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Pledges:
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The realms of the Fae are...strange. Everything depends on oaths of recognition. The air recognizes that you can breathe it, the food recognizes that you can gain sustenance from it instead of it passing through with no effect. You might not even be able to notice other people exist until you swear an oath of recognition in their name if the realm is feeling particularly dickish. The fae outside these realms can tap into small quantities of this, creating a system of rewards and punishments in the form of a Pledge, a kind of magically binding oath. For example, say you swear under the oath of the Pledge that 'I will not rest until this is complete' then, if you break your pledge by taking a rest before it's finished, you're cursed with bad luck for a few months. Or if you promise "I would never lie to you!" and you lie, you might be struck mute for a year. Though this can be circumvented with clever wording and technicalities. Like swearing "I would never harm you" and then hiring a hitman. Technically you weren't the one to harm them, so nothing was broken unless the majority of other parties recognize that you did, albeit indirectly. Typically the fae granting this pledge gets something in return, a steady source of glamour, a favor to redeem down the line, any number of things agreed upon by the parties involved.
Not unlike the classic "Deal with the Devil". Fae don't have to smash a car into your face with brute strength or throw super-hot fireballs to melt you...they just have to be smart. They're the tricksters, the chess masters, the devil in the details, the fine print on the contract, often the exact wrong people you don't want to deal with, but you often must because they have what you need. "Sure, I can cure your wife's insomnia and schizophrenia via a power from a Contract of Lunacy. All you have to do for me is...." If you need impossible ingredients for your magic potions like the hair off a snake's back or an evil witch's tears, the fae can assist, culling the essence of glamour from the realm of dreams to provide those ingredients.
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One example pledge: Fae A makes a deal with Mortal B that he will leave a pie on the windowsill once per month for the next year and in exchange the Fae will guard his dreams for the week the pie is left out. The mortal breaks the Pledge, which causes something like minor illness, a large stroke of bad luck, or taking damage with a large bruise as if they got socked by a boxer.
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Pledges may also be sealed, strengthening their effects in exchange for some of the fae's energy as a bribe to the Wyrd to enforce the terms of the agreement. This makes the penalty even stronger. So illness goes from a common cold to immensely draining migraines and vomiting, the bad luck goes from frustratingly inconvenient to downright dangerous, and the damage is more like a stab wound or large burn than a punch. In addition, sealing a Pledge adds the ability to add a contract activation as part of breaking it no matter where either party is. Particularly vindictive fae may for example go for a cast of a Hearth clause, making their already bad luck monumentally worse for a few hours before it tapers off to "generally horrible" for the next few days or so.
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Pledges do not need to be spoken aloud as long as it is some kind of exchange. So for example if someone purchases something from a fae, that is considered an exchange of money for the goods. If that money turns out to be fake while the fae was unaware and expected legit currency, the exchange is considered broken as the intent was real money for those goods. This only works if the fae seals the unspoken deal however, usually either because the target has scammed others in the past or they are untrustworthy.
Oaths
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The next step up from Pledges, Oaths are typically between fae and are thus much stronger. Common oaths include joining a Court, which bestows them with their court's mantle, joining a Motley (A group of fae working together for a common goal), or even declaring a duel with both fae agreeing on type of duel, any weapons, and win conditions.
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Oaths differ from Pledges in that the are permanent affairs. Breaking an Oath merely changes the parameters. For example, a fae who makes an oath not to harm their Motley and they break it, their oath-bond goes from "Motley Member" to "Former motley member and traitor" This makes oaths much more serious than pledges in part because they can't be escaped from.
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Specific consequences for violating an oath include disruption of magic (if the fae isn’t going to honor his contracts, why should the Wyrd?), sickness, a temporary mental illness or escalation of a fae's Frailties, or even increased attention from Hunters. It is possible for an oathbreaker to be forgiven, but this requires him to make recompense to all offended parties...including the Wyrd itself.
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Oaths must be spoken aloud or written and must be sealed. If an oath is not sealed it is not considered valid by the Wyrd. It must also include a physical gesture such as a handshake or kiss. Oaths are broken down into three categories: Societal, Personal, and Hostile.
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Societal are things like joining a court, joining a Freehold (A local region of a group of courts, such as the Freehold of California or the Freehold of Germany), or joining a Motley. This gives benefits such as: Motley or other small groups may distribute their collective glamour evenly between them. Any excess is taken as a tithe to the Wyrd. Once per week a fae may use contracts and other blessings of another member of their Oath as if they were their own, paying the price appropriately.
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Personal oaths are things sworn between no more than two fae. in support of one another; lovers, blood brothers, friends, or protectors. Fae that swear personal oaths in addition to societal ones should beware. The Wyrd does not care how or why an oath is broken. These also give benefits: Once per week a fae may take the harm intended for one of their oath-bonds. They take the complete damage proportionately with no magic, armor, or any other means able to reduce or negate it. This includes diseases and poison. Also once per week they may completely swap their Glamour pools. Useful if a fae is starving and has a bond willing to give up theirs.
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Hostile oaths are fairly straightforward: that the bonded will do whatever they can to harm the other. There are no benefits from hostile oaths as the Wyrd pays discord with discord and harmony with harmony but it otherwise does not step in. The pain and suffering they cause each other is considered punishment enough.
