  Redcap is one of the most bloodthirsty and vicious of the
  Unseelie. Delighting in torture and death, he dips his cap into
  the blood of his victims and allows it to drip down across his
  face.
  Apprentice: Redcap is known for toying with his prey and
  enjoys watching them from his hiding place. This power
  gives the Apprentice an extra kept die per mastery level to
  Stealth and Taunt rolls for 5 minutes per rank in this knack. 
  Adept: Invoking this power allows the Adept to gain a por-
  tion of Redcap’s fighting prowess. His hands elongate and
  form claws which gives him +1 kept dice to all unarmed
  attacks and they inflict an extra kept die of damage. Further,
  there is no penalty for unskilled use of unarmed attacks. This
  lasts for a number of rounds equal to double the Glamour
  mage's mastery level.
  Master: By invoking this power, the Glamour mage's face
  elongates and twists into a hideous visage while his torso
  shrinks and his limbs grow longer. Fresh blood begins to drip
  from his hair in continuous streams. The transformation is
  terrifying to watch and the mage gains Fear 3 for a number of
  minutes equal to the mage’s ranks in this knack.
  D20™ MECHANICS
  Apprentice: Redcap is known for toying with his prey and
  enjoys watching them from hiding. This power effects the
  Glamour mage as if he had cast invisibility upon himself. The
  duration of this effect cannot be greater than one hour.
  
  CHAPTER
  3
  The
  MAGIC
  46
  Adept: Invoking this power allows the adept to gain a por-
  tion of Redcap’s fighting prowess. His hands elongate and
  form claws, giving him +2 enhancement bonus to hit and
  damage with all unarmed attacks and the Improved Unarmed
  Strike Feat for one round per caster level.
  Master: By invoking this power, the Glamour mage's face
  elongates and twists into a hideous visage while his torso
  shrinks and his limbs grow longer. Fresh blood begins to drip
  from his hair in continuous streams. The transformation is
  terrifying to watch. The effect is per the cause fear spell with a
  DC value of 20.
  For the GM…
  A GM should think very carefully before allowing a player
  character Sidhe into the game. This is not because of the
  Sidhe’s immense physical power or the different rules by
  which they are created, but because they are very difficult to
  play properly. Their psychology, while appar-
  ently similar to a human’s, is actually very
  alien and distorted. As you have read, they
  seem to be human, which is what makes it so
  confusing.
  A GM might be excused for saying, “I appre-
  ciate that you want to be a Sidhe, but what am
  I supposed to DO with a race for whom reality
  is no more than a gentlemen’s agreement?
  How do I make use of creatures that live in a
  different time frame? How can I challenge a
  character who is by definition always the
  superior of his or her surroundings?” 
  When planning a campaign in your 7th
  Sea™ world, you must decide how much of a
  presence the Sidhe have in your game. Of
  course the simplest approach is to choose to
  have no Sidhe PCs at all, reserving them for
  NPCs and plot hooks. The Sidhe may be a dis-
  tant presence in far-off Bryn Bresail whose
  machinations touch the lives of your charac-
  ters indirectly. You could even decide that in
  your version of Théah (or whatever world you
  choose), the Sidhe have not yet arrived,
  thereby reserving the opportunity for them to
  make a grand entrance later on in your cam-
  paign. Such a decision would have major
  implications for the mythology of Théah (par-
  ticularly that of Avalon and Sophia’s Daugh-
  ters), but it is eminently doable if you are pre-
  pared to deal with the consequences.
  Such a decision, however, robs your cam-
  paign of a potential source of incredible
  beauty, excitement, and discovery. The Sidhe
  offer the GM an opportunity to introduce her
  players to a completely alien world peopled by
  creatures whose thought patterns are almost
  incomprehensible. It would be a shame for a
  Théan character to miss the experience of
  seeing the heart-stopping beauty of the Seelie
  courts or the opportunity to be thrilled (and
  terrified) by the sights and sounds of the Wild
  Hunt (preferably from a safe distance).
  The best way to introduce players to the Sidhe is gradually.
  The only Sidhe settlements of any substance are found in
  Ussura, Montaigne and Avalon, but individual Sidhe travel
  throughout most of Théah, except for Cathay and the south-
  ern and eastern deserts of the Crescent Empire where they
  are unknown. Wherever the Sidhe travel they leave legends
  behind them, which will probably be the first contact your
  players have with them. Let the characters hear a bard in a
  dockside tavern singing a song of the doomed love a lady for
  her Syrneth lover. Have an old man regale them with a tale of
  how, when he was young traveling in Avalon, he once saw the
  Wild Hunt gallop across the horizon, led by their packs of
  hellhounds with eyes blazing and their great wings flapping.
  It does not matter that the story is totally untrue. What is
  important is that it introduces the characters to the notion of
  something wild and powerful out there about which the char-
  acters may very well want to know more.
  
  Prominent Sidhe 
  and Mortal Allies
  The Queen of the Earth 
  (The Lady of the Lake)
  Also known as the Lady of the Lake, and in certain close cir-
  cles as the Earth Mother, the Queen of the Earth is an enig-
  matic figure in Avalon legend. She is widely described in sto-
  ries as the most reserved and least active of all the Sidhe
  Queens. At the same time, her contributions to the people of
  Avalon are among the furthest reaching and most distinctly
  powerful, and her affection for Avalon makes her one of the
  nation’s most powerful allies. It was the Lady of the Lake who
  helped Athrwys unify Avalon in 1028 by allowing him to
  carry the sword Firinbrand into battle against his brothers. 
  She is credited with power over all inland bodies of
  water: every well, pond, lake, and river falls within her
  purview. The farmers of Avalon, dependent on such water
  for their very lives, revere her. She is generally perceived as
  a mothering figure who watches benevolently over her
  “children” the people of the Glamour Isles.
  The Lady of the Lake took mortal form only once, long
  ago. During that time, she fell in love with a knight of
  uncertain nationality to whom she bore two children: 
  a daughter, Sophia, who remained in the mortal world to
  watch over humanity and a. son, Lugh, who grew strong
  and proud, with the legs of an elk and a great rack of horns
  sprouting from his forehead. (see the Horned King and Holly
  Prince below.) The Lady’s children may be the best symbolic
  representations of her soul; she is a carefully balanced
  entity, capable of great feats of benevolent mercy, and
  equally capable of terrible acts of destructive cruelty.
  While her sisters maintain grandiose courts aping mortal
  nobility, the Lady lives in a comparatively simple fashion.
  She maintains a presence in every body of water through-
  out the Glamour Isles, either personally or through Seelie
  servants, although she considers the picturesque Loch
  Westmoreland her favorite. Of all the queens, she is the best
  informed about the current state of the Isles. She gathers
  information by listening to the mortals who speak around
  her waters, and thinks for a long time before acting.
  Unfortunately, her desire to plan carefully has already
  cost her opportunities. Mortals move so quickly, and with
  such lack of forethought that there have been more than
  one instance in which disaster occurred while she was still
  considering her options. She has tried to accommodate her
  efforts to the confusing sense of time in the mortal world
  and often seeks the advice of Sir Lawrence Lugh. 
  Her relationship with the Sidhe knight is a close one. It
  was she who took pity on him after the Grey Queen crip-
  pled him. It was she who led him to knighthood, and she
  who bestowed upon him the legendary blade Firinbrand.
  Now that he is the leader of Queen Elaine’s Knights, she
  queries him regularly about mortals, why they act as they
  do, and what she should do in response.
  While the Lady of the Lake can assume any form she
  chooses, the majority of the time she appears as a tall, beau-
  tiful woman wearing diaphanous white robes and an
  expression of calm reserve. She speaks in a melodious voice
  similar to her sister, the Queen of the Sky.
  The
  FOLKE
  Book Four:
  The Folke
  47
  
  CHAPTER
  4
  The
  FOLKE
  48
  The Queen of Earth (The Lady of the Lake) —
  Hero (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 6, Finesse: 6, Wits: 7, Resolve: 6, Panache: 5
  TN to be hit: 30
  Reputation: 150
  Background: Rivalry 2 (Seelie Queen, Queen Maab)
  Arcana: None
  Advantages: Appearance: Blessed, All Languages (R/W)
  Courtier: Dancing 3, Etiquette 4, Fashion 3, Oratory 5, Diplo-
  macy 5, Gaming 2, Gossip 2, Lip Reading 2, Politics 5,
  Scheming 3, Seduction 3, Sincerity 5
  Hunting: Stealth 4, Survival 3, Tracking 3, Trail Signs 3,
  Ambush 3, Animal Training 3
  Riding: Ride 3, Animal Training 3, Mounting 3, Trick Riding 3
  Archery: Attack (Bow) 3, Fletcher 2, Snapshot 3, Trick Shoot-
  ing 3
  Fencing: Attack 4, Parry 4
  Attack: (Sword) 10k6, (Bow) 10k6
  Damage: (Sword) 8k2, (Bow) 8k2
  Glamour Legend: The Lady of the Lake is a legendary figure.
  She may use any of the powers of the Glamour legends of
  Jack, Thomas and King Elilodd at will without rolling once
  per day.
  In Every Pool: She can move from any pool, stream or lake
  within the Avalon or Sidhe lands. She can also Scry the
  events occurring within eye sight at will.
  Immunities: The Lady is immune to poison, disease, and simi-
  lar effects. Mortal sorcerers must make a Panache roll TN
  25 to affect her; even then, Magic only has half its normal
  effect against her. All damage she incurs is reduced by 2
  kept dice (–2k2).
  Memory and Illusions:The Lady is also able to modify a mortal's
  memories, create illusions and change reality in the area
  surrounding her to fit any whim she has. Sidhe are not
  affected by these abilities.
  Shapechange: She can change her form at will to that of any
  other creature, but in the new form she always retains her
  statistics, skills, and powers. She rarely uses this ability and
  generally assumes the form of a mortal woman. Further,
  the Lady may prevent the shapechanged creature from
  being changed back to its original form (by any means)
  until she chooses otherwise.
  Swirl of the Lakes: Every living thing in Avalon or the Sidhe
  lands comes within sight of its lakes, streams and ponds.
  The ruler of these waters is able to change the form of any
  one reflected it these waters to that of any person or crea-
  ture whose reflection lay upon them. Once per round, the
  Lady may change the form of any person or creature
  within sight of a body of water and this power may effect
  any being, even another Sidhe. The affected target’s powers
  are unaffected, but it gains statistics appropriate to its new
  form. This may often cause a Sidhe to be unable to access
  its powers if it is now not intelligent enough to use them or
  remember how they function. Further, the Lady may lock
  in this form so that the being cannot be changed back by
  any means until she allows it. 
  GM Secrets
  The Lady of the Lake is deeply interested in the mortal world,
  a legacy of her love from long ago. She treasures his name,
  which has been lost to history, a name known only to the
  Lady herself. Were one to obtain that name, it could be used
  as a token of great power over her, as her love for him remains
  steadfast. It is conceivable, however, that Sophia’s Daughters
  have access to this name through a long-forgotten journal on
  a long-forgotten shelf, at the GM’s discretion. (See Sophia’s
  Daughters™ for more information on this Sidhe-influenced
  society.)
  Before Sir Lawrence’s arrival, the Lady was limited in what
  she could learn of mortals. With his counsel, she has a direct
  conduit to the political heart of Avalon. She does not trust her
  sisters, and works through Sir Lawrence to advise Queen
  Elaine on the courses of action that will bring the mortal
  queen not only political success, but also keep the machina-
  tions of the other two Queens at bay. She deliberately culti-
  vates the myth of being thoughtful and slow to move, when
  in fact her insights are keener than either of her sisters.
  The Lady knows what Meryth is planning; unfortunately,
  this that may prove her undoing. If Meryth moves against
  Elaine and Avalon, the Lady will side with Avalon against
  Meryth and Maab. For all the Lady’s insight, she has not real-
  ized that the resulting conflict among the Queens may tear
  Avalon to pieces.
  The Queen of the Earth (Lady of the Lake)(d20™)
  Fae: CR 16, SZ M (see shapechange below); HD 10d8+60; hp
  105; Init +5 (+5 Dex); Spd 40 ft., Swim 40 ft.; AC 24 (+5 Dex, +9
  natural); Atks: +3 longsword +16/+11 melee (1d8+9); SA
  Spells, Swirl of the Lakes, spell-like abilities; SQ DR 15/Cold
  Iron or Syrneth weapon, all Glamour Legends at will as 20th
  level Glamour Mage, Glamour Legend, Immunities, In Every
  Pool, Shapechange, SR 20; SV Fort +12, Ref +16, Will +16; Str
  23, Dex 20, Con 22, Int 23, Wis 21, Cha 25; AL CG; Skills:
  Animal Empathy +17, Bluff +23, Concentration +20, Diplo-
  macy +16, Disguise +15, Gather Information +19, Handle
  Animal +15, Heal +15, Intuit Direction +15, Knowledge
  (Avalon) +20, Knowledge (Politics) +20, Knowledge (Sidhe
  Lands) +20, Listen +17, Perform +15, Ride +8, Scry +20,
  Search +15, Sense Motive +20, Spellcraft +15, Spot +15, Swim
  +20, Wilderness Lore +18; Feats: Alertness, Appearance:
  Above Average, Dangerous Beauty, Improved Initiative, Keen
  Senses, Leadership, Power Attack. (Spells per day:
  10/12/11/10/8/7/6/5/3/2) (For details, see Swashbuckling
  Arcana™)
  Special Abilities
  Glamour Legend: The Lady of the Lake is a legendary
  figure. She may use any of the powers of the Glamour legends
  of Jack, Thomas and King Elilodd at will without rolling once
  per day.
  In Every Pool: She can move from any pool, stream, or
  lake within the Avalon or Sidhe lands as a move equivalent
  action. She can also Scry the events occurring within eye-
  sight of them at will.
  Immunities: The Queen is immune to poison, disease,
  critical hits, and similar effects. Magic only has half its
  normal effect upon her.
  Shapechange: She can change her form at will to that of
  any other creature, but the new form always retains her sta-
  tistics, skills and powers. She rarely uses this ability and gen-
  erally assumes the form of a mortal woman. Further, the Lady
  
  CHAPTER
  4
  The
  FOLKE
  49
  may prevent the shapechanged creature
  from being changed back to its original
  form (by any means) until she chooses oth-
  erwise. This ability ignores spell resistance.
  Swirl of the Lakes: Every living thing in
  Avalon or the Sidhe lands comes within
  sight of its lakes, streams and ponds. The
  ruler of these waters is able to change the
  form of anyone reflected in these waters to
  that of another being whose reflection lay
  upon them. Once per round, the Lady may
  cast a special polymorph other spell. She may
  polymorph any being, even another Sidhe,
  into any other being or creature. The affected
  creature's powers are unaffected, but it gains
  statistics appropriate to its new form. This
  may often cause a Sidhe to be unable to
  access its powers if it is now not intelligent
  enough to use them. Further, the Lady may
  lock in this form so that the being cannot be
  changed back by any means until she allows
  it. This ability ignores spell resistance.
  Spell-like abilities: confusion, control
  water, dismissal, displacement, false vision,
  greater scrying, horrid wilting, (once per day),
  legend lore, limited wish (once per day), magic
  circle against law, modify memory, polymorph
  any object, screen, temporal stasis (once per day),
  and veil at will, cast as if she were a 20th
  level arcane spell caster.
  The Queen of the Sky
  Also called The Queen, The Sidhe Queen,
  The Seelie Queen, and The Sky Queen, she
  claims dominion over all the Sidhe.
  Although her sisters posses the power to
  ignore her, mortals do not and are advised
  to treat her with the respect she demands.
  While all the queens engage in some
  form of courtly life, the Queen’s court is
  most closely reflective of what mortals would call normal.
  She has a castle filled with knights, ladies, minstrels, and ser-
  vants, all of whom dote on her every whim. Indeed, even
  when moving outside her “court,” which she invariably does
  in grand procession, she demands the obedience of all she
  encounters and expects to get it. Mortals should keep this
  courtly paradigm in mind whenever the Queen of the Sky is
  involved because it colors all of her perceptions and guides
  many of her actions. She often uses “ambassadors” when deal-
  ing with mortals, refers to herself using the royal “we,” and
  otherwise considers herself a ruling monarch equal to Elaine
  in every way. 
  All the Seelie pay reverence to the Queen of the Sky but
  one. The Horned King openly flaunts her authority, some-
  thing not even the other queens dare to do (they simply work
  around their domineering sister). Many years ago the Queen
  of the Sky apparently fell in love with the hot-blooded King,
  the sort of all-encompassing, soul-devouring, single-minded
  emotion that only a Sidhe could endure. The Horned King’s
  fiery emotions, however, ran counter to the Queen’s, and he
  quickly tired of his dalliance with her. He abandoned her and
  broke her heart, and to this day she will not permit his name
  or any of his symbols to be mentioned in her court.
  The Queen of the Sky fits into a campaign in several ways.
  Because the Sidhe have only a vague concept of how humans
  view each other, the Queen is as likely to deal with beginning
  characters as she is to deal with well-traveled veterans, so
  long as those characters treat her in the manner to which she
  is entitled.
  It is conceivable that the Queen may order (she never asks)
  adventurers to undertake any number of tasks. She is deeply
  tied to Elaine, the Graal, and Avalon. As such, any mission
  undertaken on behalf of Avalon or its ruler will find favor
  with her. Wily characters may even be able to request her aid
  for such quests. Characters balking at a mission on Elaine’s
  behalf can count on a visit from Elaine’s patron, who will add
  her own considerable clout to Elaine’s, adding threats more
  dire than Elaine would ever dare make.
  The Queen of the Sky should be handled as one more
  monarch in the world of Théah. She has a court full of func-
  tionaries, views herself as a legitimate queen, and expects to
  be treated as such. Mortals who remember that will do well
  around her. Those who forget themselves had best avoid
  Avalon or any other kingdom where the Sidhe reside.
  
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  Characters who succeed at tasks set them by the Queen of
  the Sky (or in many cases, Elaine) may also gain her favor.
  Remember that she tries to operate according to a courtly par-
  adigm, which means she readily rewards those who serve her
  well. She is not certain why she should reward her servants;
  she simply knows she must because that is what queens do.
  PCs who have her favor may use it for a number of things.
  Most prominent among these are the Sky Queen’s ability to
  transport the PCs anywhere in Avalon, and her ability to pro-
  vide them with good weather when they travel around
  Avalon. Travelers should be aware, however, that Queen
  Maab claims sway over the sea winds, so in practice she can
  overrule her sister’s control of anything above the surface as
  she pleases. The Sky Queen will provide particularly favored
  characters with Sidhe weapons, although these are often only
  temporary gifts, disappearing after having been used for a
  specific purpose.
  Although she can change her appearance at will, several
  common threads run through each of the Queen’s guises. She
  is always beautiful. Indeed, she is capable of discerning any
  given viewer’s definition of beauty, and appearing in just that
  way. When groups of mortals have seen her, each has come
  away with a slightly different memory, as her form differs for
  each beholder. Regardless of the form she uses, however, she
  always speaks in a mesmerizing voice, and her eyes are defi-
  nitely luminescent and emotionally magnetic.
  The Queen of the Sky (The Seelie Queen)*
  (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 4, Finesse: 7, Wits: 6, Resolve: 6, Panache: 4
  TN to be hit: 30
  Reputation: 130
  Background: Rivalry 4 (Other Sidhe Queens)
  Arcana: None
  Advantages: Appearance: Intimidating, All Languages (R/W)
  Courtier: Dancing 5, Etiquette 5, Fashion 5, Oratory 5, Diplo-
  macy 5, Gaming 5, Gossip 5, Lip Reading 5, Mooch 5, Poli-
  tics 5, Scheming 5, Seduction 5, Sincerity 5
  Hunting: Stealth 2, Survival 2, Tracking 4, Trail Signs 3,
  Ambush 3, Animal Training 5
  Riding: Ride 5, Animal Training 5, Mounting 5, Trick Riding 5
  Archery: Attack (Bow) 3, Fletcher 2, Horse Archery 3, Snap-
  shot 3, Trick Shooting 3
  Fencing: Attack 4, Parry 4
  Attack: (Sword) 10k8, (Bow) 10k7
  Damage: (Sword) 6k2, (Bow) 6k2
  Shapechange: She can change her form at will to that of any
  other creature, but the new form always retains her statis-
  tics, skills and powers. She only assumes female forms who
  possess great beauty. 
  Flight: The Queen can traverse the air, moving as effortlessly
  as if she were walking.
  Glamour: The Queen counts as a master glamour mage, but
  her powers draw upon her own legend rather than another.
  She may use any of her knacks at will without spending
  Drama Die.
  Glimpse of Stars: Once per round, the Queen may cast a special
  Glamour upon anyone within her sight. They will stand
  motionless and behold the night sky full of stars and
  wheeling overhead as the music of the spheres fills his ears.
  The spell lasts for as long as she wills it; legends say that she
  occasionally leaves a Sidhe lord who offended her watch-
  ing the stars for decades. This ability is able to affect
  anyone, even another Sidhe queen. Once per day, the
  victim may attempt a Resolve check (TN 50) to break free
  of the enchantment.
  Immunities:The Queen is immune to poison, disease, and sim-
  ilar effects. She is also immune to mortal sorcerer's powers
  unless they make a panache check (TN 25). Even then, she
  only takes 50% effect from any hostile magic used against
  her. Damage she takes is reduced by 2 kept die.
  Memory and Illusions: The Queen is also able to modify a
  mortal’s memories, create illusions, and change reality in
  the area surrounding her to fit her whim. Sidhe are not
  effected by these abilities.
  Touch of the Wind: While the Queen possesses neither tremen-
  dous combat ability nor magical powers, she is able to
  enhance or destroy her foes by simply willing it. Once per
  round as a full action, she may direct her power at anyone
  within her 100 ft. of her. The wind whirls around the target
  and provides them a benefit or a penalty at her whim. They
  may gain or lose an unkept die for any roll she chooses, have
  their TN to be hit lowered or raised by 5 points, or increase or
  decrease the mastery level of a sorcerer or shaman. She may
  use this ability repeatedly as long as she concentrates on it;
  the effect lasts for one day. This is her most feared ability and
  prevents all but the most suicidal from risking her wrath
  because she can make even the mightiest of foes into a
  pathetic worm that the lowliest of her servants can destroy.
  GM Secrets
  Perhaps the most dangerous task the Sky Queen can give
  characters is that of hunting the Horned King for no mortal
  has any hope of capturing the Horned King. The PCs will
  probably not be set upon this task by themselves. Rather, they
  may be brought along on a Wild Hunt, accompanying dozens
  of Sidhe lords and ladies decked out in splendid mockeries of
  human hunting garb. The best the PCs will be able to do is
  hang on as the hunt speeds around Avalon, and each PC will
  likely be aged physically if not emotionally by the experi-
  ence. The Horned King will evade capture, and the lords and
  ladies of the hunt will all grow nervous and fearful of the
  Queen’s wrath, but the Sky Queen will simply dismiss the
  hunt with a depressed wave of her hand when it is over. PCs
  who try to cheer up the Queen with expressions of “maybe
  next time” are asking for trouble.
  PCs who gain the Sky Queen’s enmity are in a bad position.
  As evidenced by her hatred of the Horned King, she has a long
  memory, and does not forgive readily. If they wish to regain
  her favor, they must first find a way to travel about Avalon
  more or less safely, which may mean gaining the favor of one
  of the other queens. Alternately, the character can endeavor to
  regain the Sky Queen’s favor (or at least get her forgiveness, in
  which case she will then be neutral toward the character) by
  undertaking yet another task on her behalf which will proba-
  bly benefit Avalon in some way and be very dangerous.
  The Queen of the Sea
  Who is the true Queen of the Sea? It depends on who
  you ask. Some say it is Queen Maab, one of the three
  powerful Sidhe sisters. Others will tell you that it is the
  Black Siren, a monstrous female creature who lives at the
  bottom of the sea. A wise adventurer keeps both appeased
  and declines to take sides in their struggle for dominion
  over the oceans of Théah.
  
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  *The Queen of the Sky is neither hero nor villain — or per-
  haps she is both, depending on her relationship with the PCs
  and their mission in Avalon.
  The Queen of the Sky (Seelie Queen) (d20™)
  Fae: CR 16; SZ M; HD 10d8+40; hp 90; Init +6 (+6 Dex); Spd 40
  ft.; AC (+6 Dex + 9 natural); Atks: +3 Longsword +15/+10 melee
  (1d8+8); SV Fort +10, Ref +16, Will +16; SA May use any Glam-
  our spells at will as if she were a 20th level spell caster; SQ May
  use any Glamour spells at will as if she were a 20th level spell
  caster; SQ Sidhe traits, DR 15/Cold Iron or Syrneth weapons,
  SR 20, Glamour Legend, Glimpse of the Stars, Immunities,
  Shapechange at will, Touch of the Wind; Str 21, Dex 22, Con
  19, Int 22, Wis 23, Cha 24; AL CN; Skills: Appraise +12, Bluff
  +20, Concentration +10, Diplomacy +20, Gather Information
  +12, Innuendo +18, Intimidate +19, Knowledge (Avalon and
  Sidhe Lands) +15, Ride +15, Scry +12, Search +10, Sense Motive
  +23, Spellcraft +16, Spot +13, Wilderness Lore +8, Feats: Alert-
  ness, Appearance: Above Average, Dangerous Beauty,
  Improved Critical (Longsword), Improved Initiative, Keen
  Senses, Leadership. (Spells Per Day: 10/12/11/10/8/7/6/5/3/2)
  (For details, see Swashbuckling Arcana™)
  Special Abilities
  Glamour Legend: The Seelie Queen is a legendary figure.
  She may use any of the powers of the Glamour legends of
  King Elilodd and Anne o’ the Wind at will without rolling
  once per day.
  Glimpse of Stars: Once per round, the Queen may cast a
  special major image upon anyone in her sight. They will stand
  motionless and behold the night sky full of stars as the music of
  the spheres fills their ears. The spell lasts for as long as she wills
  it; legend indicates that she occasionally leaves a Sidhe lord who
  has offended her watching the stars for (human) decades. This
  ability is not affected by spell resistance, even that of another
  Sidhe. Once per day, the victim may attempt a Will save (DC 50)
  to break free of the enchantment.
  Immunities: The Queen is immune to poison, disease,
  critical hits, and similar effects. Magic only has 50% of normal
  effect upon him.
  Shapechange: She can change her form at will to that of
  any other creature, but the new form always retains her sta-
  tistics, skills, and powers. She only assumes female forms that
  possess great beauty. 
  Spell-like abilities: confusion, dismissal, displacement, false
  vision, fly, greater scrying, legend lore, limited wish (once per
  week), modify memory, screen, magic circle against law, polymorph
  any object, temporal stasis (once per day), and veil at will, as if she
  were a 20th level arcane spell caster.
  Touch of the Wind: While the Queen possesses neither
  tremendous combat ability nor magical powers, she is able to
  enhance or destroy her foes by simply willing it. Once per
  round as a full action, she may direct her power at anyone
  within her 100 feet of her. The wind whirls around the target
  and provides them a benefit or a penalty at her whim. They
  may gain or lose 5 points of Spell Resistance, Armor Class,
  damage resistance, to hit, to damage, or effective spell casting
  level for each round that she concentrates, up to a total of 5
  rounds per ability. The effect lasts for one day. This is her most
  feared ability and prevents all but the most suicidal from risk-
  ing her wrath because she can turn even the mightiest foe
  into a pathetic worm that her lowliest servant can destroy.
  Queen Maab
  The first of the powerful Sidhe to cross to the lands of mortal
  men, Queen Maab loves the mortal realm more than most of
  the other Sidhe do — but not for noble reasons. Emerging in
  Avalon, she saw a man furiously beating his neighbor while
  trying to steal his possessions. The violent act touched some-
  thing deep within her and she smiled. Surrounding herself
  with a powerful Glamour she approached the thief. Over-
  whelmed by her beauty, he fell in love instantly and dropped
  to his knees as he pledged himself to her. She smiled and
  struck him down with one blow. She gathered his ill-gotten
  gains and barely noticed that she had stepped on his throat as
  she walked off down the road.
  While other Sidhe emulate the noble emotions and tradi-
  tions they see in humans, Queen Maab wraps depravity, jeal-
  ousy, envy, and hatred about her like a cloak. The plainest of
  the three sisters, she also possesses the least amount of Glam-
  our and mystical ability, so she compensates with brutal phys-
  ical abilities and a willingness to countenance deeds and
  schemes generally regarded as evil.
  Queen Maab dwells deep beneath the waves of the sea in a
  courtly palace built from coral, less out of a desire for per-
  sonal splendor than from a need to surpass the splendor of
  her sisters’ homes. The glowing rainbow-hued walls dance
  with small fish and Sidhe retainers constantly wander in the
  flowering gardens, but without her enchantments upon the
  area, the dark and cold of her deep sea castle would quickly
  kill any visitor. Hundreds of discrete servants skitter at the
  shadowy edges of the room, the bodies of drowned mortal
  men who now act as courtiers, servants and guards. While
  many rooms display delicate artistry and glittering artwork,
  those that displease her often discover rooms dedicated to her
  hobbies of torture and pain. Those who offer some means of
  furthering her plans of revenge and destruction against her
  enemies will find her generous with her gifts. Only later will
  they discover that her gifts always carry an evil twist and her
  favor always requests a high price. 
  One famous tale about her details how a fisherman
  declared daily his appreciation for the beauty of her sea and
  thanked her for his catch until he met and married a young
  woman. He declared on his wedding night that his wife was
  far prettier than even Queen Maab or her realm. Maab draped
  herself within a Glamour of beauty and visited the farmer
  who asked her name. She simply smiled and looked at him
  hungrily. He immediately went into his yard, killed a lamb
  and prepared it for her. She silently urged him to eat a piece
  while she watched. After he had eaten several slices, she
  finally spoke, commenting on how lovely the beast was.
  Looking down, the farmer discovered not a lamb, but his
  wife, dead at his own hands. Maab thanked him for the meal
  and left him staring at his young wife’s blood on his hands.
  Despite her twisted nature, Maab has a deep love for the
  mortal world, enjoying both swimming and cavorting
  through the surf. She even fell in love with a mortal man and
  fathered several children with him, but her jealousy quickly
  destroyed him. The children of that union, the Selkies,
  remain her most favored followers. When she discovered
  dozens of them dead at the hands of a hideous creature from
  the depths, she immediately took offense. She slaughtered
  hundreds of these sirens before discovering their creator and
  ruler, the Black Siren who also claimed the title Queen of the
  Sea. This began a terrible rivalry that has raged for centuries.
  Queen Maab despises the Black Siren’s easy control of the
  
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  weather and more numerous minions, so she began enchant-
  ing the bodies of drowned men as her own creatures and cre-
  ating a host of terrible monsters beneath the waves to bolster
  her forces. While the last battle between the two resulted
  with the Sidhe cutting off one of the Black Siren’s claws,
  Maab was unable to finish her off. 
  Currently, Maab has turned her attention to the Seelie
  Queen. Long jealous of her sisters’ powers and beauty, she
  now plans to strike against the other Seelie courts. When the
  Seelie Queen selected Elaine as her Champion to the mortal
  world, Maab insisted on
  having Meryth as her
  own. Maab fostered the
  innocent child herself,
  raising her with an 
  appreciation of twisted
  revenge. Now that Maab
  believes the girl to be
  ready, she has given her
  command of a troop of
  her drowned servants and
  instructed her to act as
  she sees fit, certain that
  the spoiled child will
  destroy her mother.
  Queen Maab appears as
  a slim figure wrapped in
  shimmering sheets of
  black water and bearing a
  crown of pearls. Long
  green hair surrounds her
  angular face and cold eyes
  before drifting down 
  to her waist. She stands
  no taller than a human
  being, but her regal bear-
  ing makes her appear
  taller. Her powerful glam-
  our enchants viewers 
  so she appears either
  astoundingly beautiful 
  or terrifying depending
  upon her whim. 
  Queen Maab —
  Villain (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 8, Finesse: 7, Resolve: 6, Wits: 6, Panache: 4
  TN to be hit: 35 (40 in water)
  Reputation: –120
  Background: Vendetta (Black Siren), Vendetta (The Queen of
  the Earth, The Queen of the Sky)
  Arcana: Envious
  Advantages: Large, Toughness, Unnerving Countenance; Lan-
  guage: Avalon, Montaigne, Castille, Vendel
  Courtier: Diplomacy 3, Etiquette 3, Oratory 5, Politics 3,
  Scheming 5, Sincerity 3
  Hunter: Ambush 5, Animal Training 4, Fishing 5, Skinning 5,
  Stealth 5, Survival 5, Tracking 4, Trail Signs 4, Traps 5
  Athlete: Break Fall 5, Climbing 5, Footwork 5, Leaping 5, Lift-
  ing 5, Long Distance Running 5, Rolling 5, Sprinting 5,
  Sidestep 5, Swimming 6, Swinging 5, Throwing 5
  Dirty Fighting: Attack (Dirty Fighting) 5, Attack (Improvised
  Weapon) 5, Eye-Gouge 5, Kick 5, Parry (Improvised
  Weapon) 5, Throat Strike 5, Throw (Improvised Weapon) 5
  Glamour: (Master) Iron Meg 5, Jack 5
  Attack (Coral sword): 10k9 
  Damage: 10k2. 
  Special Abilities
  Coral Sword: Queen Maab possesses a Sidhe blade of coral
  that only she can wield. Anyone struck by the blade takes an
  additional 3k3 cold damage and must make a Brawn check
  (TN 20) or be frozen in place
  for 5 rounds (10 phases).
  Glamour Legend: As a leg-
  endary figure, Queen Maab
  does not need to spend
  Drama Dice to use her Iron
  Meg, Mad Jack, and her own
  legend because they draw
  upon her powers rather than
  those of another being.
  Immunities:
  Queen
  Maab is immune to poison,
  disease, any damage from
  weather-related phenome-
  non (heat, cold, pressure,
  lightning, etc), critical hits
  and similar effects. Magic
  only has 50% of its normal
  effect upon her.
  Shapechange: Maab can
  change her form at will to
  that of any other creature,
  but always retains her origi-
  nal statistics, skills, and
  powers. However, she gains
  any of the powers, attacks,
  and special abilities of the
  creature into which she
  changes. She uses a variety
  of forms involving a nautical
  theme including sea ser-
  pents, kraken, speaking fish,
  and even beautiful mortal
  women.
  Glimpse of Waves: By
  drawing upon the energy of
  the entire sea, Queen Maab can normally increase any of her
  die rolls by +5k5 if she is standing in at least a foot of sea
  water. However, she has granted this power to Meryth. While
  she can take it back at any time, doing so would cause Meryth
  10k10 damage, which ignores damage reduction. 
  Illusions: Queen Maab is also able to modify a mortal's
  memories, create illusions, and change reality within twenty
  feet and in her entire palace to fit any whim she has. Sidhe are
  not affected by these abilities.
  Summon Minions: Queen Maab may spend an action to
  summon a group of 1k1 selkies or Sidhe lord.  These creatures
  will appear at the end of the round and may act indepen-
  dently of her.
  Touch of the Depths: Queen Maab’s deep connection with the
  sea enables her to let anyone she can see experience the sen-
  sation of being within the water, even if they are on land. At
  its most benign, this is a relaxing and calming feeling of float-
  
