Fae Aristocracy
Brief information about high-status Fae families
.
Eroses
Easily the most powerful of all; the Eroses believe they were granted power over love by the Tuatha Dé Danann themselves. They take their duties extremely seriously, believing themselves to be a holy family who must avoid sin at all cost lest it taints their worth and renders them unable to perform their duties.
Despite dealing with emotions, they are ruthlessly cold and calculating. Triplets are always born into this family to carry the mantle of love Morning, Afternoon, and Evening; only the Triplet of the Morning may reproduce and any Eros babies who aren’t born triplets are killed immediately.
Cupid belongs to this family; the line will continue with him, his wife Psyche, their two daughters, and one son.
Click HERE to read more about the Eros family
.
von Strangles
Powerful fairies who directly serve the Fairy Elder (the last of the Tuatha Dé Danann). They enforce the treaties, laws, and geasa that govern Fairy World’s interactions between fae (and with alien races), including Da Rules and the tithe to hell that must be paid at Samhain every seven years.
Jorgen belongs to this family; it’s expected the line will continue with him and his wife, the Tooth Fairy, although Jorgen seems to have some concerns...
.
Westers
Long-time ambassadors of the common fairy subspecies (allegedly descended from Queen Ercel, the Fairy Queen back when the fae lived in their motherland, Elphame). King Northiae and Prince Eastkal belong to this family; Eastkal was killed by the Anti-Fairies in the War of the Angels and the truce that resulted in the annual bake-off was called shortly after.
Since Eastkal’s death, the Keeper of Da Rules fills the role of common fairy ambassador to the Supreme Fairy Council.
.
Anti-Coppertalons
A family of Anti-Fairy scholars who brought verbal and written language to early Anti-Fairy culture. Respect for them grew in time and eventually they took active leadership roles in the government.
Anti-Bryndin Anti-Coppertalon and his would-be heir, Anti-Phillip, were overthrown by Anti-Cosmo.
Read more about the rise of the Anti-Coppertalons HERE
.
Anti-Fairywinkles
The family that seized control of the High Count and High Countess positions after overthrowing the Anti-Coppertalon bloodline. They’re praised for disposing of a corrupt regime and bringing transparency back to the Anti-Fairy government. They’re conventional and nonconformist compared to the traditional Anti-Coppertalons; some find them progressive and others see them as unstable.
Anti-Cosmo, Anti-Wanda, Foop, and Smoky belong to this family.
.
Whimsifinados
Famous for being frugal with magic to build up a monetary fortune that made them the richest family in the cloudlands for many generations. Also famous for marrying their cousins to keep their fortune and family values close; H.P.’s unstable genetics can possibly be traced to this long line of marriages.
They tapered off from old money status when his grandfather, Praxis, spent much of the family fortune to help erect the Barrier that divided Fairy World and Anti-Fairy World for so long. 4 of Praxis’s 5 children died in the War of the Sunset Divide, leaving H.P. with no Whimsifinado cousin to marry.
H.P., his sister Emery, and his nephew Zan comprise the family in modern times, though H.P. surrendered the family name when he became Head Pixie and Emery tried to cut ties with her father by taking her husband’s name, Ranen.
.
Pixies
When H.P. rose to power, he chose not to give the Whimsifinado name to his asexually-reproduced offspring. The money his businesses brought in solidified a new money “family” known simply as the Pixies. Only the Head Pixie and a close associate of his would rub shoulders with old money families on a regular basis.
For all intents and purposes, the Whimsifinado name has died out and Pixie has adopted its connotation.
.
Winkleglints
Managers of cloudland schools from Spellementary to the Fairy Academy. Very wealthy, though not nearly as wealthy as the Whimsifinados. Between dragon attacks and the War of the Angels, their line has nearly died out. They’ve been relinquishing their tight hold on schools, allowing non-related individuals to become school principals.
H.P.’s father once hoped to pair his son off with Sindri Winkleglint.
.
