Questions and answers, #4: They call him Merlin.: seanan

Questions and answers, #4: They call him Merlin.

As stated in this post, I am answering ten questions about Toby's world in preparation for the release of A Red-Rose Chain. Please note that these are questions about the world, not questions about individual people, things which have not yet happened in the series, or what is coming up in the books. I am still taking questions in the comments on the original post.

Our third question comes from

acelightning, who asked...

"How much Fae ancestry (by percentage) does a person need in order to have magic of their own?"

It's the merlins question! So:

If two fae of the same type have a child, the child is a pureblood. They are fully fae, and will inherit the magic inherent in their type of fae. Quentin is a pureblood, as is Tybalt.

If two fae of a different type have a child, the child is a mixed-blood. They are fully fae, and how well they will be treated is somewhat determined by how noble they are. Their magic will be a mixture of their parents'. January was a mixed-blood. Dean is a mixed-blood.

If one fae parent and one human parent have a child, the child is a changeling. They will inherit magic only through their fae parent. Most will be weaker than their fae parent. October is a changeling, as was Chelsea.

If a changeling parent and a human parent have a child, the child is a thin-blooded changeling. They may or may not inherit any clear magical talents from their fae parent. Some will look sufficiently human as to not need illusions, or be offered the Changeling's Choice. Gillian was a thin-blooded changeling. The polite term for them is "quarter-bloods," but "weak-bloods" is more common.

A thin-blooded changeling who does show signs of magic will still be showing it within the "tree" of their fae ancestor. So if Gillian had any magical talents, they would have been things like minor illusions and detecting medical conditions through the taste of blood (not that she had any reason to go around drinking people's blood).

It's in the next generation where things get interesting.

A person with one-eighth fae blood or less is not considered a changeling: they will not face the Choice, they will die of old age (although it may take a long time), their flesh will decay when they do die. The night-haunts will not come for them. Most will have no magical talents at all. One in ten, however, will be the equivalent of Chelsea: they will have stronger magic than anyone expects. And they will have no innate restrictions. Iron doesn't burn them; oaths don't bind them; and most of all, their magic is formless. They get no starting talents or weaknesses.

All their magic will be of the sort Toby calls "hedge magic," using ingredients and rituals to get the desired effect. They are, essentially, wizards, using their natural talents and the rituals of trial and error to bend the world to their will. Or, as they are called by the fae, merlins.

Merlins usually manifest between one-eighth and one-sixteenth fae descent, but once it's in the line, it's there forever. Someone with a fae parent twenty generations back could, potentially, turn up as a merlin. There aren't many of them left these days, and those that exist rarely learn what they can do. They were one of the costs of the fae/human conflicts, since it left them without teachers.

Merlins are wild cards. Most consider them not to be trusted.

wyrdness

August 12 2015, 17:22:01 UTC 1 year ago

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That was really interesting and informative. I had been wondering if there was any sort of human magic users in the Tobyverse, how they may gain their power and where they may be.

I like how your answer also leaves it slightly open as to whether other (completely irrelevant to the story) supernaturals exist in the Tobyverse. It feels more natural to have a bit of a mystery hanging over it for some reason. :)

seanan_mcguire

August 12 2015, 17:24:30 UTC 1 year ago

They do not.

Toby's world contains humans and fae. Nothing else. Nothing of any other supernatural origin. Humans and fae, dead stop, full finish, nothing of any other kind.

August 12 2015, 17:41:29 UTC 1 year ago

Aww, I kind of liked the mystery. Like the real world having Bigfoot (almost entirely improbable, but maybe!) Thanks for the reply though, and I really hope it didn't sound like I was hinting that I thought there should be more to the Tobyverse, the Fae have quite enough going on as it is! :)

August 12 2015, 17:53:44 UTC 1 year ago

Sadly, that specific mystery is one that leads to people (not you, but others) asking "why isn't X here?" or "when will Toby have to deal with Y?", and my nerves can't take it. Toby's world is explicitly and only fae. If you want other things, that's what InCryptid is for.

