Leprechaun

Leprechauns are some of the most magical fae. They have the unique ability to craft rainbow bridges which they can travel on. The unfortunate aspect of these bridges is that they only work for the leprechaun who made it. A new mother can take her child along her bridge until two days after birth. This means if they are travelling with companions they choose to use the same mode of transportation as their companions, even if it does mean taking longer to reach their destination.

Naming Traditions

Unisex names

Leprechauns are named after the first thing their mother sees the morning after the child is born. These usually consist of the plants or landscapes outside the window. There have been times when the first thing the mother has seen was another fae.  When this is the case, the child is named after the person, not the ethnicity. Some leprechaun mothers will choose the second thing they see since they really do not like first thing they saw.

Culture

Culture and cultural heritage

Leprechauns speak in riddles and metaphor often. They prefer not giving a straight answer to any question, especially if the answer is obvious to the leprechaun. Instead, they will give an answer that forces the questioner to think for themselves. Even though the answer is in the response it takes some working out to decipher.
Leprechauns are reliant on the birthing pools for survival. These were originally natural pools infused with the magic of the leprechauns until they began being desecrated for the gold.

Common Dress code

Leprechauns like their hats and headbands. These are always some shade of green. In standing tradition, leprechauns wear a white shirt with a green velvet jacket in differing styles, dependent upon personal preference, and a choice of trews or kilt. If they choose to wear the kilt, they will have a sporran as well.

Common Customs, traditions and rituals

Leprechauns celebrate the coming of spring in a festival similar to Beltaine. These celebrations are carried out in specially designed festival caverns , which can only be reached by rainbow bridge.

Birth & Baptismal Rites

Leprechauns are all birthed in a festival cavern. This is because they were designed for the celebration of new and returning life. They are attended only by the mother and her/their midwife. Within the cavern is a birthing pool which is off-limits to male leprechauns. Male identifying leprechauns who find themselves in a family way are allowed into the birthing cavern as that is the only way a young leprechaun is born. The few leprechauns who were born away from a birthing pool have suffered from either madness, crippling disabilities, or simply have not survived the birthing process.

Coming of Age Rites

A leprechaun is considered to have come of age once they have mastered the rainbow bridge. The crafting of the bridge takes much practice and skill. Once a leprechaun claims to have mastered it they will be set a test, to prove their mastery. The controlling of the rainbow bridge is the starting trigger for which the new adults become fertile.
Leprechauns have a ritual that must be completed within five minutes of beginning to be effective. This ritual is crafted in two parts, the first being done before the bridge is created. The second at the other end of the bridge. The two leprechauns adjudicating the test and performing the ritual will have arranged time and locations before the proof is required of the one being tested.

Funerary and Memorial customs

Leprechauns, when they pass away, quite literally pass away. Their bodies turn to gold dust as their hearts stop. If they pass while outside their bodies are carried away by the wind, which is quite a sight to see.  As the wind carries the gold dust away the magic returns to the world.  Those who pass away indoors are respectfully interred within the festival cavern. Truthfully their essence is added to the pools within the cavern to enhance the magics contained there.

Common Myths and Legends

Contrary to popular belief, leprechauns do not have large pots of gold hidden anywhere. The myth of following the rainbow to its end, and you will find the leprechaun's pot of gold, was a rumour that was spread by the mischievous pooka as a practical joke. The pooka are still laughing about it to this day, because not only did the humans fall for it, but it has driven the leprechauns mad. This is because they can no longer use the rainbow bridge to travel from their home anymore.

Corrigenda    Fae    Fae Wildlands      Fae      Leprechaun

Encompassed species

• Fae

Related Organizations

• Fae Court

Related Items

• Rainbow Bridge

Related Myths

• Birth of the Redcaps

GENETICS & REPRODUCTION

Leprechauns are infertile until they have passed their coming of age ritual.

BIOLOGICAL CYCLE

Once a leprechaun has achieved their coming of age they have a monthly cycle, similar to the satyr's. The difference is that the female leprechauns don't know which moon they cycle on for the first ten years. This is due to the fluctuating changes between each cycle.
Those who are born during a lunar eclipse experience fluctuations in their magic whenever there is an eclipse.

AVERAGE HEIGHT

Leprechauns vary in height. They can be as short as three feet to as tall as six foot ten.

AVERAGE WEIGHT

The average weight for a leprechaun can be anywhere from ninety pounds to two hundred fifty pounds. Female leprechauns tend to weigh less than males.

FACIAL CHARACTERISTICS AND FEATURES

Leprechauns, like the pooka, always seem to be jovial with a broad smile and bright eyes.

PERCEPTION & SENSORY / EXTRASENSORY CAPABILITIES

Leprechauns are capable of sensing the magic within and around someone else. They need to concentrate to do so.

SPECIAL ABILITIES / RESPONSIBILITIES

With the magic so strong within them, leprechauns need to utilize it in massive bursts. This leads to them crafting the festival caverns out of solid stone, and drawing water up from within the world to fill the birthing and festival pools.
Each festival cavern has a keeper and this is a position that is rarely sought after. The keeper lives in or near the cavern and maintains the glamour and is also a midwife and ritual keeper. When a young leprechaun is proving their ability to rainbow bridge, it is to one of the festival caverns. The keeper completes the ritual and then immerses them into one of the two pools according to their birth gender. This is the final trigger for their fertility.
When a leprechaun dies, the keeper is summoned to inter the gold into the pools which will allow the magic of the deceased to infuse the pools with more magic.

Header Photo by T. Q. on Unsplash