Dentins
Colloquially known as the Tooth Fairies; it’s believed souls cannot progress to the afterlife if their teeth tie them to the living world, so the Dentin family collects and organizes them (and offers the incentive of money to make the process easier).
The line is expected to continue with the current Tooth Fairy and her husband, Jorgen von Strangle, though Jorgen seems extremely uneasy about this for some reason.
.
Fernfires
A family of jewelers who oversee the majority of cloudland mines; often sneered at for employing others to do the dirty mining work for them while they keep their pretty hands clean.
Whistle, the first fairy baby born on Poof’s heels, belongs to this family (His spotlight-loving parents wasted no time once the ban on babies was lifted).
.
Anti-Fernfires
In a rare twist for these bloodlines, the Anti-Fernfires are equally aristocratic; they run Maplefeather Point, a spa retreat where Anti-Fairies migrate every summer.
Whistle’s counterpart, Soren, belongs to this family (although Soren is constantly dismayed by his parents’ flippancy about their status).
.
Sparklefields
Considered “low-level” aristocrats, but they’re aristocrats nonetheless. The Sparklefields have always preserved fae culture and encouraged the arts, from writing to painting to music to theater. While not scholars per se, their family educated those who intended to pursue the arts.
Nowadays they have their thumbs in everything that passes through Fairywood. Simon Sparklefield belongs to this family.
.
Fairywinkles
Not typical aristocrats and don’t run in the same social circle as the others. Nonetheless, they’ve grown into an influential family who use their strength to defend those weaker than they are (assuming the right price is paid).
Wanda, Blonda, Poof, and Dusty belong to this family; Cosmo skirts the edges and follows certain practices (like always paying with cash instead of scanning his wand in a machine), but he isn’t actively involved in the family business.
.
Other
Several other families are also considered upper class but do not possess quite the high status the above families have. The above families maintain the top of the ladder from generation to generation, while other Fairy families flicker up and down the rungs.
All Anti-Fairy aristocrats pass high status to their children (if their children are raised in their household/colony). They achieve status not from what they’ve done, like gathering teeth or mining gems, but because of a long history of faithful service at the Blue Castle. With the exception of the ruling family (Anti-Coppertalon or Anti-Fairywinkle), Anti-Fairy aristocrat families are equally ranked and don’t compete for dominance.
Fairy families flip-flop status depending on who the current head of the household is; for example, the Fairy social ladder organizes Fairy society according to subspecies. Unless freckles are involved, the head of the household is almost always the oldest member of the home who belongs to the highest species on the ladder; gender is irrelevant.
If a couple are both members of the same species, individual differences in personality decide who the more dominant one is (Fairy culture expects there to be a dominant individual in all relationships, but don’t care if the dominant one in a relationship switches off).
Large freckled male Fairies known as gynes are always the head of the household regardless of subspecies. Gynes are biologically wired to be the queen bees of Fairy World, and drakes become gynes if they consume a large amount of jelly in their first year of life.
Damsels and non-gyne drakes are known as kabouters. However, some non-gyne drakes are born drones instead. Drones are not triggered by an external force like jelly consumption, but can only be born to gyne fathers.
Gyne fathers can have kabouter daughters, but not kabouter sons; all sons of a gyne will be drones unless some of them consume a lot of jelly in childhood and develop into gynes instead.
Gynes are strong, fertile, and extremely territorial. Only a limited number can live in the same general area, and if they step on one another’s toes then turf wars break out. Gynes usually have large families and require a lot of land, so they often own estates.
Gynes often fight one another to the death and seize each other’s property; Fairy culture accepts and even encourages this since strength and physical prowess are so highly praised.
Families headed by a gyne hold higher status than those who don’t, and the dominance hierarchy can shift from one generation to the next. Older gynes are highly respected and younger gynes defer to them, thus sorting out the pecking order that’s so crucial to keeping the peace in Fairy society.
.
Click HERE for my Fairly OddParents worldbuilding masterpost