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Post by catmage on Jun 12, 2009 18:16:11 GMT -5
Does anyone have any sourcebook information on the Seelie and Unseelie courts? All I have been able to find on the subjects are as follows:
The Fey have two courts, the Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court.
Seelie has fey that tend to be prettier and have an over all tendency towards neutral and good, and are fey of beauty grace and natural purity, ruled by Titania and Oberon.
The Unseelie Court fey are more likely to be ugly, impure, and vicious, tend to evil but have neutral members, and are ruled by the Queen of Air and Darkness.
Both are connected to the forces of nature, and have a connection to arcane magic, beyond mortals, and are connected to the demiplane Faerie.
Any help would be appreciated.
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Post by Munroe on Jun 12, 2009 19:06:31 GMT -5
I don't have any sourcebook information on them, but I do know that WotC used to have pages up on their website about the courts back before 4e was announced. I'll see if I can get you a link.
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Post by Munroe on Jun 12, 2009 19:14:57 GMT -5
Here's the link to the Wizards of the Coast index of all their website articles under the Fey Feature heading. The first article is dated 13 December 2002 and is called Seelie and Unseelie Courts. www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/arch/feyExcerpt: The Unseelie Court is a more hospitable place for non-fey as well. Court nobles eagerly provide patronage for
creatures who are extremely strong, dexterous, clever, beautiful, or talented. Obtaining the sponsorship of a
court noble is not without its rewards, nor without its dangers. For instance, a gifted bard whose playing
impresses a fey nobleman might be invited to his castle as a guest. Once there, the bard will be feted and asked
to play every night -- and never be permitted to leave. |
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Post by Munroe on Jun 12, 2009 19:18:51 GMT -5
Also, on the individual pages there is a link to download the pages. The download version is PDF format. It's much more convenient than saving the webpage directly (which is what I do with some pages that don't offer the PDF option).
Oddly, the PDF doesn't have a link back to the online version, which is why it took me a minute to find it.
There's probably more information on Fey in some of the Dragon magazines but I've never followed Dragon very closely. Currently Paizo has a sale on back-issues of Dragon and Dungeon though so I'm awaiting a half-dozen issues or so that are in the mail.
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Post by Munroe on Jun 12, 2009 19:34:12 GMT -5
I checked Dragon Compendium Volume I as I knew it had templates for Seelie Court Fey and Unseelie Fey. It says what issue its stuff is from at the start of each item. In the case of both templates, they're by Gwendolyn F. M. Kestral and originally appeared in Dragon #304 in February of 2003. (Unfortunately, this isn't one of the ones I ordered. I should have browsed my Dragon Compendium before ordering.) I would think that issue might have a bit more to say about the Fey Courts besides providing a couple templates. But then again, maybe there isn't much more to say besides what is published on the WotC site. =================================== Currently Paizo has a sale on back-issues of Dragon and Dungeon though so I'm awaiting a half-dozen issues or so that are in the mail. Er... I checked my order. I actually ordered 14 issues. Still didn't order #304 though. I ordered: Dragon Issue #289, #311, #322, #323, #329, #330, #334, #343, #344, #347, #354, #355, #356, #357. Don't mind me, I'm rambling. I paid $1 each for most of them. |
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ritefoot
Old School
Daisy Elf Bard
Posts: 494
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Post by ritefoot on Jun 13, 2009 7:29:58 GMT -5
OK it is not FR but if you want easy access with the right spirit to the legends then look up Changeling. It is world of darkness but there is endless content and it is good. Very good!
Rite.
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Post by EDM Entori on Oct 20, 2010 0:59:44 GMT -5
People tend to think of fey as lovely creatures of almost unearthly beauty and grace. This image epitomizes the fey of the Seelie Court. Many artists and bards, both fey and other, have striven to capture the beauty of the Seelie Court. Most have gone mad; none have truly succeeded. Pure manifestations of nature and beauty, the members of the Seelie Court view themselves as the pinnacle of perfection. This elitist attitude restricts status in the court to only pure-blood fey. A court fey can trace his or her lineage back several millennia, showing nothing but true fey (no templates, no transformations such as from the monk class or various prestige classes, and no other creature types by blood or breeding).
Fey high society and the fey realms, be they on the Plane of Faerie or fey high-society enclaves on the Material Plane, contain the only creatures whose opinions matter. Politics thrive in this elitist environment. Seelie fey form cliques and factionalize amongst themselves. In the endlessly politicking and gossiping world of the Seelie Court, status can be won by hosting guests (willing or unwilling) or attracting followers with great skill in a craft or performance art.
