me - |Terrynon |Half-Elf |Bard |Courtier Andrew |Princess Akarra Amastacia |High Elf |Cleric (Light Domain) |Noble Hannah |Surina |Dragonborn |Barbarian |Outlander Jeff |Seth |Human |Warlock (Old Ones) |Sage (Astrologer) Korey |Vayra |Halfling |Monk (Shadow) |??? Paul |Badger |Gnome |Cleric (Knowledge Domain) |Archeologist Jenna |Yesheira |Human |Rogue |Urchin Jerad |Verin |Half-Drow |Wizard (Abjurer?) |Haunted One Notable NPCs Family Mother's Side Mother (37) - Grace Stanis Step Father (38) - Sir Sergi Stanis 1/2 Brother (9) - Torrin Stanis 1/2 Sister (7) - Myriam Stanis 1/2 Sister (6) - Kara Stanis 1/2 Brother (3) - Grigor Stanis Grandfather (72) - Lord Hustus, Count of Riverbend Grandmother (67) - Lady Betine, Countess of Riverbend Uncle (48) - Lord Bertrand, Viscount of Riverbend Uncle (45) - Sir Montaine, Knight of the Realm Aunt (42) - Lady Abinath, Countess of Some Other Place Aunt (40) - Dame Stephanie Mintner, wife of Sir Coreli of Mintner Father's Side Father - Theren Amaquelenir (Beautiful Flower) - Eladrin/Fey, child of Verenestra, with Violet Eyes and honey blonde hair Court Friends Her Royal Highness, SOMENAME, Princess of the Kingdom Several of her ladies-in-waiting Enemies Sir Reginald Marqheim - Son of Lord Mettis, Count of Marqheim - Member of the King's Guard Neutrals Lord Mettis, Count of Marqheim - Enjoys that Terrynon bested his hot-headed, ambitious son, doesn't care about what Terrynon did to earn the duel, believes he owes Terrynon for saving the life of his son, but at the same time has to back his son due to family obligations. Coat of Arms: Lyre (peace, harmony, wisdom, and unity), Lavender (serenity, grace, elegance, and refinement), and Lily (love, devotion, purity, and fertility) Terrynnon Half-Elven (Feyblood) Bard (Lore) * / Druid 1 / Cleric (Life) 1 Race - Half Elf Ability Score Increase: Your Charisma score increases by 2, and two other ability scores of your choice increase by 1. Age: Half-elves mature at the same rate humans do and reach adulthood around the age of 20. They live much longer than humans, however, often exceeding 180 years. Alignment: Half-elves share the chaotic bent of their elven heritage. They value both personal freedom and creative expression, demonstrating neither love of leaders nor desire for followers. They chafe at rules, resent others' demands, and sometimes prove unreliable, or at least unpredictable. Size: Half-elves are about the same size as humans, ranging from 5 to 6 feet tall. Your size is Medium. 5'10, 155lbs. Speed: Your base walking speed is 30 feet. Darkvision: Thanks to your elf blood, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can't discern color in darkness, only shades of gray. Fey Ancestry: You have advantage on saving throws against being charmed, and magic can't put you to sleep. Skill Versatility: You gain proficiency in two skills of your choice. Perception, Deception Languages: You can speak, read, and write Common, Elvish, and one extra language of your choice. Sylvan Class - Bard Proficiencies Armor: Light armor Weapons: Simple weapons, hand crossbows, longswords, rapiers, shortswords Tools: Three musical instruments of your choice Flute, Lute, Lyre Saving Throws: Dexterity, Charisma Skills: Choose any three Arcana, Performance, Religion Equipment: - a rapier - a dagger - a diplomat's pack chest 2 cases for maps and scrolls a set of fine clothes a bottle of ink an ink pen a lamp 2 flasks of oil 5 sheets of paper a vial of perfume sealing wax soap - a lute - leather armor Background - Courtier (Courtesan) In your earlier days, you were a personage of some significance in a noble court. You might or might not come from an upper-class family; your talents, rather than the circumstances of your birth, could have secured you this position. You might have been one of the many functionaries, attendants, and other hangers-on in the Court of Silverymoon, or perhaps you traveled in Waterdeep's baroque and sometimes cutthroat conglomeration of guilds, nobles, adventurers, and secret societies. You might have been one of the behind-the-scenes law-keepers or functionaries in Baldur's Gate or Neverwinter, or you might have grown up in and around the castle of Daggerford. Even if you are no longer a full-fledged member of the group that gave you your start in life, your relationships with your former fellows can be an advantage for you and your adventuring comrades. You might undertake missions with your new companions that further the interest of the organization that gave you your start in life. In any event, the abilities that you honed while serving as a courtier will stand you in good stead as an adventurer. Skill Proficiencies: Insight, Persuasion Languages: Two of your choice Draconic, Dwarvish Equipment: - a set of fine clothes - a pouch 5 gp Feature: Welcome Company - People pay well for fine company, so you seldom have trouble finding a roof to sleep under. Even if your hosts do not fully avail themselves of your services, you know how to engage the imagination and entertain the spirit. While relaxed, people often let information slip that they shouldn't. You can use your wiles to learn local rumors and secrets. This information tends to be unfocused and learning specific details is more challenging. You are also able to identify local harlots, who are typically willing to support fellow members of their profession. They are also able to share information they have pried from their clients and loan you mundane goods and other simple equipment. CHARACTERISTICS Personality Traits - I am a diplomat by nature. My eloquence makes everyone I talk to feel like the most wonderful and important person in the world. I always want to know how things work and what makes people tick. Ideal - Independence. My body and spirit are my own, no matter what anyone else may say about me. Bond - I've been searching my whole life for the answer to a certain question. Flaw - If someone has some kind of debt over me, I feel obligated to fulfill that debt... no matter what. From Xanathar's Guide: Defining Work: What has come to be known as "The Apocryphal Orchestration of Lady Caroline's Clamorous (Amorous) Cacophony - Acapella" Instrument: An Elf-crafted, mithral longhorn (tenor) (a gift claimed to be from his father's people) Embarrassment: The apocryphal orchestration of Lady Caroline Muse: Life - in the sense of the Joy of Life in all its facets... butterflies, beauty, flow, love, flowers, sex, fertility, family, a good meal, a good wine, water, earth, sun, moon, cycles, song, dance, music, a kiss Skills Arcana, Deception, Insight, Investigation, Perception, Performance, Persuasion Language Common, Dwarvish, Elvish, Halfling, Orc Background Terrynon's father posed as a page of a diplomatic envoy from the elven kingdom. He claimed to be the son of an elven princess on his first journey out of the Realms, learning how the world of men works. His mother was the third daughter of a human knight. She was one of the princess' handmaidens at court, and because of the low nature of her noble birth and her arguably servile status, the dalliance that produced Terrynon was not an outrageous scandal. What sort of noble is the bastard son of a minor elven noble and a minor human noble? Not much of one, apparently. With no legitimate claim to any lineage or power, with no formal rights to possession or accession, and no protector of any authority, such a person would not be secure playing by the rules. So Terrynon was brought up only marginally noble. As he grew up in the human court, one thing became clear, Terrynon was a charming rapscallion. His bright violet eyes and genuine smile disarmed many who tried to punish him for the trouble he got into. But when you're not officially recognized by the structure of the society in which you grow up, you either don't have a place, you make one of your own, or you find a sort of place into which you can insert yourself, like the weed in the yard you are. Terrynon was a charming, charming weed. As he grew, his elven capriciousness became tempered within the courtly world of gossip and intrigues. Very early on, he learned about, and became fascinated by, the layers within layers of social interactions... about how almost everyone wanted the same things, but that society had rules that tended to thwart the expression of all the things that everyone wanted... making the desire for those things even greater. His mother, because of her station at court, needed to be more adept than most at "playing the game" as she called it, and she was a master. Her own capricious nature is what got her involved with Terrynon's father in the first place, and the power of her spirit and skill at the game are what led to him being brought into this world at all. When he was 11, his mother was married off to a knight, left her lady's service, and moved away from court. Terrynon remained behind for any number of reasons that all boiled down to the fact that his step father didn't want the mongrel, half-breed bastard to live with them... it was much more complex than that as things at court usually are, but it was also just that simple. He was raised around the princess' ladies-in-waiting, and they taught him intrigue and dance and storytelling and the basics of charm, gallantry, and the sexes. When he was a teen, one of the things they taught him was that men needed to be practiced with a blade because the defense of honor sometimes called for it when talk and charm were thwarted. Fortunately, he was charming enough to get the king's fencing master to allow him to study. His natural grace lent itself to the finer blades, the gentlemanly blades of rapier and foil rather than the knightlier blades like the longsword, axe, or greatsword. His smile gets him out of most of the trouble his smile gets him into. I look very elven, so much like my father. What did I get from my mother? A heart... and... appetites. Level 2 As the group of travelers passed the night in the cave, Terrynon Half-Elven dreamed many dreams about what had just happened, dreams of fighting and wolves and goblins and heroics... and he dreamed about his feeling of debt to Master Dungren the Dwarf, who helped him get clear of the castle after his ill-fated duel with Sir Reginald. In one of the dreams a beautiful cloud of women, or a woman, billowed in golden glory toward him. The cloud, the woman spoke to Terrynon in song... "Know that I am (echoing we are...) Angharradh (echoing Aerdrie Faenya(...Akadi)... Hanali Celanil(...Sune)...Sehanine Moonbow(...Selûne), the three-who-are-one, and I (echoing we... us) am proud of what you are becoming. We could not reach you directly in the stone halls of men's works, but now that you have tasted nature and your lungs fill with our spiced air... know that you are loved and favored, and we (echoing I...) want you to drink in the joys of life. You are doing so well. Spread joy, drink in life in all its glory, share our bounty with the world, be our hero. Receive and share the Kiss of Life, hero." And Terrynon awoke at the morning, knowing he'd been god-touched. Everything around him seemed so *clear* and so *alive*. He felt... extraordinary. Terrynon awoke as if from a dream. Level 3 Terrynon knew he was dreaming. Everything around him was a purple haze, and he could not sense a direction, though he knew he was walking. "Ah young one, you champion us well," he heard a voice say, "but know that the Fey can be fickle creatures, our nature mysteriously capricious, and we don't take kindly to our heroes thinking too highly of themselves. Know you that I am Aerdrie Faenya, primordial goddess of winds and birds and flights of fancy, and you have no idea how deeply we feel the world, but if you think you know what power it holds, young sprout, have a taste." An elven goddess stood in front of him, her hair and clothing made of feathers. She was beautiful, and he was stunned. "Breathe a little of the Feywild into you and see what mischief that makes." She kissed him then, a fey kiss... both motherly and decidedly not so. He could not help but close his eyes in savoring that kiss, and when he opened them, the violet fog was receding and they were together in a green, wooded clearing. "You are kinain or you are kithain," she said in a detached manner. "There is some disagreement." The trees rattled and prattled on, and Aerdrie raised a lilting hand to bring silence. "Some believe you fey-blooded, and it's time to have a ceremony." The bushes and the trees erupted with echoes of "Kinain!" and "Ceremony!" and "Test!" and other things in a magical tongue that Terrynon didn't quite catch. Suddenly, there were all manner of sprites and bogards and pixies and knockers and fauns and pucks and sylphs in attendance. "Step back into the circle, youngling," she said as she advanced on him. Her authority alone caused him to give a few steps backward, and he found himself standing in the middle of a ring of mushrooms, a faerie circle. The bushes vibrated with glee that he'd done such a thing, but Terrynon couldn't understand what they were on about. His hostess drew a honeycomb from somewhere and presented it to him. Bees were still tending the comb, walking and dancing about its six-sided cells. But the bees were unlike anything Terrynon had ever seen. Their colors were iridescent in greens and blues and pinks and violets as they buzzed about, flying hither and thither. "Honey on the tongue, for such a honey-tongued charmer. A blessing perhaps." The fey moved the honeycomb toward his mouth, and he heard a faerie laugh, "Mortals beware a tasting of fey foods..." It was quickly hushed by others who also giggled. This caused Terrynon to pause. "You would rebuke my gift?" the fey goddess said, and the world became a cooler place, the lights fell and the temperature dipped with her mood, so powerful was she. Then she relented with a smile and the brightness in all things returned. "Perhaps it's a bit of wisdom you possess. For know that this is indeed a test, though a pleasant enough one. If you pass the test, you show us love and all is goodly and well." "And if I fail?" Terrynon asked more curious than anything. "Then mortal you be, like your mother, and heed well the sprite's warning of mortals who sup at a fey table set." Not really knowing what to do in this dream-that-was-not-a-dream, Terrynon chose to do what he'd always done, leap head-long into experience trusting that things would work out, and the folly of it be damned! He smiled at the goddess, seeming braver than he felt, opened his mouth, put his tongue out expectantly, and prepared to receive the honeycomb. Tension in the clearing swelled as all assembled watched. A single drop of the iridescent honey fell from the comb toward Terrynon's tongue, but the honey trapped one of its caretaker bees in its rush to fall. The bee became furious that it was falling. It beat its wings and began to glow brightly with the indignity of what it was experiencing, ready to sting whatever or whomever it encountered next. There was a single, sharp intake of breath from everyone, as the bee buzzed out its intention as the honey drop fell in excruciatingly slow motion toward Terrynon's incredibly vulnerable, and now doomed, tongue. Just as honey drop and stinger-filled bee were about to land, the bee shook itself free and flew off, leaving only the fey honey to strike Terrynon's eager tongue. He tasted its blissful sweetness, unlike anything he'd ever had in his life. The flavor reverberated through him, a quaking motion of joyous consumption... And the fey began to laugh. The clearing slowly erupted into a cacophony of chanting and jeering. Terrynon looked around to see what everyone was so excited about, and in that looking around motion, he began to understand what the commotion was about. He spun his head, and the world seemed to blur and slide away from his vision. The fey honey had worked some enchantment on him and he was overcome with a dizzying, nauseating, disorienting assault of sensations that pounded through his very being! It was most like the body's attempt to disgorge a poison. He could feel its effects causing him to retch and twist and contort all the while the hideous laughter grew louder and more intense. More than once, Terrynon felt his body come completely apart as streams of color... greens and yellows and violets came surging out his mouth... his ears, his hands and fingers... Greens turned into leaves and branches and vines, other colors became flowers and butterflies... spewing from him in a never-ending vomitous orgy of glorious excess. He could hear the