SHARD #003

   Magpies

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One for sorrow. 

Two for joy. 

Three for a girl. 

Four for a boy. 

Five for silver. 

Six for gold. 

Seven for a secret never to be told. 

Eight for a kiss. 

Nine for a wish. 

Ten for the Devil as well. 

Magpies are not of this realm, they are trapped souls of minor
faeries who have done wrong. It is almost a punishment to exist as 
such for the proud faeries. They are not birds of omen. They are 
birds of magic. Seeing a single magpie is not a portent of sorrow - it 
is a cantrip of sorrow. The birds make the sorrow happen. 

This is why the superstition around magpies is so strong. 

Outside of Europe they are known universally as luck birds, and 
indeed if you see more than one this is usually true. All of the 
phrases, the promises, in the rhyme are positive but for the 
first one.

But then you see a single black and white flash. 

A lone magpie has often lost their mate. 

Magpies mate for life. 

They are a bitter fae alone, trapped, angry, even vengeful. 

A series of wars was once fought between magpies and a faerie 
King simply because they refused to promise to send two of their 
kind onto his path every day as tribute. He had considered this a 
reasonable request. They had Insisted such unearned luck from magic 
they had to muster, and account for, was too much of a price to pay.

They are wise. 

They are proud. 

They are powerful. 

They are not to be ignored. 

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