Seelie Court fey occasionally tolerate the company of beautiful or gifted creatures, preferring those of fey, elven, or celestial blood. These "court friends" may provide companionship and amusements, but only those with pure lineage may hold positions of importance.
Admittance to the Seelie Court for outsiders is extremely rare, even more so if the outsiders are not of pure fey blood. Upon entrance to the court, visitors must be prepared with valuable and unusual gifts for the Queen of Light, or they might find themselves lost in an endless hedge maze. Suitable gifts for the Queen include figurines of wondrous power, gems of brightness, and magical jewelry.
The physical appearance of the Seelie Court mirrors nature, to which the fey are intrinsically linked. White ash trees, strong and stately, with their branches intertwining to create a living ceiling, line the throne hall like marble columns. Gossamer streamers of iridescent blues, pinks and purples wind their way through the boughs. Phosphorescent flowers gleam like lanterns amidst the treetops. Semi-precious jewels of amethysts, tiger's eyes and topaz decorate flowers that float down the waterways lining the path to the throne. Statues carved of gold and adorned with gems further attest to the wealth and beauty of the current ruler, as each queen must display more splendor than the previous one or risk the gossip and scorn of her subjects. The throne itself, a and queen who sits on it, are the focal points of the room. The throne of the Seelie Court is shaped like a large ice dragon, as brilliantly cold and glittery as the fey nobility.
Queen Tatiana and King Oberon are the current rulers of the Seelie Court. An undisputed beauty, Tatiana looks unfavorably upon female courtier or visitors whose appearance rivals hers. This attitude is caused, in part, by the occasional wanderings of King Oberon's affection.
The Seelie Court fey find the Unseelie Court fey absolutely repellent.
Unlike the selective, restrictive Seelie Court, the Unseelie Court welcomes anyone and everything with even a drop of ancestral fey blood. Fey can and do breed with anything, creating odd, mixed creatures. Most species consider the offspring grotesque monsters. The mutant creatures gravitate towards the Unseelie Court, which welcomes them and gives them an environment where peculiar physiologies and abilities are the norm.
The Unseelie Court is a more hospitable place for non-fey as well. Court nobles eagerly provide patronage for creatures who are extremely strong, dexterous, clever, beautiful, or talented. Obtaining the sponsorship of a court noble is not without its rewards, nor without its dangers. For instance, a gifted bard whose playing impresses a fey nobleman might be invited to his castle as a guest. Once there, the bard will be feted and asked to play every night -- and never be permitted to leave.
Ruling over all these oddities is the Queen of Air and Darkness: a fey of unsurpassed beauty and grace. The Queen of Air and Darkness has no current consort and no surviving children. The court is rife with gossip and political maneuvering as each noble curries the queen's favor in the hopes of being named the royal heir.
Outsiders not of fey blood are rarely admitted to the Unseelie Court. Visitors must be prepared with unusual and powerful gifts for the Queen, or they might find themselves the quarry of a nightmarish hunt. Suitable gifts for the Queen include figurines of horrific power, gems of darkness, and cursed jewelry.
After a millennia of indiscriminate breeding, the physical appearance of the Unseelie Court mirrors the macabre. Twisted columns, trees forced into unnatural growth by royal gardeners, are scattered haphazardly through the hall. Curtains of shadows hide blood-soaked alcoves. Drawn back for times of celebration, the gaping crevasses reveal uninvited guests captured for the amusement of the court. Riotous blooms of nightshades and blood warts glow red in the evening, providing a maddening light to the misshapen court. The throne of the Unseelie Court is shaped like a great shadow dragon, a creature of midnight and darkness, like the queen herself.
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Post by Munroe on Oct 22, 2010 16:30:58 GMT -5
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Post by EDM Entori on Oct 22, 2010 21:22:21 GMT -5
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Post by Micteu on Oct 22, 2010 23:47:30 GMT -5
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Post by EDM Neo on Oct 23, 2010 1:02:44 GMT -5
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Post by Munroe on Oct 23, 2010 3:36:52 GMT -5
OK. I just prefer things cited. It's hard to fact-check information people give if they don't cite their sources. |
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Post by Masterbard Alyster Darkharp on Oct 28, 2010 21:49:36 GMT -5
Correct. All inquiries about source should end after the five letters D M M a O. |
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Post by Munroe on Oct 29, 2010 1:39:24 GMT -5
Correct. All inquiries about source should end after the five letters D M M a O.Unless, of course, you know, such as I do, that DM MaO has asked you questions about the Faerie Courts before and the two of you have had discussions about them. To revise a signature phrase from The Wolfman: "Even an expert who is obsessive at heart, and reads his sourcebooks by night, may become a novice when the subject is obscure and the printed information is light." |
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