creatures talking, but what they were saying he could make no sense of, so bewildered was he by his experience. Some of them seemed to be encouraging him, some taunting, some imitating. Terrynon felt his strength waning. His person, his sense of person, of self, was weakening. Rather than dying, he felt more as if he were melting out into the... stuff... that was coming from him. He could not breathe. He could not open his eyes yet he could not shield his sight from the cacophony as he retched. He knew he made a noise that signaled an ending to him and he sensed that he collapsed onto something like a ground. And there was a silence. In the silence there came a... clomping... a clomp clomp clomping as something drew near... if near were really a thing. The collapsed thing that used to be Terrynon witnessed a winged angel walking on hooves enter the glade. He knew, somehow, that this was Eachthighern, fey god of unicorns. The winged unicorn used its muzzle to nudge a berry toward him, urging him to eat it in its horsey way. Though he was loathe to bring anything near his mouth, he felt the insistence of Eachthighern, and he bit into the juicy fruit. Instantly but slowly his stomach was righted and his dizziness subsided. He took bite after bite in quick succession, devouring the horse god's gift. And the world once again came into view. It was still fantastical and multi-specular, but it was no longer sickening. The fey godling of horses nuzzled him a greeting and a farewell and pranced off through the glade. It was the most beautiful place he'd ever seen. If he were to have a true home anywhere, it would be a place like this... peaceful, playful, and pretty. "This glade is 'Qinmoira,'" his utterly bewildered thoughts were interrupted by a voice he heard that seemed to come from nowhere and everywhere at once. "All that you see reflects what you've made, what was made of you." None of this made any sense to the gut-wrenched adventurer. The triune fey goddess, Angharradh, stood before him. He discovered this only when he realized that he'd been staring at her feet for some unknown amount of time watching her toes shifting slightly as she stood there. "Mighty Eachthighern judges you kith, and we agree." The sprites and pixies danced in the air in celebration of the fey-blooded kithain who was Terrynon's apparent victory during his trial. "I feel terrible..." was all he managed to say before he passed out and his dream faded to black. When he awoke in the morning, in truth it was midday, in the room he shared at the Stonewall Inn, flowers and plants and smells were everywhere in his room. The buzzing of a bee sounded through the place as Terrynon found his feet and wondered at the magic that had done this to his room... He slowly got himself dressed for the day in his courtly finery, and he noticed as he put on the trappings of Terrynon, the Courtier, the room's magic folded in on itself, and as he picked up his lyre, completing his transformation, the room had become mundane again... only the sound of the bee buzzing against the window bore witness to what had happened. Terrynon opened the window and let the bee fly out into the world. Level 4 Terrynon again dreamed of his wooded glade in the Feywild, Qinmoira. He found himself sitting pleasantly at the center of the place, playing his elven longhorn as nixies danced in the stream that rolled lazily through the clearing while a nymph and a dryad had a quiet, flirtatious conversation where the nymph's water passed by the dryad's oak. They looked at the young courtier and giggled. He smiled back at them and his mirth transmitted through his music into the world around them all. "I am really speaking to this animal?" Terrynon felt that this was the strangest, yet most right, thing that'd happened to him in his small bit of paradise. He was carrying on a philosophical debate with was appeared to be an iridescent, psychedelic squirrel. "Of course! You are the master of this place and all its denizens, are you not?" answered another of the squirrel-like creatures. "Are not the plants and all living things yours to command?" "They are indeed," Terrynon answered, gesturing with a precise-but-lazy-seeming hand and causing a nearby plant to bear a batch of blumbries. He picked one and tasted its deliciousness, then picked another and tossed it to the rainbow squirrel, "For your astuteness and honor." His dream world was amazing, and it continued. "You already see the Weave in all things when you call the Sight," the nymph said as they swam. "Here," she added, taking a pearl from her navel, "put it in your mouth, milord." Terrynon did as his nymph bid him. "Taste it and rub it against tooth and tongue." He did so. The pearl's texture felt strange against his teeth, and he felt magic unwind around him a little. "Now, keep it in your mouth and, with the pearl in front..." she got a mischievous smirk on her face, "kiss Trina's tree." Trina, the dryad, feigned being scandalized and giggled as he climbed naked from the waters and stroked the pearl and his lips against a knot in her oak tree. All his senses were assaulted by thousands of magical threads of the Weave like lightning or a thousand ants crawling all through him! When the embrace finally broke, Terrynon fell exhausted to the ground. It was, thus far, the most intense experience he'd ever had. He blinked his eyes open to see Trina and Faril, the nymph, staring back at him, their quizzical expressions giving way to satisfaction and joy as they welcomed him back from his magical journey. "I... I know your your Name," he addressed Trina, and she looked both humbled and exposed at his statement. "Of course, milord. Such is the power of the Fey's ability to Read the Weave." She kissed him then, a knowing taste of what was to come. ... "And this?" a grizzle-face, old-seeming puck was quizzing Terrynon, showing him a plant picked from the somewhere in the glade. Terrynon smiled and answered, noting the common and magical properties of the specimen. "Correct again, my young lordling," the puck said with a grin. "Your knowledge is growing commensurate with your powers. You command all the creatures in this part of the Feywild, and your holdings are maturing quickly." "Thank you, Master Tamberlane," the part-fey answered the puck as he nestled into the bosom of Trina, who was in turn nestled into the root-spread of her oak. Trina braided Terrynon's honey-gold hair. Terrynon felt such bliss he could stay asleep contented and never awaken if such dreams were his reward. His dreams had taken him to this realm, part of the fey lands it seemed, and he had always come back to the real world rested and enthused for the life he had. The dreams seemed so real, and the work he did in them definitely stayed with him while awake. "I love your hair, milord," Trina mused, giggling as she reached down to gather loose strands to complete her work. "It's easily as soft as your father's." Terrynon launched awake, eyes wide, no longer in the Feywild, no longer in his dream. He heard a seductively feminine chuckle fade on the wind. Level 5 Terrynon plummeted through the portal and traveled worlds. As with everything that has happened since his duel-at-dawn with Sir Reginald, it didn't go smoothly. He lost consciousness and suddenly found himself in his Feywild, dream realm. His shaded glen with its stream flowing through it soothed the anxiety he'd been feeling as they had run both for their lives and after the dark-elven mastermind that had been plaguing the region. But none of that mattered here... "I had always been told that my father was an elf," Terrynon mused, his head resting in the lap of Trina, the dryad. "He could easily, with not much glamour, be mistaken for an elf prince by those who are only passing familiar with the fey. Do you know what he was called in the human king's court, milord?" He noticed her smile then. He could lose himself in that smile, he thought, lose himself for quite a while. She looked as if she were having a fond memory. He also noticed that she asked what he was called, not what his name was. This was a thing he'd come to appreciate now that, in this dream realm, he'd learned both that he himself had a Fey, True Name, and what it was. "He was known to my mother as 'Theren Amaquelenir,'" Terrynon answered before correcting himself. "You in the glade!" A shout disrupted the pleasantry as the dryad tensed and various inhabitants of Terrynon's dream-home in the Feywild scattered for safety. "I am called Furneyahah!" the shouting continued, "and I have come to end this intrusion into Skerrit's realm by the unworthy half-breed kinain interloper." It had never occurred to Terrynon that his fey home had been created on land claimed by another. He had figured that since this place came about due to a ceremony by a goddess there wouldn't be any problems. As the young part-fey was pondering these and other notions about the realm for the first time, he heard a screeching just outside the glade. Tamberlane was yelling, "You savage! You ingrate! You, you you beast! The Triune goddess herself blessed this place with her presence and the Lord of Unicorns hisself judged the young lordling kith! This is a favored childe of the Spring and Summer Courts! How dare you say otherwise!" As Terrynon approached the edge of his glade, he saw the old puck red-faced and trembling with indignation. "Hold your ire, Master Tamberlane," he said in a calm, even jovial tone. Before them stood the first centaur Terrynon had ever seen. It was not what he was expecting given the fables he'd heard as a child. Instead of a humanoid torso atop the body of a horse, this was a complete creature, a fey creature to be sure, but it was not a mashup of two things. This centaur, Furneyahah, he corrected himself, looked massively powerful with broad shoulders and massive haunches. This was a creature built for moving and fighting. He carried a lance, and a bow strung over his shoulder, but wore no armor. "Skerrit challenges the claim of this mongrel, and I'm sent to dispatch it." "I know the form, Furneyahah," Terrynon said, "Nothing is but defending it makes it so." "I thought I'd never be ready for a day like today, but things have happened in the mortal world recently that tell me this is completely appropriate. I am ready for your challenge, champion of Skerrit. Know that if you defeat me, well, you can do with me as you will." "I will trample your bloody carcass into the dust of the plains until nothing but a pulpy mess remains. And then I will shit on the mess." "Fair enough," Terrynon said, "but should some miracle happen and I prevail, I want your Name." The centaur's eyes narrowed. It seemed that he'd never considered losing before, nor its cost. He pondered for a moment before steeling himself to his cause. "I accept. You will lose." Then Terrynon winked at Tamberlane and continued, "Be that as it may, if we must fight, let's at least not do so on an empty stomach. I'm sure you've traveled far to get here, and I'd hate to compete with you when you're not at your best." The centaur thought, for he was indeed famished from his travels, but expecting treachery from Skerrit's foe, Furneyahah warned, "I would not sup at your table without assurances." "I know the forms, Furneyahah," Terrynon repeated, with a mock-assuring tone. Then he spoke more formally, "I offer you sustenance freely, with no obligation to me or any of mine. It is a gift with no expectation of payment." The young fey-blood bowed slightly, "Does that satisfy you? I truly intend no harm on you." Indeed, it did satisfy the centaur. They all shared a feast of a meal with Terrynon singing and playing, the various fey beings dancing and cavorting, and Furneyahah regaling all with tales of centaur honor and prowess, and laments about exactly what he would soon be doing to the young object of Skerrit's ire. "Oh I have no doubt," Terrynon said after being told about his soon-to-be disemboweling, "that if we were to get into a battle of arms, the mighty Furneyahah would slaughter me several times over and trample my bloody carcass into the dusty plains until nothing was left but a pulpy mess. That is why I made our contest something else..." The centaur was immediately back on guard and highly suspicious "What are you talking about!" he demanded trying to sense what fey poison Terrynon had slipped into the banquet. "Oh, it's just that I knew that fighting you the way you expected would yield all the advantages to you, and why would I ever fight from such a place? Instead, I moved the battleground into a place where I had the advantage." Terrynon stood and gestured, "If Skerrit's contention is that I'm a, what did you say again... an 'unworthy, half-breed, kinain, interloper?' but Skerrit's champion needed assurance, in proper form, before he'd eat from my larder... well then, Skerrit's worthy champion certainly thinks me kith enough to be concerned of fey trickery, and thus Skerrit's challenge is answered." Terrynon stood there, a look of righteous power on his face. Furneyahah immediately leapt up, his massive hooves instantly planted squarely ready for trouble, his lance ready to kill. He let out a fierce war cry. Terrynon gestured with a hand and called out in the old tongue of Seldruin. The plants of the glade quickly wrapped the centaur champion up in a carpet of greens and browns and yellows. Near to panic for centaurs’ dislike being held down in this way, Furneyahah struggled in vain against Terrynon's magics. "Be calm, noble warrior or you may injury yourself. And I would be greatly displeased if I were the cause of such a hurt coming upon you." Against his instincts, the centaur eased his panicked mind, but his fury remained. "You have lost the challenge; do not lose more." The young feyblood's words carried ice like the Winter Court. In hearing them, Furneyahah knew that he could easily be killed in his current, entangled, condition. Even if they had fought physically, this young fey would've bested him. He knew this in his heart, and his anger fled. As he relaxed, the vines loosed their hold on him, and he was free again. Furneyahah bent a knee of his front legs, dropping his head to Terrynon's height, and the beaten champion whispered his Name to his vanquisher. Furneyahah stayed with Terrynon, in the feyblood's glade for a few days before feeling the call to travel the fields of far and away. In the end, the two parted as friends. "It's that kind of wisdom and thinking that you're going to need where you're going, young master," Tamberlane said from behind him as Terrynon watched the noble warrior leave. When he turned to ask what the old puck what he was talking about, his world kept turning and turning and became a maelstrom again, engulfing Terrynon Feyblood, truly now, master of his domain, and flinging him into darkness and through the multiverse... Level 6 Terrynon felt a sense of relief as his sleep claimed him in the Temple. Finally traveling in his dreams, probably because of the protective magics in the cavern, was able to come to his Feywild realm. But then he looked around. His glade had changed. It was darker, almost a twilight hung over everything. It was palpable. The sound of the Faril's stream was made louder by the absence of other activity... the glade was empty, everyone was gone... or at least it seemed that way. There were no frolicking fey cavorting around. Master Tamberlane was nowhere to be found, and neither Faril nor Trina were out to play like they usually were when he visited. His realm had taken on a cooler, dimmer feel, and this thought concerned him greatly for he knew the danger here was real. Just as he extended his power to understand what was going on... "Hello cousin," Terrynon heard a feminine voice call from behind him. He turned to look, but she was gone. "You have much to learn," the voice mused from very close behind him, and he spun again to find nothing but air and whispers. "Much indeed," she giggled mockingly. The voice seemed as if it were coming from everywhere at once now. Terrynon knew he was in danger, but as master of this place, he also knew he had power here. This knowledge calmed him. He understood that this new foe had powers of seeming that would thwart his ability to see through them, so he stopped trying. "I've been learning so many lessons of late," he started, forcing a smile and air of alacrity. "Be done with your frippery so we can talk." Then Terrynon swelled his power, commanded in the Old Tongue, and cast a single word out into his glade. His eyes flared with violet fire. The word