In modern-day New York, the courts of the fey are battling for power. The Seelie fey and Unseelie are undergoing a constant battle, struggling for power over the other. The Seelie Court's power peaks at the Summer Solstice, as the Unseelie's does upon the Winter's. There is a glamorous jewel whose beauty is unparalleled by any other. Each season, the Court who is not in power seeks the divided and scattered pieces of this jewel. The Court in power at the time is known as the Upper Court, and the weaker, off-season Court the Lower Court. If the jewel is completed before the Solstice of the current Upper Court, then the Lower Court (in possession of the completed jewel) will have ultimate power and rein over all of the fey for the next 10,000 years. At each Solstice, however, the increased power of the dominant Upper Court enables each Queen to dispel any progress the weaker Lower Court has made. The power used re-scatters the jewel shards. In using this ability (which only the Queen has) the Queen is completely drained of power, and the Upper and Lower courts rotate. While she is able to stop the completion of the jewel, the shards are scattered at random and the Queen has no memory of their whereabouts. Currently the Unseelie are in power, as it is early October.
Ruler(s): Queen Titania and King Oberon
-Titania:
The Queen of the Seelie Court is vain, ruthless, and jealous of any female fey whose beauty comes even close to paralleling hers. She is possessive especially of Oberon, who's affections tend to wander. Titania is an elitist and is obsessed with rank and pure-blooded lineage. She is consumed by perfection and often takes on "pet projects" in humans.
-Oberon:
The King of the Seelie Court is often bored with the affairs his wife obsesses over, but he does place a high value upon status and lineage. He often feels as though Titania is more concerned with the imperfections of her Court than him, which causes him to chase other fey in the court. Unlike Titania, however, he has no interest whatsoever in mortals.
Seelie Court Appearance and Location:
The Seelie Court is located at the South end of Central Park in New York City, New York. Viewed on an areal map, the Court is located at the circular rings. Inside the Court, tall white Ash trees grow upwards in a strong, stately manner. Their branches interweave in celtic designs in various layers overhead, and soft, pale greenish globes glow softly above. Some have latched on and partially grown into the tree trunks and branches, like a fuzzy fungus, while others slowly bob along, passing between branches and each other. The floor of the Seelie Court is of an undefined matter. It is predominately green, though like deciduous trees, changes with the seasons. It feels very soft and cushioned underfoot with a feathery texture, but appears to be a hard, richly marbled stone to the eye. The thrones of Titania and Oberon are located on a raised pedestal in the shape of a tree trunk. The thrones appear to be made of an ivory in the purest of whites and mimic the celtic, woven tree branches overhead. Surrounding the base of the throne tower are all of the gifts that have been brought (primarily to Titania) to please the Seelie fey. Further in front of the thrones is a massive dance floor that looks like ice, frosty around the edges but almost mirror-like in its entirety. Fey are always dancing merrily here, and some watch from in between the tree trunk made alcoves on the sides. A large banquet is also always laid out for the guests to eat from. The food is unlike any nourishment found on the mortal plane and can make any soul go mad.
Stereotype:
The Seelie Court fey are seen as goodnatured, though selective, and are generally kinder towards humans that other magical creatures. Commonly they are assumed to be more likely to aid mortals than the Unseelie court. They are organized, pristine, and considered "untouchable".
Reality:
In truth, the Seelie fey are just as manipulative as the Unseelie. Their haughtiness and obsession over perfection can sometimes lead them to be even more ruthless than the Unseelie fey. They are more sane, however, so if one offers something appealing to them, they can be easier to enlist than the Unseelie. Be warned, though, as they can be much more subtle in their manipulations.
Ruler(s): Queen Mab
-Mab:
The sole ruler of the Seelie Court is the Queen Mab. She is exotically beautiful, hypnotizing to any mortal and intoxicating to even her own race. She is the younger sister to Queen Titania, who loathes her for her beauty. Mab has not chosen a mate due primarily to her psychotic cynicism and love for complete power. Though all fey Courts are ruled primarily by the Queen, Mab still fears sharing with another and potentially losing all of that power in its entirety.
Unseelie Court Appearance and Location:
The Unseelie Court is located at the far north end of Central park. When viewed form an areal map, it can be found at the small square tower just south of the entrance at 7th Avenue and Central Park N Street. When one enters the Unseelie court, one is met by an onslaught of chaos and calamity. Black gnarled trees twist their ways drunkenly skywards and clash into one another almost brutally to form a ceiling. The chamber is lit by uneven, varying pulses of different colors, though red is the most common. Queen Mab's throne is seated on a wide, thorny platform at the far end of the hall. The throne itself appears to be some spiked and jagged sort of structure with a material blacker than anything probable draped over it. Surrounding her on the platform directly are all the grotesque and fantastical treasures that have been brought before the Queen. In the Unseelie court, the dance floor is a thick black mist that creeps up the walls and around the ceiling. The dance floor or strip is not wide, but makes up for it in the length and never ending dance path. Many have been tricked into stepping onto this dance floor, only to never step off. The fey, however, love their creeping mist as well as the feast that is always set before them. The food is much like that of the Seelie court in that it is unlike any that mortals have ever seen, but the setting is more haphazard and chaotic than the delicately set places in the Seelie court. One bite of this food for someone not of fey blood will turn their mind to Mab, who does with it what she pleases at that particular moment.
Stereotype:
The Unseelie fey are seen as welcomers of all who wish to enter their court, but more demonic and evil in their motives and treatment of their guests than the Seelie. They want little do to with mortals and often will kill them for pleasure.
Reality:
In truth, the Unseelie are very welcoming to those of high and low stature. They accept anything chaotic and live for pleasure rather than for rules or morals. They are more outwardly manipulative than the Seelie fey, but tend to be more gruesome in their punishments. As for human affairs, the Unseelie tend not to dabble in them, but should a stray human wander their way, they would not pass up a few years of free entertainment.
It's currently early October, and the cool chill of autumn is just setting in. The city of New York is alive and thrumming above and below the streets. As it stands, the Seelie have just two and a half months left to complete the jewel, of which they only have 147 pieces out of the necessary 352. The Unseelie, however, are unconcerned with gloating. All Hallows Eve is drawing ever closer--a time when the veil between the fey and mortal worlds is thinned and humans are more likely than ever to wander into their ever-so-open hands...
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Alright so right now I have two characters. One is a female that came from the Seelie court, has left for various reasons, and is looking to join the Unseelies based upon their stereotypical reputation. When she starts in the RP, she will be in court about to leave and will be in and exploring NYC proper before moving along with her plan to join the Unseelie. The second is a boy who used to be an Upper Eastsider but since 16 has fallen a long way from home. He's currently about 19 and had been living in the city, on and off the streets, for about a year. He has a heroin problem and will get involved with the fey somehow.
I'm thinking that if someone wants to RP as Mab, Oberon, or Titania, they may. However, since these characters won't (generally) leave their respective Courts, they won't be primary characters. I think that someone should be in control of them specifically though, so if you want to volunteer to take one and RP with them when they're needed, let me know. When we get this whole concept solidified a bit more, I'll post a character skeleton that's half filled in for them and you can add to their bio, personality, etc. I think that's about it for now. You can just reply to this thread now if you have any ideas or would be interested in joining instead of PMing me. Yay! I'm excited for this