Fae Index
Types of Fae / The Hidden Ones Field Catalogue / Changeling Phenomena
Subtitle: The part everyone skips until it’s midnight, the woods go quiet, and something starts negotiating.
I. Overview
The Fae are not one “species.” They’re a classification: a spectrum of liminal intelligences that interact with humans through territory, etiquette, exchange, implication, and consequence. This entry is the Codex “Index,” built for practical use: identifying likely types, understanding behavior patterns, and not accidentally agreeing to something you’ll regret for the next seven winters.
Codex Reminder: A “type” is a field grouping. Many reports blur categories. Some entities present as one class to lure you into treating them wrong.
II. Codex Classification Framework
To keep this sane, the Codex sorts Fae into Orders (what they are), Roles (what they’re doing), and Domains (where they rule).
A. Orders (Foundational Groupings)
| Order | Summary | Primary Threat |
|---|---|---|
| Courtly (Gentry / Noble-aligned) | Hierarchical, legalistic, contract-driven | Oaths, bindings, favors, “permission” |
| Household (Hearth-Kin) | Attached to homes, farms, workplaces | Domestic sabotage, luck, escalating vendettas |
| Wild (Green / Thorn / Root) | Territorial, nature-bonded, ancient | Getting “lost,” loop paths, engineered accidents |
| Waterbound (Spring / River / Bog) | Lures tied to water thresholds | Compulsion, drowning, trade traps |
| Trickster (Mask / Mirror / Mimic) | Shapeshifters, humiliation games | Identity hooks, bait-acceptance, misdirection |
| Predatory (Hunt / Host / Riders) | Pursuit logic, violent escalation | Abduction, injury, disappearance |
| Omen (Keening / Herald) | Associated with death, illness, warnings | Psychological collapse, obsession, targeted haunt |
| Craftbound (Smith / Weaver) | Rules of making, trade, and craft | Bargains, cursed gifts, skill theft |
B. Roles (What They’re Doing Right Now)
| Role | What it Means in the Field |
|---|---|
| Observer | Watching you. Testing boundaries. Waiting for your mistake. |
| Envoy/Herald | Delivering terms, warnings, or invitations. |
| Collector | Here for something owed: name, favor, object, time. |
| Warden | Enforcing territorial law. You trespassed. |
| Lurer | Music, lights, familiar voices, “helpful” strangers. |
| Hunter | You became prey (often by running, chasing, or agreeing). |
C. Domains (Where Encounters Cluster)
- Thresholds: doors, bridges, gates, crossroads, fence lines
- Rings/Mounds: mushroom rings, barrows, “too-perfect” hills
- Waters: springs, bogs, river bends, still ponds
- Old Ways: ruins, abandoned roads, forgotten cemeteries
- Liminal Times: dusk, pre-dawn, solstices, storms, harvest turning
III. Index of Fae Types (Quick Reference)
This is a field-first index: name(s), domain, tells, risk, and the one rule you need most.
