Thelanis and the Faerie Court [Archive] - Wizards Community

Thelanis and the Faerie Court [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
yewshadow
07-23-07, 12:56 AM Would the lords and ladies of the Fairie Court be Eladrin or Sidhe (MoP p.211)? Would there be seelie and unseelie aspects? I want to run an Eldeen Reaches campaign focused on the Greensingers. I find Faerie nobility referred to, but never defined in any of the sourcebooks (i.e. FoE, ECS and PGtE)... Any advice?
Syltorian
07-23-07, 06:50 AM Keith Baker's The Gates of Night includes a large portion about Thelanis.

If I recall correctly, the plane is divided into various realms, the ones mentioned in the book being called after various states of the night (Hunter's Moon, Gates of Night, etc). They are ruled by unique fey creatures, such as the Hunter.

Would there be a seelie or unseelie court or aspect? I honestly do not know. Fey are quite mysterious to begin with, and with Eberron being a much less straightforward setting in many ways, I assume that holds true even more there.

We really do need a Book about Fey; it has been often called for, but so far there are no news on the horizon except that WotC is watching a wish list on the Future Releases board.

I admit I'm not that keen on the Greensingers as presented in Faiths of Eberron, with a focus on all planes - I like them as being involved only with the Faerie Court. It takes away some of the glamour from Thelanis by diluting it with the other planes.

I personally would dearly love more information on Thelanis. A dragonshard or Dragonmark article in the future DI, perhaps. It is the most accessible plane, has a fairly great influence in the Eldeen Reaches with its manifest zone, and has an entire sect dedicated to it; and yet, we know next to nothing about it - Gates of Night apart. Especially what the relations between the Eladrin and the Fey are - the former, at any rate, seem to have some kind of court because a Ghaele is mentioned in Sharn: City of Towers, p.76
maollelujah
07-23-07, 08:10 AM Would the lords and ladies of the Fairie Court be Eladrin or Sidhe (MoP p.211)? WOuld there be seelie and unseelie aspects? I want to run an Eldeen Reaches campaign focused on the Greensingers. I find Faerie nobility referred to, but never defined in any of the sourcebooks (i.e. FoE, ECS and PGtE)... Any advice?

I don't think it really matters if they are Eladrin or Sidhe just pick the one that would be more useful to you. I created a bunch of 'unique' nobles with silly names (Lord of a Thousand Friends, Lord of Forlorn, Duke of the Western Wind, The Marchioness of the Puncturing Kiss, the Princess of the Morning Dew, The Lady of the Eud, the Baron of Yarn...) They were all eccentric, totally annoying to the PCs, and had goals that made no sense to the PCs. (i.e. The Lord of a Thousand Friends wanted an enemy but was too nice and helpful to get one.)

I didn't use the Seelie and Unseelie courts, as I wanted to break from the norm.
yewshadow
07-23-07, 09:12 AM I admit I'm not that keen on the Greensingers as presented in Faiths of Eberron, with a focus on all planes - I like them as being involved only with the Faerie Court. It takes away some of the glamour from Thelanis by diluting it with the other planes.

I agree, it is a bit odd that the organization now focuses on all the planes. By default, however, they must be mostly preoccupied with the fey as their home is both coterminous with and a manifest zone for Thelanis! Thx for the info!
Bocamb
07-23-07, 10:05 AM I've seen very little on the fey in Eberron. I did run a campaign last year featuring an NPC (the Lord of Lost Hope) that I borrowed from Susanna Clarke's _Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell_. If you haven't read that book, you might consider doing so: the Lord of Lost Hope is deliciously dark and fits the tone of Eberron nicely.

Also, Keith Baker has written a book (The Iconic Bestiary: Classic Fey) by Lion's Den Press. I have never seen it, but it may be a good resource considering that it is written by the creator of Eberron himself.
Syltorian
07-23-07, 12:34 PM Also, Keith Baker has written a book (The Iconic Bestiary: Classic Fey) by Lion's Den Press. I have never seen it, but it may be a good resource considering that it is written by the creator of Eberron himself.

It depends on what you are looking for. If you want more fey creatures that are adapted from the real world, have less of a straightforward monster and more of an actual fey look, you'll be served well with the Beansidhe, Deep Mermaid, Deep Merman, Dullahan, Leshy, Quiet Folk, Sheerie, and Skogsnufva. Each creature comes with a fair number of adventure ideas, too.

