A guide to telling a name to a Fæ
(Note: this is relevant to Qelt and the universe of Stories of Qelt only.)
The most important thing is: the Fæ can use your name to take you away because your name holds a part of your identity.
that means any name you don’t identify with won’t work.
ex: dead names, nicknames, names which have nothing to do with you, someone else’s name, etc.
that also means any name you identify with will work.
ex: a nickname you identify with more than with your usual name, any chosen name, birth names, names spelled in sign language, etc.
Signed names work like nicknames: it works if you identify with it strongly, but won’t if it’s not more important than your own name.
If you give a nickname which is a diminutive of your real name, Fæs might be able to guess your real name from it.
most of them like a challenge and might be dedicated to guessing it.
however they can’t be sure you gave them a diminutive of your real name, and not something random.
just be careful not to partly identify with that nickname: if you give it, powerful Fæs would be able to influence you to some extent.
If the Fæ know your name, they will be able to control you, but it’s not irreversible. You can be snapped out of it. If you have a strong willpower, or if you’re a Magician, you can try to fight back against their influence.
but if you give the Fæ your name, they will be able to entirely control you, and nothing can be done for you anymore.
when talking with a Fæ, be careful of how they phrase their sentences, and how you phrase yours.
beware of sentences like “will you give me your name?” or “may I have your name?”
when answering, make it clear that you’re not giving your name
use sentences like “you may call me….” or “I cannot give you my name, but you may call me…”
technically you could give them a nickname or a randomly picked name without worrying too much, but the most powerful of them might gain some power over you if you start answering to that nickname or randomly picked name.
The best is thus to say “you may call me…” and to say something which has barely anything to do with you.
Or not to tell any name. That works very well too.
“Ainsel” is a word from the Old Language which means “own self”.
no human would ever be called “Ainsel”.
since it means “own self”, it means anything the Fæ would try to do to you would turn against themselves.
however, most Fæs now know about that trick and wouldn’t fall for it.
There are ways to troll a Fæ, though, if they’re not too irritable and you think you can get away with trolling them.
tell them a nickname. Like “Fred” or “Dan” or “Mel”. Something which sounds like the diminutive of a real name. But make sure that nickname has nothing to do with YOUR real name. They’ll try to guess your name based on the nickname you have given them, but to no avail.
tell them a nickname like “honey”, “baby”, “sweetheart”. And then tell them to stop flirting them when they call you that. Or to stop sweet-talking you. They’ll be pretty confused at first. Just be careful that they don’t take to it and start actually flirting with you. Some would.
tell them a ridiculous name or a long one. They might drop it quickly or choose not say it, but hey, at least you can enjoy their face when you introduce yourself as “the slutty licking tree”.
Fæs know when humans don’t give them their real name, however. You can’t troll most of them for too long. They’ll drop whatever you told them to call you quickly if they realize you’re making fun of them with that.
Some might be pretty pissed at you, so be careful.
However, others are more stupid, and won’t realize you’re making fun of them, so they will try to actually stick to the name you’ve told them to call you as.
Not all Fæ will use names to trick you. Some will try to trick you into deals, or into saying things they can turn against you. Fæs can lie, and won’t hesitate to.
Most are tricksters, but not all of them are.
Some will just use brute force or magic against you. Or will eat you.
Those who are not tricksters might be even more dangerous, because there is no way to talk your way out of a situation with them.
Those kind of Fæs are more commonly found in Enheji, though.
Just because a Fæ has your name or knows it doesn’t mean they will automatically use it against you.
Some won’t, but it might just be because they don’t need it to harm you. To eat you, for example.
There are very, very rare Fæs who care enough about humans never to do anything with your name if they happen to get it.
But those are an exception, so don’t count on it.
Be careful which Fæs you’re interacting with: you never know what kind of Fæ they are.
They’re not all random tricksters, that you can chat with if you have enough wits.
Some might be powerful enough to control you even with a nickname, if you identify a bit with it.
Some Fæs will gladly have a battle of wits with humans, but some might not like humans trying to outwit them and will resort to brute force if they feel like they’re being played.
Some might pretend to want a chat and end up physically harming you instead of just trying to trick you.
Some are stupid, but some are very clever. Very, very, very few of them are kind towards humans.
Those bound to the færie rings can’t hurt you without a reason if you’re part of the land they protect, but they could curse you and/or your village, or find indirect ways to harm you. They can take you away, though.
Fæs bound to færie rings aren’t kind. Far from it. They’re more or less accustomed and used to humans and their antics, but some are more aggressive than others. Generally, they’re quite powerful too.
Interact with them with caution
unless you know who they are, and what to expect
or unless you know they won’t try to trick you or hurt you.
And don’t give them your name.
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