  CHAPTER
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  The
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  ing serenely on gentle ocean waves. At its most malignant, it
  is a feeling of being on the ocean floor, miles beneath the sur-
  face, surrounded by complete darkness (take 3k3 damage per
  round plus darkness rules Montaigne). It is the sense of being
  in an underwater volcano (5k5 damage per round) or on the
  surface during a storm when lightning strikes (5k5 damage).
  There is no protection against this ability. Creatures comfort-
  able in the surroundings take no damage, but few creatures
  are comfortable in all of these situations. If a being
  shapechanges to avoid damage from one condition, Maab can
  alter it to a different condition.
  Water Road: A single road leads from the shore to Queen
  Maab’s domain. It is almost impossible to find, but those who
  stay on it are protected by her powerful magic. Of course, she
  may remove the effects of these spells at will. She can also
  view anything within a hundred feet of the sea by concen-
  trating upon it. 
  GM Secrets:Repulsed by Meryth’s humanity, Maab took
  steps to remove a portion of it. She extracted a portion of
  Sidhe blood from one of her servants and placed it within her
  foster daughter. In return, she took a portion of Meryth’s
  humanity and placed it within the Sidhe who was exiled to
  the mortal realm without memory of her prior life. This tall,
  red-haired captain does not realize that she was once more
  than a mere mortal.
  Maab is still jealous of any beautiful Sidhe since her own
  appearance is rather non-descript. She uses Glamour to alter
  her appearance but each time she does it reminds her of her
  shortcomings. In particular, she hates her two sisters, the
  Seelie Queen and the Lady of the Lake. The three sisters are
  too powerful to go to war for fear that such a conflict would
  destroy the human world. Instead they act against each other
  through intermediaries and minions. Maab has grown tired
  of this charade and plans to end the stalemate forever by elim-
  inating her siblings from the world. 
  Maab is certain that she can make Meryth rebel against
  Queen Elaine. When this occurs, Elaine will call upon her
  allies among the Sidhe and both the Seelie Queen and the
  Lady of the Lake will respond. Despite the lies she has told
  her foster daughter, Maab will not come to Meryth’s aid.
  Faced with the other Queens, Meryth will die and Elaine’s
  heart will be destroyed. When the mortal queen admits her
  love for her lost daughter, the Graal will be lost and the Sidhe
  will disappear from the world again. Except, of course, for
  Maab. 
  In anticipation of the Graal’s disappearance and the subse-
  quent departure of the Sidhe, the Queen of the Sea cast magic
  on her coral throne to bind her to the world. When the water
  calms, she will be the only Sidhe left in the world, which will
  then be hers to remake without interference. Despite some
  glaring weaknesses, the plan actually has an excellent chance
  of success.
  The Queen of the Sea has another secret – a treasure from a
  far-off land. She does not know what it does but she is certain
  that it is magical and powerful. (On one of the early voyages
  of the Bao Chuan, the Cathayan treasure fleet, a ship sank to
  bottom of the sea off the cost of Avalon. It was carrying Kan,
  one of the 64 talismans used to raise the Wall of Fire and now
  one of Queen Maab’s most prized possessions.)
  Queen Maab (d20™)
  Fae: CR 16; SZ M; HD 16d8+64; hp 120; Init +10 (+6 Dex +4
  Improved Initiative); Spd 50 ft., Swim 60 ft.; AC 25 (+6 Dex + 9
  natural); Atks: Claws +26/+21/+16/+11 melee (1d6+10); SV
  Fort +18, Ref +18, Will +18; SA May use any Glamour spells at
  will as if she were a 17th level spell caster; SQ Sidhe Traits,  DR
  15/Cold Iron or Syrneth weapons, SR 20, Glamour Legend,
  Glimpse of Waves, Immunities, Regeneration 5, Shapechange
  at will, Summon Minions, Touch of the Depths, Water Ruler;
  Str 30, Dex 22, Con 28, Int 22, Wis 19, Cha 18; AL CE; Skills:
  Bluff +12, Concentration +10, Diplomacy +12, Intimidate +25,
  Knowledge (Avalon) +15, Knowledge (Sidhe Lands) +15,
  Knowledge (Sea) +25, Scry +18, Search +10, Sense Motive +15,
  Spellcraft +8, Spot +13, Wilderness Lore +18. Feats: Cleave,
  Combat Reflexes, Improved Critical (Claws), Improved Initia-
  tive, Power Attack, Unnerving Countenance, Weapon Focus
  (Claws), Weapon Master (claws). (Spells Per Day:
  9/9/8/7/6/4/3/2/1.) (For details, see Swashbuckling Arcana™)
  Special Abilities
  Glamour Legend: Once per day, the Seelie Queen who
  may use any powers of the Glamour legends at will without
  rolling by drawing upon her own legend rather than that of
  another being. (See Swashbuckling Arcana™)
  Glimpse of Waves: By drawing on the energy of the entire
  sea, Queen Maab can increase any of her die rolls by +20 if she
  is standing in at least a foot of sea water. However, she has
  granted this power to Meryth. While she can take it back at
  any time, doing so would cause Meryth 10d10 damage, ignor-
  ing damage reduction bonus. 
  Immunities: Queen Maab is immune to poison, disease,
  any damage from weather-related phenomenon (heat, cold,
  pressure, lightning, etc.), critical hits, and similar effects.
  Magic only has 50% of its normal effect upon her.
  Shapechange: Maab can change her form at will to that of
  any other creature, but always retains her original statistics,
  skills, and powers. However, she gains any of the powers,
  attacks, and special abilities of the creature into which she
  changes. She uses a variety of forms involving a nautical
  theme including sea serpents, kraken, speaking fish, and
  even beautiful mortal women.
  Maab, Mab, and Maeve
  Players may be familiar with the figure of Queen Mab as
  described by Mercutio in his famous soliloquy from
  Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet: 
  “O, then, I see Queen Mab hath been with you.
  She is the fairies' midwife, and she comes
  In shape no bigger than an agate-stone
  On the fore-finger of an alderman, 
  Drawn with a team of little atomies 
  Athwart men's noses as they lie asleep.”
  Queen Maab in 7th Sea™ is not associated with Queen
  Mab, the Irish Bringer of Dreams, although a GM who
  wishes to add Mab’s attributes to Maab is certainly
  welcome to do so. Nor does Queen Maab refer in any way
  Queen Maeve of Connacht, the great Irish warrior queen
  and sorceress. However, GMs may wishes to use some of
  Queen Maeve’s more military attributes (or the Irish
  pronunciation of her name as “Mayve.”
  
  CHAPTER
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  Spell-like Abilities: Queen Maab may cast control water,
  displacement, false vision, greater scrying, legend lore, poly-
  morph any object, screen, veil, and water breathing at will, as
  if she were a 17th level arcane spell caster. 
  Summon Minions: Each round she can summon 1d6
  Selkies, 1d6 lacedon (see Monster Manual,™ Ghoul) or one
  Sidhe lord as a full action. 
  Touch of the Depths: Queen Maab’s deep connection
  with the sea enables her to let anyone she can see experience
  the sensation of being within the water, even if they are on
  land. At its most benign, this is a relaxing and calming feeling
  of floating serenely on gentle ocean waves. At its most malig-
  nant, it is a feeling of being on the ocean floor, miles beneath
  the surface, surrounded by complete darkness (as per dark-
  ness; takes 5d6 damage from the pressure and takes 5d6 cold
  damage). It is the sense of being in an underwater volcano
  (takes 5d6 damage from the pressure and takes 5d6 damage
  from the heat) or on the surface during a storm when light-
  ning strikes (take 5d6 lightning damage). There is no saving
  throw or spell resistance against this ability. Creatures who
  are comfortable in these surroundings take no damage but
  few creatures are comfortable in all of these situations. 
  If a being shapechanges to avoid damage from one condi-
  tion, she can alter it to a different condition.
  Water Road: A single road leads to Queen Maab’s domain.
  It is almost impossible to find, but those who stay on it are
  protected by her powerful magic (water breathing, light, free
  action, and telekinesis). Of course, she may remove the effects
  of these spells at will.
  Special: Coral Sword Queen Maab possesses a Sidhe blade
  made of coral that only she can wield. Anyone struck by the
  blade takes an additional 2d12 cold damage and must make a
  Fortitude save (DC 20) or be frozen in place for 5 rounds (10
  phases).
  The Black Siren — Villain (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 7, Finesse: 6, Resolve: 5, Wits: 6, Panache: 6
  TN to be hit: 35 underwater, 20 on land.
  Reputation: -25 (-75 among sailors)
  Background: Vendetta 5 (Queen Maab), Defeated 2 (Queen
  Maab)
  Arcana: Hateful (Queen Maab)
  Advantages: Combat Reflexes, Indomitable Will, Keen Senses,
  Large, Toughness, Fearful Countenance, Fear 4 (She can
  speak and understand all languages, but cannot read.)
  Hunter: Fishing 4, Stealth 4, Survival 4, Ambush 3
  Sailor: Balance 5, Climbing 4, Cartography 5, Navigation 5,
  Sea Lore 5, Swimming 6, Weather 6
  Scholar: History 4, Mathematics 4, Astronomy 4, Occult 4
  Dirty Fighting: Attack (Improvised Weapon) 3, Attack (Claws)
  5, Eye-Gouge 3, Throat Strike 5
  COMBAT
  The Black Siren is a powerful opponent both in person and
  from great distances. She is immune to the dangers of her
  environment and rarely ventures from her home. Anyone
  venturing down to her bone palace on the sea floor is subject
  to drowning rules (Player’s Guide™) and must use Swimming
  rather than Footwork for passive defense. 
  When fighting, she usually relies upon her poisoned claws
  (7k2damage) to injure her opponents, then retreats so her
  poison can weaken the heroes (1 dramatic wound/3 rounds/1
  day.) It can only be scrubbed off with fresh water and if left
  untreated causes the victim's flesh to rot off his bones with an
  unbearable pain.) She rarely worries about injuries to herself
  since all damage she receives is reduced by two kept dice
  unless it is inflicted by a blessed weapon, Sidhe weapon or a
  Syrneth device. While she allows the poison to work on her
  victim, the Black Siren uses her ability to control weather and
  sends waves of siren minions to wipe out her foes. Generally
  attended by a dozen sirens (Rank 3 brutes), she controls all
  sea creatures within sight and can cause dead creatures (like
  the walls of her bone palace) within sight to animate as skele-
  tal beings (Rank 2 brutes that require three hits to destroy).
  She can also exert complete control over the weather with
  results equivalent to using any of the weather Laerdom
  knacks at will. 
  The Black Siren (d20™)
  (reprinted from Heroes, Villains, and Monsters™)
  Large Abomination
  HD: 12d4+60 (96 hp)
  Initiative: +5 (+5 Dex)
  Speed: 40 ft., swim 60 ft.
  AC: 29 (–1 size, +5 Dex, +15 natural)
  Attacks: 1 claw +19/+14 melee, bite + 14 melee
  Damage: Claw 1d6+7 plus rotting poison, Bite 2d8+3 plus
  rotting poison
  Face/Reach: 10 ft. by 10 ft./10 ft.
  Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities, fear aura, summon sirens,
  regeneration, remote casting, rotting poison
  Saves: Fort +13, Ref +14, Will +13
  Abilities: Str 25, Dex 20, Con 21, Int 20, Wis 20, Cha 16
  Skills: Bluff +17, Concentration +19, Jump +15, Knowledge
  (Acana) + 20, (The Sea) +30, Listen +21, Scry +20, Search
  +21, Spot +21, Spellcraft +21
  Climate: Aquatic
  Organization: Unique
  Challenge Rating: 15
  Treasure: Standard
  Alignment: Chaotic Evil
  Théan sailors whisper among themselves about the Black
  Siren, a hideous woman who rests at the bottom of the sea,
  waiting to wreak havoc. Her breath is likened to a hurricane
  blowing out of the Midnight Archipelago. One slash of a
  single claw can shred a man in seconds and she can turn an
  entire ship to stone in an instant. What lends credence to the
  legends is that no one has actually seen her and lived to tell
  the story.
  The source of these tales come from those gifted with the
  Sight, like Fate Witches and skjaeren, who catch glimpses of
  her in their visions, but shy away from attracting her atten-
  tion. It is generally agreed that this monster does exist,
  although bless Theus, she is the last of her kind.
  The feud with her greatest foe, Queen Maab, endured for
  millennia. The great Sidhe queen battled the Black Siren
  relentlessly for control of the seas. During one of their great
  battles, Maab struck off a poison-tipped claw, grievously
  wounding the ancient Siren. That claw, filled with its owner’s
  hate and evil, floated beneath the waves for centuries while
  coral fastened to it and grew. No other sea life could touch it
  and survive until one day it was struck by a ship, which lead
  to the creation of the Black Freighter. (See Heroes, Villains and
  Monsters,™ pg. 39)
  
  CHAPTER
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  The Queen of the Sea is a giant gloated figure covered with
  green scales who lives in a palace built entirely of sharp-
  spined coral and drowned men’s bones. With tentacles flow-
  ing off her brow above red eyes and a gaping mouth full of
  sharp teeth, she is a creature of blackest nightmares. She sits
  upon a throne made from a kraken skull while she Scrys into
  a glowing iridescent bubble, soothed by the susurrus of the
  sirens swimming around her. Images from throughout Théah
  fill the bubble, enabling her to reach far beyond her sea-floor
  domain.
  Combat 
  The Black Siren will use her spell-like abilities focused
  through her scrying orb but the effort is so strenuous that she
  must rest 12 hours for every hour of Scrying. Should the orb
  be destroyed, she is not without powerful weapons; her phys-
  ical strength and her poisonous touch are more than suffi-
  cient to destroy her opponent. Typically, she will infect one or
  two opponents, then retreat to allow the poison to do its
  work. The contagion does not spread but the results are hor-
  rific enough to deter others from being so foolhardy.
  Spell-like Abilities (At will): The Black Siren’s powerful
  spells include animate dead, cone of cold, control water, control
  winds, detect magic, dispel magic, dominate monster (sea creatures
  only), fog cloud, ice storm, lightning bolt, poison, summon monster
  IX (sirens), water breathing, and whirlwind. These work like
  spells cast by a 15th level Sorcerer but the Black Siren may
  only use them when she is touching the bubble of enchanted
  air in her palace. (See Player’s Handbook,™ Ch. 11: Spells for
  details.)
  Fear Aura (Su): The Black Siren can create an aura of fear
  within a 20-ft. radius as a free action. The spell works like fear
  as cast by a 15th level Sorcerer (save DC 19). If the save is suc-
  cessful, the target cannot be affected again by this spell for
  the cycle of one moon. Sirens are immune to this spell.
  Submerged: The Black Siren lives at the bottom of the sea.
  While she is immune to the cold and pressure there, humans
  who try to venture into her domain suffer 2d6 damage per
  round from cold and another 2d6 damage from pressure
  without some form of protection. In addition, she can breathe
  water and air. Although she can emerge from the water, she
  rarely does; it is not her natural environment so she feels
  slightly more vulnerable.
  Summon Sirens (Sp): The Black Siren may summon
  three (3) sirens to her side at will. (This is a full round action.)
  Regeneration (Ex): The Black Siren takes normal damage
  from Blessed weapons, Sidhe weapons and Syrneth devices;
  all others inflict subdual damage only. She heals 5 points of
  subdual damage every round that she is submerged in salt
  water.
  Remote Casting: Thanks to her Scrying abilities, her
  power extends far beyond her palace. She owns an orb created
  from an air bubble that allows her to view anything within
  200 feet of the sea. Using the orb as a focus, she can exert her
  powers, but such sorcerous activity is extremely tiring and
  after one hour, she must sleep for at least a day. The orb is frag-
  ile [Hardness 2, hp 10] and can be shattered by a single blow.
  (Note: The orb is always guarded by at least 6 sirens.)
  Rotting Poison: The Black Siren’s Claws emit a rotting
  poison. [Fort Save (DC 25) or Initial and Secondary 2d20 Per-
  manent Constitution.] Duration: 1 day; Interval: 1 hr.
  Damage: 1 pt of Permanent Constitution. The damage is
  reduced to 0 if the wound is washed with fresh water.
  The Horned King and 
  the Holly Prince
  The Horned King is a primal embodiment of the twin chaotic
  vortices of creation and destruction, and as such should never
  be taken lightly. A terrifying sight, he stands over seven feet
  tall, an ensemble of sleek and rippling muscle. He has the
  legs of a great deer or elk, and his head is topped with a fan-
  tastic spread of antlers. 
  His mother, the Lady of the Lake, instructed him carefully
  never to reveal his human heritage. He has kept it a secret for
  so long that he has largely forgotten he had a father at all, let
  alone a human one. He recalls only fleeting images, mere
  memories of memories, of his father, a long-forgotten knight
  of arguable nationality. Not even the Horned King himself
  remembers his father’s name. That is a secret only the Lady of
  the Lake knows.
  Given his lifestyle, it is no wonder the Horned King has
  largely lost his memory of his mortal progenitor. His world-
  view is little more than a raging libido coupled with a violent
  pride. All Sidhe who do not serve him directly take care to
  avoid him, especially during high summer, the time of his
  greatest activity, when he hunts, chasing, seducing and rav-
  ishing maidens — Sidhe and human alike. No Seelie other
  than the Queens can best him, and even they are wary, pre-
  ferring to let him run wild.
  Countless Sidhe are descended from the Horned King,
  products of his uncontrollable virility. He takes sadistic
  delight in running those he perceives as rivals into the
  ground, and stories abound of Sidhe whom he injured taking
  decades to heal properly, if at all. No mortal has even the
  wildest hope of challenging the Horned King physically.
  This is not to say that the Horned King is a force of evil.
  Indeed, concepts of good and evil rarely enter his mind.
  Rather, he is primal, his psyche stripped away such that only
  the most basic drives of mating and dominance consume
  him. He represents the powerful force of nature that is intrin-
  sic to the Glamour Isles.
  The Horned King appears as a large, virile, muscle-bound,
  barbaric-looking male with a broad rack of antlers sprouting
  from his forehead. His only clothing is a bear skin draped
  around his body. His only goal is to seduce and ravish every
  female he comes into contact with. He regards other males as
  rivals, so any contact he has with them is generally violent.
  Despite his primal energy, wherever he steps, sap rushes
  through the foliage and plants bloom.
  Lady Mary Katherine, in her Booke of the Goodly Folke, states
  that the Holly Prince is the eldest son of the Horned King,
  and the repository of all of his father’s kindness, leaving the
  elder Horned King bereft of such emotion. Where the
  Horned King deals in violence and physical prowess, the
  Lugh and Lawrence Lugh
  The child of the Lady of the Lake and her mortal lover
  became the Horned King/Holly Prince, although his mother
  always calls him Lugh. Sir Lawrence Lugh, the captain of
  Elaine’s Knights, is the son of the Horned King. Once a
  Sidhe living in Bryn Bresail, he has been consigned to live
  among mortals due to presence of an iron hand which he
  carries as a curse from a jilted (and powerful) lover.
  
  CHAPTER
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  Holly Prince is much kinder to those he encounters. 
  He guides travelers lost in the winter snows to their destina-
  tion. He heals those who are ill during their journeys. He pro-
  tects livestock from wolves, and children from danger. He
  thwarts the schemes of evildoers. And he does it all jovially. 
  Perhaps the most famous story of the Holly Prince is his
  delivery of gifts to good children during the midwinter Yule
  holiday. Many homes and businesses throughout the Glam-
  our Isles are decorated with festive holly boughs during Yule-
  tide, that the Holly Prince may see fit to bring gifts to the
  occupants. Of course, most gift-giving during the winter hol-
  iday is done from one mortal to another; when such giving is
  done secretly, someone always remarks that the Holly King
  has been around.
  As all things are balanced in nature, so too does the Horned
  King have a kinder, gentler side. When the heat of summer
  wanes, winter brings the return of the Holly Prince, a hand-
  some youth with a winsome smile dressed in the simple garb
  of a woodsman and wearing a wreath of holly upon his head.
  He focuses his energy on helping both mortals and Sidhe in
  danger. He demands that every being he rescues aid him at
  some point in the future. The Holly Prince also focuses on
  outwitting rather than overpowering his opponents.
  The Horned King (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 9, Finesse: 7, Resolve: 6, Wits: 1, Panache: 3
  TN to be hit: 35
  Reputation: –15 
  Background: Hunting 5 (Females)
  Arcana: Lecherous
  Advantages: Able Drinker, Appearance: Stunning, Dangerous
  Beauty, Large, Toughness, Language: Avalon
  Courtier: Dancing 3, Oratory 3, Seduction 6
  Hunter: Fishing 5, Skinning 5, Stealth 5, Survival 5, Tracking
  5, Trailer Signs 5, Traps 5, Ambush 5, Animal Training 5
  Athlete: Climbing 5, Footwork 5, Sprinting 5, Throwing 5,
  Break Fall 5, Leaping 5, Long Distance Running 5, Lifting
  5, Rolling 5, Swimming 5, Swinging 5, Sidestep 5
  Dirty Fighting: Attack (Dirty Fighting) 5, Attack (Improvised
  Weapon) 5, Eye-Gouge 5, Kick 5, Parry (Improvised
  Weapon) 5, Throat Strike 5, Throw (Improvised Weapon) 5
  Glamour: (Master) Iron Meg 5, Thomas 5
  Attack (cudgel): 10k9
  Damage (cudgel): 10k2 (See below)
  Special Abilities
  All Forests One: Once per day, the Horned King may tele-
  port without error from any woodland setting to any other
  woodland setting within either Avalon or the Sidhe lands. He
  often does this while searching for a female companion with-
  out realizing it so intent is he on his hunt. However, he may
  not bring anyone with him when he uses this ability.
  Aura of Masculinity: Any female creature within twenty feet
  of the Horned King must make a Resolve check (TN 30) or
  become overcome with desire for him.
  Cudgel of Horn: A carved cudgel (+3 Sidhe horned cudgel
  made from a stag’s antlers) appears in the Horned King’s hand
  whenever he desires. Any female struck or touched by it must
  make a Resolve check (TN 25) or be overcome with lust for
  one hour. Victims overcome with lust are unable to resist the
  Horned King for one hour or engage in combat. Any male
  victims struck or touched by it must make a Resolve check
  (TN 25) or become enraged. Enraged victims continue 
  fighting regardless of danger for one hour. Once per day, the
  victim’s resolve is reduced by 4 (minimum 1) for this check.
  Even other Sidhe are not immune to the cudgel's power but
  only the Horned King may wield it.
  Glamour: The Horned King is a legendary figure and does
  not need to spend drama dice to use his powers, since they
  draw upon his own legend rather than that of another. He has
  access to the Iron Meg and Thomas knacks (see Avalon™ book).
  Immunities: The Horned King is immune to poison, dis-
  ease, and similar effects. Magical damage and effects have
  only half its normal affect on him.
  Nature’s Sweat: Anyone whose skin is touched by the
  Horned King’s sweat must make a Resolve save (TN 20) or be
  overwhelmed by lust for an hour.
  Seasonal Change: The Horned King only exists from the
  Spring Equinox to the Fall Equinox while the peak of his
  power falls at Summer Solstice. The statistics listed are for the
  Summer Solstice. For every month before or after the
  Summer Solstice, the Horned King’s Brawn is 1 point lower
  while his Wits are 1 point higher. 
  Shapechange: The Horned King can change his form at will
  to that of any other creature, but always retains his original
  statistics, skills and powers. Every form he assumes also
  retains the rack of antlers, sized appropriately for the new
  form. He may also assume the form of the Holly Prince,
  which heals all his damage but he despises the feeling of his
  strength fading away and will avoid it if possible. In fact, an
  engraved image of the Holly Prince forcefully presented will
  prevent him from approaching within ten feet.
  The Horned King (d20™)
  Large Fae: CR 17; SZ L; HD 10d8+120; hp 170; Init +7 (+7
  Dex); Spd 50 ft.; AC 26 (+7 Dex + 9 natural); Atks:
  +32/+27/+22/+17 horned cudgel (melee) (1d8+15); SV Fort
  23, Ref 23, Will 14; SA May use any Glamour spells as if he
  were a 20th level spell caster; DR 15/Cold Iron (DR 2/-) or
  Syrneth weapons, SR20; All Forests One, Aura of Masculinity,
  Cudgel, Glamour Legend, Immunities, Nature's Sweat, Sea-
  sonal Change, Shapechange at will; Str 35, Dex 24, Con 24,
  Int 6, Wis 22, Cha 30; AL Chaotic Neutral; Skills: Animal
  Empathy +15, Bluff +15, Diplomacy +12, Gather Information
  +12, Handle Animal +15, Heal +14, Hide +15, Innuendo +10,
  Intimidate +15, Intuit Direction +10, Jump +15, Listen +14,
  Move Silently +16, Ride +12, Search +16, Sense Motive +12,
  Spot +16, Wilderness Lore +20; Feats: Alertness, Appearance -
  Above Average, Dangerous Beauty, Keen Senses, Leadership,
  Sex Appeal. (Spells Per Day: 10/13/12/10/9/8/7/5/4/3.) 
  (For details, see Swashbuckling Arcana™)
  Special Abilities 
  All Forests One: Once per day, the Horned King may tele-
  port without error from any woodland setting to any other
  woodland setting within either Avalon or the Sidhe lands. He
  often does this while searching for a female companion with-
  out realizing it so intent is he on his hunt. However, he may
  not bring anyone with him when he uses this ability.
  Aura of Masculinity: Any female creature within twenty
  feet of the Horned King must make a Will save (DC 20) or be
  overcome with desire for him. They will be unable to oppose
  him or engage in combat for the next hour. 
  Cudgel of Horn: A carved cudgel (+3 Sidhe horned
  cudgel made from a stag’s antlers) appears in the Horned
  King’s hand whenever he desires. Any female touched by the
  cudgel must make a Will save (DC 20) or be overcome with
  lust for one hour. Any other male touched by the cudgel must
  
  CHAPTER
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  The
  FOLKE
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  make a Will save (DC 20) or become enraged per the emotion
  (rage) spell for one hour. Once per day, the cudgel’s wielder
  may reduces all modifiers to this save to 0. Spell resistance
  provides no protection against this item’s magic and only the
  Horned King may wield it. 
  Glamour Legend: As a legendary figure, the Horned King
  may use any of the powers of either Iron Meg or Thomas
  (Glamour Legends) at will without rolling once per day. (See
  Swashbuckling Arcana™)
  Immunities: The Horned King is immune to poison, dis-
  ease, critical hits, and similar effects. Magic
  always has only half its normal affect on
  him.
  Nature’s Sweat: Anyone
  whose skin in touched by the
  Horned King’s sweat must
  make a Will save (DC 20) or
  become overwhelmed by lust
  for one hour. 
  Shapechange: The Horned
  King can shapechange at will to
  that of any other male creature,
  but always retains his original
  statistics, skills and powers.
  Every form he assumes also
  retains the rack of antlers, sized
  appropriately for the new form.
  He may also assume the form of
  the Holly Prince, which heals all
  his damage but he despises the feel-
  ing of his strength fading away and
  will avoid it if possible. In fact, an
  engraved image of the Holly Prince
  forcefully presented will prevent
  him from approaching within ten
  feet.
  Seasonal Change: The Horned
  King only exists from the Spring
  Equinox to the Fall Equinox while
  the peak of his power falls at
  Summer Solstice. The statistics
  above listed are for the Summer
  Solstice. For every month before
  or after the Summer Solstice, the
  Horned King’s Strength is 3
  points lower while his Intelli-
  gence is 3 points higher. 
  The Holly Prince — Hero
  (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 3, Finesse: 7, Resolve: 6,
  Wits: 7, Panache: 4
  TN to be hit: 40
  Reputation: 30
  Background: None
  Arcana: Friendly
  Advantages: Appearance: Stunning, All
  Languages (R/W) 
  Courtier: Dancing 3, Etiquette 3, Fashion 2, Oratory 4, Diplo-
  macy 4, Gaming 2, Gossip 2, Lip Reading 2, Mooch 3, Poli-
  tics 2, Scheming 3, Seduction 4, Sincerity 5
  Hunter: Fishing 5, Skinning 5, Stealth 5, Survival 5, Tracking
  5, Trailer Signs 5, Traps 5, Ambush 5, Animal Training 5
  Performer: Acting 3, Dancing 3, Oratory 4, Singing 3, Cold
  Read 3, Disguise 3, Storytelling 3
  Spy: Shadowing 3, Stealth 5, Bribery 3, Conceal 1, Disguise 3,
  Forgery 1, Hand Signs 1, Lip Reading 2, Poison 4, Sincerity 5
  Archer: Attack (Bow) 5, Fletcher 5, Snapshot 5, Trick Shooting 5 
  Athlete: Climbing 5, Footwork 5, Sprinting 5, Throwing 5,
  Break Fall 5, Leaping 5, Long Distance Running 5, Lifting
  5, Rolling 5, Swimming 5, Swinging 5, Sidestep 5
  Dirty Fighting: Attack (Dirty Fighting) 5, Attack (Improvised
  Weapon) 5, Eye-Gouge 5, Kick 5, Parry (Improvised
  Weapon) 5, Throat Strike 5, Throw (Improvised
  Weapon) 5
  Glamour (Master): Robin Goodfellow 5, Isaac Snags
  5, King Elilodd 5
  Attack: (Bow) 10k9, Attack (cudgel) 7k7
  Damage: (Bow) 6k2, (Cudgel) 4k3
  Special Abilities
  All Forests One: Once per day,
  the Holly Prince may teleport without
  error from any woodland setting to
  any other woodland setting within
  either Avalon or the Sidhe lands. He
  may bring up to 5 creatures (Sidhe
  or mortal) with him who will
  usually not even notice that
  they have been moved. 
  Arrows of Slumber: The Holly
  Prince possesses special arrows
  that only he may use. Anyone
  struck by them must make a Brawn
  save (TN 35) or fall unconscious for
  24 hours. These arrows are unaf-
  fected by spell resistance and may
  affect human and Sidhe alike. Once
  per day, the Holly Prince may
  reduce all modifiers to this save to 0. 
  Glamour: The Holly Prince is a
  legendary figure and does not need to
  spend Drama Dice to use his powers,
  since they draw upon his own legend
  rather than that of another. He has access
  to the Iron Meg and Thomas knacks 
  (see Avalon™ book).
  Healing Touch: Three times per day (but
  only once per creature), the Holly Prince can heal
  3d6 hit points by simply touching someone. 
  Immunities: The Holly Prince is immune
  to poison, disease, critical hits, and similar effects.
  Magic always has only half its normal affect on
  him.
  Seasonal Change: The Holly Prince only
  exists from the Fall Equinox to the Spring
  Equinox while the peak of his power falls at
  Winter Solstice. The statistics listed are for the
  Winter Solstice. For every month before or after the
  Summer Solstice, the Holly Prince’s Brawn is 1 points higher
  while his Wits are 3 points lower. 
  Shapechange: The Holly Prince can change his form at
  will to that of any other creature, but always retains his origi-
  nal statistics, skills and powers. Every form he assumes also
  retains the wreath of holly, sized appropriately for the new
  form. He may also assume the form of the Horned King,
  
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  which restores all of his hit points, but he despises the feeling
  of his intellect fading away and will avoid it if possible. In
  fact, an engraved image of the Horned King forcefully pre-
  sented will prevent him from approaching within ten feet.
  GM Secrets
  The Horned King begins his life anew each year as the young
  Holly Prince, friendly and exuberant, filled with vigor and
  zest for life. From spring to summer he ages, becoming the
  Horned King at the point of midsummer. As he ages into this
  form, he grows more and more powerful, and his emotions
  run hotter and hotter. 
  From high summer to midwinter every year, the Horned
  King ages backward, eventually returning to his youthful
  form, the Holly Prince. He physically shrinks over the course
  of this time to about five feet in height, and loses some
  muscle mass as well. His basic form (deer legs and all)
  remains the same, although his antlers get smaller in size and
  scale as the year progresses.
  By midwinter, he has fully become the Holly Prince, and is
  a markedly different individual from the Horned King.
  Indeed, few Sidhe, and only a handful of mortals, realize that
  the Horned King and the Holly Prince are the same person at
  all. Many claim that the Holly Prince hunts the Horned King.
  This is not the case, but the stories persist regardless.
  The Horned King is so uncaring about the mortal world that
  he is unlikely to serve as any sort of patron or information
  source to PCs. The Holly Prince, on the other hand, can be a
  tantalizing adventure hook all of his own. He may approach
  players to deliver gifts or help stranded travelers (though these
  missions will never be as easy as they sound), and PCs who
  want to earn his favor have made a powerful ally indeed. 
  The Holly Prince (d20™)
  Fae: CR 16; SZ M; HD 10d8+120; hp 170; Init +7 (+7 Dex); Spd
  50 ft.; AC 30 (+7 Dex + 13 natural); Atks: +19/+14/+9/+4 cudgel
  (melee) (1d8+8) or +25/+25/+20/+15 oak +3 longbow (ranged)
  (1d8+8); SA May use any Glamour spells as if he were a 20th
  level spell caster, DR 15/cold iron or Syrneth weapons, SR 20;
  All Forests One, Arrows of Slumber, Glamour Legend, Healing
  Touch; Immunities; Seasonal Change; Shapechange at will; SV
  Fort 23, Ref 23, Will 22; Str 17, Dex 24, Con 24, Int 24, Wis 22,
  Cha 30; AL Chaotic Good; Skills: Animal Empathy +15, Bluff
  +20, Diplomacy +18, Gather Information +19, Handle Animal
  +15, Heal +16, Hide +15, Innuendo +16, Intimidate +12, Intuit
  Direction +10, Jump +15, Listen +14, Move Silently +16, Ride
  +12, Search +16, Sense Motive +21, Spot +19, Wilderness Lore
  +20; Feats: Accurate Archer, Combat Reflexes, Dangerous
  Beauty, Friendly, Precise Shot, Weapon Proficiency (Long
  bow). (Spells Per Day: 10/13/12/10/9/8/7/5/4/3.) (For details,
  see Swashbuckling Arcana™)
  Special Abilities
  All Forests One: Once per day, the Holly Prince may 
  teleport without error from any woodland setting to any other
  woodland setting within either Avalon or the Sidhe lands. He
  may bring up to 5 people (Sidhe or mortal) with him who will
  usually not even notice that they have been moved. 
  Arrows of Slumber: The Holly Prince possesses special
  arrows which only he may use. Anyone struck by them must
  make a Fortitude save (DC 35) or fall unconscious for 24
  hours. These arrows are unaffected by spell resistance and
  may affect human and sidhe alike. Once per day, the Holly
  Prince may reduce all modifiers to this save to 0. 
  Glamour Legend: The Holly Prince is a legendary figure.
  He may use any of the powers of the Glamour legends of
  Robin Goodfellow, Isaac Snags, and King Elillod at will with-
  out rolling once per day. (See Swashbuckling Arcana™)
  Healing Touch: Three times per day (but only once per
  creature), the Holly Prince can heal 3d6 hit points by simply
  touching any being. 
  Immunities: The Holly Prince is immune to poison, dis-
  ease, critical hits, and similar effects. Magic always has only
  half its normal affect on him.
  Seasonal Change: The Holly Prince only exists from the
  Fall Equinox to the Spring Equinox while the peak of his
  power falls at Winter Solstice. The statistics listed are for the
  Winter Solstice. For every month before or after the Summer
  Solstice, the Holly Prince’s strength is 3 points higher while
  his intelligence is 3 points lower. 
  Shapechange: The Holly Prince can shapechange at will to
  that of any other creature, but always retains his original sta-
  tistics, skills and powers. Every form he assumes also retains a
  thick wreath of holly encircling its head. He may also assume
  the form of the Horned King, which restores all of his hit
  points, but he despises this violent side of himself and will
  avoid it if possible. In fact, an engraved image of the Horned
  King forcefully presented will prevent him from approaching
  within ten feet.
  Queen Elaine
  Tall, regal, and possessed of immaculate beauty celebrated in
  poetry throughout Avalon, Elaine is a storybook queen per-
  sonified. Her beginnings, however, are much more humble.
  She spent her childhood and adolescence living as the
  “orphan niece” of Sir Umbert, a minor member of the country
  nobility, ignorant of her true heritage. Umbert was content to
  live in his decent but unspectacular manor on his fertile but
  unspectacular land overseeing the labors of his hardworking
  but unspectacular peasants, and he raised his family the same
  way. Elaine remembers him as a good and just man, and cred-
  its him with her earliest lessons in fairness and generosity.
  The only significant conflict she ever had with Umbert
  involved her wedding. Elaine fell in love when she was 17.
  The object of her affection, Edmund, was the son of a neigh-
  boring lord, and they loved each other as only the young can.
  Edmund’s father soon contacted Umbert about a marriage,
  but Umbert stalled inexplicable. Elaine begged. Elaine
  pouted. Elaine argued. Still, Umbert would not budge, always
  giving vague excuses. Elaine decided to take matters into her
  own hands.
  Shortly after her 19th birthday, Elaine quietly revealed to
  Umbert that she was pregnant. He quickly consented to the
  marriage and far from angry, he arranged for the couple to
  live with distant relatives for a few years, after which they
  could return with the child with no one the wiser.
  Her wedding day should have been the happiest one of
  Elaine’s life; instead, it was the most traumatic. Derwyddon
  met her at the altar and in front of the horrified guests, spir-
  ited her away to Bryn Bresail, where her child was taken from
  her and her true heritage explained. The child was no longer
  her concern because young Elaine was destined to become
  the Queen of Avalon. Throughout the following days, her
  world was full of pain and torrents of tears as the young
  woman almost broke down, but her ties to Avalon were
  stronger and eventually, despite her broken heart, she
  accepted her fate.
  
