On the Denizens of the Feywild

Excerpt from a scholarly text on the Feywild. Nearly everyone has heard of the Fey in one form or another. Fairies such as pixies and sprites take on a major role in children’s tales as magical woodland tricksters and guardians. Fey monsters, like hags and trolls, haunt our nightmares. And the graceful sidhe, the fey lords and ladies, are famous throughout the planes for their immeasurable beauty. Despite the stories, these creatures are rare. They are often seen only in fleeting glimpses, or in the wild, untamed lands of the world. Few, if any, doubt their existence, since just about everyone has met an elf or perhaps even a gnome, but next to no one has met a fey creature, and even fewer have lived to tell about it. Why is that?
The answer is that the fey live separately from the material plane, or the “real world”, on a plane of existence known as the Feywild. Known to some as the Twilight Kingdom, the Eternal Glade, the Wicked Garden, or the Nevernever, the Feywild is a place of beauty, grace, magic, and peril. Lanterns seem to float in the air, which is alive with butterflies and other insects. It is eternally twilight here, and the sun rests low in the sky, never rising or setting. Creatures that are harmed by the sun are safe here, and creatures that cannot see in the dark still retain their vision. The Feywild, and its sister plane of the Shadowfell, are referred to by scholars as the “echo planes” of the material. Their layouts are very similar to the material plane, with much of the same geography. There are many differences between the planes, however. The Feywild is a mystical place, and things tend to be more glorious and breathtaking in the Feywild than on the material plane, despite the dangers. The land is ruled by two fey Courts, the Summer, or Seelie, and Winter, or Unseelie, Courts. Each Court has a stronghold, which is located in the same place in the Feywild as a castle on the material plane. It is presently unknown who rules the two Courts of the Feywild, although they have always been referred to as Queens.
The lands outside the direct influence of either court are varied, ranging from copies of either Court to combinations of the two, to completely individual areas. Most lands of the Feywild are subject to the changing of the seasons, unlike the lands of Summer and Winter. Majestic castles and sunken mires dot the landscape, which is inhabited by representatives of both Courts, and by the Wyldfae, which belong to neither. Strange music can often be heard in the wild lands of the Feywild, as can the laughter of the land’s inhabitants. The wild lands are just as perilous as either Court, but out here, it is much harder to let down your guard.
Time in the Feywild is a tricky subject as well. Days spent in the Feywild might turn out to be seconds on the material plane, or they might turn out to be centuries. Two creatures that both exit the Feywild at the same time might end up being split up vastly by the passage of time, never to see each other again. Although this is an extremely rare occurrence, it is vital to take precautions against this time-warping effect when entering or exiting this echo plane. Wearing or holding iron or steel materials appears to stop time from distorting itself, although it is rather difficult to bring these metals into the Feywild in the first place. The Summer and Winter Queens seem to have some sort of control over this effect, as do some other powerful sidhe lords, ancient hags, and archfey. Simply traveling with a fey creature or an elf seems to stop this effect from happening altogether, which suggests that it is some sort of defense mechanism meant to stop mortals from interfering with the dealings of the fey.
The Feywild is, as the name implies, inhabited by the fey. These creatures, who live practically limitless lifespans, have an incredible variety. For the most part, the fey can be divided into several broad categories, with each species being able to fit into one. However, there are some exceptions. Hags, for example, nearly always avoid the Courts, who hate them for their blind cruelty and hideous appearance. However, some hags are willing to work with the Courts, either through being powerful enough to be seen as an invaluable asset, or by putting on a guise to appear less ugly to the fey that they work with. Bheur hags also typically serve the Winter Court if they can see a use for it, and Mab abides by their appearance to further her own goals. Other fey, such as eladrin or the sidhe can belong to either court or none at all, but are still not considered wyldfae.
Archfey Archfey are the most powerful creatures of the feywild. The fey Queens are the most famous and powerful archfey, but they are not the only ones. Most of the archfey, such as Oberon and Selephra, are sidhe who have amassed great power through loyalty to their Queens. Others, such as Baba Yaga, the Erlking, and Hysram, are other fey creatures who have existed since ancient times and have gained their powers through other means. The archfey are immortal, and can only be killed by very specific means. Iron is still painful to the archfey, and their bodies can still be destroyed by it, but if an archfey is destroyed, it will eventually reform. Archfey that have been granted their power can have it removed by the Queen who gave it to them, but for the others, this power is permanent. Archfey are capable of granting powers to mortals who make deals with them, creating warlocks who can do their bidding without being bound to the Laws of the Fey.
