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EACHDRAIDH RP ([personal profile] fairyfoes) wrote2014-03-22 11:59 pm
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( 20 ) Unseelie Court Info

The UNSEELIE COURT

Riddles In The Dark
Basics


HIGH-KING Reul na Maidne.
HIGH-QUEEN Morla.
AFFILIATED BEAST Black Shuck.
STRONGHOLD Caer Scima.
TERRITORY Dorchadas.
MOTTO 'Riddles In The Dark'
SIGIL Black cleg on a silver-and-purple banner.
TRIVIA Long ago, Morla was once called 'Shade'; she is Solais's sister.
The Unseelie Code

Members of the Unseelie Court stand for the principles of constant change and impulsive action. They have a reputation for fostering war and madness, despising those weaker than themselves, and valuing freedom and wildness over any chivalric code. They see themselves as radical visionaries, bringing about vital change and transformation through whatever means necessary, including violence. They have long believed that they should be the masters, rather than the servants. They consider stagnation, worn-out traditions, repression, censorship, and limitation to be crimes against the free exchange of ideas. While some mock the chivalric behavior of the Seelie, others follow it because they are free to make the choice to, not because custom dictates their behavior. It's known that those who ally themselves to the Unseelie cause are fighting to collect shards of the Uaine Cridhe, the sacred gem, so that they can destroy the looming Void once and for all, and prevent the long-foretold end of the drabwurld and all worlds. The cost? Breaking the eternal cycle of death and rebirth. What worlds left will be the last worlds to ever exist, with no others to come after. Sacrificing all potential future life to preserve what already exists.

The NECROVEILS of High-King Reul swear their oath according to Unseelie virtues: Necroveils do not stagnate. My heart knows only passion. My blade defends my bones. My might destroys the weak. My word need not be truth. My wrath undoes the just.

SHARD-HOLDERS of the Unseelie Court do not follow the Unseelie Code because it is there, but because it is simply a group of pure truths and widely believed in. Passion and power are never lies because they cannot be denied. Some Unseelie pick up the Seelie Code if they want to. Every Unseelie, ultimately, believes there is truth in their own Code because they are not laws.


• CHANGE IS GOOD
The Unseelie recognise that the world is filled with change: the seasons, the shift of day and night, the tides. Without that constant flux, the world would become stagnant. Those who cannot adapt to change, who cannot embrace it, deserve what they get when they are rolled over by its ever-moving wheels.

• GLAMOUR IS FREE
There is no reason to limit yourself when it comes to learning and using magic. To do so is pointless when it could easily win battles and save your life.

• HONOUR IS A LIE
To the Unseelie it is the chivalric ideal of honour that is the lie: a false, arbitrary set of restrictions used by one group to control another. They develop their own individual rules of conduct because only those they make for themselves have the truth of belief behind them. The Unseelie feel as if truth itself can be only be reached through a devotion to self, not a devotion to others.

• PASSION BEFORE DUTY
Like honour, duty means nothing unless driven by personal desire. Instincts and impulses exist to guide you; consequences will happen no matter what you chose to do. Even death can come at any time, without any warning, and the worst way to die would be with regret upon your heart. Those who are rigidly bound by duty are locked in the molds of what they "should do" and "ought to do" and are seldom able to indulge in what they "want to do."
Territory & Culture



The silver dots represent Unseelie-only fairy rings at Caer Scima, connecting to the Spires, the Chateau, and to Mair


Dorchadas is the name given to Unseelie-claimed territory, with Caer Scima as the seat of governance and power. However, Unseelie shardbearers also govern areas beyond Dorchadas: Redgate and Mair. For all practical purposes, though these leaders may determine their own laws, the drabwurld identifies these areas as Unseelie.
Inner-Court Locations (A-Z)


Each castle is an enormous sprawling domicile, yet there are several places in them which are widely known within their court. Nowhere barring the High-King and High-Queen's private chambers are off-limits to the Unseelie and there are numerous quads, common rooms and privies speckled all over the castle.


• THE ARMOURY
Constantly in use and ordinarily home to a large pile of used and blunted swords, spears and knives, the armoury is raided by the blacksmiths once a month so they can melt down all the newly ruined blades and return a fresh crop of deadly weapons to the stores here. Every time they do it is something of an event, with each Unseelie eager to take the best weapon.

• THE BAILEY
Main courtyard of mostly dark thorny bushes and mournful, yet elegant willow trees. Nightshade, belladonna and autumn crocus are some of the lovely but deadly flowers that bloom here. It is peaceful compared to much of the rest of the castle.

