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Fey

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Artagan-by-David-Rodrigues

Fan art of Artagan, an Archfey, by David Rodrigues.[art 1]

Fey, also known as fae,[1] are the creatures from the Feywild, a parallel plane to the Material Plane. They are strongly magical and some of them are even immortal.

Types of fey[]

Aside from the immortal, immutable Archfey, most fey live for upward of 300 years, and they change forms (including gender) based on their innermost feelings, so that the most unstable of fey can wildly change their type almost a dozen times over the course of their lives. Two fey can have children of different types than themselves.[2]

Sea fury by Andrew Mar

Depiction of a sea fury, by Andrew Mar from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 298.[art 2]

  • Hags - Powerful and evil fey crones.[3]
    • Annis hags
    • Green hags
    • Sea hags and their variant, the sea furies
  • Quicklings - An extremely fast-moving fey that looks like a lithe, hairless elf-goblin hybrid with dull grey skin and mostly white eyes with a faint pupil.[4] Due to their extreme speed they are used as couriers to deliver important letters and missives between courts.[5]
  • Feyspecks - Trickery-loving entities made of colored light that take care of the underbrush of fey forests.[6]
  • Nymphs - Beautiful fey beings that personify different elements of nature.
    Water nymph by Lief Dubin

    Fan art of a water nymph, by Lief Dubin.[art 3]

  • Satyrs/fauns - Appearing like a human with the horns of a goat or ram (and sometimes the ears to match) and a furred lower body supported by two cloven-hooved legs.[17][18]
    • Forlarren - Satyrs corrupted by fiendish influences over them or their ancestors, but still bound to the Feywild.[19][20]
  • Eladrin - An elven subrace from the Fey Realm.[21][22]
  • Changelings - Shapeshifters who can alter their physical form completely at will.[23][24][25]
  • Sirens - Spellcasting sea fey, apparently related to merfolk.[26][27]
  • Sprites - Tiny winged fey related to pixies, but more warrior-like.[2][28] They can be found working as guards for the Unseelie Court.[29]
    • Star sprites - They like to dance on the lake and across leaves around Syngorn.[30][31]
  • Pixies - Tiny, lithe, winged fey related to sprites, but less violent, resorting instead to magic and trickery.[32] They sometimes act as couriers between fey courts.[33]
    • Wisher pixies - They wear leaf- or vine-based clothes and are more aggressive and magically inclined than normal pixies.[34]
  • Fairies - Small and fast winged fey related to the tiny sprites and pixies.[35] They sometimes act as couriers between fey courts.[36]
  • Blink dogs - Dog-like fey with unusually angular limbs and abnormally long, pointed ears;[37] they are about as intelligent as an average humanoid and can teleport short distances.
  • Eremads[presumed] - Hound-like creatures from which it is impossible to hide.[38]
  • Meenlocks - Evil fey tunnelers with telepathic abilities.[39][40]
  • Darklings - Fey with light sensitivity.[39][41]
  • Boggles - Small fey of mischievous nature that appear in places where sentient creatures have felt lonely or abandoned.[43]
  • Familiars - Some wizards summon fey familiars that can take the form of a variety of tiny beasts.

The common language of most fey is Sylvan.

Related races[]

Elves are the most famous race related to the fey (in fact, some of them live in the Fey Realm most of the time),[44] and through them so are the half-elves;[45] some creation myths of the centaurs and orcs claim they originated as elves, so in a more indirect way they would also be connected to the Feywild.[46] Both firbolgs and lagomores are also related to the fey.[47] Forest gnomes are believed to have this connection as well.[48] Tritons are related to the nereids.[49] Goblinkin such as hobgoblins and bugbears can be members of the Unseelie Court.[50] Many of the changelings that live in the Material Plane are humanoids that descend from their fey kin,[51][52] and it is said that doppelgangers are related to them as well.[53] Night hags are related to the fey hags, and they share a common ancestor in Exandria, the Hag Mother.[54] Draconic creatures such as faerie dragons and jabberwocks can be found in the Fey Realm.[55][56]

