The Side Woods

"The Side Woods" are an alternate plane of existence in Idoria. In The Side Woods, reality morphs into an almost unrecognizable state; but there's something vaguely familiar about everything... While the items, themselves, are typically different, their positions and functionality are directly linked to their counterparts in The Material Plane. This means that if one were in a room with a chair, a table, and a plate resting on said table and then that individual traversed into The Side Woods, they probably wouldn't see the same chair, table, and plate; but possibly another set of objects that would have the same relationship & function to each other- although it is unknown as to why objects may be different or not between the two realities.

Utilized by The Fae to navigate and manipulate The Material Plane from behind the scenes, influencing items or beings in The Side Woods directly influences their counterparts in The Material Plane. To use the example from above again: if the chair, table, and plate were a bar stool, a counter, and a bowl, moving the bowl in The Side Woods would result in the plate in The Material Plane to be moved just as much.

Despite items being directly linked, if an object or entity native to The Material Plane were to enter into The Side Woods, there would be no counterpart present to manipulate. It is because of this that The Fae have been able to manipulate things without detection; as they, themselves, are not native to The Side Woods. This allows them to wander The Side Woods without a counterpart being detected in The Material Plane. To borrow the above example again: If one were to bring the chair into The Side Woods, they would notice the bar stool is no longer present. Even if they placed the chair up against the counter, there would be nothing in The Material Plane. Likewise, if they swung the chair at the bowl and broke it, an observer in The Material Plane would see the plate break without knowing how or why it did so.

The Side Woods are home to various alien beasts, plants, and terrain that reflect the ones in The Material Plane. Not even The Fae are aware of how they came to be, but they've long-since learned to not question it. The items in The Side Woods often mirror their correlated entity's most extreme state, too. Meaning, if a cat in The Material Plane would sometimes swat at her owner or randomly have fits of aggression for seemingly no reason, then her counterpart would likely exude a very aggressive behavior. Although it has be noted that the items in The Side Woods are vulnerable to- or influenced by- the same stimuli as their Material Plane counterparts. This means if one knows how to handle the entity in The Material Plane, then they could utilize that knowledge on The Side Woods' counterpart to get the same results.

While few mortals have ventured into The Side Woods and lived to tell the tale, each of them has fervently advocated for it NOT to be entered at any cost, as The Fae are tricky, and the realm in which they occupy even more so. The Fae are not to be trusted, nor should The Side Woods.