Regarding general information about the fey, it has two pages of introduction on how to use the fey, one page and a half on fey curses, and half one on fey marriages, which is followed by 15 quite flavourful feats available only to fey, that are going to make a great impact on how they appear in the campaign. Those texts are very well done, and great for ideas and as a check list of what to do with fey. Unfortunately, it's not the focus of the book; that still is the monsters.

If you want to use fey in your campaign, I'd advise buying this (you can get the pdf at RpgNow). It does a great job, is not too expensive, and offers great monsters, a great introduction to the fey, and very interesting feats.

But it will not tell you much about Thelanis or even the generic faerie realm. It's only 32 pages, after all, and already gives quite a lot for that page count. For Thelanis, I can only hope that either WotC gives us a Fey book (and gives KB a big chunk of it to write) or that we can somehow get Hellcow to write a dragonshard. ;)
Hellcow
07-23-07, 08:07 PM I don't have time to go into great detail here, but I will say that in developing Thelanis in The Gates of Night, I was assuming that beings such as the Huntsman, the Woodsman, and Thelania were unique creatures. Certainly the traditional fey have a place in Thelanis, but there are unique creatures as well.

Personally, I wouldn't have a straight Seelie/Unseelie Court in Thelanis, because I hate to directly import from Earthly mythology. With GoN I sought to capture some of the flavor of our faerie tales, but my belief is that each lord or lady is a unique being with a distinct realm.

Regarding Classic Fey, I agree with Syltorian. The backup material (curse, feats, etc) is something I feel could be quite useful in creating unique denizens of Thelanis. However, it's certainly not written for Eberron or written about Thelanis, so it's not a true stand-in for a Thelanis article/dragonshard/planar sourcebook. I'd certainly like to do more with the planes in the future, and we'll see if anything comes of that. If you're coming to GenCon, they often poll people at the Secrets of Eberron panel, so think about what you want and come to that!

