The Faewyld
The birthplace of all of Edrazion' fae, the Faewyld is a world fueled by wild, magical energy drawn from the emotions of its inhabitants - the fey and their courts, both Seelie and Unseelie. The Faewyld, along with the Fell of Shadows, are mirrored energy planes of the prime material. Because of this connection to the Material Plane, the Faewyld has similar topography and geography to the mortal world, though exact locations are constantly shifting and are therefore impossible to plot.
The Faewyld is a place of unrestrained and awe-inspiring natural beauty. The realm is always bathed in twilight of the setting (or perhaps rising) sun, with lanterns and fireflies providing additional, haunting lights. Visitors to the realm find that that all sensations, both sensory and emotional, are heightened. Smells are stronger, colors are more vivid, and sounds are clearer, but at the same time shadows are darker and impulses are harder to control. Strong emotions are even able to alter the landscape of the Faewyld itself, wilting flowers trail the despondent or furious and carefree animals travel alongside chipper and cheerful.
As an "echo" of Edrazion, its geography is similar, although not entirely identical, to that of the material plane. That being said, the natural landscape is markedly more dramatic and beautiful in the Faewyld, with mountains standing straighter and sharper, rivers flowing clearer and faster, flowers bloom brighter and more fragrantly, and weather manifesting in supernatural ways. While most Edrazion locations and landmarks have analogues in the Faewyld, sites of civilization could be so unimportant in the essence of the Faewyld as to be easily missed, while natural landmarks might be significantly more majestic or extreme. Navigating the realm is further complicated by the fact that distances do not always make sense. While two landmarks might be the same distance apart as in Edrazion when travelling in one direction, they might be inexplicably further or closer on the return trip.
Further complicating any visit to the Faewyld is that time does not flow the same in this realm as it does on Edrazion. While any visitor will experience time flowing as normal, it is often the case that more time is passing in Edrazion, sometimes on the order of weeks, months, or years longer than expected. It is also possible for little or no time to have passed instead. More concerning, leaving the Faewyld can sometimes have dire consequences. Lost time can suddenly "catch up" to a mortal, sending them into fits of exhaustion or hunger, or even killing them instantly if many years have passed. At the same time, those with no fey ancestry might find their memories of time spent in the Faewyld going hazy, if not vanishing altogether.
The Seelie Court
People tend to think of fey as lovely creatures of almost unearthly beauty and grace. This image epitomizes the fey of the Seelie Court within the Faewyld. Many artists and bards, both fey and other, have striven to capture the beauty of the Seelie Court. Most have gone mad; none have truly succeeded. Pure manifestations of nature and beauty, the members of the Seelie Court view themselves as the pinnacle of perfection. This elitist attitude restricts status in the court to only pure-blood fey. A court fey can trace his or her lineage back several millennia, showing nothing but true fey (no flaws of blood or breeding). Fey high society and the fey realms contain the only creatures whose opinions matter. Politics thrive in this elitist environment. Seelie fey form cliques and factionalize amongst themselves. In the endlessly politicking and gossiping world of the Seelie Court, status can be won by hosting guests (willing or unwilling) or attracting followers with great skill in a craft or performance art. Seelie Court fey occasionally tolerate the company of beautiful or gifted creatures, preferring those of fey, elven, or celestial blood. These "court friends" may provide companionship and amusements, but only those with pure lineage may hold positions of importance. Admittance to the Seelie Court for outsiders is extremely rare, even more so if the outsiders are not of pure fey blood. Upon entrance to the court, visitors must be prepared with valuable and unusual gifts for the Queen of Light, or they might find themselves lost in an endless hedge maze. Suitable gifts for the Queen include figurines of wondrous power, gems of brightness, and magical jewelry. The physical appearance of the Seelie Court mirrors nature, to which the fey are intrinsically linked. White ash trees, strong and stately, with their branches intertwining to create a living ceiling, line the throne hall like marble columns. Gossamer streamers of iridescent blues, pinks and purples wind their way through the boughs. Phosphorescent flowers gleam like lanterns amidst the treetops. Semi-precious jewels of amethysts, tiger's eyes and topaz decorate flowers that float down the waterways lining the path to the throne. Statues carved of gold and adorned with gems further attest to the wealth and beauty of the current ruler, as each queen must display more splendor than the previous one or risk the gossip and