The Sidh

Some of the most prominent figures in Irish mythology are the Sidh (now spelled S [i-fadha]).  They are powerful and mystic creatures to be feared and respected.

When the British conquered Ireland and began to translate Irish into English, they oppressed the natives in just about every possible way.  As part of this, they translated the word Sidh into the English word Fairies, so that when an Irishman or Irishwoman explained that they were afraid of the Sidh, their English audience heard that these folk were terrified of Tinkerbell, rather than the banshee - the death-wailing "fairy woman" - or pooka.

The dark side of the Fairies, Faeries, or Fey comes, in part, from these Irish stories (although the tradition owes much to the Scottish, Welsh, York, etc. traditions as well).

This hybrid tradition means that in a roleplaying game context, Sidh becomes a catch-all term for powerful, capricious creatures that exist, for the most part, beyond the ken of most folk.  In the world of Prodigy, the Tarluskani culture is influenced by old Arabic and Mesopotamian traditions while the Southern Kingdoms is inspired by the Irish and Scottish cultures pre-English invasion.  The fusion of these two mythologies give us our Sidh.

So our Sidh include redcaps, djinn, shabiri, maenads, pookas, naiads, dryads, and (of course) the all-powerful elves, about whom I'll talk later and in greater depth.