Mercy Thompson Series #1: Moon Called
Time of Hiding
the Gray Lords, the powerful mages who rule the fae, began to be concerned about advances in science—particularly forensic science. They foresaw that the Time of Hiding was coming to an end. They decided to do damage control, and see to it that the human’s realization of the world’s magic was as gentle as possible

• About thirty years ago, the Gray Lords, they foresaw that the Time of Hiding was coming to an end; They awaited the proper opportunity.
• At first it looked as though the Gray Lord's strategy would pay off for all of the preternaturals, fae or not
• But even in the beginning there was trouble
• fae who were attacked couldn't defend themselves for fear of the Gray Lords; whatever humans did to them, the Gray Lords would do worse
• wave of violence started small and ended with the creation of fae reservations
• old world preternatural creatures; they'd come over for the same reasons most humans did; to gain wealth, power or land, and to escape persecution
• fae came to escape the cold iron of the Industrial Revolution, which followed them anyway

Mercy Thompson Series #2: Blood Bound

• chose to keep as much of darker aspects as carefully hidden as they could
• for more than two decades the fae had managed to present themselves as weak, kindly, and gentle
• “on a killing edge'
• fae are holding to survival by their fingertips; dying faster than they are reproducing, even counting half-bloods
• it started the first time a human forged a cold-iron blade, but bullet lead kills them just a quickly as steel ever did
• powerful fae beings exist who would scare the human population into launching a genocidal wave that would wipe every fae off the earth if they knew of them
• driven out of their homelands by Christians and their cold-iron swords

Mercy Thompson Series #1: Moon Called

• About thirty years ago, the Gray Lords, the powerful mages who rule the fae, began to be concerned about advances in science—particularly forensic science. They foresaw that the Time of Hiding was coming to an end. They decided to do damage control, and see to it that the human’s realization of the world’s magic was as gentle as possible. They awaited the proper opportunity
• lesser fae took the brunt of the reveal and the greater fae and Gray Lords stayed hidden
• most humans only know about the fae - and there are still a lot of people who think the fae are just a hoax perpetrated by the government or on the government
• fae who are still in hiding meant that the Gray Lords hadn't noticed them yet, or that they are of the terrible or the powerful sort
• since the fae came out, the scientists are paying closer attention to abnormalities they used to attribute to lab equipment failure or specimen contamination

Mercy Thompson Series #2: Blood Bound

• the violence shortly after the fae had revealed themselves, most of the fae who were not still hidden, had voluntarily relocated to one of several fae reservations, where they could live in safety

Mercy Thompson Series #3: Iron Kissed

• most fae cannot tell a lie
• they are very, very good at making you think they are saying one thing, when they mean another, but they cannot lie
• they can do the damnedest thing with the truth, but they cannot lie
• a conversation with someone who can't lie is the questions they don't answer

Mercy Thompson Series #11: Storm Cursed

• goblins are a part of that ancient bargain¹⁸
• if the powers that be hear us lie, a terrible and mortal fate comes to us, as to all fae¹⁸
• those greater in power may fight off their fate for a time, but for the lesser fae, like goblins, we die the moment a lie, knowingly spoken, leaves our lips¹⁸

Mercy Thompson Series #12: Smoke Bitten

• fae are creatures whose lives are bound by rules²⁸²
• that they cannot lie being the core rule all of them must follow²⁸²
• important thing to remember about the rules is that they constrain all of the fae; but only the fae²⁸²
• the fae can lie—they just suffer a horrible fate if they do²⁸²
• that may be the rule; if a fae lies they will suffer a horrible fate²⁸²

• laws are clear on how to deal with mortals who stray Underhill and see more than they ought

Mercy Thompson Series #5: Silver Borne
Traditional Structure of a Fae Bargain
Bargain is Requested
Bargain is Struck
Bargain is Accepted
Bargain is Done

• it is humans who betray their bargains
• accepted and sealed the bargain in blood
• can be a contest; usually musical; a true bargain
• different bargains; stories of footraces, swimming contests, eating contests
• fairy bargains that left you ruing the day you made them
• cannot break the heart of the bargain; it must be something that is possible, however unlikely—for the challenger to accomplish
• can be struck with other supernatural creatures; River Devil

Mercy Thompson Series #8: Night Broken

• have to bargain hard and fast—and be diplomatic

Mercy Thompson Series #9: Fire Touched

• fae are very particular about their bargains⁶⁷
• grandstanding is a very bad way to make bargains¹⁴⁹
• few fae who can bargain for the fae as a whole¹⁶⁶
• even if you bargain, you might not be safe¹⁷¹
• bargaining room; you won't know what you have until you talk to them¹⁷³
• there is magic in bargaining with the fae that has nothing to do with what they had the power to do or not do²¹⁸
• that's why so many of the fae are willing to strike odd bargains—they can gain power from it²¹⁸
• a bargain can be sealed in blood²²⁰
• receiving an item in fulfillment of our bargain³²⁴
• ways to void a bargain³²⁵

Mercy Thompson Series #10: Silence Fallen

• wolves are not fae to hold to bargains they view as forced²⁴

Mercy Thompson Series #11: Storm Cursed

• Unordered List Item

Mercy Thompson Series #12: Smoke Bitten

Examples
Thomas Hao Father bargained with Master Vampire Butte Ariana Brewster bargained with Daphne Rondo
River Devil bargained to exchange Mercy for a child
Zee Adelbertsmiter bargained his safety for his son
Alistair Beauclaire bargained for the Walking Stick
Gray Lords bargained with Adam and Mercy to maintain neutrality in the Tri-Cities

Mercy Thompson Series #2: Blood Bound

• if claimed as a guest, the fae couldn't do anything bad to you without challenging the host

Mercy Thompson Series #3: Iron Kissed

• anyone who is offended by a guest must go through the host first

Mercy Thompson Series #5: Silver Borne

• half-blood is not human enough to be saved by the guesting laws of the Elphame

Mercy Thompson Series #3: Iron Kissed

• fae do their own internal policing
• Gray Lords own several law firms on the East Coast
• fae who are suspected of crimes tend not to survive to need lawyers
• imprisoning a fae is…impractical
• it's damned difficult; holding a person is hard enough; holding a fae for any time at all, if he doesn't want to be held, is near impossible
• a life sentence is highly impractical when fae can live for hundreds of years
• if you imprison fae, for whatever reason, you'd better be dead when he gets out or you'll wish you were
• human justice just isn't equipped to deal with the fae, so they take care of it
• a fae who commits a serious crime—like murder—is simply executed on the spot

Fae Glamour