A. Courtly & High Fae (Gentry-Adjacent)
| Type | Domain | Tells | Risk | Don’t |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Gentry (High Fae / Nobles) | Thin places, mounds, old roads | “Perfect” beauty, stillness, layered speech | Extreme | Don’t give your name |
| Heralds / Envoys | Crossroads, doorways | Formal language, “terms,” repeated phrases | High | Don’t bargain tired |
| Collectors | After a breach | Tokens, marks, ledgers, “reminders” | High | Don’t accept “leniency” |
| Wardens | Territory edges | Sudden silence, blocked paths, pressure | High | Don’t argue jurisdiction |
| Masquers (Masked Court) | Night roads, gatherings | Masks, processions, music-with-no-source | Extreme | Don’t join a “party” |
B. Household & Hearth-Kin
| Type | Domain | Tells | Risk | Don’t |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brownie / Hearth-Kin | Homes, barns, shops | Help with chores, missing items returned | Moderate→High | Don’t “pay” with money |
| Domovoi-Analog (House Guardian) | Old homes | Footsteps, warnings, protective pranks | Moderate | Don’t disrespect the house |
| Hob / Farm-Kin | Farms, mills | Tools moved, work “done,” boundary obsession | Moderate | Don’t remodel sacred corners |
| Boggart (Turned Hearth-Kin) | Same as above | Help becomes sabotage | High | Don’t mock, don’t escalate |
C. Tricksters, Mimics, and Borderwalkers
| Type | Domain | Tells | Risk | Don’t |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Púca/Pooka-Analog | Roads, fields | Animal form with human intent | High | Don’t accept a “ride” |
| Mimic / Voice-Caller | Woods near paths | Familiar voice “off-trail” | High | Don’t answer your name |
| Maskers (Face-Thieves) | Crowds, liminal urban | Wrong details, too-smooth interaction | High | Don’t volunteer identity facts |
| Mirror-Kin | Water, reflective thresholds | Reflections lag or lead | High | Don’t stare long |
D. Waterbound
| Type | Domain | Tells | Risk | Don’t |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kelpie-Analog | Rivers, lochs, ponds | Beautiful horse, wet mane, sticky hide | Extreme | Don’t touch |
| Spring-Guest / Well-Kin | Springs, wells | Offerings present, “clean” feeling | High | Don’t take coins |
| Bog-Wives / Mire-Kin | Bogs | Lights, humming, sudden sink | Extreme | Don’t follow lights |
| River-Callers | River bends | Singing, whispers, “lost” objects | High | Don’t retrieve bait |
E. Predatory & Hunt-Associated
| Type | Domain | Tells | Risk | Don’t |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wild Hunt / The Host | Storm nights, winter | Horns, hounds, rushing air | Extreme | Don’t run |
| Hounds (Otherworld Dogs) | Roads, edges | Footsteps, panting, no animal visible | Extreme | Don’t look back repeatedly |
| Night Riders | Old roads | Hooves, procession, pressure wave | Extreme | Don’t step into the road center |
F. Omen & Herald Types
| Type | Domain | Tells | Risk | Don’t |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Keening Woman (Banshee-adjacent) | Family lines, old places | Wail/cry, hair, lament | High | Don’t chase the sound |
| Grief-Heralds | Hospitals, graveyards, bridges | Presence feels “already happened” | High | Don’t invite conversation |
IV. Detailed Type Profiles
Below are full Codex profiles: behaviors, rules, and survival notes.
1) The Gentry (High Fae / Nobility)
Classification: Courtly Order
Threat Level: Extreme
Primary Mechanism: Contractual binding through courtesy and implication
Presentation:
- Beauty that reads as engineered, not natural
- Clothing too clean for the environment
- Stillness in the face and eyes like a portrait
Behavioral Pattern:
- Opens with a compliment or curiosity (“You look tired,” “You’re far from home.”)
- Asks “small” questions that are actually hooks: name, where you’re headed, what you want
- Offers a gift or “help” that creates obligation
Survival Rules:
- Minimal speech. Flat tone. No names.
- Never say: I swear / I promise / anything / deal / you have my word.
- Refusal script (repeatable): “No.” “Not invited.” “I’m leaving.”
Common Trap: “Can I ask you something?”
If you answer yes, the question becomes the contract.
2) Heralds, Envoys, and Collectors
Classification: Courtly Order, Agent Role
Threat Level: High
Primary Mechanism: Enforcement after breach
When They Appear:
- After you crossed a ring/mound/threshold
- After you accepted something “found”
- After you spoke a binding phrase
Tells:
- Formal language, repetition, a feeling of “procedure”
- Tokens placed where you’ll find them (coins, strings, feathers, small marks)
Survival Rules:
- Do not negotiate on the spot. Leave the zone.
- Do not accept “leniency” or “a smaller price.” Those are still prices.
- Document exact wording later. Most damage comes from what you said, not what you saw.
3) Wardens (Territorial Enforcers)
Classification: Courtly or Wild Order
Threat Level: High
Primary Mechanism: Territorial pressure, path denial
Tells:
- A path that “won’t let you through” without physical obstruction
- Sudden silence and a sense of being evaluated
- Repeated landmarks, forced loops
Survival Rules:
- Backtrack exactly. Don’t “push deeper.”
- Don’t argue or demand explanation. Jurisdiction debates end poorly.
