Question time! Because Toby trivia is fun.

So what's up with Toby and cars? Bad luck or REAL bad luck?

Fae appear to be able to "loan" out their magic. Besides a Hope Chest, is there any way to permanently transfer power that is both voluntary and does not require the death of the giver?

How linguistically distinct are the various Fae Kingdoms? Quentin has an accent, but that could just be bleedover from the local humans. Or it could be that his home uses a variant dialect or something.

Sign language has some age-based variations, because the language is changing so fast. Fae live so long, that I also wondered if someone who rarely eaves the Summerlands might sound different from someone who lives in the human world.

H

I have two questions...I've always wondered about the smell of magic. I know that the smell has something to do with the parentage but I am wondering really, why does magic have a smell? Also, I was really impressed with the Library of the stars. I mean who established the library and how does the library travel and how does someone become a librarian ( I will admit I've love the concept of the magical library and their interesting guardians since the Librarian and the disc world...Sir Terry is sorely missed =( ).

Can I second the library question(s)? I also find the whole concept of that Library fascinating.

I apologize if my question is inappropriate due to Spoiler, and also if my question is something I should have understood in reading - your writing is fine, my reading comprehension is a bit wacky due to meds.

Is there a Unified Theory of Magic Item Creation?

Do magic items mostly require purposeful ritual during various steps of their creation? Or does someone take an appropriately-crafted finished item and then imbue power into them? (I figure if the latter, some magic items should be fine quality craftsmanship and of certain dimensions, while other magic items require any thing you can grab that happens to have one particular trait.)

Looking at all the times the Luidaeg has crafted an item, it looks to me as though she just grabs ingredients that suit - but they all happen to be things around her, or from people's bodies, and so maybe she happens to only permit into her home objects that are ready to be part of a ritualized creation?
Or, you know, maybe the Luidaeg is the Reigning Princess of "I Hate Your Stupid Rules" therefore can do things that a non-Firstborn cannot.

You had said in a previous Q&A post that you would talk about the biology of the Cait Sidhe at a later time.

Is now a good time, or is it spoiler-y to talk about? :)

(I admit it -- I am ALL ABOUT Tybalt, and I delight in his interactions with Toby. I'm curious about the background of his race, since you had mentioned that they had progenitors from *all* of the Three, which sets them apart from the usual "Pairing A will produce one race, Pairing B would produce another" schema.)

If it's spoiler-y, I will just continue to await future books with anticipation!

Cheers, and thanks for doing these -- it's great to be immersed in this world again, and I'm looking forward to September 1!!

-- Andi <3

I was coming here to ask about Fae biology in general, but I'm sure that's too much for one post so I'll jump in here. If it's not spoilers, I'd love to here about Cait Sidhe biology!

Could you touch on how the more mortal-aware Fae feel about scientific advancements like space exploration? We've seen a couple of fae characters that have blended human sciences like chemistry with their own magic, but I was wondering specifically how Fae might feel about the possibility of future colonization of other planets. Like, do the Summer Lands potentially touch other places in the universe or are they tied just to the Earth? Do the fae even know themselves, or do they have their own theories or their own hopes/views of what human space exploration would mean for them? Do some view a future exodus of humans from Earth as a possible way to reclaim the Earth entirely for themselves, or might such an exodus have actual repercussions on Faerie itself?

Sorry for the jumbled incoherent mess that turned out to be, lol, but basically I'm just wondering (given Fae immortality and their tendency to take the longview of human history) if there are any larger school of thoughts among the Fae on space exploration.

What happens if a First born has a child with a Changeling?

I'm still hoping you'll answer my first question (about the definition of death), but in case that's somehow spoilery, or just a boring one line answer, here's something else I'd love to know more about:

What are the mechanics of fae magic?

I'd love to know more about how magic works, how the various elements that go into it are used (I know you've mentioned categories of magic like flower magic and blood magic, and I think using air and water have also been mentioned. Also, I know that Toby has used shadows to craft illusions, and it seems other materials can be used too). Does all magic require the users to pull from the world around them? How does one's race/ancestry play into which elements can be used? (I know the books have mentioned at least once the difference between Titania's descendants and Maeve's in this regard). What are all of the different elements/ingredients and what is each one good for (I know some of that answer might be spoilery, especially in regard to blood magic, but I'd love to know the nonspoilery parts)? Do different races use different techniques to do their magic? It also seems that techniques are based on a person's level of power, since early books Toby seems to rely a lot more heavily on rhymes than later books Toby. And it also seems like having less magic means using more external items to do the magic with. (Like marsh water and faerie ointment).

So... yeah. I'd love to learn more about the "science" behind the magic.

I've been wondering about the "lost" lands of Faerie (presumably autumn, winter, and spring, assuming their existence is still canon). I was going to ask what happened to them, but figured the answer would just be "they disappeared". So instead, here's my question:

Are all the fae races we've seen native to the summerlands, or were they forced to move to the summerlands when their homelands disappeared? Like, were trolls originally from the winterlands or whatever? And if so, is there an elemental association with the native land (i.e. summer=land, winter=water, etc)?

Ashes of Honor contains all the information on these topics that we are likely to get at this point. It also answers your question: All of the /fae/ were /presumably/ evacuated to the Summerlands prior to the doors being closed to the deeper lands -- which most certainly still exist, they are just inaccessible (without dire consequences) at the current time. There doesn't seem to be any elemental association with the deeper lands, although we only get details on one.

