

Children are stolen and raised as the fairies' own. Visitors are held against their will, or they are forced to dance until exhaustion. For those remembering The Hobbit, traveling through elven forests and meeting the elves was dangerous, unpredictable business. Most folk tales that use a fairy realm describe the place as being strange, beautiful, but often extremely perilous. Tolkien later borrowed heavily from Norse and Germanic mythologies, bringing his own version of elves and their realm to the Middle Earth, most popularly in the concept of Lothlorien. Norse mythology had its "elf home," the fairy realms where light elves lived (as opposed to the dark elves deep underground, which is an obvious influence for the drow). We also have the concept for an "otherworld," a world alongside our own where fairies reside and mortals can pass only with certain consequences.

Elves, goblins, hobgoblins, bogies, sprites, pixies, brownies, barghests-the list goes on and on for fairies, wee folk, and other hidden people that have populated folk tales (and crossed over into the game). The concept of enchanted beings interacting with the mortal world goes back pretty much as far as there have been stories. Of course, most people are well aware of the fairy aspect of fairy tales. The latest D&D Encounters season, Beyond the Crystal Cave, starts off with a character creation session in which players can explore these new options before embarking on their fey-themed adventure.īut what exactly is the Feywild? How did this land of Faerie make its way into the D&D universe? The Faerie Kingdom Heroes of the Feywild hits shelves, and it includes player options to play as fey races and subclasses, and DM options to run campaigns in the Feywild. This month, D&D has ventured fully into the land of Faerie. Glorious castles perch on mountain spires that touch the starry heavens, and a bold traveler can board a vessel to a fey palace on the moon." Enchanted forests wander across the landscape like herds of roving sheep. Ordinary animals and objects converse as eloquently as any worldly mortal. The Feywild-for those who've never been-is a place bright with magic, where "the laws of science, logic, and reason defer to the arts of magic, story, and rhyme. Where the laws of science, logic, and reason defer to the arts of magic, story, and rhyme.