commanded the owner of the voice to reveal herself to him. The twilight of the glade lifted, a seeming cast by her, and the most alluring creature he had ever seen stepped out from the shadows. She looked a little embarrassed to have been caught so. "I see you know the courtly magics," she said, a little unsteady. "We had not expected that." She made a point of sizing him up in a way that he couldn't misinterpret. "And the dust fairly drips off you... a powerful fey you will be, indeed." "I am but what I am, what you see about you," he told her, bowing a semi-formal greeting and gesturing to the woodland home she'd entered uninvited. "I am called Terrynon for most of my life, Halef-Elf and Fey-blood." "And I am your cousin, Meriss," she half-curtseyed, "of the Winter Court, in case you hadn't guessed." "I had not," he lied, "but I know little of such things. Does that mean we have to fight now?" Meriss shrugged and answered, "Yes, but 'fight' means many other things than skill at arms or other overt cruelties." "Ah, of course. How unsubtle of me. I apologize. My last fight here was against a centaur on a quest for Skerrit. He seemed intent on being overtly cruel. Tell me cousin, why are you here? I'm always weary of talking in circles and figuring puzzles." "Honesty then... the sharpest of all blades," she smiled even as it was still his power over her that forced her. "I'm here because you're new, which makes you exciting. And the Unseelie Fey have a long tradition of enjoying new and exciting things. I am sent to figure you out... to see if you could be a valued addition to the Unseelie." He looked at her as if she'd said something both blasphemous and wonderous. She continued, "There's so much you don't know, young Fey-blood. So much that the Seelie Court hasn't told you... perhaps will never tell you. Your ignorance of certain things gives them power over you, and we'd like them to have less of that." Seeing her words have the desired effect on his will, she added, "As I said, you're going to be a powerful fey. There's no doubting that given how powerful you are at this young stage of your life, but what sort of faerie remains to be seen, I think. The Unseelie have much to give and much to teach... power undreamt of by the lighter cousins." "You mentioned that the Seelie Fey have been hiding things from me," Terrynon poked. "Your heritage, Terrynon. Have you ever wondered why you were brought here," she gestured around his glade, "and attached to this part of the Fey realms?" She paused to give his mind time to follow. "Do you know who your neighbors are?" Again she stopped to let the seemingly harmless question land. "It's not a special thing, is it, for the fey to trick humans into all sorts of things, including offspring... foundlings and changelings, you know the stories... So, why here? Why you? What's so special about Terrynon? This is the question that challenges us, cousin. It beguiles some of the Unsselie... Why are you different from other... half-breeds, and I apologize for the slur." She was being overly kind. Her beauty and wiles were a powerful weapon against Terrynon, but having spent his entire young-adult life veritably swimming in court intrigue, he felt right at home with the turbulent emotions she was skillfully bringing out in him. He focused, a little, on her words, knowing that word play was more important to the Fey than to any human barrister, debater, or philosopher. She caught him thinking and launched a vicious truth at him. No amount of courtly grace could protect him from her next words. "Your father, fey-blooded Terrynon, is a Noble Eladrin, a son of Verenestra, grandson to Titania herself, and a very powerful Fey." As these particular words struck him, his world went wide with possibility and shock. His countenance collapsed for a moment. His innocence, after a fashion, had been shattered by her revelation. And when he brought his sense back, he knew that she'd struck home, and he knew that she knew it. So... he played into that, turning a shown weakness into a hidden strength. "So I am the child of a faerie prince." he said, his head filled with too many questions to properly get a handle on the direction of the conversation. "I never met my father. My mother never spoke of him. Even so, I don't see why any of that would attract the Unseelie Fey to me." "Because, dear cousin," Meriss gleamed, "we're all well acquainted with the way a Fey acts, and how the choice is made between Seelie and Unseelie, and when. This fight is about something fresh and rare, and that makes it delicious to us." "Your father is a member of the Spring Court, a champion among them, held in high regard. You are the grandchild of the Princess of the Spring Court and great-grandchild to the Queen of the Summer Court, bastard and half-blooded though you be." "And I don't even know his name." "And you don't even know his name." Terrynon nodded grimly. "My tutor has much to answer for. But some things are making more sense now that I hear your words... treacherous as they are." "Only the treachery of the truth, one-who-is-called-Terrynon." She seemed to settle in to an easy posture, relaxing a bit for the first time. "You should leave now, Meriss. You've insinuated your poisons and can leave me to fester. As I ponder what has been withheld from me, be assured that your words are doing the work you intend." She looked at him, and he at her, both judging Terrynon's words. "Very well," she said as a playful grin slid onto her perfect face which tilted at a perfect angle. "If I were to linger, my treacheries might be undone by that smile of yours and the mischievous power it seems to have." "Then let us good-bye, cousin," he kissed her then, deeply and powerfully. For a moment, she shared in the pleasure and magic of the sensation but quickly remembered her purpose and stopped the thing. Her face flushed with the experience, but she recovered herself. There was an affect of Spring on her cheeks for a few moments more. She chased it away with practiced skill. Her cool Winter mask was in place soon after. "I hope I don't have to kill you too soon, Fey-blood," she said. "I'd like to cherish your gift for a while." "It would sadden me greatly to die by your hand at any time," he bowed to her, "though I'm certain there are worse ways to go." With a gesture, she summoned a chill to the air and stepped through a shimmer. He watched her energies ebb from his glade with a slight melancholy and longing. Only after he felt her no more did he announce, "She's gone. It's safe to come out." There were rustlings of leaves and underbrush as a few motes showed themselves followed by other fey denizens of the glade. Master Tamberlane fairly burst forth from his hiding spot and Trina and Faril appeared, all of them looking a bit ashamed that they didn't help defend the glade but also a bit betrayed by Terrynon for having treated a member of the Unseelie Court so... sensually. "How could this happen!" Master Tamberlane grimaced. "Use your wits, Tamberlane," Terrynon scolded. "She was able to enter our home because I have been tested past my limits in the world of Men and found wanting. There are many things going on, large things, terrible things. I was foolhardy, reckless, and weak there... and a fool besides. And she was able to take advantage. For that, I'm sorry to all of you. Had I been better, less selfish, more compassionate, she'd never have been here. So I let you all down too." "S'all right young lord," Master Tamberlane tried to heal the shared sorrow, "Yer learnin' lessons with successes and failures alike. It's just that playin' nice with the Winter Court is..." "Treasonous," Faril finished the old puck's thought. Trina added, "There's a taint that does not cure once the Fey touch the Shades of Winter." "Of those things, I'm well aware thanks to Master Tamberlane's most excellent tutelage," Terrynon found himself smiling at his friends... his subjects. It was only now, through the foolhardiness that led to his failures in the waking world and his trial at the hands of the Dark Fey that he'd come to see things about himself more clearly, making his world of experience much larger. Had he not failed, had he not been who he was, he'd still be living in the smaller world that, as Meriss pointed out, the Seelie Fey controlled. Could his father have had this as his plan all along? The Fey are, he knew, simple creatures at heart with simple motivations... Could his father have worked to purposefully create... Terrynon would file that supposition away for future pondering but for now, he just smiled at the possibilities. "Perhaps my bastardly nature means I'm less affected than a full-blooded Fey, my friends," he offered them. "And perhaps," he added as he began rooting around in his mouth, "my use of things I knew Meriss believed would cause the Taint on me..." He winked at Trina as he finally produced the pearl that he'd held in his mouth, holding it between two outstretched fingers, "to deceive her and learn her Name... might be of some value to us as our struggle against the Unseelie Fey continues?" Trina smiled as she realized that Terrynon had scored a major coup upon the Unseelie invader, and that his courtesy toward her was a ruse. Faril giggled, and Master Tamberlane gaped, open mouthed. "Now let us scour our home for any signs of Unseelie influence so that we might be rid of them... for now." As Terrynon spread his power throughout the glade, his vision faded, and he found himself awakening in the warm, safe space of the temple. His heart felt lighter though it was still heavy... He began to compose a great poem to celebrate the Deep Gnomes, for their journey, as he knew it, was epic indeed, and with the coming of the demons to the Underdark and Pudding King to Blingdenstone, they were going to need more heart given to them than they knew they needed. Level 7 Breathing the air of the sky into his lungs, tears came to his eyes as Terrynon truly relaxed for the first time since entering the world of the Underdark lo those many months ago. As if magic were on the wind, he felt himself swept up and consumed by a bright light, transported to his fey realm, this time without needing a sleeping dream to ease his way. He looked around and saw none of the familiar creatures there. The glade appeared deserted. He walked around noting that the place felt different to him, more real, more solid, more... mature. It was still fresh and clean; it just felt... expansive. Yes, it was larger, his little part of the Feywild had grown since he last experienced it, like he himself had grown. As he spread his essence into the realm, he felt a presence approaching, a powerful presence. "Greetings and glad tidings, beloved hero," Angharradh's form materialized in the glade. "We rejoice at your arrival to this point in your journey, and we are glad you've reached it well. Better than we expected, in truth." "My lady," Terrynon started, his voice filled with emotion. He hadn't realized how much, during his time in the Underdark, he'd needed the hope he'd reach the surface world again. But being here, and experiencing the light of the Fey goddess' presence, made him understand just how dark and low his spirit had fallen. He felt bouyed by her, but that let him know how heavy his heart felt. As she continued to talk with him, he became aware that with the heaviness came a depth and richness, like layers of flavor in a master chef's recipe, or the etched layers of steel in a blade forged by a master smith. He was no longer the light-hearted, easy-going, foppish courtier who started this journey. He was now a seasoned young master, rugged and steady in an uncertain world. Her grace enveloped him as her words washed over him. She cleansing him, empowered him with her presence. His vigor waxed as he caught her smiling at him. But something told him her visit was not without consequence and when she got to that point, he understood why she took so long to reach it. She tasked him with a thing he knew he would never willingly do. "We have seen," she said with a melancholy he had not expected, "that your time in the Underdark is not over. Great danger grows with the coming foulness. Someone must You will go back to close the chapter that is still open, like a wound on the world. This is a quest that the Seldarine themselves lay upon you. It saddens us to say that we do not know how the Fates will deal with you on this, there is triumph and failure, life and death, and there are far worse things that even that which may happen as the future writes itself. But the call will come, and you will answer. Of this we are certain. Be our champion and celebrate Life and Joy, and bring such things with you that can never be denied." Her words stopped making sense to him for a while after that. He took her words in but their meanings and prophecies slid past his mind. She said he would choose to go back, and that thought was utterly unfathomable to him. All he heard for some time was a ringing in his ears or the sound of blood rushing through his head. At one point, he started hearing her again. "Learn what you may of Moonblades, Qinmoira" she charged him using his True Name, sealing him to the deed, "for your father's father was a blade bearer. So gallant was he that the Spring Maiden herself was wooed. Seek out his blade, Telisthir it is called in the ancient tongue, and an ancient Moonblade it is. Your father held the blade after his father's death, but never tested himself in the ritual perhaps knowing his true worth. We know not what your father did with the blade, but you have everything you need, and we give you this quest knowing that if you fail it, your other quest on our behalf is likely doomed." With those low words, the Queen of Arvandor took her light from his world. In her place The Events Calendar = 5.16.4 The Events Calendar PRO = 5.16.5 Lyre (peace, harmony, wisdom, and unity) Lavender (serenity, grace, elegance, and refinement) Lily (love, devotion, purity, and fertility) What do you call a magician who's lost his magic? Ian It's a 5 minute walk from the inn to the pub, but a 45 minute walk back. The difference is staggering. What smells worse than a goblin? Oh yeah, you! Your stench would put an otyugh off it's breakfast! You smell like three-day-old maggot pie served from a dwarf's codpiece! If your brain exploded, it wouldn't even muss your hair! Ugh. What the hell is that all over your face? Oh...its just your face! You are the dung created when shame eats too much stupidity! I swear, if you were any worse at this, I wouldn't have a job to do! You're not a complete idiot...Some parts appear to be missing! Well, my time of not taking you seriously is coming to a middle! Some day you'll meet a doppelganger of yourself and be disappointed! Are you always this stupid, or are you making a special effort today! I'd like to leave you with one thought...but I'm not sure you've anywhere to put it! Your magic is as bad as your breath! How does it feel knowing that you're not worthy of anyone casting a decent spell on you! One day I'm going to make a ballad of this fight. Please tell me your name rhymes with horribly slaughtered! Stop me if you've heard this one. The sole purpose of your existence is to serve as a speedbump on others' path to greatness - okay you definitely should've stopped me by now! What's the difference between a dragon and a mallard with a cold? One's a sick duck and I forget the punchline, but your mother's a whore! I've mixed it up with chambermaids with better fighting skills than you! I bet your father filled your mother with nothing but regrets! Your mother must be really disappointed in your life choices. What are you going to do for a face when the babboon wants its ass back? I'm sure the God of [Clumsiness, Stupid, Ugly] appreciates your devotion A most notable coward, an infinite and endless liar, an hourly promise breaker, the owner of not one good quality. You sod-witted toad! You've no more brain than I have in my elbow You're not even clean enough to spit on. That is the rankest compound of villainous smell that ever offended nostril How Do You Perform? At court, I play music, tell engaging stories that make the people who hear them get a sense of the heroic (or the humorous), and perform minor magic tricks to amuse everyone. During balls or galas, I will dance with various ladies, using my encouragement and insight to help them overcome their shyness or reticence to enjoy themselves and make them better at whatever it is we're doing together. I make welcoming and idle conversation, doing