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  She returned to the mortal realm ten years later, having not
  aged a day, to find the land she was to rule torn by civil war.
  Using the guidance of Derwyddon and the power of the
  Graal, she gathered a group of knights. Through them she
  fashioned an army, and unified Avalon. She continues to face
  enemies, both foreign and local, but in spite of the challenges,
  she has the love of Avalon’s people, and leads them proudly.
  Beloved as she is, Elaine is ironically one of the least
  approachable monarchs in Théah. This is not to say she is one
  of the least visible. In her court, she is readily visible to any
  who would look. She spends a part of every day greeting ordi-
  nary people.
  Characters who wish to pursue a closer relationship with
  the queen, however, will find this to be much more difficult.
  Elaine is heavily insulated from such contact, surrounded by
  several layers of bureaucracy, and several more layers of well
  armed knights. Her political enemies regularly try to insinu-
  ate spies into her company, and she thus keeps herself distant
  from all but her most trusted servants. Characters may do
  more than simply greet the queen, but it will take days and
  perhaps weeks of legal wrangling, and probably more than a
  little wheel-greasing, to gain a legitimate audience.
  The characters will have much better luck if they ingratiate
  themselves with her underlings first. Cultivating good rela-
  tionships with one or more of her knights is one of the faster
  routes to the queen’s attention. Short of drinking from the
  Graal, nothing makes a character more trustworthy in the eyes
  of Elaine than the word of one of Elaine’s knights on his behalf.
  Because Elaine is so protected from meaningful contact, a
  GM should reserve her as a prize in and of herself. She will be
  able to assign the characters real world-moving missions, and
  as such should be reserved until the characters can handle
  such missions. Gaining her attention could be, and should be,
  an adventure unto itself.
  Queen Elaine (7th Sea™)
  (see Avalon,™ pg. 101)
  Queen Elaine (d20™)
  Avalon Noble 1/Courtier 1/Glamour Mage 10: CR 12; SZ
  M; HD 2d8+100; hp 59; Init +2 (+2 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 12 (+2
  Dex); Atks: Bow +9/+4 (1d8) or Dagger +7/+2 melee (1d4); SA
  Blessing of Good Fortune, Blessing of Renown, Commanding
  Presence +1, Friends in High Places, Glamour Adept, Glam-
  our Checks +5, Known Legends (Robin Goodfellow +7, Iron
  Meg +5, King Elilodd +10, Green Man +5, Thomas +9), Style
  and Grace, Talent, Wealth; SV Fort 3, Ref 9, Will 13; Str 11,
  Dex 14, Con 11, Int 20, Wis 14, Cha 18; AL LG; Skills: Bluff
  +14, Concentration +2, Diplomacy +18, Innuendo +4, Gather
  Information +9, Intimidate +6, Knowledge (Sidhe) +13,
  Knowledge (Avalon) +10, Ride +6, Search +6, Sense Motive
  +12, Spot +7; Feats: Full Blooded (Glamour), Inspirational,
  Leadership, Legendary Trait (Intelligence), Skill Focus
  (Diplomacy), Skill Focus (Knowledge (Sidhe).
  Spells: 0-level: dancing lights; Level 1: colors of Théah, charm
  person; Level 2: enthrall, suggestion; Level 3: charm monster, major
  image, emotion; Level 4: break enchantment; Level 5: fabricate.
  (Spells per day: 5/6/5/4/3/1.) (For details, see Player’s Hand-
  book,™ Ch. 11: Spells.)
  Spells per day: 5/6/5/4/3/1
  Spells Known 
  Level
  Spells
  Level 0: 
  dancing lights
  Level 1: 
  colors of Théah, charm person
  Level 2: 
  enthrall, suggestion 
  Level 3: 
  charm monster, major image, emotion
  Level 4: 
  break enchantment
  Level 5: 
  fabricate
  (For details, see Player’s Handbook,™ Ch. 11: Spell and Swash-
  buckling Arcana.™)
  Special Abilities
  While at the Sidhe Court, Elaine was introduced to a man
  claiming to be King Elilodd. He personally instructed her in
  certain secrets of Glamour which allow her to know an addi-
  tional Legend. 
  Blessings: Queen Elaine adds +1 to all rolls and +2 to all
  Charisma-based rolls thanks to blessings from the Seelie
  Queen and the Lady of the Lake. 
  She also receives a +2 circumstance bonus to all rolls while
  in Avalon or the Sidhe lands.
  GM Notes
  Elaine is married to Avalon; this is her mission and her
  burden. The Queen of the Sky herself set this condition upon
  Elaine: should she ever love anything (or anyone) more than
  she loves Avalon, the nation will fall, and Glamour will leave
  the Isles forever. On the surface, one would think that the
  stress of running a nation as dynamic and rambunctious as
  Avalon would keep Elaine from such ties of love. This is
  unfortunately not the case.
  Elaine misses her daughter Meryth and harbors a secret
  fantastic hope of someday reconciling and becoming the
  mother she always wanted to be. Meryth is aware of Elaine’s
  feelings, and of Elaine’s gesa, and waits for the opportunity to
  use both against the woman who abandoned her. (See
  Meryth’s entry in this chapter for more details.)
  Elaine is aware of her feelings for Sir Lawrence Lugh and
  his for her (despite his best effort, he is hardly adept at keep-
  ing his emotions concealed.) She knows how dangerous it is
  to keep such a man close to her but he is the finest knight in
  the realm.
  Derwyddon
  Derwyddon is quite possibly the most enigmatic figure in
  Avalon. Those who seek information on the Sidhe can con-
  sult Lady Mary Katherine’s book but no such reference mate-
  rial, however dubious, exists about Derwyddon, and people
  always fear that which they do not understand.
  Although he forgets nothing, he often seems easily con-
  fused, stopping in mid-sentence to think, or to look at people
  through first one eye and then the other. He has a habit of
  being absent from court for periods as long as months, only to
  turn up unexpectedly, say something to someone, and vanish
  again. It is easy for courtiers in Avalon to dismiss him as a
  doddering old fool spinning meaningless riddles, and many
  have a habit of doing just that.
  But every now and then, he says something so brilliant, so
  biting, and so unmistakably true that he frightens people all
  over again. He generally makes such statements loudly, in the
  middle of court or a state dinner or a royal traveling party or
  some other social occasion at which his outburst would be
  considered unforgivably rude, if it did not turn out to be
  
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  undeniably true. He is then actively shunned and avoided for
  a time until people forget their fear and resume their benign
  disregard, at which point he says something astonishing and
  the cycle begins again.
  Brave souls, realizing that Derwyddon knows more than he
  indicates, have on occasion approached him for advice. It is
  rumored that he sees the past, present, and future at once, and
  those desperate to know their fate petition the old druid for
  his wisdom. He always declines, despite their continued
  pleas, then tells them the truth, which is rarely what they
  wanted to hear. 
  He is capable of great magical feats, although he must rest
  for an extended period after a magical working. He is said to
  have never failed when casting an enchantment.
  Derwyddon has one red eye (a completely red, completely
  opaque orb) and one blue eye (which is more or less normal).
  One it is said sees the past, and the other the future. No one
  knows for certain which is which, and Derwyddon himself
  has never confirmed or denied such tales. He walks with a
  hunch, and has wild unkempt hair. His frame is lean and
  ragged, but he nevertheless gives an unsettling impression of
  great physical strength. Spiritually he is a void. A cold aura
  surrounds him; some say it is the aura of death. He walks like
  a moving wave, clearing a path of shuddering men and
  women around him through force of will. Why Elaine toler-
  ates his continued presence in her court is a mystery.
  Derwyddon – Hero (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 2, Finesse: 3, Wits: 7, Resolve: 7, Panache: 5
  Reputation: -13
  Background: None
  Arcana: Arrogant
  Advantages: Unnerving Countenance, All Languages
  (R/W), Legendary Trait
  TN to be hit: 30 (any setting)
  Attack (Quarterstaff):  8k3
  Damage (Quarterstaff): 4k2
  Druid: Spring 5, Summer 5, Autumn 5, Winter 5, Moon
  5, Prophet's Mass 5
  Courtier: Etiquette 1, Oratory 4, Diplomacy 3, Politics 3,
  Scheming 5
  Hunter: Stealth 2, Survival 4, Tracking 4, Trail Signs 4, Traps 4,
  Ambush 4, Animal Training 4
  Bard: Etiquette 1, History 5, Oratory 4, Diplomacy 3, Herb
  Lore 5, Riddles 5, Sidhe Lore 5
  Polearm: Attack (Polearm) 5, Parry (Polearm) 5, Set Defense 5
  As Master Druid of Avalon, Derwyddon has certain abil-
  ities beyond those of normal druids. He possesses the
  knack Prophet's Mass that is ascendant during this time
  and when there  new moons are in the skies. He may
  have an unlimited number of Lesser or Greater Gesa in
  play at any time, though he will not place more than one
  on an individual. In addition, he can make a prophecy for
  anyone he can see. This prophecy will always come true,
  though perhaps not in the manner that the person
  expected. 
  He is also immune to poison, disease and can never take
  more than a single dramatic wound at a time. In addition, he
  can command trees and plants to move at his com-
  mand, control the weather and cause natural disas-
  ters such as fire, flood and earthquakes.
  He can heal injuries with a single touch (up to 3k3 flesh
  wounds or a single dramatic wound, only once per person per
  day), cause suffering with a touch (3k3 flesh wounds from his
  touch, only once per person per day) and see events at a great
  distance. 
  As Queen Elaine’s Court Wizard, he is capable of incredible
  mystical feats such as disappearing in a cloud of smoke, rust-
  ing armor with a glance, shrugging off a Laerdom sorcerer's
  lightning bolts and engulfing her enemies in flames. If there
  is any limit to his powers, none have ever learned of it.
  GM Secrets
  True to popular stories, Derwyddon really is thousands of
  years old. Not entirely human, he is not entirely Sidhe either.
  There are those who believe that long ago, he was a mortal
  knight. While riding one day, he stopped to water his horse in
  the shallows of what is now Loch Westmoreland, where he saw
  the most beautiful woman he had ever imagined. He fell in
  love with her instantly, and she with him. She was the Lady of
  the Lake, and he eventually became the father of Lugh (the
  Horned King) and Sophia.
  
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  When the Sidhe faded from Avalon and the lovers were
  forced to part, he was left to raise his daughter, Sophia. He
  possessed the Lady’s immortality balm, and uses it to this day.
  Unfortunately, shortly after Sophia reached her majority, a
  terrible thing happened.
  In one of the many wars fought across Avalon in its shad-
  owy pre-history, the knight was wounded. The blow, a savage
  one to the head, destroyed his left eye and robbed him of
  most of his memory. He remembered that the potion he car-
  ried was his link to life, and he remembered the secrets of its
  manufacture, but precious little else.  
  He wandered for a time before being rescued by a band of
  druids. In their way of life he found purpose, and eventually
  became the greatest of them all. He mastered a number of
  other arts as well, including the ability to foretell the future.
  He took the name Derwyddon, as he could not remember his
  own, and was happy in his new life.
  When Elaine was born, the Lady of the Lake came to him
  in a vision, seeking mortal allies to aid her. Neither of them
  recognized the other, so long ago had they been lovers. The
  Lady told him many things about Elaine, and set him the task
  of guarding her and making certain that she kept the vow to
  never love another. Derwyddon pledged his immortal life to
  this cause.
  Elaine is aware of his mission, and keeps him around
  partly for her safety, and partly because he really does have
  magical powers which he uses on her behalf regularly, and as
  such is numbered among her most trusted advisors.
  He deliberately cultivates his mysterious aura, and exten-
  sively feeds the rumors surrounding him. His red eye, for
  example, is physically useless to him, although it is kept from
  rot by the immortality balm, which he continues to use. He
  sometimes pretends to look at people through it because he
  knows how unsettling it is. More than one brave man has
  squeaked out horrible confessions to Derwyddon based
  solely on their fear of his legend. His mystique is useful, so he
  encourages it.
  Contrary to legend, he cannot foresee everything about
  the future. This is another piece of the myth he has so care-
  fully surrounded himself with. He can see many things, but
  not everything.
  He dislikes Sir Bors, and avoids the man whenever possi-
  ble. Derwyddon quietly spreads stories about Bors not fol-
  lowing the old ways, and people believe this is why he har-
  bors such mistrust of the dour highlander. In fact,
  Derwyddon knows that Bors is the smartest man in Elaine’s
  court (after himself, of course), and is in the best position to
  figure out Derwyddon’s secrets. He avoids the man so as to
  afford the knight no opportunity to turn his keen mind on
  the old druid.
  There is another possibility, albeit far-fetched, that he is a Syr-
  neth construct gone rogue long ago. An experiment by the
  Syrneth in blending their technologies with a living being,
  they seized a young druid and made him a test subject. He
  possesses the living sentience of a man, but it is housed in a
  body of indescribable technological mastery. He cannot
  “remember” the past. Everything he sees or hears is archived
  in his near-limitless memory. Similarly, he cannot “see” the
  future, but is capable of processing the mountains of data
  within him so quickly that he can make accurate predictions.
  His red eye cannot see anything because it has burned out.
  In fact, his eye is a sign of his greatest problem. He needs
  maintenance. His body runs on a form of energy that
  approaches perpetual motion. Unfortunately, “approaches”
  does not mean “equals,” and although he is capable of recharg-
  ing himself, activity slowly runs him down. He frequently
  shuts himself down to allow his power source to recharge
  itself. To fully recharge, however, he would have to shut down
  for years, and he knows he cannot afford to be away from the
  Queen for that long.
  His magics are intact, but the energy of spirit that an ordi-
  nary druid draws upon has been replaced with his Syrneth
  power. When he works magic, therefore, he is required to
  shut down to recoup the loss.
  Energy is not his only problem, however. His body has
  gone without maintenance for millennia, and certain basic
  processes have malfunctioned and cannot be corrected. His
  eye burned out long ago, and he is completely blind in it; it
  glows malevolently, but it is otherwise useless to him. His
  stooping hunch is the result of a bad fall, which would have
  killed a human, but only damaged his artificial spine. His hair
  is artificial, and never grows longer.
  He does not trust Sir Bors because he knows that the wily
  Highlander is the smartest member of Elaine’s court. That
  intelligence coupled with an active mind could potentially
  reveal Derwyddon’s secret. It may take decades but Derwyd-
  don knows that the potential is within Bors to make that sort
  of connection. This he fears for he understands that while he
  makes people uncomfortable now, he would face three criti-
  cal problems were his secret known. 
  First, the common people of Avalon, he feels, would quickly
  turn from frightened reverence of an ancient druid to fright-
  ened hatred of a Syrneth in their midst. Worse, the leaders of
  Avalon would completely shut him out, deciding for them-
  selves that his magic is nothing more than a Syrneth mockery.
  Worst, the Sidhe would surely obliterate him out of fear of Syr-
  neth tampering in their world. He would have nowhere to go.
  (More information on Derwyddon can be found in
  Avalon™ and Game Master’s Guide.™)
  Derwyddon (d20™)
  Avalon Théan Druid 20: CR 20; SZ M; HD 20d10; hp 105;
  Init +2 (+2 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 12 (+2 Dex +15 Prophecy); Atks:
  +15/+10/+5 staff melee (1d6); SA Winter Ascendancy +20,
  Spring Ascendancy +20, Summer Ascendancy +20, Prophet's
  Mass +20, Autumn Ascendancy +20, Lunar Ascendancy +20,
  Master Druid, Immunities, Prophecy, DR 10/Cold Iron, SR 15;
  Avalon Court Wizard; SV Fort 6, Ref 8, Will 18; Str 11, Dex 14,
  Con 11, Int 22, Wis 20, Cha 20; AL NG; Skills: Alchemy +16,
  Animal Empathy +10, Bluff +10, Concentration +5, Diplomacy
  +10, Gather Information +15, Handle Animals +10, Heal +10,
  Intimidate +13, Intuit Direction +7, Knowledge (Astrology)
  +14, Knowledge (Avalon) +25, Knowledge (Nature) +25,
  Knowledge (Sidhe) +20, Listen +7, Scry +10, Sense Motive +15,
  Spellcraft +10, Wilderness Lore +20; Feats: Astrologer, Evil
  Reputation, Fortune Teller, Herbalist, Unnerving Counte-
  nance, Tracking, Spell Penetration, Quicken Spell
  Spells: 0-level: detect magic, detect poison, light, read magic;
  Level 1: calm animals, cure light wounds, endure elements, faerie
  fire, obscuring mist: Level 2: delay poison, fire trap, chill metal, heat
  metal, resist elements, summon swarm; Level 3: cure moderate
  wounds, neutralize poison, plant growth, snare, water breathing:
  Level 4: control plants, dispel magic, flame strike, freedom of move-
  ment, rusting grasp, scrying: Level 5: awaken, break enchantment,
  commune with nature, hallow, tree stride, wall of thorns, ice storm:
  
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  Level 6: find the path, greater dispelling, healing circle, ironwood,
  liveoak, stone tell; Level 7: control weather, harm, heal, true Seeing;
  Level 8: command plants, whirlwind; Level 9: earthquake, fore-
  sight. (Spells Per Day: 10/12/10/9/8/7/5/4/3/2). (For details,
  see Player’s Handbook™, Ch. 11: Spells.)
  Spells per day: (10/10/9/8/7/6/5/4/3/2)
  Table 4–1: Derwyddon’s Spells
  Level
  Spells
  0
  detect magic, detect poison, light, read magic
  1
  calm animals, cure light wounds, endure 
  elements, faerie fire, obscuring mist
  2
  delay poison, fire trap, chill metal, heat metal, 
  resist elements, summon swarm
  3
  cure moderate wounds, neutralize poison, 
  plant growth, snare, water breathing
  4
  control plants, dispel magic, flame strike, 
  freedom of movement, rusting grasp, scrying
  5
  awaken, break enchantment, commune with 
  nature, hallow, tree stride, wall of thorns, 
  ice storm
  6
  find the path, greater dispelling, healing circle, 
  ironwood, liveoak, stone tell
  7
  control weather, harm, heal, true Seeing
  8
  command plants, whirlwind
  9
  earthquake, foresight
  (For details, see Player’s Handbook,™ Ch. 11: Spells)
  Special Abilities
  Master Druid: As the Master Druid of Avalon, Derwyd-
  don is in touch with the destiny of all her creatures which
  allows him to declare an unlimited number of Lesser or
  Greater Gesa at any time. However, he will never grant a Gesa
  to a character who has one. He may also use his powers
  during the Prophet's Mass, the last five days of the year.
  Immunities: Derwyddon is immune to disease or poison
  because of his connection with Avalon. He is also immune to
  critical strikes because of his insight into the future of Avalon.
  Prophecy: Once per day, Derwyddon may declare the
  future of any individual within his sight. This prophecy
  always comes true, though many wonder if this could be
  because he uses his powers to ensure that the predictions
  occur. There is no protection from this ability, including spell
  resistance, though he cannot target a person a second time
  until a year and a day pass. In the past, he has prophesied that
  his target will die within seconds, like all of his other prophe-
  cies, this has come to pass. This ability also gives him a +15
  bonus to AC since he easily anticipates all incoming blows.
  Avalon Court Wizard: Once per day, as Elaine's court
  wizard, Derwyddon may cast any spell in the Player's Handbook
  as long as he has the correct material components on hand.
  Mad Jack O’Bannon
  It is said, for every blade of glass that grows on the Emerald
  Isle, there is a hero who spilled blood for it.  Inismore itself is
  a living legend: fairy-tale spires towering over picturesque
  hamlets, all protected by noble knights on gallant steeds.  But
  of all the legends in Inismore, none are more entangled with
  the destiny of its kingdom than that of the ard ri. Inismore’s
  king rules with a heavy hand, a quick temper, and a madman’s
  smile: he is Jack O’Bannon, third ruler of the O’Bannon
  name.  Whether he is truly a man or not is irrelevant; he is the
  O’Bannon, as much a part of Inismore as the trees.
  Long ago, the people who would claim the Inish name bat-
  tled the native Firbolgs for possession of the island.  Once the
  Firbolgs were defeated, the leaders of the victorious tribes
  turned their martial ardor toward choosing a ruler.  The Inish
  had not been alone in their struggle against the giants; they
  had been assisted by a small band of Sidhe, who gave them a
  magical stone as a symbol of their brotherhood.  The Fål
  Stone, or “Old Molly”, as it became known in folk songs, pos-
  sessed the power to select the king by singing tales of the
  rightful ruler’s destiny.
  The tribesmen tried the Stone, one by one, each attempting
  to prove his worthiness by boasting of battles won, children
  fathered, or cattle stolen.  However, when Hugh O’Bannon’s
  turn came, he simply knelt to the ground and kissed “Sweet
  Molly”, the Stone leapt into the air, singing and weeping.
  Thus, the first O’Bannon was crowned; however, his reign
  would last a mere fifteen years.  One day, he took off his
  crown, kissed his wife, packed a small bag, told her, “I’ll be
  back,” and walked away.  He was not seen again by mortal
  man. Hugh left no children; a succession war soon bloomed
  and the O’Tooles seized the throne.
  Six hundred years passed under the rule of the O’Tooles.
  The Vesten began to raid the island in greater and greater
  numbers; eventually Inismore became little more than a
  Vesten trading outpost.  This state of affairs lasted until 1014,
  when the Fål Stone wept for the first time in years.  An O’Ban-
  non had returned, ready for war!  The young man stormed the
  ard ri’s fortress; in a fit of rage, he slaughtered every warrior in
  the castle including the ard ri and his Vesten allies.  He rallied
  the Inish people and forced the Vesten back to the sea.  Then,
  surprisingly, he showed mercy to those who had married
  Inish men and women: “Swear you love my mother,” the
  O’Bannon said, “and I’ll swear she loves you as her children.
  Now you are Inish.”
  Jack O’Bannon ruled for seven years; as before, he packed
  his bag and disappeared.  No sooner had he said, “I’ll be back,”
  than the infighting began anew.  When the dust cleared, the
  O’Tooles had regained their stranglehold on Inismore’s
  throne, and the land toiled under Avalon rule for another six
  hundred years.
  Eighteen years ago, Sweet Molly sang and wept, once again
  heralding the return of the O’Bannon.  Even the O’Tooles
  welcomed him this time, for Avalon’s yoke was heavy and the
  O’Bannon was Inismore’s best hope of freedom.  Four years of
  bloody warfare and lightning raids later, the Inish armies
  were poised to march on the capital of Carrig. Inexplicably,
  the O’Bannon hesitated — then spoke the words the Inish
  had come to dread:  “I’ll be back.”  The Inish generals feared
  the worst: Jack would leave Inismore to be crushed beneath
  an Avalon boot.  No one expected Jack to appear in Carleon to
  swear fealty to the newly proclaimed Queen of Avalon, a
  mere three days after the King of the Highland Marches had
  done the same.
  Since that day, the people of Inismore have enjoyed the
  O’Bannon’s longest rule yet, although many wonder how the
  current O’Bannon is related to his predecessors.  Wondering
  aside, they have accepted the O’Bannon as their own, loving
  him not despite, but because of, his flaws.  Like his people, he is
  unconcerned with the subtleties of court or the rules of diplo-
  macy; he is as apt to be seen in a dingy seaside tavern, singing
  ribald sea chanteys, as he is to be seen in Elaine’s court (or his
  own, for that matter).  Even those that scoff at the people of
  Inismore regard their ruler with wary respect; he is as like as
  not to pay a personal visit to those that take offense at his
  island, just before he forcibly removes them from it.
  
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  Mad Jack’s charisma notwithstanding, he is far from per-
  fect, and his opponents are quick to point out his flaws.  For
  every legend portraying him as the savior of the Inish people,
  another depicts his famous temper, or illustrates his
  unquenchable desires.  One legend tells the tale of Mad Jack
  and the best whiskey-maker in Inismore. The O’Ban-
  non developed a taste for the man’s best vintage and
  paid him an extravagant amount of money for his
  most prized cask.  The brewer presented the
  cask to Mad Jack, who downed the whiskey
  in a single draught and declared it the
  best he would ever have.  The O’Ban-
  non then ordered the destruction of
  the whiskey still and the slaughter
  of the family that ran it, so that
  only he would remember the
  experience.
  Another tale dates from his
  war with the Vesten.  Early in
  the war, the enemy had surprised
  a vital garrison; if the defenders were
  overrun, the O’Bannon’s war might have
  been ended before it began.  When all
  seemed lost, the O’Bannon appeared on the
  field, easily defeating the Vesten attackers.
  With the cheers of his men still ringing in his
  ears, he turned his sword on the surviving Inish
  defenders and killed them all, to a man.  “We
  can’t have them thinking we can’t beat them,” he
  said to the very last Inishman, “but we also can’t
  have me fighting every battle for you.  Even I
  get tired.”  With that, he slew the man.
  Mad Jack O’Bannon wears simple, loose-
  fitting clothes.  His shining silver hair tum-
  bles into his face, and his beard always
  frames a madman’s grin.  He is usually
  barefoot, unless he wears his famous
  Seven-League Striders.  These
  boots, a gift from his mother,
  allow him to appear any-
  where in Inismore.  Occa-
  sionally, he gives a pair to
  someone who has aided
  him, but he never
  seems to be without
  his own.  He often
  draws his sword from
  out of thin air, and has
  revealed himself to be a deadly
  combatant.  Scars mark his arms and body, but the scar deco-
  rating his forehead today may be on his arm tomorrow.  He
  rarely leaves Inismore; there, he is nigh immortal. This, cou-
  pled with his wicked sense of humor and violent mood
  swings, make him a man not to be crossed; he has no trouble
  separating a man’s head from his body, a manic laugh upon
  his lips.
  GM Secrets
  Jack O’Bannon is the son of Hugh O’Bannon and the Queen
  of the Sky. During Hugh’s war with the Firbolgs, he realized
  he needed outside assistance to prevail.  Thus, he made a pact
  with the Seelie court: aid him in his hour of need, and he
  would spend the rest of his days in Bryn Bresail.  His selfless-
  ness intrigued the Queen, and she arranged for the Fål Stone
  to choose him as ard ri. Fifteen mortal years later, he was sum-
  moned to fulfill the terms of his bargain; Hugh knew he
  would never see his beloved Inismore again.
  The Queen had a brief affair with the fiery Inishman; Jack
  was the product of their union.  He
  was a fitful child, with
  his mother’s hair and
  his father’s temper.
  When he was of age, she
  secretly took him to the
  River of Forgetfulness, to
  wash the human emotion
  from him.  His humanity,
  however, refused to succumb;
  instead, the screaming souls trapped
  in the river flooded into him, and he fell
  into madness.
  Mad Jack O’Bannon — Hero (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 6, Finesse: 6, Resolve: 6, Wits: 6, Panache: 6
  Reputation: 150
  Background: None
  TN to be hit: 25
  Advantages: Able Drinker, Dangerous Beauty, Tough,
  Avalon (R/W), Montaigne (R/W), Eisen (R/W).
  Courtier: Dancing 3, Etiquette 1, Fashion 2, Oratory 4,
  Diplomacy 3, Gaming 5, Politics 1, Scheming 1, Seduction 3
  Hunter: Fishing 2, Skinning 2, Stealth 5, Survival 2, Track-
  ing 2, Trail Signs 2, Traps 2, Ambush 4, Animal Training 2
  Performer: Dancing 3, Oratory 4, Singing 3, Cold Read 3, Dis-
  guise 3, Storytelling 3
  Spy: Shadowing 3, Stealth 5, Disguise 3 
  Archer: Attack (Bow) 3, Fletcher 3, Snapshot 3, Trick Shooting 3
  Athlete: Climbing 4, Footwork 4, Sprinting 4, Throwing 4,
  Break Fall 4, Leaping 4, Long Distance Running 4, Lifting
  4, Rolling 4, Swimming 4, Swinging 4, Sidestep 4
  Dirty Fighting: Attack (Dirty Fighting) 4, Attack
  (Improvised Weapon) 3, Eye-Gouge 3, Kick 3,
  Parry (Improvised Weapon) 3, Throat Strike 3,
  Throw (Improvised Weapon) 
  Glamour: All knacks at 5
  Attack (Longsword): 8k5 O’Ban-
  non can either Knock Out
  or kill a target whenever
  he hits.
  Special Abilities
  Erratic Mind: Whenever anyone attempts to control his
  mind or manipulate him by any means, he makes a Resolve
  check TN 20. Success indicates that the attempt fails.
  Glamour Legend: may use the Mad Jack O’Bannon knack at
  will an unlimited number of times every day without cost.
  Immunities: The O’Bannon is immune to poison and disease. 
  Hidden in Plain Sight: He may use the Stealth skill whenever
  he desires as long as there is something to stand behind, no
  matter how small the object is.
  Of Two Worlds: The O’Bannon is a part of both the real
  world and Bryan Bresail. He acts as a portal between them
  and can step back and forth at will. By stepping into the other,
  moving and then stepping back, he appears to teleport. This
  has the effect of a teleport without error spell. However, he
  
  CHAPTER
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  must spend equal times in both. When he has lived in one
  world for more than one month, he must make a Resolve
  check with a TN equal to the number of months he has been
  there. If he fails this roll, he must immediately return to the
  other world for twice the amount of time he spent in this
  world. During this time, he does not need to make the Will
  check to remain. The O'Bannon despises spending time in
  Bryan Bresail and will avoid doing so for as long as possible. As
  far as he’s concerned, he is only gone a day or two at most…
  (More information on Mad Jack O’Bannon can be found
  Avalon™ and Game Master’s Guide.™)
  Mad Jack O’Bannon (d20™)
  The O’Bannon is an immortal who is as much a force of
  nature as a man who engages in fights. Players should have
  the common sense to avoid any direct confrontations with
  him, but if they are too headstrong or bloodthirsty to show
  proper respect to the king of Inismore, show them no mercy.
  Mad Jack certainly wouldn’t. As a general idea of how well he
  can fight, we suggest the following: 
  The O’Bannon is vulnerable to cold metal and could con-
  ceivably be killed by it as he is Sidhe. But he’s too smart for
  that. He also will return if he is ever knocked out or reduced
  to 0 hit points. When he returns, he’s at full strength with a
  grudge against the surviving player characters.
  THE WIT AND WISDOM OF THE O’BANNON
  • “If you don’t like my island, I can always boot ye to another
  one.”
  • “I’m running out of things to hit people with.”
  • “I dueled myself to the death once. I lost.”
  • “It’s tough to tell the difference between cries of pleasure
  or pain. I enjoy them both.”
  • “I can do things to you that would make Legion blush.”
  • “All my children are bastards. It’s the next best thing to
  giving them my name.”
  • “Mad Jack’s a better name than Léon, don’t ye think?”
  • “A madman doesn’t let a boy rule his kingdom or money
  talk for him.”
  • “It’s a quiet night, apart from the screaming.”
  • “Jack can’t be killed. He can laugh at your attempt, though.”
  • “Fight like The O’Bannon. Hit him in the breakables and
  keep kicking ‘til the whining stops.”
  • “You’re awfully frilly for a Knight.”
  • “Tactics is for people wot expect ta be killed.”
  • “The O’Toole name is the funniest story I’ve ever heard.”
  • “Inismore’s blood is my blood. I’ll spill it whenever I want.”
  Mad Jack O’Bannon
  Fae: CR 18; SZ M; HD 15d8+79; hp 150; Init +5 (+5 Dex); Spd
  40; AC 27 (+5 dexterity +4 natural+ 8 Unarmed Defense Profi-
  ciency); Atks: +28/+23/+18/+13 longsword +5 melee
  (1d8+10); SA May use any glamour spells as if he were a 20th
  level spell caster, Glamour Legend, Hidden in Plain Sight, Of
  Two Worlds, Erratic Mind, DR 15/Cold Iron or Syrneth
  weapons, Immunities, SR 20; SV Fort +18, Ref +18, Will +18;
  Str 20, Dex 20, Con 20, Int 20, Wis 20, Cha 20; AL Chaotic
  Neutral; Skills: Animal Empathy +10, Bluff +15, Concentra-
  tion +15, Diplomacy +12, Escape Artist +15, Gather Informa-
  tion +10, Handle Animal +15, Heal +15, Hide +15, Innuendo
  +15, Intimidate +15, Intuit Direction +10, Jump +15, Listen
  +14, Move Silently +16, Perform +10, Search +16, Sense
  Motive +15, Spot +16, Wilderness Lore +12; Feats: Appear-
  ance - Above Average, Lunge, Beat, Parry, Power Attack,
  Toughness, Cleave, Great Cleave, Weapon Focus (Long-
  sword), Unarmored Defense Proficiency (Beginner).
  Special Abilities
  Erratic Mind: Whenever anyone attempts to control his
  mind or manipulate him by any means, he makes a Will Save
  (DC 20). Success indicates that the attempt fails. 
  Glamour Legend: May use the Mad Jack O’Bannon knack
  at will an unlimited number of times every day.
  Immunities: The O’Bannon is immune to poison, disease,
  critical hits, and similar effects. Magic always has only half its
  normal effect upon him. 
  Hidden in Plain Sight: He may use the Hide skill when-
  ever he desires as long as there is something to stand behind,
  no matter how small the object is. 
  Of Two Worlds: The O’Bannon is a part of both the real
  world and Bryn Bresail. He acts as a portal between them and
  can step back and forth at will. By stepping into the other,
  moving and then stepping back, he appears to teleport. This
  has the effect of a teleport without error spell. However, he
  must spend equal time in both. When he has lived in one
  world for more one month, he must make a Will check (DC
  equal to the number of months he has been there.) If he fails
  this roll, he must immediately return to the other world for
  twice the amount of time he spent in this world. During this
  time, he does not need to make the Will check to remain. The
  O'Bannon despises spending time in Bryan Bresail and will
  avoid doing so for as long as possible.
  Devastating Blow: Whenever the O’Bannon strikes
  someone with his sword, they must make a Fort Save (DC 25.)
  Anyone who fails falls unconscious or dies, depending upon
  the O’Bannon’s mood.
  Sir Lawrence Lugh
  Many years ago, one of the Horned King’s many bastard chil-
  dren was abandoned by its Seelie mother. The boy-Sidhe grew
  quickly and sought his father whom he served for many
  years, as mortals reckon time. To this day he remembers his
  time spent sprinting through Bryn Bresail, scaring dryads
  and teasing goblins. It was a time of laughter and freedom, a
  time of carefree pleasure. Lugh wandered wide, secure in his
  position and confident in his abilities.
  As he traveled, he happened into the mortal world, and
  came across a young woman picking flowers in a lovely field.
  Just before he sprang from his hiding place, she turned, star-
  tled, and looked toward him. She could not see him, of
  course, but he could see her.
  