Finally, I'll just say that I happen to be reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell at the moment myself, and I'm quite enjoying the Lost Hope material - I'm really looking forward to seeing it develop further. Fey have always been one of my favorite topics, along with dreams.
yewshadow
07-23-07, 10:12 PM Thanks for the info, Syltorian and Hellcow. I have a lot more to go on now. :D
Nightshade
07-24-07, 03:27 PM You might also try reading Raymond Feist's Faerie Tale for further ideas on unique fey personas.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
yewshadow 07-23-07, 12:56 AM	Would the lords and ladies of the Fairie Court be Eladrin or Sidhe (MoP p.211)? Would there be seelie and unseelie aspects? I want to run an Eldeen Reaches campaign focused on the Greensingers. I find Faerie nobility referred to, but never defined in any of the sourcebooks (i.e. FoE, ECS and PGtE)... Any advice?
Syltorian 07-23-07, 06:50 AM	Keith Baker's The Gates of Night includes a large portion about Thelanis. If I recall correctly, the plane is divided into various realms, the ones mentioned in the book being called after various states of the night (Hunter's Moon, Gates of Night, etc). They are ruled by unique fey creatures, such as the Hunter. Would there be a seelie or unseelie court or aspect? I honestly do not know. Fey are quite mysterious to begin with, and with Eberron being a much less straightforward setting in many ways, I assume that holds true even more there. We really do need a Book about Fey; it has been often called for, but so far there are no news on the horizon except that WotC is watching a wish list on the Future Releases board. I admit I'm not that keen on the Greensingers as presented in Faiths of Eberron, with a focus on all planes - I like them as being involved only with the Faerie Court. It takes away some of the glamour from Thelanis by diluting it with the other planes. I personally would dearly love more information on Thelanis. A dragonshard or Dragonmark article in the future DI, perhaps. It is the most accessible plane, has a fairly great influence in the Eldeen Reaches with its manifest zone, and has an entire sect dedicated to it; and yet, we know next to nothing about it - Gates of Night apart. Especially what the relations between the Eladrin and the Fey are - the former, at any rate, seem to have some kind of court because a Ghaele is mentioned in Sharn: City of Towers, p.76
maollelujah 07-23-07, 08:10 AM	Would the lords and ladies of the Fairie Court be Eladrin or Sidhe (MoP p.211)? WOuld there be seelie and unseelie aspects? I want to run an Eldeen Reaches campaign focused on the Greensingers. I find Faerie nobility referred to, but never defined in any of the sourcebooks (i.e. FoE, ECS and PGtE)... Any advice? I don't think it really matters if they are Eladrin or Sidhe just pick the one that would be more useful to you. I created a bunch of 'unique' nobles with silly names (Lord of a Thousand Friends, Lord of Forlorn, Duke of the Western Wind, The Marchioness of the Puncturing Kiss, the Princess of the Morning Dew, The Lady of the Eud, the Baron of Yarn...) They were all eccentric, totally annoying to the PCs, and had goals that made no sense to the PCs. (i.e. The Lord of a Thousand Friends wanted an enemy but was too nice and helpful to get one.) I didn't use the Seelie and Unseelie courts, as I wanted to break from the norm.
yewshadow 07-23-07, 09:12 AM	I admit I'm not that keen on the Greensingers as presented in Faiths of Eberron, with a focus on all planes - I like them as being involved only with the Faerie Court. It takes away some of the glamour from Thelanis by diluting it with the other planes. I agree, it is a bit odd that the organization now focuses on all the planes. By default, however, they must be mostly preoccupied with the fey as their home is both coterminous with and a manifest zone for Thelanis! Thx for the info!
Bocamb 07-23-07, 10:05 AM	I've seen very little on the fey in Eberron. I did run a campaign last year featuring an NPC (the Lord of Lost Hope) that I borrowed from Susanna Clarke's _Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell_. If you haven't read that book, you might consider doing so: the Lord of Lost Hope is deliciously dark and fits the tone of Eberron nicely. Also, Keith Baker has written a book (The Iconic Bestiary: Classic Fey) by Lion's Den Press. I have never seen it, but it may be a good resource considering that it is written by the creator of Eberron himself.
Syltorian 07-23-07, 12:34 PM	Also, Keith Baker has written a book (The Iconic Bestiary: Classic Fey) by Lion's Den Press. I have never seen it, but it may be a good resource considering that it is written by the creator of Eberron himself. It depends on what you are looking for. If you want more fey creatures that are adapted from the real world, have less of a straightforward monster and more of an actual fey look, you'll be served well with the Beansidhe, Deep Mermaid, Deep Merman, Dullahan, Leshy, Quiet Folk, Sheerie, and Skogsnufva. Each creature comes with a fair number of adventure ideas, too. Regarding general information about the fey, it has two pages of introduction on how to use the fey, one page and a half on fey curses, and half one on fey marriages, which is followed by 15 quite flavourful feats available only to fey, that are going to make a great impact on how they appear in the campaign. Those texts are very well done, and great for ideas and as a check list of what to do with fey. Unfortunately, it's not the focus of the book; that still is the monsters. If you want to use fey in your campaign, I'd advise buying this (you can get the pdf at RpgNow). It does a great job, is not too expensive, and offers great monsters, a great introduction to the fey, and very interesting feats. But it will not tell you much about Thelanis or even the generic faerie realm. It's only 32 pages, after all, and already gives quite a lot for that page count. For Thelanis, I can only hope that either WotC gives us a Fey book (and gives KB a big chunk of it to write) or that we can somehow get Hellcow to write a dragonshard. ;)
Hellcow 07-23-07, 08:07 PM	I don't have time to go into great detail here, but I will say that in developing Thelanis in The Gates of Night, I was assuming that beings such as the Huntsman, the Woodsman, and Thelania were unique creatures. Certainly the traditional fey have a place in Thelanis, but there are unique creatures as well. Personally, I wouldn't have a straight Seelie/Unseelie Court in Thelanis, because I hate to directly import from Earthly mythology. With GoN I sought to capture some of the flavor of our faerie tales, but my belief is that each lord or lady is a unique being with a distinct realm. Regarding Classic Fey, I agree with Syltorian. The backup material (curse, feats, etc) is something I feel could be quite useful in creating unique denizens of Thelanis. However, it's certainly not written for Eberron or written about Thelanis, so it's not a true stand-in for a Thelanis article/dragonshard/planar sourcebook. I'd certainly like to do more with the planes in the future, and we'll see if anything comes of that. If you're coming to GenCon, they often poll people at the Secrets of Eberron panel, so think about what you want and come to that! Finally, I'll just say that I happen to be reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell at the moment myself, and I'm quite enjoying the Lost Hope material - I'm really looking forward to seeing it develop further. Fey have always been one of my favorite topics, along with dreams.
yewshadow 07-23-07, 10:12 PM	Thanks for the info, Syltorian and Hellcow. I have a lot more to go on now. :D
Nightshade 07-24-07, 03:27 PM	You might also try reading Raymond Feist's Faerie Tale for further ideas on unique fey personas.