Flying Broom

Flying brooms are not a particularly rare means of travel. They're enchanted, which means not everyone has easy access to them, but in the Feywild they're almost mundane. They're also often associated with witches. A flying broom can start as any sort of broom which must be enchanted to be able to fly. Some look just like ordinary brooms - and might even be used as one as well - while others are a loot more intricate, crafted specifically to be a flying vehicle. The wood will be craved with beautiful filigrees, arcane runes, or even sculpted to add handles for support, or perhaps a saddle. While the typical broom's end would be made with shrubs, or branches, or other variations of plants, some magical brooms have long hairs instead, like fur, maybe even feathers to look like wings, or have certain materials which emit dim light magically sculpted to look like a traditional broom, or a spell to make the end look like perpetual flames. The imagination of the crafter is the only limit to what a flying broom might look like, and the Fey are known to be quite extravagant. The broom comes to life when a specific word is spoken near it, and then it will hover besides the person who uttered it. Often this command word is known only to the owner of the broom and those close to them, or anyone could steal it and claim it as their own. A flying broom can carry up to 400 pounds / 180 kilograms, although it will slow down considerably if carrying more than half that. It's usually a one person vehicle given their shape and these limitations, but two can fly on a single broom if they're careful enough. As part of its enchantment, one can say the broom's command word, and the name of a nearby location, and the broom will travel there by itself. This is one of the circumstances where saddlebags made for flying brooms are quite useful, if you merely want to deliver something quickly and not go there yourself. Say that command word again, and the broom will return to its owner. These brooms are often associated with witches, in and out of the Feywild. Nicnevin, the Archfey who proclaimed herself the Queen of the Witches, and her personal coven are often seen flying on their brooms, their familiars either perched on them as well, or flying along with them. That is not the only coven that exists in the Feywild, though, and these brooms are a common means of travel among those who call themselves witches. Tradition is important here in the Wilds. Curiously, young Fey who would like other people to think they're witches, or dream of one day becoming one, or would like to assume the aesthetic without the actual practice, often buy flying brooms as well. Those tend to be the more fanciful brooms - witches are more practical, they like their brooms to be useful in all sorts of circumstances, whether to fly or clean. There are always exceptions, of course, and some witches will have gorgeously exaggerated brooms, and non-witches will have a quite ordinary looking one. And sometimes some lucky adventurers will come upon an abandoned broom and take it for themselves, with no relation whatsoever to witchcraft. But that idea of seeing someone's silhouette cut against the sky, flying on a broom, will always be associated with witches.