this post was submitted on 06 Sep 2024
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To piggyback on previous responses, a common trick I’ve seen in Feywild games is when introducing a new Fey, they would say “You can call me ArgleBargle, may I have your name?”
The trick is that if you give your name to someone in the Feywild, it is no longer yours.
Isn't that good? Now people can't use Gate to summon you into a trap.
at least from what i've seen it generally results in you becoming a thrall, they can straight up just completely control you like an RC car
But you only gave them your name. You never submitted to control.
There's often stuff in fantasy about knowing a being's true name giving you power over them, so you wouldn't want to tell it to a fey. But if they literally took your name, then that would make it theirs, and now you know their true name. Also, according to the forgotten realms wiki, most people don't know their own true name. It's not the same as the name you go by.
Fae don't play by the same rules as mortals. Just because they possess your name doesn't make it their name. It just makes it not yours. And Fae magic doesn't necessarily rely on truenames, it relies more on expression and emotion. If you think that your name is your name, and now a Fae has taken it from you, it gives them power over you. And most especially Fae power is held in deals, contracts, favors, tit-for-tat. They asked you for your name and you gave it freely. That's a contract. If you want it back, you're going to need to draft a new contract.
Besides, most fae won't exert such complete control. Some will, definitely. But most of them prefer to trap you inside dealings of your own design. You'll make an initial deal, which you know is a bad idea but you don't have much of a choice - it always starts like this, with an offer you can't refuse, such as recovering your name after giving it. Then you make another deal to escape the consequences of the first one. Then another. Then another. Before you know it you're bound by multiple conflicting deals and can't possibly keep your word on all of them - and then that's when they really get you. Broken promises hold terrifying power with the Fae.