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Old 05-09-2021, 11:30 AM   #1
Anders
 
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Default Lawful counterpart to Sidhe

Putting together a setting inspired by Moorcock, so Law and Chaos will feature prominently. It's also a celtic-myth inspired setting and the Sidhe will represent Chaos. But I need a race to represent Law as well (humans are supposed to be the Balance between Law and Chaos). I've considered having a Lawful version of the Sidhe as well - all formality and courtly ceremony. But I've also thought about having some other race; maybe the Insect Men from Fantasy Folk.

Do you have any thoughts?
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Old 05-09-2021, 11:52 AM   #2
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Default Re: Lawful counterpart to Sidhe

Is there any reason for not using other divine beings from other mythologies like Hindu Devas and Shinto Kamis? Maybe they're too human-like but I believe the same could be said about the Sidhe.

If they're not meant to be playable, maybe the Eastern type of Dragons could fit the bill? In the real mythology they are said to have power over the weather, you could expand it into fantasy by saying they're the caretakers of the natural laws.

For something playable, Insect Men seems fitting. If based on more social species like Ants it's easy to see how it relates to their ceremonial customs and formalities, and the control it implies.
You could also take a look at the mythical Nommo from the African mythology. They are referred to as “Masters of the Water”, “the Monitors”, and "the Teachers". A Merfolk along these ideas, maybe mixed with the myth of Atlantis (and visuals from Aquaman movie) could be interesting as well.
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Old 05-09-2021, 12:12 PM   #3
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Default Re: Lawful counterpart to Sidhe

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Originally Posted by Anders View Post
Putting together a setting inspired by Moorcock, so Law and Chaos will feature prominently. It's also a celtic-myth inspired setting and the Sidhe will represent Chaos. But I need a race to represent Law as well (humans are supposed to be the Balance between Law and Chaos).
These two things are a bit at odds: Celtic Sidhe are "chaotic" because they're the "old" people who lived in Ireland before the coming of human civilization. Humans represent a taming of the land, hence "lawful." In Moorcock, on the other hand, humans are just the mortals caught in the crossfire between the many entities of Law and Chaos.

So if your Sidhe are not chaotic because they oppose the encroachment of Law, what are their aims? What makes them chaotic? What do they get out of it? If you can identify exactly the niche the Sidhe occupy, you'll be better able to search for a counterpart in Law.
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Old 05-09-2021, 12:23 PM   #4
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Default Re: Lawful counterpart to Sidhe

How about a Summer/Winter court fae thing? The Winter Court represent the obsessive/compulsive rules bound side of the fae, whilst Summer is capricious and impulsive.

However, if you want to keep the Celtic Sidhe, and you want them to represent them as chaotic, consider re-engineering the Formorians along the lines of Sorenant's Nommo suggestion. For inspiration, you could try 2000ADs //Slaine// series ... although toning down the anti-English, anti-Christian and teenage-tantrum propaganda couldn't hurt. A broad summary would be that the Formorians represent the forces of interdimensional order and tyranny whilst the "celtic tribes of the goddess" represent freedom and what have you.
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Old 05-09-2021, 01:10 PM   #5
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Default Re: Lawful counterpart to Sidhe

Perhaps the Morrigan, in her form as the triple goddesses Badb, Macha, and Nevain/Anand? This would emphasize their roles as goddesses of destiny and fate, parallel to the Norns, Moirai, and Parcae.

The idea here is that in Celtic mythology, the only sure, unmutable thing is one's destiny.
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Old 05-09-2021, 01:24 PM   #6
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Default Re: Lawful counterpart to Sidhe

Gnomes, dwarves (not the tolkien kind), and brownies are part of that world, aren't they? They could fulfill the lawful part of things, in terms of highly valuing structure and rules in their society.

Haven't read Moorcock so I don't know much about how he does his chaos/law split so I had to google it. From what I can get from that chaos seems to embody unpredictability and a degree of impulsiveness. Couldn't find much on law, but I would assume it would be the opposite of that.

Kinda tricky to have all Sidhe rep chaos, because that's a huge class of otherworldly creatures ranging from the helpful to the harmful.
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Old 05-09-2021, 01:29 PM   #7
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Default Re: Lawful counterpart to Sidhe

Are Law and Chaos different from Seelie and Unseelie?
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Old 05-09-2021, 01:55 PM   #8
Anders
 
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Default Re: Lawful counterpart to Sidhe

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Are Law and Chaos different from Seelie and Unseelie?
I'm not sure. Using Seelie/Unseelie or Winter/Summer court is one possibility.
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Old 05-09-2021, 02:51 PM   #9
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Default Re: Lawful counterpart to Sidhe

Kingdoms of Amalur uses Summer/Winter court, but instead of being antagonistic they're cordial towards each other. This is because they represent important parts of the grand cycle and they know and understand that their counterparts do as well.

You could maybe look into the Tuatha Dé Danann (which a quick lookup claims to be the progenitors to the Sídhe). The Fir Bolg were enemies of the Tuatha, so you could take this as the source of conflict.
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Old 05-09-2021, 02:51 PM   #10
David Johnston2
 
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Default Re: Lawful counterpart to Sidhe

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Originally Posted by Anders View Post
Putting together a setting inspired by Moorcock, so Law and Chaos will feature prominently. It's also a celtic-myth inspired setting and the Sidhe will represent Chaos. But I need a race to represent Law as well (humans are supposed to be the Balance between Law and Chaos). I've considered having a Lawful version of the Sidhe as well - all formality and courtly ceremony. But I've also thought about having some other race; maybe the Insect Men from Fantasy Folk.

Do you have any thoughts?
Cyborgs. In Moorcock magic was chaos aligned while technology was law aligned. If you wanted to go the insect route I would suggest making them mostly human with some minor insectlike traits for symmetry with the the sidhe. Compound eyes, antennae and a hive-like social structure.
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