// THE PREMISE
What this world is
Faewild is the immortal otherworld a breath sideways from the mortal lands: silver forests under a moon that never sets, glamour-cloaked palaces of thorn and ice, and beautiful, terrible beings who have not aged since the world was young. You are a mortal, stolen across the Hedge by a bargain half-remembered, owed by an ancestor's debt, or lured through a faerie ring by something that wanted you specifically. To be wanted here is terrible danger, and the most terrible danger of all is to want one of them back.
The Court of the Gilded Spring, the bright Seelie court of eternal summer, is no kinder for being golden under its regent Baron Iolanthe, who collects mortal hearts like jewels. The Court of Sable Frost, the dark Unseelie court of beautiful lethal winter, is honest about its cruelty under Baroness Vespera and her knight-captain Sir Gareth, the Silent Blade. The goblin Toll-Takers, brokers like Grub, rule the Crossroads Market where mortal years, names, and memories are traded like coin. The Unbound, escaped mortals and renegade fae aided by hedgewitches like Rhoswen, survive in the cracks. And the Still-Hearted reject the courts' passions entirely.
The ancient Concord that has kept Gilded Spring and Sable Frost from open war is unraveling, and you - a mortal with a foot in both courts and a bargain neither can ignore - have become the piece both courts need. The fae cannot lie, but they twist every truth into a snare and keep their bargains to the letter while breaking your heart in the spaces between the words. A careless word is a dangerous thing to offer someone who has centuries to wait.
// PLAY PROFILE
What this world plays like
Start by learning what brought you across the Hedge and whom it has made interested in you. A meeting with Iolanthe, Vespera or a Crossroads broker could turn an apparently generous offer into the question of what you are willing to give.
You might seek shelter with the Unbound, carry a message between the courts, or pursue someone whose affection comes with obligations. Mortal years, names and memories are things people trade here. Think about a gift's terms before accepting it.
Follow a dangerous attachment, search for a route home, or take a part in the Concord's unravelling. Read the next offer carefully. The question is what it asks of you, and why it has come now.
// FACTIONS IN MOTION
Principal factions
The Seelie Court, rulers of the eternal summer. They embody tradition, artistry, and a cruel, unyielding beauty, enforcing the ancient Concord to maintain their stagnant perfection. They see all other factions as either pawns in their Great Game or vulgarities to be eventually pruned from Faewild.
The Unseelie Court, masters of the beautiful, lethal winter. They value passion, change, and strength forged in conflict, viewing the Concord as a leash that prevents them from achieving true dominance. They are patrons of the Wild Hunt and see the Seelie as decadent and weak.
A syndicate of ancient goblin brokers who control the Crossroads and its Market. They enforce strict neutrality with hidden bargains and brutal enforcers, caring only for the accumulation of debts and favors. To the Toll-Takers, everything has a price, from a mortal's name to a noble's loyalty.
A desperate alliance of escaped mortals, ostracized half-bloods, and renegade fae who survive in the margins of Faewild. They reject the courts and the tyranny of bargains, wielding the one thing the Fae truly fear: cold iron. Their primary goal is freedom, whether by carving out a permanent haven or finding the path back to the mortal world.
A secretive philosophical order who believe the passionate extremes of the Fae courts are a disease that causes the Stillness. They seek to purge themselves of all emotion to avoid the fate of becoming a Weeping statue. They secretly gather in the swamps, studying the nature of magical entropy and collecting objects of pure, unfeigned mortal sorrow.
// KEY FIGURES
People you'll meet
// SITES OF RECORD
Places that matter
A long, shimmering coastline where the silver sea of Faewild meets beaches of pale, luminous sand. The air is thick with salt and glamour, and the fog that rolls in can carry whispers from the mortal world, driving listeners mad with longing. The coast is littered with the wrecks of mortal ships that strayed too close to the Hedge.
The heartland of the Seelie Court, a realm of eternal, honey-drenched summer. Forests of golden-leafed trees sing softly in a nonexistent breeze, and rivers run with sweet nectar. Its beauty is overwhelming, designed to lull visitors into a state of blissful complacency until they forget their own names.
A vast, ancient forest of colossal trees whose canopy perpetually blots out the moon. The ground is a labyrinth of tangled roots and glowing fungi. This is the domain of the Wild Hunt, and the trees themselves are said to be the petrified forms of ancient oathbreakers.
A misty, treacherous swamp where the borders between Faewild and the mortal realm are thin and rotten. Will-o'-the-wisps lead travelers into sucking mud, and the air hums with the droning of monstrous insects. Time flows like thick syrup here, and a day can last a week.
A realm of perpetual, beautiful winter ruled by the Sable Frost. Forests of black ironwood are dusted with silver snow, and jagged mountains of ice claw at the bruised-purple sky. The air is so cold it feels like breathing knives, and silence is the law of the land.
// STORY PASSAGE
A passage from the published profile
Baroness Vespera turns a sliver of black ice between her fingers and does not offer you a seat. "The Gilded Spring will tell you summer is the kinder court," she says, and her smile has too many edges. "It is not. It only lies more sweetly. I will make you no promise I do not mean - which is precisely why you should fear the ones I do make." She lets the ice melt to nothing. "Now. What did Iolanthe ask of you, and what were you fool enough to answer?"
She is either the only honest thing in Faewild or the most beautiful trap in it. You cannot yet tell which.
Selected story passage. Your choices can lead elsewhere.
BEFORE YOU ENTER
Choose a first decision
Start with a person you want to meet, a place you want to see, or a problem you want to understand. You make choices through written actions and read the Narrator's response. The people and places above introduce this world; they do not promise a fixed sequence of scenes.
Completed turns save to your account. Review the latest scene and the relevant in-game information when returning. Check current access and Spark allowances before a longer session, and use the player guide for help with saves, artwork, possessions, and other supported features.
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