  CHAPTER
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  In that moment, his entire life changed. No longer would
  he be able to enjoy the unfettered lasciviousness of the
  Horned King’s coterie or look at another woman without
  seeing this girl’s face.
  Unsure what to do, he decided to watch his young lady. As
  a Sidhe, he had his own concept of time but as long as he was
  watching his lady, time was even more irrelevant than usual.
  He watched her meet another mortal and watched her fall in
  love. He did not understand jealousy, so he did not feel it. He
  watched the pair speak to their respective guardians, he to his
  father and she to her uncle. He watched his lady argue about
  marriage with her uncle. Then he watched his lady and her
  young paramour hatch a plan to ensure their union.
  Unfortunately, their plan did not seem to work. For six
  months, as mortals reckon time, he watched them try. They
  certainly seemed to enjoy their attempts, but it appeared as
  though they would never succeed, and never be wed. Lugh
  decided that he must aid the woman he loved. Taking the
  guise of her lover, he came to her one night, and succeeded
  where the mortal man had failed for so long.
  Happily, his contribution allowed the couple’s plan to pro-
  ceed. The wedding, however, was interrupted when his lady
  was spirited away to the halls of the Queen of the Sky. As a
  son of the Horned King, he dared not spy into the palace and
  his lady was lost to him. Heartbroken, he began to wander
  aimlessly throughout Bryn Bresail and Avalon.
  Many more years went by, and he found himself in the
  demesne of a beautiful but reclusive Seelie with great sorcer-
  ous powers. She consoled the young Sidhe and they became
  lovers but his heart belonged to another. Eventually, he told
  the Grey Queen, for it was she with whom he had dallied, that
  his love for the mortal lady still burned strong as ever. Irate at
  the rejection, the Queen cursed him with the full fury of her
  powers, which manifested as a hand of iron that robbed him
  of his immortality. Worse, she erased the name of his beloved
  from his mind. He could feel his love and see his lady in every
  detail in his mind, but try as he might, he could not
  remember her name. She mockingly sent him back to
  Avalon to “seek his mistress.”
  Lugh very nearly went mad. Bryn Bresail was barred
  to him, his iron hand anchored him to the mortal
  world, and the love of his life was trapped in the Seelie
  realm, never to return. His new mortal body was
  wracked by pain and emotions he did not understand.
  He cried one moment and laughed the next, and
  could never decide which he should be doing or
  why.
  Then there came a revelation. An old wandering
  knight named Lawrence came upon the
  demented Lugh one day, and nursed him back to
  health. The iron-handed Sidhe marveled at the
  depth of the older man’s discipline. He followed
  the knight for many days, asking about chivalry,
  and devouring its tenets like a starving man. At
  last, Lugh had found a way to control the emotions
  that tore at him, and he embraced them.
  War came to Avalon, and Lugh fought alongside his
  master in the service of the new Queen. When Sir
  Lawrence died in battle, Lugh took up his master’s
  colors and name out of reverence for the old
  man and honored his pledge of loyalty to the
  new queen.
  The handsome blonde man knelt before the young Queen
  who bade him rise, that she might regard him more fully. He
  obeyed without hesitation, their eyes met, and suddenly he
  remembered the name of the girl he had fallen in love with so
  long ago — Elaine.
  Sir Lawrence Lugh is her most valued knight and most
  trusted servant. He also serves as the champion of the Lady of
  the Lake, whose tolerance for mortals enables her to be in the
  iron-handed knight’s presence. He is loved throughout
  Avalon and heralded wherever he goes. A knight he wished to
  be and the penultimate knight he is.
  Sir Lawrence Lugh is a handsome man, tall and trim, with
  long blonde hair he leaves loose to frame his flawless face.
  His fighting is perfection, the ferocity he learned in the ser-
  vice of the Horned King coupled with the discipline of a
  master swordsman. He always wears a dueling glove over his
  iron hand. He never removes it. Ever.
  (for more information on the Isle of the Grey Queen, see
  Avalon™)
  Sir Lawrence Lugh – Hero (7th Sea™)
  (Reprinted from Avalon™)
  Brawn: 5, Finesse: 6, Wits: 4, Resolve: 6, Panache: 5
  Reputation: 92
  Background: Romance 4
  Arcana: Courageous`
  Advantages: Avalon (R/W), Appearance 5, Combat Reflexes,
  Dangerous Beauty, Large, Major Gesa (may only be killed
  while kissing his True Love); Membership: Elaine’s
  Knights
  
  CHAPTER
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  Courtier: Dancing 4, Etiquette 5, Fashion 5, Oratory 4, Diplo-
  macy 6, Politics 4
  Athlete: All Knacks at 5
  Fencing: Attack (Fencing) 5, Parry (Fencing) 5
  Buckler: Parry (Buckler) 5, Attack (Buckler) 5
  Heavy Weapon: Attack (Heavy Weapon) 5, Parry (Heavy
  Weapon) 5
  Donovan (Master): Bind (Buckler) 5, Disarm (Fencing) 5,
  Riposte (Fencing) 5, Exploit Weakness (Donovan) 5
  MacDonald (Master): Beat (Heavy Weapon) 5, Lunge (Heavy
  Weapon) 5, Pommel Strike 5, Exploit Weakness (MacDon-
  ald) 5
  Leegstra (Master): Beat (Heavy Weapon) 5, Corps-à-Corps 5,
  Lunge (Heavy Weapon) 5, Exploit Weakness (Leegstra) 5
  Wrestling: Grapple 4, Bear Hug 4, Break 4, Escape 4, Head Butt 4
  GM Secrets
  Lawrence loves Queen Elaine more and more every day, and
  it is only the rigid discipline of chivalry that keeps him from
  expressing it. He knows that she cannot return that love but
  is unsure how long he can keep his true feelings in check. He
  also knows that he is the father of her child, but will not
  reveal the truth for fear of losing her love. The burden of love
  is indeed heavier than even a hand of iron.
  (More information on Sir Lawrence Lugh can be found
  Avalon™ and Game Master’s Guide™.)
  Sir Lawrence Lugh (d20™)
  Avalon Fighter 1/Champion of the Lady of the Lake
  6/Donovan 3/Leegstra 5/ MacDonald 2;CR 17; SZ M; HD
  1d10+6d10+3d8+5d12+2d10+ 74; hp 170; Init +5 (+5 Dex);
  Spd 30 ft.; AC 23 (+5 Dex +8 Unarmored Defense Proficiency)
  Atks: Firinbrand +26/+26/+21/+16/+11 melee (1d8+9+3d6),
  iron fist +21/+16/+11/+6 (melee) (1d6+4) or bow
  +22/+17/+12/+7 (ranged); SV Fort 21, Reflex 12, Will 14; SA
  Balanced Strike, Buckler Master, DR 2/-, Deepest Wounds,
  Detect Enemy of Avalon, Devastating Blow, Donovan's Twist,
  Firinbrand +3d6, Focused Training (Donovan), Focused Train-
  ing (Leegstra), Focused Training (MacDonald), For the Lady,
  Iron hand, Major Gesa (May only be killed while kissing his
  True Love), Summon Firinbrand, SR 15/Glamour, Take the
  Pain; Str 18, Dex 20, Con 19, Int 16, Wis 19, Cha 19; AL Lawful
  Good; Skills: Balance +9, Bluff +13, Climb +6, Concentration
  +10, Diplomacy +14, Gather Info +14, Heal +10, Hide +8,
  Intimidate +15, Jump +13, Knowledge (Avalon) +14, Knowl-
  edge (Law) +14, Knowledge (Sidhe) +14, Listen +10, Move
  Silently +8, Ride +7, Search +15, Sense Motive +14, Spot +10,
  Swim +7, Wilderness Lore +9; Feats: Appearance - Above
  Average, Brawny, Cleave, Courageous, Endurance, Expertise,
  Great Cleave, Lunge, Parry, Power Attack, Toughness, Tough-
  ness, Unarmored Defense Proficiency (Beginner), Weapon
  Focus (Claymore), Weapon Focus (Small Sword), Weapon
  Specialization (dagger).
  Special Abilities
  Major Gesa: Lugh is under a Major Gesa which states that
  he will only die while kissing his true love. 
  Firinbrand: As the Champion of the Lady of the Lake,
  Lugh possesses the powerful longsword Firinbrand. This +5
  weapon can cut through any substance and overrides any
  creature’s damage resistance as long as they stand on one of
  the Glamour Isles. The sword's sheath prevents its possessor
  from taking damage from bladed weapons. (see Book Two: Cold
  Iron.)
  Iron Hand: Lugh’s left hand was cut off and replaced with
  one of iron, which robbed him of his Sidhe powers and weak-
  nesses. The hand is fully articulated and moves as well as a
  human hand does; however because of its composition, it
  grants him a measure of protection against Glamour (spell
  resistance 15 vs. Glamour).
  Meryth
  There are many stories surrounding the “Sea Child.” She is
  said to be a powerful Unseelie who thrives by devouring the
  spirits of the drowned. She lures men and boys to their deaths
  in the sea by pretending to be drowning herself, and adds
  them to her “collection.” No one has ever seen this collection,
  but rumors place it well into the hundreds.
  For all the stories, however, one thing is considered cer-
  tain. The Sea Child was not active prior to Elaine’s accession
  to the throne. Some say it’s a bad omen, that Elaine has dan-
  gerous secrets. Others say it is a necessary balance. Elaine is a
  good queen, they say, and so there must be something dark to
  oppose her.
  Her exact motivations are as cloudy as those of any Sidhe.
  Who really understands them, anyway?  Popular tales hold
  that she is the daughter of Maab, the Queen of the Sea, and
  has dispensation from Maab to build a “court” of her own in
  the waters off Avalon. She uses her drowned men as “knights”
  in her castle, and occasionally has one or more of these
  knights kidnap and kill young girls to serve as her ladies in
  waiting. 
  Many knights petition Elaine to deal with the Sea Child,
  and she denies these requests entirely. She claims that she
  will deal with the Child in her own way, and in her own time.
  Her knights, though sometimes skeptical, obey their queen.
  Meryth herself strikes a rather unspectacular figure for one
  who apparently wants to be a queen. She takes the usual form
  of a child, about 11 or 12 years old. Her skin is the faint green
  of the drowned, she has seaweed in her hair, and her soaked
  clothes just never dry out. So long as she is standing in the
  sea, she is invulnerable to mortal weapons. On gloomy days
  of rain, she can sometimes be heard laughing just offshore.
  Meryth — Villain (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 2, Finesse: 4, Wits: 6, Resolve: 4, Panache:3
  Reputation: –50
  Background: Vendetta (Queen Elaine)
  Arcana: Scheming
  Advantages: Avalon (R/W), Legendary Trait (Wits)
  TN to be hit: 20 (35 in a foot of sea water)
  Attack (Dagger): 8k3
  Damage (Dagger): 4k2
  Courtier: Dancing 3, Etiquette 4, Fashion 2, Oratory 3, Diplo-
  macy 5, Gossip 3, Politics 4, Scheming 5, Sincerity 3
  Glamour: Blackcloak 5, King Elilodd 5, Green Man 5, Mad
  Jack O’Bannon 5, Thomas 5
  Hunter: Stealth 2, Survival 4, Traps 2, Ambush 3
  Bard: Etiquette 4, History 3, Oratory 3, Diplomacy 5, Herb
  Lore 3, Riddles 3, Sidhe Lore 4
  Knife: Attack (Knife) 5, Parry (Knife) 5
  Sailor: Balance 4, Climbing 3, Knotwork 2, Rigging 2, Cartog-
  raphy 3, Navigation 3, Sea Lore 4, Swimming 5, Weather 4
  Spy: Shadowing 4, Stealth 2, Bribery 3, Conceal 2, Forgery 3,
  Interrogation 3, Poison 3, Sincerity 3
  
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  Special Abilities
  Immunities: Meryth is immune to poison, disease, and sim-
  ilar effects.  All damage to her is reduced by 1 kept die. 
  Sea Queen’s Favor: While within at least a foot of sea water,
  all damage to her is reduced by 3 kept dice and once per
  round she may add five kept dice to any roll. The Queen of
  the Sea grants these powers to her.  If the Queen ever
  removes her favor, Meryth immediately takes 10k10 damage.
  Meryth also has a limited ability to modify memories and
  create illusions, however anyone she uses this power upon
  may make a Wits check (TN 15) to realize the deception and
  she cannot affect those with Sidhe blood at all.
  GM Secrets
  Meryth is the daughter of Elaine and Lawrence Lugh, though
  Elaine is unaware of this. The Sky Queen, aware of the child’s
  Seelie blood, saw to it that the child was taken from Elaine, as
  according to the gesa the woman who would rule Avalon
  could not be allowed such emotional ties as those that exist
  between a mother and child. Maab took the child for her
  own, named her Meryth, and set about raising her. 
  Repulsed by Meryth’s vestigial humanity, Maab magically
  removed much of it, depositing it in another of her servants,
  who she then expelled from her court to wander Théah with
  no memory.
  Meryth is now a vicious, twisted child, raised in the
  shadow of Queen Maab’s bitterness and hate. She has never
  been denied anything, and was brought up to think that
  Elaine, her real mother, abandoned her out of shame.
  Unimaginably spoiled, she has nothing but savage hatred for
  Elaine, and has vowed to make her mother pay for this per-
  ceived insult.
  Her plan is fairly straightforward, for a Sidhe. She is col-
  lecting knights to eventually march on Avalon and bring
  down Elaine. Maab has filled Meryth’s head with tales of the
  child ruling Avalon as its rightful monarch, and she believes
  this story completely. Maab has also thoroughly seduced
  King Piram, and will, when the time is right, see to it that he
  adds his armies to Meryth’s own “personal guard” in the stag-
  ing of the coup.
  This coup attempt will mean disaster for Avalon, and
  Meryth has no idea just how great the destruction will be.
  Though the exact details are up to the individual GMs, a sug-
  gested course of action follows:
  Meryth will begin by capturing Derwyddon. The wily old
  druid is too powerful even for Meryth to kill, so she will settle
  for imprisoning him in her undersea palace. Then, confident
  that her mother’s pet wizard Derwyddon will not warn
  Elaine, Meryth will marshal her army and invade.
  A Sidhe army marching out of the sea will immediately
  cause the other two Queens to take action with their own ser-
  vants, and the poor mortals of Avalon will be caught in a
  maelstrom of glamour warfare. Entire cities will melt. Forests
  will explode in flames, and lakes will boil themselves dry. The
  Unseelie will run rampant, and vast swaths of countryside
  will be completely depopulated by their predatory instincts.
  Elaine will marshal the armies of Avalon, and they will
  fight valiantly, but to no avail, destroying Piram’s army, but
  being exterminated themselves in the process. Lawrence
  Lugh will defend his beloved queen to his dying breath, and
  may well kill Meryth as he does so. Such a time may call for
  final confessions from the dying Lugh, and this confession
  will cause Elaine to break her vow to the Sky Queen, confess-
  ing her own love for the dedicated knight.
  With the vow broken, the war between the Sidhe will end
  instantly. The Graal will disappear from Carleon, and the
  Sidhe will be forced out of Avalon by the power of this final
  gesa. The barriers of Bryn Bresail will be strengthened, and
  never again will the power of glamour stir in Avalon.
  Meryth will leave the nation a blasted wasteland, bereft of
  its army, its queen, and its magic. Her actions will mean that
  the golden era of Elaine’s rule will become little more than
  legend, spoken of with longing by Avalons hundreds of years
  in the future, and celebrated in song, but never regained.
  Meryth (d20™)
  Fae: CR 8; SZ M; HD 6d8; hp 40; Init +2 (+2 Dex); Spd 30 ft.,
  Swim 50 ft.; AC 20 (+2 Dex + 8 Sea Queen's Favor); Atks: +3
  Sidhe Dagger +10/+5 melee (1d4+3); SA DR 10/Cold Iron or
  Syrneth weaponry, spell-like abilities, Glamour Checks +10,
  Immunities, Known Legends (Blackcloak, King Elilodd,
  Green Man, Mad Jack O'Bannon, Thomas), Sea Queen's Favor,
  SR 15; SV Fort 5, Ref 7, Will 8; Str 10, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 20,
  Wis 16, Cha 20; AL CE; Skills: Bluff +10, Concentration +7,
  Diplomacy +15, Gather Information +15, Hide +10, Innuendo
  +10, Intimidate +10, Knowledge (Avalon) +12, Knowledge
  (Sidhe) +15, Move Silently +10, Profession (Sailor) +5, Scry +8,
  Search +7, Sense Motive +15, Spellcraft +7, Spot +13, Wilder-
  ness Lore +10; Feats: Full Blooded (Glamour), Scheming.
  Special Abilities
  Immunities: Meryth is immune to poison, disease, criti-
  cal hits, and similar effects. 
  Sea Queen’s Favor: While within at least a foot of sea
  water, Meryth's armor class is increased by 8, her damage
  reduction is increased to 15/cold iron or Syrneth weaponry
  and once every five rounds, she may add +20 to any die roll
  she makes.  The Queen of the Sea grants this power to her.  If
  the Queen ever removes her favor, Meryth immediately takes
  10d10 damage.
  Spell-like abilities: confusion, control water, greater scrying,
  modify memory at will, as if she were a 15th level caster. (Spells
  Per Day: 8/8/7/6/5/4/2/1.) (For details, see Player’s Hand-
  book™, Ch. 11: Spells)
  Connie MacDonald
  Many legitimate scholars consider the very existence of
  MacEachern cold forged iron questionable. Popular tales hold
  that, a thousand years ago, the Highland clan of the MacEach-
  erns discovered a way to kill Sidhe. It is generally believed that
  this power resided in something called “cold iron,” and that
  the MacEacherns were completely obliterated by the Sidhe
  for their discovery. Even today, mention of the name
  MacEachern is enough to make many Seelie uncomfortable.
  Aside from the apparent recognition the Seelie have for the
  name, however, scholars are divided on whether or not the
  story has any real historical merit. After all, actual records
  from a millennium ago are non-existent. The MacEacherns
  exist only in legend, and not in history, say many educated
  men of the present. Even the Sidhe discomfort with the name
  can be chalked up to the power of myth; if enough people
  believe a thing in Avalon, it becomes so, or at least partially so.
  The Sidhe are especially vulnerable to these myths.
  Meanwhile, deep in MacDonald territory, on the edge of a
  tiny hamlet with no real name, stands an ancient hut attached
  to an old forge. This hut’s inhabitant, Connie MacDonald, is
  the local recluse. Scholars will admit that most every commu-
  
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  nity has one of these; a hermit living on the edge of a given
  community, about whom all manner of tales are whispered,
  and who is never defended from the sometimes scurrilous
  rumors circulated about them.
  The rumors surrounding old Connie are wild indeed. “Iron
  Witch” they call her, and “Sidhe Killer.” But question the
  townsfolk closer, and such tales wither. Everyone knows she
  was once a prosperous smith, though always a touch reserved.
  No one can remember the last time the forge fire was lit at old
  Connie’s, though. No one has any proof to back the wild
  claims of the townsfolk, and Connie herself doesn’t care
  much for visitors. There have been rumors of MacEachern
  smiths before, and there likely will be again.
  The careful observer, however, will note the carefully
  placed ring of stones around the hut and forge, overgrown
  though they are. Especially careful observers will note the
  myriad trappings of one warding their residence heavily
  against the Sidhe. Against their presence, against their obser-
  vation, and against their existence. The wards are well placed
  and hidden from casual observation, but they are there
  nonetheless.
  In fact, the MacEacherns did exist. They did discover the
  secrets of Sidhe-killing cold iron. The Sidhe wiped them out
  for their perceived arrogance and Connie MacDonald is one
  of their scattered descendants.
  She has made only three cold iron blades in her time. The
  first was for her father, a rite of passage long ago, which
  earned her the final secrets of cold iron and her MacEachern
  horseshoe tattoo. The others were for visitors whose names
  she never knew, and from whom she hid her identity care-
  fully. She wants no part of a pack of angry Sidhe coming after
  a supplier of assassins.
  Age has slowed and weakened Connie a bit, but her aged
  body still possesses the wiry, sinewy frame of a veteran smith.
  Her long white hair is kept in a braid down her back, and she
  smokes her pipe constantly. She has developed a bit of a
  whooping hack, probably from her smoking, but she is still
  harder than a coffin nail.
  Connie MacDonald — Hero (7th Sea™)
  (reprinted from Avalon™)
  Brawn: 3, Finesse: 3, Wits: 4, Resolve: 3, Panache: 2
  Reputation: 15
  Background: None
  Arcana: Commanding
  Advantages: Avalon (R/W), Indomitable Will, MacEachern
  Heritage, Toughness
  Hunter: Fishing 4, Skinning 3, Survival 3, Tracking 3
  Merchant: Blacksmith 5, Fletcher 3, Furrier 3, Gardener 4,
  Seamstress 3, Spinner 4, Weaver 4, Appraising 4, Haggling 5
  Athlete: Climbing 3, Footwork 4, Throwing 4, Break Fall 3,
  Leaping 2, Lifting 4, Rolling 3
  Scholar: History 4, Sidhe Lore 5, Poison 2 (knowledge only)
  Heavy Weapon: Attack (Heavy Weapon) 4, Parry (Heavy
  Weapon) 3
  GM Secrets
  GMs and players alike should make no mistake. Connie har-
  bors a deep hatred for the Sidhe, instilled in her by her father.
  If she had her way, she would see ‘em all destroyed, and feels
  the world would be a better place for it. She keeps this opin-
  ion to herself, however. She knows better than to spread
  something like that around, especially out in the country,
  where any number of Seelie might hear. Just in case, she has
  forged a fourth cold iron blade that she keeps stashed in her
  house. Perhaps her final masterpiece, it is indistinguishable
  from a normal broadsword.
  Connie has a couple of problems that have cropped up
  lately. First is her cough. It has made her aware of her age, and
  she is now concerned for her legacy. Though she herself has
  never been able to properly exploit the secrets of cold iron,
  she feels that someone someday might, and has therefore
  written all her Sidhe-killing knowledge in a book. More than
  just the secrets of forging cold iron, this book is a Sidhe-
  hunter’s treasure, a catalogue of anti-Sidhe knowledge. This
  book is hidden far from her home. When she finds the right
  person or group, she will share its location. She just hopes she
  finds the right “heir” for her secrets before her days are over,
  
  CHAPTER
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  More pressing is a current order she has received, but is
  unsure whether or not she should fill. Some time ago, a man
  came to see her. He walked right past her wards, greeted her
  quietly, and placed an order for two dozen cold iron pistol
  balls. She did not tell him that she could not deliver the order,
  but rather questioned him for a time about exact sizes and
  such, during which she got a queer feeling about the man. He
  sounded like he was up to no good. Besides, ‘tis a long way to
  Carrig, and she certainly cannot make the trip herself.
  Connie MacDonald (d20™)
  Avalon Expert 4/Thean Ranger 2: CR 6; SZ M; HD
  4d6+2d10+6; hp 40; Init +1 (+1 Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 11 (+1
  Dex); Atks: Longsword +6 (1d8+2); SA Long Study, MacEach-
  ern Longsword; SV Fort 5, Ref 2, Will 6; Str 13, Dex 13, Con 14,
  Int 15, Wis 13, Cha 11; AL Neutral Good; Skills: Appraise +7,
  Bluff +6, Concentration +6, Craft (Blacksmithing) +13, Craft
  (Weaver) +7, Craft (Furrier) +5, Heal +6, Knowledge (History)
  +6, Knowledge (Nature) +8, Knowledge (Sidhe Lore) +11, Spot
  +6, Wilderness Lore +8; Feats: Craftsman, Iron Will, Skill
  Focus (Blacksmith), Craft Magic Arms (MacEachern only).
  Special Abilities
  Long Study: Connie is extremely knowledgeable about
  the Sidhe and is constantly warding herself against them.
  This grants her a +5 circumstance bonus to all her rolls oppos-
  ing them including saving throw, attacks, and skill checks. 
  MacEachern longsword: She has forged a +1 cold iron
  longsword capable of injuring or even killing Sidhe. She will
  only reveal its location in the direst of circumstances.
  Celedoine the Seven-Blessed
  Celedoine, the bastard daughter of an Avalon noblewoman
  and a Sidhe lord, was raised by her mortal grandfather. It was
  clear early in her education that she had inherited her father’s
  gift for Glamour. She lost her mother on her 10th birthday to
  an apparent drowning by a vicious Sidhe lord. Six years later,
  Celedoine’s grandfather died, leaving the girl as heiress at
  which point she openly rejected her Sidhe connections and
  focused her not inconsiderable management skills on her
  estate, which became a thriving enterprise.
  She met Jeremiah Berek at Queen Elaine’s court and
  enjoyed a brief but passionate affaire with him. At the end of
  it, they remained friends and in fact Celedoine agreed to join
  him on his newly re-fitted ship.
  Being on the sea had a strange and disquieting affect on the
  girl as her Sidhe blood was stirred by the sailors’ songs and
  stories. Once she embraced her heritage again, her powers
  became phenomenal, to the point where she was able to make
  the Black Dawn itself a source of power,
  During her time at sea, she became fast friends with
  “Bloody” Bonnie McGee, and in fact became a second and
  advisor to the fiery red-headed privateer, especially on mat-
  ters concerning the Sidhe.
  Celedoine — (Hero) (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 2, Finesse: 2, Wits: 4, Resolve: 3, Panache: 3
  Reputation: 0
  Background: None
  Arcana: None
  Advantages: Avalon (R/W), Montaigne (R/W), Théan (R/W),
  Commission (Sea Dogs), Inheritance, Noble, University
  Courtier: Dancing 4, Diplomacy 2, Etiquette 4, Fashion 3, Ora-
  tory 2, Politics 3, Sincerity 4, Seduction 3
  Glamour (Adept): Green Man 4, Jack 4, Robin Goodfellow 4,
  Thomas 4
  Archer: Attack 3, Fletcher 2
  Athlete: Break Fall 3, Climbing 2, Footwork 3, Sprinting 4,
  Swimming 3, Throwing 2
  Rider: Ride 3, Trick Riding 4
  Scholar: History 3, Law 3, Math 3, Philosophy 1, Research 1,
  Theology 3
  GM SECRETS
  For many years, Celedoine believed that her grandfather was
  her father and her mother was her older cousin. When her
  mother drowned, her grandfather told her that a ruthless
  Sidhe lord had killed her dear “cousin”. Devastated by this
  news, the girl did everything she could to fight against her
  own sorcerous abilities and pledged to hunt down the mur-
  derer. Ten years later, on his deathbed, her grandfather con-
  fessed and told her the “true” story of her heritage — that her
  “cousin” was really her mother and the man who murdered
  her was Celedoine’s father, a vicious Sidhe lord who had
  grown tired of his mortal paramour.
  It was not until her time on the sea that the Avalon girl
  finally learned the full story — that her grandfather had
  drowned his daughter because she was once again pregnant
  by the Sidhe lord she loved so much. Celedoine embraced her
  heritage with open arms and let the power of Glamour course
  through her veins. However, she knows that she must keep
  herself under control and help Bonnie McGee in her quest to
  defeat the dreaded Captain Reis. If she cannot keep a clear
  head and a firm hand, her power could actually destroy them
  all.
  Celedoine the Seven-Blessed (d20™)
  Sidhe Blooded Avalon Noble 1/Glamour Mage 10: CR 11;
  SZ Med (humanoid); HD 1d8+1 plus 10d10+10; HP 69; Init
  +1 (Dex); Speed 30 ft; AC 25 (+14 Unarmored Defense Profi-
  ciency, + 1 Dex); Atks Longbow +8/+3 ranged (1d8) or dagger
  +8/+3 melee (1d4); SA Spells; SQ Sidhe blooded, Command-
  ing Presence +1, Friends in High Places, Glamour checks +5,
  Legends (Green Man, Jack, Robin Goodfellow, Thomas); SV
  Fortitude +4, Reflex + 8, Will +12; Str 12, Dex 13, Con 12, Int
  18, Wis 16, Cha 14; AL NG; Skills: Balance +6, Bluff +18,
  Climb +5, Concentration +12 (+16), Diplomacy +12, Gather
  Information +12, Knowledge (Sidhe) +20, Listen +7, Ride +5,
  Sense Motive +15, Speak Language (Avalon, Montaigne,
  Théan), Spot +10, Swim +5; Feats: Combat Casting, Full-
  Blooded Glamour Mage, Skill Focus (Knowledge Sidhe),
  Unarmored Defense Proficiency (Beginner), Unarmored
  Defense Proficiency (Intermediate); Spells Known: 0 level -
  daze, dazzle, ghost sound, 1st level charm person, glitterdust, 2nd
  level enthrall, 3rd level emotion, 4th level break enchantment,
  5th level feeblemind; Spells per Day 5/6/5/4/3/1.
  
