The realm of folklore is rich with tales of faeries, enigmatic beings often associated with both wonder and peril. Faerie possession, a recurring theme in mythology, blurs the line between blessing and curse, enchantment and intrusion. It explores how humanity has long been fascinated by the fae and the intricate relationship between the living and the supernatural. This article delves into the lore surrounding faeries, their interactions with humans, and the rituals devised to combat their influence, drawing upon a narrative where science and folklore collide in a desperate battle against a faerie invasion.
Atta's Plight: A Reluctant Heroine in a World of Supernatural Infection
Ariatne "Atta" Morrow, a postgraduate student and part-time morgue worker, finds herself entangled in a world where science and folklore collide. Her life at Trinity College is fraught with challenges, including denied funding and an overwhelming workload. Yet, alliances form as she navigates her studies, morgue work, and secret dealings with Achilles House, a secretive society at Trinity College. Driven by curiosity and desperation, Atta risks everything to investigate a strange, otherworldly bloom found in a corpse's lungs, setting the stage for her entanglement with the mysterious Achilles House.
Discovery of Supernatural Infection
Atta's autopsy reveals a macabre flower growing from the corpse's lungs, a phenomenon unseen in any medical text. This "bloom" is not just a symptom but a sign of something unnatural infecting the dead. The Plague, once thought to be a disease, now appears to be something far stranger-an invasion of flora, perhaps even faerie in origin. Atta's scientific curiosity is piqued, but so is her fear, as the boundaries between science and folklore blur, and her visions intensify.
The Unlikely Partnership: Atta and Sonder
The transactional relationship between Atta and Sonder deepens as they strike a bargain: she supplies corpses with signs of the Plague's flora, and he provides her with tools and access. Their interactions are fraught with tension, attraction, and mutual suspicion. Sonder's own motives are ambiguous-he seeks a cure, but his methods are secretive and sometimes ruthless. The bargain binds them together, forcing both to confront their own ethical boundaries.
Atta and Sonder's investigations uncover more bodies with signs of faerie flora-blackened veins, strange fungi, and otherworldly growths. Their scientific approach is challenged by the inexplicable, as each autopsy brings them closer to the truth: the Plague is not a disease, but a possession. The dead and dying are being used as vessels for something ancient and malevolent.
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Drawing on folklore, botany, and anatomy, Atta and Sonder devise a protocol for exorcising the faerie spirits from the infected. Their methods-smudge sticks, black salt, iron, and sacred rituals-blend science and magic. The exorcisms are harrowing, often deadly, but increasingly successful. As word spreads, they become Dublin's masked healers, sought after by the desperate. Their partnership deepens into love, even as the dangers mount.
The pattern of infection-flora sprouting from organs, black blood, and the presence of coins marked with hawthorn-points to a faerie origin. Atta and Sonder theorize that the Plague is a form of faerie possession, using humans as soil for their own world's survival. The hawthorn, a symbol of faerie magic, becomes central to their research. The realization that the Plague is a supernatural invasion, not a natural disease, changes everything.
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Unveiling the Faerie Threat and Its Origins
The Plague's victims are revealed to be "Inhabited," not merely infected. The faerie spirits seek pairs-one to serve as soil, another as nourishment. Atta's visions intensify, showing her the faerie world and its dying forests. The boundary between the living and the dead, the human and the faerie, grows thin.
Atta's visions and research lead her to the Hawthorn Grove at Murdoch Manor, where Sonder's mother, Olivia, unwittingly opened a portal to the faerie world. The grove, the site of Olivia's burial, is the epicenter of the invasion. Atta discovers a lost book of fairytales, Into the Faerie Wood, and realizes that Olivia's actions-and Sonder's burial of his parents under the wrong tree-delayed the faerie conquest.
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The Agamemnon Council and Atta's Defiance
The secret society, Agamemnon, led by Lynch and Rochford, demands that Atta and Sonder reveal their methods and pledge loyalty in exchange for protection and academic reinstatement. The council's true motives are political, seeking glory and control. Atta refuses to be their pawn, choosing instead to continue the fight on her own terms.
The Ultimate Sacrifice: Atta's Self-Exorcism
As the faerie possession spreads and the wards fail, Atta realizes she must sacrifice herself to close the portal. Guided by visions and Olivia's spirit, she enters the Hawthorn Grove, drinks Sonder's embalming fluid, and performs a final exorcism on herself. The act destroys the portal, collapses the manor, and ends the faerie invasion-but nearly kills her. Sonder's grief and love bring her back, and together they emerge from the ruins, battered but victorious.
Protective Measures Against Faeries
In the face of such supernatural threats, folklore offers a variety of protective measures to ward off faeries and their influence.
- Iron and Steel: Forged metal is anathema to faeries. The presence of iron items prevents harm, and touching with iron drives them away.
- Salt and Fish: Faeries are said to abhor the smell of fish and the taste of salt.
- Turning Clothes: Turning a garment inside out is a consistent defense against fairy tricks.
- Herbs: Certain plants like St. John's Wort, red verbena, daisies, ash, four-leaf clover, and rowan are effective in repelling faeries.
- Running Water: Faeries are unable to cross streams and rivers, especially those running south.
- Faith: A strong Christian faith and the sign of the cross are believed to dispel supernatural threats.
- Self-Bored Stones: Stones with naturally eroded holes, hung over stables, protect horses from night-riding by fairies.
| Measure | Description |
|---|---|
| Iron and Steel | Forged metal repels fairies; touching them with iron drives them away. |
| Salt and Fish | The smell of fish and taste of salt are abhorrent to fairies. |
| Turning Clothes | Turning a garment inside out defends against fairy tricks. |
| Herbs | Plants like St. John's Wort, rowan, and four-leaf clover repel fairies. |
| Running Water | Fairies cannot cross streams and rivers, especially those running south. |
| Faith | Strong Christian faith and the sign of the cross dispel supernatural threats. |
| Self-Bored Stones | Stones with natural holes protect horses from fairies when hung in stables. |
Candles and Faeries
The fae relationship with the humble and everyday candle is rather more complex and magical than we might initially imagine. Fae beings are sometimes compared to candles- that is, when they appear in the form of points of light and especially when seen as the will of the wisp- looking like a lantern to lead travellers astray. In such a form they have often been compared explicitly to candle flames . Candles also have more magical properties. In County Durham, there was once a great fear of pregnant women and unbaptised babies being stolen by the ever watchful faeries (as nurse maids and as changelings), so the practice was to leave a candle burning all night in the same room as the cradle.
The Aftermath: A New Life Forged in Tragedy and Triumph
With the portal closed and the faerie spirits banished, the Plague ends. Survivors emerge from the wreckage, scarred but alive. The city is saved, but the cost is high-lives lost, secrets revealed, and the world forever changed. Atta and Sonder's love endures, forged in the crucible of tragedy and triumph. The supernatural and the scientific have merged, leaving a legacy of wonder and warning.
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In the aftermath, Atta is reinstated at Trinity, now a professor teaching the history of the Fae Plague. She and Sonder, partners in love and science, build a new life together, their bond unbreakable. The world knows their story, but only they know the true cost. The lessons of the Plague-about the dangers of hubris, the power of love, and the thin veil between worlds-linger.