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The Nemedian's were born from the dreams of primative mortals and thus given the forms of these men's dreams.
The Tuatha were dreamed as aspects of Sun gods and other celestial enigmas that concerned the earliest humans. The Fir Bholg were created in the image of beasts and beast men, those horned gods and sacred beasts that primitive man adored and feared.
As time passed, all of the Fir Bholg began to undergo transformations into beasts. Most followed the same path as Tuan and transform into first a stag, then a boar, then a great sea eagle before finally being reborn into a mortal body in exactly the same manner as changeling's. Some rare Fir-Bholg, however, changed into different forms (those with the unusual forms merit/flaw), but they always assume the form of three separate beasts between each changeling incarnation. A Fir Bholg will live out his life as each of these beasts before dying and progressing onto a reincarnation in the next form.
This is a cyclical wheel of reincarnation, much like that undergone by Changeling commoners, unless the player takes the Fae Eternity Merit. In which case the Fir Bholg will have been born, grown to old age, been reborn in all three forms (which will have shared the long lives) and only recently have been reborn as changelings for the first or maybe second time.
LIFESTYLE:
"those who do not learn from the past are doomed to repeat it"
Once Lords of Ireland they now strive to regain this former glory. Hardy survivors, these lords of the wild places have spent millenia seperated from all other Kith except the Redcaps. Their Brotherhood to the beasts led some into dealings with the Satyrs, but other than this, they knew nothing of the other changeling races. The Beast-kings bridge the gap between the beastly Fomorians and the refined Tuatha de Danu. Forever wrapped in otherworldlyness, these are the bringers of chaos who are destined to watch the fate of the children of Nemed and to now bring the tales of what they have seen to the Changling, the Descendants of those original Dream people.
The serpent and the rod were the symbol of the children of Nemed, this symbol is still used by the Fir-Bholg in secret. Their open symbol is a Harp crossed with a short celtic sword.
When one looks at a report of the First battle of Moy Tura, the nature of the Fir-Bholg is well portrayed. While the Tuatha de Danu beat their shields, played leather tongued trumpets and screamed war cries, The Fir Bholg advanced in silence, spurred on by the voice of Fathach their Bard.
Almost exclusivly UnSeelie, the Fir-Bholg believe that the Seelies inability to change is the greatest threat to the Dreaming. Although cultured and often wise, the Fir-Bholg are willing to take drastic measures to ensure the Younger Changlings learn that without a new fresh outlook, the Dreaming is doomed. Thus Fir-Bholg frequently become mentors or advisors, often in secret. The joys of the internet have revolutionised the old ways of corespondance by mail. Many are now infiltrating Courts and Freeholds as bards and storytellers.
The Bard still holds his ancient place of honour among the Fir-Bholg and his teachings guide the education of new Fir-Bholg. First among these teachings are The 3 noble strains , the secrets to which were known to every genuine Bard; The strain of lament, the strain of Laughter and the strain of slumber. The number 3 is sacred to all the Celtic peoples and espeshially so to the Fir-Bholg.
Only the new Born Childlings will have a score of zero in Greymere/Rememberance, and it is Equaly likely that they will have high Mental Attributes and Knowledges such as Lores or Occult.
APPEARANCE:
'In the shelter of the of the forests edge he set about painting his body with Blue woad, white chalk and the juice of the red berry. He limed his blond hair and twisted it until it stood out stiff as a taunt rope from the nape of his neck and sprang from beneath his helmet like a wild horses mane.'
- Jim Fitzpatrick - the book of conquests.
Brutal and primative are the first words that come to mind when describing the Fir Bholg, and it is an image they are careful to cultivate. With their body decorations and extreme clothing, they are often mistaken for Redcaps. This is accentuated by the Fir Bholg habit of dying their fair hair with the blood of their enemies. Most Fir Bholg have chalk white flesh stretched taunt over rippling, wiry muscled frames. They are taller, less bulky and more upright in stance than Redcaps and this is the most common way of telling them apart.
SEEMING: All Fir-Bholg have residual animal features, even the new born.
Childlings: Young Fir-Bholg are skittish and shy around adults or even other noisy children. They are Quiet and intelligent enjoying stories and songs. In their Fae mien they rarly have more than a single Animal feature but this can often be as obvious as all over body fur.
Wilders: By now the Fir-Bholg have developed at least one new Animal feature and have become more confident with their memories of the past. They are often poets or authurs if they have come to terms with their roles, or parts of counter-cultures if still unsure.
Grumps: The oldest Fir-Bholg bear many Animal features and have accumulated vast collections of Lore. They can entertain even the most hostile teenager with tales of Eshu daring-do or Satyr orgies. They feel the weight of years pressing and an urgency to educate the modern Changeling youth before the Dreaming itself is lost by the Banality of the Seelie curse.
AFFINITY: Nature
"I am Tuan, I am Legend, I am memory turned Myth."
BIRTHRIGHTS:
Memory turned Myth - Fir Bholg NEVER forget anything, ever, possessing eidetic memories above and beyond natural means. They are the Dreamings chosen watchers and historians. Not even supernatural effects that would usually steal memories will effect the Fir-Bholg. It also means that while the performance of a song or play depends on other abilities, the recall is instant and total. This often leads to the Fir-Bolg having a certain morose outlook on life as they watch everything erode and the natural course of entropy unfold.
Breath of the Firchlis (as in the Denizens of the dreaming book) - Things happen around the Fir-bholg, odd things. To effect things of the Dreaming, the Fir-bholg burns a point of Glamour and then rolls his currant Glamour (Difficulty 8). Successes call the Firchlis over an area in varying and uncontrollable ways. By burning additional Glamour and rolling Glamour against the local Banality rating, the Fir-bholg can effect the mortal world is subtler but similar way.
FRAILTIES:
Beastail visage - All Nemedians are the servants of myth, and in their Fae form, Fir Bholg have remnants of their animal stages, which are often effected by merits and flaws. A Fir Bholg man have a pair of antlers (the most common form) or the tusks and bristles of a boar. Some have a beaked face or pallid salmon like faces. Others have tails, cloven feet, goat or bull horns. There are even rumours of odd centaur like hybrids in the dreaming. This beastial affinity causes unenchanted mortals to react oddly to Fir Bholg. They usually take instant dislike to them out of some unrecognised fear and dread of the proximity of a wild animal.