Tenet

Once upon a time...

When fae first encountered mortals, the fae discovered that these creatures had vast potential to create energy that could be used in magic. While only a few individual mortals ever learned to use magic, the fae found that they could draw on that power for themselves.

Thus, the fae have never fully left humanity alone.


A tenet is a belief held so deeply, it is never questioned. While the word can be applied to individual beliefs, the usefulness of a tenet as a source of power is based on the combination of number of believers and the emotional nature of the belief.

For example, nearly every mortal accepts gravity as unquestionable. However, few people feel strongly about it. Thus, the fae can play with gravity, but in very limited ways.

Tenets tend to be subconscious. However, circumstances may create pockets of tenets within religions, particularly cults, as well as in politics and even in scientific theory. An individual's tenets can be used to power their own magic or magics created for them.

A great deal of industry has built within the fae courts to create items that might store tenet energy. The most successful of these, the Four Treasures of the Tuatha De Danann, have been long sought after by both fae courts.

Properties

Physical & Chemical Properties

Tenets function for magic the way that electricity functions for appliances. The Seelie Court often uses hope to power magic. The Unseelie Court uses fear in the same way.

History & Usage

History

The fae have played with humans' beliefs and misunderstandings since the first fae-human interaction. Fae are drawn to humans because of the odd limnal space that mortals live in - mortals often have strong tenets and emotions, but most cannot use them to make magic.

Some fae have tried to capture mortals to use their vast potential for creating tenets, but they have found that mortals become numb to both belief and emotion after a time. Thus, both fae courts have adopted a tendancy to interact with mortals only when they need or want to use the power of the mortal's tenets. Most will grant a small magical boon in exchange for the tenet power from the mortal. The mortal believes in order to gain the boon, but the fae only uses a portion of that power to grant the boon, leaving with an excess.

Tenet Levels

Emotional levels used by Seelie and Unseelie to draw from mortal man
by Manoel Littlebean during his time with philosopher Baruch Spinoza

• Hope/Anxiety
• Faith/Dread
• Dogma/Paranoia
• Conviction/Terror