So the brainstorm for a 4e Feywild project is going on at Fourthparty - even if you are like me and don't know much about 4e as a system you might enjoy throwing some ideas into the pot:
http://fourthparty.freeforums.org/feywild-project-brainstorm-t41.html
Paramo's Project Outline:
Faerie
I. Forces of Faerie
A. Fecund: Faerie is so fertile strong enough ideas and emotions take on their own lives; the force which spawns fey
1. Theories on Fencund
(a) Faerie potentially seeded by mortals, sending ripples throughout the perfect Dream/Idea
(1) lends worth to mortal abductions and crib-swapped changelings
(b) some natural force seeks to drive mortals insane to prevent this unabashed creation (creating Mad Hatter types)
B. Narrative Time: The most legendary, dramatic, romantic, or tragic outcomes will come to pass; touches on all aspects of Faerie
1. cyclical (destiny cycles: the son becomes the father; family curses; rights of succession; the sleeping monarch)
2. Seelie are oblivious (yet embody) its power; Unseelie are obsessed with it; spirits of the Eald are a part of it ancient soul; the Grey works outside or against it; Hags and the Warped can see into its
future and past
II. Courts
A. Seelie: ‘both the dreamers and the dreams’; constantly inventing themselves from moment to moment (shapeshifters); embodying change and fleeting emotions; flirting with concepts, but
never becoming them; always in motion; focused on the present
1. can appear very inhuman (occupying multiple spacial dimensions at one time; partially light, shape, concept; flickering images; consisting of exclusively sound, color, or simply feelings)
their presence can be creative or destructive, beautiful or terrifying, ignorant but perceptive; touched with moments of extreme benevolence or pettiness; childlike fascination, but also childlike
attention spans; their art tends for finite, song, dance, music, drama
2. inhabitants of the Weal
B. Unseelie: obsessed with an idea or a concept, and driven mad because of it; focused on the future, and resent the past and present; masterminds of many long-term plots; contemplative
(pondering great mysteries, designing unanswerable riddles, exhausting the knowledge of a topic); dedicated and tormented/inspired artists and artisans, whose art is permanent: crafting,
sculpting, painting, etc
1. static in form, though garb themselves in changing things (illusions, masks, deceptions); can only change themselves permanently (making themselves uglier or more garish; can be statuesque
and beautiful [beauty a powerful Unseelie lure])
2. occupy physical realms, the Wan; capable of creating the most magnificent structures and objects
C. Grey: those outside the courts, either by choice, exiled, or utterly oblivious; certain things imprisoned in the Grey, where they cannot affect Narrative Time: The Grey Riders Stupidity, Doubt,
Criticism, and Drivel, the Anti-Muses, and other destroyers of passion
1. alchemy of Seelie and Unseelie aspects; joined in harmony, or imbalanced discord
2. neutrality/Modesty/Restraint: the rare fey who look beyond the present, and are interested in more than their own futures
III. Locations
A. Weal: Escher/Ernst/Surrealistic structures; often paradoxical and nonsensical; labyrinthine gardens and impossible or mismatched architecture; brilliant and confusing; ‘danger hides in the light’; a place meant for beings airier than flesh and blood
B. Wan: Often underground; civilization without limits of time or resources; inspired by jealousy, obsession, greed, lust, fear, but also notions of protection, posterity, meekness; a place where the Shadow hides; a place where the darker nature is not judged
C. Grey: ‘The Lands of Mist’; a foggy wilderness hiding cities, palaces, prisons, peculiarities
D. Eald: the old wilderness; the haunt of elder spirits; powers of the oral tradition where Narrative Time takes on more cautionary/folklorish connotations of the original stories- told my hunters by the fire, told by mothers to frighten children, told to tribes to teach about how things came to be, or what not to do
1. visitors come to barter, forge pacts, or pay homage/appease
E. Warp: Where the beginning and end of time meet, Ouroboros’ mouth swallowing its tail, Hathor's Eye (witchcraft and vengeance; evil eye; sight beyond), birthplace of prophets, oracles, and augurs
1. wisdom given, something taken
IV. Flora and Fauna
A. living livery, symbols hold authority, allegorical creatures and plants lend real power, provide access and permissions
1. Seelie flowers, Unseelie fungi, Eald fauna
Thanks for posting this - I look forward to checking it out.
This prompted me to take a closer look at the Feywild and the Shadowfell, since I don't know too much about either. A couple of (speculative non-canon) ideas I came across:
1) The Shadowfell is 4E's more adventure-friendly stand-in for the Plane of Shadow and Negative Energy Plane.