History[]

The elven god Corellon is the patron of the fey.[57] In ancient times travel to other planes wasn't encouraged,[58] and the Arch Heart themself banished the chaotic archfey Artagan back to the Fey Realm after he traveled to Exandria and interfered with the development of a nascent elven culture.[59]

At some point in history, a long time ago, the fomorian giants were cursed by the fey for their greed and lust for power, becoming physically monstrous and misshapen and moving to the Underdark.[60]

During the Age of Arcanum, Aeorian hunters were created to be able to take on, among others, fey entities.[61]

At the very beginning of the Calamity Asmodeus, bound by an ancient contract between himself and the fey, warned them of the coming catastrophe; this caused a fey exodus from Exandria to the Feywild, facilitated by archfey such as Elmenore, who opened portals for their subjects on the Material Plane to leave for safety.[62]

Naviask by Weradd

Fan art of Naviask, by Weradd.[art 4]

Following the Calamity, the balor-turned-fey Naviask was drawn to Exandria to heal its scarred lands.[59]

Shortly after 445 PD or so, the Ki'Nau of elven heritage paid respects to the fey beings of the Doralle Woods at the base of the Cyrios Mountains before founding the city of Gwardan. As of 836 PD, fey beings still protected those woods.[63]

Sometime between 488 and 523 PD, Zan Tal'Dorei used the ambient, illusionary fey magic of the Verdant Expanse to her advantage, ambushing Neminar Drassig's forces and killing him.[64]

The elves of Molaesmyr placed powerful fey enchantments throughout the Veluthil Forest for protection, but in 585 PD a recovered Aeorian artifact caused a powerful wave of corruption to burst forth from the city, twisting many of the elves into mad fey abominations.[65]

Campaign One: Vox Machina[]

Nahla-by-J-T-Arndt

Fan art of Nahla with the feyspecks of her glade, by J.T. Arndt.[art 5]

In 809 PD, when Grog Strongjaw was suffering from the effects of Drath Mephruhn trying to place his phylactery in Grog's chest, the party was tasked with collecting the heart of a nymph, which is how the party came to be acquainted with Nahla. In 811 PD, Vox Machina naturally encountered a variety of fey when traversing the Feywild to acquire the legendary bow Fenthras, one of the Vestiges of Divergence.[66] The association they made with Artagan proved to be critical the next year, when they needed to retreat to the Feywild before their final battle with Vecna, and the party repaid the Archfey by building a doorway through which he could travel to the Material Plane.

Campaign Two: The Mighty Nein[]

Isharnai and Jester - Hierothraxs

Fan art of Jester with Isharnai, by @hierothraxs.[art 6]

Artagan played a major, ongoing role in the life of Jester Lavorre, a cleric of the Mighty Nein. The hag Isharnai played a key part in the origin stories of both Beauregard Lionett and Nott.

In 835 PD, the Mighty Nein encountered Dashilla the Dreadful when seeking out the wreckage of the Tide's Breath.[67]

Reani said some fey were responsible for giving her druid powers.[68]

Exandria Unlimited Prime[]

The faun Fearne Calloway is one of the members of the Crown Keepers, and her relationship to her grandmother Morri and the Feywild drew the party to the attention of Myr'atta Niselor, the main antagonist of their adventures into the Rifenmist Jungle.

