To Sir Percival
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TennyoCeres84
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To Sir Percival
How did the World Wars affect the Fae populations? It seems that it would've been difficult to keep a isolationist stance in such conflicts, so how were these issues handled, particularly in areas around Germany, Japan, and Italy?
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IamLEAM1983
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As Percival
"The demise of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was considered as a historical footnote by the Fae; a matter of mortal import that would only ever affect mortal politics and not the safety of Faerie's European shores. We believed this tragedy to be an event that would be limited to the Serbian mortal youth or to the country's Nationalist supporters. We did not expect Serbia to call for Germany's aid. Nor did we expect Germany to answer.
The footnote became the catalyst for the Great War, and provinces within Faerie began to suffer as many among our Commoners and Changelings chose to answer the call of their mortal nations, rather than Faerie's pleas for isolationism. Entire towns and villages were emptied, and young men and women who had never glimpsed at the mortal realm were goaded into joining the war's theatre by their politically-inclined friends. Illusions were destroyed and many a terrible set of prejudices towards the mortal realm were seeded in those years. Some came to believe that war, if not outright war-mongering, stood as a purely mortal concept; a black mark worthy of contempt if glimpsed in any Fae's character.
World War One ended with the disappointed Changelings casting their mortal selves aside. Why live on in an injured body, why carry the horrors of war, when you could simply be reborn, given a clean slate? Those who had fought to preserve mortal loved ones, on the other hand, lived with their successes and failures. Faerie's desire of independence was stoked by these horrors. From Tolkien, Lewis and others, we took the profound desire for escapism; the desire for some other place, untouched by mortal politics and the confused meanderings of a brittle aristocracy. Some mortals followed us, never to return.
Of course, World War One barely touched Japan's shores, but we were made witnesses to the continuation of Archibald Holden's efforts in the country - albeit in purely mercantile and political forms. A few Fae wished to visit the Land of the Rising Sun in search of our distant Asian compatriots, to see in which ways the Dragonborn of old could have grown to adapt to such an isolated and insular society. Bereft of all European influences, it stood to reason that Asia's Faerie would not be quite as... Celtic as ours.
Germany's loss was festering, and that resentment also tainted our youth in the country's borders. The once strong continental superpower was now a shadow of its former self, and hatred coursed in all the races between Germany and Austria. Once more, our attempts to remain isolated failed. Our youth was divided between the nascent far-right movements of Germany and the remaining sensible parties. The cycle was repeated. My kin fought for the Allies, several among Morgana and Mab's ranks joined the ranks of the Axis. Clear-skinned, fair-haired and blue-eyed True Fae must have struck Hitler's generals as standing as the models of Aryan perfection; nevermind how their hearts were as black and brittle as Mab's soil. Human cruelty stoked the sadism, the wanton lust for violence standing in the heart of Winter; something against which no carriers of Oberon's Hearth could have opposed their own cheer.
This time, however, there stood no mortal bards to echo simpler times. The tales had already been written, so the melancholy ones returned to them. Faerie's standing stones grew taller, the temples and gates of our Oriental cousins grew more fastuous. While our young blood murdered itself on Omaha Beach and the Somme, in the Ardennes and Berlin's blasted streets, their parents and grandparents tried, once more, to forget. Those who followed Emperor Hirohito brought all the fury of the samurai of old, but were accompanied by mortals carrying factory-produced replicas of greater, more powerful swords.
We in Europe watched as the indoctrinated ones in the East tried to beat the Americans back. We watched as they retreated to Faerie, hoping that the atom bombs would not touch Hiroshima and Nagasaki's Faesides. The radiation never crossed the pale - but the devastation did. Millions died. Those who crossed back were tainted by the fallout. Their innoculated blight would condemn the proudest of Japan's Fae to watching as their wives gave birth to stunted beings, or the wives, as their men were never able to channel Summer and Winter's mantles again. Mantles of the Fair Ones fell in tatters over the next few years, consequence forcing fiercely noble men into Choosing a second time - this time with only one potential outcome.
Few found themselves able to live without their grace, their power, after centuries spent inspiring warriors and feudal lords. Aging, losing in strength and potency, after lifetimes spent inspiring fear and respect in their subjects? If the Kitaiteki chose to emigrate or rust away, Japan's Fae warlords threw themselves 'pon their swords. A few fought on, grew used to mortal life - but regret would never leave them entirely.
As to the Commoners, it is said that Japanese Fae who lived in the country did their best to act as though the war would never touch them. Temples kept functioning, what we call Wyldfae and the locals referred to as the yokai kept to their dealings with temple visitors or wayside travellers. If you were to cross over, you would see pristine bath houses and tea houses, maybe Fae monks or travellers in the garb of centuries past.
