Need advice on Fey in 5e (Faerun)

[Pinjata]

One of the PCs got hold of a pearl, that is connected to a fairie. Thus he got power over her and they made a deal - fairie will direct him to a magic item, she happens to know a location of and PC will return her her pearl after that.

I somehow have a lingering suspicion that PC player will NOT uphold his part of a bargain. If this happens - what sort of consequences should this bring per current Faerun lore?

thanks :)

[Keravath]

One of the PCs got hold of a pearl, that is connected to a fairie. Thus he got power over her and they made a deal - fairie will direct him to a magic item, she happens to know a location of and PC will return her her pearl after that.

I somehow have a lingering suspicion that PC player will NOT uphold his part of a bargain. If this happens - what sort of consequences should this bring per current Faerun lore?

thanks :)

Whatever you like? You're the DM. I don't think the lore for fairies or the Fae in general are that different from common legends (or necessarily that well known) so you could create whatever fits your game world.

If the fairie isn't powerful enough on her own to enforce the bargain then perhaps she approaches one of the Seelie or Unseelie Fey to enforce it for her (for some price).

The foolish mortal then ends up with a curse of some sort. Perhaps permanently lose 1 hit point everyday until they die or return the pearl to its rightful owner. Make sure the player is aware that such things are possible and if you are lucky then the player won't be greedy enough to try to break the bargain they have made. If not, deal with the consequences.

Other options, the fey makes the character permanently blind until they return the pearl. The character breaks out in a painful rash whenever they try to wear armor (or even clothes). The character is placed under the effect of a Geas spell until the pearl is returned.

Depending on the nature of the fairie they may take pity on the mortal who tried to cheat them, or they might not. They might even get a more powerful Fey to destroy the pearl, ending the ability of anyone to control them, in exchange for some service. If the mortral tries to prevent the destruction of the pearl then they suffer the consequences.

Breaking bargains with potentially powerful creatures can often be a very bad idea.

FWIW there are some wiki pages and other sources out there but take them with a grain of salt ..
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Fey
https://forgottenrealms.fandom.com/wiki/Feywild
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fey_(Dungeons_%26_Dragons)
https://www.learnreligions.com/lore-about-fae-at-beltane-2561643

The DMG also has some material on the Feywild and the monster manual has some information on fairies.

[Monster Manuel]

Thematically speaking, making bargains with Faeries is a thing, and breaking those bargains has seriously bad consequences. Folklore (real-world folklore I mean, rather than forgotten realms lore, specifically) has lots of examples of a human breaking a deal made with a faerie, and having bad things happen to them.

At a minimum, I would say the player gets tagged with a no-save, Bestow Curse effect of the DM's choice. Should be thematically appropriate, in some way. Make it clear that this is not a thing that the simple faerie is doing, on their own, but something the universe is doing. Like, the faerie can be commanded to undo the curse and the faerie will say "sorry, friend. That;s not me". Something like major divine magic would be necessary to undo it (or holding up his end of the bargain, of course).

Maybe even foreshadow this somehow, some tale told in a tavern or etc about someone who reneged on a deal with a faerie and the awful things that happened to them...

[Evaar]

Any non-magical gemstones or currency the player touches turns to salt and sea foam for seven days for each day the character refuses to return the pearl. The pearl is the only gemstone immune to this curse.

So the character might elect to adopt a barter system to manage his life going forward if he's really attached to that pearl. Art objects and other items aren't affected by the curse. But likely they'll choose to return the pearl and probably lose some money in the process. And they might rack up some debts if they touch someone else's money. Good time to enforce living costs and ask how they're going to manage that - good for them if they're an Entertainer.

[Urukubarr]

yeah remember that fey are like devils when it comes to deals, and even a weak fey could do something tiny that would effect and annoy you forever.

all rocks look like gold coins, or all gold looks like rocks, have fun trying to figure it out.
steal a word from the player, anytime they try to say it they cannot seem too.
keep stealing items from the player, anything it can get its hand on big or small, if it wants them back, new deal.
fey mess with memories, have it steal memories and make them bargain to get it back, passwords, locations they only committed to memory, the discussion about taking the job the party is currently on, the location of contacts / persons of interest etc.
have it keep making bad deals with other people the players encounter at the detriment to the players.


remember

FEY ARE BASTARDS

the players should want to get away from it and avoid them at all costs, it should be using the opportunity to screw them over or get them to make crappy deals. if your players are not wanting to strangle the little bastard in anger and frustration your doing something wrong. and if its personal it would be more then happy to pass the deals up to a much stronger fey, who would be more then happy to make life even more miserable for the party

yeah, fey are bastards.

[Pinjata]

Great advice guys, really appreciate it. Thanks!

[Throne12]

What is the Fey? Is it a pixie, fairy, sprite, hag,ect.