4) Masquers (Masked Court / Procession Types)
Classification: Courtly Order, Predatory overlap
Threat Level: Extreme
Primary Mechanism: Social lures, music-trance, group-binding
Signs:
- Music with no source
- Laughter too distant to be real and too clear to be echo
- “Party lights” in places that should be dark
Survival Rules:
- Do not approach the sound.
- Do not mirror their rhythm (humming, tapping, dancing).
- Do not step into a circle of light in the woods. You’re not in a movie. You don’t have plot armor.
V. Household Fae (Hearth-Kin)
Household types are the most misunderstood because they’re often helpful first.
1) Brownies / Hearth-Kin
Threat Level: Moderate (can escalate)
Behavior:
- Tidies, repairs, arranges, returns missing items
- Reacts strongly to disrespect, mess, loud mocking
Offerings:
- Traditional offerings are small and symbolic (food, cream in lore).
Codex Warning: Money is not a “gift.” It’s a wage. Many traditions treat wages as insult.
Rules:
- Don’t brag about them
- Don’t “test” them
- Don’t leave out a gift and then demand results
2) Boggarts (Turned Hearth-Kin)
Threat Level: High
Often what household spirits become after prolonged disrespect, conflict, or attention-feeding.
Signs of Turn:
- Help becomes sabotage
- Small pranks become frightening escalation
- You start feeling watched in private areas of the home
Protocol:
- Stop reacting dramatically (attention can be fuel)
- Restore order and respect
- Avoid challenge language (“Show yourself,” “Prove it”)
VI. Tricksters & Mimics
This category ruins people because it uses your own patterns against you.
1) Púca/Pooka-Analog (Ride-Takers, Road-Beasts)
Threat Level: High
Presentation: Horse, goat, dog, rabbit, or “wrong” animal on roads/fields.
Core Pattern:
Offers transport, companionship, or curiosity bait. The “ride” is a contract.
Rules:
- Don’t touch unknown animals that behave like they’re waiting for you
- Don’t climb on, follow, or accept “leading”
2) Voice-Callers (Mimic Types)
Threat Level: High
Signature: You hear a familiar voice off-trail calling your name.
Rules:
- Do not answer your name.
- Don’t go toward it.
- If you must speak: “No.” “Not invited.” Then leave.
3) Face-Thieves / Maskers
Threat Level: High
Notes: Often reported in crowds, fairs, festivals, or liminal urban zones (abandoned malls, dead downtown streets).
Tells: Too-smooth conversation, wrong micro-details, eyes that don’t “track” normally.
Rules:
- Don’t volunteer personal facts
- Don’t accept offers that require identity confirmation
VII. Waterbound Types
Water is a threshold. That’s why it’s always involved.
1) Kelpie-Analog
Threat Level: Extreme
Tells: Beautiful horse near water, mane wet, behavior unnervingly calm.
Rule: Don’t touch. Touch is agreement.
2) Spring and Well Kin
Threat Level: High
Pattern: Exchanges for “blessing,” “health,” or “luck.”
Rules:
- Don’t take offerings (coins, ribbons)
- Don’t drink unless it’s clearly a human-maintained source
3) Bog and Mire Kin
Threat Level: Extreme
Pattern: Lights, humming, feeling of being guided. Ground turns treacherous.
Rule: Never follow lights in a bog. Ever.
VIII. Predatory Types
Not all Fae are predators, but predators exist in the ecosystem. Pretending otherwise is how people vanish.
1) The Wild Hunt / The Host
Threat Level: Extreme
Signs: Weather shift, horns, hounds, pressure in the air, sudden dread without source.
Rule:
- Do not run. Running is consent to pursuit logic.
- Break line-of-sight calmly. Seek shelter behind a threshold if you can.
2) Otherworld Hounds
Threat Level: Extreme
Signs: Footsteps, panting, nails on rock, but no animal visible.
Rule: Don’t look back repeatedly. Don’t call out. Leave.
IX. Changeling Phenomena
This deserves its own section because it’s one of the oldest, ugliest human stories tied to the Fae, and historically it led to cruelty. The Codex treats it as phenomenology (patterns people report), not as justification for harm.
A. Codex Definition
A Changeling Event is a reported phenomenon where a human (often a child) is believed to be replaced or altered after proximity to fae territory, rings, thresholds, or extended exposure to liminal influence.
