The Unseelie Court, sometimes known as the Shadow Court,[1] is one of the leading political factions in which fey organise themselves in their realm.[2]
Location[]
The Unseelie Court control territories of the Feywild through common alignments and alliances with powerful fey with their own domains.
Sun's Shadow[]
This domain encompases most of the Unseelie territory,[3] and its archfey is the leader of the Unseelie Court.[4]
Twilight Citadel[]
This seems to be a relevant place inside the Unseelie Court, probably connected with its leader Sammanar, Watcher of the Twilight.[5] In this place several figures of importance met, and some prisoners were kept, specifically in the Underbrush Prison.[6]
The Unseelie Theater[]
Fan art of the theater, by Kent Davis.[art 1]
A particular place of interest connected to the Unseelie fey is their theater, located near the domain of Saundor. It's a place where fey perform to lure mortals. During their performances undead spirits of the Feywild come out of the bog to watch as well.[7]
Sablecast Grounds[]
This region is in the outskirts of the Unseelie realm,[8] and has two points of interest: a portal to Exandria, and the Shiver Keep where one of the Malleus Keys is being built and the Unseelie are building up their defenses.[9]
Society[]
Demographics[]
Fan art of an Unseelie guard with an eremad, by Clara.[art 2]
The Unseelie Court was formed and composed by fey, more specifically by those who share certain traits: they tend to be wilder and with an appreciation for magic forbidden in other courts,[10] and they give in to their selfish impulses very often.[11] They are considered mercurial and layered in their plots.[12] Among the fey of this court are changelings, sprites, elf-like fey (including eladrin),[13] hobgoblins and bugbears.[14][15][16] They also have mortal allies, such as warlocks of powerful members of the court,[17] and certain monsters (such as eremads and Yeth hounds),[18] magical animals and plants can also be allies of the Unseelie.
Notable people[]
- Sammanar: Also called Potentate Sammanar, They-Who-Walk-Unseen, the Master of the Unseelie Court and the Keeper of the Sun's Shadow.[4]
- Athion Zathuda: Sorrowlord, Bearer of the Lightless Flame and Grove Captain of the Unseelie Court.[19]
- Yu Suffiad: A changeling agent serving Sorrowlord Zathuda.
- At least two of Fearne Calloway's "aunties" work in the Unseelie Court.[20]
- Festertree Blights: Presumably a specific type of tree blight with a "rusted sense of humor".[21]
- Terrosh the Lidless Slumber: The one-eyed guardian of a portal to Exandria.[22]
- Unnamed emissary: An Unseelie individual with silver hair with black streaks on the sides and a pointed goatee curved at the end, wearing ornamental but effective armor.[23]
Relationship with other courts[]
The Unseelie Court is often compared with the Seelie Court, brighter and opposite to it in many ways, and the other leading court in the Feywild. While easy to interpret the Unseelie fey as the bad ones and the Seelie as the good ones, the morality of these creatures is not that simple, and their chaotic nature makes both factions dangerous enemies to those who offend them.[24][25] Yu Suffiad described the relationship between the two courts as "a complex series of politics and alliances", who are sometimes friends and sometimes enemies.[26] Their respective leaders, specifically, hate each other, but despite this, they collaborate to make sure the portals to Exandria are only used by those allowed to travel between realms.[27]
The courts, regardless to their alignment, are tied to both the Arch Heart and the Moonweaver through vows and deals.[28]
While their relationship is not specified, it seems as though the Unseelie Court and the archfey known as the Keeper of the Moontides share common interests regarding the Moontide Crown.[29]
History[]
The Unseelie Court is ancient, and it is unknown when it was created. Their current leader, Potentate Sammanar, got their position at some point before 812 PD.[30]
Members of this court benefited from an ancient pact made between Asmodeus and the fey, which required the archdevil to warn them if a plan of his could affect them. The night the Calamity, presumably in a similar way to Lady Elmenore and the Seelie, the Unseelie Court received the warning about the Lord of the Nine Hells returning to Exandria, and thanks to that warning many fey left the Material Plane, returning to the Feywild and to safety.[31]
By 811 PD some members of Vox Machina traveled to the Unseelie Theatre, near the Shademurk Bog, and watched their performance without being discovered (and being later scolded for it by Percival de Rolo, since such events are extremely dangerous for mortals).[32]