  CHAPTER
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  Creatures of the Sidhe
  Banesidhe — Monster (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 2, Finesse: 3, Wits: 2, Resolve: 2, Panache: 2
  TN to be hit: 25
  Attack Roll: None
  Damage Roll: None
  Skills: Ambush 2, Cold Read 4, Stealth 4
  Special Abilities
  Frightful Presence: Anyone who sees the Banesidhe must
  make a resolve roll against difficulty 15 or suffer –1 unkept
  dice to any action while in her presence.
  Immunities: The Banesidhe is immune to any form of dis-
  ease and poison.
  Scream: If the Banesidhe decides to scream, all who can
  hear her must make a resolve roll against difficulty 25 of run
  in fear from her. The effects of this terror last for one hour for
  every five points (or part thereof) the resolve roll was failed
  by. If the victim manages to leave the area they will curl up in
  a catatonic ball for the remainder of their nightmare of fear.
  Should the resolve roll fail to beat TN 5, the GM may add an
  additional effect, such as turning the victim’s hair white, or
  granting them a vision of their own demise. Either way, the
  victim will never be the same again.
  (For more information, see Avalon.™ For d20,™ see Heroes,
  Villains, and Monsters.™)
  Hounds of Night and Fog — Monster (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 4, Finesse: 3, Wits: 1, Resolve: 3, Panache: 3
  TN to be hit: 15
  Attack Roll: 5K3 Bite
  Damage Roll: 3K2 Bite
  Skills: Ambush 3, Sprinting 4, Shadowing 3, Stealth 4, Survival
  3, Swimming 2, Tracking 4.
  Special Abilities
  Curse of Lycanthropy: Anyone a hound wounds but does
  not kill may become infected with their essence and become
  like them. A victim must roll resolve against a difficulty of 20.
  If they fail they may roll twice more on successive days. How-
  ever, should they fail all the rolls they will become a hound
  within six days. Only magic or powers that can remove curses
  may be able to stop the process. It is up to the GM as to what
  may be able to save the character.
  (For more information, see Avalon.™ For d20,™ see Heroes,
  Villains, and Monsters.™)
  Firbolgs
  While they are the primary race of Théah, it is easy to look
  around and see that humans are not alone. The strange ruins
  of the Syrne pop up all around the world and Avalon herself
  with beings of unusual origin. While the Church (more
  specifically the Inquisition) has tried to keep this informa-
  tion under lock and key, it still exists in the minds of play-
  wrights and storytellers around the globe. Montgomery Peer-
  son penned The Grey Queen’s Fortnight featuring a variety of
  colorful Sidhe characters supposedly based on his experi-
  ences there. In his play Fontaine, the Montaigne satirist
  Poquelin Sices du Sices used the legend of the Senator’s Bar-
  gain as a basis for his condemnation of the National Govern-
  ment. The lands of the O’Bannon are no stranger to these leg-
  ends. The oldest story, passed down from parents to children
  since the O’Bannon first reigned on the throne of the ard ri, is
  the story of the Firbolgs and how the people of Inismore,
  underdogs to the last, defeated them.
  The island of Inismore was always green and beautiful,
  even before it was touched by the hand of the Goodly Folke.
  The first people of the island were sailors and explorers,
  drawn by the emerald grass and softly rolling hills. Soon vil-
  lages began to pop up all over the island. Trees were felled and
  homes were built. Years passed and occasionally a house
  would disappear or a village would turn up empty. It wasn’t
  uncommon; times were rougher back then and life didn’t
  always turn out for the best. But more and more villages were
  disappearing and people began to feel the ground shaking in
  the night. The quiet brush of the sea was replaced by a deep
  rumbling and roars from under the ground. The Firbolgs let
  themselves be known when they attacked the largest town
  the humans had put together. It was a terrible day of fire and
  carnage but the people were dead set against leaving. This was
  their home now and nothing would take it from them. The
  Firbolgs were deadly because of their massive strength and
  size but the Inish were smart enough to turn that into a dis-
  advantage. The trees that once had built homes were now
  used as battering rams. Entire false villages were built with
  pitch-smeared walls to be set on fire when the creatures wan-
  dered through. But for every victory the Inish people col-
  lected with guile, two more battles were lost to the sheer
  brawn of the giants. Luckily, the Inish weren’t the only inhab-
  itants of the island that wished to see the fall of the Firbolgs.
  The Sidhe of the island began working hand in hand with the
  humans and soon the victories were outnumbering the
  defeats. While the earth still shook and the roars could be
  heard far away, the Firbolgs had left the surface to the little
  ones. In celebration, the Sidhe gave the Inish people the Fal
  Stone as a symbol of their undying allegiance. This magic
  stone heraldeds the return of the O’Bannon ever since.
  While the Firbolgs were defeated, they still do exist to this
  day. The large caves they live in can be found in the rocky
  hills of the island and the low roar can still be heard on some
  days. Inish children are frequently told not to explore the
  caves lest they end up as a snack and remind the creatures
  how tasty the little humans are. There have been at least two
  Explorer expeditions that did not heed those parental warn-
  ings and neither of them turned out well. The first disap-
  peared completely, whereas the second actually returned
  with an example of a Firbolg weapon. Unfortunately, this
  massive longsword was skewered through the only remain-
  ing member of the expedition. He somehow managed to
  make it back to the town they set out from, whispering his
  final words to the innkeeper that found him. The sword is
  currently on display at the Chapterhouse in Lochcuan as a
  reminder of the hard-won victories of the Inish people…and
  the folly of not preparing yourself to search for a ‘long dead’
  race.
  
  CHAPTER
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  Firbolgs are twelve feet tall. They have black skin, black
  eyes, and often a plume of red hair trailing down their back.
  They have large teeth growing out of their mouths and short
  stubby noses. They are intelligent, wearing large versions of
  primitive armor and using forged weapons like axes and
  swords. They have been known to speak Avalon and
  ancient Inish and often brag about the time before the
  ‘little ones’ when they roamed above the ground. In a
  fight, they will often attack anyone displaying Glam-
  our magic, since they feel the Sidhe are responsible
  for their current state of exile. A few Explorer studies
  have suggested that they exist in different warring
  tribes and have underground cities similar in nature
  to the Syrne.
  Firbolg — Monster (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 6, Finesse: 3, Wits: 2, Resolve: 5, Panache: 2
  TN to be Hit: 25
  Attack Roll: 7k3 (sword), 4k3 (bow)
  Damage: 7k3 (sword), 5k2 (arrow)
  Skills: None
  Special: None
  (For more information, see Avalon™)
  Firbolg (d20™)
  Large Creature 
  Hit Dice: 15d8 +60 (125 hp)
  Speed: 40 feet
  AC: 27 (–1 size, +4 armor bonus +11
  natural, +3 hide)
  Attacks: Huge greatsword +15/+12,
  Huge bow +10/+5
  Damage: sword: 1d10+12, bow: 2d6+6
  Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft. / 10 ft.
  Special Attacks: none
  Special Abilities: none
  Saves: Fort: +13 Ref: +6 Will: +4
  Feats: Combat Reflexes, Power Attack,
  Cleave, Great Cleave
  Abilities: Str 27, Dex 15, Con 19, Int 10, 
  Wis 10, Cha 11
  Climate/Terrain: Underground, caves
  Organization: Solitary/ groups of 4
  Challenge Rating: 8
  Treasure: Standard
  Advancement: By character class
  Jack-in-Irons –— Monster (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 10, Finesse: 2, Wits: 2, Resolve: 6, Panache: 2
  TN to be hit: 20
  Attack Roll: 6K2 Punch, 5K2 Chain, 5K2 Club
  Damage Roll: 10K1 Punch, 10K3 Chain, 10K3 Club
  Skills: Attack (Improvised Weapon) 3, Attack (Heavy Weapon) 3
  Attack (Pugilism) 4, Bear Hug 4, Direction Sense 3, Footwork
  3, Head Butt 3, Snatch and Grab 4, Survival 4, Uppercut 4
  Special Abilities
  Disease: Anyone cut by the claws of Jenny Greenteeth
  stands a chance of being infected with horrible disease. If
  struck the victim must roll resolve against TN 20. If they fail
  they will get a fever after 1-4 days. During the fever they have
  a penalty of 1 to all Traits and Knacks and their dice may no
  longer explode. This lasts until they can make a resolve roll
  against TN 15, they may make one such roll each day.
  (For more information, see Avalon.™ For d20,™ see Heroes,
  Villains, and Monsters.™)
  Jimmy Squarefoot — Monster (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 5, Finesse: 2, Wits: 2, Resolve: 3, Panache: 3
  TN to be hit: 20
  Attack Roll: 5K3 Punch
  Damage Roll: 5K1 Punch
  Skills: Ambush 4, Climbing 5, Sprinting 4, Shadowing 3,
  Stealth 4
  Special Abilities
  Mimic: Jimmy can mimic perfectly the sound of anything
  he has heard. His repertoire covers animal noises, musket
  fire, and lost human maidens crying out for help. To realize
  something is amiss the listener must may a Wits roll against
  difficulty 30.
  (For more information, see Avalon.™ For d20,™ see Heroes,
  Villains, and Monsters.™)
  
  CHAPTER
  4
  The
  FOLKE
  72
  Cobbies
  Travelers to the rural areas of Avalon are sometimes not
  accustomed to the strange superstitions that the villages par-
  take in. Observant visitors will notice horseshoes decorating
  doorways or a circle of stones loosely tracing the edge of
  town. While anyone born in Avalon knows the Sidhe are very
  real, the villagers of these small hamlets deal with them on a
  regular basis. Many of these Sidhe aren’t as well
  behaved as the ones trapped in the finery of courts
  and chivalry. Even so, if one pays heed to the right
  legends and does what they are told, you can still
  live with many of these creatures. Such is the
  case with the usige, commonly known as the
  Cobbies in the common tongue of Avalon.
  In their small way, they represent the best
  way to deal with these inscrutable crea-
  tures; do what they ask and no harm
  will come to you. Woe to those that
  write them off as harmless trick-
  sters.
  Cobbies are rarely seen but
  their presence is often felt. They
  are drawn to the mortal realm
  by the sound of nails driving
  into wood. They will find
  their way into a newly built
  home and the evidence
  they leave is often mis-
  taken for invading mice.
  Cobbies will make them-
  selves known soon after
  the first dinner is eaten
  inside the house. They will
  claim the house as their
  own and consider the
  humans living inside as
  guests. If they are not
  treated well, small accidents
  begin occurring around the
  house. Glasses are broken,
  clothes are ruined, and other
  minor nuisances occur. While
  these are often written off as bad
  luck or clumsiness, repeated and constant accidents the work
  of the usige. Most cobbies stop at stubbed toes and lumps on
  the head but its not unheard of for Unseelie cobbies to try
  and actually kill the occupants of the home. Often times such
  homes get reputations as “haunted” as family after family
  moves in and finds as if the house itself is trying to kill the
  members one by one. 
  Dealing with the cobbies can be difficult if one is unfamil-
  iar with how they work. The cobbies are tiny and are difficult
  to kill or trap. They are smart enough to sabotage any
  weapons stored in the house that might be used against them.
  The only surefire way to rid a house of these creatures is to
  destroy the house. Otherwise, the easiest way to appease the
  usige is to leave an open bottle of whiskey on the floor under
  the center of the dinner table. Usually the best time to do so
  is on the night of the full moon. This is the one night of the
  month the tricksters come out to play but they are still wary
  of humans staying up to watch for them. Cobbies love uisge.
  Some Inish uisge makers insist that this was the original pur-
  pose of the beverage. In the original tongue, whiskey was
  known as “uisge beatha” or “water of life.” The tradition was
  passed down from The O’Bannon himself. Inish uisge often
  has pictures of the creatures on the labels of the bottle to dif-
  ferentiate itself from other brands. Other spirits can be used
  in a pinch but they run the risk of angering the creatures.
  Most homeowners in the know that are
  afflicted with this problem take no
  chances and leave out a bottle of the
  good stuff.
  While most would see them as a
  nuisance, there is one advantage to
  living in a home occupied by cob-
  bies. They are fiercely protective of
  the homes they live in. Burglars
  will find windows slammed on
  their fingers. Soldiers will find water
  barrels spilling onto their powder.
  Unseelie share this defensiveness.
  Only they can harm the people that
  live in their house. If anyone else
  tries to, they usually end up falling
  down the stairs.
  Cobbies are between three to six
  inches in height. They are generally
  humanoid with round, red faces and
  thin bodies. A male cobbie has dark
  hair that frames his head like a
  wreath. Females can be identified by
  their lighter hair color. They usually
  arrive in homes in pairs. The larger
  the house is, the larger the ‘family’
  that moves in. The cobbies will
  appropriate clothing from
  household items from
  small items left around
  that go missing. This is
  usually the first sign
  that the house is
  infested. Thimbles and
  ribbons disappear and end
  up being made into suits.
  Often, the creatures will mimic the
  dress and mannerisms of the human occupants.
  Cobbies from upper class homes will have petticoats and dou-
  blet made from gloves. They speak in a skittering language of
  gibberish. 
  Cobbies (d20™)
  Tiny Creature 
  Hit Dice: 2d6
  Speed: 50 feet
  AC: 19 (+2 Dex, +2 Size, +5 natural)
  Attacks: Ranged touch +3 
  Damage: 1d4 
  Face/Reach: 1 foot/1 foot
  Special Attack — Sabotage: For every day weapon spends
  inside the creatures house, increase the fumble range by
  one. The regular rating is restored once the PC rolls a
  fumble or takes it to an armorer for repair and pays 1/10
  the cost of the weapon.
  Saves: Fort + 0, Reflex +5, Will +3
  Feats: Alertness
  
  CHAPTER
  4
  The
  FOLKE
  73
  Abilities: Str 6, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 8
  Special Abilities
  Cobbies can only be killed by cold iron weapons. Burning the
  house drives the creatures out as well. The creatures reappear
  1d6 months after “dying” by regular weapons.
  Climate/Terrain: Homes
  Organization: Pairs/groups up to 10
  Challenge Rating: 3
  Treasure: None
  Advancement: None
  Cobbie — Monster (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 1, Finesse: 1, Wits: 3, Resolve: 1, Panache: 2
  TN to be Hit: 20
  Attack Roll: 5k3 (unidentified), 3k3 (if presence is known)
  Damage: 2k1
  Skills: None
  Special Attack — Sabotage: The GM may spend a Drama Die to
  cancel a player’s Drama Die if he attacks with a weapon
  kept in a house infested with Cobbies.
  Pranks: While in a home where Cobbies live, the GM may
  spend a Drama Die to roll a d10 and inflict a number of
  flesh wounds to a PC as the Cobbies pull a prank. This die
  may explode, but only Unseelie Cobbie would want to
  cause that much harm.
  Burn-righinn (Nymphs) 
  and Ramh-righinn (Dryads)
  People from the Triple Kingdoms often talk about their home
  as if every tree and rock were a living, laughing creature. While
  not necessarily true, the wilderness is often filled with  crea-
  tures of both Sidhe and other origin. Just as villages and cities
  have militias and guardsmen to keep the streets safe, the wild
  places of the countryside have their own protectors. The shin-
  ing lakes of Avalon are protected by the burn-righinn and the
  woods are protected by ramh-righinn. While they are often dif-
  ficult to find when sought, someone violating the sanctity of
  the lands usually have no trouble being found and punished.
  When the Sidhe first came to Avalon, it was different place
  than the island of Bryn Bresail. Not everything was perfect and
  change was obvious. The Sidhe were not used to this and while
  they liked Avalon they were having difficulty living there. The
  Crystal Courts rang with voices debating, arguing, and plotting.
  Finally, the Queen of the Sky came to a decision. The wilderness
  was to be protected from harm but the lands the humans
  claimed would be theirs to change, fight over, or whatever they
  wished to do. As she spoke this royal decree, two distinct types
  of Sidhe were created before her eyes. The nymphs fluttered to
  their duties and have kept the lands pristine since that day.
  Since that time, the “Wild Sisters” as they have come to be
  known, have tried to keep the people of Avalon from destroy-
  ing the untamed forests that first drew the Sidhe through the
  mists. Burn-righinn reside near the pools and lakes of the land,
  keeping them clean and stocked with fish and other aquatic
  creatures. Ramh-righinn are the protectors of the forests and
  trees. Both have found their jobs becoming more and more dif-
  ficult as time wears on. Humans are cutting down more trees
  for homes and building those homes near rivers and lakes.
  They are finding they have less and less to protect. Some of the
  nymphs abandon the courts and become Unseelie, luring mor-
  tals to their doom with whispers of pleasure and slumber.
  Burn-righinn use their unearthly beauty to enchant any
  mortals wishing to foul the water they guard. They cause the
  mortal to fall in love with them and then swear an oath to
  never let anyone else see the pool they guard. If they do, the
  burn-righinn will disappear and never be seen again. Someone
  that has lost their heart to a burn-righinn is inconsolable for a
  long time and many times never love again. While a ramh-
  righinn is just as beautiful as their water cousins, they are shy,
  preferring the silence of the trees to the silly words of people.
  They will often cause a mortal to fall asleep and quietly carry
  them out of their protected wood. They often find themselves
  in the opposite predicament of their sisters and fall in love
  with a handsome boy while exploring the woods for the first
  time. Some legends tell of the unfortunate soul that bewitches
  both a burn-righinn and a ramh-righinn and have them vying
  for his affections. Bad things befall his family and friends as
  the creatures use their powers to win his affection. These tales
  never end well. Often, the Unseelie claim they were the
  victim of such a situation, which is why they treat people wan-
  dering into their domains cruelly. Victims of Unseelie burn-
  righinn find their lover asking them to do terrible things in
  exchange for their favor, while those enchanted by Unseelie
  ramh-righinn fall asleep for years… or even for decades.
  The burn-righinn resemble beautiful women. They are
  clothed in sparkling garments and often have blond tresses
  streaming down their back. Their features are fine and
  pointed like other Sidhe and they have a laugh that sounds
  like water rushing through wind chimes. The best way to
  avoid or defeat a burn-righinn is to confront it with its own
  reflection. It will sometimes become enamored with itself
  and ignore whatever mortal it was in the process of bewitch-
  ing. The reflection will also reveal an Unseelie burn-righinn’s
  true nature, showing the terrible creature underneath the
  beautiful exterior. Ramh-righinn are also gorgeous but in a
  darker, more mysterious manner. They have deep, soulful
  eyes that an enchanted mortal can gaze into for hours. Ramh-
  righinn never laugh nor do their voice never rise above the
  whisper of the wind through the trees. The best way to avoid
  a ramh-righinn crush is to stay indoors for a week. The length
  of the exile varies, but usually within a week the ramh-righinn
  must return to its duties in the forest. Harming a tree with
  blade or fire is a much quicker solution but the mortal runs
  the risk of angering the ramh-righinn and having them
  renounce their duty to the forest. Love with the Seelie is com-
  plicated enough. Unseelie love is downright deadly.
  Burn-righinn and Ramh-righinn (d20™)
  Medium Fey 
  Hit Dice: 2d6
  Speed: 30 ft. (burn-righinn swim 30 ft.)
  AC: 12 (+2 Dex)
  Attacks: Natural weapon (wood/water dagger) +1 melee
  Damage: 1d6
  Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft. / 5 ft.
  Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities. Burn-righinn: Can cast
  charm, dimensional door as a 10th level caster. Ramh-righinn:
  Can cast charm, sleep as a 10th lever caster.
  Special Abilities: Symbiosis: The nymphs must never travel
  farther than three hundred yards from the tree or pool they
  have been assigned to protect. If they do, they will die
  within 1d6 hours.
  Saves: Fort: +1 Ref: +5 Will: +7
  Feats: Alertness, Dodge
  Abilities: Str 10, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 15, Wis 15, Cha 18
  
  CHAPTER
  4
  The
  FOLKE
  74
  Climate/Terrain: Burn-righinn: Near water. Ramh-righinn:
  Wooded areas 
  Organization: Solitary
  Challenge Rating: 2
  Treasure: Standard
  Advancement: By character class
  Symbiosis: The nymphs must never travel farther than 
  300 yards from the tree or pool they have been assigned to
  protect. If they do, they will die within 1d6 hours.
  Burn-righinn and Ramh-righinn — 
  Monsters(7th Sea™)
  TN to be Hit: 15
  Brawn: 1, Finesse: 3, Wits: 2, Resolve: 2, Panache: 3
  Attack Roll: 4k2 (dagger)
  Damage: 2k1 (dagger)
  Skills: none
  Special: Burn-righinn: GM may spend Drama Dice to cause a
  PC to fall in love with a burn-righinn. The GM must spend
  a number of dice equal to the Resolve of the character. If
  the character possesses the Romance or Lost Love back-
  ground, they may add the level of the background to the
  number of dice required. If the PC does not have either
  background, they may purchase it in relation to the crea-
  ture at half the cost. Once per session, the PC can spend a
  Drama Dice to attempt to break free of the enchantment in
  a contested roll of the character’s Resolve versus the burn-
  righinn’s Panache.
  Ramh-righinn: The GM can spend a number of Drama Dice
  equal to the Resolve of a character in an attempt to get the
  PC to fall asleep. In this case, the PC immediately gets to
  defeat the Panache roll with her resolve. If the character
  falls asleep, the player may opt to purchase a background at
  half cost to represent things that occurred during the
  enchanted slumber. 
  Pookas – Monster (7th Sea™)
  TN to be hit: 25
  Brawn: 3, Finesse: 2, Wits: 3, Resolve: 3, Panache: 4
  Attack Roll: 4K2 weapon or unarmed attack, or natural weapon
  as creature.
  Damage Roll: By weapon or as per creature natural attack.
  Skills: Ambush 4, Climbing 5, Sprinting 4, Shadowing 3,
  Stealth 4
  Special Abilities
  Shapechange: The Pooka can change form into a bull, horse, or
  black dog as if he were a Pyeryem sorcerer with all such
  Knacks (including “man”) at 5. (For d20,™ see Heroes, Villains,
  and Monsters™)
  Fae Swarm
  The Swarm consists of small elfin Sidhe with wings like drag-
  onflies and teeth like needles. They pursue and terrify hapless
  fools who travel too near faerie rings or other such places
  near Bryn Bresail with the intent of stealing their eyes to feed
  to their young or just for the delight of tormenting their prey.
  The Swarm lunges at their victim’s vulnerable places, espe-
  cially their eyes. They will not rest until the victims are
  blinded or outrun them, or they are ordered to stop by a
  bigger Sidhe. 
  Fae Swarm (Tiny Fey) (d20™)
  Hit Dice: 1/2 d6
  Initiative: +5 (Dex)
  Speed: 10 ft., fly 60 ft. (perfect)
  AC: 19 (+5 Dex, +4 Size)
  Attacks: Bite +9, 2 claws +0
  Damage: Bite 1, 2 claws 1
  Face/Reach: N/A
  Special Attacks: Eye Gouge
  Special Qualities: Fey, DR 5/iron
  Saves: Fort +0, Reflex +7, Will +2
  Abilities: Str 1, Dex 20, Con 10, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 6
  Skills: Hide +21, Spot +3, Listen +3
  Feats: Weapon Finesse (Bite)
  Climate/Terrain: Temperate woodlands, moors, and hills
  Organization: Swarm (10-100)
  Challenge Rating: 1/2
  Treasure: None
  Advancement: None
  If a Fey Swarm scores a critical hit, the victim must make a
  For save (DC 10) or be blinded in one eye. 
  Fae Swarm — Brutes (7th Sea™)
  TN to be Hit: 25 (plus Footwork bonuses)
  Threat Rating: 3
  Skills: Throat Strike + 3, Footwork + 4
  Attacks: Special (see below)
  Special: Revival (see below)
  Special Attack: Eye Gouge is considered a Small Weapon (3 pts
  per Brute, +3 pts for every 5 past TN). It also Raises the
  victim's next Action Die by 1 + 1 for every 5 past TN (any
  Actions raised past 10 are lost). When confronted with cold
  iron or a MacEachern weapon, Eye Gouge is raised to the
  equivalent of a Medium Weapon (6 pts). This does not rep-
  resent a change in size so much as a rabid increase in feroc-
  ity as the swarm tries to destroy the wielder of said weapon.
  (“Don’t use that. You’ll just make ’em mad...”) They each
  inflict 3 points of damage and increase your lowest Action
  Die by 1 apiece.
  The Swarm attacks as a standard Brute squad; how-
  ever, they inflict damage as if from an Eye Gouge on a suc-
  cessful hit. If they deal enough damage to cripple a target,
  they have temporarily blinded him in one eye and given
  him a penalty of one kept dice (–1k1) on all rolls against
  them. If they knock an opponent unconscious, they will
  then permanently blind that opponent in one eye, in addi-
  tion to any other damage they might do.
  To escape the Swarm, you must succeed in an opposed
  Panache + Footwork check, substituting their Threat
  Rating for Panache. Any chase involving the Swarm uses
  their footwork to represent them darting after their prey.
  The GM may spend two Drama Dice to revive any
  creature in the Swarm knocked out by an attack. If they are
  knocked out more than once, they simply become discour-
  aged and leave. Note that the Swarm will not split up to
  attack, and they delight in whirling in a great cloud around
  their opponents’ heads.
  
  CHAPTER
  4
  The
  FOLKE
  75
  The Merrow
  Called “Selkies” in the Highland Marches and “Merrow” in
  the rest of Avalon, these graceful creatures of the sea are the
  seal-folk, the playful and benign servants of Queen Maab.
  Legends tell of a tryst, in the dim past, between the Sea
  King (once the paramour of Queen Maab), and the Black
  Siren. From that dalliance was born, so goes the tale, the first
  of the Merrow, and also the eternal hatred between Maab and
  the Siren. This is, in the way of many legends, only partially
  accurate. The epic battle between Queen Maab and the Black
  Siren is fought entirely over utter supremacy of the seas and
  all its creatures and not a domestic squabble about infidelity.
  Fidelity was hardly a prized virtue in days of yore, and both
  Queens have their eye on bigger things than man troubles. 
  (The King of the Sea, it should be noted, hardly falls under
  that category. He has not been seen by mortal man in
  recorded history, and is most likely a primal creature of the
  abyssal seas that Maab chose as a consort for dynastic reasons.
  She bore many children, many of extraordinary form, but
  never makes reference to him. He, whatever he may be, has
  either retired to the vast deep to avoid being ground into
  chum in the ongoing conflict, or once he had served his
  paternal function, Maab devoured him. It should be further
  noted that The Black Siren herself has not been seen for some
  time either. The Sirens still ravage the seas, so she is out there
  somewhere, but the most recent battle between Maab and the
  Black Siren cost the Siren a claw. Thus Maab has turned her
  attentions elsewhere for the nonce.)
  That all being said, the Merrow are most definitely the chil-
  dren of Maab. They are a fusion of the Sidhe bloodline and
  the ancient Théan ocean being, golden-eyed shape shifters
  with many magical abilities, that have taken on the terrestrial
  life cycle of their native world. Thus the Merrow mate and
  bear and raise their young in the way of the peoples of the
  land, unlike the Sidhe who tend to conduct that business
  very much in private.
  In the way of some creatures, Merrow males and females
  are of radically different appearance. The girls take after their
  mother (their mother with her Glamour cranked up to its
  fullest, that is). In human form they are lissome and pleasing
  to the eye, and move with fluid grace. Their hair is long and
  loose, colored sea-foam green and turquoise, sometimes the
  silver blue-grey of a storm driven wave. Their eyes are always
  golden, in whatever form they hold. They do not, as some
  tales tell, have fish tails, but shapely human legs and feet. Per-
  haps when wrapped in their long magical seal cloaks, which
  bestows the power to live and swim underwater, is appears
  that they have long tails. 
  Their other form (which cannot be called “natural” form, as
  either form is natural to them) is that of a sleek black seal.
  Mortals find them entrancingly beautiful, and more than one
  marriage has been distressed by the husband’s attentions to a
  Merrow come to shore. It does not aid matters one whit that
  the Merrow are, by disposition, remarkably promiscuous and
  obliging. But the women-folk of the Highland coasts have
  learned how to deal with the Merrow and the Highland men. 
  When Merrow do not wear much that can be called cloth-
  ing. They adorn themselves with the wonders of the sea,
  shells and corals, plants and scales, pearls and other treasures.
  They carry with them their enscorled cloaks, great glossy
  wraps of black and brown sealskin, though those are worn for
  practicality, not for modesty. The Merrow considered the con-
  cept of modesty a long time ago, and opted not to adopt it.
  The male of the species is completely different. Seen in
  fear whole, they appear to be the most dreadful sea monsters,
  huge and snouted, plated and ridged, burning red eyes, some
  with tentacles, some with claws, some with both, all with
  teeth and spines. The lady Merrow don’t seem put off by their
  dread appearance at all, but then again they’ll mate with any-
  thing. Mortal men rarely set eyes on the male Merrow, and
  only the best informed would recognize them for what they
  are. Not that the males are unfriendly, but nature has divided
  the world of the female and that of the male rather neatly. The
  females are creatures of land and the shallows; the males are
  creatures of the deeps. They spend their time battling the
  fearsome creatures of the depths, these days that being the
  Sirens. They too, can take the form of a seal, and it is said they
  can take the form of a human, though they rarely do so once
  they leave childhood. 
  Thus the women tend to the fisheries, the gardens and the
  children, while the men are away doing battle and gathering
  the spoils of war. In this way, and many others, the Merrow
  successfully reproduced the culture of the early civilizations
  of mankind. The men hunt, the women gather, the elders
  look after the children, and life is good. As the women age,
  the color of their skin deepens to a luminous viridian or a
  crystal cyan. As the men age, they grow larger, traveling
  deeper and deeper into the seas, to battle the mighty
  leviathans of the abyssal depths. 
  And so the Merrow, while not unintelligent, are happily
  primitive. They have no writing, they build no machines,
  they live in harmony with the environment. The men visit
  their wives when they can, often when it is their turn to keep
  guard on the nearer waters or the crèche. Merrow almost
  always give birth to twins, one boy and one girl, born in a
  cozy sea cave, with air for the girl and water for the boy,
  although they quickly adapt to both environments. The
  youngsters are raised in a great communal crèche, located off
  the MacCodrum lands on the northern side of the Highland
  Marches. They grow quickly, and soon the boys are clamoring
  for their first octopus, please, please, please, I promise I’ll take
  care of it, and the girls are collecting starfishes and seahorses. 
  When the boisterous and adventurous boys reach a certain
  age (when the mother determines that the octopus is demon-
  strably smarter to its owner), it is time to send them off to
  their fathers to begin training as warriors. The girls put aside
  their seahorses, and begin learning the skills of animal hus-
  bandry and weather witchery. The boys will return at least
  twice a year, bringing trophies to present to their sisters, the
  traditional trophy being a siren’s head from which the hair is
  used to make necklaces. The Merrow constructed a tribal
  society that close to equals the world of mortals on the land
  nearest them. Largely egalitarian, they are lead (they say) by a
  Chieftain, the oldest and strongest of the males, but of course
  he is always off fighting evil creatures, so it is Mrs. Chieftain
  who really runs things. 
  
