The Leannán Sídhe

A Creature for Va esen

She is the Gaelic muse, for she gives inspiration to those she persecutes.
The Gaelic poets die young, for she is restless,
and will not let them remain long on earth.
— W. B. Yeats

BY GRAEME DAVIS
 I had attributed Kershall’s lack of response to my
letters to his being occupied with new commissions, for all
London was abuzz with his brilliant success of late and
every fashionable house, it seemed, kept up an unceasing
clamour for his paintings. The young woman who
answered his door when I called — his mistress, I surmised
— tried to put me off, saying at first that he was too
absorbed in his work to receive an old friend, and then
that he was exhausted and needed rest. It would have
ended there had Kershall not recognized my voice at his
door, for he insisted that I be admitted, to which the
woman consented with bad grace. I was shocked by the
condition in which I found him.
— William Stukeley, 1711
CONDITIONS

This creature is known across the Gaelic world.

Called leannán sídhe in Ireland, leannan sìth in
□ Playful -1

Scotland, and lhiannan shee on the Isle of Man, her □ Scornful

name translates to English as “fairy lover”. □ Annoyed +1
She causes a poet, musician, or other kind of artist
to fall in love with her, inspiring him to brilliance for a
□ Dazed -1

short time before he dies, seemingly of exhaustion, and □ Broken (disappears)

his muse moves on.
During the act of creation, the leannán sídhe drains
the victim’s life-force. It is this draining that kills the COMBAT
victim, rather than exhaustion alone.
ATTACK DAMAGE RANGE

Fists 1 0
CHARACTERISTICS
MIGHT 7 BODY CONTROL 9 MAGIC 9
MANIPULATION 10 Fear 1
RITUAL
Like all fairy types, leannán sídhe are repelled by
the sign of the cross, the names of God or Jesus, and
MAGICAL POWERS prayer. They also fear cold iron. They can also be
♦ Enchant harmed (but not killed) by normal weapons.
♦ Curse
♦ Trollcraft
♦ INSPIRATION: the victim gains a mental SECRET
condition and works obsessively, A leannán sídhe is powerless over someone who
producing the best art or crafts of their
refuses her advances. She may leave in search of
lives. They push all failed rolls related
easier prey, but if a potential victim can beat her
to creativity.
in an opposed MANIPULATION test, she becomes
♦ LIFE DRAIN: as long as the victim is
Exhausted, the creature can feed on his devoted lover, inspiring him to greatness
them. without trying to feed on him.

·2·
EXAMPLES OF CONFLICTS
♦ Edgar Bland was never much more than a
jobbing artist, churning out adequate
portraits of unattractive relatives for
socially aspiring clients of limited means.
Suddenly, though, he has changed both
his style and his subject matter,
producing canvas after canvas filled with
mythological scenes of transcendent
beauty. There is talk of an exhibition at
the Royal Academy, but Bland’s health is
declining and his family is worried.
Buried in his work, he refuses to see
anyone, not even his beloved sister.
♦ The newspapers have been printing
obituaries for artists, sculptors, and
musicians with greater than usual
frequency recently. Every one has died at
the peak of his (or her) career, leaving a
body of work that is all the more valuable
for being limited. Unknown to everyone
except the perpetrators themselves, a
criminal gang has found a way to control
a leannán sídhe and is using her to make
the work of mediocre artists valuable
before disposing of them so that the gang
controls the limited stock of art they left
behind.
·3·
♦ A plague of misfortunes is afflicting
Terence Morse, a sculptor who has
become popular and fashionable over
recent months. Everything from broken
tools to unexplained fires has been
interfering with his work, to the point
where he suspects that jealous rivals are
trying to sabotage his career. He makes
several public accusations, and is sued for
slander more than once. What he does
not tell the world is that he has mastered
a leannán sídhe and that she is the secret
of his sudden and meteoric rise. What he
does not know is that her supernatural
relatives are offended that a scion of their
blood should be enslaved by an upstart
mortal, and they are taking steps to free
her from his thrall — steps that will, if
necessary, go as far as murder.
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