Eladrin Eladrin are elf-like fey that live in the Feywild. They are very similar to elves from the material plane, but they are more in-tune with the magic of the fey. Even without training, an eladrin is capable of manipulating the magic of the plane to teleport short distances. Most eladrin live in the lands of Summer and the wild lands, but many serve the Winter Court as well. Unlike other fey, eladrin are capable of going against the Laws of the Fey. However, it physically pains them to do so, so it is still rare for an eladrin to lie or to break a debt. Iron and steel are still very painful for them to touch. They are incapable of becoming a Knight to a fey Queen.
A Note on Elves and Gnomes Elves are descended almost directly from the Eladrin, but are still not fey. Although not all realize it, elves live in the best of both the mortal and fey world. They have all of the benefits that eladrin have, not having to sleep, being resistant to some magic, and being naturally good at learning and using magic, while not having the restrictions of being a fey creature. Similarly, gnomes are distantly related to the fey as well, although the extent of this relationship is unknown. Gnomes are a bit more removed than elves, although they still retain magical abilities. Additionally, gnomes retain a taste for adventure, which leads some to believe they were descended from the Summer Court. Both are still seen as mortals by the fey, and treated much the same as other humanoids by just about every fey species.
Hags While most fey creatures have some amount of grace to them, hags are the embodiment of ugly cruelty. They hate beauty, and they hate authority. They are not harmed by iron or steel, like the other fey, and their teeth and nails are formed from iron, yet another reason for the fey to hate them. Although they are bound to follow the same laws as other fey, they rarely work for anyone but themselves. They work powerful spells and create and hoard magic items. Like most fey, the love deals and games, but unlike most, they delight in making certain that the deal goes poorly for whoever they deal with. The oldest and most powerful hags are known as “grandmothers”, and some of these hags have power that rivals even that of the fey Queens. However, hags are incapable of working in large groups, so they pose little to no threat to fey that avoid them. Because hags stockpile information, the fey Queens or other powerful archfey will sometimes enlist them to exchange information. Bheur hags sometimes serve the Winter Court for short periods of time as well. Auntie Morgan Greenteeth is one of these hags who has been serving the Winter Court on and off for a century or two. It is rarer for the Summer Court to employ hags for more than incredibly short timeframes.
Korreds Korreds, also known as svartalves are independent fey creatures that appear as hair-covered, hooved fey a bit shorter than gnomes. They know the ways of the earth better than anyone, and are master craftsmen. They are very private, and hold one of the few independent land areas in the Feywild, known as Svartalfheim. They do not tolerate intruders or breaches in their trust, and their constructs are more than powerful enough to deal with threats and insults. This is because a korred’s hair, when cut, becomes the substance that cut it, and there are many creatures who would imprison a korred and cut its hair with certain materials for personal gain. They have control over their hair, and wield iron ropes to hurt fey who attack them. Unlike most fey, they deal in all currency, and commonly travel to the material plane in order to spend gold that they have earned, or to other planes to use currencies from there. They are not picky about who they partner with, and, for the right price, it is possible to temporarily become a citizen of their country, which means that the same rights and protections offered to korreds are offered to the buyer while in Svartalfheim for a certain time period. Even the fey Queens and demon lords do not attempt to quarrel with the svartalves, knowing that it would end poorly.
Sidhe Sidhe are the lords and ladies of the Courts. They are nearly incapable of existing outside of a fey Court, and to them, death is preferable to banishment from their Court. The sidhe appear as humanoids more graceful and beautiful than any mortal, and they are deeply in tune with magic. Sidhe cast magic as easily and as innately as they breathe. They can easily see through most illusion magic, and are all but immune to being charmed. All sidhe have abilities drawn from their Court, but each one also has unique talents. They love to play tricks on mortals, drawing them with charms or illusions and making deals with enchanted mortals that will give momentary pleasure, but will also give something much more valuable to the sidhe, usually the mortal’s life or free will, which can then be used as a bargaining chip for more power or political standing in their Court. The sidhe are very competitive, and all seek to both serve their Queen to the best of their ability, and to prove themselves worthy of being granted the powers of an archfey.