The joke is on you, I don’t know my own true name!
(Mortals generally don’t in most settings, I think.)
trans people wielding immense power in the fae wilds
More like choosing names like Fae Wilds.
Can someone please provide context for us noobs?
Not a DND expert but generally the trope with Fey is that their magic uses people’s names so If a fey knows your name they can do whatever they want to you.
To piggyback on previous responses, a common trick I’ve seen in Feywild games is when introducing a new Fey, they would say “You can call me ArgleBargle, may I have your name?”
The trick is that if you give your name to someone in the Feywild, it is no longer yours.
Isn’t that good? Now people can’t use Gate to summon you into a trap.
at least from what i’ve seen it generally results in you becoming a thrall, they can straight up just completely control you like an RC car
But you only gave them your name. You never submitted to control.
There’s often stuff in fantasy about knowing a being’s true name giving you power over them, so you wouldn’t want to tell it to a fey. But if they literally took your name, then that would make it theirs, and now you know their true name. Also, according to the forgotten realms wiki, most people don’t know their own true name. It’s not the same as the name you go by.
Fae don’t play by the same rules as mortals. Just because they possess your name doesn’t make it their name. It just makes it not yours. And Fae magic doesn’t necessarily rely on truenames, it relies more on expression and emotion. If you think that your name is your name, and now a Fae has taken it from you, it gives them power over you. And most especially Fae power is held in deals, contracts, favors, tit-for-tat. They asked you for your name and you gave it freely. That’s a contract. If you want it back, you’re going to need to draft a new contract.
Besides, most fae won’t exert such complete control. Some will, definitely. But most of them prefer to trap you inside dealings of your own design. You’ll make an initial deal, which you know is a bad idea but you don’t have much of a choice - it always starts like this, with an offer you can’t refuse, such as recovering your name after giving it. Then you make another deal to escape the consequences of the first one. Then another. Then another. Before you know it you’re bound by multiple conflicting deals and can’t possibly keep your word on all of them - and then that’s when they really get you. Broken promises hold terrifying power with the Fae.
Probably something about a beings true name giving power over them.
My Odysseus themed character when the fey don’t know why it’s not working 😏
Depending on the way the fey phrased the request you may either have insulted it, or broken a deal. If it asks to have your name and you answer with “yes, my name is <fake name>.” You have lied to it and broken a simple transaction. It may even be justified in using ever more harsh measures to extract your name from you, as it has a legitimate claim on it. At least that is the way I would play such a situation for the fey. For me the thing is that trying to outsmart them rarely works, because they know netter in which rules they operate than you do. A answer like "You may not have my name, but you can call me <fake name>. " Should work better in my opinion. Sorry for the wall of text btw. Just being bored out of my mind rn.
Making them deal with the linguistic juggling of the Fey is how to have fun with rules lawyer players
Unironically I keep a devil on retainer for this. I’ve interacted with the Fae twice and it went poorly both times. I’m not speaking to them again without my lawyer present.
But you won’t get far talking to no one!
Could just say “I’m nobody”, then when they realize just say “I wasn’t answering your question or giving you my name, I’m just nobody”.
You could and it might work, or it might not. Depends on a lot of factors. Thing is, you are still engaging the fey in word games and try to outsmart them in their own games. Being blunt and telling them No, giving clear and unambiguous answers offers less attack ground for them.
Walt is always freaking out about something. Dude was way too high strung.