2) The Feywild and the Shadowfell are interstitial planes between the prime and the Positive and Negative Energy planes, respectively. Obviously this one doesn't really make sense as 4E doesn't have energy planes, but it has an "everything in its place" quality that seems like it should appeal to PS sensibilities.
I was recently checking out a Shadow book from some 3rd party Pathfinder publisher that used the traditional Shadow tropes as a jumping-off point for a place far more alien than it's usually presented. Putting all of the above together I started thinking about this sequence of transitional planes:
Prime -> Shadowfell -> Shadow -> Negative Energy
And presumably there would be a positive converse to this, with some strange plane out beyond the Feywild. This is probably drifting into Parallel Multiverses territory at this point, but one thought pertinent to this thread:
What if fey are, in some sense, the opposite of undead? On another thread we were briefly discussing fey vs. comparable nature folk of other cultures, which prompts the question: What are fey, anyway? What exactly unites them in this taxonomic group? Perhaps their bond with nature is actually the manifestation of a more fundamental connection with life itself.
I'm not suggesting this as a working theory but perhaps it's a worthwhile lens for thinking about stuff, and/or imagining fey that are not overtly woodland. Speaking of which, dig this space fey from the It Came From the Stars Kickstarter project:
Great stuff Atomicb, will definitely make sure the Fey Brainstormers see this - Thanks!
Just want to say we're slow but steadfast in our brainstorming. I had a massive case of writer's block in regards to this project, but I think we're getting back into our groove. All to say there is still lots to be discussed for those who enjoy some Fey and planar brainstorms, no knowledge of 4e required for this part.
Also, to whet appetites, here's a location made by Paramo:
The Great Primungle
In the eternal tangle of forests and jungles of the Eald, untamed masses of roots, vines, trunks, stems, and blossoms choke and climb over one another in the War of Growth, the breadth of all the worlds' greenery twisted about itself, creating strangley-shaped sky-canopies that could shade entire worlds, and supporting countless ever-dimming layers between from the highest branches of the world-trees to the black, pungent earth of the Kingdoms of Worms. Ancient places mysterious and primeval exist in the pockets and caged clearings, ruled by primordial mothers, totem spirits, beast kings, and the great idea-titans from which all other animals and plants were modeled. The Primungle has also spawned its own ravenous and unusual creations, fusing animals, plants, and insects into such monstrosities as the prowling tigerlilies, dandelion prides, and mammoth primantises. The Primungle pools about the great mountains, foresting some, but largely kept at bay by the spirits of avalanche, earthquake, eruption, and mudslide which inhabit the slopes. The Primungle is at constant odds with the Eald plains and deserts, which it tirelessly seeks to consume. Even the Eald's infinite oceans and ever-reaching sky are forced to beat the Primungle back when it grows too brazen, lest all the Eald be consumed, and then Faerie itself, and then the other worlds and planes besides.
Within the Great Primungle lurk such titans and fiends as:
Toghra, the Gorilla-Hydra: A force of nature unto himself, the massive hydra is coated in black, glistening fur, and each of its thick, corded necks ends in a snarling gorilla head. Extremely territorial and easy to anger, this semi-sentient monster considers the whole of the Primungle his domain, and when he comes across others, it quick to exert his dominance. Thus far, no creature has withstood such primordial devastation, and those that do not flee are ripped apart.
Madi Manda, the Boss Mother: A huge, hulking orangutan, she suckles a kingdom of primates in a city-state of broken ruins, braided vines, and fruit trees. A privileged bully, a demanding mother, a savage lover, and a bestial diplomat, Madi Manda is waited hand and foot by her scores of underlings. She often sends them on quests for rare foods, or objects both beautiful or valuable. She is most pleased by performances in her honor, whether comic plays, festive dances, brutal orgies, or gladiatorial combats. If forced to lead her hammock-throne, it is to mate or to kill, sometimes both.
The Creek: Some plants in the Eald enjoy killing, and a vine or curling ivy can drop upon the unsuspecting like a python, swiftly crushing the life out of their prey and coveting its decaying corpse as fertilizer. The Creek is a particularly large wave of ivy, vines, and weeds that moves through the Primungle leaving everything within its grasp crushing, sapped, and dead. It makes a terrible sound as it does so, a rising creek, accompanied by the buckling of trunks, the gasping of animals, and the shudder of dead grass and leaves. It's said a congregation of moldering liches has taken up residence in the Creek, immune to its life-sapping, like clown fish holing in stinging coral. The Creek's protection allows them to continue their work unmolested, and occasionally provides lucrative treasures, knowledge, and corpses.
