Do you know what really happens to wicked stepmothers?
These days, people think of faerie stories as harmless children’s tales, all Prince Charming and faerie godmothers turning pumpkins into coaches. All too often, mages see the Acanthus as fitting into that same mold — mercurial, but ultimately harm- less and good-hearted. The Daoine remember the truths behind those stories, when princes weren’t charmers but blood-soaked warriors and when wicked queens danced in red-hot iron boots until they died. Justice is the Daoine’s calling; through their mastery of the Fate Arcanum, they offer vengeance to the wronged and justice to those the world seems to pass by. The Daoine are the deus ex machina at the end of the faerie tale, the twist of fate that ensures that the wicked stepsisters’ eyes are plucked out by white doves and the woodsman’s axe is freshly sharpened when he goes to check on the ruckus at grandma’s house.
The Daoine (pronounced DEE-nee or THEE-na) are usually less frivolous and impulsive than their brethren on the Path of Thistle — or at least, the stereotype at- tached to their fellow Acanthus. The Daoine emulate the high courts of the Fae: the sidhe lords of the Brit- ish Isles are their exemplars, and the Daoine comport themselves with the solemn, ethereal grace of Arcadia’s lords. Most Daoine adhere to a strong code of etiquette, instilled in them by their tutors, and put great stock in proper behavior. A crass or boorish individual finds it much harder to secure a Daoine’s aid than someone who is gracious, polite and respectful.
The exact code of hospitality varies from mage to mage. Some Daoine put great stock in old tales of mortal dealings with the Fair Folk. Other Daoine expect the formal decorum of Victorian gentry, Islamic hospitality or good old-fashioned American neighborliness.
Anyone who thinks the Daoine are nothing but Miss Manners with Supernal knowledge would make a grave mistake. The Good Folk (so nicknamed because, like the faeries the Daoine imitate, to call them by an unkind name may invite their wrath) bring justice. Not the common justice of putting a murderer behind bars or returning a stolen car, but the justice of the Fae, little remembered now outside of faerie tales and folklore. Few mages command such a mastery of hexes and curses as the Daoine, and few are as willing — some might say eager — to employ them. Many Daoine take particular glee in drawing upon the old faerie tales for inspiration in their methods: abusive parents who lock their child in the basement find themselves trapped in a crashed car whose doors won’t open and whose windows won’t break, sinking into the water, or a murderer slips and falls in the same incinerator he used to dispose of the evidence.
Some Daoine serve the Awakened community as hexers-for-hire, agents of fate who redress grievances between mages — for the right price. Every action has an equal reaction, the Daoine reason, and, likewise, every accomplishment requires a sacrifice of some sort. Other members of this Legacy show more altruistic motives, punishing those who criminals the Sleeper authorities cannot or will not prosecute. Those individuals who exploit children, whether for labor, sex or merely the thrill of dominating another human being, are especially likely to draw a Daoine’s ire: the Good Folk despise those who abuse the human race’s most helpless members.
In many ways, the Daoine are relics of an older time, when justice was harsh and mercy rare. The Good Folk see their duty as the balancing hand of fate, ensuring that good and evil receive their just deserts. To this end, Daoine also use their mastery of Fate in beneficial ways. Some rewards are quickly arranged: a Daoine sees a man give a lady his seat on the bus; later that evening, the gentleman finds $50 in the gutter. Other times, the Daoine put as much careful thought and effort into rewarding the just as punishing the wicked. In keeping with the Daoine’s belief in a karmic balance, many Daoine would like to bestow as many rewards as punishments. Sadly, in the World of Darkness, they are called upon for the latter much more often than the former.
Orders
- Most Daoine find themselves drawn to the Adamantine Arrow or the Guardians of the Veil
- Daoine of the Arrow are often the most forthright, using their curses to right wrongs and punish the wicked.
- Daoine in the ranks of the Guardians of the Veil focus less on punishing the wicked and more on punishing the transgressions of their fellow mages. The Daoine are often fanatical in their devotion to upholding the strictest possible secrecy, and have a not-wholly-undeserved reputation for overkill in dealing with mages who expose Sleepers to the Awakened world.
- Silver Ladder Daoine most commonly fit the “vengeance-broker” stereotype, trading their mystical punishments for tass, magical artifacts or even filthy lucre.
- Relatively few Daoine join the Mysterium and the Free Council.
- Mysterium members are often too bound up in their search for knowledge to worry about how that knowledge might upset the balance of fate.
- Free Council members lack the reverence for the old ways and traditions that the Daoine cling to.
Attainments
- The Eye and the Fist
- Slings and Arrows
- Doom of Promise
