06 Feywood

Geography and Circumstance: Feywood, as the name implies, is predominantly a forested realm with ties to the First World. It occupies the central-most land of the continent, and is land-locked behind the lands of Everwyld and the Shadowgaeve. Bordered to the north, east and southeast by the Great Escarpment, and with the only standalone mountain range of the continent taking up its central region, Feywood is the most mountainous of the continent's lands.   A land of icy winters and mild summers, the entire region springs to life during the warmer seasons - somewhat literally in many cases, as the forests and fields are home to many floral lifeforms that are either sentient or otherwise mobile. Otherwise, the Feywood is home to populations of creatures mischievous and wild, from full-blooded Fae, to natural creatures touched and changed by the First World’s power.   The Feywood is not, however, entirely wooded - as typical of the First World, the terrain is also extraordinarily diverse: from glades, plains and forests through to swamps and mountains, most temperate climates are represented within its borders.  

Races of Feywood:

The Feywood’s nature has been kindest to the races already suited to surviving conditions akin to the First World. As such, Elves and Gnomes make up a significant portion of its population, but also creatures with better woodland survival skills or otherwise magical natures seem to have survived or thrived within its borders. Halflings, normally found alongside human populations, also seem to have survived the Feywood, despite the apparent lack of humanity’s inability to do so - this is mainly attributed to sheer dumb luck.

• Anadi*
• Elves
• Gnomes
• Halflings
• Kitsune
• Leshy
• Sprites*
• Vanara
• Vishkanya*
• Ysoki

*The Feywood is also home to small populations of the various plant species, and has a thriving colony of Anadi living within its forests. Leshy seem to be able to spontaneously take form within the shifting depths of the forests. The races listed above are all considered Uncommon rather than Rare within Feywood.  

Feywood Society:

The peoples of the Feywood follow a loose meritocratic form of government that is almost entirely unlike the cultures of the other lands, except perhaps that of the Ashlands, in which the most talented and powerful individuals hold sway over the rest of the population. One would imagine that this would make for a relatively stable, if slightly despotic, government system - and it would, if the definitions of “talented” and “powerful” didn’t change every few months or years.   As such, the leadership is relatively stable, though passed between various notable individuals over the course of time - when a warleader is needed, physical prowess and tactical expertise become more important and an appropriate individual becomes eminent for a time ; conversely, times of economic hardship might bring a savvy mercantilist to the fore ; or times of peace and prosperity bringing the arcane or divine arts into greater focus. Thus, the Feywooders might change leaders, but gain a level of flexibility and adaptability unmatched between the Lands.   It is important to note that the current "leader" is never referred to as such. That would be uncouth, and is seen as an insult toward the individual in question. Instead, queries, problems, and resources tend to default toward them as a matter of course. After all, who better to deal with the problem?  

Stronghold: