The First World

Elves and Gelf consider the First World as a living memory inside the Fae of how the world once was, before humans arrived. They are supported in this claim by the fact that, although only reachable from the counterrealm through links situated near worldtrees, much like the counterrealm it seems to be "isometric" to Ardu. Where on Ardu there is an ocean, or a mountain or a world tree, both the counterrealm as well as the First World have it.   The defining difference between the First World and both Ardu and the Counterrealm however, is the lack of any sign of human civilization, and the presence of a dense worldtree forest, which spans the entire landmass without notable interruption.

The First World is a world tree forest that functions very much like the jungles of the Eternal Forests and the Evergreen Peninsula. Like those jungles it is separated into seven layers, that reach from the sunrich top, where all kinds of symbiottic plants and flowers profit from the eternal sun while winged predators hunt for prey, to the ever dark and boggy seventh Layer, where Mud Lurkers lie in rest to gobble up everything that falls down from the layer's above.

Unlike the counterrealm, the First World does not follow the seasons on Ardu, but seems to be stuck in an eternal summer's day that is sometimes interrupted by occasional torrent like rain showers, usually followed by nights so humid that it becomes hard to sleep.

The First World contain many plants and animals that can still be found in the Eternal Forests, yet, on top of that, also lifeforms no one has seen on Ardu for milennia, or probably even since the Cataclysm.   There are for example elflike and gelflike beings which distantly resemble the elves and gelf of today, but which sport a way more greyish teint. In case of the elves they are even more lanky, and in case of the gelf they are surprisingly stocky ,but sport even larger eyes than the gelf usually have. Also called "the "grey's", or the greyelves and greygelf, due to their teint, the lanky greyelves lives on the upper three levels of the worldtrees, where the stocky greygelf seem to dwell as burrowers on the lowest level.   The Sitha believe that, after humans arrived on Ardu and destroyed many a worldtree during the cataclysm, the First World became the place to which Quaeya withdrew, and that this is the reason why only few shamans can reach her nowadays, while once it was possible for every Uru to ask for her blessing.   All in all a surprisingly low number of beings which are generally considered "Faeries" inhabit the First World, and the realm follows the "physical" rules as they appear on Ardu. One will be hard pressed to find a faun or satyr, a brownie or any other being of clearly "Fae" origin. In fact the First World almost seems to defend itself against them. This can easily be seen with links which come from the Counterrealm, the Feywyld or any other Wyld. Although they can be easily traversed by a fae traveler from Ardu, they seemingly won't open for beings which have no real representation on Ardu.   On the other hand it is teeming with life. A vast plethora of beings live here, which could (theoretically) also exist in the World Tree Forests of Ardu, (but don't anymore). On the other hand most of those beings who live here cannot be found in any other Fae realm.