In more recent times the light of Ruidus started appearing in the Feywild, and the Unseelie, having spoken with Otohan Thull and Ludinus Da'leth about this in the Sablecast Grounds,[33][34] hid this phenomenon with magic,[35] and started to work in a project that would benefit their entire court.[36] By 837 PD Ollie and Birdie Calloway, worried about the dangers the red moon could bring to the Fey Realm and their daughter, and after being ignored by both of the main courts, stole the Moontide Crown, interrupting the project of the Unseelie Court, who sent agents to chase the couple to Exandria. One of them, Yu, located Fearne instead, and used her to find Birdie and learn more about her motivations, giving her only a month before she confronted her again.[37][38][39]
Morrigan the Fatestitcher told Bells Hells that the Malleus Key built by Ira Wendagoth was located within the Shiver Keep in the Sun's Shadow realm, keeping Ruidus over it.[40] The adventurers managed to destroy the machine and run away, with the assistance of Morrigan, who attacked Sorrowlord Zathuda and his mount. Morrigan later told them she had returned safely to her home after the attack, although she might have to "make amends" if the Unseelie were "bold enough to visit".[41]
Weeks later Unseelie emissaries were sent to the Amethyst Gulch Sierras to meet with Ludinus Da'leth and Sorrowlord Zathuda, since the archmage was disappointed with the lack of collaboration by the fey court. In an old temple of the Arch Heart, one of the Unseelie explained to Ludinus that the specialty of their court was to wait in the shadows and strike when the moment was right, and that despite everything, they still believed in his cause. Despite his anger, the leader of the Ruby Vanguard asked them to take a message back to the Unseelie Court telling them to be prepared to get involved in the attack that was going to take place shortly at the Red Center on Exandria.[42] The meeting was interrupted by Bells Hells, who destroyed Ludinus Da'leth's Simulacrum. Fearne Calloway told the emissary and Zathuda that Ludinus had been siphoning fey life forces for years,[43] but Zathuda told them that "the top of the Court" had known some (though not all) of this already, but viewed Ludinus as a necessary evil and were using Zathuda to keep an eye on him. Zathuda and the Court agreed with Ludinus' goals, but planned to destroy him at the very end and seize control of Predathos with Fearne's help.[44] The Court had joined with Ludinus because of their desire to unshackle themselves "from the nature that's been thrust upon us since their creation," and their emissary was incredulous that Fearne had no interest in their plans and goals.[45] Zathuda and the emissary prepared to leave on Gloamglut, telling Fearne that when the assault by the Exandrian Accord was crushed, the Sorrowlord would be there to take her where she needed to be.[46] This led to a second battle during which the party captured both Athion Zathuda and the Unseelie emissary.[47]
Trivia[]
- Outside of Critical Role canon, the Queen of Air and Darkness (sometimes considered Titania's sister) is considered the ruler of the Unseelie fey.[48] However, in Exandrian lore she isn't mentioned at all, while Potentate Sammanar is the Archfey holding the title of "Master of the Unseelie Court".[30]
- So far the Unseelie Court is the only faction of the Fey Realm with more known titles and positions than the one held by its ruler.
- The Unseelie Court seems to have some sort of connection with the fey afterlife, and when Fearne was dying, she had visions of a dark jungle with many eyes focused on her, and behind, darkness.[49]
- There are followers of Sehanine among the Unseelie, but those who worship her do so in private.[50]
Fan art of Morri and Fearne in their garden, with the Unseelie topiaries, by Adrián Ibarra Lugo.[art 3]
- While usually no one dares to wander into the Fatestitcher's territory, some Unseelie agents (sent by Sorrowlord Zathuda) reached Ligament Manor when Fearne Calloway was younger. However, the young faun was never hurt, since Morrigan turned the trespassers into horrifying decorations for her garden: topiaries representing people in agony that occasionally emit a subtle tapping sound to indicate that they need to be watered.[51]
- The Unseelie have access to yore mirrors. While their exact nature hasn't been explored in detail, Sorrowlord Zathuda threatened his agent Yu Suffiad with them.[52] Zathuda may have meant he was able to use one of those mirrors to capture Yu and turn them into a shadow agent like the ones he would summon from a mirror to test Fearne weeks later.[53] The hand mirror shown by Yu to Bells Hells that was described as being able to summon a dark version of their kind to chase the enemies of the Unseelie was likely also a yore mirror.[54]
- Yore is an archaic English term that refers to the past, especially the long past.
References[]
- ↑ See "One Year Later..." (1x95) from 0:41:39 through 0:46:12.
