The Otherworld
Called the Spirit World, the Land-Beneath-The-Hills, Fairy, and many other names, the Otherworld exists alongside the Mortal Kingdom. When the Elemental Sovereigns divided the Dawn World into Four Kingdoms, they kept the majority of Dawn's Light in a sister world to the Mortal Kingdom. Here, spirits and immortals could dwell and relish some of the ancient power and creative control they once had over the world, while leaving the fates of Mortals to their own designs.
The Otherworld roughly overlaps with the mortal, but the boundaries are thinner in some spaces than others. Mortals who cross over may forget all that transpired upon their return; they may experience years of time and return in an instance, or they may be gone only an hour and return to find their kingdom fallen. Somehow the inhabitants of the Otherworld are able to track mortal time without being affected--a paradox, to be certain, but most Otherworld entities don't care enough to enjoy this privilege.
Different regions of the Otherworld are called by different names, ruled by different monarchs, bound by different rules. The one thing they hold in common is that the Otherworld is larger than life--brighter, darker, bigger, smaller, more full of life, more full of dread, than the world of mortal wanderings.
Geography
The Otherworld is a larger than life reflection of the Mortal World (though perhaps it's the other way around). There are forests, deserts, oceans, mountains--all the geography one would expect to see in the mortal world--but the mountains are taller, the oceans deeper, and the trees can probably talk to you.
If you cross the Veil in a forest, the trees will soar towards the skies. If it is winter in the Mortal World, snow spirits will dance around you, trees of ice will chime in the wind, and luscious figures of blowing snow may beckon you out into an infinite blizzard. Cross in the spring, and the world will teem with life and color. Flowers shine like gemstones, birds and beasts chase each other across sun-dappled groves, the wind sounds like music and the air smells like perfume. In the summer, wild creatures beat drums and do battle beneath a blazing hot sun, and in fall, the reds and golds of nature are literal crimson and solid gold.
There is no uniform geography to the Otherworld, but there are distinct dominions. They may be physically located (if you cross in a certain place, you will always reach Nuinn's Grove, for example) or they may be symbolically linked (Glassweb Grove can only be found by catching a moth, at midnight, without using your eyes, and bringing it to a pine tree). Powerful Archfey and Great Spirits have their own domains that obey their will.
The nature of the Otherworld also changes based on the local spirits and the beliefs of nearby mortals. In Sharan, the otherworld is populated by genies and oasis spirits; in Okarthel, ancestor dragons soar an azure sky, and in the Northern Kingdoms, mischevious fairies and goblins slip into the Mortal World to play pranks.
Fauna & Flora
Mystical equivalents of mortal species can be found throughout the Otherworld--grasses that glow emerald green at dawn, trees that bear healing fruit, wolves that can take the shape of humans.
This is the natural home of the Fey, who take countless shapes and habitats.
One can also find mighty Genies and their abodes in these lands, as well as lesser giantkin (trolls, ogres, and the like).
Natural Resources
Mortals do not venture into the Otherworld simply to cut down trees to build houses. Materials taken from the Otherworld have supernatural qualities, for better or worse. One might seek the ethereal silk spun by the Gossamer Daughters, or the hide of one of Morco's Bears.
Alternative Name(s)
Faerie, the Spirit World
Type
Dimensional plane
Included Organizations
Characters in Location
Comments