Fomor in [u]Skin Game[/u]

[SerScot]

So, how significant or insignificant should the Fomor unleashing the “Octokongs” at the galla be?  Up till now most supernatural stuff has happened behind closed doors.  That was very public. 

Why?

[g33k]

So, how significant or insignificant should the Fomor unleashing the “Octokongs” at the galla be?  Up till now most supernatural stuff has happened behind closed doors.  That was very public. 

Why?

Much of the octokong action was out in the hallways, away from the main ballroom.  There was the moment when the Fomor dumped a 'kong from the serving cart toward Harry.  There was one by the exit door.  And... I think that's all, in tha ballroom?

IMHO that's in the realm of "most people can make up their own excuses, and officials can wave off the rest; hysteria, hallucinogens slipped into food, etc."  You know the drill...

But yeah... the Fomor are willing to take a few chances the established players haven't been.  They were on the loosing end of a war, and hid in the shadows for centuries (millennia?) nursing their grudges.  Now they are coming back strong, having apparently grabbed a chunk of ex-Ramp influence and (I presume) made a few strategic Bargains for more power... but whether it's aggression, carelessness, or just being out of practice, they don't seem to work as hard to keep hidden.

[Snark Knight]

but whether it's aggression, carelessness, or just being out of practice, they don't seem to work as hard to keep hidden.

So far, their nobles that have appeared in the shorts seem to make most of their mistakes out of sheer arrogance. The turtlenecks are dangerous mostly because they're smart, competent and cautious - but the shot callers don't seem to be.

I think they're so focused on payback against the supernatural powers that done them wrong, they haven't paid enough attention to humanity's increasingly nasty weaponry to care about discretion. They've been hanging around in the oceans for probably over a thousand years - that limits how many object lessons about not rousing the pitchforks and torches would have made it into their playbook.

[g33k]

... I think they're so focused on payback against the supernatural powers that done them wrong, they haven't paid enough attention to humanity's increasingly nasty weaponry to care about discretion. They've been hanging around in the oceans for probably over a thousand years - that limits how many object lessons about not rousing the pitchforks and torches would have made it into their playbook.

Hmmm.   It may be something other than sheer arrogance.  Because the Turtlenecks seem very happy to use modern weapons, and very competent in doing so.  I presume they are following orders of those higher-ups.  This speaks to the bosses having a good idea what the modern mortal weapons ARE capable of.

Also, those boss-monsters seem to be deep-water / oceanic sorts by preference, which gives them a fastness to retreat which is IN the mortal realm, but not terribly vulnerable to mortal attacks...

Last but not least, the Fomor don't have that special Fae weakness to iron (or any other mortal / modern / tech advantage Our Sort is looking able to bring to the fight).

I agree they're acting aggressive and arrogant; but then again, it looks like arrogance vs everyone, not just mortals...  And I'm really unclear why the guys who LOST the last war are now so (over?)confident.

[SerScot]

Much of the octokong action was out in the hallways, away from the main ballroom.  There was the moment when the Fomor dumped a 'kong from the serving cart toward Harry.  There was one by the exit door.  And... I think that's all, in tha ballroom?

IMHO that's in the realm of "most people can make up their own excuses, and officials can wave off the rest; hysteria, hallucinogens slipped into food, etc."  You know the drill...

But yeah... the Fomor are willing to take a few chances the established players haven't been.  They were on the loosing end of a war, and hid in the shadows for centuries (millennia?) nursing their grudges.  Now they are coming back strong, having apparently grabbed a chunk of ex-Ramp influence and (I presume) made a few strategic Bargains for more power... but whether it's aggression, carelessness, or just being out of practice, they don't seem to work as hard to keep hidden.

I just reread that section.  The OctoKongs were let loose on the ballroom.  That’s an incredibly over presentation supernatural power.  Even if it was a costume ball it would have been overt.  I’m wondering why the Fomor are less reticent than other powers to be open about their nature in front of vanillas?

[Bad Alias]

The Fomor do have a weakness to iron. That's why Butters was driving an older car made out of steel instead of plastic.

IRL, the Fomor are an early race of gods/fae from Irish mythology. Various sources place their arrival in Ireland at 100 years after Noah's flood or some point before the second group arrived in 2061 BC. The second group brought the plow to Ireland.