my best to make everyone feel like they are the center of my world. At the same time, I am skilled at surreptitiously plucking useful treacheries from people who plan them without likewise letting my own secrets slip. Where Did You Develop Your Skills? Charm, courtly grace, and intrigue I learned at my mother's bosom since before I was weaned. She is a master of the courtly arts, so much so that everyone favors her yet no one considers her worthy of notice. Music, singing, and the creative pursuits I learned from both sides of my parentage, taking the better parts of both, and like myself, weaving them into a gorgeous melding. Swordplay and the more aggressively manly pursuits I likewise learned from both my families. Elven work with a longblade and proper fencing from the king's own fencing master. I prefer rapier to longsword because it allows me to use my nimbleness and grace in a way longsword fighting does not yet. The magics? I've always had the magics in me, part of my fey nature, charms and such, and I enjoy working the energies and seeing and tasting the paths. How Do You Practice? Music... instrument and voice, dance and flow. I drink in the experience of the joys in the world... Seeing how all life weaves together and getting a sense of the underlying music of it all. I center myself and tune in to the flow and rhythm of the energies around me. My father's side says it's a fey thing, but the humans feel it too even if they're unaware of its power. How Do You Bill Yourself? In truth, and I am for the most part a truth-teller, I am a whore. I'm a bauble, a pretty jewel, a plaything of my betters. We all know that the bastard child of two minor nobles is only worth the flesh in his clothing... I will have no titles, no land, no future. I am a courtier, a spy... an agent provocateur, but I must always be subtle in working my arts lest I be found out and have no claims of noble or diplomatic privilege to rescue me. Why Are You On An Adventure? Ah... the crux of the matter... Court, yes, I... had to leave... in a hurry. Some would say I'm on the run, and while that's not inherently inaccurate, it is an oversimplification of a complex orchestration that, in the end, did not favor me. Let's see. There was a duel... a simple matter, really. I was challenged to a duel. Sir Reginald of Marqheim, son of a count, a belted knight, and a member of the king's guard, challenged me to a duel... me... launched a flagon of ale at my head... in public... making a big stink about how I had bedded some woman the night before. Of course I had! It's what I do... I have known Sir Reginald for a few years. He came to serve the king and is an up-and-comer in the ranks of the military guard... a noble angling to enlarge his family's domains... very by-the-book and disciplined... but not very kind... nor overly bright... and a bit of a pompous ass. I knew that he thought poorly of me. Most of the unpleasant nobility do that with me being who, and what, I am. It makes them have to live in a larger world than the one encompassed by their "rules" and as such, I make them uncomfortable... Their response is usually to seek to remove me... Unfortunately for them, I and my skills are more often needed, and far more greatly appreciated, than noble-folk like Sir Reginald would wish. As it turns out, the lady I had had relations with the night before had just the previous evening, been betrothed to Sir Reginald as his virginal bride, and he was apparently upset because I had somehow ruined that notion. That night wasn't even our first time together, and she wasn't a virgin when I first met her... none of this is polite or politic to say, mind you. I'm just setting the stage for telling my story. So, in front of a two score people at court, Sir Reginald challenged me to a duel, throwing the aforementioned ale flagon at my head, making it impossible to downplay the situation and save the girl all undue embarrassment. He would've attacked me right then, but he had at least enough sense and decorum not to do violence in the king's court. Once it was understood what he was getting at, negotiations set everything in place... the following sunrise, outside the castle, only the two of us, our mandatory seconds, the master of the duel, and as few witnesses as were proscribed... to first blood... with swords, to satisfy the lady's honor, all well and good. I showed up early to receive a thrashing from a seasoned warrior, conclude the duel, and uphold the traditions. Then everyone could go about their day with a few day's worth of gossip. I'd never been in a duel before although I'd witnessed a few as a child, and we practiced the formalities in fencing class, so I knew what to expect. I didn't get that though. Sir Reginald arrived with a... rabid, angry look on his face, so I did not engage in the pleasantries that often accompany such dealings. He was decked out in his full knightly regalia, plate and shield. All I had were my leathers... I had my rapier, and I noticed that he'd opted for his longsword which was an odd choice for a duel to first blood because it's not as precise as a fencing blade. It's slower too. I was reflecting on what all of that meant as the master of the contest called out the rules. No sooner than the duel formally commenced than that idiot in his plate armor charged me, screaming bloody murder! I was both utterly shocked and completely expecting something this stupid. If I were a formation-fighting soldier with a man to both sides of me, I'd have been in real trouble, longsword against rapier... but I wasn't. I sidestepped his clumsy, slow blade to his sword-side and brought my rapier tip up more as reflex than anything else. The tip of my blade lanced through a hole in his helmet visor, and Sir Reginald screamed. He must've gone deaf in that enclosed space yelling like that. I continued my follow through and recovery as the knight disengaged and ripped his helmet off and threw it aside. It made several *thump* *thump* thumping noises as it skittered to a halt some yards from his head. When he turned to face me there was a thin streak of blood welling up on his cheek, an improvement to his looks, I dare say. It was a perfect dueling scar. Seeing the fight ended, with his second recovering his helmet and approaching him, and the master tucking his kerchief back in his doublet, I relaxed a bit and looked to sheath my blade. Then I caught Reginald touching the winning scratch I'd placed on him, and I saw all sanity leave his eyes. "Aarrr! I'll kill him!" he screamed as he slammed his helmet back on and bodily knocked his own second to the ground in an attempt to move on me. "I'll kill the bastard whore!" he cried and then let loose with such ignoble language that I won't relate it. Some people hadn't even had breakfast yet, and he was screeching thusly! It included many utterances of "whore" and "bastard" in various combinations... along with "halfbreed," which was just gauche, and "eunuch" which made no sense given the impetus for our conflict originally... and that maybe he'd stop my whoring by making me a eunuch... all of it completely unpoetic. Sir Reginald's second lost control of him and he came at me again. It was a good thing for me that he was insane in his rage because if he'd had his wits about him he might have had some sort of combat strategy. Still, I didn't know what to do. The duel was over, and I had won. To fight a nobleman in a duel was one thing especially since I was the challenged. It was allowed... I was allowed to raise arms against a belted knight only because we were in a duel. But now the duel was over and raising my blade against a king's guard, in sight of the king's castle... Not knowing what to do, I defended myself, but did not attack. I did, however, distract Sir Reginald with wicked taunts that kept him off balance as I sought clarification from the master of the duel. Time and again, we clashed blade on blade and time and again my taunting kept Sir Reginald from focusing on his form and technique. Eventually, the master of the duel and both of our seconds, along with three of the witnesses who were belted knights agreed that even though I was a bastard, because of the nobility of my elven heritage, I did have the right to defend myself due to the circumstances that precipitated this assault by Sir Reginald. Assured that I would not face judgment for defending myself, I began to do so in earnest. He meant to kill me. I had never killed anyone or anything before. I didn't want to kill him now which put me at a very serious disadvantage in our engagement. I am an excellent fencer, but rapier against plate armor, longsword, and shield is a losing proposition even for a master. Plate was proof against a light weapon like a fencing blade, so the only targets became the joints between the plate... small targets indeed. Another tactic against a man in plate is to knock him to the ground and treat him like a turtle. Sir Reginald spent most of his life in plate armor and was at least twice as strong as I am. I could more easily knock down a castle wall by ramming my naked head into it than topple Sir Reginald. We fought for a long time. I was adept at dodging his longsword, but I was nearly knocked senseless a couple of times when he bashed me with his knight's shield. But that's how I found an opening in the man's guard. When it happened, it happened quickly. He took to feinting with the sword to draw me into range of the shield bash, so I let that happen again, but spun off his shield, causing him to overextend, and I performed a high-thrusting lunge through the chain mail at the joint of his left arm and shoulder. The momentum of the spinning lunge carried my blade into the side of his chest, past the ribs, and through the tops of both his lungs. The motion was so smooth that my sword was out and I recovered to an en garde position before Sir Reginald had realized what happened. He lifted the visor of his helmet and tried to call me a whore, but the word was cut off by blood spurting from his mouth. I felt so many things. I didn't want today to end like this. He staggered a few steps before stumbling to a knee and falling onto his back. He made gurgling noises as his lungs filled with blood. I knew killing a member of the King's Guard would get me banished at least, regardless of what the master of the duel had said. And I truly didn't want to have done this thing. My fey powers welled up inside me, and I let my love of life fall upon Sir Reginald even though, and maybe especially because, of what he was to me. There was a slight glow of power, and I could feel that he was healed although I didn't quite know how. His second rushed to his side and looked at me knowing what I'd done. He nodded to me. My own second came to me and spoke quickly, "You're not safe as long as he lives. Best you get away while he's recouping. Find a dwarf near the stables, Gundren Rockseeker, he knows how to get people away from here sure enough. Find the dwarf and begone with you until things settle down." The master of the duel nodded at the advice my second had given, so I hurried to my rooms and collected a chest with all the things of worth I had and hurried off to find this dwarf as word of the duel began to spread through the castle. What is your name? Terrynon Was it given to you, or did you choose it? My mother named me... I think after a pet cat she fancied. Are your parents alive? Yes. My father is now with his people in the elven realms. My mother was married to a noble knight a decade ago. She lives with him and their growing family about a day's travel from the king's court. Do you have any siblings? Yes. How many, and are they alive? Four, a half-brother (9), two half-sisters (7 & 6), another half-brother (3) and I hear that my mother is expecting another child in the fall. I have not met any of my siblings. Do you have any living extended family? Yes. Who? My mother was the youngest of five. I have two human uncles, two human aunts, and several cousins through them. I know nothing of my elven relations. Who raised you? My mother and the ladies at court mostly. After my mother was betrothed to Sir Sergi Stanis, I was removed from my mother's care, but the other ladies-in-waiting took excellent care of me until I was old enough to be taught more manly things like swordcraft and wooing. Do you have a mentor or teacher? Yes and No. Everyone at court had a hand in teaching me everything I know. Some of it was official, like my sword training as an older boy, but most of it was behind the scenes. I would have an interest in a thing, watching those who were doing it (singing, dancing, calligraphy...), and would emulate them. I was always charming a lesson or three out of my betters at court, and for the most part, no one seemed to mind. What DID you do for money? I was nice to people in ways they needed nicenesses, and they gifted me things... What DO you do for money? Uh... I'm not sure... what did you have in mind? Do you have a hobby? Yes and No. I am fascinated by so many things. I have innumerable hobbies, and they have been my means of income, so are they truly hobbies... I love seeing what makes people do the things they do. Some would say I'm obsessed with what makes people tick. If I were to have a hobby, that would be it. Did anything traumatic happen to you? Hardly. Other than the duel with Sir Reginald not going to my liking, I've led a charmed existence. Have you ever been in love? Yes and No. I am in love with the *idea* of love and being in love, and I am truly in love with all the people I've loved... but what is love? I probably have a different view than some. Did you attend school? No Nobility are tutored or sent to prestigious institutions. As a bastard child with no real rights, I was... tutored. Have you ever done anything illegal? Well?? Unseemly, yes. Scandalous, certainly. But what is legality amongst the nobility, really... My very existence is technically illegal; that's what "illegitimate" means after all. And honestly, what young rapscallion doesn't get into trouble here and there. I grew up in the king's court, so I've doubtless been treasonous a hundred or more times in my life with the various wives, daughters, and betrotheds of the kingdom's more refined gentlefolk. Punishments? Only what could be meted out without undue publicity... Where DID you live? In the king's palace. Where DO you live? Look around you... my home is now the whole world... sadly, it's a home without servants... room service... turn down service... bed warming service... or any kind of services really. What drew you to your chosen class and/or background? I grew up really enjoying making people smile. Tails of lizards, ears of swine, chicken gizzard soaked in brine, on your feet, be not afraid, you're the greatest with a blade! Heart of a dragon, A song sung fine, The smell of bacon soaked in brine, Have no fear with your attacks, For you are the greatest with an axe! Strong of arm and agile o'foot, Hot iron poker and chimney soot, You are resilient, your shield alike, You are a champion, now, go strike! Thorn on Rose, sting of nettle Witch's brew in a cast iron kettle You shred the world with your fire You're unafraid and filled with ire! 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. 