Bargains
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Human tales of the fae are replete with accounts of faeries performing tasks for people — spinning straw into gold, crafting shoes or other goods, cleaning houses, cooking fantastic meals, or otherwise using their supernatural acumen on behalf of humanity. The humans in these tales sometimes have to repay the faeries’ kindness, and sometimes are taken aback by the price.
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Aspects of a Pledge, Oath, and Bargain:
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There are 4 main aspects of a fae agreement: Task, Duration, Boon, and Sanction. In addition, agreements must be made willingly. While coercion is allowed by the Wyrd, mind-control forcing them to agree is not.
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Task: The tasks of a pledge express the expectations of one or both parties to the pledge. In short, the task details what the sworn must or must not do.
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Boon: The boon of a pledge describes the expected reward for fulfillment of the task of a pledge. These may range from a measure of Glamour to enchantment of mortal senses to magical benefits not necessarily granted by the changeling, but by the Wyrd itself, to enhanced skills or even riches. For example a changeling may allow a mortal the use of a couple of their contracts, but unless the changeling agrees to pay for it, the mortal must use the loophole or have some store of glamour to use, or a changeling may enact a power to turn a human supernaturally beautiful, but once the deal ends that beauty or contract goes away until a new deal is made or the old one reinstated.
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Sanction: The sanction of a pledge describes the punishment that lies in store for those who forswear their pledges. In the case of some especially potent deals there is no additional sanction, due to the seriousness of breaking those pledges. Between changelings, the sanction of a pledge must be pre-established. The duration of a sanction, unless agreed upon otherwise, is the duration of the original boon. For example getting a Boon for 1 week and then breaking it will curse them for 1 week, even if it was broken mere hours before it would have expired. If a deal expires without being broken, no sanction occurs.
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Example Sanctions Include: Chronic pain and minor, unhealing wounds, Penalties to skills, ranging from minor dips to outright deadly incompetence, minor supernatural effects for equally minor breaks, like reflections being backwards or spoiling milk nearby. Restless nights preventing sleep, or even a use of a changeling contract affecting the target. Clever changelings may twist this to advantages, such as making a bargain that the mortal wouldn't get hurt with the contract cast being a healing or protection contract, as a changeling knows when the bargain has been broken as they feel their glamour drain to fuel it.
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Duration: Duration of an agreement details the length of time they remain in effect. Most of these are cyclical adjudications of time, rather than something measured in hours. Oaths are the exception to duration, as they are permanent affairs. Instead, the duration determines the length of the Sanction only. While the below aren't the limits, for example you can swear pledges for 3 hours, 2 weeks instead of 1, 5 years instead of a decade, etc, they are the most common and easiest to grasp.
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Day: The deal that lasts a day is a simple thing, often casually sworn at a whim. The terms of a pledge sworn for a day last for 24 hours. These bargains for a mortal can be like a junkie's first hit. A changeling offers them in order to demonstrate the power of bargaining with her. Most people eagerly come back, especially once the newfound riches or strength vanish.
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Week: A week-long duration is enough to hook many people on a fae’s blessings. The pledge that lasts a week is among the most common of pledges -- such oaths last for precisely seven days, to the hour.
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Moon: A pledge sworn for a moon lasts 28 days, the turning of a single lunar month. Such pledges are the most common of the vows that changelings consider serious -- the dedication of an oath for a full turning of the moon is usually understood to mean that those involved in the pledge take the oath quite seriously.
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Season: Traditionally, swearing a pledge for a season is performed at a solstice or equinox event of some kind. When a pledge is made for a season outside of one of these astronomical events, the pledge is understood to stand in effect for precisely 89 days, or one-quarter of a normal year. In freeholds where a different ruler holds power over each of the seasons, oaths of fealty are generally made for a season.
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Year and a day: Swearing the year-and-a-day pledge binds the word of those participating for 366 days exactly. The wording is an ancient necessity of the Wyrd -- it is said that those who swear an oath for only a single year risk the oath coming undone in those years where the time-keeping of men did not agree with the passage of time in the world around them: intercalary, or "leap" years. Swearing for a year and a day alleviates this difficulty.
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Decade: The decade oath lasts for 10 years and 10 days precisely. It is rare to find oaths sworn for this duration -- they are usually pledges of tremendous importance and power. Most changelings prefer to simply swear pledges on a yearly basis or so; agreeing to swear an oath for more than a year reflects great dedication.
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Lifelong: Oaths are automatically considered here, though a life-long bargain or pledge is incredibly rare and gives an appropriate amount of power.
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Generational: It is almost unheard-of for a pledge to be sworn on a generational basis. When this is done, the pledge stays in effect for the lifetime of the oathbound. But even with death, this pledge is not released, for the onus of the responsibility passes on with the next generation -- the children of the oathtakers are themselves bound up to fulfill these oaths as well. This may not necessarily be the physical children of the oathtakers, but a younger that they valued highly and is old enough to understand the terms and requirements. The deal lasts a number of generations equal to the Wyrd of the user.
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Eternity: It is said that the Others possess the ability to bind up pledges for all eternity, forcing those so bound to adhere to their words even after their bodies have given up life, or into subsequent incarnations. This power is well and truly beyond any known changeling, and even the most puissant of great Fae lords are capable of invoking it only rarely.
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