  CHAPTER
  4
  The
  FOLKE
  76
  The Merrow developed a beneficial social relationship
  with the near-by MacCodrum clan of mortals. The MacCo-
  drum provide protection to their land-side approach to the
  coastline birthing caves and the Merrow in return provide
  superior fishing, the ability to predict weather, and perform
  sea rescues. The MacCodrum keep strangers away from the
  beaches on their lands. They take their children down to play
  in the surf with the Merrow pups, and all the youngsters have
  a grand time. They have strict rules, however, about visiting
  the beaches near the Merrow caves, and once the young men
  reach certain age, strict rules about visiting the beaches at all.
  By the time the male Merrow are old enough to cause prob-
  lems (in their handsome, naked, mortal
  form) they are on their way to their
  fathers. The females, however, are not
  going anywhere, so the approach to the
  seashore where the Merrow girls are
  wont to lounge is well guarded. And
  guarded, unique in the male-dominated
  culture of the Highlands, by the mothers
  of marriageable daughters.
  The Merrow women travel on errands
  of trade or message carrying to other
  parts of Avalon, though they will
  rarely leave the seacoast. On rare
  occasions, adventurous types are
  known to explore far up the
  Shanagary and Grand Rivers just
  to see the sights. The men operate
  as a military force, guarding the sea-
  lanes and fishing fleets, the home
  waters and the deep seas
  from the predations of
  the Sirens and other
  creatures of the rival
  Queen of the Sea. It
  is said the Merrow
  men grow a foot
  year. Every year. And
  they share the long, long
  lifespan of the Sidhe-
  blooded. Merrow grandfa-
  thers are not seen in the
  world of men, but they are
  down there, deep in the
  black, unplumbed depths,
  beloved octopi still by their
  side, battling the Kraken
  and the Leviathan. 
  All the Merrow will
  come to the call of Maab.
  Though Maab is a bitter
  and angry creature, this is
  of no import to the
  Merrow, who consider her
  Queen, and she is what she is.
  She is good to the Merrow, at any rate, so
  they serve her well. The males are spread far and wide, in
  groups of ten to twenty, roaming the seas surrounding the
  islands of Avalon and monitoring key locations. Large hunt-
  ing parties delve deep into the Frothing Sea to strike at the
  Sirens. Should Maab call upon them, there is usually a party
  near at hand, and she has magical ways to summon them to
  her. She often sends parties on missions, to disrupt some plan
  or other of the Black Siren, or some other enemy of the day. 
  Merrow — Henchmen (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 2, Finesse: 3, Wits: 2, Resolve: 3, Panache: 2
  TN to be hit: 25 (10 on Ground)
  Attack Roll: 5k2 Grapple.
  Damage Roll: By weapon or as per creature natural attack.
  Skills: Swimming 6
  Special Abilities: None
  (For d20,™ see Monster Manual:™ Merfolk. These should not be
  confused with the aquatic ogre Merrow.)
  Spriggans
  For all the differences between humans and the Sidhe,
  there is one thing both races share; curiosity. Curiosity
  pulled the Sidhe through the mists to explore Avalon
  and the people that lived there. Curiosity has also
  driven some mortals to follow the Sidhe through the
  Wild Paths back to the island of Bryn Bresail. These
  days, the Lords and Ladies of the Crystal Court
  find it difficult to draw themselves away from
  the unearthly intrigues they entertain
  themselves with in order to explore
  the mortal realm. If there is some-
  thing or someone that intrigues
  them enough to be brought to
  court, a spriggan is dispatched
  to do so. The spriggans are
  good at their job but they
  have yet to learn to ask per-
  mission to take things for
  the Sidhe.
  Spriggans began as
  jesters and tricksters for
  the Sidhe courts. They
  have mischievous senses
  of humor and a wicked
  sense of wordplay. When
  the 
  Sidhe 
  discovered
  Avalon, they were often
  sent to learn of the things
  there. Of course, most
  mortals do not under-
  stand the spriggan’s
  sense of humor and
  get quite angry at all
  the tricks that
  were 
  pulled.
  People were also
  upset when items
  were taken back to
  their Sidhe masters so
  the Sidhe had to rethink
  the design of these crea-
  tures. The new version was
  given excellent powers of illusion to
  befuddle mortals and then sent on longer missions into the
  mortal realm, to steal small things that would never be
  missed or could be replaced later. When the curiosity of the
  Sidhe turned to the humans themselves, some spriggans
  were given a special duty. They were told to steal the small
  
  CHAPTER
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  The
  FOLKE
  77
  humans called “children” and masquerade as them while they
  were guests of the Queen. While many of the creatures held
  the masquerade just as many grew bored with the same house
  and the same people to look at and abandoned their post to
  explore the world. Some of them took too much delight in
  the lies and deception they caused and turned to hurt and
  scare the people of Avalon. These Unseelie often pull off
  grand illusions and threaten people to get their valuables.
  They will masquerade as Firbolgs or invading soldiers just to
  hear the cries of despair.
  Seelie spriggans are tricky but never malicious. They usu-
  ally end up stealing small valuables and foods. They love
  desserts and other treats but stay away from alcohol because
  the scent simply repulses them. Some spriggans still hide out
  as children when the real child is taken to the courts. This is
  usually done when the child is an infant and the spriggan will
  gnash and wail loudly. Unseelie spriggans delight in causing
  pain and misery. They prefer stealing money and valuables
  and often hide them and send the owner clever riddles they
  must uncover to find where the item is hidden. Many people
  believe a spriggan bested in a riddle contest will grant the user
  a wish that the creature must fulfill. Even if this were true it
  could be deadly. The Seelie might misinterpret the wish and
  the Unseelie will twist it to its most unfortunate wording. 
  There are two ways to discover and defeat these clever crea-
  tures. Spriggans cannot resist puns. If a pun is made in its
  presence, a spriggan will toss one right back. Even if the crea-
  ture is in mid-sentence about an entirely different subject, it
  will interrupt itself and respond with a pun. If this happens
  more than a few times, an observant person will know they
  are in the presence of this creature. Once a spriggan is identi-
  fied, the easiest way to get rid of it is to start whistling. The
  creatures are sent to Avalon by an enchanted whistle. They
  love the sound of it, but unfortunately it’s a signal to the Sidhe
  that they are ready to come home. The spriggan will begin to
  whistle until it fades away.
  Spriggans are knee-high, spiny creatures. They are brightly
  colored but generally do not show their true form unless
  revealed. Once they are revealed they are usually ill-tempered
  brats that taunt the person that found them out and try to
  sneak way by promising piles of treasure that disappear once
  the spriggan leaves.
  Spriggan (d20™)
  Small Creature
  Hit Dice: 2d6+2
  Speed: 30 feet
  AC: 13 (+3 Dex)
  Attacks: Natural weapon (spines) +1 melee
  Damage: 2d4
  Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft. / 5 ft.
  Special Attacks: Spell-like abilities. Casts greater illusion and
  illusion as 10th level caster.
  Special Abilities: At DM’s option, may or may not grant a
  wish spell if defeated at a series of riddles.
  Saves: Fort: +1 Ref: +8 Will: +1
  Feats: Alertness, Dodge, Improved Initiative
  Abilities: Str 10, Dex 16, Con 13, Int 11, Wis 10, Cha 7
  Climate/Terrain: Towns 
  Organization: Solitary/ groups of 4
  Challenge Rating: 3
  Treasure: Standard
  Advancement: By character class
  Spriggan — Monster (7th Sea™)
  TN to be Hit: 15
  Brawn: 2, Finesse: 3, Wits: 3, Resolve: 1, Panache: 2
  Attack Roll: 4k3 (spines)
  Damage: 3k1 (dagger)
  Skills: None
  Special: Illusion: The GM can spend a number of Drama Dice
  equal to the highest Wits of all witnessing characters to
  attempt to fool them with an illusion. To dispel the illusion
  without using the methods prescribed above, the PCs must
  spend a Drama Die to allow for a contested Wits roll
  between the spriggan and the PC. Any PC may attempt it
  once per illusion, if they fail, they cannot disbelieve the
  illusion.
  Sluagh
  The legends of Avalon always tell about the heroes that stood
  against undefeatable odds and the victors of glorious battles.
  No one remembers the names of the soldiers who died on the
  losing side or weeps for the blood they spilled. Even the
  tragic legends end well for someone. The pass is held until
  reinforcements arrive or the one man sacrifices his life for his
  family to escape unharmed. While the dead may be unsung,
  the unlucky ones are not forgotten. They become the prop-
  erty of the Sluagh, the skin-takers, and they walk the night in
  search of vengeance.
  The Sluagh were born of the frequent wars fought between
  the peoples of Avalon. While the Sidhe brought magic to the
  isles, the humans brought them the rules of civilization and
  the things that go with it. One of these unfortunate side
  effects was the horror of war. While many Sidhe make them-
  selves out to be knights and gentlemen duelists, few have
  ever seen the bloody chaos that dwells on the battlefield. The
  tales they tell romanticize battle and Sidhe are unprepared for
  the bloody reality of war. Some saw that chaos first hand and
  were twisted by it. Twisted by the hate and sorrow ringing in
  the clashing swords and cannon fire they developed a hunger
  for it. To say they are Unseelie is an understatement; they care
  not for the Courts at all. They only care to hear the screams of
  women and children as they bring the horrors of war home.
  Drawn to the sites of battles, the Sluagh lie in wait until
  night falls. As the dead and dying lay bleeding in the center of
  the field, they creep in under the dead men. Some legends say
  they draw sustenance from the last breaths of the dying and
  lock their bloody mouths onto the dead to taste their sweet
  reward. The Sluagh then draws the body into the ground and
  sleeps. The next night, the creature pushes its way up through
  the dirt, wearing the face of the soldier it killed. It is able to
  get a sense of the victim’s home and generally gravitates
  towards the family left behind. When it comes home, it
  attacks and kills the family members too, taking their skin as
  well. It absorbs their memories and travels to the next town,
  seeking more victims and more battles.
  In their natural state, the creatures travel through the
  ground itself. Once they have taken a skin they are indistin-
  guishable from a regular person; they know well enough to
  eat, breathe, and pretend to sleep. But they are not perfect.
  The death wound does not heal and will be found if searched
  for. While the creatures can mimic eating, they are unable to
  perform other bodily functions. They don’t bleed if cut and
  they don’t heal any injuries to the body they possess. It is usu-
  ally just easier to get a new one.
  
  CHAPTER
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  The
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  Some legends suggest that by blessing the dead of a battle,
  it renders a body unusable. Some suggest making sure any
  wounded left in the field are dead as the Sluagh can only take
  the skins of the bodies where they draw the breath from.
  Many Avalon units still have a soldier that is responsible for
  this thankless duty. Older legends suggest pounding iron
  spikes into the ground drives away the creatures as well. Even
  with these weaknesses, the only way to kill one is to stab it
  with a weapon from the battle it was first drawn to. While
  light is painful it will not kill the creature. This can be diffi-
  cult, as a creature may have worn many skins since it was first
  drawn across the mists. 
  In their natural form, Sluagh look like blood-covered
  skeletons. They are most vulnerable in this form. If they are
  wearing a skin, the skin must be severely damaged for them
  to abandon it. They find light painful in their natural form
  but the skin protects them. A covered Sluagh can walk
  around in the daytime; an uncovered creature will burst into
  flame. While wearing a skin, a Sluagh is tough to spot unless
  you know what you are looking for. While they have basic
  memories of the skins they wear they don’t have access to
  everything. It is usually just enough to get into the door to
  murder again. In their natural form, Sluagh can’t speak above
  a whisper. Some Unseelie hunter claim that even when wear-
  ing skin the voice gets raspier but its usually not noticeable
  enough to tell. 
  Sluagh (d20™)
  Medium Creature 
  Hit Dice: 2d6+2
  Speed: 30 feet
  AC: 15 (+2 Dex, +3 skin bonus)
  Attacks: As victim
  Damage: As victim
  Face/Reach: 5 ft. by 5 ft. / 5 ft.
  Special Attacks: none
  Special Abilities: Skin-wearing: If a person is down to two
  hit points or less, the Sluagh can make a regular attack. If it
  succeeds, it drags the victim down into the ground and
  kills him. The next night, it will rise wearing the victim’s
  form.
  Saves: Fort: +1 Ref: +5 Will: +3
  Feats: Alertness, Dodge, Improved Initiative, Lightning
  Reflexes
  Abilities: Str 15, Dex 14, Con 10, Int 13, Wis 13, Cha 13
  Climate/Terrain: Battlefields 
  Organization: Solitary/ groups of 2-6
  Challenge Rating: 4
  Treasure: Standard
  Advancement: None
  Sluagh — Monster (7th Sea™)
  TN to be Hit: 20
  Brawn: 3, Finesse: 3, Wits: 2, Resolve: 1, Panache: 2
  Attack Roll: 4k3 (unarmed)
  Damage: 3k2 (unarmed)
  Skills: None
  Special: Skin stealing: The GM can spend Drama Dice to allow
  a Sluagh to steal the skin of a character that has been
  knocked out. She only needs one Drama Die for the Sluagh
  to take the skin of a brute. To mimic a Henchman, she must
  spend a number of dice equal to the character’s Resolve. A
  Hero or Villain is able to make a contested roll between
  their Resolve and the creature’s Brawn. If the creature suc-
  ceeds, the GM may spend the Dice to turn the character. If
  the character succeeds, she may elect to pass on or spend a
  Drama Dice to wake up and claw back to the surface.
  Sidhe in Non-Théan Settings (d20 ™)
  With a few minor changes, Sidhe may be included in any
  campaign setting. Bryn Bresail becomes a demi-plane
  attached to the Prime Material; Sidhe are normally handled
  as outsiders native to Bryn Bresail. Sidhe, Fallen Sidhe, and
  Unforgiven Unseelie PCs are also treated as outsiders, but
  their native plane is the Prime Material. Sidhe-Blooded PCs
  are humanoids.
  
  NPCs
  Fiona dubh Gaoithe, 
  Witch of the Black Wind
  Every drop of rain is a tear she cries. Every rumble of thunder is a
  bellow of her anger. Every toppled tree or drowned child is a victim
  of her bottomless rage, for she is the Witch of the Black Wind…
  The Witch of the Black Wind is a fairy tale that Avalon par-
  ents use to keep their children away from lakes and rivers
  in wintertime. She travels around the land, breathing a hiss-
  ing wail of frost. When she finds a lake that pleases her, she
  dives to the bottom and settles in for the winter. Unwary
  children who go skating could find themselves pulled
  through the ice and dragged to the frozen darkness below,
  never be seen again.
  Anyone born and raised in Avalon knows about the
  Witch of the Black Wind, but only a few knows that she is
  all too real. Her parents never named her. When she
  learned to speak her father’s hateful tongue, she named her-
  self Fiona dubh Gaoithe — Fiona of the Black Wind. Her
  father, whom she despises, is the ard ri of Inismore, the leg-
  endary Mad Jack O’Bannon. 
  One night the O’Bannon wandered into a seaside tavern
  in Dunkeen. His reputation preceded him through the
  door and the people in the tavern froze in awe-struck
  silence. He sat down and made a bold proclamation: he
  would grant one wish to the person who could drink him
  under the table. The casks were opened and the ale began to
  flow. No one actually expected to beat him but everyone
  wanted the chance to say they had tried. 
  One by one, the patrons passed out. The last one standing
  was a blonde woman covered in strange furs and ritual tat-
  toos. A skald, she claimed that her gods would not let her
  fail. The O’Bannon asked what her wish would be, should
  she win. The Vestenmannavnjar woman smiled and said she
  wanted a part of the resolve for which the ard ri was so
  famous. The O’Bannon roared with laughter and toasted his
  opponent. They drank and drank until it appeared that they
  had both passed out at the same time. In the morning, the
  O’Bannon was gone. 
  Several months later, the woman realized that the wily
  Inishman had kept his promise in his own twisted way – he
  had indeed given her part of his resolve by making her the
  mother of his child. When the birth pangs set in, the pain
  was so horrendous that the maddened skald flung herself
  into the icy waters of the sea. Too weak to swim to shore, she
  expired shortly after giving birth. Somehow, the child
  washed ashore and survived.
  Fiona was raised in the forests and caves of Avalon’s wild
  places. Over the past hundreds of years, the fact that her
  mother tried to kill her and her father could care less about
  her has worked its way into her soul. The young half-Sidhe
  woman received a gift from each parent. When the gods of
  the Vestenmannavnjar speak to her (and they do), the runes
  that scar her body glow blood red. She also hears the call of
  the Glamour Legends. She believes that she was given Laer-
  dom to strike down her father because he sullied a skald of
  the Grey Islands. Now that her father has returned, she
  plans to strike when he least expects it.
  The
  Veil
  Book Five:
  The Veil
  79
  
  CHAPTER
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  The
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  80
  Fiona has wild silver hair like her father’s that is marked by
  strange red streaks. No one who has ever gazed full upon her
  face has lived to tell about it. She speaks in whispery tones
  that never appear to come from her mouth; it is as if the wind
  itself is speaking for her. Under her animal furs, her body is
  covered with ritual tattoos. Wherever she walks, she brings
  winter with her. She is a force of nature without even the
  barest sense of civilization or morality and she destroys every-
  thing she touches in a spectacular manner.
  Fiona dubh Gaoithe (d20™)
  Half-Sidhe Laerdom Mage 9/Glamour Mage 5/Witch 3:
  CR 17; SZ M; HD 9d8+36+5d10 +20+3d6+12; hp 163; Init -1
  (Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 12 (-1 Dex, +3 Hide Armor); Atk: quarter-
  staff 1d6 +10/+5 melee (1d6 –1); SV Fort +11, Ref +7, Will +17;
  SA Glamour Legends: Anne o’ the Wind, Iron Meg; Invok-
  ing/Inscribing Runes; Manipulate Spells, Summon Familiar,
  Runes: Nød, Tungsinn, Villksap, Kjølig, Fornuft, Styrke, Varsel,
  Storsæd, Sterk, Kyndighet, Grenseløs; Glamour Checks +2; Str
  9, Dex 9, Con 18, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 10; AL CE; Skills: Bluff +9,
  Concentration +14, Diplomacy +14, Disable Devise +14, Gather
  Info +9, Heal +14, Intimidate +14, Intuit Direction +14, Knowl-
  edge (Arcana) +14, Listen +14, Sense Motive +14, Spot +14,
  Swim +9, Tumble +9, Wilderness Lore +14; Speak Language
  (Avalon, Vestenmannavnjar [alternately any 2 languages in
  your campaign]); Feats: Cold Climate Conditioning, Frighten-
  ing Countenance, Half-Blooded (Glamour), Half-Blood (Laer-
  dom), Hot-Headed, Pain Tolerance, Skald, Survival, Tyrant.
  Spells: (Laerdom) 0-level: arcane mark, icy touch, Level 1:
  bull’s strength, Level 2: obscure object, Level 3: explosive runes,
  haste, lightning strike, Level 4: flesh to stone, stoneskin, as if she
  were a 9th level mage. (Spells Per Day: 5/5/4/3/2.) (Glamour)
  0-Level: dancing lights, ghost sound; Level 1: charm person, glitter-
  dust; Level 2: alter self, invisibility as if she were a 5th level
  mage. (Spells Per Day: 3/3/2.) (Witch) 0-Level: daze, flare,
  Level 1: obscuring mist as if she were a 3rd level witch. (Spells
  Per Day: 5/4.) (For details, see Swashbuckling Arcana™ and
  Swashbuckling Adventures™)
  Fiona dubh Gaoithe — Villain (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 4, Finesse: 4, Wits: 5, Resolve: 5, Panache: 3
  Reputation: –50
  Background: Bloodsworn
  Arcana: Hot-Headed
  Advantages: Avalon (R/W), Vesten (R/W)
  Dirty Fighting: Attack (Dirty Fighting) 5, Attack (Improvised
  Weapon) 5, Parry (Improvised Weapon) 5, Eye-Gouge 2
  Athlete: Climbing 4, Footwork 4, Leaping 3
  Laerdom (Adept): Fornuft 4, Grenseløs 2, Kjølig 4, Kyndighet 1,
  Nød 4, Styrke 3, Varsel 4, Storsæd 1, Sterk 1, Tungsinn 2,
  Villskap 4
  Glamour (Apprentice): Anne o’ the Wind 3, Iron Meg 3
  Heavy Weapon: Attack 5, Parry 5
  Knife: Attack 2, Parry 2
  Templeton Hawthorne, 
  Slayer of Sidhe
  You can’t tell the difference between Seelie and Unseelie at a glance,
  so ‘tis best to kill them all
  While the Sidhe create and feed the legends of Avalon, mor-
  tals often make their mark in the folklore of the regions.
  Glamour mages draw upon the legends of ancient heroes like
  Robin Goodfellow and even modern ones like Jeremiah
  Berek or the Black Rose. For every story about a dashing hero
  or imperiled damsel, there is one about a nefarious villain
  who has come to sweep children from their beds and murder
  their parents in the night. For those who feel the mark of
  Glamour, that particular character has a name: Templeton
  Hawthorne.
  Hawthorne hunts those who practice the art of Glamour
  and the creatures that feed it. It is a dangerous game, to be
  sure, but one he has spent years perfecting. He knows the
  Sidhe’s limitations and the best ways to eliminate their curses,
  and he knows the practitioners of Glamour are just as impor-
  tant to its function as the Sidhe. The Sidhe thrive on flattery
  and attention, and would probably disappear if people
  stopped believing in them. Each human death represents one
  less person serving the odd desires of the Crystal Court.
  Every Glamour mage he kills brings him one step closer to
  driving the Sidhe out of Avalon and back to the dark place
  where they were born.
  Nobody is sure why Hawthorne began his bloody crusade.
  Some believe he was a local Avalon priest who saw his entire
  village frozen in ice on the whim of a passing sprite. Some
  think he is a philosopher bent on eliminating sorcery from
  Théah or perhaps he is a member of the infamous Inquisition.
  Some think “Templeton Hawthorne”  is not just one man but
  an organization bent on liberating the Triple Kingdom from
  Queen Elaine’s rule. A small minority claims that he is him-
  self an Unseelie outcast. Whatever the reason, Hawthorne
  offers his targets no quarter. They are often murdered in pri-
  vate but their bodies left in public areas as messages to the
  Sidhe and their minions, the Glamour sorcerers. 
  With the complete and utter devotion of a fanatic,
  Hawthorne appears icy cold to his adversaries and allies alike.
  He often works alone, although occasionally he hires a few
  like-minded souls or low rent thugs to add muscle to his pro-
  jects. He is a capable enough fighter on his own but is also
  smart enough not to go into a situation unprepared. He
  knows that the only way to defeat the enemy is to outwit
  them. He is well aware of the legends about mortals tricking
  the Sidhe into getting what they want. He reasons that if they
  can be tricked, they can be defeated. He is not afraid to fight
  dirty and lie, steal, or even murder to eliminate this terror
  from the face of Théah.
  Templeton Hawthorne has a thin, ravaged figure. He wears
  dark colors and dresses simply. His gray hair is short. Some-
  times he is clean-shaven; other times he sports a beard and
  mustache. His body is covered with scars, each one a
  reminder of another non-human creature he has killed. He
  remembers the full story of each incident but is strangely ret-
  icent when queried. Many people mistake him for a mendi-
  cant monk the first time they encounter him, which is pre-
  cisely what he wants. He knows that he can trade on his
  reputation without being obvious but he prefers to strike
  quickly, then fade into the background. When he speaks, he
  has a stone-cold conviction that the Sidhe are unnatural crea-
  tures not to be worshiped or toyed with; only destroyed.
  There are no exceptions unless sacrificing a Glamour mage
  will lead him to a larger target. Then he can enjoy eliminating
  both enemies.
  
  CHAPTER
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  Templeton Hawthorne (d20™)
  Human Inquisitor 6/Man of Will 3: CR 9; SZ M; HD 6d8
  + 3d12; hp 42; Init +2 (Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 13 (+1 Dex, +2
  Cloak); Atk: smallsword +7 (1d6); SV Fort +8, Ref +5, Will +11;
  SA Clarity, Fearless, Piercing the Veil, Righteous Fury, Sneak
  Attack, Sorcery’s Stench, Vanishing Act, Unstoppable; Str 11,
  Dex 14, Con 11, Int 14, Wis 16, Cha 11; AL LE; Skills: Bluff +7,
  Diplomacy +7, Gather Info +4, Intimidate +8, Knowledge
  (Sidhe) +13, Knowledge (Arcana) +9, Move Silently + 4, Sense
  Motive +10, Spot +6, Speak Language (Eisen, Montaigne,
  Avalon, Vodacce, Vendel, Théan [alternatively, any 6 from
  your campaign]); Feats: Frightening Countenance,
  Indomitable Will, Iron Will, Righteous, Scholar, Tyrant. 
  Templeton Hawthorne — Villain (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 2, Finesse: 3, Wits: 4, Resolve: 4, Panache: 2
  Reputation: –25
  Background: Driven
  Arcana: Righteous
  Advantages: Avalon (R/W), Eisen (R/W), Montaigne (R/W),
  Théan (common) (R/W), Vodacce (R/W), Man of Will,
  Vendel Connections, 
  Dirty Fighting: Attack (Improvised Weapon) 2, Defend
  (Improvised Weapon) 3, Eye-Gouge 2
  Athlete: Footwork 2, Knotwork 2, Climbing 2, Leaping 2
  Scholar: Philosophy 4, Research 4, Occult: 4
  Doctor: Diagnose 3, Surgeon 2, Torture 3
  Courtier: Dancing 2, Etiquette 2, Fashion 2 Oratory 2
  Fencing: Attack 3, Parry 2
  Knife: Attack 2, Parry 2
  Mordwyrr Taff, 
  King of the Rogues
  Prithee, good sir, welcome to the Rogues Forest. If you don't mind, I
  will take your purse to protect it from brigands during your sojourn
  here.
  The original King of the Rogues was a man named Robin
  Goodfellow. Born in AV 1159, he helped the good people of
  Avalon in their fight against their corrupt king by robbing
  from the rich and giving to the poor. To this day, many in
  Avalon still carry a bow and fight in his name. Along with the
  legends about Robin Goodfellow and the Highwayman,
  rumors have recently surfaced in courts both earthly and
  Sidhe about a handsome rogue who is capturing the hearts
  (and purses) of the elite as he travels throughout the Glamour
  Isles. His name is Mordwyrr Taff and he is the new King of
  the Rogues. Just ask him.
  Mordwyrr is a Sidhe who was last seen some 500 years ago
  when Robin Goodfellow was still alive. Taff brought the tale
  of Goodfellow’s exploits to the Court of the Air where it
  delighted the Lords and Ladies for many an hour. They asked
  Taff to fetch this remarkable man before them for an audi-
  ence. Happy to oblige, the dashing Sidhe left Bryn Bresail to
  find the man behind the legend. Unfortunately, five cen-
  turies had passed since Taff’s last visit to Avalon and brave
  Robin was long dead. 
  Disappointing the Lords and Ladies of the Seelie Court is
  not a good thing so Taff hatched a grand plan. He would take
  Robin’s place as the “noble rogue” of Avalon and return with
  grand stories about… himself! He would surpass the legend
  of Robin Goodfellow and become a legend in his own right.
  For the past five (human) years, Taff has adopted a manner
  and method in his thievery reminiscent of the Goodfellow
  legends. Unfortunately, he has not quite perfected his tech-
  nique. What he thinks is confidence, many see as arrogance.
  What he regards as wit, others see as stilted pretension. Taff
  tries very hard but most of his schemes do not come to
  fruition and he has come close to losing his corporeal self
  more than once. Despite this, he has gathered a bit of a fol-
  lowing.
  He recently made his first appearance at Elaine’s court,
  delivering a stirring account of how he single-handedly
  routed a band of ruthless assassins on their way to murder the
  beloved Queen. Although Bors MacAllister grumbled that he
  had heard nothing of the sort, Taff had already charmed his
  way to an invitation for a return visit. 
  Taff is the classic personification of the noble Avalon
  bandit: handsome, well-built, well-groomed mustache, jaunty
  feather in his cap, and a glib tongue that gets him in trouble
  as often as it saves him. He frequently ends sentences with a
  hearty laugh or an exhortation like “Ha ha!” as he strikes a
  pose of what he thinks is heroic bravado. He carries a long-
  bow and a longsword. In a world full of larger-than-life
  heroes, Taff wants to be the biggest. Subtlety and common
  sense are not in his vocabulary. A merry band of associates,
  most of them young ladies clad in forest green attire, has
  fallen under the sway of his charisma and usually accompany
  him on his quest to build his reputation as the new King of
  the Rogues.
  Mordwyrr Taff (d20™)
  Male Sidhe Théan Ranger 6/Goodfellow Archer 2: CR 11;
  SZ M; HD 6d10+12+2d8+4; hp 62; Init +3; Spd 30 ft.; AC 18
  (+3 Dex +5 Unarmored Defense Proficiency); Atks: long-
  sword +9 (1d8), Avalon longbow +10 (2d4); SA Favored
  Enemy (2 per GM*), Increased Range +20, Quick Shot; SQ
  Appearance - Above Average, Bowyer/Fletcher, DR 10/Cold
  Iron, Focused Training, Immunity to Disease, Iron Suscepti-
  bility, Iron Vulnerability, Keen Senses, Slow Aging, Smell
  Glamour, SR 10, Strange Poison (Iron); SV Fort +6, Ref +7,
  Will +2; Str 14, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 11, Wis 12, Cha 17; AL
  NG; Skills: Climb +8, Hide +10, Intuit Direction +5, Jump +8,
  Listen +7, Move Silently +10, Search +6, Spot +9, Wilderness
  Lore +7, Speak Language (Avalon [alternately, any one lan-
  guage in your campaign]); Feats: Gifted Liar, Point Blank
  Shot, Track, Unarmored Defense Proficiency (beginner),
  Weapon Focus (Avalon Longbow), Weapon Specialization
  (Avalon Longbow). (*See Swashbuckling Adventures,™ pg. 18)
  Mordwyrr Taff — Scoundrel (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 2, Finesse: 3, Wits: 3, Resolve: 2, Panache: 4
  Reputation: -10
  Background: None
  Arcana: Overconfident
  Advantages: Accurate Archer, Scoundrel, Avalon (R/W)
  Archer: Attack (Bow) 3, Fletcher 1, Snap Shot 2, Trick Shooting 2
  Athlete: Climbing 3, Footwork 4, Leaping 3, Sprinting 3,
  Swinging 3, Throwing 2
  Criminal: Ambush 3, Gambling 2, Prestidigitation 2, Shadow-
  ing 3, Stealth 3
  Spy: Disguise 4, Shadowing 3, Stealth 3, Sincerity 3
  Heavy Weapons (longsword): Attack 4, Parry 3
  Goodfellow School (apprentice): Arc 3, Disarm 2, Tagging 2,
  Exploit Weakness (Goodfellow) 1
  
  CHAPTER
  5
  The
  Veil
  82
  Arianna Flynt, Explorer
  One of these switches opens the door to the antechamber. The other
  will bring the antechamber down around our ears. Do you know
  which one it is? I do.
  Her mother lulled her to sleep with the legends of Avalon.
  Whenever she walked around the countryside, she
  felt as if the land was alive and whispering to
  her. Her father was a sailor and she dreamed
  of sailing around the world with him to
  see all the exotic places he visited.
  Fairytales are fine for children, but
  when you are truly the daughter of a
  princess who gave up her coronet
  to marry a common sailor, you
  either make a boring marriage or
  set out to make your own way in
  the world. The legends her
  mother told her led her to the
  libraries of Carleon and on her 16th
  birthday, Arianna traveled to Carleon
  where she first encountered the
  Explorer’s Society. She never returned
  home.
  The Explorers were the perfect focus
  for her curious nature. Arianna began as
  an artifact clerk in the Carleon Chapter-
  house tasked the thankless and often
  dangerous job of cataloguing the strange
  abilities of hundreds of items. A combi-
  nation of intellect, luck, and her own
  innate magical abilities got her
  through the more difficult analyses. 
  Eventually, she was assigned to
  an expedition as an assistant.
  After being cooped up in the
  Chapterhouse for so long, it
  is very possible that she
  would have been content
  with that position but fate
  thrust her into a much more inter-
  esting one. Scott Jay, a former
  Explorer turned mercenary
  archaeologist, sabotaged the
  expedition. He locked the
  Explorers in the ship’s hold and
  killed the expedition leader.
  Jay then stole the map they had
  been using and traveled into the temple they
  had unearthed at the site. Furious at being subdued, Arianna
  broke free, captured him, and still had time to recover an
  undamaged piece of Thalusian amber from the site. This vir-
  tuoso performance made her the Society’s darling and
  brought her into the spotlight as a perfect example of the
  “adventuring academic.”
  Since then, she has led several successful expeditions. She
  is also the driving force behind the study of sorcerous powers.
  She has spent a lot of time in the wilds of Avalon and has
  become something of a local expert of Sidhe lore and legends.
  Her gift of Glamour has also turned her into an envoy to the
  courts of the Triple Kingdom. The Avalon court finds Ari-
  anna’s tale quite romantic — a lost princess who reclaims her
  station through hard work and the blessings of noble blood.
  The Society knows the importance of good relations, espe-
  cially where their base of operations is located.
  Arianna Flynt is a beautiful young woman who seems to
  maintain a noble bearing no matter where she is. Her red-
  gold hair trails beyond her shoulders like dancing flames. She
  is just as comfortable in corsets and hoop skirts as she is in a
  digger’s vest and work pants. She speaks several languages
  with no accent and has friends in every port. She is very
  knowledgeable about the Syrneth and feels the Explorers
  who are the best authority on the subject should lay claim
  to every artifact in the world for study. Very adaptable to
  whatever comes her way, Arianna is not above a little
  friendly larceny to “retrieve” artifacts from people
  she feels are irresponsible. 
  Arianna Flynt (d20™)
  Human Swashbuckler 3/Glamour Mage 3:
  CR 6; SZ M; HD 3d10+3+3d6+3; hp 39; Init +2
  (Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 19 (+2 Dex, +2 Light-
  footed); Atk: smallsword +5 (1d6); SV Fort
  +3, Ref +8, Will +6; SA Glamour Checks
  +2, Known Legends: Jack, Berek;
  SQ Dexterous, Light-footed; Str
  11, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 14,
  Wis 14, Cha 14; AL NG;
  Skills: Balance +5, Climb +5,
  Disguise +5, Escape Artist +5,
  Gather Info +7, Hide +8, Move
  Silently +8, Open Lock +7,
  Search +8, Use Rope +6, Speak
  Language (Avalon, Vodacce,
  Théan [alternately, any three lan-
  guages in your campaign]); Feats: 
  Creative, Half-Blooded (Glamour),
  Leadership, Unarmed Defense Profi-
  ciency (Beginner).
  Spells: (Glamour) 0-Level: daze,
  dazzle; Level 1: glitterdust, sleep as if
  she were a 3rd level sorcerer.
  (Spells Per Day: 2/2.) (For details,
  see Swashbuckling Arcana™)
  Arianna Flynt — Hero (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 2; Finesse: 2; Wits: 3; Resolve: 2; Panache: 3
  Reputation: 15
  Background: None
  Arcana: Creative
  Advantages: Avalon (R/W), Théan (R/W),
  Vodacce (R/W), Connections, Dangerous
  Beauty, Membership: Explorer’s Society
  Dirty Fighting: Attack 3, Improvised Weapon Attack 2, Impro-
  vised Weapon Defense 3
  Athlete: Climbing 3, Footwork 4, Knotwork 4, Leaping 3
  Glamour (Apprentice): Mad Jack 2, Jeremiah Berek 2
  Scholar: Philosophy 2, Research 2, 
  Archaeologist: Occult 2, Society Lore 4
  Courtier: Dancing 1, Etiquette 1, Fashion 1, Oratory 1
  Fencing: Attack 3, Parry 2
  Rider: Ride 3
  Knife: Attack 2, Parry 2
  
  CHAPTER
  5
  The
  Veil
  83
  Tearlaidh Partholan, 
  The Wandering Druid of Théah
  I’ve been the wide world over, a hundred times or more…
  Tearlaidh Partholan has been alive for more years that he can
  remember. He learned long ago that years are something
  people look at instead of looking at the wondrous world
  around them. People are obsessed with the hours of the day
  instead of the passing of the seasons. For someone who has
  been alive as long as he has, it is easy to become disillusioned
  with the selfish, bloody, terrible things that people conduct
  their business. But rather than write mortals off as foolish or
  close-minded, Partholan believes that they are actually
  Nature’s greatest mystery.
  The old Druid’s connection with Avalon is strong. He spent
  much of his early time wandering the forests, which became
  his home. One day, he found himself standing above a battle-
  field where great forces clashed for control of Avalon. At
  sunset, he saw young Athrwys unite his people only to be
  mortally wounded by the invader Henri du Montaigne. He
  knew that humans were part of the natural world, along with
  the Sidhe, the Syrne, and all manner of creatures large and
  small but he could not understand how the day could have
  turned to tragedy so quickly. He sought the great Derwyddon
  in hopes of achieving some understanding.
  The man old fixed him with an eye and said. “You will not
  die, young Druid, until you understand,” he said. Partholan
  picked up his walking stick, boarded a ship for Montaigne,
  and began to study humans more closely. 
  He has seen a lot since then. He was at the gates of the royal
  palace when the Inquisition came for Léon. He was in the
  courts of Good King Sandoval when El Vago swooped
  through the window to save the young monarch’s life. He
  watched Trague plummet from the tower in Freiburg. He has
  not been to Cabora yet but he is certainly interested. He has
  also heard about the lands beyond the Wall of Flame and
  wants to pay a visit to the court of the Celestial Empress. The
  old Druid has witnessed many of the great events in the
  Théan history and wants to be there for many more. He has
  dozens of theories about human behavior and is certain that
  if he could just learn to talk to people, he could share his
  knowledge for the betterment of all.
  Tearlaidh Partholan is an old man of indeterminate years.
  He is completely bald underneath the hood of his robe and
  the age of mountains reflects in his eyes. He travels about
  dressed in simple brown robes, armed with nothing more
  than an old wooden staff. If he talks at all, his words are soft-
  spoken and cryptic. He plays the harp extremely well, can
  defend himself with the staff although he tries to avoid
  combat whenever possible. He often arrives just before some-
  thing major is about to occur, then leaves shortly afterward.
  Nobody has paid particular notice to him yet but if people
  begin to, he could develop a following.
  Tearlaidh Partholan (d20™)
  Male Human Avalon Druid 15; CR 15; SZ M; HD 15d10;
  hp 75; Init +2 (Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 22 (+12 Unarmored
  Defense Proficiency); Atk: quarterstaff 1d6 +11/+6/+1; SA
  Ascendancy Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter, Ascendancy
  Checks +15, Lesser Gesa (×2); SV Fort +5, Ref +5, Will +13; Str
  10, Dex 11, Con 10, Int 18, Wis 18, Cha 15; AL NG; Skills:
  Speak Language (Avalon, Théan [alternately, any two lan-
  guages in your campaign]); Bluff +12, Craft +14, Diplomacy
  +12, Gather Info +12, Handle Animal +12, Heal +14, Intuit
  Direction +14, Knowledge (worldly) +14, Listen +14, Ride
  +10, Wilderness Lore +14; Feats: Great Fortitude, Handy, Iron
  Will, Small, Unarmored Defense Proficiency (Beginner),
  Unarmored Defense Proficiency (Intermediate), Unarmored
  Defense Proficiency (Master).
  Spells: 0-level: flare; Level 1: obscuring mist, pass without trace;
  Level 2: barkskin; Level 3: protection from elements; Level 4: free-
  dom of movement; Level 5: animal growth, tree stride; Level 6: find
  the path, repel wood; Level 7: greater scrying, true seeing. (Spells
  Per Day: 8/8/7/6/5/3/2/1) (For details, see Player’s Handbook™,
  Ch. 11: Spells.)
  Tearlaidh Partholan — Hero (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 2, Finesse: 3, Wits: 5, Resolve: 5, Panache: 2
  Reputation: None (at present) 
  Background: None
  Arcana: None
  Advantages:Théan (R/W), Avalon (R/W), Greater Gesa, Light-
  ing Reflexes, Small 
  Dirty Fighting: Attack 3, Improvised Weapon Attack 5, Impro-
  vised Weapon Defend 5,
  Druid (Master): Spring 4, Summer 4, Fall 4, Winter 4
  Athlete: Footwork 4, Knotwork 4, Climbing 3, Leaping 3
  Rider: Ride 3
  Fadh-righ Spear (Journeyman): Exploit Weakness (Fadh-righ),
  Bind (Buckler), Lunge (Polearm), Tagging (Polearm)
  Sir Gwydd, The Perfect Knight
  My sword and my heart stand ready to serve my Queen, whenever
  and wherever She may command.
  The Knights of Elaine include the bravest and best that Avalon
  has to offer. Parents tell their children tales about Knights and
  how they often find themselves fighting evil to protect the
  Queen and uphold the honor of Avalon. At some time in their
  young lives, children want to join this legendary organization.
  The Knights of Elaine travel about the country and the world
  on the Queen’s business. One of the brightest members is a
  handsome young half-Sidhe by the name of Sir Gwydd.
  Gwydd arrived in Elaine’s court four years ago just as the
  perfect snows were melting into another brilliant spring. On
  his 18th birthday, he bowed his handsome, angular face
  before his beloved queen and took his knightly vows. 
  In his time as a Knight, Gwydd has often acted as an envoy
  to the courts ethereal and has counseled other Knights in
  matters of the Sidhe.
  Gwydd’s mother was a widow in a small Avalon village.
  Before the couple could have a child, her husband, a member
  of Berek’s Sea Dogs, died in combat. With no children of her
  own, the good lady devoted herself to aiding the children of
  the village and teaching them the stories of the land. She
  became anxious when the children said they had seen a
  woman who came at night and stole their breath. The lady
  gathered the children inside the local chapel every night to
  protect them from the wicked thing. There were nights when
  they could hear it clawing at the glass. 
  One night the foul creature smashed a window and  entered
  the church, but the lady leaped forward and swung a candle-
  stick at it. While she was unable to harm the creature, she was
  able to drive it back … and onto the blade of a Seelie Knight.
  Taken with her passion and her selflessness, the knight asked
  her what boon he could give her in return. She asked for a child
  of her own and that night, the Knight honored her request.
  
