The Surreal

A land of vibrant colors and mystical creatures, the Surreal is an echo of the Material Reality. The plane is in eternal twilight, and time flows differently than in the Material Reality. Often the setting of fairy tales and myth, the Surreal is seen by those of the Material Reality as a place of mirth, magic, and mysticism. In actuality, the Surreal is complex and nuanced, with competing factions and moral ambiguity. Inhabitants of the Surreal are known as fey.

Geography

The geography of the Surreal is nonsensical and arbitrary from the perspective of those of the Material Reality. Even practiced woodsmen would quickly lose themselves in the strange and exotic forests, as constants like distance and relative position are flimsy concepts in the Surreal.
Maps – as defined by those from the Material Reality – do not exist, and attempting to make one is an exercise in folly. Instead, written or oral art forms – particularly poems – are used as maps; the directions to a fey elven city may take the form of a short limerick rather than a series of vectors. The contents of the instructions are based on the conditions and characteristics of the destination – an ancient, stoic site might take an entire epic to describe, while a small enclave of pixies may simply require a line or two.

Fey Realms

The Surreal is vast and expansive. It’s easy for anyone – fey or otherwise – to get lost in the endless forests. Due to the abundance of creative energy, the Surreal expands as it is explored, meaning one could wander in a direction for all of time. Pockets of this vast untamed world have been claimed by powerful fey. These areas are called realms, and are governed by either Archfey, Elder Trees, or other entities of similar power. Any creature with a permanent home resides in one of these realms – any attempt to establish one in the wilderness of the Surreal would lose track of their home the moment they left it. The geography of a fey realm is entirely dependent on the Archfey or Elder Tree who established it. A realm may have flora entirely made of glass, or perhaps have trees made of crystals, or soil made of marshmallows. The season may change daily, or be stuck in a perpetual winter. The sun may stay frozen – literally – in the sky, or set in the same hour it rose.
A realm under the sway of an Archfey of the Emerald Court, for example, may be near indistinguishable from the untamed forest of the Surreal. A realm claimed by an Elder Tree with particularly sweet sap may give rise to a realm made entirely of candy, with tree bark made of gingerbread, clouds made of whipped cream and lakes made of cream soda. A realm founded by an ancient, powerful coven of hags may be stuck in eternal midnight, with leafless trees, and filled with the disembodied cawing of crows. Conversely, a realm established by an Archfey of the Lark Court may have mists that intoxicate and disorient anyone who enters it, slippery dirt, and trees that grow pies that drop on unsuspecting traveler’s faces.
To get a change in scenery in the Surreal, one needs a change in perspective. Regions of the Surreal are defined by certain concepts or conditions. For instance, a hag’s lair might not be defined as “south of the Elder Tree”, but as “the realm of sinister shadow”. Such a place would only be accessible by creatures that hold some sort of malice in their hearts (or creatures that have successfully tricked the hag or anything else that lives there into thinking that they do), and even then, only by walking through a particularly dense patch of shadow. Many creatures could lay claim to a “realm of sinister shadow”, each with their own unique definition. A faded lord, for instance, could define his realm by the use of physically dangerous shadow magic. Traversing these different realms is second nature to fey, however to those unfamiliar with the plane, it’s nothing more than a guessing game. Obtaining the name of a realm can be an ordeal in of itself, requiring one to subject themselves to arbitrary and sometimes seemingly impossible tasks from other fey just to find out how to arrive at their intended destination, only to be given an answer more cryptic than the name itself.

Storybook Scenery

The locales of the Surreal are bizarre to the extreme. Even the most mundane locations teem with life, and everything has some semblance of sentience – even a single blade of grass, or a tiny pebble. A frustrated traveler who curses a particular patch of jungle may find their backpack hanging from the tallest tree when they wake – if not themselves. The vast majority of the Surreal are jungles and forests, but only in the broadest sense. Lakes made of magical liquids that are just as likely to heal as they are to poison travelers, giant hedge mazes that shift around constantly, shrubs in the shape of animals, and other such fantastical areas are commonplace.
Far beneath the surface of the Surreal is a land known as the Gloom. There, sinister and malicious creatures such as fomorians, faded, hags, and other terrible creatures make their home there. Their dispositions largely range from selfish to spiteful, and one would sooner find a demon philanthropist than a kind native to the Gloom. Like the Dim of the Material Reality, there are areas with reduced gravity and occasional pillars of light coming from the Surreal’s core. Like the surface, areas of the Gloom are defined by concepts rather than physical location.

Fey Crossings

In places where the border between the Surreal and the Material Reality grow thin, there may be a fey crossing. Fey crossings are almost always temporary, and usually the result of the Surreal shifting in accordance to a change in the Material Reality. Though exceedingly rare, permanent fey crossings exist, but even those are only operable under the right conditions. What those conditions are vary from crossing to crossing, however each portal is only open during dawn or dusk. The appearances of fey crossings are often innocuous – a perfectly circular patch of flowers, a small tunnel that crosses underneath an ancient tree, or the exact center of a lake that was once home to an undine.
Due to the protective energies surrounding the Material Reality, returning from the Surreal is even harder than reaching it. Many crossings are one way, and the only truly reliable way to travel between the planes is through powerful magic such as the Reality Jump spell.

An Everlasting Land

Most creatures in the Surreal have extremely long life-spans compared to the Material Reality, with even insects living for decades (if they can survive that long). The extreme lifespans lead to generally lower birth rates across species. Where a sow would have a litter of up to 8 piglets, a fey-sow would perhaps only have one or two, but engage in the reproductive cycle for far longer than its Material counterpart.

Type

Dimensional plane

Included Locations

• Fallen Shadows

Inhabiting Species

• Faded
• Feykind