Fairy kingdom
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Contents
Danger: High
Sub zones: Nemyra's palace, Kortiki town, Sunfall thicket, Chikito lake , Muroyo library,
Inhabitants: fairies, dryads, echydins, deerataurs, genies, ghosts, magic elementals, eliocanthes
Characters : Lily, Aya, Temi
The fairy kingdom is an enormous zone situated west of Negav, encircled by a wide and seemingly bottomless chasm. There are several bridges and passageways that connect the kingdom to the rest of Felarya, but the best way to reach it is to travel by air. When you enter the Fairy kingdom, you have the impression that you've somehow walked into another world or maybe a dream. The ambient light is slightly blueish, some of the laws of physics are altered, and the air feels... different. The kingdom is a vast woodland teeming with fairies of all varieties. It's full of magic and the sheer beauty of the place is awe-inspiring. The zone is extremely dangerous however, as there are fairies everywhere and they are widely known on Felarya for their voracious appetite. Aside from the fairies, lots of spirits and ghosts wander the land, attracted by the magic. This is one of the great dangers of the fairy kingdom: a whole segment of its predatory inhabitants are simply invisible to mortals. This zone is full of portals and warp zones of all sorts. Most of them are of the wild type though, constantly popping in and out at random, lasting for only a couple of minutes.
The six Bridges
The six bridges linking the fairy kingdom to the rest of Felarya.
Kuwuni Bridge
The Kuwuni bridge links the kingdom to the Chordoni waterfalls region. It's a vegetal bridge, made entirely of thick, interlaced vines. Large and beautiful flowers grow on it, as well as a couple of carnivorous plants.
Bridge of eternity
A bridge made of pure magic. The Shard river flows on it and over the gap, giving the impression of a bridge made of pure water, a breathtakingly beautiful spectacle. Many mages marvel at the power of the spell that was required to create this bridge; a spell that has endured for millennia, and could apparently last for a couple more.
Grey Bridge
A huge bridge linking the kingdom to the northern coast region. It's also called "the bridge of war", having been used a long time ago by a tribe of fairies to invade that northern region, according to a legend. It looks like the petrifed and hollow trunk of a very ancient tree that has been carved with small embrasures along its side that were probably used to fire arrows or magic missiles at the enemy from safety.
Bridge of the huntress
A curious bridge made of Eidoron rocks. It looks more a cloud of floating stone platforms than a bridge. Each Eidoron rock slowly drifts at random, sometimes rotating around a larger one, or back and forth at different heights. For wingless people, jumping from one rock to another can prove a hazardous affair, a miscalculation often proving fatal. The bridge leads to the Forest of whispers.
Ceiciel Bridge
A bridge not too far from Kortiki town and leading to the south. The reason why it was named after the Ceiciels is unknown.
Tasenya Bridge
A bridge from the Sunfall thicket leading to the west toward Akaptor desert. The name Tasenya is that of a powerful ghost who used to rule and terrorize the region and who was defeated by the fairies long ago.
Chikito lake
Danger: Very High
Inhabitants: fairies, pixie floats
A large and beautiful lake, situated in the northern part of the Fairy kingdom. It stands at the foot of a small mountain range and is fed by two majestic waterfalls. The place gives a sense of peace and wonder, with colorful flowers and lush vegetation covering its bank, and an air rich with their sweet aroma. The water of the lake is surprisingly warm, and the difference of temperature sometimes creates a fine and delicate mist floating on its surface. The place is also saturated with magic and small sparks will sometimes appear, before drifting slowly and vanishing in the mist. Chikito lake is the favorite place for fairies of the kingdom to gather, and the whole area is literally teeming with them, at any time of the day. They are everywhere, playing, bathing, relaxing, and having fun. For a human however, the place is probably among the most perilous of all Felarya, and coming there is literally begging to be eaten!
Muroyo Library
Danger: High
Inhabitants: fairies, magical books, ghosts, fishbrats
Most of the time called the "Big Old Library" by fairies, the Muroyo library is a strange and dangerous place. Like the rest of the Fairy Kingdom it's saturated with magic, and it contains a very large collection of books. Because of that combination, many books have become alive and are inhabited by spirits, flying all around the place, flocking, flapping their pages, and behaving more like animals than actual unanimated objects.
While the access to the library is not forbidden per se, it is highly unadvised for fairies or any visitors to wander too far among the large and high bookshelves , unless they have a solid grasp of magic and they know what they are doing. Indeed, there have been countless cases of reckless fairies vanishing forever there, with the book they were reading having more pages afterwards, or displaying an illustration that wasn't there before, of a fairy strangely similar to the one who just disappeared. In general, reading books in Muroyo Library is an unnerving business. Reader first have to tame the book they want to read, and afterwards have the strange and unpleasant sensation of being read by the book themselves. The power of a book also depends on its content. A book called "How to make tissue paper flowers with your friends" will generally pose much less threat than one called "Theory about primordial chaos magic by Yogul-Shanak". Despite its dangers, fairies come regularly to visit the library, fascinated by its endless collection of books on virtually everything. A little known trait of fairies is they tend to adore reading and form a highly literate species. Sometimes, the best way to get a prankster fairy to keep quiet, or one to forget about eating you is to simply hand them over a book!
