Faerie Courts

Wikipedia:
he Sidhe Courts (Summer and Winter) are the two ruling bodies of the Sidhe and their lands make up most of the Nevernever. Their combined power can affect the real world through the barrier of the Nevernever, and maintaining the balance of power is greatly important to most members of the supernatural community. It supposedly is responsible for the continued cycle of the seasons, and is rumored that great ecological disasters such as Ice Ages and Global Warming were caused by imbalances between the two Sidhe courts.

Each court is ruled by three Queens—Queen Mother (neither of whom have been given a name outside of their title of Mother Summer and Mother Winter), Queen, and Lady. Bob refers to the three as "The Queen Who Was," "The Queen Who Is," and "The Queen Who Is To Come" respectively. They are forbidden from taking hostile action against mortals without their consent—such as making a deal with one of the Sidhe. However, each court has a Knight, a mortal champion appointed by a Queen, who may involve him or herself in mortal affairs.

Sidhe cannot tell a direct lie, but instead are masters of twisting words in order to convey falsehoods without actually lying. They are strictly concerned with the wording rather than the intent of agreements and will specifically place loopholes in agreements which they can exploit. In almost every case, a mortal making a deal with a Sidhe will end up causing the mortal to get the short end of the stick with any attempts to withdraw from the deal causing the mortal to become further involved with the Sidhe. Sidhe are also vulnerable to cold iron. This weakness also extends to any form or alloy of iron, such as steel blades or iron nails. The Knight of each court does not share these weaknesses, although it is hypothesized that iron or steel may bypass certain defenses or magics used by the Knight, those magics being Sidhe in origin.

The two sides are engaged in a Cold War, in which both sides are mobilized for battle but never engage in anything more than skirmishes. Large battles between the two courts have great effects in nature including weather patterns, and are usually avoided unless there is no other choice such as in the events of the novel Summer Knight. Each side is stronger during their namesake season, with the balance of power shifting during the Summer and Winter Solstices. Despite their ongoing conflict, both Queen Mothers live together seemingly peacefully in a cottage. Also, members from both courts have worked together, most recently the Winter Lady and Summer Lady in the events of the novel Proven Guilty.

The Sidhe exchange control of an artifact called the Stone Table twice a year at Midsummer and Midwinter. Whichever Court is in control of the Table steadily gains in power, and in order to preserve the balance, the Summer Court hand it over at Midsummer, the height of their strength, and the Winter Court hand it over at Midwinter, the height of their strength. The power of any being killed upon the Stone Table goes instantly to the court which is currently in possession of it.

Summer Court (Seelie)

The Summer Court is the more warm and caring side, but is just as scheming as its Winter counterpart. Summer faeries typically are more nurturing of mortals, but this is not always true. They are associated with the element of fire. Their lands in the Nevernever are bright, sunny, warm, and lush with vegetation. Most of the lesser creatures of Summer are typically not malicious, but can seem so when they involve themselves in mortal affairs. It is important to note that the Summer Court is not inherently "good", and that victory over Winter is not a desirable outcome. As Bob explains to Harry, such a triumph would result in an era of rampant growth, "especially if you were an Ebola virus."

The current Summer Queen is Titania, the Summer Lady is a former changeling named Lily, and the Summer Knight is a former changeling (half-fey) named Fix.

Winter Court (Unseelie)

The Winter Court is colder and much more merciless than its Summer counterpart. The lands of Winter resemble a tundra or frozen wasteland, with the center being Arctis Tor, a massive fortress made of black ice. Some of the lesser creatures of Winter include trolls, goblins and fetches, spirits which feed on the fear of others.

The current Winter Queen is Mab, the Winter Lady is Maeve, and the Winter Knight is Harry. Harry's godmother, the Leanansidhe, is also a very powerful member of the Winter Court.

Harry currently owes Queen Mab one more 'favor' in order to free himself from his obligation to the Sidhe, although Mab has mentioned that by taking up the Mantle of Winter Knight, Harry has freed himself of any previous obligations to her. Three times she has asked Harry to take up the mantle of Winter Knight, which Harry has refused because (among other reasons) a Winter Knight can only abandon their title through death. Recent events have suggested that Queen Mab may be going insane which is causing a great deal of uneasiness among the sidhe and magical community. It is possibly due to the gift that she took from the Leanansidhe, Harry's Faerie Godmother.

In "Changes," Harry is forced to kill Slate and take up the mantle of the Winter Knight, in order to save his daughter.

Wyldfae

The Wyldfae are creatures of Faerie which do not belong to either Winter or Summer. Most of them do freelance work instead, capable of choosing whichever side they want in a given conflict. During full-scale conflicts, the Wyldfae feel a "calling" which drives them to choose one side or the other. If they are forced to choose sides in a war between Summer and Winter, they will align themselves with the faction most appealing to their personalities. Therefore, the nastier and more murderous aid Winter over Summer. There is no direct leader of the Wyldfae, although the being known as the Erlking or Elfking is probably the closest counterpart. He is a Faerie at least as powerful as Mab and it is said that he is King of the Goblins. He can be summoned by ritual to Earth in order to lead "The Wild Hunt", a massive predatory stampede in which the Erlking calls all nearby beings (mortal, supernatural, faerie, or otherwise) who consider themselves hunters to join him in his charge. The Wild Hunt will kill anything in its way unless it joins the hunt. The Erlking is one of two Faerie Kings. These Kings are Wyldfae on the fringes of their respective Courts, Winter and Summer, and therefore generally are not known as Powers within the Courts, despite being feared as peers of Titania and Mab. The Erlking is the Summer King. Santa Claus is the Winter King, and is considerably more intimidating than his public image among mortals.

Changelings

The offspring of a fae and a mortal is called a changeling. They may have odd appearances, depending on their parentage. The offspring of a human and a troll, for example, may appear as a human which is incredibly tall and broadly built with a bulky mass and well-defined jaw. Other changelings have been shown as simply having oddly colored hair, such as green. Changelings must eventually choose whether to become a mortal or a Sidhe. Upon making the choice, the changeling becomes either completely mortal or Sidhe, no longer retaining any of the characteristics of the other half. It is unknown if there is any specific time or age at which a changeling must choose, but during times of war, they are affected by the calling to choose just as the Wyldfae are.[b][u]