Faerie

The island of Inisfal, located just west of Albion, is a strange place. This is because it is bound to Tír Lán Dóchas, the Land Beyond Hope - what is sometimes called Faerie. Most think of it as a place, which it is in a sense, but it is also an entity in and of itself. Likewise, the beings who dwell there are not quite people; they are just as much thoughts within the mind of Faerie. The Sidhe Courts are its shifting dreams, forming and dissolving as the realm's attention drifts from one idea to another. And the mortals it abducts are the closest thing to a drug - a psychedelic to which Faerie is addicted.

An Alien Dreamscape

For those born to a simpler world, Faerie is a hazardous and chaotic place. There is little distinction between the laws of physics and the rules of society, and either may shift with the mood of the land. The natives of Tír Lán Dóchas are part of the landscape and understand their roles within each shifting thought, but outsiders are quickly lost, trying to impose the rules of an unthinking world upon the dreams of a living realm. To the being that is Faerie, this intrusion creates strange and unexpected sensations, opening new avenues of thought and creativity and expanding the universe in ever stranger ways. Every lost artist wandering through a senseless world becomes a catalyst for new dreams - and Faerie has long indulged in their intoxicating presence.

The Aes Sidhe and their Courts

If Faerie is a living mind, then the Courts are its conscious thoughts. The individual Aes Sidhe are symbols of concepts - simple or complex - coming together in shifting roles and combinations to form strange and elaborate ideas. They interact within this structure for a moment or an eon - however long Faerie entertains the thought - before the Court dissolves again, only to reform into a new configuration with many of the same concepts rearranged in relation to one another. Some Courts return again and again; others appear only once. When the Courts encounter mortals who stumble through a portal - or are taken by the Aes Sidhe - the actions of the alien visitor, especially any act of creativity, can warp their structure into new and unforeseen configurations, often spawning several new Courts in rapid succession. You can read more about the Aes Sidhe and their courts here:

Entering Faerie

Natural gates to Tír Lán Dóchas appear only on the island of Inisfal, and nowhere else in the world have the Aes Sidhe ridden forth. These gates open in wild places - deep within forests, upon desolate hilltops, or beneath the earth. They are often marked by strange signs: unnatural plants and animals, or patterns of mushrooms and stones. Some who wander near may hear distant music and laughter; others, chasing a white hind through the moonlight, find themselves beneath unfamiliar trees. Most folk of Inisfal know better than to stray into these portals - but the Aes Sidhe have never been content with only those who stumble inside.

When the stars are right, the denizens of Faerie ride out across the land in search of those who might inspire new dreams for their realm. They pass across the countryside like shadows in the mist, seeking any who walk abroad at night. Though barred from entering homes or churches without invitation, they are beautiful, and have countless ways of luring the unwary. They cajole and bargain, charm and chase, their great black hounds leading the hunt. Every year, some are taken - though in the last decade, fewer vanish than ever before.

Fae Artifacts

The Aes Sidhe have long wielded magic far more potent than anything born of the mortal world, and they carry artifacts of immense power. Over the centuries, a handful of these relics have slipped into mortal hands, and - when wielded wisely - have shifted the course of history.

During the Dragon Wars, The Empire of Albion uncovered a means of acquiring Fae Artifacts in significant numbers, which it used to arm elite squads. These enchanted weapons and tools proved vital in countering the occult powers wielded by The Little Dragon and his Cult of the Leviathan. Without them, it is doubtful the Empire could have prevented the cultists from overrunning all of Elbid.

This endeavor was known as Operation Solace. How it functioned remains a closely guarded secret, still hidden from the public to this day.