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 templates, no transformations such as from the monk class or various prestige classes, and no other creature types by blood or breeding). Fey high society and the fey realms, be they on the Plane of Faerie or fey high-society enclaves on the Material Plane, 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 throne itself, a and queen who sits on it, are the focal points of the room. The throne of the Seelie Court is shaped like a large ice dragon, as brilliantly cold and glittery as the fey nobility. Queen Tatiana and King Oberon are the current rulers of the Seelie Court. An undisputed beauty, Tatiana looks unfavorably upon female courtier or visitors whose appearance rivals hers. This attitude is caused, in part, by the occasional wanderings of King Oberon's affection. <<<>>> There are some material covered in the Feywild in the Dungeon Master's Guide but very little about the behavior and social structures within it. Fey creatures often are left to the wayside and are rarely touched upon, as the Feywild is seen as an alien realm where time is inconsequential there and logic is typically thrown out the doorway with the strict adherent to laws and rules between fey of renown. The fey, or fair folk, are creatures of mystique and allure; their legends and tales are spread across Celtic, Norse, Germanic, and Russian cultures. Most fey are regarded as nature spirits or spirits in general classifications which could loosely tie in with yokai from Japanese-Shinto traditions and the gui (or ghosts) from Chinese traditions as well. The terminology in D&D is very loose and can be affixed to a myriad of creatures, spirits, and entities. The modern etymology of faerie or fey derives from idea of "enchantment" or wisdom with nature, sometimes invisible folk. English evolved the term to include roguery, knavery, and wizardry. In short, cunning, mischief, and most importantly–magical. Those three aspects are what will often define most fey creatures, not all but for the purposes of our article discussing greater fey and their ilk, these three principles of their being need to be accounted for. Various Fey and Greater Fey Personality Traits Mischievous Cunning Kleptomania (desire to steal without desire for profit) Thieving (stealing with the intent of profit) Protective (especially if tied to a specific font of nature) Honorable Elusive Well-mannered Respectful Loving Spiteful Vengeful Charming Aggressive Eccentric Feral These are just a sample of possible personality attributes that a fey possess. Many of them are just varied as a human individual but the key difference is the heightened or accentuated expression of the particular traits. I suggest that you choose at least two or three distinct key personality traits to help you roleplay any particular fey. Keep it consistent, but still, add natural reactions like anger and sadness. The fey are personifications of abstract ideas, nature, and even emotions. For example, a pixie or sprite are often mischievous, thieving, and elusive but to a heightened degree. They love to cause mischief for their interpretation of fun. Pixies and sprites fall under categories of fey creatures but of opposing courts. The two Courts system was largely devised by Scottish folklore but makes for great material for a fantasy setting like Dungeons and Dragons. Seelie and Unseelie Courts – The Sun and the Darkness The current D&D organization of the Feywild establishes two distinct courts for the good-aligned and evil-aligned fey creatures. The Seelie Court (Summer Court) and the Unseelie Court (the Gloaming Court); both are ruled by powerful matriarchal figures known as the Summer Queen and the Queen of Air and Darkness. The two courts have a long mention in various sources of literature, whether in one name or another but ultimately there are always two sides to the fey. Most renditions of the Summer Court follow the mischief part but usually of the harmless variety while the Gloaming Court (or Winter Court) tends to revel in suffering and torment beyond the typical mischief. Ultimately there are various consorts besides the Summer Queen and the Queen of Air and Darkness, in 5th Edition you have the Oberon, the King of Faerie and the Prince of Frost. Granted there may be a ruler for each season: like a Spring King or Spring Prince along with an Autumn King for example. You may even have all four seasons (or courts) be at odds with each other but make occasional alliances with each other, like spring siding with summer while autumn sides with winter or vice versa depending on the circumstances. Unless you're willing to spend an entire campaign on the finer nuances and politics within the Feywild, it's easier to just stay to the basic two courts. Most denizens within the Feywild typically have their affiliation with at least one of these two courts, in most literature, there are seldom entities that remain neutral. Even creatures that seem neutral eventually choose a side but only loosely adhere to the rules or regulations of the court. Think of it like a gang war, actually think of it exactly like a gang war. The two courts vying for control, opposing each other by their very natures, creatures caught in the middle eventually have to choose a side simply to survive and not be destroyed in the wake of the battles and skirmishes. Most of the time, denizens from either court will go into full frontal war but occasional skirmishes may arise or even games of cunning and misdirection. Things to remember: Fey courts are serious about keeping their identities and traditions The rivalry of the two courts stems from creation itself Neutrality is an illusion for the weak, all must choose a side eventually Greater fey may fall into line with a court, often by their nature or choices Treat it like a gang war, opposing sides do not like the other and are traditionally very biased about themselves and the other court And they were never heard from again... If you've ever read the Dresden File series or any old wives tale of faerie, it is never wise to take things from the Fey whether stealing them or given as gifts. Those are physical anchors from which they have a connection to an individual and be abused when desired. Since the Fey deal with politics and intrigue, the idea of favors as currency goes without saying. To owe a favor to a Greater Fey is often considered a fate worse than death, as often the contract or deal is tethered to one's soul and thus leaves them bound to the entity. Much like Warlocks and their pacts in a similar vein, an individual making favors with a Fey can be both advantageous and dangerous. Many times the individual is whisked or spirited away by the Fey for whatever nefarious game they wish to employ on the unlucky soul when they come to collect on their favor. The Fey, like fiends and celestials, do not like to be bound by mortals and would rather work matters into their favor and possible victory. While the Fey rarely lie (as that would be considered terrible manners), they can omit information or details, sometimes even leave clues through riddles that would take an individual time to decipher. I like to treat the mentality of such greater entities as a labyrinth (or the more iconic, the White Rabbit and its rabbit hole). Again, it varies with the specific fey and the sort of fey that a DM may wish to portray the entity but ultimately the enticement of rewards and favors is always something many Fey creatures desire. But there are entities like the Wild Hunt which is typically a horde of huntsmen are led by an entity who embodies their will, the Wild Hunt does not traditionally curry favors or secrets, rather the creature's very nature stems from honor and the thrill of the hunt. So keep those sort of archetypes in mind when trying to portray the Fey. Things to remember: Favors are a powerful bargain tool of the Fey Never accept offerings or gifts from the Fey, unless you wish to be indebted to them Not all Fey care about favors, use your best judgment about a Fey's instinct and nature Fey are true to their very nature, the best way to remain true is to have 3-4 key characteristics or words that embody them, like "fiery, ice personified, as firm as an oak tree" Hopefully, some of these tips will help you roleplay a Fey or Greater Fey the next time you ever send your players to the mysterious and alien world of the Feywild. <<<>>> The Feywild is referred to as the Plane of the Fey, or the Faerie Plane, or Faerie Realm. It is a land of contradictions, bright and yet dark, beautiful yet deadly, and full of endless wonder. Many iterations and stories, which are often termed as fairy tales, can colloquially be synonymous with some of the many denizens of the Feywild. Many of the rich stories, tales, and myths have translated over to Dungeons and Dragons, many of them transported over in their own "otherworld". Mortals sometimes find themselves in this otherworld and are met by malevolent fey, resulting in some being kept against their will, used as the fey's amusement for a time, or go through a fugue and return with no memory of their adventures. You can refer back to our article discussing how to play the fey and greater fey that inhabit this beautiful but perilous realm here. The Feywild is often described as beautiful, robust, and sometimes tranquil. But ultimately the realm shares a side of darkness and savagery that embodies nature's feral side. When describing the scenery for the Feywild, always try and the natural beauty of the environment while only foreshadowing the hidden perils lurking underneath the foliage. Tall, viridian trees gently bustled from the refreshing autumn breeze, the sky was draped in gradients of reddish-orange to soft indigo. Perpetual twilight hung over the sheltered woodlands, the distant sounds of small birds and rodents frolicking before adjourning to their burrows. As the leaves swayed, they shifted in hue and became rusted in color. Mesmerized by the tranquility, a sudden chill refreshes you to the lurking shadows encroaching. Examples like these try to draw the players and audience into a serene and hospitable place, to remind them that danger always lurks in the most seemingly gentle place. Travel between the Feywild and the Material Plane can be hazardous to even the most seasoned adventurers, for the Feywild does not abide by the rules and paradigms of the mortal world. While up is still up in most cases, the scale of up and down can be radically different depending on the player's perspective. Time is fluid in the Feywild, as such a being seemingly be gone for anywhere from a few years to a century but only experience an evening of revelry. And they were never heard from again… This phrase is the stuff of terror for anyone who has heard some offshoot midwife's tales, for any unlucky adventurer may be kept against their will by a powerful Fey as their amusement for an untold period of time. I suggest instilling this notion early either before or during the Feywild adventure, the party's trepidation and paranoia should be more than enough to add suspense even when facing gentle and harmless denizens. It doesn't hurt to read up on some fairy tales to draw some inspiration too. The Faerie Courts – the Eternal Flux of Nature In the mythology of the Fey, there references to a Summer and Winter court, the Seelie and Unseelie Courts, and sometimes even a mention of a Spring Prince and Autumn King. There are many variants and honestly, the Game Master (GM) has full authority to utilize whichever mythos is appropriate for the game they are running. The one component that should never change; however, is the conflict between Summer and Winter. The change between warmth and light to cold and darkness. This fluctuation and change is the ebb and flow of nature that translates the passing of the seasons across time in the Material Plane. In the current 5th Edition ruleset, it is a two-court system between the Summer Court and the Gloaming Court. Titania, the Summer Queen is the ruler of the Summer court of good faerie and the Queen of Air and Darkness rules over the Gloaming court of traditionally evil faerie. In 4th Edition, eladrin and gnomes resided deep within the Feywild as often neutral entities between the two courts. But there were other courts as well, some that dealt with specific aspects of nature like the seas, the forests, or even the stars. These courts were heralded by great and powerful Fey Lords or Archfey, like Oran the Green Lord or the twinned Sea Lords, Elias and Siobhan Alastai. You can easily have a four court Feywild, one for each major season: Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter. Instead of the struggle between the courts being the driving force of the change in seasons, they are instead the embodiment of the ideas of season and nature instead. It's heavily suggested that each season by ruled by some sovereign Fey, you are also allowed to even change the gender of your fey sovereigns. It's really up to you as the Game Master. In Soladis, a Land of Magic, where the Adventures of Team BAJA takes place; the Feywild in this cosmology consists four fey courts but ultimately two distinct divisions between the light and darkness. There are pockets of neutrality but when the sides call for their retainers, neutrality ceases and former neighbors could easily become enemies overnight. For a list of articles for the various courts: Spring | Summer | Autumn | Winter | Courtless, Other Courts, & the Feydark Fey Lords vs. Gods & Goddesses There are three distinctions that should be made clear: Archfey/Greater Fey – a powerful fey that often has a place either within the faerie courts or distinctly unique and owns a dominion of the Feywild outside the influence of others Fey/Fae/Faerie – a generic term for any creature from the Feywild, traditionally reserved for common fey creatures without a title or nobility Gods & Goddesses – entities that infused with divine energy that represent an abstract concept or ideal Archfey and even the Fey sovereigns often are considerably powerful; enough where some of these beings can warp and distort space and time in the Feywild. Granted the Feywild barely follows the normal paradigms of the Material Plane anyways but the Material Plane is bound by the rules devised by the deities. The archfey may seem god-like within the Feywild or even outside of it, but they do not possess the same distinction of as deities. Within an Archfey's domain, however, they can be conceived as being deities since the space is technically an extension of their power and essence. In other words, don't mess with an Archfey on their own turf. Sort of the same principle with deities as well, or creatures with lairs; there is a home-field advantage. Places in the Feywild – From wild borderlands to marshes and meadows Currently, in 5th Edition there is not a whole lot of material regarding places of interest within the Feywild, that may change in future supplements but presently there are not a whole lot written. During 4th Edition, there was one particular supplement (called Heroes of the Feywild) that tried to add lore and context to a region that was newly coined by the creative heads at Wizards of the Coast. Fey creatures started as far back as 1st Edition of D&D, with new additions from existing lore added over time across editions. When 4th Edition was introduced at the time, the Feywild was given a name and place within the cosmology while the original Plane of Shadow was relabeled as the Shadowfell. GMs should consider a fair distribution of regions to accentuate different aspects of nature, like mountains, forests, oceans, and marshlands. Give some distinct flair and flavor to it, you may even be given a special region for the major faerie courts. For example, in Soladis, there are the Fen of Winters and the Golden Vale as headquarters or dominions for the Winter and Summer Queen respectively. The Feywild is characterized by their assortment and variety of fey personalities. You could have a legion of pixies residing within the Golden Vale who act as Titania's private armed forces. You could also have an entity known as the Wild Hunt who roams across the Feywild in the search of the ultimate prey. The Feywild is all about variety, including its locales and what they impart with the natural world. Civilizations within an Enchanted Land In 4th Edition, there were paragraphs about Eladrin settlements and shining cities. While 5th Edition has not officially unveiled the mystical elf race other than from the Dungeon Master's Guide, their legends impart fantastic cities made of crystal or glass nestled either at the center of oceans or hidden away in forested areas. Gnomes also can reside within the Feywild, forming their own tight-knit communities to fend off predators and ancient enemies. These places often try and stay out of the faerie politics, either forming minor allegiances with Archfey or even the fey sovereigns themselves. Ultimately, there should be some meager hope for adventurers traversing through the wild natural abundance. A place to rest and heal, sleep from the harsh environment, and not deal with any Greater Fey. These remarkable shrines to civilization add as wonderful backdrop the chaos and fickle nature of the Feywild, which should not be overlooked for the merits of allowing adventurers sometimes a much-needed reprieve. Additionally, this offers an adventuring party insight to life in such a beautiful but dangerous realm. But eladrin and gnomes are the only creatures to form cities and communities within the Feywild. You may still have fey creatures form their own hovels and villages, it's not that uncommon of a thought. Keep in mind that not all fey are malevolent and wish harm of others (even Unseelie fey are not all heartless creatures), hospitality is an age-old tradition