Fae Lord

AX.GHW.13.05.07

Type: Fae, Champion

Power Package: Champion (12D)

Size: Medium (appears as an imperious, ageless humanoid of extraordinary beauty)
Attributes: Body 3D · Speed 4D · Wit 5D
Talents: Athletics 2D · Deceive 2D · Lore 3D · Resolve 2D · Resonance 3D (Glamourist 3D)
Health: 48 (20 + 3 + 25)
Defense: 3 (1 + (4+0)÷3)
Saves: Body 5D · Speed 6D · Wit 8D

Attacks

Fae Blade (Primary Action): Speed + Athletics vs Defense, 6 damage; cold iron forged with fae-craft (counts as cold iron against other fae, magical against all targets)
Glamourist Compulsion (Primary Action): Wit + Glamourist vs Wit Save, target must obey one direct command of 10 words or fewer for the remainder of the scene. True Seeing or a successful Wit + Lore roll (Threshold 4) grants +1D to the save.
Reality Fracture (Primary Action, 1×/combat): Wit + Resonance vs Threshold 3, the Fae Lord tears a rift in local reality within Near range; all characters caught in the tear (Near range, 1 round) are displaced to the Liminal temporarily. They return at the start of the next round at their original location but have taken 5 damage from the displacement shock and have Disadvantage on all rolls until end of scene.

Category Traits

Cold Iron Vulnerability: +2 damage from cold iron; suppressed for 1 round on hit
Rowan Aversion: Must spend Primary Action to cross rowan barriers, but a Fae Lord treats this as Disadvantage on the approach roll, not automatic action expenditure
True Name (Guarded): The Fae Lord's true name is known to it and a very small number of ancient entities. Discovery requires Threshold 5 research or direct extraction from a bound lesser fae, extremely difficult and dangerous

Special Abilities

Glamourist Mastery: The Fae Lord has access to all Glamourist tradition expressions at effective Threshold 3 (True Sight, Reading, Glamour) without rolling, standard uses are automatic. Against Threshold 4+ effects, the Fae Lord rolls normally with its Wit + Glamourist 3D pool.
The Courts' Authority: Once per scene, the Fae Lord can invoke the authority of its court to bind a fae of lower power to obedience. This ends any hostile action by that fae toward the characters, temporarily. Courts authority does not work on fae of equal or greater power, or on fae with no court affiliation (Banshees, Wisps, most wild fae).
Ageless Memory: The Fae Lord remembers everything it has ever seen, heard, or agreed to. It cannot be deceived by any method the characters have used before; it adapts instantly. On a second encounter with the same characters, all Deceive attempts against it take -2D.
Bargain Bind: Any bargain made with a Fae Lord is metaphysically enforced. Both parties are bound. If a character breaks the terms, the Fae Lord can invoke the binding to deal 10 damage directly (no attack roll, no save) as immediate consequence. This makes negotiating with a Fae Lord genuinely dangerous, be precise.
Presence: Any character who has not met a Fae Lord before makes a Wit Save (Threshold 3) when first seeing it or is overwhelmed by its presence; they have Disadvantage on all rolls against the Fae Lord for the first round. Faeborn characters are immune to this effect.

Tactics

A Fae Lord does not enter combat unless it chooses to. It prefers negotiation, because negotiation places both parties in binding arrangements that favor the Fae Lord's superior experience and verbal precision. When it does fight, it fights with cold efficiency: Glamourist Compulsion to remove the most dangerous opponent from the fight, Reality Fracture to scatter grouped characters, Fae Blade for individuals who approach close range. The Fae Lord will not flee, retreating is beneath its dignity, but it will disengage, transition to negotiation, or call in lesser fae if the combat is going poorly. It will not be baited by insults.

Lore & Ecology

Fae Lords are ancient enough that their arrival predates recorded history in most regions where they manifest. They lead courts, loose affiliations of lesser fae that acknowledge the Lord's power and trade service for protection or resources. Courts are political entities with their own internal dynamics; unseating a Fae Lord typically reorganizes the regional fae ecosystem, with unpredictable consequences.

A Fae Lord is a campaign-level encounter. Hunters who stumble into Fae Lord territory without preparation are not equipped to fight; they need intelligence, cold iron resources, ideally a Faeborn ally, and probably a binding strategy rather than a destruction strategy. Destroying a Fae Lord is theoretically possible (cold iron, true name, sufficient force) but politically destabilizing: its court splinters, and the lesser fae who lose their structure become unpredictably dangerous.

Destruction/Banishment

Full destruction requires: cold iron weapons dealing the Champion's full health in damage, combined with its true name spoken three times during the killing blow. Without the true name, a "destroyed" Fae Lord withdraws to the deep Liminal and reconstitutes over months or years. Permanent banishment (preferred method for most hunters) requires a binding bargain: the Fae Lord agrees to leave this reality layer permanently in exchange for something it values more than continued presence. What a Fae Lord values is always specific to that individual, research is essential.

Scene Materials

Investigation: historical pattern of fae activity in region spanning decades or centuries, local folklore that is unusually consistent, fae of all types deferring to unstated authority. Encounter: the Fae Lord expects to negotiate. Arrive with something to offer or a leverage strategy, cold iron weapons visible but not drawn signals respect without submission. Combat: treat as a campaign finale or mid-campaign turning point. Requires full party preparation.