If only LJ had a +1 button

August 12 2015, 18:43:09 UTC 1 year ago

That seems like a very reasonable and justifiable defense mechanism against insanity. I respect your decision, especially since it gives us readers even more worlds and characters to enjoy (I do like InCryptid). Win/win for all!

bunny_m

August 13 2015, 15:15:50 UTC 1 year ago

Y'know, Oh Gracious Host, at first I read your immediate response and was saddened because there was an interesting little mystery, immediately slammed definitively shut.

And then I read your description of why that window is shut, barred, bolted and welded shut, and why it's a bit of a reflex reaction, and I am re-awed by your awesomeness, and saddened 'cause Some People Suck, and Are Why We Can't Have Nice things.

On the Gripping Hand, we *can* and *do* have Seanan Things, which is all kinds of awesome and all the worlds are better for those things.

And just one Seanan more than balances a remarkably large number of People That Suck, so I feel we are still ahead on this bargain.

Thank you, Seanan.

acelightning

August 14 2015, 00:31:34 UTC 1 year ago

So things like rose goblins, and other strange creatures that were created by fae, are fae themselves?

Also, if all Cait Sidhe are fae, what are ordinary cats? If a Cait Sidhe and an ordinary cat have offspring, are those offspring a type of changeling? (And I know you're not going to answer this, but if/when Toby and and Tybalt have children, what would those children be?)

notemily

September 11 2015, 19:11:02 UTC 1 year ago

I mean, we had the Afanc in one book, so other fae creatures most definitely exist. Maybe Bigfoot IS a fae creature that was seen by humans a couple of times :P

September 12 2015, 02:47:27 UTC 1 year ago

Well, Bigfoot and Sasquatch are specifically mentioned in the Incryptid stories, and we've been told that there is no overlap between them and the fae. But it would be kinda neat if Bigfoot was Danny the Bridge Troll's country cousin... :-)

jenfullmoon

August 13 2015, 05:48:37 UTC 1 year ago

Hah, I met a guy who said he got Bigfoot on video...or at least he realized after watching what he filmed later that something odd was going on in the bushes.

No, I did not see the video.

Yes, I have the kind of life where these things happen.

August 13 2015, 07:52:20 UTC 1 year ago

That's kind of cool (that your life is a weird magnet) and a bit "back away slowly" at the same time. :D

August 13 2015, 13:56:17 UTC 1 year ago

Hah, yeah, that totally sums it up. Good for stories to tell to others, but at the same time, can be scary. Like hoo boy, do I NOT want to roam the streets of San Francisco alone for anything!

August 13 2015, 15:19:56 UTC 1 year ago

Hmm. I see where you are coming from.

On the one hand, I often feel I could do with more chaos and weirdness in my life.

On the other hand, I'm pretty sure I would neither deal with it nor enjoy it as much as I like to think.

My congratulations and consolations for taking the path more weirdly traveled.

August 13 2015, 16:12:56 UTC 1 year ago

It depends on what kind of chaos and weirdness, really. Sometimes it's fun and sometimes it's not fun. For example, I have been having to go through a lot of training at work in the event that we now get SHOT AT during our workday. That kind of crap I could go without, thanks. Because as a crazy magnet, you know they'll find me first and I'm literally on the front lines to be shot.

I had about roughly ten years (say, about 1997-2007) where I probably didn't go for more than a couple of weeks without some chaos bomb going off around me somewhere. So I got pretty used to it. Things have somewhat settled down since then, but you never know.

"My congratulations and consolations for taking the path more weirdly traveled."

Hah, yeah, thanks. That sort of thing is why I do more nonfiction writing and improv monologues...grist for the mill.

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Questions and answers, #4: They call him Merlin.

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If only LJ had a +1 button