within Fey. They are also creatures that will "an eye for an eye" if needed, but otherwise, it should be interpreted as "equal treatment for equal favor". Music and the Arts – the Truest Magic within the Feywild Music has a profound resonance with the multiverse, while magic is prevalent within the Feywild, there is a synergy with music and magic within this realm. Music has a purposeful application as well as recreational one, acting as a medium for connecting the spirit with nature. There are many fey that play musical instruments or sing, some even dance to showcase their expression of their true essence and natures. Bards are often regarded well by the Fey with their musical aptitudes, even their oratory skills are often hailed as remarkable by passing fey. Bards also serve as storytellers and keepers of lore, which adds to the mystique and allure by fey and the class often is mainstay choice of fey creatures. It is not uncommon to find a Satyr Bard around or even a gnome bard for that matter. Many fey appreciate beauty and music are another personification of that idea, striking up a bargain for exchange of a musical favor is a seldom but appreciated choice. Especially if the bargainer is exceptionally gifted as a musician or performer, but not too good to draw the ire of a passing Archfey that may perhaps whisk them away to keep them until they bore of them. That is known to happen to a passing bard once and awhile to a bard who stumbles into the Feywild after being near a Fey crossing. Unearthed Arcana released some interest class options for the Bard as well as the Druid with their strong ties to the Feywild, read our review articles to get links to the playtest materials. Fey Crossings – Portals to the realm of splendors Depending on your setting, access to other realms may be limited or fluent as the case between say the Dark Sun setting versus the Forgotten Realms. In the Forgotten Realms, most planar travel is limited by planar portals that require a special key in order to activate them. Some are time sensitive and will open during specific cosmological events or dates. Fey crossings in the Forgotten Realms also tend to links to natural aspects, such as a snowy region linking to a region within the Feywild associated with ice and snow. The separation of planes of existence is important to establish at some point during a campaign, less you wish to confuse the players with how the cosmology works. In Soladis, the planes are quite separated by a powerful effect called The Veil, the Feywild and Shadowfell share the same space as the Material Plane and will occasionally overlap each other thus allowing for breaches and gaps to form but will last only a short time. In any regard, once an adventurer passes through a Fey crossing, space and time can play a part here. In some instances, perhaps the very chaotic nature of the Feywild may result in random locations within the same region but with large gaps of distance. So having your adventuring party enter through a Fey crossing together does not necessarily guarantee all of them arriving at the same place. Let's not forget one of the more interesting features about the Feywild, the enchanted magic is sometimes so great that it begins to affect the adventurer's mind, causing some to lose their memories and experiences while within the Realm of the Faerie. Creatures either native or races who have fey ancestry are immune to these effects, but non-fey creatures have a chance of losing their memories of their experiences upon their return to the Material Plane which fits the real-life fairy tales of fugue states or being spirited away. <<<>>> Guide to the Feywild - The Spring Court The Fields of Spring - The Fields of Spring is one aspect of the Feywild governing the Spring Court, wherein an endless meadow of tall grass, flowers, and many hedges roam. Imagine a vibrant, verdant grassland with the occasional spot of trees. The grasses are tall and often taller than most humanoids, making it a hazard and great hiding place. It has rolling hills that stretch for countless miles, crystal clear lakes overlooking serene indigo mountains. Now mind you, there are still woods within the Fields of Spring, small forests to be sure. Within these woods, often resides the sovereign of the Spring Court. In classic literature, Prince Oberon lies within this domain. Oberon is commonly referred to as the King of the Faeries and written by William Shakespeare as consort to Queen Titania, the Summer Queen, and often depicted as the leader of the Seelie Court. In older planar supplements, the Seelie Court has often represented good-aligned fey and even associated with other planar realms like the Beastlands, Ysgard, and Arborea. But in most of those supplements, the Feywild did not exist, but you can include these Outer Planes having Fey Crossings to and from the Feywild in your setting. The meaning of Spring - Spring represents new beginnings, rebirth from the harshness of the cold winter season, fertility and youthfulness. Keep this in mind when considering how to roleplay your Spring court faerie folk. In the Spring Court of the Feywild, you can have satyrs, centaurs, and even unicorns. Notably, young nymphs and treants can easily be found within this portion of the Feywild. Pixies are also frequently familiar within the Spring Court, usually as couriers, tricksters, and sentries. Now understand, certain fey and forest entities are standard across all the courts. So to make the distinction between the courts, you should visually and thematically have these creatures look and behave according to their affiliation. So you can have things like sun tattoos, fluffy golden manes, soft yellows and green motifs on clothing and paints. Dryads may even have fresh fruits and flowers in their leafy shawls. With new life and youth, often this portrays the aspect of beauty as well. Many such faeries can be narcissistic, egotistical, sexually driven, or dilettante. Faerie Nobles of Spring In most of the D&D lore, they typically do not separate the fey between the four seasons and instead separate them by the simpler dichotomy of good (Seelie) and evil (Unseelie) courts. But if a DM wanted four courts, they would need to make distinctions to separate the respective seasons, the locales in the Feywild can be easily amended, but the harder task is filling such a world with entities to best appropriate represent the Spring season and its court. Some notable Fey deities/entities for the Spring Court: Oberon, King of the Faeries, Prince-Consort to Queen Titania, Prankster and all-around Fun-time guy Damh, the patron fey/god of satyrs. Likes to sing, dance, and have parties Nathair Sgiathach is the patron deity of mischief and pranks, along with faerie dragons Squelaiche is a leprechaun deity, and that probably graces the spring court often Verenestra is a fey of beauty and charm, revered by nymphs and dryads Fionnghuala is a patron of swan-mays, swans, and communication You can easily have other fey, such as a fey that embodies daisies or roses. A fey that represents the spring lakes, ponds, and waterfalls (I mean there's a deity in the Forgotten Realms, why not a faerie?). The principal idea is to think about some core symbol or aspect of springtime and grant it an embodiment or patron. In the Player's Handbook for 5th Edition, there is a reference to the Green Lord (though he's more for Summer than Spring) and Hyrsam, the Prince of Fools (definitely more than likely a Spring Court fey). You can even do something about springtime festivities that might be akin to real-world holidays and festivals like Easter (like the Easter Bunny being a fey lord) and even a fey that represents the dawn and good crops (similar to Ishtar). Note: Something to keep in mind, while the current D&D lore sets a good/evil axis with the fey courts, understand that the fey does not share conventional viewpoints on morality like those in the Material Plane. Good & evil is subjective, you can easily have evil fey in the Spring Court if you so want. Like a deadly fey that lures their victims by being beautiful only to be an elaborate trap. Spring faeries deal with desires and more likely to act on those impulses. <<<>>> Guide to the Feywild - The Summer Court Today we're going to cover the most iconic court of the Seelie faerie, the Summer Court of Titania. Whenever you speak or mention the Seelie fey or the Seelie court, you will undoubtedly think of the Summer Court and its fair queen, Titania. To give you some background on the Summer Queen, you need only start with William Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. Within the pages of the play, you learn of the whimsical natures of the fey, along with Titania taking on consorts from time to time, and the fey having adventures and parties between the dusk and dawn. In fact, it's often referenced that dreams can be interpreted as a mortal being spirited away to the realm of the fairy folk. Another good media example would be Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away or Ferngully. You can also use memorable stories about traveling to fey-like words like Alice in Wonderland. As I've stated before, my guide borrows many bits from the 5th Edition D&D ruleset but also uses lore and information from a multitude of sources. My guides assume there four distinct courts for the four seasons, while the current D&D lore has it set to two, the Summer Court and the Gloaming Court. The information here will hopefully help give you ideas and suggestions when handling with the adventures in the verdant woods of Summer. The Summer Woods/the Emerald Forest The Summer Court resides in the Emerald Forest The Summer Woods, or the Emerald Forest, generally are the regions governed by the Summer Court. An endless forest of tall verdant trees with pockets of groves, springs, and streams. The grass on the forest floor can vary in density and height but often remains within a reasonable size compared to medium sized humanoids. The trees are a different matter, many are a couple hundred feet tall with the oldest ones being possibly three to four hundred feet tall. The fauna and local animals are a wide range, there are numerous varieties of fey as well. Many denizens either live deep beneath the earth, inside the trees or roam freely across the endless forest. Most literature, folklore, and pop-culture interpretations of faerie depict Titania as the actual leader of the Seelie Fey, she often rules the Summer Court. In older planar supplements where the Feywild did not exist, the Seelie Fey governed many portions of the outer planes of the Besatlands, Ysgard, and Arborea. Using the current lore, you can still infer that there are fey crossings from the Feywild into these planar realms. Most fey in the Summer Court will carry some sort of motif with them since the Summer court generally represents vibrant life and strength. You might find the fey here more warlike or tribal. Many beasts and beast-like fey will tend to be larger than their mortal coil cousins. Some may be covered in gold or emerald leaves, their coloring may also be extremely colorful and prismatic. Summer Court fey might be prone to anger or have short tempers, you will find plenty of strong predators as well. Even Queen Titania has been known to be extremely vengeful, almost as badly as the Queen of Air and Darkness from the Gloaming/Winter Court. The Summer Court is elementally aligned to fire with the Winter court typically aligned to air. If you want adjectives for the Summer Court, imagine all the sort of connotations that come with the symbolism of fire: noble, renewal, warmth, bright, brilliant, relentless, indiscriminate, wrath, strong, aggressive, and industrious. You can also expect many summer fey to be arrogant and stoic. The Summer Court is elementally aligned to fire with the Winter court typically aligned to air. If you want adjectives for the Summer Court, imagine all the sort of connotations that come with the symbolism of fire: noble, renewal, warmth, bright, brilliant, relentless, indiscriminate, wrath, strong, aggressive, and industrious. You can also expect many summer fey to be arrogant and stoic. It's important to understand that while D&D likes to attribute the Seelie court faeries as good-aligned, they can be good but that does make them any less dangerous. Faerie Nobles of Summer Titania at rest like in Midsummer Night's Dream, Image by Fredric Howard Michael In most of the D&D lore, they typically do not separate the fey between the four seasons and instead separate them by the simpler dichotomy of good (Seelie) and evil (Unseelie) courts. But if a DM wanted four courts, they would need to make distinctions to separate the respective seasons, the locales in the Feywild can be easily amended, but the harder task is filling such a world with entities to best represent the Summer season and its court. Luckily, the Summer court is often the "home" for the Seelie Court in general. So any literature that just refers to the Seelie court can be considered fair game for the Summer court. Some important Fey entities/deities in the Summer court: Eachthighern, Lord of unicorns and pegasi. He embodies protection and loyalty, he is also a patron of healing. Skerrit is the Lord of centaurs. This powerful fey is the patron of communities and natural balances. Most centaurs are often the mediators and wardens of nature both in the Feywild and the material plane. Emmantiensien is the Lord of treants and trees. Often much of the Emerald Woods is an extension of this powerful and ancient fey deity. Emma (shortened) is an entity that represents deep and hidden magics or old sage wisdom. Sometimes Emma will appear as an old, wizened sage with a crooked wooden staff, though sometimes he may seem as a gnome as well. Old Treebeard is a common name, so myths have this entity slumbering deep within the Summer Woods dreaming of ancient times. Fairy godmothers are often times fey nobles or archfey of considerable power who lure humans under their service and often times tempt them with sweets or presents. Not all fairy godmothers are benevolent, there are plenty of evil fairy godmothers. But even these fey should be met with caution and trepidation. The Green Knight is a powerful archfey that guards and protects the Emerald Woods, often confused for the Summer Knight, but that title belongs to Titania's consort and ally. This fey often is said to be an extension of Emma, but often times it can be seen to have a will of its own. When thinking of fey from the Summer court, think of tree-like entities. There are plenty of dryads and nymphs that guard a grove within the Summer court, most of these tend to have golden features to represent the endless sunlight that shines through the Emerald Forest. You can find dozens of elemental spirits that roam through the Summer Woods, anything from fire sprites to sylphs. Remember that the Summer Equinox is the highest point of power for the Summer court, entities like Titania are not be trifled with during this period. While many of the Summer faerie folk are well intentioned, they ultimately have their own ulterior agenda and will stretch the truth to fit their motives. One observation is to consider the Summer fey as the kind of entities that would stab you in the back but with a smile and warm food at the same time. Note: Something to keep in mind, while the current D&D lore sets a good/evil axis with the fey courts, understand that the fey does not share common viewpoints on morality like those in the Material Plane. Good & evil is subjective, you can easily have evil fey in the Spring/Summer Court if you so want. Like a deadly fey that lures their victims by being beautiful only to be an elaborate trap. Summer faeries can often be vindictive and prone to anger. <<<>>> Guide to the Feywild - The Autumn Court From spring to summer, we enter the perplexing realm of the Feywild that ultimately embodies the transition between Summer and Winter. Autumn is a season of changes, which ultimately means that aspects of both courts will be expressed within the denizens here. The ruler of Autumn varies, changing like the court itself, from humble fey who respect and embody the harvest season and capricious fey who seek to bring terror and mischief in their wake. Autumn symbolizes the fade of Summer's light and vitality, waning and from their throes become the season of Winter. So keep in mind the ideas of the fall harvest but also don't forget that as the season begins to enter into Winter, especially when daylight hours start to shrink while the night