Campaign Three: Bells Hells[]

Armand Treshi, an influential noble from Jrusar, made a deal with Ira Wendagoth, a fey entity also known as the Nightmare King, to perform a series of tests and experiments (involving dangerous beasts and lycanthropy) and create trouble in the city.[69] As of 843 PD Bells Hells encountered Ira and destroyed his laboratory, although he escaped (after pointing out he recognized Fearne's bloodline). Uncovering the problems of the city, the adventurers also discovered a fragment of the Gnarlrock, a rock connected to the Fey Realm, and Imogen Temult kept it for a while, behaving strangely due to its influence, until the power of Laudna's patron broke the stone and absorbed its power.[70]

Around the same period, Fearne's parents (Birdie and Ollie) had been exploring Marquet focused on a mysterious project for six years, and doing business in Bassuras, unaware that for her daughter's perspective, in the Feywild they had been gone for ninety years. The Unseelie Court, interested in their activity, sent Dusk to chase them. The Unseelie agent found Fearne instead, when she and her friends arrived to Bassuras, and befriended them as a way to access the faun's parents.[71] When Birdie finally reunited with her daughter, Dusk showed their true changeling appearance.[72]

Weeks later Bells Hells (with Planerider Ryn's help) traveled to the Feywild, interacting with the strange fey environment and spending one night in Ligament Manor with Fearne's grandmother before going to Unseelie territory. There they fought centaurs, goblinkin and the strange eremads,[73][74][75] and after destroying an important machine they fled through Terrosh's portal.[76]

When part of Bells Hells, along with F.R.I.D.A. and Deanna Leimert, traveled to the ruins of Molaesmyr, they fought some pixies in the Savalirwood, managing to leave them behind without killing any of them. In the ruins, they found Ludinus Da'leth's notes and some of his treasures, including an arcane leather harness that synthetically recreated the natural magics "that sustain the venerable Wardens of the Wilds". There were notes on dryads and fey entities with locations throughout Wildemount, eight of which were crossed off with notes about "feeding the root" (meaning that he was extending his lifespan by mimicking druidic methods). The fey entities were used to power the harness, funneling their energy to the wearer and prolonging his life. The final notes spoke of expanding his "restoration sources" into the Fey Realm.[77]

Society[]

Tal'Dorei[]

As of 836 PD, a host of benevolent fey makes its home in the Frostweald due to some "Great Shadow" that threatens their home in the Feywild; they cohabitate with the Shivergut tribe that also resides in the forest. A nymph named Arethusa guards three pools that serve as portals to three different Archfey's forests in the Feywild.[14] The deeper areas of the Torian Forest are inhabited by a sect of displaced fey, trusting neither the humans nor the dwarves who collect wood for Emon's timber and Kraghammer's firewood.[78]

The elves of Syngorn open small doorways to the Feywild in warded spaces on Elvendawn to celebrate with fey.[79] When Syngorn retreated into the Feywild during the Chroma Crisis, Artagan helped a number of fey, including a pixie prince named Windybranch, slip past the city's wards and take up residence in Il'shavfa Manor, where they proved incredibly difficult to dislodge.[80]

Deep in the western part of the Verdant Expanse is the Mirescar, an ancient and particularly dense part of the forest that is corrupted by some darkness, leading to the creation of fey abominations. The adventure hook A Sickness Spreads in the original Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting sourcebook, set in 812 PD, involves the spread of that corruption and the appearance of new threats emerging from the Mirescar.[81]

Wildemount[]

As of 836 PD, fey entities are sprinkled in wild areas all around Wildemount.

A small society of fey folk lives in an enchanted forest on the isle of Vide Cay, and a faerie witch interferes with Revelry captains who try to use the island;[82] in Gwardan the inhabitants, descendants of the Ki'Nau, also pay respect to the local fey folk of the Doralle Woods to ensure peaceful coexistence and secure access to natural resources.[83]

Pixies and hungry fey spirits wander the Cyrengreen Forest, interfering with overly greedy loggers,[84] and Molaesmyr is still haunted by all manner of terrible fey, including green hags and their minions, who kidnap children from Shadycreek Run for the hags' dark rituals;[85] like the elves of Syngorn, the elves of Bysaes Tyl open small doors to the Feywild on Elvendawn.[57]

Mischievous fey sometimes mingle with the people of Charis in the moonlight.[86] The Tooth of Zehir in Blightshore is said to be home to exotic fey creatures.[87]

