Day and Night in Faerie are not as they are in mortal lands

Art by Terese Nielsen

In the material world, day and night are a cycle. Go deep enough into the night, you find the dawn. In Faerie, they are more linear. Go further into the night, and only deeper night will greet you.

The Fey Courts are placed at the human extremes of these scales. The midnight court exists at a time of night analogous to midnight on mortal worlds, hence the name. But there are deeper nights that mankind never sees. The world pulls back at midnight, afraid to fall deeper in. In Faerie, one can visit these places.

Beyond Night lies the field of stars. One can walk out and meet them, alien kings resplendent in pale blues, reds and golds. Dreams come from here, clambering up into the human night and into human heads.

Beyond Day lies the brightness. Most go blind quickly. The sun lives here, and his light scours away deception. Hopes come from here, fluttering down into the human daytime.

Beyond Summer lies the living flame. The heat is so intense that plants and animals have burned away, but the inherent growth of summer brings life here nonetheless. The fire is a predator, but it is smarter than most know.

Beyond Winter is the stillness. Flat, immobile ice. Unbearable cold. Anything that moves here will grind to a halt in time. Light and sound slow the deeper you go, until you can hear the echoes of kingdoms long dead.

These make up a majority of the borders of Faerie. But the corners still remain, where the courts border each other at the deepest parts of their power. Deep summer and deep winter are a world apart, but deep summer and deep night crash together to form something new.

The border of Day and Summer, close to the center. Further out, towards Authority, it gives way to blistering desert.

Art by Zoltan Boros & Gabor Szikszai

There is a border town at each corner. Unaffiliated with either, necessary for peace. They are filled with outcasts from the two courts that form the region, and are more or less safe for travelers. These are the hinterlands of Faerie.

The border between Abandon and the Moonlight. One can still turn back here, but no further.

Art by Angel Ganev

Deep in the summer night lies the city of Abandon. The moon hangs heavy in the sky, fat and golden. The air is warm and pleasant, an intoxicating breeze runs through the trees. The city is built into the branches of huge fey trees, with lanterns throwing the area into golden light.

Even being in the city starts to break down inhibition. Anyone who breathes the air becomes two to three drinks drunk, constantly. This is in addition to the ample and free drink. Sex, risk, and violence are all commonplace.

Beyond Abandon is Desire, known also as The Moonlight. The moon grows in size, until it swallows the sky. Out here, one becomes what they have always desired to be, in their deepest heart. Most who walk out into that wide sky never return, becoming constantly shifting animalistic creatures ruled by the slightest whim. Only those with clear concrete goals and strong will return with wishes granted.

Authority, from the front gate

Art by Tarmo Juhola

Where summer meets brightest day is the walled city of Authority. The city sits in a desert, rising like a mountain from the sands. It is the largest castle anyone has or will ever see. The archetype of cities. Colorful, with millions of banners streaming from towers and parapets.

The city runs on a strict hierarchy, each person following the orders of their direct superior to the letter. Every creature in existance is logged in their ledger of command. You will be given quarters according to your station.

Beyond Authority is Dominion, the demiplane of the King of Gods. A drained mirror of the city of Authority. A stack of bleached white structures, stolen conquests from a thousand worlds. No architecture matches its neighbor, and buildings grow at strange angles.

Ice fishermen’s homes, on the edge of Allegiance.

Art by Tim Kaminski

Where winter meets day sits the city of Allegiance. Hearty wooden huts nestled into the protection of a rocky ridge, each sunk into the ground. One enormous longhouse dominates the city, large enough to seat thousands.

The city runs on camaraderie in the face of hardship. Winter storms wrack the city, and each person must watch for his neighbor’s safety. There is no rulership, beyond respect. The city instead is ruled by a set of traditions that change ever slowly. A newcomer can have trouble adjusting, but the rites of hospitality are strong here, and they are in no danger.

Beyond Allegiance is Dissolution. The ego death. Even speaking of it, we cannot think as individuals. Anyone who walks out there joins the collective, an amalgamation of souls and minds and bodies. Despite being a huge existential risk to all life, they are extremely friendly. They send (often hard to follow) letters into town with regularity. They’re always recruiting, and they have much to offer.

The town of Anarchy looks like this, but without the incoming dawn

Art by Lucas Staniec

In the deepest winter night sits the city of Anarchy. It sits on the edge of an endless shallow black lake, a series of scattered buildings making up a loose community, winding streets lit by dull blue lanterns that strain against the incoming darkness.

All lost things in Faerie flow downriver into this place. The residents pull flotsam and survivors from the water. There are hospitals and boarding houses. They take no money, if you stay for long you’re expected to work, at least until you leave. Most have no where to return, so stay here, or venture out into the dark water.

Beyond Anarchy lies Disorder, demiplane of He Who Will Not Be Ruled. A sea of black water that rises up to the knees. All those lost and forgotten end up here eventually. Whole lost nations have been dragged out into this sea. Somewhere out there is a city, made of all the detritus of a thousand worlds. Fallen angels, risen demons, pauper kings, imprisoned heroes left to rot. All make their homes out here at the end of the world.

The standing stones at the center of Faerie.

Art by Paul Dene

The center of Faerie is just as dangerous and strange as it’s extremes. The woods around it are the hunting grounds of the wild hunt, but the very middle itself is a beast of its own.

There are two centers to Faerie, though most only know of the first. If one travels to the place at the moment of the equinox and the middle of twilight, they will find the Discordant Center.

The clearing sits with four arrow straight paths open on four sides. The sun and the moon sit on opposite horizons, as if squared for war. A howling hot wind blows from summer, and a biting cold blows from winter.

In the center of the clearing a circle of standing stones surrounds a simple stone table. This is where the queens can meet, a place of incredible power, where no one has more than the others.

The cairn path leads here from day into night

Art by Drachenmagier

It winds unseen through familiar woods

Art by Alexandra Schastlivaya

And through unknown and treacherous parts.

Art by Juan Carlos Barquet

The other center is superficially similar to the first. The same standing stones ring the center and the same trees line the clearing. But this one has no simple path to reach it.

One must follow the Cairn Path, a secret road that winds through every corner of Faerie. It takes one through many familiar locations, such as the courts, but as you near the end you enter a part of Faerie few have seen. The final segment goes through a whirling chaos of the power of the four courts, then into a calm and unassuming wood. And finally into the center.

This center only has one entrance. At the zenith of the sky a massive eclipse shines down on the stones. The temperature is unnoticeable, and the air is perfectly still. This is the opposite of the other center, a place of profound powerlessness. Every power is countered and cancelled here. Even immortals can die in this place.

At the center, in place of the table, a shimmering gateway stands. A tall winged figure stands on the other side, a flaming sword in hand. What lies beyond is unknown, and perhaps not to be known.