scorn of her subjects. The current ruler of the Seelie Court is Tiandra, the Summer Queen, who is one of the mightiest of the archfey. With a smile, she can ripen a crop, and with a frown, summon wildfires. Noble elves, infused with the spirit of summer, count themselves as her barons. Other spirits of growth and good favor follow her banner. Her court and its followers are known as the Summer Fey. Tiandra appears as an elf of great beauty, with honey-colored skin and hair that shimmers through all the colors of autumn leaves. Her eyes shine golden, like the sun. Her gaze alone can drive people mad. Her court is a reflection of her unearthly beauty, and the court can appear frivolous. Fairies flit at her side. Every inch of her throne room is decorated with flowers, fountains, and fine silks. This vivid and rich sensual imagery is all merely a distraction from her fierce intelligence. Tiandra is a master strategist, both in Court intrigues and on the battlefield. She also possesses an odd, dry sense of humor and a surprising streak of pragmatism. Tiandra has an amused fondness for mortals. She craves the unpredictability and urgency instilled by their brief life span. She commands performances by mortal playwrights and commissions poems from poets who strike her fancy. She even goes so far as to take the occasional mortal lover. These relationships have tempered in her the disdain most archfey carry for mortals. She is nominally less fickle in her dealings with mortals than most other powerful fey. She has even been known to grant favors to those who serve her well. The Seelie Court fey find The Unseelie Court fey absolutely repellent.The Unseelie Court
The fey lords of the Faewyld who choose the path of winter—of deadly cold, biting ice, and blinding snow—are known as the Winter Fey. Their leader, the Queen of Air and Darkness is the most powerful and ruthless of the lot. Her consort is the Prince of Frost and together they rule over their faction known as the Winter Court, or The Unseelie Court. Unlike the selective, restrictive Seelie Court, the Unseelie Court welcomes anyone and everything with even a drop of ancestral fey blood. Fey can and do breed with anything, creating odd, mixed creatures. Most species consider the offspring grotesque monsters. The mutant creatures gravitate towards the Unseelie Court, which welcomes them and gives them an environment where peculiar physiologies and abilities are the norm. The Unseelie Court is a more hospitable place for non-fey as well. Court nobles eagerly provide patronage for creatures who are extremely strong, dexterous, clever, beautiful, or talented. Obtaining the sponsorship of a court noble is not without its rewards, nor without its dangers. For instance, a gifted bard whose playing impresses a fey nobleman might be invited to his castle as a guest. Once there, the bard will be feted and asked to play every night -- and never be permitted to leave. Ruling over all these oddities is the Queen of Air and Darkness: a fey of unsurpassed beauty and grace, along with her consort, the Prince of Frost. The Queen of Air and Darkness has no surviving children currently, and so the court is rife with gossip and political maneuvering as each noble curries the queen's favor in the hopes of being named the royal heir. The Queen of Air and Darkness is an icon of magic (especially illusions), darkness, and murder. Her long-lost true name is never spoken among the fey. Her unholy symbol is a black diamond. The Queen of Air and Darkness is a bodiless, invisible being, but she can be perceived magically as a faerie with pale, angular features, blood-black eyes, and a mane of black hair. She is beautiful, but hers is a terrible, eldritch beauty that chills the bone. The Queen is cold and utterly emotionless. The Queen of Air and Darkness is the sister of Tiandra, once a princess and heir to the Seelie Court. The evil Queen, her once bright spirit corrupted and dead, now hates and opposes Tiandra's Seelie Court and everything they stand for. Her court is filled with evil, twisted fey, elves, and undead. Hell hounds and yeth hounds slaver at her insubstantial feet. The Queen of Air and Darkness is served by unseelie sprites, quicklings, evil elves, and bramble faeries, among others. Outsiders not of fey blood are rarely admitted to the Unseelie Court. Visitors must be prepared with unusual and powerful gifts for the Queen, or they might find themselves the quarry of a nightmarish hunt. Suitable gifts for the Queen include figurines of horrific power, gems of darkness, and cursed jewelry. After a millennia of indiscriminate breeding, the physical appearance of the Unseelie Court mirrors the macabre. Twisted columns, trees forced into unnatural growth by royal gardeners, are scattered haphazardly through the hall. Curtains of shadows hide blood-soaked alcoves. Drawn back for times of celebration, the gaping crevasses reveal uninvited guests captured for the amusement of the court. Riotous blooms of nightshades and blood warts glow red in the evening, providing a maddening light to the misshapen court.
Type
Plane of Existence
Location under
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