strengthens. Autumn commonly is associated with the concept of Halloween, a remembrance of the dead and the departed. Certain types of spirits can be categorized as a type of fae or faerie, as the forces of life and death are important aspects of nature. In Western culture, apples and nuts were used as divination tools once upon a time. Later, as more Christian influences changed and manipulated the concept of All Hallow's Eve, it caused into a schism due to the loss of purgatory in Britain during the Reformation (there are loads of books on Halloween's history and adaptation from its Gaelic/Celtic roots). If you're looking for a funny and light-hearted autumn, then I would recommend viewing it as a holiday or season of thanks before Winter's icy grasp. While a happy and joyful Autumn does not seem to fit within the Unseelie aesthetic, remember that harvest is a reminder of thanks. A selfish person will be rewarded with a small harvest that may not allow them to survive the harsh winter ahead. You may even consider it bribery or extortion at that point. That sweet smile and offering of apple ale could actually be an extortion racket waiting to be unleashed. Fear is the real charm of Autumn, for an unknown terror lurks behind that warm and welcoming demeanor. If you inspiration for possible Autumn like fey, Sleepy Hollow is always an excellent choice. Many spirits can be conceptualized as fey even, Japanese spirits (or yokai) are the Eastern equivalent of fae in the Western sense. You can read my other Feywild articles here: Spring Court | Summer Court | Winter Court | Courtless, Other Courts, & the Feydark | Realms of the Feywild | Roleplaying Fey & Archfey | Halloween in the Feywild | Madness & Taint | Bringing Dread to your D&D game This guide borrows some lore from the 5th Edition ruleset on the Feywild, in addition to the multitude of sources of lore regarding faeries and the fey. This guide assumes a four season-four court apparatus while still maintaining the dichotomy between the Seelie and Unseelie Fey. The information here, hopefully, will help inspire you for ideas when dealing with the mysterious fey in the Pastures of Autumn. The Pastures of Autumn The Pastures of Autumn is set in a field or ever expansive pasture filled with red-orange leaves on trees and on the ground. There are bounties of fruits and vegetables and a soft nip in the air, the sky is stuck in a constant twilight, a reminder of the darker nights of approaching winter. Harvest time is a serious matter in the Pastures of Autumn, many fey are often emissaries to gods or patrons of harvesting, agriculture, and bountiful crops. Typically, many mortals make offerings to these sort of fey spirits for a fruitful and abundant harvest before Winter's chill sets in. The trees with their prismatic allure are the backdrop though many of them bear fruits like apples or nuts. Certain squashes and pumpkins can be seen scattered throughout the endless fields. There are no spring songbirds here, only birds that migrate between worlds such as crows, ducks, and geese. Many animals prefer to stock up and often feed in preparation for their hibernation, so often times you'll find small rodents or larger mammals that seem fatter than the norm. Just like summer, many animals and fey will tend to live underground or inside trees, but astonishing enough, many fey prefer forming communities in the Pastures of Autumn. If you want to the full Autumn experience, I will encourage watching spooky Halloween-esque movies, the realm is an embodiment of fear after all. But there don't forget while many of Autumn's denizens are creatures who feed on the psychic energy of fear, they often will wear the guise of an innocent and kind demeanor. Celebrations are frequent in Autumn, a season of plenty (aside from Spring), the best and most productive harvests happen during this season, and therefore, such festivities should not be taken lightly. I always liked to perceive that Autumn is in a constant jubilation, where the vile and sinister drink with the cheerful and kind. But once the season begins to close, the darker forces of Autumn reign and stalk the pastures and woodlands. There are no Autumn Kings or Queens of renown, I would even dare suggest the narrative and story angle of the Autumn Court as the Court of the Empty Throne. There is no defined ruler of Autumn, but various faerie lords and ladies have rallied the nobility, the gentry, the peasantry, and even the rabble. Keep in mind Autumn has many facets to it, being the ultimate theme is the "twilight of life," so keep that in mind. You can even consider ideas for decay and disease as well, or fey that specializes in such aspects. Physical motifs of Autumn fey will often resemble autumn leaves with blood-orange or soft reddish-purples, but then were is another color palette of grays, black, and pale oranges. There are even blues and dark greens that will often be expressed in many of the fair folk here. You can borrow many Gaelic and Celtic traditions of mischevious spirits, the Japanese yokai are also great sources of inspiration as many deals with creating terror and fright. Autumn fey of hospitality are often warm and inviting, soft in their features even when wrinkled and worn. Just watch out for those sweet old ladies inside their gingerbread houses, or they'll eat you! All things considered, I few the Autumn court to be elementally aligned with earth, with Summer being Fire and Winter being Air, leaving Spring often with water. Which to a certain extent and aesthetic makes sense. Fruits and vegetables born from the earth and soil are a great symbolism and tie-in for Elemental Earth, so keep that part in mind as well when you're crafting some of the elementals that may roam this region of the Feywild. Now, just because it's elementally aligned to earth, that doesn't mean other elementals can't travel freely here. Nature doesn't exclude, but it does have highlights and moments of expression, which in this case, is the metaphor for the seasons. Just like all fey in the Feywild, Autumn faeries can be any alignment though often will align closer to the Unseelie Court more times than not. Faerie Nobles & Deities of Autumn Most literature on the fey or faeries, especially regarding autumn, are not exclusive to this particular season which very peculiar when compared to the other seasons. But you can draw some ideas on fey lords and ladies based on harvest deities from across any mythology that suits your needs. The Green Man/Viridios. A Celtic entity of agriculture, vegetation, and rebirth. Definitely a more neutral sounding entity but a great warden of Autumn, one that has rallied the court in times of war perhaps. Definitely a defender of the harvest and the crops, a great champion when facing against creatures of decay. The Pumpkin King. A mischievous fey lord, often the Lord of Terror or Master of Scares. He lurks behind the pumpkin patches and brings the weary spirits of the dead to haunt possible victims. A true fey that draws its power from causing fear. The Blight Lord. A forgotten and twisted blight, once a vibrant treant that became corrupted by foul magic. A vengeful tree filled with malice and with only the desire of spreading decay and disease. The Ashen Lady. A scorched lady symbolizing the autumn pyres and heaths of homes. Covered in a dark red cloak, the woman seldom speaks but often is remarked to have a soft, raspy voice until angered. Some believe her to be a discarded former Summer archfey, punished for a previous treachery. The Wild Hunt. A horde of spectral huntsmen that roam the various parts of the Feywild in search of worthy prey. While these powerful spirits/fey do not often associate with the Autumn court, their origin stems primarily from Autumn and Winter's influence. When thinking about Autumn, recall the dual nature that exists and is often presented to mortals. Autumn is a great season of change, from the vibrant and flourishing Summer to the cold and harsh Winter. Caught between these two powerful opposing views, Autumn and Spring often get a mix of concepts between those two courts. Currently, the D&D 5th Edition lore has it set to two courts. In this instance, Autumn would possess the hospitality of communities and families while also being the home to creatures of terror and fright. Such entities, you can design to gain psychic energy to fuel their powers. In short, some of these fey require a guise to lure their potential prey. Perhaps that is why some mortal traditions involve wearing the masks of scary creatures, to help repel them away. More nature bound creatures, like dryads and nymphs, will exhibit more autumn coloring and features. Many other entities like redcaps and brownies are often small in stature, allowing them to hide from larger entities. Hunting is a significant aspect of autumn so it would suit to reason that there would be instances of hunting and big game. Feasts and festivals are also common in Autumn, the harvest yield is often the focal point of such events. Note: Remember that in the 5th Edition lore, the Seelie and Unseelie fey belong within the good/evil axis of alignments but very often you'll find a fair mix of attitudes and morality across the Feywild. The fair folk has their own motivations and agendas, so while they may seem pleasant, many can have ulterior motives. Remember that accepting gifts, food, and/or drink from a fey will often result in the individual being spiritually bound to the fey. While tempting, one should avoid ingesting anything or accepting anything. Even when the gesture seems to be in good faith, there's always a price. <<<>>> Guide to the Feywild - The Winter Court Autumn wanes as the cold and darkness sweep through the land. Winter has come. The air is frigid and unforgiving. Trees become leafless, the area covered in ice and snow, many creatures take shelter from the lower temperatures while others thrive in it. The days are short and the nights are longer, various creatures who prefer the dark often lurk and roam in the land of endless winter. The ruler of Winter is the undisputed Queen of Air and Darkness, colloquially referred to as Queen Mab, though her original name is lost the ravages of time. There is also the Prince of Frost, a creature \who ripped their own heart out their devotion only to be forsaken by his love, leaving a cold, empty void that can never be fulfilled. While the Prince of Frost is a deadly and powerful force on his own, all Winter fey know that the Queen is the real supreme leader. Winter often symbolizes death, the end of a cycle, cold and harsh weather, but through Winter, Spring shall bloom again. So Winter has a vital part to play in the sequence of the seasons, often severing as the time nature sleeps to be born again. Darkness is usually an excellent symbol for secrets, mysteries, and illusions. But during these harsh times, creatures often bond and form communities to ensure the tough times, there are fey that reside within Winter but serve to bring warmth and good tidings to all beings. If you're a fan of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, Santa Claus is a Winter fey folk. I'm not joking. The D&D 5th Edition lore has established the Winter court as the Gloaming Court or sometimes referred to as the seat of the Unseelie Court. Further, the widespread folklore maintains this predisposition that the Unseelie fey are inherently evil or evil-aligned. As we've discussed in multiple articles about the Feywild, the mortal morality of the good & evil axis do not apply to the fey. For game mechanical purposes, most Unseelie fey would be attributed to some sort of evil alignment. But like anywhere, there is bound to be exceptions, as I said, Santa Claus as a Winter fey is a side of "good." Remember to think about the Winter Solstice, when the days grow shorter and the nights grow longer (at least if you're in the northern hemisphere). It should be noted that all pretexts of the seasons are based on the weather in a northern hemisphere region. We will cover other aspects of nature & different courts in another article. This guide borrows some lore from the 5th Edition ruleset on the Feywild, in addition to the multitude of sources of lore regarding faeries and the fey. This guide assumes a four season-four court apparatus while still maintaining the dichotomy between the Seelie and Unseelie Fey. The information here, hopefully, will help inspire you for ideas when dealing with the mysterious fey in the Frozen Lands of Winter. Frozen Wastes of Winter, Image by bogjh The Frozen Lands (Wastes) of Winter The Frozen Lands or Wastes of Winter are a desolate land of ice and freezing gales. Vegetation is virtually nonexistent in this realm of the Feywild, food is scarce and ultimately the embodiment of the phrase: "life is harsh." Creatures in the mortal coil typically work hard up until the last harvest and bunker down for the long nights of the winter season. In this part of the Feywild, darkness dominates the landscape, with only pockets of light for their "dawn." Imagine a world where light is in a dusk/twilight phase for probably 4-6 hours and then darkness for 14-20 hours afterward. Far in the distance of the flat and icy lands, tall mountains loom over the horizon, a sky often diluted with grey clouds. Sudden snow storms and blizzards are familiar, creatures not adequately prepared can quickly succumb to a frozen death with the land serving as their icy tombs. There are patches of leafless forests, or forests covered in layers of snow, hidden away. Mortals may make offerings to winter fey in the hopes of a less-harsh winter season or to ward them from the volatile winter season. Such offerings usually do little to appease the whims of a winter fey, stern bargains are the way to deal with such entities. While most winter fey can be emotionless, the notion of a promise carries a higher weight concerning currency for a wandering adventurer in this part of the Feywild. The Queen of Air and Darkness resides in a frozen crystal palace on top of a desolate and steep mountain. Legendary speaks of a black diamond hidden somewhere deep its structure, rumored to be the essence of winter itself. Beyond the Winter Queen's dominion, there are various other enclaves, for example, Santa's Workshop if you wanted to go that route. Just remember that winter is cold, both physically but also emotionally and spiritually. Always keep the phrase "as cold as ice" as reminder text when dealing with the places in Winter or the fey that inhabit it. Fey & Fey Lords/Ladies in Winter Remember, deals with the fey carry a certain degree of risk, especially the archfey or greater fey of Winter. Winter is a season of death and loss, fey from Winter typically deal and are empowered by sorrow, much like how Autumn deals with fear or Summer in wrath. You can have powerful ice hags, and even greater fey seek out sorrows, especially unique and complex ones. Tragedies are very delightful for winter fey, at least, the traditional variety. Most Winter fey are cruel, emotionless, and often ruthless. Others can be sly and mischievous (like most fey) but with a hint of cruelty. The few Winter fey are gentle, kind, and caring. Saints, gods, and spirits of Winter are great inspirations for fey of this court. The North Wind. A powerful spirit that embodies and manages the cold north wind often heralds the coming of winter. A stubborn, unrelenting fey that takes anything it wants and stomps over those who oppose to the march of winter. Chione. The Snow Maiden, a mighty wind nymph often associated with snow. A beauty that possibly rivals Queen Mab, but equally shallow and fickle. Sometimes a kind fey to travelers but if angered, summons powerful flurries and blizzards at the unworthy. The most beautiful snowflakes are made from her tears, only shed for those worthy of it. Prince of Frost. A former winter fey of mischievous deeds and pranks, eventually the prince found a mortal maiden and declared his love with his heart. But she rejected him, leaving the greater fey heartless and become a cold, emotionless entity. If you've ever heard the story of Jack Frost, you can imagine that the Prince of Frost is the direction where Jack became twisted and darker after his encounter with a mortal woman. Santa Claus. Father Christmas, sometimes referred to as Chris Kringle, Ded Moroz, Old Man Winter, Saint Nicholas. A kind-hearted entity that resides in the cold, harsh lands of winter that brings joy to children and inspires good-will and good tidings to all. A very community oriented fey that also enjoys