Magic Tribes: The Lore of Faeries

Faeries are present in several tales we know, also present in the folklore and mythology of some countries.

The word Fairy originated from the Latin "Fatum", which means destiny. This is due to the stories and folktales where the Fairies rule the destiny of men, with their magic wands.

In Magic, faeries are often depicted as light, small, and winged. They are about 30 cm or less and are known to be great lovers of mischief. Although they often use their small forms and illusion spells to get rid of their enemies, they can still fight extraordinarily well when needed.

The first faeries that appeared in Magic were green and had varied appearances. The Scryb Sprites card was the first creature of the tribe, introduced in the Alpha set.

Still representing the color green, the card Faerie Noble was the tribe's first lord, released in 1995 in Homelands.

In older sets, it was possible to find Noble and Pixie-Queen subtypes. Both have been updated and are now considered as Faeries.

Currently, faeries are mainly represented by the color blue and black, and Throne of Eldraine introduced us to white faeries. But before we talk about Eldraine, let's get to know a little more about them in the other planes of the Multiverse.

In Dominaria there are the fire faeries, who can cast fire spells, in addition to being enveloped in a fire aura.

It is on this same plane that Rubinia Soulsinger lives, a fairy with great ability to influence others to join her cause. Even the most powerful warrior readily surrenders to her.

On Ravnica, the faeries are known for their mischievous pranks, and the inhabitants of the plane have grown accustomed to their antics. There, they are also famous for hunting trolls.

In Alara, faeries were most often found in the Esper shard. There they had metallic wings and hand-like feet, which make them excellent mechanics.

Until now, the most relevant plane for the tribe had been Lorwyn, which was introduced to us in 2007, twelve years ago.

In Lorwyn, faeries are everywhere, like bees collecting pollen. They are capricious, malicious, seen as a nuisance by most other races on the plane. Their antics are usually harmless, but always annoying and embarrassing. Their lives are extremely short, but in that time they live to the fullest, constantly looking for new tricks to alleviate their boredom.

The faeries of this plane live in small groups called cliques. Vendilion is a clique formed by the trio of brothers Veesa, Endry and Iliona. Iliona is the eldest, and leader of the Vendilion Clique.

Although these little creatures appear to be unpredictable, they obey their queen's wishes. They are guided to invade and steal dreams for Oona, Queen of the Fae.

It is said that it is Oona's magic that keeps Lorwyn in its eternal summer. All the faeries on the plane originated from her. The queen lives in seclusion and sees the world through the dreams that her faeries bring her. Oona was one of the few creatures able to retain her memories even after the Great Aurora.

The Great Aurora was an event that turned Lorwyn into Shadowmoor, a dark and twisted version of the old plane.

On Shadowmoor, the faeries were the only race not to undergo changes in their characteristics. By keeping her memory, Oona became even more powerful.

As an honorable mention, still on Lorwyn. lives a legendary fairie, Wydwen, the Biting Gale. Wydwen is mysterious, comes and goes as she pleases, and doesn't live in small factions like other faeries. The truth is, we know little about her, as she isn't mentioned in any of Lorwyn's books.

There's an adventure in Eldraine, a historic land of castles and magic, filled with treacherous faeries. But like the rogue creatures and alluring spells that lurk in the shadows, this world isn't all it seems. Most of the faeries of Eldraine are opposed to the five realms, but there are indeed good on that plane (rare to see, huh?).

Mark Rosewater states that he believes Eldraine has Magic's first beneficial faeries (but not all faeries. Alela and Rankle, for example, are always making violent pranks).

Throne of Eldraine brought the launch of a new product (available in English only) aimed at the Brawl format. There are 4 different decks, and fairy tribe lovers can choose a "Faerie Schemes" themed deck, an Esper list, commanded by Alela.

About Oko, a Faerie Shapeshifter

Eldraine also introduces us to Oko, a Faerie Shapeshifter[¹], who appears to be both charismatic and smug — a mysterious, intelligent and vain figure.

According to Nic Kelman, one of the writers responsible for bringing the characters to life, Oko came from a plane ruled by faeries who believed in a unified society. This ruling class of faeries decided that, for the good of all, faeries' natural mischief should be suppressed to create a perfect society—but for Oko, who was born with incredibly powerful shape-shifting abilities, this culture contradicted everything else he believed.

Calling himself a speaker of truth, Oko opposed all this hypocrisy in his world and ended up being subjected to magical procedures to suppress his powers, but these procedures only managed to ignite his spark. We can imagine it was a terrifying experience for him, and it would make it almost impossible to trust anyone again.

We can already imagine that Oko wouldn't be very comfortable in Eldraine, and to disturb the peace of the realms, Oko planned to eliminate the King Kenrith himself.

Well, I'll end the article here, but if you want to know more details about Eldraine's plot, there is the option to purchase the e-book released by Wizards of the Coast.

I hope you enjoyed reading it, and if you can, leave your topic suggestions for the next article in the Magic Tribes series.

Thank you very much, and until next time!

[1] Fey - The planeswalker Oko is called a fey, this may just be an alternate spelling of fae.