Fae speak in an overly cryptic style, ranging from difficult riddles to something a bit poetic. Metaphors and allegories are an important base of this style of speech. They tend to speak with a silver tongue and are careful with the words they select.
Example of the Speaking Style:
The following example is how Degaré talks and is a common manner among fae. As with anything, each individual may have their own quirks, including following a specific speech pattern such as making everything rhyme or giving very strange limited word answers. The unifying point of fae speech is to be strange and flowery.
- 1. Convoluted
- “I was thrown into existence when the horned ones of the forests still enraptured the mundane’s focus. I have always haunted the nervous steps of the beings held by bodily rules, coming too close for comfort as my familiar mask holds a underlying truth they do not wish to remember. My face, at first sight a vision of what control their domesticity holds, followed by a bitter realization that I am everything they took from the beast they rule.”
A high level of symbolism, lots of word count fill, tends to avoid contractions, often very riddle-like as they use this manner to play mind games and conceal info. They are essentially verbal puzzles and can be difficult to understand for those who are unfamiliar with this level of speak. Most commonly used with very unfamiliar individuals they do not trust. This is the language humans often are met with as it helps keep them at a distance.
- 2. Poetic
- “I was created when the horned ones still captured your kind’s imagination. I have always followed behind in the grounded mortal’s path, causing them great unease with my lingering presence. I am familiar yet distant- their obedient hound at first glance, a feral beast at next.”
A little more straight forward but still holding high poeticness and some avoidance of contractions. This level is often used between friendlier monsters or when they want to be a little more direct.
- 3. Simple
- “I was born during the Medieval times, when humans still spared a thought for unicorns. I’ve always followed close to your kind which has caused some paranoia due to what I am. I am a black shuck, with appearance similar to a dog but a feeling of something considerably different and wild.”
The most direct of common fae speak, much easier to immediately understand but usually still holds some flowery words. Examples of this will vary greatly by individual and location but this simpler talk is most common among monsters who have hung around humans a bit.
Other Info:
- Fae never say a plain ‘please’ or ‘thank you’. These can open the individual up to being exploited, as ‘please’ is seen as wanting to initiate a trade and ‘thank you’ shows that you believe you owe them something, which they may try to collect on. Gratitude should be expressed but it must be handled in a different way through careful words. An example: “If I may, I am searching for a stone that you hold in your keep.”, “Your kindness is of note.”
- Monsters that have heavy human vernacular will usually ignore this rule, but it is an important shield to use against monsters trying to trick you into deals.
- Never give your real name. Nicknames, titles, and flowery self-descriptions are given as a way to protect yourself as a bound name can open yourself up for more trickery against those who wish to cause mischief. Giving someone else’s real name away is also considered deeply rude and immoral. More on this here [link]
- Fae may blend or switch between different levels of convolution as they speak. If they want to be direct, they will.
- Direct lies should not be told, though only revealing part of the truth through careful words is accepted. Considering the verbal chess they play and the other trickery that is common and accepted, this is a very hypocritical moral they carry.
- Newly turned Abnormals tend to have a lot of trouble learning the vernacular rules at first unless they have dealt with the fae in the past. To communicate with the fae and properly protect yourself against the ones who will use whatever chance they can to trick you, learning the lingo is important.