Wyld Magic and more - My take on Magic Sponsored by the Erlking

[MorkaisChosen]

Ah, I see what you mean. I wouldn't run such a thing as a Knight-type, myself- probably just a lesser Goblin Sidhe (lesser compared to the Erlking himself...).

I'm not entirely certain why the Erlking would want a Mortal Knight, but it's a cool idea. Maybe for hunting people who "cheat" by using his Fae nature? It takes some interpretation- he was impressed when

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Harry turned his own words back on him

, but I think his reaction to someone who knows he's being hunted and therefore hides in a barbed-wire wrapped iron cage would be rather different. Thus the Knight (or Huntsman, I like that title...) would be a more unconventional hunter, one who can hunt using the modern technological world, rather than just running through it.

The person you've mentioned is relatively human for a supernatural (metaphysically speaking), so I'd say you need to be quite human to become a Knight- human enough to choose it. If I was going to explain it, I'd say that though the Queens (and Erlking, since we're discussing him) can lend some power to their Fae servants, but there's something about the Knight package (which there's only one of per Court, according to the books) that doesn't work well with that. A Fae is what it is, and it can't change that much- so their nature can't accept the burden and rewards of becoming Summer or Winter's Knight or the Erlking's Huntsman, it'd return to being what it was after a while. A human or near-human, however, has the freedom to choose to change themself, and by choosing to accept that power, choosing to allow "Sidhe Knight of Summer" to become part of their nature, it binds to them until their death and empowers them to do the will of their Court.

[sandchigger]

Why however a faerie lord (Mab, Maeve, Titania, Aurora/Lily, Erlking, (erlking jr?) couldn't grant the capacity to a fae is beyond me.  They seem to be capable of choosing other supernatural threats.

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Mab mentioned Thomas being a potential choice once

 

There's a difference between "can" and "would". If you're the queen of a court, all the creatures in that court are already at your beck and call. Just like Mab can order Lea around, she can order around any other winter fae (except Mother Winter, of course). So there would be no need to bind them to her as a knight. In addition, it's stated that the knights are the mortal champions of the fae. The only requirement (aside from the queen saying "kinght-achu, I choose you!") is that you be mortal and therefore have the free will (in game terms: positive refresh value) to say "well sign me up!"

[devonapple]

I'd be fine with making any number of Fae Lords/Ladies, Lieutenants, Barons/Baronesses, etc., without calling any of them a [insert Fae Court] Knight. That is a "charged" term in the DresdenVerse with specific trappings and implications which folks have already explained in great detail. It doesn't mean you can't have a compelling mid-level Fae opponent against whom the players can match wits and swords.

If one needs an honorific for a Sidhe/Goblin/other Fae who stands as the preeminent combatant/agent of a given Fae Subculture, we have other terms, like Champion.

[kihon]

So is there anywhere /any time - that Jim has said how many Fae Courts actually exist, or could exist?

[InFerrumVeritas]

So is there anywhere /any time - that Jim has said how many Fae Courts actually exist, or could exist?

No.

He'll probably only use Summer and Winter in the novels though.

[wednesdayboy]

Great brainstorming!  In our game, my friend and I are playing twin brothers who are the Erlking's Faerie knights.  (Although we call ourselves his Hounds.)  Originally we used the book's Un/Seelie magic as our sponsored magic since neither we nor the GM had played DF before and we didn't want to start out trying to houserule stuff.  Now that we're familiar with the rules we started talking about making our own Erlking sponsored magics.

Our GM suggested Earth and Spirit could be part of his domain; Earth due to the connection hunters tend to have with the land and its details, and Spirit due to the connection of the spirits of hunters to the Wild Hunt.  We had the same idea as Tsunami with Divination and Summoning thaumaturgy being cast as evocations.  And we've tossed around the idea maybe ectomancy too because of how the Wild Hunt summons spirits to join in the Hunt.

[Hal]

A further thought on The Catch for Erlking-sponsored Toughness powers . . . what if it depended on the seasons?  A hunter changes tactics when he's hunting in the dead of winter or the peak of summer.  So, in the winter, the Wyld Magic could overcome Seelie Toughness but Wyld Toughness could be overcome by Seelie Magic; change those to Unseelie in the Winter.  This would also make for interesting occurrences during the changing of the seasons and the exchange of The Table. 

I dunno, just a thought.