Ireland was a bit behind the rest of Europe technologically. In the DF, the last time the Fomor dealt with humans on mass, the pitchforks might have been made of wood, and they probably had some human worshipers on their side.

[Avernite]

Hmmm.   It may be something other than sheer arrogance.  Because the Turtlenecks seem very happy to use modern weapons, and very competent in doing so.  I presume they are following orders of those higher-ups.  This speaks to the bosses having a good idea what the modern mortal weapons ARE capable of.

Also, those boss-monsters seem to be deep-water / oceanic sorts by preference, which gives them a fastness to retreat which is IN the mortal realm, but not terribly vulnerable to mortal attacks...

Last but not least, the Fomor don't have that special Fae weakness to iron (or any other mortal / modern / tech advantage Our Sort is looking able to bring to the fight).

I agree they're acting aggressive and arrogant; but then again, it looks like arrogance vs everyone, not just mortals...  And I'm really unclear why the guys who LOST the last war are now so (over?)confident.

I recall one of the shorts mentioned a Prosthanos society in the Baltic who might have done things like plaving gills in themselves, so I'm wondering - are the Fomor maybe more of an alliance between magically powerful but rather clueless real-Fomor, and a human support structure of agressively modern Turtlenecks (and their ilk)?

So my idea: The Turtlenecks consider themselves human-enough to not need to hide (after all most of them are strong humans with gills at most), so they think a general supernatural awakening is okay (only the Wizards and maybe White Court could match their hiding, if they abandon their powerbases in favour of their humanity - leaving the underdog-Turtlenecks suddenly on a level play-field) while the real-Fomor are clueless and have been out of it for centuries so think humans are no real threat.

[Bad Alias]

It was Backup. I don't think it's an alliance. The Servitors, are, well, servitors of the Fomor.

[g33k]

Also, IIRC, "the Fomor" are not a "the" but a "they" -- multiple groups, presumably with the main or dominant one the Irish-legend "Fomor."

But I'm pretty sure we learned that they were a coalition / alliance of groups the Fae had pushed out of power, exiled and largely forgotten/ignored (until very recently).

[toodeep]

I believe the servitors have been seen in three stories so far: Backup, Bombshells, and Ghost Story.  In all three, the Servitors have appeared scarily competent, while the Fomor have appeared powerful but arrogant/stupid.  The servitors also have most of their sense of self removed and astonishing loyalty installed, thought that might be unique to the servitor leader we've met.  This is a strange combination, to have the servants being the smart ones.  In Bombshells we learned that lead servitor was a "pet" of the queen (I think) and not directly subservient to the Fomor present, and even willing to disobey him to further their ends.  So the competence of the Servitors may be a reflection of the competence of the Fomor leader, and we might being seeing weeding out of some of the more... questionable members of the Fomor nobility on display so far.

[Bad Alias]

They were in Skin Game as well.

[Snark Knight]

Hmmm.   It may be something other than sheer arrogance.  Because the Turtlenecks seem very happy to use modern weapons, and very competent in doing so.  I presume they are following orders of those higher-ups.  This speaks to the bosses having a good idea what the modern mortal weapons ARE capable of.

I just assumed the Fomor are grabbing and forcibly turning military / ex-military operators and then letting them pick whatever guns they want to do their tasks. But Bombshells implied the turtlenecks are tools of their Empress, delegated out to the lords - I'd bet she's a lot more on the ball than Mag or the ones Murphy and Molly killed.

[g33k]

... I'd bet she's a lot more on the ball than Mag or the ones Murphy and Molly killed.

Hmmmmm.

This makes me stop to ask... Have we seen any female Fomor, onstage?  Or only mention of offstage ones?

Which notion leads me to a sort of hive/queen society, with workers and soldiers and a small "male/breeder" coterie...

[Bad Alias]

And I'm really unclear why the guys who LOST the last war are now so (over?)confident.

If they've been isolated for a thousand or more years, they could have developed a lot of unfounded arrogance over that time. Especially if they have had servants that whole time.

[Yuillegan]

^^This.

And perhaps with aid from the Circle or Outsiders, or both, they might feel a tad more confident than last time. Remember this isn't the old Fomor. This is the collection of all those various groups who got beaten - giants, sorcerers, shapeshifters, dark gods. Lots of different mythologies have people with an axe to grind. They seem to be under the banner of the Fomor. Like the Fae, it is a blanket term for lots of different groups. Not everyone is "pure blood" so to speak.