Faerie

[Fox²]

Faerie

Fey creatures sometimes reside on the Prime, but the vast majority live in and come from the neighboring sister-plane known as Faerie. Faerie exists parallel to and overlapping with the Prime, much like its fellow sister-world the Plane of Shadow. Like that dark realm, Faerie is geographically similar - but not identical - to the Prime.

The Plane of Shadow is an echo of lost and forgotten things--a realm of shades and outlines of fallen kingdoms and failed cultures, stalked by the dead and haunted by the empty remnants of long-forgotten histories. Faerie, by contrast, is a world unspoiled--a vibrant, wildly-living world untouched by the rise of civilization, ruled by the ebb and flow of natural events and cosmic patterns. Colors are brighter, darkness is deeper, and the wilderness goes on forever--uninterrupted by city walls or constructed obstacles. What established metropolises exist are built into the rioting landscape--as part of the environment and in keeping with it, rather than in defiance or opposition to the whims of nature.

This is not to say, by any means, that Faerie is a paradise. It is all things natural in their most uninhibited, and in many cases extreme, states. Animals are wild and untamed; they are often unusually large, primeval, dire, or exceptionally intelligent--if not a combination of all of the above. Plants are no less so--growing to impossible sizes and often possessing the semblance of or true intellect of their own. They are all too ready to protect themselves from predators or despoilers. The land itself is alive and has will and intent and desires of its own; often Faerie is uninterested or even opposed to the wants or needs of the entities living upon or within it. Fires blaze all the hotter, cold winds bite all the sharper, and storms rage all the fiercer. Nights are darker or lit by strange stars and impossible moons that change with the location and seasons in ways the Prime could never naturally mirror.

As well, Faerie is a highly morphic realm. Time and direction are malleable, often different for each individual and changing seemingly at whim. Tales of travelers lost in Faerie will speak of strange things, such as becoming lost despite traveling in a straight line, walking in circles for ages, losing days or even years by sleeping a few hours, or a single night of revelry that seems to last for actual centuries.  These are in many cases just as often accurate representations of occurrences in Faerie as they are wine-fueled exaggerations or magic-clouded recollections. This is all the more evident in realms where a particularly powerful Fey entity - such as one of the rulers of the Courts, a prominent Sidhe, or a potent genius loci - holds sway; such beings can direct the change and warping of realms within their control, often with little more than a thought. Faerie is particularly responsive to such things, and is generally driven more by emotion and instinct than governed by reason and logic. As such, the emotional, empathetic, or ethos-driven nature of a local power will determine the physical and ecological nature of their holding.

With all of that in mind, it is not surprising to learn that unlike the Plane of Shadow, very little of the realm of Faerie has direct physical counterparts in the Material; there are no echoes of specific cities, landmarks, or events from the Prime in Faerie. Rather, places in Faerie are connected to counterparts on the Prime by more tenuous, more metaphorical ties - similarity of evocation of emotions and thoughts, or a mirroring of purpose. For example, a Faerie gate located on the Prime in a miser's vault might lead to a Faerie dungeon or prison given its association with security and concealment, or to a Faerie market given its association with wealth and ownership.

Faerie gates overall are both rare and temporal.  These gateways often open and close on specific dates and times but in variable places, or available in set locations but unpredictable or variable in their time of activity; without the use of magic, ritual, or direct guidance from a fey entity, crossing from the Prime to Faerie or vice versa is more a matter of (un)luck or chance. Faerie gates are likewise almost always concealed, appearing at a glance or from any but the exact precise angle to be just part of the natural landscape. Common guises for such are rings of stones, trees, or mushrooms, hidden caverns and passages behind concealing natural formations like waterfalls or hanging plants, or well-disguised paths in otherwise-open landscape that only activate when the route is followed precisely.

More information on Faerie and Fey can be found here: forums.cormyrdalelands.com/index.php?topic=22284