The Riders, a brief summery.
They were created by Mannan from the very wild magic that created the Faerie in the first place with the intention that they would slay the monsters that made life too harsh for the mortals. Faeries were, after all, the first attempt to make a people who would look after those mortals caught in the middle of the war and on a planet with creatures that wanted to kill them. The riders are unlike normal faeries in a number of ways, firstly they share in the Hunt’s immunity to the normal weaknesses of the fey, secondly they are immortal rather than simply having a long lifetime, and finally they can lie.
They were made, for the most part, in twos with one being created with one of their father’s hands. Ethna & Eochaid were created first and thus are the leaders of the group and probably the most protective of them, Delan & Etarlam followed quickly after them, then Karn & Airmed, and finally Fal was made last and was the only one without a pair.
Eventually their father was no longer in the world, he didn’t die in some grand battle or anything like that he was just no longer there. It was then that the siblings just started to hunt things for their own enjoyment and slowly as the world started to change they realized their old place as hunters of monsters was no longer so necessary. They had been alive since shortly after time began and their work was paying off. So they retreated to under a hill and spent their days there, resting together until someone came to seek their aid.
The fey who would become the first ruler of the Unseelie court sought them out, wishing to have the aid of Mannan’s children for the rebellion against the Seelie ruler. It was Fal they won over first, with tales of injustice and the suffering of those who were less angelic, and soon the rest of the Riders were won over by their brother and they agreed to help. Since then they have worked for the rulers of the Unseelie, as once they worked for their father.