Magics

In a fantasy universe, magic and magical abilities define the universe and often contribute to major plot points. Below are the demonstrated or discussed abilities from Laurell K. Hamilton's Faerie world.

Innate Abilities

Innate abilities are powers that only require a certain amount of concentration by those born or blessed with them to be used.

Elf-Struck
If a sidhe has sex with a human and doesn't try to tone down the magic, they turn a human into an addict. Those that are elf-struck can actually wither and die from want of the touch of sidhe flesh.

Glamour
Magic that can change a fey's appearance for the eyes of humans. Only few sidhe can work glamour on other sidhe. This is considered an insult to do so without permission.

Hands of Power

An innate magic of the sidhe fey, hands of power often activate on their own, or sometimes due to coming into a new power level. They vary from one sidhe to another, often seem to have a connection to the individual's disposition, and emerge from focusing on the hand (unlike many other powers that require concentration or bloodshed).

Air - Draws the air out of a room. (Andais)
Blood - Calls blood out of the body. (Meredith)

I pointed my left hand toward the creature, palm out, and thought, not the word blood but of blood. I thought about the taste of it, salty, metallic; the feel of it fresh and almost scalding hot in large doses, the way it thickened when it cooled. I thought of the smell of blood-that neck-ruffling scent and the way enough of it freshly spilled always smelled like meat, like raw hamburger. Princess Merry calling blood from the Nameless.

Darkness - Can hear things spoken in the dark of night. (Andais)
Flesh - Turns living creatures inside out. (Meredith)

To be trapped forever as a shapeless ball of flesh, never to die, never to age, merely to continue; oh yes, Princess, I think they will be afraid. Doyle to Meredith about her new hand of power.

Old Blood - Calls old wounds to bleed again. (Cel)

He could bring every bleeding wound I have had in over a thousand years of battles on me at once. Doyle

Kiss of Birds
A gift from the deity (male) to heal anyone who you kiss.

Levitation
A power innate to the brownies. (more info needed)

Locations

Abyss of Despair
A bottomless pit located with the Sithin. If someone was to be cast into the abyss, they would literally fall forever, never aging, never dying, trapped in free fall for eternity.

the Sithen (Faerie Mounds)
Entrance in Cahokia, Illlinois, the Sithen technically exists in a place of its own. Like the Black Coach, it has a life of its own and frequently redecorates at its own will.

Summerland
Place of death for Sidhe or in-between place where Deities linger.

Objects

Objects are any outside item that contains magic. They are often regarded as sentient, but are not races.

Beathalachd
A ring that gives the bearer vitality. It literally steals the very life and skill of your opponent. Sholto wore it while fighting Doyle.

the Black Coach (of the wild hunt)

The Black Coach is one of the objects among the fey that has energy, a life, of its own. It was not created by any fey or ancient god that we knew of. It has simply existed for as long as anyone can remember. Six thousand years and counting. Of course, then it had been a black chariot pulled by four horses. The horses were not sidhe horses. They didn't seem to exist at all until after dark. Then they were things of blackness with empty eye sockets that filled with leprous flame when they were hooked to the chariot…

Then one night not even twenty years ago the Black Coach had vanished and the limo had appeared. The horses never returned, but I've see what passes for an engine under the hood of this thing. I swear that it burns with the same sickly fire that filled those horses eyes. Kiss of Shadows

It answers to Andais's voice and now Merry's. The Black Coach had been a death portent, warning of impending doom.

There were beginning to be tales of a sinister black car sitting across from a person's home with its engine running and green fire dancing along its surface, and then doom would fall on that person.

Branwyn's Tears (Aveal's Joy, Fergus's Sweat)
A clear oil that turns a human into a sidhe lover for a night. No glamour can stand against it. If a sidhe were to give it to a mortal to use against other fey, the punishment is eternal torture.

He turned with a small glass bottle in his hands. It was one of those glass bottles with curves and frills to it that you're supposed to keep expensive perfume in, but no one ever does… I sniffed the oil. It smelled of cinnamon and vanilla. There was something familiar about the odor, but I couldn't place it. The oil was nearly clear… Branwyn's Tears, Aeval's Joy, Gergus's Sweat. It could make a human into a sidhe lover for one night. It could turn even a sidhe into a sexual slave, if the sidhe had no access to other sidhe. Kiss of Shadows

Chalice/Cauldron

This is the cauldron. The cauldron that can feed thousands, and never go empty. The cauldron from which the dead warriors can rise again, alive the next day, though robbed of their speech. This is a thing of elemental power for our people… Doyle, Seduced by Moonlight p94

the Queen's Ring (Fertility Ring)

The ring was the queen's ring— one of the magical items that the fey were allowed to take away from Europe during the great exodus. The ring was a thing of great power… I slipped the silver ring off the cord, holding it in the palm of my hand. The cold metal grew warm against my hand. I waited tensely for it to grow hot, but it was just a slight pulsing warmth.
The ring reacts to the guards that are still able to father children. If the ring remains quiet, then do not bother with them. But if the ring reacts, then you may sleep with them. Kiss of Shadows

the Ring's reaction to Galen

He brought my hand to his face and kissed it lightly. When his hands brushed the ring, there was a shock of something like electricity, but it wasn't that. It was magic.

the Ring's reaction to Barinthus

He brought my hand to his lips and laid a gentle kiss against my fingers. His lips brushed the ring and sent a tingling wave through both of us. He looked solemn again, face closing down, as he dropped my hand.

the Ring's reaction to Doyle

He stopped walking and grabbed my right hand, and the moment his skin touched the ring it flared to life, washing us both with that electric dance. Whatever magic was in the ring, it recognized Doyle as it had recognized Barinthus and Galen.

the Ring's reaction to Rhys

He kissed my hand, and his lips brushed the ring. It quickened-that was the only word I had for it. It flared through me, through us both. The sensation seemed to squeeze my heart, chase it into my throat like a trapped thing … It was the strongest reaction yet, and that sort of worried me.

Weapons

Black Madness, "Bainidhe Dub"
Doyle's sword. If anyone besides him were to try and wield it they would be struck permanently mad.

Dreaded Death, "Uamhas"
Rhys's sword. Power unknown.

Mortal Dread
The Queen's sword. The hilt had on it a trio of crows, their breasts meeting, wings entwined, and beaks open bearing jewels for the pommel. The sword had mortal blood ties to its forging, which meant that a death wound from it was truly a death wound for any fey.

the Roses
The roses were used for defense. If an enemy penetrated that far within the Sithen, the roses would come to life and kill the intruder either by strangulation or by ripping them apart with its thorns. The roses are a symbol of the sidhe power. It is said that as the roses die, so does the power of the sidhe. Merry made the flowers live again.

Snick & Snack
Doyle's twin daggers, formed together at one making. They were able to hit any target once thrown.

Winter Kiss, "Geamhradh Po'g"
Frost's sword. It could steal a fey's passion with one blow. It would leave them cold and barren as a winter snow.

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