Fairy Woods

**Fairies** are a race of small, flying, insect-like humanoids. An adult fairy is about the size of an index finger. They build their cities high in the forks of old trees that at first glance resemble clusters of large hornets' nests. There is much romantic literature about what fairies are, devious but lovable tricksters, little nature spirits who grant wishes, supernatural beings who kidnap children. Most of these stories are flat out false, in truth, fairies are far bigger, to put it bluntly, assholes. Fairies take great delight in tormenting people, seeing them cry and hearing them scream in pain. Similar to their fellow insectoids, they are completely callous, with the exception of an intense need for revenge and an ardent sadism.

The fairies' weapon of choice are long thorns, needles or nails, which they steal from households and use them preferably to stab at their mostly completely innocent victims' eyes. They don't need any motivation to attack or even kill - they do it for their amusement. A single fairy may be beaten to mud with a strong smack of a flat hand, but it can already cause quite a bit of damage if unnoticed. A slashed throat there, a gouged out eye here. All of these are risks to be prepared for when traversing the Fairy Woods. However, fairies become a real threat when they appear in swarms. Should you encounter such an angry, humming cloud, all that remains is prayer or, preferably, an extremely fast horse. Don't let their pretty wings fool you, as I said a swarm of fairies does not need a tangible reason to turn you into a bleeding and twitching piece of raw meat, the sheer fun of it is more than enough reason for them to murder.

## History

The Faerie Lord **Brambleghora** was exiled to the Fairy Woods during sometime in early Azanese Fifth Dynasty. One of the more vicious of the senior Faerie Lords, but without the self control of Nichtmair, Tyrie, or her own sister Bloodthorn, it was eventually decided she should be driven out to the edge of First Elven Empire territory.

There she set up court in a dense patch of woods not far from the Dominion of the Bog-Witch, rallied her followers, recruited some more, and created even more.

Her most numerous followers are the sadistic thorn fairies, ill-tempered sadists who Brambleghora allows to attack anyone who sets foot in her territory without her permission. As a result, Brambleghora’s territory soon became known as Fairy Woods, and has generally been avoided ever since (aside from the occasional attempt to destroy the woods by humans).

## Government

Brambleghora is the undisputed leader of the Fairy Woods, though she doesn’t much care what her charges get up to as long as they follower any orders she deigns to give them. She has a network of lieutenants who she can rely upon to gather intelligence and relay orders.

## Economy

There is no real formal economy. Brambleghora and her followers are unseelie fey and proud traditionalists. They see it as their right to prey upon the weaker races, and spit upon the idea of developing the land beyond the bare minimum to support their migratory lifestyles. Clothing, jewelry, weapons, and other items are often either stolen or looted, and most inhabitants are essentially hunter-gatherers.

## Foreign Relations

* Land of Windmills and Laurentian Crusade Strongholds – The humans living north of the Fairy Woods have long borne the brunt of their raids and petty cruelty, particularly those around the City of Colossa. Periodically, said humans have made large scale efforts to cut down the Fairy Woods in retaliation (which is also quite profitable). Lately, Hubert Velen, ruler of Colossa, has assembled a small army (including a faction of the Laurentian Crusade) to destroy the Woods once and for all, even if he must burn much of the forest rather than harvest it.
* Dominion of the Bog-Witch – Although some see Brambleghora as a vassal of the Bog-Witch, the real nature of their relationship is likely more complicated. Brambleghora sometimes allows agents of the Bog-Witch to travel through her lands, but sometimes she also allows this privilege to the Bog-Witch’s rivals like Mossovoy or certain Faerie Lords.
* Bayukmen Marsh Kingdom – The Bayukmen see Brambleghora as a vassal of the Bog-Witch, and attack her followers when they get the chance to do so.
* Elfwood, Harpies Peak, Sniden, etc. – Although Brambleghora resents her exile from the First Elven Empire, she still maintains ties to many senior Faerie Lords from those times, and can sometimes be convinced to help one or more of them if certain conditions are met.
* Mossovoy – Brambleghora sometimes lets agents of Mossovoy travel through her woods, though the reasons for this are unclear.

## Geography

The Fairy Woods includes a mix of deciduous and evergreen trees. Brambleghora has made some improvements since moving in. Many of the border areas of the forest are now covered in mazes of dense brambles, poison ivy, glue sap trees, and firethorn bushes, which provide both homes for the thorn fairies, as well as limits the manoeuvrability of their victims.

## Demographics

- Fairies – There are many kinds of fairy, together inhabiting nearly every region of the world, including bog fairies, sky fairies, chotes, wisp fairies, and even certain types of sprite strongly resemble fairies. The Fairy Woods in particular are mostly inhabited by thorn fairies, a particularly sadistic breed that are drawn to like-minded Faerie Lords.

- Other Fey – Aside from thorn fairies, a number of other true fey and servants of Brambleghora live in the Fairy Woods, including dryads, ents, horned elves, harpies, hobgoblins, and goblins.

## Religion

Brambleghora’s followers don’t care much about religion. They vaguely acknowledge similar creation myths to many cultures in the northwest, but the closest thing to reverence they have for anything is for Brambleghora herself.

Like many of the most powerful Faerie Lords, Brambleghora has the ability to grant her followers magical abilities, as well as gradually modify their physical attributes over time. As a result, many of her weaker fey regard her as their creator and primary enabler.

Some of Brambleghora’s followers are true fey, and thus essentially immortal, innately magical, and able to travel to the faerie realm when certain conditions are met. They tend to regard Brambleghora as a first among equals and an ideological leader.

Others of Brambleghora’s followers are so-called lesser fey. Their ancestors were modified at various points in history by various Faerie Lords, and/or their ancestors mated with true fey, creating a wide range of subraces, and often making their true lineage difficult to determine. The lesser fey often see Brambleghora as a demi-god like figure for her ability to grant magic and since her past tinkering has resulted in the somewhat spiky, insectoid appearance of many of the Fairy Wood’s inhabitants.

## Military

Brambleghora’s followers rarely take to the field in large numbers, but few can rival them as guerrilla fighters and skirmishers. The small size of the thorn fairies makes them very difficult to spot until it is too late, allowing them to assassinate those well outside the borders of the forest if needed.

On their home terrain, Brambleghora’s followers are even more dangerous. Some have powerful magic that can control vines, cause hallucinations, or unleash biting swarms of insects. Others lure or drive invaders into the forest’s nature defenses like trees whose leaves cause agonizing rashes or lunatic delusions, bushes whose thorns are razor sharp, or the ever popular glue tree that can trap opponents for all sorts of tortures or humiliations.