Inevitably, however, an official would come up the road, carrying the sword of a fallen son or daughter of Faerie. Either here or in the mortal plane, tears would be shed. Screams would be heard. A few more days would pass, and the illusion of peace would reassert itself."
The footnote became the catalyst for the Great War, and provinces within Faerie began to suffer as many among our Commoners and Changelings chose to answer the call of their mortal nations, rather than Faerie's pleas for isolationism. Entire towns and villages were emptied, and young men and women who had never glimpsed at the mortal realm were goaded into joining the war's theatre by their politically-inclined friends. Illusions were destroyed and many a terrible set of prejudices towards the mortal realm were seeded in those years. Some came to believe that war, if not outright war-mongering, stood as a purely mortal concept; a black mark worthy of contempt if glimpsed in any Fae's character.
World War One ended with the disappointed Changelings casting their mortal selves aside. Why live on in an injured body, why carry the horrors of war, when you could simply be reborn, given a clean slate? Those who had fought to preserve mortal loved ones, on the other hand, lived with their successes and failures. Faerie's desire of independence was stoked by these horrors. From Tolkien, Lewis and others, we took the profound desire for escapism; the desire for some other place, untouched by mortal politics and the confused meanderings of a brittle aristocracy. Some mortals followed us, never to return.
Of course, World War One barely touched Japan's shores, but we were made witnesses to the continuation of Archibald Holden's efforts in the country - albeit in purely mercantile and political forms. A few Fae wished to visit the Land of the Rising Sun in search of our distant Asian compatriots, to see in which ways the Dragonborn of old could have grown to adapt to such an isolated and insular society. Bereft of all European influences, it stood to reason that Asia's Faerie would not be quite as... Celtic as ours.
Germany's loss was festering, and that resentment also tainted our youth in the country's borders. The once strong continental superpower was now a shadow of its former self, and hatred coursed in all the races between Germany and Austria. Once more, our attempts to remain isolated failed. Our youth was divided between the nascent far-right movements of Germany and the remaining sensible parties. The cycle was repeated. My kin fought for the Allies, several among Morgana and Mab's ranks joined the ranks of the Axis. Clear-skinned, fair-haired and blue-eyed True Fae must have struck Hitler's generals as standing as the models of Aryan perfection; nevermind how their hearts were as black and brittle as Mab's soil. Human cruelty stoked the sadism, the wanton lust for violence standing in the heart of Winter; something against which no carriers of Oberon's Hearth could have opposed their own cheer.
This time, however, there stood no mortal bards to echo simpler times. The tales had already been written, so the melancholy ones returned to them. Faerie's standing stones grew taller, the temples and gates of our Oriental cousins grew more fastuous. While our young blood murdered itself on Omaha Beach and the Somme, in the Ardennes and Berlin's blasted streets, their parents and grandparents tried, once more, to forget. Those who followed Emperor Hirohito brought all the fury of the samurai of old, but were accompanied by mortals carrying factory-produced replicas of greater, more powerful swords.
We in Europe watched as the indoctrinated ones in the East tried to beat the Americans back. We watched as they retreated to Faerie, hoping that the atom bombs would not touch Hiroshima and Nagasaki's Faesides. The radiation never crossed the pale - but the devastation did. Millions died. Those who crossed back were tainted by the fallout. Their innoculated blight would condemn the proudest of Japan's Fae to watching as their wives gave birth to stunted beings, or the wives, as their men were never able to channel Summer and Winter's mantles again. Mantles of the Fair Ones fell in tatters over the next few years, consequence forcing fiercely noble men into Choosing a second time - this time with only one potential outcome.
Few found themselves able to live without their grace, their power, after centuries spent inspiring warriors and feudal lords. Aging, losing in strength and potency, after lifetimes spent inspiring fear and respect in their subjects? If the Kitaiteki chose to emigrate or rust away, Japan's Fae warlords threw themselves 'pon their swords. A few fought on, grew used to mortal life - but regret would never leave them entirely.
As to the Commoners, it is said that Japanese Fae who lived in the country did their best to act as though the war would never touch them. Temples kept functioning, what we call Wyldfae and the locals referred to as the yokai kept to their dealings with temple visitors or wayside travellers. If you were to cross over, you would see pristine bath houses and tea houses, maybe Fae monks or travellers in the garb of centuries past.
Inevitably, however, an official would come up the road, carrying the sword of a fallen son or daughter of Faerie. Either here or in the mortal plane, tears would be shed. Screams would be heard. A few more days would pass, and the illusion of peace would reassert itself."