Across Acheron

Glossary

Fae (fehy): A type of mythical being or legendary creature in European folklore. Often called fairies, faeries, fey, fae folk, wee folk, fay—ah, you get the point. Most believe they reside within the human world invisibly unless wearing glamour. Other than the human world, faeries also reside in the Otherworld, also known as the  Fairy Realm.

Unseelie (uhn-see-lee): A faerie court consisting of darkly-inclined fae. Unlike the Seelie court, no offense is necessary for ruthlessness and violence. However, those of the Unseelie court are not always malevolent. Most Unseelie faeries can become fond of a particular human if they are seen as respectful or useful.

Seelie (see-lee): A faerie court consisting of light hearted fae. They are known to be helpful towards humans and return kindness with favours. However, faeries of this court are prone to cause mischief. Like the Unseelie court, those of the Seelie court are not always benevolent. Light faeries are known to play pranks on humans and forgetting negative feelings, so this might cause them to lose sight of the weight of their actions.

Solitary: Faeries without a court.

Glamour: All fae are capable of wearing glamour, an elaborate illusion capable of fooling all five senses of humans. However, the illusion is limited to the person (for example, a male cannot make himself into a female). A special ointment or the gift of Sight can be used to see fae without glamour.

Sight: The ability to see fae without glamour.

Iron: All fae are deathly allergic to iron. However, some fae are able to be around iron for a long period of time, but they are not immortal to it.

Bás rí (boss ree): A type of faerie; prince of the Unseelie court (name means Death King). Ages slowly and does not die of natural causes. Appears beautiful in glamour, holding skin like those in the Seelie court. However, his true skin is pale and decorated with Celtic tattoos. This faerie makes deals with humans holding dark hearts (wanting revenge, grieving, greed, etc). He will help them fulfill a wish in exchange for their soul. Most humans die from madness before their wish is complete. The Death King still gets his soul. (This is a faerie I made up).

Aos sí (ees shee): Also known as the daoine sídhe (deena shee). Commonly known as the deities of Irish mythology. It is believed they reside in mounds, however, some walk among humans with glamour. They believe themselves to be the most powerful or noble of the faeries. These type of faeries rule the courts.

Niamh (nee-iv): An Unseelie faerie working for the Death King. Has the face and body of a beautiful woman but has the skin, eyes, and tongue of a snake. Although she belongs to a court, she lives as the solitary fae do.

Lorna (loar-nuh): A noblewoman (of the aos sí) who helps the Death King under the orders of her king. She does not find favour in him because he is only partially aos sí, the other from a Seelie woman with pointed ears (pointed ears are a mark of impure blood).

Cillian (kill-ee-ahn): A man who accepted the deal from the Death King.

Irial (eerie-all): Brother of the Death King and prince of the Unseelie court. Since he is pure aos sí and first born, he is next in line for the throne.