festivities, feasts, games, and parties. Queen Mab, Queen of Air and Darkness. The Winter Queen, the sole ruler of Winter. I'm not a fan of the "evil" murderous entity that 5th Edition attributes her, especially when evil is a relative term for the fey. Mab is the polar opposite role of the Titania, the Summer Queen. Mab is often associated with emotionless, cruelty, harshness, and a cold demeanor. In Butcher's Dresden Files, Mab is mentioned as being a creature of great hatred, and her voice is a reminder of the storm of hate within her. Mab can be compassionate, but it's a display that often could be attributed to weakness so will not openly convey such emotions. Hans Christian Anderson's Snow Queen is a great inspirational piece of literature. You can also refer to Mercutio's monologue in William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet. Mab is a complex entity and should be treated as one, like any sovereign of a faerie court, there are many facets to their personality and agenda. Always keep the motivations of Mab in mind, even if you attribute more "evil" qualities to the Unseelie fey. When thinking about your fey, remember the environment these entities are situated; it's dark, cold, and harsh everywhere. Most denizens reflect the environment but with a grace of most fey. So beautiful but equally removed and emotionless. Granted, there are some entities within the world of Winter that are equally kind and gentle. Ice elementals (combination of air & water) are plentiful here, water and air genasi can frequent such a realm, and various snowy horrors roam through its white, icy vistas. Plenty of creatures that favor a nocturnal existence can be found in the Lands of Winter. Consider the predator and prey roles, think about the adaptations of the predator while non-predators will have survival skills, so consider each fey's adaptation and it should provide a good grasp of how they behave here. Consider the Fey – Queen Mab Queen Mab Mab is a great character to interact with an adventuring party, especially if you have a Fey-pact Warlock with the powerful faerie queen as their patron. If you need ideas or inspiration, I heavily consider these sources: The Merlin movie (Mab is present) Jim Butcher's Dresden Files William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet (Mercutio, Act 1, Scene IV) T.H. White's the Once and Future King (volume 2) Queen of Air and Darkness from D&D's own Monster Mythology (1992) Ultimately, remember that Queen Mab is the embodiment of Winter and all that it entails. She is intimidating, fierce, overbearing, and outright ruthless. No mortal should underestimate her. Those foolish enough to betray her will undoubtedly suffer a terrible fate. <<<>>> Boon of Dimensional Travel As an action, you can cast the misty step spell, without using a spell slot or any components. Once you do so, you can't use this boon again until you finish a short or long rest. Boon of Planar Travel When you gain this boon, choose a plane of existence other than the Material Plane (Feywild). You can now use an action to cast the Plane Shift spell (no spell slot or components required), targeting yourself only, and travel to the chosen plane, or from that plane back to the Material Plane. Once you use this boon, you can't use it again until you finish a short or long rest. Boon of Perfect Health You are immune to all diseases and poisons, and you have advantage on Constitution saving throws. Boon of Immortality You stop aging. You are immune to any effect that would age you, and you can't die from old age. Moonblade Magic: Yes Weight: 3 lbs Dmg1: 1d8 Dmg2: 1d10 Dmgtype: S Property: V Rarity: Legendary Requires attunement by an elf or half-elf of neutral good alignment Of all the magic items created by the elves, one of the most prized and jealously guarded is a moon blade. In ancient times, nearly all elven noble houses claimed one such blade. Over the centuries, some blades have faded from the world, their magic lost as family lines have become extinct. Other blades have vanished with their bearers during great quests. Thus, only a few of these weapons remain. A moonblade passes down from parent to child. The sword chooses its bearer and remains bonded to that person for life. If the bearer dies, another heir can claim the blade. If no worthy heir exists, the sword lies dormant. It functions like a normal longsword until a worthy soul finds it and lays claim to its power. A moonblade serves only one master at a time. The attunement process requires a special ritual in the throne room of an elven regent or in a temple dedicated to the elven gods. A moonblade won't serve anyone it regards as craven, erratic, corrupt, or at odds with preserving and protecting elvenkind. If the blade rejects you, you make ability checks, attack rolls, and saving throws with disadvantage for 24 hours. If the blade accepts you, you become attuned to it and a new rune appears on the blade. You remain attuned to the weapon until you die or the weapon is destroyed. A moonblade has one rune on its blade for each master it has served (typically 1d6 + 1). The first rune always grants a +1 bonus to attack and damage rolls made with this magic weapon. Each rune beyond the first grants the moon blade an additional property. The DM chooses each property or determines it randomly on the Moon Blade Properties table. MOONBLADE PROPERTIES: d100 — Property: 01-40 — Increase the bonus to attack and damage rolls by 1, to a maximum of +3. Reroll if the moonblade already has a +3 bonus. 41-80 — The moonblade gains a randomly determined minor property (see "Special Features" earlier in this chapter). 81-82 — The moonblade gains the finesse property. 83-84 — The moonblade gains the thrown property (range 20/60 feet). 85-86 — The moonblade functions as a defender. 87-90 — The moon blade scores a critical hit on a roll of 19 or 20. 91-92 — When you hit with an attack using the moon blade, the attack does an extra 1d6 slashing damage. 93-94 — When you hit a creature of a specific type (such as dragon, fiend, or undead) with the moonblade, the target takes an extra 1d6 damage of one of these types: acid, cold, fire, lightning, or thunder. 95-96 — You can use a bonus action to cause the moonblade to flash brightly. Each creature that can see you and is within 30 feet of you must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become blinded for 1 minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. This property can't be used again until you take a short rest while attuned to the weapon. 97-98 — The moonblade functions as a ring of spell storing. 99 — You can use an action to call forth an elfshadow, provided that you don't already have one serving you. The elfshadow appears in an unoccupied space within 120 feet of you. It uses the statistics for a shadow from the Monster Manual, except it is neutral, immune to effects that turn undead, and doesn't create new shadows. You control this creature, deciding how it acts and moves. It remains until it drops to 0 hit points or you dismiss it as an action. 00 — The moonblade functions as a vorpal sword. Sentience: A moon blade is a sentient neutral good weapon with an Intelligence of 12, a Wisdom of 10, and a Charisma of 12. It has hearing and darkvision out to a range of 120 feet. The weapon communicates by transmitting emotions, sending a tingling sensation through the wielder's hand when it wants to communicate something it has sensed. It can communicate more explicitly, through visions or dreams, when the wielder is either in a trance or asleep. Personality: Every moonblade seeks the advancement of elvenkind and elven ideals. Courage, loyalty, beauty, music, and life are all part of this purpose. The weapon is bonded to the family line it is meant to serve. Once it has bonded with an owner who shares its ideals, its loyalty is absolute. If a moon blade has a flaw, it is overconfidence. Once it has decided on an owner, it believes that only that person should wield it, even if the owner falls short of elven ideals. https://www.facebook.com/dan.smith.1426876 Hey Keith, For the record: It's $90 for a 9x12 b/w + a color jpeg. If you want multiple characters in drawing, add $50 per character....Write up what you think I need to know about your character(s), visually/attitude and send it to me. paypal me half to gamesmif@gmail.com (as a friend). I'll do what I have in mind, you get one shot at any changes you want. (If you don't want it, I'll refund you, make some slight changes and ink it up as one of my illustrations.) I then will ink it up, show you the inked version. You pay the rest via paypal as I color it up, then I'll send you the original via snail mail and a 11x17 printable jpeg via email. Cool? Below, you’ll find a running list of roleplay warm up questions that I’ve asked on Twitter (@justice_arman). Please feel free to use them in your games. In your character’s opinion, what quality should EVERY adventurer have? Curiosity What would your character say to the party with their dying breath? Thank you, one and all What’s one errand your character has to take care of the next time they’re in town? A hot, soaking bath What is the best meal your character has ever eaten? Some feast or other at the king's table for some celebration or other. They blend together... all the palace food was delicious You’re at the Tipsy Lobster, a tavern in giant glass bottle that hugs a rocky shore-cliff. A spunky halfling in a blue doublet arrives to take your order. What do you tell them? Surprise me... in a delightful fasion What is the best gift your character has ever received? So many people have given him so many things... it would be gauche to rank them. What is one title your character has earned that makes them proud? Feyblood What is your character’s retirement plan? These words are nonsensical Your character stands at the front gate of Candlekeep, the Castle of Tomes. However, you can’t get in until you provide the monks with a rare book or piece of writing. What did you bring? A trashy, pulp, romance story With which school of magic does your character most identify? Faerie magics... What is your character’s favorite thing about adventuring? He never knew the world could be this... big (in all the meanings of that word) For what would your character sell his soul? He's never encountered a situation that begs this question, also, he may not have one What did your character last dream about? What failing and falling to the temptations of dark power might be like What is one thing your character prefers to do alone? Sing quietly What is one thing your character has changed their mind about? When was the last time your character was cold to someone else? When was the last time your character failed? Does your character see the mug as half empty or half full? Also, what’s in the mug? The mug is always full if the servants are doing their jobs right. Oh... the philosophical mug, right. The mug is still always full, just that some of what it's full of is air... air has its uses. And the mug contains ambrosia. Is your character a clean person or a messy person? Fastidious is the proper term What does your character do on their day off? What's a day off? Every day's a day off when you're an adventurer! How would the other party members describe your character? What song would your character sing at karaoke night? Karaoke is for amateurs. What is your character’s pet peeve? gauchery/inelegance/poor taste If your character had a warning label, what would it say? Beware that smile What is one of your character’s fondest memories? His mother's smile on the day she left him. What is one rule your character never breaks? To thine ownself be true. A new adventurer approaches your character, asking for wisdom. What lesson does your character impart to the young adventurer? Live to see another day. Keep doing that. Describe one of your character’s childhood friends. Acquaintances... never friends. Part of the game is to keep everyone emotionally separated from you. This gives you better perspective on the situation, thus better ablility to act in a decisive manner in oppotune moments. If your character could ask an all-knowing entity one question, what would it be? Is it truly left foot first, or what? If your character were an animal, what would he be? A river otter. Where was your character educated? If they didn’t have a formal education, how were they taught? Informal tutelage mostly. Mentors and artisans. What is one secret the rest of the party doesn’t know about your character? He is the great grandson of Titania, the Queen of the Seelie Fae. When was the last time your character said, “I love you,” if ever? When he was 11, to his mother, as she left him. What is your character’s catch phrase? You got this! When was the last time your character used a set of tools? Tools are for manual laborers... What deity does your character worship? How do they show their devotion? Angharradh - the triune goddess. He shows devotion by spreading joy and life and love. Tell me about one trinket your character possesses. What is one thing your character admires about someone else in the party? Lady A - Her nobility and conviction Surina - Her courage and prowess in battle and her tactician's brain Seth - His wisdom and compassion Vayra - Her humility, her curiosity, and her fighting skills How does your character relax after a hard day’s work? In the company of others, singing, smiling, and dancing. What does your character see when he looks in the mirror? More of a man than he thought possible just a little while ago If your character were an author, what would be the title of his first book? It would be a trashy, pulp, romance story... Describe your character’s personal hell. Manual labor on a pig/chicken farm, with no bathing or change of clothes What’s one thing that always makes your character smile? Seeing that he's made someone else happy/content/pleased/joyful What is one way that someone can earn your character’s trust? Being vulnerable themselves What is one thing your character has seen or done that no one would ever believe? Seen a demon-lord What is one goal your character hopes to accomplish in the next year? Claiming a specific piece of land What is something your character does every morning? Get his hair brushed/combed/syled What does your character look like when he gets angry? Quiet, narrow eyes, narrow mouth, possibly flared nostrils What is one sacrifice your character has made? He fled the castle when he could've stayed. Describe your character’s aesthetic in one word. Colorful Your character is given a magic hourglass. With it, he can change one decision he made in the past year. Which one does he pick? Following the Black Spider down the vortex... What’s one thing your character does when no one is around? Sing childhood lullabys that his mother and her friends sang to him How would you describe your character’s fashion style? Courtly What is one way that your character shows he cares about someone else? He listens to them, actively, and takes joy in their tellings What is something your character doesn’t have enough of? Safety/peace/comfort If your character were a drink, what would he be and why? Thujone Absinthe If your character were to start a business, what would it be? What would make it special? Here's what I'm looking forward to with our game's return... 0 Getting together with everyone again regardless of anything else that may or may not happen. 1 Getting out of the Underdark and away from demons (even if it's just for a little while before we need to go back and deal with them) 2 Getting back to Phandalin to see what's gone on since we left, and fixing anything we broke by leaving. This also includes getting Nundro to his brother and getting the Lost Mine working, figuring out what that means to Eldeth (is she going to leave Nundro to go home or will she help out with the mine... she'd make a great protector of the mine). It includes figuring out what happened to all our stuff that got left in the manor house and the mine (there's seriously lots of money/treasure that got left behind). 3 Tracking down the story of Vayra's people, and why the people who tried to abduct her did so and what that means. I'm curious to see how Korey chooses to blossom his character now that she's going to be "free" from her past. 4 Seeing Surina swim like an iguana/crocodile (been waiting for this for a while now). 5. Figuring out exactly how much time has gone by... 6. And Terrynon wants to take over the goblin cave and make a home for himself there (eventually).