B. Reported “Changeling Indicators”
| Category | Reported Signs |
|---|---|
| Behavioral Shift | Sudden coldness, “not recognizing” family, unusual calm or fury |
| Sleep/Dream | Night terrors, speaking unknown words, staring at corners |
| Appetite | Refusal of food, obsession with strange tastes, never satisfied |
| Physical | Paleness, odd stillness, eyes “too old,” uncanny strength (rare claims) |
| Social | Aversion to certain rooms/objects, fixation on thresholds/windows |
| Environmental | Electronics glitching, animals avoiding, sudden cold pockets |
Codex Note: Many of these overlap with real-world medical, developmental, and mental health issues. Folklore is clear about signs but historically terrible about responses. We keep the record. We don’t repeat the mistakes.
C. Folklore “Triggers” (Common Narrative Causes)
- Child left near a ring, mound, or water threshold
- Naming rituals performed carelessly (naming is leverage)
- Parent makes a desperate bargain (explicit or implied)
- Household offerings withheld or insult given
D. Safer Modern Protocol (Nonviolent, Non-harm)
If someone in your world insists a changeling event occurred, the Codex “survival” approach is de-escalation and boundary restoration, not punishment.
- Remove from suspected threshold zone (don’t keep returning “to check”).
- Restore routine and stability (liminal events cluster around exhaustion and chaos).
- Avoid aggressive “tests” (historically led to harm).
- Document timing and context (what changed, when, what exposure happened).
- If real-world danger exists, treat it as real-world danger first.
E. Folklore “Reversal” Claims (Documented as Tradition, Not Advice)
Traditional stories include symbolic acts: iron near cradles, salt thresholds, protective prayers/charms, and public naming ceremonies. The Codex records these as cultural responses, not guaranteed methods.
X. Fae Offerings, Tokens, and Traps
A. Offerings (When People Do Them)
Offerings are context-dependent and dangerous when done ignorantly. Many “offerings” function like opening a tab at a bar you can’t afford.
Safer Rule: If you don’t know local tradition, don’t start trading.
Best “offering” in unknown territory is respect and departure.
B. Tokens (Common Field Reports)
- Coins that weren’t there before
- Feathers placed deliberately
- Twine/threads tied on branches
- Small piles of stones
- A single object centered on a path like bait
Rule: Don’t pick up tokens. Photograph from distance, note location, leave.
XI. Identification Guide (Decision Tree)
Use this when you’re trying to categorize an encounter quickly.
- Is it tied to a home/farm/workplace?
→ Household order (Brownie/Hob/Boggart pattern) - Is the encounter centered on water?
→ Waterbound (Kelpie/Spring/Bog pattern) - Are you being lured by music/lights/voices?
→ Trickster/Masquer/Mimic pattern - Do you feel “procedure,” terms, or negotiation?
→ Courtly agent (Herald/Collector/Warden) - Do you hear pursuit sounds (hounds, horns) or feel hunted?
→ Predatory/Hunt pattern - Is time behaving wrong (loops, missing hours) with territorial pressure?
→ Warden/Wild domain overlap
XII. Survival Appendix: What Not to Say
Humans talk themselves into traps. Here are phrases that show up in bad outcomes.
Avoid These
- “I promise.”
- “I swear.”
- “Deal.”
- “Anything.”
- “You have my word.”
- “I’ll do whatever you want.”
- “My name is…” (in a suspect zone)
- “Can you help me?” (open-ended request is open-ended debt)
Safer Scripts
- “No.”
- “Not invited.”
- “I’m leaving.”
- “I don’t consent.”
- “This conversation is over.”
(Yes, it feels dramatic. That’s because humans are built to be socially compliant, and the Fae exploit that.)
XIII. Summary
This Index exists because “Fae” is too broad to be useful in the field. If you learn the orders and roles, you stop treating everything like the same kind of threat.
Key Takeaways:
- Courtly types weaponize etiquette and contracts.
- Household types escalate based on respect and attention.
- Tricksters target identity and curiosity.
- Waterbound types trade safety for compulsion.
- Predatory types punish pursuit logic, and fear is how you volunteer.