Jasa, the Rippers, Eaters of Men and Their Destinies: Particularly hideous crosses between men and tigers that would never be confused with catfolk or weretigers, the Jasa are a cruel, predatory race that hunt in empire-packs (hundreds of thousands together) throughout the Primungle, and sometimes beyond. Hunger and hatred are spliced in their souls, and they never sleep, never stop moving. The void in their stomachs is only sated through genocide, the end of entire species and all their great works. The Jasa have been responsible for countless exterminations and holocausts, and its said in times before recounting they were plane-jumpers, ripping through world after world until they found the Eald, capable of containing even their evil. While many Jasa do not ponder escape in their bloodlust, the select Jasa Lord does, the elite of their race, capable through EXTREME willpower of steering their compulsion for death-dealing- and using it to break away. These lords can find satisfaction by hunting and devouring heroes, particularly those not yet fully developed. There is a scent about the destined, irresistible, which inspires Jasa Lords to stalk a single creature for years, across any distance. Unfortunately, only the very greatest of heroes can ever hope to contend with one of their number, who, in its lone persona, matches an empire-pack in sheer might.
Paramo had a cool idea regarding Narrative Time and water ways that I think would be useful for others as a planar pathway:
"Imagine a physical journey through the elements of a story, origin, exposition, rising action, climax, etc etc, by literally riding rivers and rapids, trying to keep on course with a particular genre, or maybe clutching a soaked parchment map while attempting to navigate to a desired ending. Wherever you wind up determines the gains and failures of your life. Maybe there is some sort of special fey type or an unusual NPC that facilitates this, not sure why I envision a stork of some sorts. You only get one ride. People sometimes find their way back and try to swim upriver, but that's a fool's errand, kind of like a Chinese hell of swimming against a current and never getting anywhere, reaching for a moment they'd change but never being able to. Those would be haunted swimmers indeed, who'd live their whole lives in those waters, then become some waterlogged wights after, paddling, kicking, thrashing with a desire stronger than death.
Imagine what horrendous demon-beavers dam the flow of stories, flooding waters till stories mingle, creating in their damage bad art, cliffhangers, unfinished tales, etc etc. Think of the miraculous oils that could be derived from the trout mating in the waters of Romance, or the mudskippers in the dark streams Pornography. Old liars might fish in the streams of Tall Tale, their catches are amazing as their yarns (but which may just rip them into the waters and devour them). Parsons could baptize men and women into new genres like religions. Infernal ferryboats might ride up and down the rivers of Parable, in spite of the drowned saints leering up at them, hosting Faustian card games and tossing losers and thieves to drown in the clutches of holy claws.
Narrative Time seems like it could be so many things to so many different fey, and the other races besides. It transcends the Wyld, but it's perhaps its most potent here. I'm not even sure two people see it the same way, never mind how gnomes see it compared to frog-men, compared to demons and dragons."
in an attempt to drag some cutters into this, here is the original pitch for this project:
Inspired by European folklore and popular magical realism and high fantasy, help cultivate the ripe and underutilized realm of Faerie for D&D. Lets develop thought-provoking elements intended for the DM in a place of magic and impossibility.
Wander the verdancy of the Weal, Faerie’s green, flowering face with all its intoxicating wonders. Or plunge into the horror of the Wan, where ugliness and envy have bore a second country of caves and darkness. Risk the boundaries of the Eald, where the old spirits linger, or dare the Warp, where the most beautiful fey are lured and twisted into prophetic hags.
In Faerie, poetry can move the sky to tears, and a song stir even a mountain into moving aside. Witness emotion take its place beside gravity as a tangible force, turning a lady’s favor into armor stronger than steel, and her scorn a poison deadlier than hemlock. Join in revelry that lasts for human lifetimes. Hear magic carry like a chortle on the wind. In Faerie, the heights of both honor and pettiness are defined. Overcome the tomfoolery of the base-born fey, and survive the ceremony and pomp of their royalty, fickle as children and powerful as demigods.
The 128-page supplement includes:
The Verge: 5 mortal/planar crossings along the edges of Faerie
+ added means of entering and escaping Faerie through skill challenges, terrain powers, rituals, curses, items, portals, NPCs, etc
The Splendor of the Weal: 8 brief and 4 in depth locations set on Faerie’s verdant face, the latter complete with sample delves
terrain powers and hazards, skill challenges, companions, diseases, poisons, etc
The Horrors of the Wan: 8 brief and 4 in depth locations set in Faerie’s subterranean worming and barren blights, complete with sample delves
terrain powers and hazards, skill challenges, companions, diseases, poisons, etc
Courts, Fair & Foul: 2 new Seelie and Unseelie courts, including court monster themes and Epic stat blocks of ruling monarchs
Flora and Fauna: 12 new fey plants and monsters
Faerie Shine: Alternative and magical rewards
Lore: Small, flavorful anecdotes related to Faerie
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