Kortiki town
Danger: Low
Inhabitants: Fairies, humans, nekos, elves, Tinies
Characters : Mezzus
Under construction
Kortiki is a town situated deep in the fairy kingdom. It's fairly large by fairy standards and represents a rare exception in Felarya. Indeed, for some unknown reason, the place was declared neutral ground long ago and thus, even though it's a fairy town, it's a relatively safe place for a human to visit or live in. Theories abound on the reasons for this, but when you ask a fairy, all you will get in reply is that eating a guest is "rude and not nice at all"! You can still end up in the stomach of a fairy if you do something stupid and rude yourself, but fairies are pretty tolerant on that notion and, as long as you don't act really foolishly, by attempting to steal the wares of a merchant for example, the risk of that happening is pretty low. Some humans and nekos have been living in this safe haven for dozens of years without the slightest problem. Living among fairies is a strange experience though, as they have very little sense of privacy and won't hesitate to invade your home and play pranks. You also can't completely shake that feeling that those friendly creatures remain fearsome predators and that some of them would see very little wrong in shrinking you and gobbling you down, should you encounter them in the wild.
The town is a peaceful, colorful and beautiful place. Nature is everywhere with some houses built directly inside hollow trees and lianas and vines creeping their way inside. It's interesting to note that many fairies seem fascinated by human architecture and some tried to build vague replicas of the houses the human inhabitants of Kortiki have built for themselves. Some fairies take an even easier route and decide to elect permanent residence inside a human's house, often much to the dismay of the owner. If a fairy moves into your house, you can expect things to get fun, really fast (and by "fun", read "fun for others to hear about"!). Some fairies have taken a liking to domestic appliances, and unaware of (or disregarding) their original purpose, prefer to live inside chests of drawers, clocks, or even pianos.
The Kortikian culture is an odd and unique blending of the original fairy culture and of that brought by humans over the years. Artists of all sorts are highly regarded in Kortiki and the city is full of painters, poets and musicians. On some rare occasions, rosic nekos coming from the other side of the continent make their way here as well. Kortiki is also a great place to visit if you seek old, rare books as fairies are so fond of reading and the town possesses several libraries. Reaching Kortiki can be tricky though, as it is situated deep in the core of the kingdom. You have little hope of making it there if you don't know a fairy who can help you either by transporting you or showing you a portal leading to the town.
Other races in Kortiki
For a human, a neko or an elf, living right in the midst of fairies is a strange and unnerving experience. You have to be pretty open-minded and patient, for sure, and having a certain fondness or fascination for fairies will also help you to not turn crazy. On the other hand, fairies are probably the best revelers in all Felarya and a big fairy party is something you'll never forget! Because they are so used to living among fairies, humans in Kortiki have a much better understanding on how their mind works, their quirks and those little things that you can pick up only after years of life in common. Thus, a human from Kortiki would be much less helpless when encountering a fairy in the wild, than say a Negavian, simply because they can interact better with them. They would have a real way to talk their way out of trouble, or even to get the fairy to help them.
That relation is mutually beneficial. Non-fairy inhabitants live in safety, while they can help fairies to solve some of their problems. For example, a group of humans would have no trouble whatsoever in clearing a bush of feyweeds, while fairies would be likely to suffer casualties. It's interesting to note that fairies don't really see sizes as relevant, so they will deal with tinies in Kortiki just as they do with its humans inhabitants.
Sunfall thicket
Danger: High
Inhabitants: ghosts, magic elementals, phantom elves, dusk nymphs, earth mouths
This vast expanse of low lying, thick vegetation is plunged into a perpetual night. Unlike in zones like Tenebra maze it's not due to darkness magic. There is a pale moonlight, which allows people to see decently, and a beautiful starry sky. This anomaly has led many scientists to theorize that, while Sunfall thicket belongs to the fairy kingdom, its sky might be from another world, for totally unknown reasons. The thicket is a pleasant place for all sorts of spirits and ghosts who don't like daylight much. For the most part, they are not aggressive and pretty harmless, although they remain invisible most of the time, making it very difficult to detect and avoid the dangerous ones. Humans venturing into Sunfall thicket are basically sitting ducks for the first of those predatory ghosts that passes by and feels a bit peckish. Ironically though, one of the main dangers of the thicket comes from dusk lilies, small and harmless looking flowers growing in great number in the area. This rare plant, however, is known on many worlds as the absolute bane of spell casters as it sucks magic from them when they are close and leaves them utterly powerless.
Nemyra's palace
Danger: Legendary
Inhabitants: unknown
Nemyra is the queen of all the fairies of Felarya and a guardian as well, meaning that she is a being with tremendous powers. As you would expect, her palace is a very, very mysterious place. Nobody has ever entered it through the front door without being invited, although intruders have entered it via other routes. Even finding the palace is difficult: it is hidden somewhere in the fairy kingdom and is actually tiny, no bigger than a doll house. To enter it you need some size-changing abilities, which usually means being a fairy. The inside of the palace is infinitely bigger than its outside dimensions, and this is just one example of the crazy and absurd rules that govern this place. Various mythical and dangerous creatures guard the place, which actually looks more like a world than a palace. Indeed, the palace in Felarya is actually just one of the numerous entrances to Nemyra's personal universe.
The place is alive and infused with the will of Nemyra herself. You don't quite know what to expect when opening a door, and intruders are in for very bad surprises everywhere: your worst fear could suddenly become alive and appear in front of you, or you could suddenly begin to age as you walk down a hallway, or you could enter a room only to end up inside the stomach of Nemyra herself ! Or more simply: find yourself forever lost in this ever changing labyrinth, with no hope of escape.
- Credits to Stabs for some ideas to develop Kortiki town.
