What kinds of bargains do fairies make?

Riddles or quests or a riddle that takes your MC on a quest is always good!

There is nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein. -Red Smith

Historically, fairies were often said to steal human children and leave behind their own children. (It is thought to be a medieval explanation for things like autism - they believed that they acted like they were from another world because they were really fae.)

Therefore, if you're going for the grittier type of fairy, the MC's firstborn to be their's or for the MC to steal a child for them would be a classical demand.

A good site for all kinds of stuff like this is

www.monstropedia.org

Good luck.

<<$@R@H>>

As someone else said, firstborn children are common payments, esp if bargin is made in "first thing born--thing that greets you--what stands behind the mill--" in which dogs or apple trees are the common "apparent" payments.

"There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you."
— Maya Angelou

The fairy article in that wiki has some rather good information on fairies, but sadly not much directly applicable to the original question. What little I know about fairies from my readings is that one should treat them with respect and a dash of caution, be prepared to offer them gifts if necessary (but be sure you know what kinds of gifts they like!) but never accept a gift from a fairy yourself, especially gifts of food. To eat of fairy food is to be forever bound to the realm of faerie.

Ah yes, the distinction between the "simple" fairy who simply wants to be treated with respect and common courtesy and the devious fairy who will make a bargain which sounds like a small price to pay but winds up being a price more dear than one would have knowingly agreed to. Never agree quickly to a bargain offered by a fairy where there could be any room for interpretation in the terms or where the specifications of the agreement are in any way indirect or round-about. Most especially never agree to a bargain with a fairy where you think you have figured out what the fairy is asking for or where you think you have outwitted the fairy in some fashion. Those sorts of deals are quite prone to come back and bite you in the butt.

When dealing with a fairy be straight-forward, honest, respectful and very shrewd. Don't accept offers that seem too good to be true, for they usually are. A fairy won't lie to you but it will tell the truth in such a fashion as to mislead or confuse you. Always keep your word to a fairy, but don't give it without fully understanding what you are agreeing to. A little bit of flattery can help to ease your way in dealing with fairies, but don't overdo it. If you lay it on too think or your flattery sounds false the fairy may become offended, and that is the last thing you need. If you do happen to offend a fairy in any way be quick to apologize and prepared to make amends. A single insult can cost you dearly. Also, never speak ill of the fairies, for you never know when they are listening.

That's why the faeries are often called "The Good Folk," "The Shining Ones," or "The Gentry." If they are listening, you want them to hear you say good things about them.

Always be very careful what you say to a Faerie. You may be agreeing to something without fully realizing it.

A faerie might ask for something as innocuous as a kiss, and the human has no idea that that kiss would free her from a binding, or in turn bind him. Or to grant him access through the faeries territory, the faerie may ask for the same, access through his, which means he might have trooping faeries marching through his living room and bedroom every full moon forever!

2005: In Back of the North Wind -- WINNER!
2006: Leopard's Paw -- WINNER!
2007: The Old Straight Track (finished) -- WINNER!
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2009: ???

Thanks for the responses, everyone. It's given me a lot to work with.

Zoo, if Aden agrees to let the fairies access his territory, he'll probably be agreeing to let the fairies access the Sun path. That would be disastrous, because only the Sun and her guardian are supposed to access it. But he wouldn't understand that. He might agree, and then that'll be a blessing or a curse, depending on how I decide to spin it.

Firstborn would make problems for a girl back in the real world, if Aden managed to get her pregnant before he left. If not, he would have no firstborn to give, because the life of a guardian is a lonely one.

A kiss.. Hm, could that bind him into doing a favor for the fairy later?

I might have her request the rock he's been carrying. It's got his brother's name carved on it and is probably Aden's most prized possession. He wouldn't part lightly with it. Especially if it granted that fairy access to his brother's true name. Much good it will do her, though. Kenet is long dead.

Or I could humiliate him by sending him back to the material world to get the little boat he and his brother made. A smallish fairy might like to sail, right?

[/wandering thoughts]

Really, really, really carefully worded ones!
"the kiss you would give your lover" (the is non-specific, would carries the meaning of future act and a desire to do something) so this apparently simple bargain
may mean that you can never kiss anyone you love without breaking the bargain..

That's actually quite traditional as well; the person keen to offer their firstborn as they believe they will have no children. Somehow they always do, though...