Manual of the Planes

FAERIE INHABITANTSThe Plane of Faerie is the home of powerful elflike creaturescalled the sidhe (pronounced shee). The sidhe dividethemselves into a Seelie Court and an Unseelie Court. TheSeelie are considered good and the Unseelie evil, but bothare unconcerned with the wants, desires, and needs ofcreatures from the Material Plane.To create a Seelie creature, apply the half-celestial templateto an elf character. For an Unseelie creature, applythe half-fiend template to an elf.Other half-celestial and half-fiend creatures may befound within Faerie. Many of these are Seelie and Unseelieversions of fey creatures such as satyrs, sprites, andgrigs. The more powerful members of the Unseelie Courtride nightmares on their Wild Hunts and are accompaniedby yeth hounds. These hunts are common on thePlane of Faerie, and they often spill over onto the MaterialPlane when the stars come into alignment and the bordersbetween the worlds are thinner.Members of the Seelie Court are often chaotic good;they’ve been known to lure or even kidnap MaterialPlane characters into their realm for the purpose of feastingand dalliance. Members of the Unseelie Court arealso interested in having Material Plane characters attheir feasts, but more as dishes than as guests. Neithergroup is particularly concerned about the time that theirguests lose while away from the Material Plane.FAR REALMAlso called Outside, the Far Realm is a plane—or perhapsa space beyond the planes—that is terrifyinglyremote from the standard planar geometry. The entitiesthat abide in the Far Realm are too inchoate, too different,and too alien for a normal mind to accept withoutbeing damaged. Where stray illuminations from the FarRealm leak onto another plane, matter stirs at the beckoningof inexplicable urges before burning to ash.But in the Far Realm, titanic creatures swim throughnothingness, preoccupied with madness. Unspeakablethings whisper awful truths to those who dare listen. Formortals, knowledge of the Far Realm is a triumph ofmind over the rude boundaries of matter, space, andeventually sanity.The Far Realm is divided into an unknown number oflayers. Each layer is only slightly out of phase with thenext, and passing between layers requires only a thought.It’s possible to stand on one layer and see dozens ofothers, all overlapping yet somehow distinct.FAR REALM TRAITSThe Far Realm has the following traits.• No Gravity: Entities of the Far Realm float in darknothingness. The only type of movement is passagebetween layers, which requires only thought.• Flowing Time: A minute in the Far Realm equals notime on the Material Plane. The Far Realm is outsidetime, existing both before and after time’s reign, ifwords like “before” and “after” have any meaning there.• Infinite Size: The Far Realm contains infinite layers,though the layers themselves are not infinite.• Highly Morphic: The layers continually evaporate,divide, spawn, and breathe at the behest of the alienentities that drift through them.• Sporadic Elemental and Energy Traits: Conditionsare always in a state of flux in the Far Realm, and it’sentirely possible that a given layer could burst aflameAPPENDIX:VARIANT PLANES& COSMOLOGIESpqqqqrsNASTIER FAERIE TRAITSThe Plane of Faerie is based on traditional folk tales of immortallords and wild hunts. In these folk tales, mortals who dealwith the lords of Faerie usually are dead by the end of the tale,often returning to their native lands only to disintegrate fromold age. The Plane of Faerie presented here isn’t nearly as cruel,but if you want a more accurate and deadly Plane of Faerie,make the following changes to the plane’s traits.• Flowing Time: For every hour spent on the Plane of Faerie,two weeks pass on the Material Plane.• Entrapping: The Plane of Faerie has an entrapping trait similarto those of Elysium and Hades. At the conclusion of everyday spent on the Plane of Faerie, any non-native must makea Will saving throw (DC 10 + the number of consecutive dayson the plane). Failure indicates that the visitor has fallenentirely under the control of the plane, unable and unwillingto leave of his own volition. Memories of any previous lifefade into nothingness, and it takes a wish or miracle spell toreturn such a character to normal. But travelers who haveaccepted no food, drink, or other gifts from the natives ofFaerie during their visit need not make the saving throw.MORE ACCESSIBLE FAERIEIn a cosmology you create, Faerie might be an easy place toget to.Perhaps portals to Plane of Faerie work from the EtherealPlane even if it’s not the correct time for the portal to functionon the Material Plane. On the Ethereal Plane, such portalsappear as curtains of shimmering brass. Faerie can have itsown Ethereal Plane in this case, and spells using the EtherealPlane would function within it.Maybe travelers reach the Plane of Faerie through the Planeof Shadow, in much the same way they would use shadow toreach any other plane. In this case, Unseelie creatures roamthe Plane of Shadow as well.The Plane of Faerie might also have portals leading to theOuter Planes. Such portals would lead to natural areas or thosewith a strong elven presence, such as the Beastlands, Arvandor,or Lolth’s layer in the Abyss.pqqqqrs211