Notable fey[]

Fearne pixelllls

Fan art of Fearne and Little Mister, by pixelllls.[art 7]

Trivia[]

  • Just like in our world, there is an Exandrian superstition according to which cold iron can hurt fey entities.[88] However, it is unknown if this is actually true, or just a story.
  • Archdruids can form bonds with nature-bound fey and connect with the land they protect, slowing down their aging process.[89]
  • According to Morrigan the Fatestitcher, fey and primordials are considered opposite ends of the magical ancients.[90]

References[]

  1. ↑ The Tales of Exandria: Artagan #2
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 123.
  3. ↑ The only type of hag that is not a fey is the fiendish night hag
  4. ↑ See "Family Shatters" (2x96) at 4:25:56.
  5. ↑ See "A Race for the Prize" (3x27) at 0:34:57.
  6. ↑ See "The Feywild" (1x59) at 0:52:02.
  7. ↑ See "A Name Is Earned" (1x49) at 37:28.  Keyleth summons two dryads.
  8. ↑ See "The Feywild" (1x59) at 38:13.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 75.
  10. ↑ Nahla is identified as a dryad and nymph.  See "Dangerous Liaisons" (2x37) at 11:51.
  11. ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 147.
  12. ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 43.
  13. ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 67.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 111.
  15. ↑ See "Dalen's Closet" (Sx47) at 2:07:40.
  16. ↑ See "Intense Interrogations" (3x85) at 1:31:22.
  17. ↑ See "The Feywild" (1x59) at 1:26:16.  Vox Machina sees Garmelie for the first time.
  18. ↑ See "The Nameless Ones" (E1x01) at 2:20:13.  Fearne Calloway has large, furry ears.
  19. ↑ See "By the Road" (E1x04) at 0:45:05.
  20. ↑ See "A Test of Worth" (E1x05) at 3:46:35.
  21. ↑ See "Reunion & Revelation" (3x30) at 2:28:55.
  22. ↑ See D&D: Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, 5th ed., pp. 195–196.
  23. ↑ See "Excelsior" (E3x01) at 32:49.
  24. ↑ See D&D: Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, 5th ed., p. 10.
  25. ↑ https://twitter.com/matthewmercer/status/1465095542933835783?t=55ozbWcj1r7tvAt3dnVRDQ&s=19
  26. ↑ See "Choose Their Adventure...Again!" (Sx81) at 1:19:40.
  27. ↑ See "Choose Their Adventure...Again!" (Sx81) at 1:59:27.
  28. ↑ See "The Gentleman's Path" (2x19) at 1:11:19.
  29. ↑ See "The Fey Key" (3x47) at 0:50:27.
  30. ↑ See Critical Role: Vox Machina - Kith & Kin, p. 142.
  31. ↑ See Critical Role: Vox Machina - Kith & Kin, p. 260.
  32. ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 83.
  33. ↑ See "A Race for the Prize" (3x27) at 0:34:05.
  34. ↑ See "Denizens of the Moonbrush" (1x61) at 2:41:54.
  35. ↑ See D&D: The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, 5th ed., p. 12.
  36. ↑ See "A Race for the Prize" (3x27) at 0:34:05.
  37. ↑ See "The Ruby and the Sapphire" (2x33) at 32:37.
  38. ↑ See "The Fey Key" (3x47) at 1:11:51.
  39. ↑ 39.0 39.1 See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 158.
  40. ↑ See D&D: Volo's Guide to Monsters, 5th ed., p. 170.
  41. ↑ See D&D: Volo's Guide to Monsters, 5th ed., p. 134.
  42. ↑ Shade creepers have many of the physical traits, abilities, and behaviors of darklings, which are fey in Volo's Guide to Monsters, but there are a few differences and shade creepers have not yet been confirmed as fey in Critical Role canon.  See "The Trail and the Toll" (3x03) from 2:01:36 through 3:00:49.
  43. ↑ See Critical Role: Vox Machina - Kith & Kin, p. 4.
  44. ↑ See "Hidden Truths" (3x26) at 3:39:23.
  45. ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 23.
  46. ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 122.
  47. ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 170.