What can you tell us about the pixies? They pop up in the books, but not too much has been discussed about them. Are they a deliberate creation or something that the wild magic naturally created? They have their own language that even the fae barely understand (though they've figured out it usually involves trading service for food), they're territorial, and live in groups. What is the history behind that? Let me know if that touches on spoilers or is just something the fae accept without wondering.

Hi! I thought you'd be all questioned out by the time I saw your post, but it seems not - so here goes.

Can ordinary fae change where they live, or are they tied to their home-ground? In other words, if Tammy McFae thinks her Liege Lord is a doofus who doesn't take care of the land, or doesn't take care of the people under his domain (kind of like Sylvester when he was temporarily nuts?) can they leave for another domain?

If yes, what formalities are there? This is the fae, of course there are formalities for everything.

If not, can someone who leaves anyhow be declared outlaw? How would that work?

On a related subject, if someone from County This decides to live in County That because that's where all the marriageable folk are, but plans to someday return home with a spouse, are they subject to their own Count, the new place's count, or both? Could be awkward! What if they move at higher levels than a County? (Yes, this question sprang from Prince Incognito fostering with Toby)

Is succession in the Cait Sidhe possible by any means other than the heir presumptive killing the regent? My understanding from what you've said so far is "nope" (or at least that if it has happened it's been so vanishingly unusual that it's not actually taken into consideration as an option). (If yes, I am relatedly wondering what sort of circumstances typically lead to a mentee deciding their mentor is no more for this world; and presumably if a mentee fails in their attempt to succeed to the throne the cycle begins again...?)

Wait, I'm sorry, this is possibly-involves-spoilers-for-what-may-be-coming-up even if I was intending it to be strictly historical. Sorrryyyyyy. Will go away and think more!

I love these answering-of-questions offers. Thanks for taking the time to do them.

So, this may not be enough of a question to justify a post, but….We've seen a lot of discussion about how low fertility is for non-Firstborn fae, to the point where they'll even take human lovers just to obtain a baby who may later present significant issues of his/her own (the Choice, mortality, etc. etc.). Does this really take precedent over everything else? By which I mean, if you're a Daoine Sidhe having a fling with a rascally Cait Sidhe that you'd rather not have your spouse know about, would you, erm, take steps to ensure that you wouldn't give birth to a baby with a tail? Are there magical ways to block fertility -- after all, there don't seem to be any magical ways to *increase* fertility, or I assume the fae would make use of them…? Or is it as simple as a fae thinking in passing, "A child would be inconvenient," and voila, no offspring? Or…would the spouse in question be delighted at the birth of a child even if he weren't the progenitor, because hey, fae baby!

Are there rules and traditions around the conception of full-fae children totally out of marriage? If two single fae types who are dallying together for fun conceive, do they just start talking marriage without another thought, because it's just a given that proven fertility together is as good a basis for marriage as any other? Or is that so rare that it's just handled on a case-by-case basis? I noticed that we had gotten a lot of interesting information on how full-fae children are viewed in the context of a marriage, and how changelings are viewed, but not a lot of discussion about what would happen if, say, Helen and Raj found out that they were expecting.

Again, sorry if this is too picayune -- as a subfertile member of a species in which fertility is assumed as the default, I end up wondering about a lot of esoteric elements of fertility stuff even in fictional races.

Also, one more question, since we're on the topic of fae fertility….For a fae couple, is there something about managing to conceive one child that triggers increased fertility for a period afterwards? I ask because I've noticed several examples of fae couples who have no children for quite some time, but then have two or more in (relatively) rapid succession. Apologies if this is veering into spoiler territory. :)

How much resistance from the fae has there been in the past to new technology? ALH seemed pretty successful in adapting telephones and some computers - what's the lag between invention and buy-in from the fae?

I am curious about the interactions between different Courts of Cats. We saw Tybalt interact with the cats of Tamed Lightning without their Queen, and it was implied that there should have been certain protocols followed that weren't. Then there was a sort of temporary alliance between Tybalt and the local cats when he and Toby were being chased by goblins. What are the usual procedures for Cait Sidhe visiting other Courts, either their own or other fae's?

Also, do all normal (non-cait sidhe) cats answer to the local court? Would my cat have to obey the local monarch if the circumstances arose? (As much as cats obey anyone). Are there gaps between courts, where cats or Cait Sidhe would not be included in the protection of a court, and would these spaces be avoided or pursued?

I really appreciate that you are willing to answer questions periodically, and I'm sorry it's so hard to find questions that are non-spoilery and answerable.

We've been on several roads now, the rose road, the shadow roads, the thorn roads and it's been noted that many of them are related to the first born. I have no idea if this is spoilery or not since it may be something that comes up later but can you tell us more about roads in general? How are they created, what they typically were for and how they're related to individuals?

Obviously if this comes up later in the series then I'll wait patiently to find out!

It's repeatedly stated that saying "thank you" is deeply frowned upon, that it implies fealty to another fae. How did that come about? Toby tries to word her sentences carefully around those thanks as much as possible, but she (and other characters) still slip up and say it on ocassion. Does anything bad happen, or is it more of a cultural taboo?

This is in no way meant to answer your question, it's just an interesting tidbit that's related to it. Folklore warns that you must never say thank you to one of the fair folk because they find it offensive. They believe gratitude should be shown; if they have done something for you worthy of gratitude and you say 'thank you,' you have insulted them by implying that mere words can discharge the debt between you.