Court of Blight
The Court of Blight is a domain where the vibrant life of autumn gives way to the creeping grasp of decay and the insidious spread of disease. It is a realm shrouded in shadow and dampness, where the air is thick with the scent of rot and the oppressive weight of inevitability. Here, the golden hues of fall have long since faded, leaving behind a landscape of withering trees, blackened leaves, and stagnant waters. This is a place where life slowly unravels, surrendering to the forces of corruption and decline.
The landscape of the Court of Blight is a twisted reflection of nature’s decay. The trees are ancient and gnarled, their bark cracked and oozing with dark sap. Leaves, once vibrant, now hang limp and diseased, spotted with mold and curling at the edges. The ground is a tangle of roots and brambles, overgrown with poisonous fungi that glow faintly in the dark. Puddles of stagnant water dot the landscape, their surfaces slick with a greasy film, teeming with unseen parasites.
Mist lingers perpetually in the air, carrying with it the faint scent of mildew and rot. The rivers flow sluggishly, thick with silt and decay, their banks eroded by time and disease. Here and there, the remnants of once-thriving flora lie in various states of decomposition, their forms twisted and grotesque, claimed by the blight that defines this realm.
At the heart of this decaying court stands the Eldest Oak, a towering figure that embodies both the rot of decay and the festering nature of disease. His form is that of a withered tree, ancient and cracked, with bark as dark as coal and branches that droop under their own weight. The Eldest Oak is covered in lichen and mold, with tendrils of sickly green moss creeping up his limbs. His eyes, dim and sunken, glow with a pale, sickly light, radiating both wisdom and malice.
The Eldest Oak is more than just a symbol of decay; he is the very source of the disease that spreads through the Court of Blight. His breath carries spores of infection, and his touch brings with it a slow, inevitable decline. He speaks in a voice that creaks like rotting wood, and his words are often laced with venomous truths that can fester in the minds of those who hear them. To the Eldest Oak, decay and disease are not merely ends, but necessary forces that purify and renew the world, no matter how painful the process.
Life in the Court of Blight is marked by a grim acceptance of decay and disease as part of the natural order. The fey who dwell here are those who thrive in the shadow of death, embracing the inevitability of decline. Their gatherings are somber and eerie, filled with rituals that honor the dead and the dying. The music of the court is haunting, played on instruments made from bones and rotting wood, and the dances mimic the slow, agonizing process of decay.
The court’s artisans craft their works from the remnants of life—rotting wood, decayed leaves, and bones—turning them into objects of unsettling beauty. The fey here wear garments spun from cobwebs and tattered moss, and their jewelry is adorned with the dried husks of insects and the skulls of small creatures.
In the Court of Blight, disease is not feared but revered as an agent of change. The fey here often carry the marks of their ruler’s influence—pale skin, darkened veins, and a sickly pallor. They see themselves as the harbingers of a necessary cycle, bringing the decay and disease that clear the way for new growth. To them, the spread of blight is both a duty and a privilege, a reminder that nothing lasts forever, and that in the end, all things must return to the earth.
The Court of Blight is a place where death and disease reign, where the beauty of life’s final stages is celebrated, and where the fey revel in the knowledge that from decay, new life will one day arise.
Demography and Population
The Court of Blight, ruled by the Eldest Oak, is home to fey that embody themes of decay, disease, and the dark side of nature. There are no real settlements, but there are still houses and homes built by autumn eldarin who reside within the realm. The fey beasts that reside in this realm tend to be vermin, carrion eaters, or beasts wracked with pestilence and disease. Corpseblooms, fey who resemble walking, humanoid plants covered in wilting flowers and decaying leaves roam the forests. Festerlings, tiny infectious fey dwell in the wounds of the dying. Spore wisps that resemble spores floating within the miasma draw people to disease and infection. A few of the trees here have plague dryads within them that resemble sickly versions of their sisters and can summon disease-carrying insects.
Laws
- Law of the fallow field. The aid and cultivation of healthy lands are forbidden.
- Law of the sickened heart. Healing is forbidden within the realm.
- Sin of cleansing. No cleansing of object or person may be administered.
Where blight spreads, strength is tested.
Type
Court, Noble
Leader
Government System
Monarchy, Absolute
Parent Organization
Location
Notable Members