Alfheim

This realm of faeries is wild and chaotic, and has been mentioned in many different mythos. Also called the Otherworld, Faerie, Arcadia, Tir Na Nog, and Tyr Tylwyth Teg: the land of the fair folk.

## General Description

The realm of the faeries is a vibrant, variable, and mysterious plane in which anything could happen. It is a realm of magic and trickery, of whimsy and chaos, of life and danger and beauty alike. Much of it may seem like the usual world and may even be a direct echo of it, but magic is extremely potent here and anything you come across is likely to be magical in nature.

* Time is said to pass more quickly on our world than it does in the Fae Realm, so a day there may be a year or more on our home realm. The length varies randomly, which is why some people will go missing for years and then return without knowing how much time has passed.

### **Known Methods of Access**

* Portals under Trefoil Academy
* A created Rift between realms, which is illegal dark arts
* A natural Rift, which forms in various magical circumstances such as:
	+ "Fairy Rings" of mushrooms, but only when activated by the faeries
	+ Barriers are said to be thin between our realms on the Spring and Autumn Equinox, which is when the night and day length is equal. This correlates roughly to May Day and Halloween.
	+ "Fairy Forts," or mounds, have underground portals that sometimes lead to Alfheim
	+ Magical stones in the midst of a clearing, sometimes no bigger than a ball.
	+ Looped tree roots that form archways
	+ Special holes within trees you can crawl through
	+ ...and more. There are innumerable accounts and it is hard to rule out illusion!

## Exploration

Unreliable. Things change too quickly and illusions are common. Most of the landscape is wild and lush forest, though the details are wildly variable.

### **Survival**

Magics are wild and chaotic here, so the best advice is: be polite, trust nothing, and make no promises!

### **Academy History**

Some students have traveled on their own to the realm of the Fae. It was featured as part of one of the Off-Season Tournaments one year, as well. Students are warned of the dangers and to never trust any Fae creatures.

### **Notable Places**

* **Sunflower forest**: these sunflowers are 2-3 stories tall and are lined with teeth. Caution is necessary to travel through these flowers, and anyone flying should stay high above or well below the level of the flower heads.
* **Night Forest:** primarily Unseelie territory
* **The Great Tree:** Seelie inner court, there is a great elven forest city with a central citadel tree
* **Glass Lake:** Unseelie territory, the lake is fully covered in perpetual ice

## Denizens

Fae creatures come in all shapes and sizes, and many are absolutely unique creatures. Every single creature in this realm is magical in nature, though their individual power levels vary.

The fae who call it home may fall into one of three groups:

* **Summer Court, or Seelie**, who are puckish pranksters, but are generally good-natured and just. That is not to say they are to be trusted, as both tricksters and a more subtle or even naive cruelty (such as trapping someone for a few decades or longer). They tend to be very protective of the natural world and count among their number many pixies, centaur, faun, and fae “elves.”
* **Winter Court, the Unseelie,** who are more openly cruel, malevolent, and often violent. Among their number are many trolls, red-caps, ogres, boggarts, and fae “dark elves.”
* Very few lack a court affiliation, as the magics of the realm are tied to the two courts. There is a very small contingent who have begun forming their own group, the "Ankou."

There has never been a time that the fae creatures were at peace with each other. Their ongoing feud is said to cause the seasons of our world, where the Summer Court is in power bringing the summer to our own lands in Gaia, and the Winter Court ushering in winter. It is unknown whether that is myth or if there is truth to that legend, particularly when you consider that our own planet's seasons change depending on what hemisphere you're in! There is no doubt that the seasons of Alfheim are depended upon which court has the most power at the time, however.

### **Interacting with Fae**

Many mages are advised to simply never make any deals with any Fae (especially the Fae noble elves), as they are often masters at finding loopholes, twisting words, or taking an open-ended favor. In any interactions, follow these precautions:

* **Names have POWER.** As with illegal mages, one should avoid giving your full name, as it can be used to target spells or curses at you from afar with Name Magic. It is advisable to use a nickname or give no name at all!
* **Do not eat fairy foods in the realm of Alfheim**. It is like a cursed object that will trap you from being able to return home; sometimes those that do manage to return home find themselves in the ethereal plane instead. Other effects have also been noted, including potions in the food. Eating the food is to begin to bond yourself with the magics of the realm, a process which can turn one into a Fae creature, and usually results in being a servant or pet of the more powerful Fae.
* **Thanking a fae is to admit you owe them a debt.** If you do not specify what you will do in return, they take it as an open-ended favor and will redeem it however they wish, even a hundred years later. It might involve a limb, your magic, or your descendants.
* **Be cautious when accepting gifts,** as they are rarely what they seem at face value. Even if you have confirmed it comes with no additional favor owed, scan the gift for magic or cleanse it, if not outright destroy it later when they are not going to take offense. Some methods of cleansing include salt water and seclusion in an iron box for at least one lunar cycle (roughly one month).
* **Be cautious when accepting any spell buffs,** as they are rarely what they seem at face value. Traps, lures, and a loss of personal freedom are often the strings attached. For example, there are some Fae who will shapeshift a willing guest into a dog, but the shapeshift makes the person begin to forget who they were and they ultimately end up staying as one of that Fae's hunting hounds forever.
* **Be courteous.** Grudges can be held for centuries and can manifest many decades later, when you have completely forgotten and moved on from an encounter.

Perhaps ironically, many of these same suggestions also apply when working with Player Society/Bloodlines of human mages.

### **Notable Species**

Generally speaking, little is known about the lives of the more powerful Fae because those who get that close tend to never leave their service, being lifebound to serve them and unable to leave. Given that, the prevailing opinion of magekind is that any dealings with Fae should be done both cautiously and respectfully to avoid insult, if not outright avoided.

* Fae Elves, the nobility of Alfheim (often with wings; individuals often have unique features like horns, antlers, fur, odd hair colors, hooves, extra limbs, long muzzles, and spikes)
* Dryads and Wood Nymphs
* Faun
* Goblin
* Minotaur
* Kelpie
* Phooka/Puck
* Spriggan
* Troll
* Bugbears: bogies, bogles, bogeymen, and boggarts
* Pixies and tiny "faeries"
* Merfolk
* Leprechauns
* Will'o'Wisp
* Cait Sith ("Cat Shee"): an all black, massive cat with a white spot upon its chest.
* Cu Sith ("Cu Shee"): enormous, shaggy wolfhounds, usually green, white, or black in color
* Banshee
* Imp
* Red Caps
* Ogres

### **Notable Persons**

* Queen Titania and King Oberon of the Seelie Court

## Theories and Questions

Realm:

* Should we ally with either the Seelie or Unseelie?
* How are the Ankou being perceived among Fae politics?
* Do the creatures of Alfheim have any thought or concern about the Westgaards? Or is it beneath their concern?

Shard

* It is likely that a Shard from the Heru Prophecy is somewhere in this realm.