  CHAPTER
  5
  The
  Veil
  84
  Gwydd was raised as the child of two worlds. He can feel
  the Glamour in his blood but he is also a believer in the
  Church of Avalon. He attends services regularly and is fast
  becoming an envoy in the House of Theus as well as the
  courts of the Sidhe. At one time, he entertained the idea of
  entering the ministry but decided he could do more good by
  inspiring others with deeds performed in the name of Elaine.
  The Sidhe find his devout faith interesting and has become
  involved in some interesting debates while in Bryn Bresail.
  Gwydd is the picture of the perfect young knight. He wears
  his silver-blond hair to his shoulders and has a slender but wiry
  build. He is very astute and well spoken, but often a romantic
  passion flares in his eyes when he recounts the stories he heard
  as a child. He prefers the classic longsword to the rapier and
  fencing weapons. While it is slower and outdated, he has a nat-
  ural quickness that allows him to wield it quite effectively
  when needed. He also looks quite splendid in his shining
  armor when he raises the weapon in salute to his Queen.
  Sir Gwydd (d20™)
  Male Thean Paladin 5/Knight of Elaine 1; CR 6; SZ M
  (humanoid); HD 5d10+10+1d8+2; hp 40; Init: +2; Spd. 30 ft.;
  AC 17 (+2 Dex, +5 chain mail); Atk: longsword +8 melee
  (1d8+2); SA Religious Fury 1/day, Smite Evil; SQ Aura of
  Courage, Divine Grace, Divine Health, Lay on Hands,
  Remove Disease 1/week, Detect Evil; AL LG; SV Fort +11, Ref
  +5, Will +6; Str 14, Dex 14, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 12, Cha 14;
  Skills: Speak Language (Avalon), Climb +8, Diplomacy +4,
  Handle Animal +8, Intimidate +8, Jump +8, Listen +5, Ride
  +4, Sense Motive +8, Spot +8, Swim +8, Tumble +8; Feats:
  Expertise, Parry, Power Attack.
  Sir Gwydd — Hero (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 2, Finesse: 2; Wits: 2; Resolve: 2; Panache: 3
  Reputation: 25
  Background: None
  Arcana: None
  Advantages: Avalon (R/W), Connections, Membership:
  Knights of Elaine, Sidhe Blood (Appearance – Above Aver-
  age, Smell Glamour, Iron Vulnerability)
  Athlete: Footwork 3, Climbing 3, Sprinting 3, Throwing 2
  Courtier: Etiquette 3, Dancing 3, Fashion 3, Oratory 2
  Fencing: Attack 3, Parry 2
  Heavy Weapons: Attack 3, Parry 3
  Hunter: Stealth 2, Survival 1, Tracking 1, Traps 2
  Rider: Ride 3
  Donovan: Bind 1, Disarm 2, Riposte 2, Exploit Weakness
  (Donovan) 2
  Buckler: Parry (4)
  Adventures
  The Battle beneath the Waves
  By and large, the nations of Théah are unaware of the great
  battle going on under the sea between the Black Siren and
  the Sidhe Queen Maab. Sailors returning from the farthest
  reaches of Théah bring back fabulous tales of impossible crea-
  tures roiling to the surface, locked in mortal combat. Giant
  squid and great whales, huge sharks and monstrous serpents,
  and sometimes, creatures that beggar description, things with
  claws and tentacles, plate armor and spines. 
  The tales are true. The rival Queens recruit any and all sea
  creatures to their cause, willingly or unwillingly, and the
  struggle is epic. The farther from land, the greater the conflict
  and the more fantastical the beasts.
  The composition of the forces is quite different, although
  both Queens have learned from the other. The Black Siren
  depends in the main on singular monstrosities of size and feroc-
  ity, the more bizarre and terrifying the better. She has no inter-
  est in the ways of Nature and thus she uses her horrid magic to
  create unnatural mutations and undead abominations. Recog-
  nizing the effectiveness of the gifted and magical Merrow (not
  to mention their prolific breeding), she created the Sirens, a
  self-perpetuating line of bloodthirsty mer-creatures. 
  Maab has traditionally relied on creatures native to the
  waters of Théah to support her cause, breeding intelligence
  and some form of magic into entire species. She has come to
  an appreciation of undeath, a concept that has previously
  eluded her, when she reviews the cadres of lacedons who do
  her bidding. The tales of undead sailors serving in the Coral
  Court are quite true, but Maab did not deliberately set about
  re-animating drowned sailors. Those unfortunates owe their
  continued existence to the fact that Maab, being Sidhe, does
  not comprehend that death should render humans unfit to
  serve her, and the supernatural (in the most extreme sense of
  the word) power of the Sidhe is such that serve they do.
  In the main, Maab’s navy consists of creatures on the more
  intelligent side of the scale, like the seals, the Merrow, the sea
  lion, unfathomable but undoubtedly clever octopods, and the
  rare Dragon Turtle. She will also employ sea birds as messen-
  gers or scouts, whereas the Black Siren and her ilk just eat
  them.
  The Siren makes use of sharks, sea serpents, and strains of
  gargantuan horrors that have no name as they are beyond
  mortal ken, plus whatever unique monsters she can enslave
  or create. These immense creatures appear to evolve (if that is
  in fact the process) from one of three basic stocks: crustacean,
  sea slug, or jellyfish. Although the lines are not always dis-
  tinct, they share an overall appearance that is both terrifying
  and mind numbing.
  That being said, the only two sets of creatures of whose loy-
  alty either combatant can be entirely certain are the Sirens
  and the Merrow. The cetaceans might best be considered
  “allied” with Maab; the mighty Leviathans apparently have
  reached an accommodation with her, but are not subservient.
  The Giant Squid (dumb animal) and Kraken (almost identical
  but brainpower on par with the octopus) are up for grabs;
  both easily bought with a nice large school of tuna.
  Both Queens are revising their strategies, however. The
  Black Siren is slowly learning the value of a mixed force and
  use of groups like fleets of poisonous jellyfish blanketing the
  surface while the Sirens surround the entrapped victim and
  the crustaceans strike from below. For her part, Maab has
  recently discovered electric eels. Staying out of the fray, curi-
  ously enough, are the dolphins and porpoises. Sailors con-
  sider them the only true friend of the sea-going humankind
  and it is rumored that they have magic of their own.
  Heroes sailing on the high seas may encounter these crea-
  tures at some point. While the greatest monsters of the deep
  rarely come to the surface, they are occasionally driven up
  during the course of a battle, and might be tasked by the
  Queens with sinking any ships entering a certain area. (Note:
  Travelling west of the Midnight Isles dramatically increases
  the likelihood of an encounter with one of the Siren’s behe-
  moths of the deep.)
  
  CHAPTER
  5
  The
  Veil
  85
  Details of the creatures mentioned above can be found in
  the Monster Manual™ as follows:
  Dire Shark (Monster Manual,™, pg. 59)
  Dragon Turtle (Monster Manual,™, pg. 76)
  Giant Octopus (Monster Manual,™, pg. 199)
  Giant Squid (Monster Manual,™, pg. 202; Game Master’s Guide,™,
  pg. 162)
  Kraken (Monster Manual,™ pg. 124)
  Lacedon (Monster Manual,™ pg. 97)
  Leviathan (Game Master’s Guide,™ pg. 159)
  Merrow (Book Four: The Folke)
  Octopus (Monster Manual,™ pg. 199)
  Sea Lion (Monster Manual,™ pg. 160)
  Sea Serpent (Game Master’s Guide,™ pg.161)
  Shark (Monster Manual,™ pg. 200)
  Siren (Heroes, Villains, and Monsters,™ pg.161)
  Squid (Monster Manual,™ pg. 200)
  Whale (Monster Manual,™ pg. 203)
  The Black Siren’s Creatures
  These are unique creations. No one knows if they breed
  among themselves, are created magically by the Black Siren,
  or were ordinary little sea creatures that spent too much time
  around some undersea Syrneth artifacts and mutated into the
  strange entities they have become. (In essence, the GM is
  encouraged to create unique sea monsters using the same
  technique employed to create Ruin Monsters per the Game
  Master’s Guide.™ Select a template, a size ranging from man-
  eating large to ship-eating gigantic, and an intelligence level
  ranging from stupid to non-sentient. Then add mutations and
  unleash the atrocity.)
  W.K. Bainbridge Travelling
  Theatre Troupe
  “The fools fret o’er the hour of death, 
  bewitch’d by tales of knights and maids”
  —Montgomery Peerson, Hamek, Act 2, Scene 3
  Established in 1666, the Troupe has taken its lead from its
  founder, Wendell Kenneth Bainbridge. Bainbridge first rose
  to stardom in approximately 1659 as the lead actor in Mont-
  gomery Peerson’s King Hergyh. His portrayal of a king torn
  between loyalty to his children brought people flocking to
  the theatre, and turned it almost overnight into a place for the
  rich to be seen. Many a carriage heading home was full of
  courtiers arguing over who did more for the theatre – the
  playwright or the actor. Peerson and Bainbridge soon were
  inseparable in the minds of the public. 
  As often happens between extremely gifted and artistic
  people, the partnership between Bainbridge and Peerson
  eventually dissolved. Bainbridge sank his earnings into a
  small ship he renamed The Fool’s Fret and converted it into a
  traveling stage. He hired himself out to the courts of Théah
  and continued to write and perform plays. He was so busy
  traveling and performing that he never made it back home.
  Last year, shortly after Prophet’s Mass, the cast and crew
  assembled for a New Year’s celebration only to find that Bain-
  bridge had disappeared. There are many theories as to his
  whereabouts. Some think he ran afoul of the jealous husband
  of a noblewoman he was rumored to be romancing. Some say
  he has dashed off to help his old friend Peerson. Some think
  Peerson kidnapped him for failure to pay royalties. Others
  think the Sidhe took him to become their pet playwright and
  actor.
  Tantalizing clues about the founder’s location could pro-
  vide an excellent long-term goal for the players. Bainbridge’s
  dream was to bring the stage to the nobility of Théah and
  raise it from a country faire sideshow to a respected art form
  equal to music and painting. Little did he know that the Sidhe
  would be a far more appreciative audience! 
  No matter what, as the saying goes, the show must go on.
  The ship continues to sail with a crew who is looking for
  adventure, romance, and appreciative audiences wherever it
  may land. A campaign with Bainbridge’s Troupe provides a
  built-in background that solves the problems of bringing a
  group of multinational (and possibly non-human) heroes
  together. Characters could be part of the ensemble or the
  crew that sails The Fool’s Fret. Actors are not particularly well
  respected and often a person on the run can arrange a stint on
  the stage until his pursuers call off the chase. Sorcerers and
  other magic-users are sought for their ability to produce stage
  effects. Nobility may come along as sponsors and patrons and
  demand a final say in which plays are performed and which
  actors are cast. Swordsmen may be hired to train the actors in
  the fine art of realistic combat, and at the same time provide a
  little extra muscle if a performance goes poorly or a noble
  refuses payment. Of course, some of the characters might
  have an even more intimate connection to the stories they
  tell. They could be Sidhe seeking adventure or perhaps sent
  to retrieve tales for the Queen of the Air herself. 
  There are plenty of adventures to be had:
  • The Fool’s Fret sometimes takes on cargo or passengers in
  between bookings to keep the sailors paid and the actors
  working. Usually the cargo is legal, but sometimes…
  • The Troupe has done this a hundred times. How difficult is
  it to set up the show, put it on, and then strike the set? 
  It depends on what goes wrong and something always
  seems to go wrong.
  • A patron insists that his very untalented “Cousin Marie”
  play the female lead in a very important performance. She
  is just awful but he is very insistent.
  • The Inquisition regards plays about Sidhe and sorcerers as
  heretical and always tries to close down the production. 
  • Pirates (Sidhe or otherwise) waylay the ship thinking that
  she is a cargo vessel with plunder aboard. Which of course
  she is not… is she?
  • A blockade is set up or a plague breaks out in port.
  • The lead actor could be arrested for his role in a daring
  masked robbery. Well, the robber looked just like him!
  • A rival company trues to sabotage the production. 
  Performing a play in front of nobility is going to seem like
  a vacation compared to this!
  
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  • Of course, not everyone is turned against the theatre. For
  every Sidhe noble who writes it off as base entertainment,
  there is one who believes he has been “illuminated” by its
  emotion. So much so that he wants the troupe to stay with
  him at his estate… for a long time…to entertain him…
  • The Explorers have hired the actors in the past as spies and
  smugglers for their cause and such duties could easily be
  assigned by nations as well. Of course, The Fool’s Fret main-
  tains one advantage over other ships of its nature. It is
  favored by the Sidhe, who often come to the aid of the crew
  when needed. Of course, this is something of a dubious
  honor. The Crystal Court has an unfortunate habit of
  demanding performances from its favorite players at inop-
  portune times. Refusing such an unusual patron would be
  exceedingly rude and produce unfortunate results.
  For the GM only
  NPC Secrets
  Fiona dubh Gaoithe
  Unstable at birth, Fiona has slowly gone even more deeply
  insane trying to serve the masters of Legend and Name. No
  longer content with being a legend, she has started a cam-
  paign of terror in Inismore, destroying villages, stealing chil-
  dren, and striking terror into the hearts of the mortal fools
  her father loves so much. She wants them to come crying to
  him about the Witch of the Black Wind. She wants him to
  come searching for the creature who is harming his mewling
  pets. When he arrives, she will destroy him, his island, and
  anything else in her way. Then she will claim her legacy and
  assume the role as ruler of the Glamour Isles,  literally (and
  hopefully) over her father’s cold dead body.
  (Note to the GM: Fiona has the abilities of both a Glamour
  and Laerdom Mage. Normally, someone with two types of
  sorcery can only achieve Apprentice status in both schools.
  Because of her unique heritage, Fiona breaks these rules. Of
  course, it goes without saying that she is quite insane and a
  villain of supremely excellent pedigree. Bad guys get to break
  the rules; good guys get to win.)
  Templeton Hawthorne
  While eliminating Sidhe, their creatures, and Glamour sor-
  cerers helps his cause, Hawthorne has come to realize that he
  is merely trimming the branches instead of cutting down the
  tree. He knows what he needs to do but is unsure about the
  most effective way to achieve his goal. He realizes there are
  powerful people both inside and outside of Avalon who are
  unhappy with Queen Elaine but he has yet to make direct
  contact with them. He has recently acquired a MacEachern
  blade and has made a few allies inside the O’Toole family.
  Once that alliance is secure, he will attempt his boldest move
  yet: he will steal the Graal, destroy it, and bring an end to the
  Sidhe reign of terror.
  Mordwyrr Taff
  Bors MacAllister has found no evidence of Taff’s tale of
  reputed assassins because there is none. Taff learned a crucial
  lesson about reputation from that incident and has begun to
  send his merry band traveling throughout Avalon to leave
  “evidence” of his influence even if he had nothing to do with
  the thefts in question. Not only have the Sidhe and Elaine’s
  Knights begun to notice Taff, but now the thieving commu-
  nity at large is becoming annoyed with the braggart.
  In addition to lying to the Avalon Queen, Taff has one more
  secret — he never actually met Robin Goodfellow. Threat-
  ened with being cast out as an Unforgiven Unseelie, with all
  attendant penalties and abilities, he ran from the Crystal
  Courts rather than stand trial. Although he is not actively
  hunted (the Sidhe have far more important things to do, after
  all), going back go Bryn Bresail is not the wisest thing Taff
  could do at the present time.
  Arianna Flynt
  If Arianna knew how many enemies she has made in her
  short career she might go back to being an artifact clerk. The
  Inquisition hates her because she is a sorceress and deals with
  forbidden objects. Freelance collectors have found their best
  items stolen from underneath their noses. The Caligari family
  has put a sizable bounty on her head. People are beginning to
  question why she is the sole survivor on expeditions. She
  claims that she has not lost personnel any more or less fre-
  quently than any other expedition leader and that this is a
  nasty rumor campaign started by Society members jealous of
  her success. So far her luck has held up but there may come a
  point where not even the legends of Avalon will be able to
  save her. 
  Tearlaidh Partholan
  Derwyddon placed a Great Gesa on the Druid at the Battle of
  Three Roads. Partholan is incapable of dying until he under-
  stands everything about humans. Regardless of what may
  happen to him, he will always resurface. Circumstances
  always seem to throw him free of danger. If someone is trying
  to harm him, something will interrupt the villain before he
  can do any damage. Partholan never seems to get lost even
  when traversing a place he has never been. Although he does
  not spend a lot of time gazing at himself in the mirror, the
  Druid is slowly becoming aware of his semi-immortal state
  and naturally is curious to test the extent of it.
  A very small group of fanatical Knights Inquisitor has
  taken note of the old man. They think he might be the Fourth
  Prophet waiting to reveal himself to the faithful. The signs of
  his coming — like the fall of Montaigne and the rise of
  Cabora — are clear. Even if he is not ready to recognize his
  own destiny, they might feel the need to “protect” him and
  use him as a figurehead for their own purposes.
  Sir Gwydd
  Sir Gywdd travels to the Crystal Courts as an envoy from
  Elaine’s Court but he has his own interests as well. He is
  searching for the Sidhe knight who fathered him. 
  
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  There is another reason Gwydd decided not to enter the
  priesthood. While the faithful and the Sidhe co-exist peace-
  fully enough in Avalon for the moment, the young Knight
  can sense that somewhere down the line there will be tension
  between the humans and the Goodly Folke. He earnestly
  wishes to present himself as an example of someone who can
  balance the influences of Theus and the Sidhe. Hopefully,
  others will follow in his steps and live a life that pays homage
  to the legends of Avalon while still following the Prophets
  and of course serving the beloved Queen.
  Special NPCs
  The following section introduces two NPCs without statis-
  tics, both of whom can be used for non-Théan campaigns as
  well. The Grey Queen and the Morrigan are extremely pow-
  erful and should only be used as dramatic plot devices. There
  is nothing anyone can do to kill either of them and any
  attempts to do so should be met with swift and immediate
  retribution. Enjoy!
  The Queen of the Grey Isle
  The power of the three sister Queens is known and felt
  throughout the Glamour Isles but there is a fourth figure of
  power and mystery in the land of Avalon: the Queen of the
  Grey Isle. Her given name is not known, and in truth she is
  only addressed as “Queen” out of courtesy (and caution). She
  is the shadowy Sidhe who rules the Grey Isle, a fog-shrouded
  island of the eastern coast of Avalon, about which rumors and
  legends abound. 
  Having no native language of their own, it is questionable
  whether the Sidhe had given names before they encoun-
  tered the mortals of Théah. They frequently adopt the
  names given to them by mortals. Of the Queens, only Maab
  goes by a personal name; if Queen of the Sky and the Lady
  of the Lake have chosen a given name, neither lady has
  elected to reveal those words to the rest of Théah.
  The Queen of the Sky reportedly imprisoned the Queen
  of the Grey Isle on her island fastness for some heinous
  offense in the dim past. The most common stories
  involve a love triangle with Lawrence Lugh and the
  ensuing row wherein the Sidhe knight lost his hand.
  There are contrary tales, as well, so the truth may
  never be known. In any event, there she sits, whether
  by force or by choice, and there she stays.
  Tales heard in any seaport tavern speak of ships
  driven into the mists near the island, never to return.
  Others whisper of a thick fog clearing during nights of
  the full moon, revealing craggy tree-lined cliffs sur-
  mounted by battlements of some ancient fortification,
  with flickering lights in the topmost tower. With each
  telling, the tale grows more fantastic, the monster
  larger, the fog thicker, and the danger greater.
  Local fishermen avoid the place, more out of caution
  than fear. The fishing in the vicinity is generally good
  and the fog, present during the daytime, is rarely of
  such density as to imperil navigation. Clearly, then, it is
  a border demarcation rather than an attempt to hide
  the island or a subterfuge to cause shipwreck. At
  night the fog lifts or at least lessens so that the tower
  lights usually provides sufficient warning to pass-
  ing ships. 
  The locals warn that the waters nearby cover a hazardous
  reef. They tell visitors — the curious, the explorers, the trea-
  sure-seekers — that the place is a terrifying sight, looming up
  out of the water at midnight, never in the same place twice, et
  cetera, et cetera.
  However, it is not true that “no ship has ever returned from
  that cursed fog.” Ships come and go all the time, in fact,
  although the area is hardly a major shipping lane. Bloody
  Bonnie McGee and her Sea Dogs came and went with grand
  results, although people do not speak much about what tran-
  spired there. The reason for the mystery is actually simple:
  the Grey Isle is the first and largest Gateway to Bryn Bresail.
  The Isle is a small affair, a basalt knob rising out of the sea,
  surmounted by a lichen-wrapped bastion. The castle is a ram-
  bling maze of terraces and turrets, clinging to the rock like a
  starfish. There are trees, wind-twisted hazels and blackthorns,
  rising out of the crags in fitful clumps here and there. 
  The mysterious Sidhe woman on the Grey Isle is some-
  times called the Grey Queen, although it is the island that is
  shrouded in grey fog and not the Queen herself. Her name is
  currently known only to Bonnie
  McGee (who is not available at
  the moment…) Should
  anyone else care to find out,
  
  CHAPTER
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  however, it is easily discovered — just fill a tankard for The
  Morrigan and she will tell you. Sailors who first plied the seas
  in oracles told of being washed ashore on an island to the east,
  rescued by a noble lady wearing a gown of brilliant white who
  took them in, and the next day sent them home on magic
  winds. She was called, in the old language, Gwyn Hwyfar or
  “The White Shadow.”
  Apart from the occasional traveler coming from or going to
  Bryn Bresail, the island is populated only by the Lady and her
  few attendants: dryads who guard her trees and a bevy of
  swans that serve as her messengers. 
  The Lady of the White Shadow has no aspirations to royal
  status. She maintains strong wards against the unwary. Casual
  sightseeing is discouraged. The rocky reefs are difficult to
  navigate, the currents treacherous, and, of course, there is the
  need to protect the sacred entrance to Bryn Bresail. The closer
  one comes, the more things become strange to mortal ken:
  time moves differently, distances are deceiving, the laws of
  nature are changed. 
  Many portals allowing travel to the unfathomable land of
  Bryn Bresail exist throughout the Glamour Isles, including
  many located in lakes and rivers. But only one is accessible to
  seagoing vessels: the Grey Isle. The Lady of the White
  Shadow is more than just a prisoner — she is a warden. She
  guards the largest permanent portal between Théah and Bryn
  Bresail. Guards against what, might one ask? The ancient ene-
  mies of both — the Syrneth. The Barrier still holds, but it is
  weakening. However, anything that may have slipped
  through will not be permitted access to the home of the
  Sidhe, including native evils like the Black Siren, who has
  long sought to gain access to the gateway as part of her on-
  going battle with Maab and the Grey Isle has often found
  itself under assault by her hideous creatures.
  It is true that the Queen of the Sky set a curse upon Lady
  Gwyn Hwyfar, and it does involve Sir Lawrence Lugh, but
  that story is not ours to tell. Suffice it to say that the Lady does
  not depart, Lugh has never returned to the island, and the
  Queen of the Sky is not disposed to discuss the matter.
  Time is a strange matter in the Sidhe world. While it is true
  that for a long time after the incident with Sir Lawrence
  Lugh, the Lady of the Grey Isle refused to look into her
  mirror. The Sidhe, however, are beings possessed of a great
  curiosity. One day, she put down the spindle and removed the
  cover from her magic mirror. What she saw fascinated her.
  She now monitors travel through the Portal in her
  demesne. Sidhe ships may sail to and fro with ease, but
  mortal ships had best prepare to explain their mission and
  show good cause. Creatures of the Black Siren, anyone pos-
  sessing high degrees of Bargain Sorcery, or persons with
  questionable motives will all be refused passage. She is unable
  to change what she sees in the future probably because she is
  not certain which of the many possible futures presented is
  the “real” one. However, when she senses danger to Bryn Bre-
  sail, she sends word to those who can take appropriate action.
  Guests, should they make their way to her shore, however
  uninvited, are always expected. The Isle seems to be a much
  larger landmass when one sets foot on it although it is diffi-
  cult to tell because of the fog and rain. Should anyone be
  invited to her tower apartments, they find a comfortable suite
  befitting a lady of quality. Everything is of the finest crafts-
  manship and exquisite beyond belief. She has a spectacular
  view of the sea that oddly enough always shows clear
  weather. 
  Two striking items dominate the room: a large loom and a
  tall standing mirror. Apparently the story about a non-exis-
  tent loom is a fiction designed to make her plight as the jilted
  woman more romantic. 
  The loom holds a great tapestry currently in progress. On
  first glance, it appears to have no pattern unless one studies it
  carefully. After a few minutes, anyone with Sidhe blood can
  begin to see depictions of various places and events in Bryn
  Bresail and the Glamour Isles. A Fate Witch who sees a web of
  such complexity will find her sanity begin to unravel. Druids
  see a pretty woven picture of the Avalon terrain in remark-
  able and lifelike detail. 
  A mortal who gazes in the tall mirror sees a reflection of
  himself that is slightly altered by his or her motives and
  behavior. Those with good intentions see themselves taller,
  braver, more beautiful, stronger, more elegantly dressed.
  Those who come with sinister motives that they have man-
  aged to keep hidden will be unmasked and should this occur,
  surviving the Lady’s fury is questionable.
  The Lady looks in the mirror, then weaves what she sees.
  The result is more than just a grand picture of her world, how-
  ever. It also tells her about the state of the Barrier around the
  Glamour Isles. She searches for events that strengthen and
  weaken the Barrier and adds them into the weaving. Should
  anything require intervention, one of her large swans will
  glide out of the mists and bring word to the appropriate
  Queen. Should a Porté sorcerer open large holes in the fabric
  of space that terminate in Avalon (large enough to move, say,
  small bodies of troops), the Grey Queen will see to it that the
  Lady of the Lake is informed, and there will be a “welcoming”
  party to meet him on arrival. Should some unfortunate
  Explorer discover and activate a Syrneth artifact, the Queen
  of the Sky will be alerted so that she can take whatever action
  she deems appropriate.
  Unlike the great Queens, the Queen of the Grey Isle has no
  minions of her own save the swans that serve as her messen-
  gers, so she also relies on the Morrigan to act for her. In gen-
  eral, she is the Sentinel of Avalon tasked with monitoring and
  warning. She finds it far less painful than engaging in roman-
  tic liaisons with fickle knights.
  Adventurers who try to make their way to her must be
  expert navigators. The Black Siren’s minions lurk in the
  nearby seas. There are the peculiarities of time and space
  inherent in anything relating to the Sidhe. Some ships enter
  the area and are lost forever, while others return years later,
  although only a day has passed for those onboard. Occasion-
  ally ships return before they left, which makes everyone
  uncomfortable, but those events are usually hushed up.
  Lady Gwyn Hwyfar might be a gracious hostess, but she is
  no fool. Of all the Sidhe, she may be the most worldly-wise
  and she is certainly the best informed. She is aware of geopol-
  itics, history, and current events although she may dissemble
  to allow dishonest travelers to betray themselves. She is also a
  good keeper of secrets; so visitors should not expect her to
  hand out dossiers on enemies. She wants for little and cannot
  be bribed. She might, however, be willing to part with infor-
  mation if she can be convinced that it serves the cause, which
  is maintenance of the Barrier and protection of her beloved
  Avalon.
  
  CHAPTER
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  The Morrigan
  The Queen of the Grey Isle has a powerful ally who travels
  between Bryn Bresail and the mortal world of Avalon — the
  Morrigan. Know as the Battle Raven among the Sidhe, she is
  revered throughout Avalon as a warrior goddess and defender
  of the Glamour Isles. An ancient spirit of unknown (but nei-
  ther Syrneth nor Sidhe) origin, her name is invoked in times
  of war and conflict. Although some refer to her as Queen, the
  Morrigan cannot be bothered to maintain a court in the regal
  style of the other Sidhe Queens. She is more a part of the Old
  Ways of the Druids and relishes the unsophisticated and
  homespun culture of the past.
  She has, in fact, many names and aspects but first and fore-
  most, she is a great warrior chieftain, rough in her language
  and spirit, direct in manner and custom, fiercely loyal, and a
  passionate fighter and lover. Her conquests on the field and
  in the bedroom (when she bothers to repair to a room) are the
  stuff of rousing tales.
  As a Legend, the Morrigan represents the union of dis-
  parate aspects: battle and fertility. The cycle of birth, death,
  and rebirth is a constant struggle, but essential and invigorat-
  ing. She fights to protect the land and to live by the strength
  of arm and heart. She fights on the side of the just warrior, the
  noble cause and the true of spirit. Those who seek a vigorous
  life and honorable death pray to her. 
  The Morrigan has fully embraced the earthly and earthy
  emotional strengths and weaknesses of the mortal realm. She
  spends little time in Bryn Bresail, rarely consorts with the
  Sidhe, preferring the vibrant, energetic mortal world. When
  not at the site of a battle, she can be found wherever life is
  being lived to its lusty fullest. How many nations sing of a
  goddess who can be found in the center of a tavern brawl?
  Not a Sidhe, she is an elemental spirits of the land in human
  form and as such, serves as a patroness of druidic magic.
  The Glamour Isles are her demesne and she will aid those
  defending it against all comers. It is not her way to take part
  in a battle directly, as this would be cheating a warrior of his
  or her due. Rather she uses whatever means she sees fit to test
  the fortitude and bravery of both sides. She will appear in
  battle as a great raven, flying overhead and appearing to
  choose who will live and who will die. In fact, she will tell
  you (if you buy her a drink or two) that she leaves the choice
  up to each individual to confront their destiny. If someone is
  frightened into flight from the field or fails to greet their fate
  face-on, they have earned their doom. Nothing pleases her
  more than to see a fighter, even one of the opposition, spit in
  her black unblinking eye, clutch his sword or spear and cry
  defiance.
  The Queens regard her with varying degrees of horror and
  fascination. The Queen of the Sky considers her uncouth to
  the point of ignominy and ignores her until she needs the
  Morrigan for something. The Lady of the Lady appreciates
  her love of Avalon, although she wishes for a bit less violence.
  The Morrigan’s apparently unbridled lust is also something of
  an embarrassment to the more refined Sidhe queen, although
  the young men seem to be no worse for the experience. Maab
  has been unable to recruit the Battle Raven to her cause, but
  when Meryth raises the standard against Elaine, the Morri-
  gan is sure to bring her considerable powers to bear to sup-
  port Avalon’s beloved queen.
  The Morrigan finds the Queens, and in fact most Sidhe, to
  be too studied and bloodless to be tolerated for long. Their
  lack of emotion, passion, and spontaneity makes them
  tedious in the extreme. Although the Queen of the Sky is tire-
  some and high-minded she does provide the occasional enter-
  taining project. The Lady of the Lake is pleasant enough, but
  dull, somewhat like beautifully prepared food that com-
  pletely lacks seasoning. She and the Morrigan share a love of
  Avalon, however, and get along quite happily on that score.
  Maab is a sour old fish with a bit of fire in her belly and far
  more tolerable than the slug of a Black Siren; still, too many
  plots and scheming revolve around them, not to mention all
  that water, so they are best avoided. That little Meryth crea-
  ture will find herself on the end of a sharp spear point. The
  Morrigan has met Elaine on a few occasions and regards her
  as a suitable queen, although finds that eternal dim-witted
  fluttering about that moon-faced Lugh is definitely inappro-
  priate for a ruler of her statue. If Elaine is not going to drag
  the hound by his pretty blond hair down to the stables and be
  human for once, what good is he?
  The relationship that holds real power is the one between
  the Morrigan and Derwyddon. They see eye to eye on many
  things, although she thinks that the old bastard can be ludi-
  crously grumpy and occasionally rather pompous. They share
  a common purpose, the defense of Avalon, and a common
  constituency, the Druids. The Druids hold the Battle Raven in
  the highest regards. She is the embodiment of the land and
  the old ways, the forceful spirit of the land that rises to battle
  whenever she is needed.
  The Morrigan is also revered by the Vestenmannavnjar
  despite the fact that she fought back their invaders from
  Avalon’s shores on more than one occasion. They are con-
  vinced that she is really a Vestenmannavnjar walkurja or
  Chooser of the Dead who should return home. The Morrigan,
  for her part, is flattered and thinks the Vestenmannavnjar
  should pack up and abandon that rat’s nest of merchants in
  Vendel and come to Inismore where people respect the true
  warrior spirit and still know how to have a good time. As
  keepers of the land, Matushka and the Morrigan have an
  understanding. Contact has been minimal, as, fortunately,
  neither of their respective countries has designs on the other.
  The Morrigan regards shamanistic magic as acceptable and
  sorcery as anathema unless it is being used to protect Avalon.
  Even then, Porté is never right — anything that weakens the
  Barrier must be eradicated.
  The Morrigan is often accompanied by a flock of black
  ravens and her band of warriors — some Sidhe, some mortal,
  many a bit of both — who wear her colors and follow her
  from battle to battle, and tavern to tavern. They are a diverse
  group, some as boisterous and bawdy as their mistress, others
  taciturn and haunted. Some live for a good fight, others died
  in one. They are armed and armored in styles that cross the
  span of history. The only common features are a fetch of black
  feathers worn in the hair or from a braid about the neck, and
  the mystic knot-work tattoos said to empower them with
  great battle magic.
  
