Otherworld

The Fae otherworld is the collective term for all the realms that the multitude peoples of the fae race reside on. However, it also a term used for the most central of these realms, referred to often as the Otherworld, a proper noun, which is the home of the Tuatha de Dannan, regarded as the first descendants of the Old Gods of the Otherworld.

Notable Places

The Seelie Court

The Seelie Court is home to the Seelie Monarchy and is the seat of their government. It is a place of light and love and laughter, much in contrast to the more somber atmosphere of the Unseelie Court. The Court itself changes from Monarch to Monarch as the position carries with it a variation of the home-making powers that all Fae possess, allowing them to shape the Court as per their vision of it and what they want and need in it. Tradition dictates, however, that the Court always retain parts of previous reigns within it. Perun's court contained the crystalline archways of Apollo and the summer gardens of Titania in addition to the many archery ranges that Perun so enjoyed.

There are, however, areas of the Court that cannot be changed, wreathed in older magic and not subject to the whims of petty kings. The Seelie Court contains the Elysian Fields and its rolling hills of gold and its trees of succulent fruit and nectar-bearing flowers. It was a place of peace and prosperity unparalleled in all the Otherworld. At its heart lie the Isles of the Blest, one of the Old Lands where the Seelie and occasional Unseelie fae who are reincarnated and live thrice heroic may retire to. Part of the land that the Seelie Court occupies is Annwn, estate of Arawn, self-proclaimed psychopomp for the species of fae with souls. In his banquet halls, these fae celebrate life without worry or want. Though it is known that Arawn is a very strong user of magic and all the souls of the dead in his halls may just be part of a grand illusion.

The Unseelie Court

Home to the Unseelie Monarchy, one would think that the Unseelie Court would be more grand, more like a palace, but it is neither of these things. It is majestic in its own graceful way, but it is more raw than the Seelie Court, as appearances mean nothing to the Unseelie. Where the Seelie Court has arches and golden palaces and soaring towers, the Unseelie Court is a sprawling complex of assorted rooms, plazas and pavilions. It is a rather pleasant place to the Unseelie, but the Court's energies are quite hostile to Seelie fae. There are places in the Unseelie court that Seelie fae cannot physically enter because the energy there is so concentrated that it is purely hostile to the Seelie. The Unseelie have the same tradition as the Seelie in that previous reigns feature prominently in the Court. However, since the Nightmare's reign, all signs of previous monarchs have been erased save for the small subterranean woods that the Wolf-King had managed to secret away from the eyes of the Court because he so desired to simply be free from his duties sometimes.

If the Seelie Court has the Elysian Fields, the Unseelie Court has Asphodel, a vast expanse of rolling plains that gives life to vast fields of ghostgrass, selendrites and wyrdtrees. There are many wandering paths through it, and it is a hallowed place for the Unseelie. Though the alignment has little choice in being self-serving, many Court Unseelie believe that to serve the self properly requires knowing the self properly and many of them wander Asphodel deep in contemplation as the selendrites open their petals to the passage of the moon and the moonflies rise from the ghostgrass, glittering blue and white in the almost-perpetual night of Asphodel.

Within the borders of the Court is also the Tech Duinn, another of the Old Lands. It is a largely abandoned mansion that sits forbiddingly in the shadow of the Mater Mons. It is the only known dwelling of an Old Otherworld God that is known to the fae, but its old master, Donn is nowhere to be found much like the others of his kin. The only creatures that dwell in the place are the Aswang and Ammit, the Devourer of Souls. It is a sacred place of pilgrimage for the Unseelie, and a place for mourning the dead. For some of the fae species that have burial rights, they bring their deceased to the Tech Duinn which has grown to have quite the banana plantation behind it as when the Aswang finish devouring the corpses, they grow a banana plant in memory of the fae.

Ginnungagap

The first and greatest of the Old Lands, the Ginnungagap is the primordial birthplace of all the realms of man, fae, and underworld god. Traditional folklore says that it exists at the meeting place of Muspelheim and Niflheim. Ginnungagap is the vast primordial void that exists between the realm of ice and the realm of fire where all of creation rose from the raging sea of chaos that was the void. It is one of the closed worlds, sealed by ancient magicks older than the fae themselves. Entering the Ginnungagap is a death sentence as the wild magicks of creation that rage at its heart would tear apart any who would dare. Only the giants Ymir and Surtr can safely tread into the cloak of the ancient chaos.

Its creative energies can be channelled by sufficiently powerful Warlocks and used to create something from nothing. Thrown open by the battle between Ymir and Surtr, the warlock Emrys was able to channel power from the Ginnungagap through the Hyperion Gate in order to create the bastion of the Court of Eventide, the Thorn.

Sherwood Forest

Home to Cernunnos, The Great White Stag, the God of the Wild Hunt and its patron, Sherwood Forest is itself protected by ancient magicks and ancient laws that predate the creation of the Courts. Underneath its foliage, no fae blood may be shed lest the wrath of Cernunnos be called upon the violator, and the wroth of the Underworld Gods be made manifest. At the outskirts of the forest, but still within the protections of its boundaries is the Pavilion of Lycc ([Lu-ch] ch as in German ich).

The pavilion's patron and owner is the kindly Naga Lycc who hails from the headwaters of the Ganges. Like most Naga, she is not very pleasant with the Garuda, but she is far more tolerant of them than her cousins. At the Pavilion, every fae of any alignment is welcome, mostly for debauchery and all manner of drinks, both exotic and standard. It is one of the few truly neutral territories in the Otherworld.

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