Fairies
The fairies of the World of Darkness are numerous and strange, so much so that most beings will never encounter them outside of Changelings, halfbreed children of fae and human beings who stand with one foot in the land of the mundane and one in the land of glamour and enchantment. They pass for human more easily than many other supernatural beings, but their fae nature often makes them capricious and whimsical even when they are behaving themselves, and their supernatural powers over illusion and reality make them formidable on the rare occasions they encounter non-humans.
Kithain
Kithain are the most common and well-known types of Changelings, the fairies, elves, gnomes, and brownies of European folkore best known for their whimsically cruel attitude toward the world and their willingness to be benevolent or terrifying to humanity with little warning. A few Changelings who are not of European descent, mostly the Eshu, claim membership as kithain as well, but their overall powers and treatment are distinctly in line with European folklore. An individual group of kithain, such as the Nockers or Pooka, is referred to as a kith and is the basic unit of organization for their society.
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| Oba
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Pooka
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Redcaps
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Satyrs
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Sidhe
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Sluagh
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Trolls
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Gallain
Gallain have little fundamental difference from the kithain except for their comparative rarity and obscurity to other Changelings. There tend to be few of any particular kith of gallain in the world at a time, and their more obscure haunts and powers make them a riddle to other Changelings even when they do appear.
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| Clurichauns
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Ghille Dhu
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Korred
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Merfolk
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| Morganed
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Piskies
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River Hags
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Selkies
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Swanmanes
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Wichtel
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Wolpertingers
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Thallain
The thallain are the dark mirror of the kithain: more monstrous and less aligned with humanity, they are the frightening side of fairy folklore, populated by strange creatures that lurk in the darkness or follow unwary travelers in the night. There are considerably fewer of them than there are kithain and gallain, mostly because they have much more trouble having children with humans instead of treating them as disposable toys, and those that do exist are often in hiding to avoid too much attention from their more "moral" cousins.
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| Aithu
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Beasties
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Bodachs
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Boggarts
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Bogies
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| Ghasts
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Goblins
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Huaka'i Po
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Kelpies
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Lurks
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Mandragora
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Murdhuacha
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| Nasties
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Night Hags
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Ogres
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Sevartal
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Skinwalkers
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Spriggans
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Weeping Wights
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Adhene
The Adhene consider themselves cousins or brethren to the kithain; they have many of the same features, but are distinguished by their alignment with the Fomorians rather than the high courts of the True Fae. As a result, most of them are considered evil or at the very least questionable and likely to cause problems. They have kiths just as their less frightening cousins do, although only they are likely to be able to identify one another accurately.
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| Acheri
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Aonides
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Fir-Bholg
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Fuath
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Keremet
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Moirae
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Naraka
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Hsien
The Hsien are the fairies of east Asia, particularly China and Japan, where they are considered more along the lines of small gods and local protectors than the best-avoided tricksters of European folklore. Unlike many other groups of Changelings, many actively attempt to protect, support, and even use their powers on behalf of humans who need it, hoping to achieve so much good that they are allowed to return to the Dreaming (although their definition of "good" may not always align very well with that of the hapless humans they're trying to help). The Hsien organize themselves into groups they refer to as kwannon-jin, or watchful gods.
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| Chu-Ih-Yu
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Chu Jung
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Fu Hsi
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| Hanuman
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Heng Po
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Hou-Chi
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Komuko
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Nyan
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Suijen
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Tanuki
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Menehune
The Changelings of the Polynesian islands refer to themselves as Menehune, and organize themselves into distinct callings instead of different inborn kiths, allowing them to grow into the powers that serve their communities most. Menehune are especially opposed to interacting with other Changelings, who they view as interlopers who cause destabilization in their territories.
Nunnehi
The fae of North America call themselves the Nunnehi and are simultaneously tricksters and supporters of humanity, with long traditions of interaction with native religions and peoples. They organize themselves into families, but tend to perform much more inter-family support of one another, especially now that invading colonialists have caused so much damage to their traditional homes and powers.
Inanimae
Inanimae are not so much Changelings as they are the idea of Changelings; elemental creatures that were born from sacred places in the natural world where the glamour of the fae was strong enough to awaken them to consciousness, they are heavily governed by their phyla, which describe the element they were born from and the powers they can wield on its behalf. Inanimae often have little to no understanding of human beings or society, although they are usually not aggressive unless they feel their territory is threatened.
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| Glomes
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Kubera
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Mannikins
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Ondines
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Parosemes
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Solimonds
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True Fae
The True Fae seldom, if ever, appear on earth; they are true fairies, native to the Dreaming, and are not now and have never been human or even remotely close to it. Most view the Changelings as amusing but ultimately unimportant bastardizations of themselves, tainted with human blood and cut off from most of their powers. The vast majority of True Fae remain in their homes in the Dreaming, and when any do occasionally enter the human world, the effect is similar to the unleashing of a demon as their unruly and overwhelming powers cause significant confusion and damage to humanity around them (which they are unlikely to even notice, let alone care about).
While there are rumored to be specific kiths of True Fae, perhaps similar to the ones observed in their offspring the Changelings, it is impossible to tell if this is true due to the dislike the True Fae have for leaving their homes and their awe-inspiring powers over glamour, which make guessing what they really look like or can do pointless most of the time.
Chimerae
Chimerae are in essence constructs, creatures and ideas fashioned out of the raw stuff of the Dreaming to become aware and powerful in their own right. They have much greater powers over glamour and illusion than many other fae creatures, since their very nature is to be made of both, but are also much more fragile and prone to being hurt or killed by the effects of Banality. Most chimerae remain in the Dreaming, but those that appear in the world fall into a distinct number of different types.
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| Banal Chimerae
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| Feral Chimerae
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Monsters
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Narvosa
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Nocnitsa
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Sprites
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Underbumbles
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Urban Legends
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Fomorians
Fomorians are one of the most ancient and terrible of fae creatures: massive, powerful, inhumanly bizarre to look at, and wildly unconcerned with humanity and its associated morals, they once ruled the realms of the Dreaming before the concerted efforts of opposed fae managed to banish them deeper into the realm and away from the thin veil between the Dreaming and the world of humans. Cruel, insatiable, and determined to reclaim the power over both realms they once had, they are constantly seeking to return to defeat Changelings and True Fae alike and return into the human world, which they know from experience will fall beneath their heels easily.
While Fomorians have their own political organizations, they do not have kiths or even common features; each Fomorian is distinct and unreproducible, whether they appear as a misshapen monstrosity or an inhumanly, frighteningly beautiful fae creature.
The World Beyond
Fairies are perhaps the being with the least well-defined idea of what even counts as a fairy, let alone exactly how many there are or where they might live. There are undoubtedly Changeling populations that do not show themselves to outsiders and therefore go unnoticed all over the world, and the True Fae and bizarre chimerae of the Dreaming are quite literally beyond all but the most broad classifications.