  CHAPTER
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  The Morrigan’s Appearance
  The Morrigan strikes a fearsome figure. She is tall and power-
  ful, her hair a great tangled mane of lustrous red braided
  through with leather thongs, bedecked with feathers, bones,
  and blackthorn leaves. When fully armed, she wears a black
  leather bodkin embossed with silver studs and a heavy gold
  torque of sovereignty covered with ancient symbols. Her bare
  arms are entwined with tattoos of power, and from her kirtle
  hangs a horn for sounding, a horn for drinking ad two antler-
  hilted daggers, one of bone and the other of obsidian. She car-
  ries two long war spears with blackthorn hafts and silver
  blades, hung with shreds of red cloth and raven feathers.
  She wears a man’s trews when a-field and deerskin
  boots. When not in battle dress, she wears a crimson
  and black gown and cloak, bedecked with silver and
  onyx. Under her gown, her legs bear the indigo mark-
  ings of magic symbols.
  The Morrigan appears in other human forms, depend-
  ing on her mood and purpose. When going about her
  normal business, she appears as described above, red hair
  floating unbound like a bonfire, black eyes sparkling. She
  generally appears as a mature and vibrant woman of appro-
  priate age to lead her tribe. When it suits her, she appears as
  an old one-eyed woman who blesses, curses, forecasts,
  teaches, prophesies, and generally acts peculiar. Woe unto any
  who mistreats a one-eyed crone in Avalon!
  On the rare occasions that she enters a battle personally,
  such as when an opponent calls upon supernatural allies or
  dark magic, she becomes a screaming, hideous war hag of ter-
  rifying countenance and unstoppable fury. This is an aspect of
  such ferocity and power that it should only be used in very
  dire or highly dramatic circumstances.
  The Morrigan is frequently seen in the guise of a raven, as
  is her entire war band. They circle a battlefield, raising an
  unholy racket and bringing fear to the hearts of those weak
  enough to allow it purchase.
  The Morrigan’s Powers
  Retreat can sometimes be honorable. If the defenders of
  Avalon are attacked by stealth and treachery, the Morrigan
  can call up mists to veil a battlefield to protect them until
  they can regroup.
  The croaking of her ravens causes fear and terror in the
  faint-hearted who are convinced that the black creatures will
  overwhelm them with talons and beaks, blinding them and
  driving them mad.
  She is fond of appearing to generals the night before a
  battle in the form of a washerwoman who appears to be clean-
  ing the general’s own garments in a stream or river. When he
  asks about the bloodstains on the clothes, she tells him that
  he will die on the battlefield, perhaps tomorrow. For some it
  is a true prophecy, for others a test of their courage.
  When a particular fighter has shown great courage or
  strength of purpose, the Morrigan will intercede in a
  combat, causing his opponent to slip or hesitate at a cru-
  cial moment. There are tales of enemies suddenly being
  struck by paralysis in mid-strike (or mid-cast). It is her
  way of evening the odds. (Note: This acts as a counter-
  spell that removes a magical enhancement or excessive
  advantage from the opponent and activated purely at the
  GM’s will.) She may also cast a form of battle frenzy that
  inspires exceptional feats of martial skill and bravery. 
  The Morrigan’s Pledge
  The Morrigan has little patience for anything Syrneth. Small
  uses of Bargain sorcery will not draw her attention but any
  large-scale undertaking (such as the use of Porté to bring an
  army onto Avalon soil) certainly will. She is not alone in her
  extreme hatred of the Syrneth, but perhaps the fire that feeds
  it burns more fiercely in her because she sees what will come
  if the Barrier weakens.
  
  CHAPTER
  5
  The
  Veil
  91
  I see a world that will not be dear to me:
  Summer without flowers 
  Kine without milk, 
  Men without valor, 
  Women without joy.
  This do I pledge:
  Peace unto Avalon,
  Strength in everyone
  Woods grown with antlers
  The land held secure
  Peace unto Avalon
  Nine times eternal!
  In Conclusion…
  Whether you are running a classic swashbuckling adventure
  in Avalon, a mixed genre adventure in a variation of Avalon or
  England, or something else altogether different, the Sidhe
  can serve a role for both players and GM. They offer a chal-
  lenge to the player to explore a life spent imitating emotion
  and they offer the GM an opportunity to give seasoned play-
  ers an opponent who is worth of their advanced levels.
  While you can certainly equate the Sidhe with fantasy
  Elves (Dark, Sylvan or otherwise), it would perhaps be a bit of
  an injustice to the intrinsic nature of these powerful beings.
  By all accounts, both historical and literary, they are intrinsi-
  cally tied to something deep and almost primordial in Celtic
  and Gaelic lands. They are immensely powerful, astoundingly
  beautiful, and utterly terrifying. They are capricious, and dan-
  gerous because of it. Theirs is a twisted sense of reality, due in
  no small part to the nature of time in their world. They should
  be regarded with no small degree of caution and some mea-
  sure of reverence, if for no other reason than their ability to
  obliterate mortals with the sweep of a hand.
  … Away, come away:
  Empty your heart of its mortal dream. 
  The winds awaken, the leaves whirl round, 
  Our cheeks are pale, our hair is unbound, 
  Our breasts are heaving, our eyes are agleam, 
  Our arms are waving, our lips are apart; 
  And if any gaze on our rushing band, 
  We come between him and the deed of his hand, 
  We come between him and the hope of his heart. 
  The host is rushing 'twixt night and day, 
  And where is there hope or deed as fair? 
  from “The Hosting of the Sidhe” (1899)
  by William Butler Yeats
  Are the Sidhe only in Avalon?
  There is every indication that the Sidhe come and go as
  they please. There are gateways to Bryn Bresail all over
  Théah and you may certainly place them as you will to suit
  the needs of your game. The only hard and fast rule is that
  they must be attached to water. Water is the Sidhe’s
  lifeblood and a key to their continued existence. As noted,
  the Sidhe probably do not visit the majority of the Crescent
  Empire due to the lack of water, although they may very
  well appear in the mountains, especially along the north-
  ernmost border with Ussura. Although there is more than
  enough water, they do not seem to visit Cathay often. This
  may be due in part to the fact that the gods of the Seven
  Kingdoms appear to have taken sufficient precautions
  against the creatures of the Barrier. 
  I want Elves in my campaign. 
  How do I do that?
  There is nothing preventing you from bringing whatever
  elements you wish into your 7th Sea™ or Swashbuckling
  Adventures™ campaign. However, canon for this world
  does not include traditional elves as we know them from
  fantasy role-playing games and the Sidhe as presented
  here should not be mistaken for such. While you can turn
  the Sidhe into more traditional fantasy elves, it might be
  interesting to set them as a counterpoint to the Sidhe, 
  as if perhaps the more “elite” a Sidhe is, the farther away
  it gets from its Elven origins.
  Do all humans who go to Bryn Bresail get
  stuck there forever? If not, do they suffer
  permanent damage when they return?
  Although the Avalon™ book intimated that returning
  from an encounter with the Sidhe was a totally wrenching
  experience, there is every indication that the degree of plea-
  sure or pain a human experiences is greatly dependent on
  the whim of the Sidhe (GM) involved. While there should
  always be some effect from any encounter with the Sidhe,
  it does not always have to be awful or horrific, and in fact,
  adding some humorous result might work just as well.
  Who are the Sons of Lugh?
  The Sons of Lugh are a half-blood line resulting from the
  Lady of the Lake’s union with her mortal lover. These male
  offspring live in Bryn Bresail and may actually be unaware
  of their mortal heritage. Those who do know are taught
  never to reveal that to other Sidhe, and they are never
  dipped into the River of Forgetfulness. The Sons of Lugh
  serve the Lady of the Lake in much the same way that the
  members of Sophia’s Daughters serve in Théah. The Sons
  of Lugh are devoted to studying the Syrneth because they
  believe that the coming of the Fourth Prophet will open the
  gates into the dreaded Syrneth realm. They are not unlike
  an army on alert, vigilant for any action, especially by the
  Queen of the Sky who does not seem to appreciate the
  growing danger. (See Sophia’s Daughters,™ pg. 41.)
  
  Sidhe Pirate Template
  He swaggered with a rolling gait like a pirate, he drank and swore
  like a pirate, he had a fast ship and a proper crew of rough sailors. 
  He dressed like a pirate, right down to the gold earring, the white silk
  shirt, and the apparently requisite leather pants and high boots. 
  He thought about getting a little monkey but they were such nasty
  creatures especially when they were drunk. He took a pirate’s name
  — Captain Edmund Hawke. Ladies seemed to like the way he
  leaped up onto the railing and blew them a kiss as his ship pulled out
  of port…
  Humans sailors have the most fascinating response to a pirate flag.
  There is much dashing around and shouting of orders and scrambling
  about the decks. Then they load that damned iron shot into 
  those damned iron cannons of theirs and fire across the bow. 
  Life at sea has its moments, to be sure, but encountering iron is not one
  of the more pleasant ones. There is an interesting form of human enter-
  tainment on shore that they call a “tavern brawl” which involves a
  great deal of swearing, breaking of furniture, striking each other, and
  falling down in the dirt. Pirates seem to enjoy doing this too.
  Yes, I was the Duchess of Summervale but that became tedious
  when humans failed to pay me the courtesy due the title, so I decided
  to become a pirate captain. It was not all that difficult, really. You can
  purchase a decent ship anywhere along the coast. Perhaps growing
  accustomed to the rolling of the seas took a bit longer than I had
  anticipated but after a while I was able to master that as well. So
  there you have it. A pirate’s life. For now. Perhaps I shall sail east. The
  men of the Montaigne Navy are always so amusing…
  Sidhe Pirate (d20™)
  Sidhe Glamour Mage 7/Pirate 1: CR 13; SZ Medium
  (humanoid); HD 8d10+16; hp 52; Init +2 (Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC
  17 (+2 Dex, +5 Unarmored Defense Proficiency); Atks: Rapier
  +9/+5 melee (1d6+3); SA Glamour Legends (Anne o’ the
  Winds, Lady of the Lake, Saint Rogers), Spells; SQ Glamour
  Check +3, Immortal, Immune to Disease, Slow Aging, Smell
  Glamour, DR Cold Iron/10, SR 18; SV Fort +6, Reflex + 9,
  Will +7; Str 16, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 15, Wis 14, Cha 17; AL
  NG; Skills: Balance +8, Bluff +13, Diplomacy +8, Gather Infor-
  mation +8, Knowledge (Sidhe) +7, Profession (Sailor) +6,
  Search +8, Sense Motive +7, Spot +8, Swim +6, Use Rope +6;
  Feats: Combat Reflexes, Expertise, Full Blooded (Glamour),
  Half Blooded (Glamour), Parry, Pirate Trick (Dagger Ride and
  Kick Up), Sex Appeal, Speak Language (Avalon [alternately,
  any one language in your campaign]), Unarmored Defense
  Proficiency (Basic).
  Spells: 0-level: dancing lights, dazzle, prestidigitation; Level 1:
  charm person, ventriloquism; Level 2: alter self, invisibility; Level
  3: emotion. (Spells Per Day: 4/4/3/1).
  Sidhe Pirate (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 3, Finesse: 3, Wits: 3, Resolve: 3, Panache: 3
  Reputation: 10
  Background: None
  Arcana: None
  Advantages: Avalon (R/W); Combat Reflexes, Dangerous
  Beauty, Glamour (Full-Blooded), Immortal, Immune to
  Disease, Sea Bound, Smell Glamour
  Courtier: Dancing 2, Etiquette 3, Fashion 2, Oratory 2, Seduc-
  tion 3
  Sailor: Balance 2, Climbing 2, Knotwork 2, Leaping 2, Naviga-
  tion 2, Rigging 2
  Athlete: Climbing 2, Footwork 3, Leaping 2, Sprinting 1,
  Swinging 2, Throwing 1
  Captain: Ambush 1, Cartography 1, Strategy 3, Tactics 3
  Fencing: Attack 3, Parry 3
  Glamour (Apprentice): Anne o’ the Wind 2, Lady of the Lake 2,
  Saint Rogers 3
  
  Fallen Sidhe Template (d20™)
  Fallen Sidhe Glamour Mage 1/Swashbuckler 5/Faíleas 1:
  CR 12; SZ Medium (humanoid); HD 1d10+2+5d6+10+1d8 +2;
  hp 36; Init +3 (Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 23 (+3 Dex, +2 Light
  Footed, +3 Dashing and Daring, +5 Unarmored Defense Pro-
  ficiency); Atks: Rapier +9/+4 melee (1d6+1d4); SA Dexterous,
  Dexterous Strike, Light Footed, Glamour Legend (Jack),
  Spells; SQ Glamour Check +0, Immortal, Immune to Disease,
  Slow Aging, Smell Glamour, DR Cold Iron/10, SR 18; SV Fort
  +6, Reflex + 9, Will +7; Str 14, Dex 16, Con 14, Int 14, Wis 15,
  Cha 17; AL CN; Skills: Balance +7, Bluff +12, Concentration
  +6, Intimidation + 8, Jump +7, Knowledge (Sidhe) +6, Sense
  Motive +7, Tumble +9; Feats: Appearance (Above Average),
  Combat Reflexes, Dashing and Daring, Half Blooded (Glam-
  our), Large, Speak Language: (Avalon [alternately, any one
  language from your campaign]), Unarmored Defense Profi-
  ciency (Basic), Weapon Focus (rapier).
  Spells: 0-level: dancing lights, erase, ghost sound (Spells per
  Day: 1).
  Fallen Sidhe Temptress (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 3, Finesse: 3, Wits: 3, Resolve: 3, Panache: 3
  Reputation: 0
  Background: None
  Arcana: None
  Advantages: Avalon (R/W); Appearance (Intimidating),
  Combat Reflexes, Dangerous Beauty, Glamour (Half
  Blooded), Immortal, Immune to Disease, Iron Vulnerabil-
  ity, Sidhe Sword, Smell Glamour
  Courtier: Dancing 3, Etiquette 3, Fashion 2, Oratory 2, 
  Sincerity 1, Seduction 2
  Athlete: Climbing 2, Footwork 2, Leaping 2, Sprinting 1,
  Throwing 1
  Fencing: Attack 3, Parry 3
  Rider: Riding 3
  Faíleas (Apprentice): Feint (Fencing) 1, Reflect (Fencing) 1,
  Wall of Steel 1, Exploit Weakness (Faíleas) 1
  Glamour (Apprentice): Jack 3
  Fallen Sidhe Template 
  Playing with mortals was actually amusing, insofar as she under-
  stood the term. The way men stared at her white skin and jet-black
  hair, the looks of utter amazement at her phenomenal luck with
  cards, the surprise on her opponent’s face when she picked up her
  blade and sliced through the air a few times, the compliments she
  received when she went riding in the park. Silly people! Riding a
  horse in this human world was far easier than staying on her mount
  during the Wild Hunt…
  She had traveled quite a good deal, especially for one of her race.
  The behavior of humans when attracted to women was a source of
  constant amusement. She once visited a small town in Castille
  where she had seen a group of humans who were dancing something
  they called the Zarabanda. She was not certain why they had chosen
  to do such a thing in front of the Montaigne Army but dance they
  did, and quite well actually. At least the audience seemed to appreci-
  ate their efforts. All except one poor little Montaigne lad who had
  fallen asleep on a barrel, which probably was just as well. The Zara-
  banda is not for children.
  Humans are easy to mislead, especially at night when they are lost
  on the road. Casting lantern lights that appear just ahead of them or
  tantalize the weary travelers by flickering through the trees is quite
  amusing, especially when you make sounds as if others were walking
  nearby. When encountering them along the way, you might offer
  them a map, for which they will be pathetically grateful. Humans
  place great store by maps. Let the map lead them just so far and then
  re-appear in a different guise. When they show you the map, pass
  your hand over it as if to remove some occluding dust, point them in
  a direction (it matters not which), and hand the map back. The next
  time they peruse it, of course, something important will be missing
  but by then you will be long gone.
  
  Sidhe Blooded Bard Template
  The Sidhe in the audience had seen enough human entertainment
  to know when to applaud, and they understood that if they kept clap-
  ping their hands together, she would come back out onto the stage
  and sing another song. And another. And another. They were tireless
  in their appreciation of her performance. At first, the bags of gold
  bought sumptuous new gowns and jewels beyond her imagination.
  But she wondered, would she soon grow too tired to keep singing? Too
  exhausted to spend the guilders that her beautiful voice earned for
  her? Worse still, what would they do to her if she lost her voice…
  I learned to sing when I was but a child, raised as I was along the
  shore. At night, when my family lay asleep in their beds, I crept down
  to the water and sat on the rocks until the Merrow came to me. It
  was from them that I learned the plaintive songs of the sea which
  humans find so beautiful. The sleek creatures were so patient with
  me until I had perfected the technique of stilling the room with my
  voice and evoking precious silver tears from everyone who hears me
  sing. It is a good life, that of a bard, but I long to return to the sea and
  swim in the moonlight of a summer evening among the kindly
  Merrow-folk.
  Drink up, my lads, and hearty be!
  Tomorrow ye may die!
  O’Bannon sits among us now,
  So raise your tankards high!
  The uisge races through the soul,
  Its fire in bluid and eye
  O’Bannon sits among us now,
  So raise your tankards high!
  One hand holds a mighty sword,
  Raise your weapons high,
  O’Bannon sits among us now
  And none shall see him die!
  — Inismore Drinking Song
  Sidhe Blooded Bard (d20™)
  Human (Sidhe Blooded) Bard 5: CR 6; SZ Medium
  (humanoid); HD 5d8+5; hp 26; Init +2 (Dex); Spd 30 ft.; AC 12
  (+2 Dex); Atks: Dagger +3 melee (1d4) or dagger +5 ranged
  (1d4); SA None; SQ Bardic Knowledge, Bardic Music; SV Fort
  +2, Reflex + 7, Will +7; Str 11, Dex 14, Con 13, Int 15, Wis 14,
  Cha 16; AL NG; Skills: Bluff +8, Concentration +5, Diplomacy
  +11, Disguise +11, Gather Information +11, Knowledge
  (Local History) +6, Knowledge (Sidhe) +6, Listen +10, Per-
  form +14, Sense Motive +10; Feats: Appearance (Above Aver-
  age), Half Blooded (Glamour), Legendary Trait (Charisma),
  Panache, Performer, Skill Focus (Performer), Speak Language
  (Avalon [alternately, any one language from your campaign]).
  Sidhe Blooded Bard (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 2, Finesse: 3, Wits: 3, Resolve: 3, Panache: 3
  Reputation: 0
  Background: None
  Arcana: None
  Advantages: Avalon (R/W); Appearance (Stunning), Leg-
  endary Wits, Sidhe Blooded
  Artist: Musician 2
  Bard: Etiquette 1, History 2, Oratory 3, Riddles 1, Sidhe Lore
  2, Singing 3
  Performer: Acting 2, Dancing 2, Oratory 3, Singing 3
  Athlete: Climbing 1, Footwork 2, Sprinting 1, Throwing 1
  Knife: Attack 1, Parry 2
  
  Avalon Wanderer Template
  He was doomed. He had met a lot of fine ladies in his journeys across
  Théah, but It seemed a cruel trick of fate that all he had to do was a
  Sidhe lady and lose his heart in an instant. Deeply and completely.
  He would stop his wandering for a while — sometimes as long as a
  year and a day — but there was always that sunrise when he awak-
  ened and she was gone. Sometimes, one of them would leave one per-
  fect rose on the pillow next to him because she knew it was the right
  thing to do. He would pack his belongings, tuck the rose inside his
  shirt, and head off on a new adventure. His broken heart would heal
  eventually… or not.
  I left home when I was a lad of some ten years or so, not because 
  I was unhappy but because I knew there had to be more to the beau-
  tiful land of ours than a field of wheat and flock of sheep. And indeed,
  I was right! In Avalon alone there are seven counties, each with
  something to recommend it as a place where a man might find a bit
  of adventure, a quest, a journey to someplace off the path. But adven-
  turing has its price. Ah, my beautiful and mysterious lady of the
  mists! Will I have no more to remember you by than a moonlit
  vision in the still waters of the Bran Bridge Lake?
  When my cousin Andriu MacKenna renounced his family and
  left his father’s court in Leister, ‘twas I who grabbed his gear and trot-
  ted after him, barely able to keep up with his long-legged stride. 
  The blood ran true in both of us, so we set out to find adventure and
  learn what we could of the Glamour Isles. ‘Tis a fair knowledge
  indeed that we have gained during our travels! Tonight we rest in the
  strange city of Norgales. As the mist rises at dawn, Andriu says we
  may find a gateway to the Sidhe kingdom of Bryn Bresail…
  Avalon Wanderer (d20™)
  Human Avalon Wanderer 5/Peecke 1: CR 6; SZ Medium
  (humanoid); HD 6d8+6; hp 38; Init +2 (Dex); Speed 30 ft.; AC
  17 (+2 Dex, +5 Unarmored Defense Proficiency); Atks:
  Quarterstaff +8 melee (1d6+2); SA Flurry of Movement; SQ
  Evasion, Tradesman, Uncanny Dodge (Dex bonus to AC),
  Ward of the Albatross; SV Fort +3, Reflex + 7, Will +5; Str 14,
  Dex 15, Con 13, Int 12, Wis 11, Cha 14; AL CG; Skills: Balance
  +9, Climb +11, Concentration +6, Hide +7, Jump +11, Knowl-
  edge (Sidhe Lore) +6, Listen +9, Move Silently +11, Search +6,
  Spot +11, Tumble +7, Wilderness Lore +9; Feats: Indomitable
  Will, Iron Will, Speak Language (Avalon [alternately, any one
  language in your campaign]), Star-Crossed, Two Weapon
  Fighting, Unarmored Defense Proficiency (Basic), Weapon
  Focus (Quarterstaff).
  Avalon Wanderer (7th Sea™)
  Brawn: 3, Finesse: 3, Wits: 2, Resolve: 3, Panache: 2
  Reputation: 0
  Background: Sidhe Lover 2
  Arcana: Star-Crossed
  Advantages: Avalon (R/W); Indomitable Will, Keen Senses,
  Lightning Reflexes*
  Hunter: Stealth 2, Survival 3, Tracking 2
  Athlete: Climbing 1, Footwork 2, Sprinting 2, Throwing 1
  Staff: Attack 3, Haymaker 2, Parry 3
  Peecke (Apprentice): Beat (Staff) 1, Corps à Corps 1, Feint
  (Staff) 1, Exploit Weakness (Peecke) 1
  LIGHTNING REFLEXES
  For d20™: see Swashbuckling Adventures,™ pg. 136.
  For 7th Sea™ (Errata to the Swordsman’s Guild,™ pg. 92).
  Lightning Reflexes: You react very quickly to threats against
  you, which allows you to get out of harm’s way. Once per
  Round when you use an Interrupt Action to make an Active
  Defense, it costs you one less Action Die than normal (mini-
  mum 1). 
  
  CHAPTER
  5
  The
  Veil
  96
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  13. Termination: This License will terminate automatically if You fail to comply with all terms herein
  and fail to cure such breach within 30 days of becoming aware of the breach. All sublicenses shall
  survive the termination of this License.
  14. Reformation: If any provision of this License is held to be unenforceable, such provision shall be
  reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.
  15. COPYRIGHT NOTICE: Open Game License v1.0a Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
  System Rules Document Copyright 2000, Wizards of the Coast, Inc.; Authors Jonathan Tweet, Monte
  Cook, Skip Williams, based on original material by E. Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
  Swashbuckling Adventures, Copyright 2003, Alderac Entertainment Group, Inc.
  The Open Game Content
  This printing of The Sidhe Book of Nightmares is done under version 1.0a of the Open Game License
  and the draft version of the d20 System Trademark License, d20 System Trademark Logo Guide and
  System Reference Document by permission of Wizards of the Coast. Subsequent printings of this
  book will incorporate final versions of the license, guide and document.
  AEG’s intention is to open up as much of this adventure as possible to be used as Open Game Content
  (OGC), while maintaining Product Identity (PI) to all aspects of the Swashbuckling Adventures and
  7th Sea™ intellectual property. Publishers who wish to use the OGC materials from this book are
  encouraged to contact jzinser@alderac.com if they have any questions or concerns about reproducing
  material from Théah in other OGL works. Alderac Entertainment Group, Inc. would appreciate
  anyone using OGC material from Swashbuckling Adventures in other OGL works to kindly reference
  Swashbuckling Adventures as the source of that material within the text of their work. Open Game
  Content may only be used under and in accordance with the terms of the OGL as fully set forth on the
  previous page.
  DESIGNATION OF PRODUCT IDENTITY: The following items are hereby designated as Product
  Identity in accordance with section 1(e) of the Open Game License, version 1.0a: Any and all Swash-
  buckling Adventures and 7th Sea logos and identifying marks and trade dress, including all Swash-
  buckling Adventures product and product line names including but not limited to Théah, The Sidhe
  Book of Nightmares, and Swashbuckling Adventures, and the Swashbuckling Adventures and 7th Sea
  logos; any elements of the Swashbuckling Adventures or Théah setting, including but not limited to
  capitalized names, Nation names, class names, names of artifacts, names of spells, names of magic and
  magician types (including but not limited to pure El Fuego Adentro, Fate Witches, Glamour, Lærdom,
  Porté, Pyeryem, Scrying, and Zerstörung), characters, countries and empires, creatures, races, spirits,
  Theus, geographic locations, cultural information, historic events, magic items, Syrneth Artifacts, the
  Reputation system, secret societies, guilds, and organizations; any and all material adapted from
  Swashbuckling Adventures, except material noted in that work as Open Game Content; any and all
  stories, storylines, plots, thematic elements, documents within the game world (e.g., but not limited
  to Means to Ends, the Book of Prophets, and Birdcage Revolt), quotes from characters or documents, and dia-
  logue; and all artwork, symbols, designs, depictions, illustrations, maps and cartography, likenesses,
  poses, nation or factional sigils, logos, symbols, or graphic designs, except such elements that already
  appear in the d20 System Reference Document (e.g., Melf or Mordenkainen) and are already OGC by
  virtue of appearing there. The above Product Identity is not open Game Content.
  DESIGNATION OF OPEN CONTENT: Subject to the Product Identity designation above, the 
  following portions of The Sidhe Book of Nightmares are designated as Open Game Content. All crea-
  ture statistics blocks from the Size/Type line (e.g., Large, Outsider) down to the Advancement line.
  All feats or other information previously designated as PI. All sample character statistics and charts,
  except for names and other previously designated PI.
  USE OF MATERIAL AS OPEN GAME CONTENT: It is the clear and expressed intent of Alderac
  Entertainment Group, Inc. to add all classes, skills, feats, equipment, prestige classes, spell effects,
  magic item effects, and monster and NPC statistics (henceforth "goodies") contained in this volume
  to the canon of Open Game Content for free use pursuant to the Open Game License by future Open
  Game publishers. Some of the aforementioned items, however, contain Product Identity, as desig-
  nated above, and that designation remains. A limited license is provided below which allows use of
  content designated as Product Identity for these items only.
  LIMITED LICENSE FOR USE OF GOODIES AND PRODUCT IDENTITY (PI) IN GOODIES:
  Alderac Entertainment Group, Inc. hereby grants other OGL publishers a non-exclusive, irrevocable,
  royalty-free limited license to use the goodies and the PI elements which appear in the spell names
  contained in this book in OGL publications. Use of PI elements is limited solely to using these PI 
  elements in the goodies themselves and for no other use. For example, the artifact named “Reis’
  Scythe” may be used to refer to the artifact of the same name, even though “Reis” is PI of Alderac
  Entertainment Group, Inc. The name “Reis”, however, may not be used in any other way except where
  it appears as part of the feat name. Any publication making use of such goodies and PI elements in
  goodies must bear a legal notice that both 1) any such PI used is reserved Product Identity, and 2)
  goodies are copyright 2001, Alderac Entertainment Group, Inc., all rights reserved.
  Some of the portions of this adventure which are delineated OGC originate from the System 
  Reference Document and are © 1999, 2000 Wizards of the Coast, Inc. The remainder of these OGC
  portions of this book are hereby added to Open Game Content and if so used, should bear the COPY-
  RIGHT NOTICE: “Swashbuckling Adventures Copyright 2002, Alderac Entertainment Group, Inc.”
  The mention of or reference to any company or product in these pages is not a challenge to the trade-
  mark or copyright concerned.
  ‘d20 System’ and the ‘d20 System’ logo are Trademarks owned by Wizards of the Coast and are used
  according to the terms of the d20 System License version 1.0a. A copy of this License can be found at
  www.wizards.com. Dungeons & Dragons and Wizards of the Coast are registered trademarks of Wiz-
  ards of the Coast, and are used with permission.
  The Sidhe Book of Nightmares, Strongholds and Hideouts, The Midnight Archipelago, Islands of Gold, Avalon,
  Sophia’s Daughters, Player’s Guide, Game Master’s Guide, Swashbuckling Adventures, Théah, and 7th Sea are
  trademarks of Alderac Entertainment Group, Inc.
  All contents of this book, regardless of designation, are copyrighted year 2003 by Alderac Entertain-
  ment Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use without the written permission of the pub-
  lisher is expressly forbidden, except for the purposes of review or use consistent with the limited
  license above.
  
  The Brighter the Light, 
  the Darker the Shadow.
  As anyone born in the Glamour Isles will tell you, what you see in the mists is
  not always what is really there. Whether on land or sea, there is a power more
  ancient than the Syrneth, a force that comes from the earth itself and can take
  a myriad of forms from bone-chilling horror to heart-stopping beauty. When
  you open this book, you will come face to face with the world of the Sidhe —
  not as the distant and aloof creatures you may have encountered in your previ-
  ous travels, but as they truly are — a complex race of beings driven to experi-
  ence Théah in every way possible. As you will see, the Kingdom of Bryn Bresail
  holds many surprises, not all of them pleasant…
  • The history of the Sidhe and their relations with Théah.
  • Details about the mysterious Sidhe kingdom of Bryn Bresail.
  • New Sidhe swordsman schools, new NPCs and character templates, and a
  variety of new creatures (some old friends and some new enemies).
  • Information on creating Sidhe characters and ideas for running campaigns.
  • Fully compatible with both the d20 System™ and the classic 7th Sea™ system!
  To use this companion, a Game Master also needs a copy of 
  Swashbuckling Adventures,™ published by Alderac Entertainment Group, Inc. 
  and the Dungeons & Dragons® Player’s Handbook,
  ™ Third Edition and 
  DUNGEON MASTER’S GUIDE™ published by Wizards of the Coast.® A player needs only
  Swashbuckling Adventures™ and the Player’s Handbook.
  ™
  TM
  TM
  TM
  TM
  The Brighter the Light, 
  the Darker the Shadow.
  As anyone born in the Glamour Isles will tell you, what you see in the mists is
  not always what is really there. Whether on land or sea, there is a power more
  ancient than the Syrneth, a force that comes from the earth itself and can take
  a myriad of forms from bone-chilling horror to heart-stopping beauty. When
  you open this book, you will come face to face with the world of the Sidhe —
  not as the distant and aloof creatures you may have encountered in your previ-
  ous travels, but as they truly are — a complex race of beings driven to experi-
  ence Théah in every way possible. As you will see, the Kingdom of Bryn Bresail
  holds many surprises, not all of them pleasant…
  • The history of the Sidhe and their relations with Théah.
  • Details about the mysterious Sidhe kingdom of Bryn Bresail.
  • New Sidhe swordsman schools, new NPCs and character templates, and a
  variety of new creatures (some old friends and some new enemies).
  • Information on creating Sidhe characters and ideas for running campaigns.
  • Fully compatible with both the d20 System™ and the classic 7th Sea™ system!
  To use this companion, a Game Master also needs a copy of 
  Swashbuckling Adventures,™ published by Alderac Entertainment Group, Inc. 
  and the Dungeons & Dragons® Player’s Handbook,
  ™ Third Edition and 
  DUNGEON MASTER’S GUIDE™ published by Wizards of the Coast.® A player needs only
  Swashbuckling Adventures™ and the Player’s Handbook.
  ™
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/7th Sea [multi]/1st Edition/07 Swashbuckling Adventure Books/The Sidhe-Book Of Nightmares.pdf