  48. ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 26.
  49. ↑ See "Dalen's Closet" (Sx47) at 2:07:40.
  50. ↑ See "The Fey Key" (3x47) from 0:50:22 through 2:24:23.
  51. ↑ Wizards of the Coast, Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse, p. 10.
  52. ↑ Wizards of the Coast, Eberron: Rising from the Last War, p. 17.
  53. ↑ See D&D: Monster Manual, 5th ed., p. 82.
  54. ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 31.
  55. ↑ See D&D: Monster Manual, 5th ed., p. 133.
  56. ↑ See "The Fey Key" (3x47) at 1:54:24.
  57. ↑ 57.0 57.1 See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 22.
  58. ↑ The Tales of Exandria: Artagan #2
  59. ↑ 59.0 59.1 See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 32.
  60. ↑ See "The Temple Showdown" (1x11) at 1:17:03.  See also 1:19:26.
  61. ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 282.
  62. ↑ See "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) at 3:29:25.
  63. ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 64.
  64. ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, pp. 9–10.
  65. ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 18.
  66. ↑ See "The Feywild" (1x59) through "The Echo Tree" (1x63).
  67. ↑ See "The Diver's Grave" (2x44) at 2:35:44.
  68. ↑ See "Manifold Morals" (2x74) at 28:32.
  69. ↑ See "Thicker Grows the Meal and Plot" (3x09) from 4:07:22 through 4:07:51.
  70. ↑ See "To The Skies" (3x23) at 4:09:24.
  71. ↑ See "Hidden Truths" (3x26) at 0:29:04.
  72. ↑ See "The Deathwish Run" (3x28) at 4:26:06.
  73. ↑ See "Night at the Ligament Manor" (3x46).
  74. ↑ See "The Fey Key" (3x47) from 0:50:22 through 2:24:23.
  75. ↑ See "The Fey Key" (3x47) at 1:11:51.
  76. ↑ See "An Exit Most Fraught" (3x48) at 0:56:04.
  77. ↑ See "Escape From The Past" (3x58) at 2:20:21.
  78. ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 57.
  79. ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 14.
  80. ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, pp. 83–84.
  81. ↑ See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 80.
  82. ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 78.
  83. ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 66.
  84. ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, pp. 82–83.
  85. ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, pp. 115–116.
  86. ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 136.
  87. ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 157.
  88. ↑ See "A Haunted Past" (3x63) at 0:12:03.
  89. ↑ See "For The Tempest" (3x68) at 2:58:59.  Keyleth explains that Ludinus chose to drain the energy from fey connected to nature.
  90. ↑ See "To Hurt Is to Heal" (3x79) at 1:36:48.

Art:

  1. ↑ Fan art of Artagan, an Archfey, by David Rodrigues (source). Used with permission.
  2. ↑ Depiction of a sea fury, by Andrew Mar from Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 298. This page contains unofficial Fan Content permitted under the Wizards of the Coast Fan Content Policy. Not approved/endorsed by Wizards. Portions of the materials used are property of Wizards of the Coast. ©Wizards of the Coast LLC.
  3. ↑ Fan art of a water nymph, by Lief Dubin (source). Used with permission.
  4. ↑ Fan art of Naviask, by Weradd (source). Used DM response with permission.
  5. ↑ Fan art of Nahla with the feyspecks of her glade, by J.T. Arndt (source). Also see J.T. Arndt's website. Used with permission.
  6. ↑ Fan art of Jester with Isharnai, by @hierothraxs (source). Used with permission.
  7. ↑ Fan art of Fearne and Little Mister, by pixelllls (source). Used with permission.
  8. ↑ Fan art of Frumpkin, by Clara (source). Used with permission.
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