• THE CELLARS
Accessed directly through the Kitchens, the Cellars are long and winding, a maze in their own right, with rows upon rows of wine bottles and casks of all kinds of ale stored safely in the cool dark.

• THE CURTAIN WALL
The long-standing stone walls around Caer Scima. Dead vines choke the walls and beady eyes stare out here and there, disappearing when you try to see them directly.

• THE DUNGEONS
On the lowest level of the castle, no one ever goes to the dungeons unless it is by force. They barely have enough old hay to serve as beds, the cells are damp and dark and the only light down here comes from the few and far between torches ensconced in the walls (and sometimes even those are taken away by the guards). The food is poor, the water unclean and rats run wild.

• THE GATEHOUSE
The complex of towers, barriers and portcullis built to protect the main entrance of the castle. Ordinarily guarded by trowes.

• THE GREAT HALL
With several long tables spanning the length of the Great Hall, the uppermost dais is reserved for the High-King and High-Queen although they are rarely ever witnessed here, even during feasts, and their empty chairs are surrounded by those of a high status. This is the central hub of the castle with breakfast, lunch and dinner regularly served by the servants. Smaller trestle tables are available for anyone popping in for a quick bite to eat, utilised by lower-ranking Unseelie at official feasts. On an everyday basis, people tend to sit where they want.

• THE INFIRMARY
Priority is given to those of higher-status, although everyone is treated here sooner or later. It exists in its own twilight that is gentle on the eyes and the matrons and doctors are always sombre, even if you are getting better.

• THE KEEP
Across several floors are the living quarters of Shard-holders. The Bower is the name of the wing where women stay, with men housed opposite in what is simply known as the Second Wing. A long corridor with severely tall, narrow windows depicting all kinds of cruel creatures separates the two, connecting at a central staircase down which everyone descends for breakfast on their way to the Great Hall and commonly meet at when awaiting their partner for a ball. The "Chambers", as they are commonly known, are rather vast (owing to extra rooms for those who qualify, such as solars, parlours, studies etc) and structured so those of a higher status are housed together at the farthest reaches, with lower-ranking Shard-holders closer to the stairs.

• THE KITCHENS
The huge stone underground domain of the castle cooks! It includes massive ovens for baking and grand fireplaces for smoking and roasting food. It also has a water supply complete with a sink and drainage. The kitchens were built against the curtain wall near the Inner Bailey, connected to the Buttery, Pantry and Storeroom. The only time the action here dies down, at least a little, is in the dead of night.

• THE LIBRARY
The Unseelie Library is a grand affair, albeit not quite as enormous as the Seelie version. Nothing here is restricted access, although checked-out books must be returned within a week. Some very nasty, powerful spells are here, but you must first be seen worthy by High-Queen Morla before being permitted enough power to wield them. No one wants to live with the village idiot who can raise the dead, after all.

update july 2014! The records kept by both sides are, of course, always biased in their favour. One side may claim the other started a charge first whereas the other explains it away with having to move their wounded/push their troops slightly forward into the field, and everybody starts fighting again unexpectedly; that sort of thing! There's always a grain of truth to both sides, if you'd like your character to notice variations in the records like that.

• THE REVELS
Lanterns light this huge ballroom floored in onyx and threaded with veins of silver, drapes of rich purple velvet swathe alcoves where revelers take care of their passions in the murky half-light during festivities. Unseelie parties are wild affairs with little structure and mixed themes, hunts and orgies and magical flair coming together to create nights long pined for and never forgotten.

• THE SMITHY
Much improved by dwarven Unseelie over the years, the Smithy is on a lower level close to the Ward and the production of many fine weapons begins and ends here. Famed for working elaborate weapons and demonic swords.

• THE THRONE ROOM
The grandest hall in the whole court, silver is worked through the pillars of onyx and the sigil of the black cleg on a silver-and-purple banner is draped from the rafters in succession. Here is where royal audiences are held and boons are granted, grievances are aired and sentences carried out. It is usually empty, save for the servants, and no one is permitted to sit on the thrones. If they do, the imps will bite hard enough to draw blood, kick, scream and generally be a nuisance until the seats are once more vacated.

• THE WARD
A second main courtyard where archery, swordsmanship and other talents are honed. It is flanked by the farriers, smithy and stables. On the upper level of the Ward are the offices of the Masters At Arms.

• THE WARDROBE
A storeroom for fabrics where dressmaking and hairdressing is carried out for formal events, here is where you must come to be fitted for any new clothes (unless you are of a higher status, in which case the servants will come to you). The master seamstresses are praised for being able to sew all manner of outlandish otherworldly designs.
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