A Formal Taxonomy of Faerie Beings

Formal Taxonomy of Faerie Beings

This document defines the three primary ontological categories of faerie beings used throughout the setting, along with the placement of pixies within that framework.

These categories describe how a faerie exists and derives authority, not morality, allegiance, or relative power.

Court Fey (Political Fey)

Definition

Court Fey are faerie beings whose identity, power, and authority are mediated through court structures. They exist within systems of obligation, hierarchy, custom, and recognition.

A Court Fey is not defined by strength or lineage alone, but by participation in a courtly order.

Core Characteristics

Court Fey:

• Derive authority from recognised roles (noble, envoy, retainer, etc.)
• Are bound by custom, protocol, and precedent
• Exist within networks of obligation (oaths, favours, rivalries)
• Are affected by legitimacy (who recognises whom matters)
• Are shaped by narrative and social consequence

Courts do not merely organise Court Fey —
they stabilise them.

Without a court, a Court Fey’s identity becomes fragile.

Courts Across Realms

• In the Faerie Realm
  Courts are fully realised metaphysical institutions with enforceable authority, recognised roles, and shared context.

• In the Mundane Realm (The Lorn)
  Courts persist as diminished structures: imitative, memory-based, and politically fragile. They provide identity and negotiation frameworks, but limited enforcement.

Court Fey exist in both realms, but the effectiveness of courts differs dramatically.

What Court Fey Are Not

• They are not inherently noble or benevolent
• They are not the most powerful fae by default
• They are not synonymous with “faerie” as a whole

They are political beings.

Autarchic Fey (Sovereign / Solitary Fey)

Definition

Autarchic Fey are faerie beings whose existence, authority, and continuity are self-derived. They do not require courts, hierarchy, or recognition to persist.

Their power is anchored directly to place, element, or enduring natural principle, not to social structures.

Core Characteristics

Autarchic Fey:

• Are self-governing
• Derive power from direct binding (tree, river, stone, landscape)
• Do not participate in court politics by necessity
• Are not bound by court law or obligation
• Persist regardless of court collapse or legitimacy

They are not antisocial — they are structurally independent.

Relationship to Courts

• Courts may negotiate with Autarchic Fey
• Courts may acknowledge or avoid them
• Courts cannot command them

In the Faerie Realm, courts sometimes exert indirect influence due to shared metaphysical context.
In the Mundane Realm, even this influence is minimal or absent.

Examples

• Dryads (tree-bound)
• Naiads (water-bound)
• Oreads (stone and mountain-bound)
• Other place-anchored or element-anchored spirits

Autarchic Fey are fully faerie, not lesser or derivative.

Lesser Fey (Subsidiary Fey)

Definition

Lesser Fey are faerie beings whose existence depends on external conditions rather than sovereignty or political structure.

They persist through habit, emotion, threshold, or human activity, rather than courtly authority or natural anchoring.

Core Characteristics

Lesser Fey:

• Have narrow, specialised domains
• Are often tied to:
  • households
  • thresholds
  • fears
  • routines
• Possess limited autonomy
• Are sensitive to environmental and cultural change
• Tend to have shorter lifespans and more generations

Their power is situational rather than inherent.

Relationship to Courts

• Lesser Fey may be:
  • tolerated
  • employed
  • ignored
  • exploited
• They do not meaningfully participate in court governance
• They rarely possess court-recognised authority

Courts can influence Lesser Fey indirectly, but do not define them.

Examples

• Hearth and threshold spirits
• Fear-bound beings (boggarts, similar)
• Craft- or habit-bound entities
• Transitional beings (see below)

Pixies

Definition

Pixies are tiny Lesser Fey, specifically Transitional Fey, usually no more than 30–40 cm tall. Some transformed from smaller peoples, such as halflings or goblins, may be closer to 20 cm.

Most pixies are believed to have once been mortals, minor spirits, or other beings who attracted faerie attention through excessive curiosity, trespass, spying, or meddling. Rather than being killed, they were transformed into pixies: creatures whose punishment, nature, and function are all built around curiosity.

Pixies are lightly bound to the Seelie or Unseelie Courts and are often sent to observe places of change, instability, thinning boundaries, strange magic, or political tension. In theory, they may earn release by reporting useful discoveries. In practice, many are too curious, distractible, mischievous, or fond of being pixies to pursue release efficiently.

Core Characteristics

Pixies:

• Are tiny, usually 20–40 cm tall
• Are lightly bound to Seelie or Unseelie Courts
• Are not place-bound
• Are not sovereign
• Are not true Court Fey
• Are sensitive to shifts in reality
• Appear early when conditions change
• Are intensely curious and easily distracted
• Love secrets, experiments, mischief, and fine things
• May steal silk scraps, gems, silver pins, pearl buttons, or other delicate treasures
• Possess minor innate faerie magic
• Disappear quickly when conditions become dangerous

Their magic is instinctive and poorly understood. Like all magic in Aletheia, it works through the Lattice, but pixies manipulate it naturally rather than through study, prayer, or formal technique. Their effects are usually small glamours, concealment, distractions, nuisance tricks, or “jokes” that can become dangerous around horses, stairs, fires, rituals, or people with fragile dignity.

Realm Distribution

• Faerie Realm, historically and presently:
  Pixies exist as marginal, curious beings within the broader faerie ecology. They are tolerated and used by the Seelie and Unseelie Courts as scouts, spies, messengers, nuisances, and informal observers of change.
• Mundane Realm, historically:
  Pixies did not persist in the mundane realm after the Cataclysm. The hardening of boundaries between realms made their presence rare or impossible for many centuries.
• Mundane Realm, recent decades:
  Pixies are beginning to appear again as the Veil thins. Only a handful have been reliably reported in the last forty or fifty years.

Their emergence is a symptom, not a cause. Where pixies appear, something has changed — and Faerie may already be paying attention.

5. Summary Comparison (Quick Reference)