seanan_mcguire @ 2012-08-24T10:16:00

2012-08-24T17:16:35Z

To celebrate the upcoming release of Ashes of Honor, I am answering five questions about Toby's world. This is the second.

So gwisteria asks, "Are there fire faeries or would their lifespan too short to warrant consciousness?"

Yes, Virginia, there is a Fire Kingdom.

Fae crop up everywhere in the world, from the depths of the ocean to the hearts of active volcanoes. They have their own culture, their own traditions, and their own creatures (we've seen salamanders, for example). Even most of the Firstborn don't visit the Fire Kingdoms, because unless they're extremely powerful shapeshifters, or just really, really fire-proof, being set on fire is still inconvenient.

Some fire fae do come to visit, but it's mostly the lava-equivalent of Selkies and Kelpies: the liminal fae, the ones who can do just fine in either environment. Peri are considered fire-fae, for example, as are Kesali, and both of those have been known to show up in Land courts. They usually avoid the Undersea, as being doused in water does not make fires of any sort particularly happy. There are doubtless some breeds of fire fae that have never been seen outside the heart of living volcanoes, slow falls of lava that sometimes open strangely human eyes and try to entice you to come just that little bit closer...

It isn't recommended.

Of all the lands in Faerie, the Fire Kingdoms are the most isolate, and the least likely to be visited on a whim. Most fae would die in an instant, and they lack the overlap of the land and sea or the land and air. It doesn't make them bad people, down there in the flames. It just makes them very, very, undeniably alien.

Rose-Owls and Pumpkin Girls

seanan_mcguire @ 2012-08-24T10:16:00