D&D: An Adventurer’s Guide to the Feywild
What exactly is the Feywild? Where does it come from? Why is it so green and vibrant? Let’s find out about D&D’s Feywild.
The Feywild, sometimes called the plane of Faerie is a bright, vibrant echo of the Prime Material Plane. If the Shadowfell is a gloomy reflection of entropy, then consider the Feywild a place of lush, wild creation. As the name suggests, the Feywild is where the various fey creatures of the world originate, and where the first Elves dwelled after being cast out of their celestial realm by Corellon Larethian.
D&D’s Feywild, a Bright Echo
By and large, the Feywild is a place of unrestrained life. Forests grow wild and full of creatures. Natural beauty abounds in this twilight-suffused plane. Here, lanterns and fireflies and ethereal beings cast glimmering light everywhere. Even in the most unexpected, unlooked-for places.
As an “echo” of the Prime Material Plane, there are a few things to keep in mind. You might find the same mountain ranges and other landmarks you expect to see, but perhaps more vibrant. Mountains might be straighter and sharper, rivers clearer and faster—but the Feywild is a dangerous place too.
Time is fluid in the Feywild. Sometimes more time passes in the Feywild than in the Prime Material Plane. Other times less. But what makes the Feywild particularly notable are the regions known as Demesnes.
A parallel can be drawn with the Demiplane of Dread, in that Demenses, like Domains of Dread, tend to attune to one single creature. It might be an Archfey or a noble eladrin or some other powerful fey creature like a unicorn or powerful hag–but these Fey Demesnes attune to a single creature, and that creature’s emotions and attitudes shape the region, with everything from weather and landscape-altering to suit the mood of the creature at its heart.
The boundary between the Feywild and the Prime Material Plane can be quite thin in places, especially around the Forgotten Realms, where Fey Crossroads break through the barrier in strange places, often natural settings like waterfalls or mushroom rings. Some places, most often elven cities, exist in the Prime and Feywild simultaneously, such as Evermeet, Evereska, and New Sharandar.
In the Feywild you will find all manner of creatures, including eladrin, dryads, satyrs, sprites, hags, boggles, meenlocks, fomorians, quicklings, redcaps, and even goblins, ogres, and giants all find a home in the Feywild. And in general, they tend to be split into two camps, those who follow Titania, the Summer Queen–generally more benevolent fey (though benevolent doesn’t mean good, or even nice), and those who follow the Queen of Air and Darkness–who tend to be more malicious or deathly in nature.
These groups are known as the Seelie and Unseelie Courts make up the power dichotomy in the Feywild. Of course, there are plenty of unaligned fey just roaming around, following their own whims until they end up swept into an Archfey’s service.
Happy adventuring!