- ↑ See "The Echo Tree" (1x63) at 1:30:36.
- ↑ See "Night at the Ligament Manor" (3x46) at 0:36:32.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, p. 220.
- ↑ See "To Hurt Is to Heal" (3x79) at 1:25:14.
- ↑ See "To Hurt Is to Heal" (3x79) at 0:43:11.
- ↑ See "One Year Later..." (1x95) from 0:41:39 through 0:46:12.
- ↑ See "Reunion & Revelation" (3x30) at 2:54:12.
- ↑ See "Night at the Ligament Manor" (3x46) at 0:33:33.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast, Domains of Delight (5e), p. 4.
- ↑ See "To Hurt Is to Heal" (3x79) at 1:41:19.
- ↑ See "Where The Red Fearne Glows" (3x94) at 2:15:54.
- ↑ See "Unseelie Interrupted" (3x106) at 2:56:33. One of the Unseelie guards was a fey elf/eladrin.
- ↑ See "The Deathwish Run" (3x28) at 4:26:06.
- ↑ See "One Year Later..." (1x95) at 0:43:47.
- ↑ See "The Fey Key" (3x47) from 0:50:22 through 2:24:23.
- ↑ See Explorer's Guide to Wildemount, p. 170.
- ↑ See "Unseelie Interrupted" (3x106) at 2:44:51. Both the description and abilities of the hound match the Yeth hound, described in Volo's Guide to Monsters, p. 201.
- ↑ See "Hidden Truths" (3x26) at 0:25:57.
- ↑ See "Axiom Shaken" (3x43) at 3:46:35.
- ↑ See "Night at the Ligament Manor" (3x46) at 2:53:33.
- ↑ See "An Exit Most Fraught" (3x48) at 0:56:16.
- ↑ See "Unseelie Interrupted" (3x106) at 3:01:53.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast, Domains of Delight (5e), p. 4.
- ↑ See "One Year Later..." (1x95) from 41:39 through 46:12.
- ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 0:18:42.
- ↑ See "To Hurt Is to Heal" (3x79) at 1:42:22.
- ↑ See "Unseelie Interrupted" (3x106) at 1:41:47.
- ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 0:48:54.
- ↑ 30.0 30.1 See Tal'Dorei Campaign Setting, p. 123.
- ↑ See "Fire and Ruin" (E3x04) from 3:29:25 through 3:34:21.
- ↑ See "One Year Later..." (1x95) from 0:41:39 through 0:46:12.
- ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 2:45:23.
- ↑ See "Reunion & Revelation" (3x30) from 2:54:12 through 3:02:13.
- ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 2:41:07.
- ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 2:43:15.
- ↑ See "Hidden Truths" (3x26) at 0:29:04.
- ↑ See "The Deathwish Run" (3x28) at 4:26:06.
- ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 1:37:57.
- ↑ See "Night at the Ligament Manor" (3x46) from 0:33:33 through 0:36:14.
- ↑ See "An Exit Most Fraught" (3x48) at 2:09:25.
- ↑ See "Unseelie Interrupted" (3x106) from 3:50:06 through 3:52:13.
- ↑ See "Under the Arch Heart's Eye" (3x107) at 1:21:08.
- ↑ See "Under the Arch Heart's Eye" (3x107) at 1:51:41.
- ↑ See "Under the Arch Heart's Eye" (3x107) at 2:02:38.
- ↑ See "Under the Arch Heart's Eye" (3x107) at 2:05:34.
- ↑ See "Under the Arch Heart's Eye" (3x107) at 1:21:08.
- ↑ Wizards of the Coast, Domains of Delight (5e), p. 4.
- ↑ See "What Dreams May Come" (3x34) at 0:39:10.
- ↑ See "To Hurt Is to Heal" (3x79) at 1:41:10.
- ↑ See "Night at the Ligament Manor" (3x46) at 2:55:59.
- ↑ See "Hidden Truths" (3x26) at 0:25:28.
- ↑ See "Where The Red Fearne Glows" (3x94) at 0:49:46.
- ↑ See "Dark Portents" (3x29) at 1:09:03.
Art:
- ↑ Fan art of the theater, by Kent Davis (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of an Unseelie guard with an eremad, by Clara (source). Used with permission.
- ↑ Fan art of Morri and Fearne in their garden, with the Unseelie topiaries, by Adrián Ibarra Lugo (source). Used with permission.