Dungeons and Dragons Lore: Seelie and Unseelie Courts
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- Опубліковано 20 сер 2024
- What is the nature of the Seelie and Unseelie courts? How do they influence the Feywild and how can you include them in your game? These questions and more are answered for you.
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I think of their opposition as something like popular kids vs. goth kids, in that it's primarily about a difference in aesthetic. This as not a trivial matter, for in the Feywild, aesthetic is everything. It's a real force with real consequences.
Yes, the power of story.. if there are bad guys in the stories, there must be bad guys, so, in the feywild, they just exist.
Somewhere deep underground in a tiny tomb in pandemonium's unseelie court is buried a character of mine. Naked and alone with a cursed ring of regeneration that revives him every time he succumbs from hunger or tries to commit suicide. Alone, undying in darkness and silence forever. And all because he said beauty comes from within and asked if she was sharing a portfolio with Umberlee?
Was worth it thou.
I had a character who used a fae's cruelty to save his own life... Powerful fae had captured the party, and told leader that if he picked one of his friends to be executed, the rest would be released. Leader tearfully picked me. I was able to convince the fae that it would be a greater torment for party leader if he had to face me every day after this betrayal...
I really like the representation of the Seelie and Unseelie in Dresden Files, in particular as it shows neither Winter nor Summer is truly evil or good. They are alien and if they show an interest in a person, it is for some motive you are not likely to guess.
One will torture you, the other will torture you if you're boring. There's about the level of difference.
I wonder how Baby Yaga would see the seelie and unseelie courts as she is not only evil incarnate but shes also a genious when it comes to the arts themselves(just because shes a monster doesnt mean she wouldnt appreciate say Beethovens 9th or Motzarts Magical Flute). Great video AJ. Even though i only play 1st and 2nd edition gaming,my 23rd level elvish bard Iggy Von Pock approves! 😉 keep up the good work you do friend! 😊
I don't know where but I remember reading years ago that the Black diamond of QoAaD was actually one of the 333 gems of Tharizdun.
"the Goblin King and his bog of eternal stench"
I was literally thinking about Labyrinth during this video about what concepts I could borrow from it, thinking there's no way anybody's actually seen it lol
There was a book written about the goblins of the Labyrinth. It was a treasure trove for world-building. Froud is the name of the author.
* party discovers some sh^t *
Human wizard: The Seelie and Unseelie courts are doing things. We're caught in the crossfire.
Dwarven cleric: D^mn Unseelie court must be causing a stir.
Elfin ranger: Not from what I see. The Seelie court's shenanigans were the source of our problems.
Dwarven cleric: The good guys? Then how is the Unseelie court involved?
NPC "elfin" fighter: We are the ones keeping you alive.
Human wizard: It seems we wandered between pranks and meddlings.
I'm a big fan of Jim butchers courts from the Dresden files. If anyone wants ideas look there too.
Seconded, this!
I played in a great feywild-involved campaign where the conceit was that the fey were sociopathic beyond the wildest dreams of human insanity. That's how their magic works -- they *want* something so hard, it becomes true. "Good" and "Evil" to them mean "I like it" or "I don't like it". And this was what the Seelie/Unseelie division was about ... the personal esthetics of the Court leaders.
PIERCER & ROPER
(Continued from Ravenloft video)
_Theme Music Starts_
_Piercer & Roper logo pops on screen_
Announcer: “Last time on Piercer & Roper!” _Flashback montage starts_ “While Roper and Liishuh drank at the bar to pass the time, Piercer struggled through the cleansing process via a series of Pink Ooze inspired dreams. As Roper and Liishuh played a drinking game while waiting, a Quickling named Horace that Liishuh had sent looking for information on the warehouse that the Drow were using returned with news that he had found a Derro who might know where it is, then left to escort the much slower Derro back to the bar. A short while later, after subconsciously slaying Ooze-ogorgon, Piercer awoke and made his way to Roper and Liishuh, but before they could speak Horace rushed back into the bar and told them there was some type of issue out front.”
_Scene starts with Roper, Liishuh, and Piercer following a blurry red streak out of the bar. Outside we see two male Drow, dressed in the same manner as the one from Snipdik’s Apothecary. They each have a hand on one of the shoulders of a filthy Derro, holding him up off the ground between them as he weakly kicks his legs and tries to wiggle free. Beside them stands a Drow woman, almost a head taller than the other two and dressed in purple three piece suit. In the background we see a burning “Mom & Pop’s” store with the back half of a burning school bus sticking out of one of the walls._
Female Drow: “I heard you’ve been asking around about us. I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Asking all those questions can be....bad for your health.” _When she says this one of the Drow pulls out a curved dagger and holds it to the Derro’s neck_ “It can be real bad for your friends health as well. So how about you tell your Captain that you lost the lead, and we all go back about our normal lives?”
Roper: “YOU KNOW THAT’S NOT HOW THIS WORKS!!! PUT DOWN THE DERRO AND SURRENDER YOUR WEAPONS, NO ONE HAS TO GET HURT HERE!!!”
Female Drow: _Smirks_ “I’ve got a better idea...” _Pulls back suit to expose a pistol holstered on her hip, and hovers her hand above it._ “You think your faster than an elf?”
Roper: “LONG SADDLE RULES?!?!?” _Places a tentacle above the handle of his gun._
Female Drow: “Of course.”
_Spaghetti Western Showdown Music starts playing. The shot jumps quickly from a close up of the Drow’s eyes, to Roper’s eye, to the Drow’s hand above her gun, to Roper’s tentacle, to Liishuh looking on worried, to the two Drow and the Derro, to a shot of Piercer laid out on a couch like Rose from Titanic, to Horace cringing and terrified, back to Roper’s eye, back to the Drow’s eyes, to a close up of the burning school bus in the background, to a full body shot of Roper, to a full body shot of the Drow, then out to a full shot where everybody can be seen standing there. Everyone stands still for a few seconds then Roper and the Drow both go for their guns..._
*CRACK!!! CRA-CRACK!!!*
_Roper draws and shoots the Drow in the chest before she can clear her holster, then turns and shoots both of the Drow holding up the Derro through the head before either has time to react. All three of the Drow fall at the same time, leaving the Derro hanging in the air for a second or two before he also falls to the ground with a thud._
Roper: _Walks over to the Derro._ “YOU OK?!?!?!”
Derro: “I’m not good, man! First these Drow kick me out of my pad, then they try to kill me! Screw Drow, man! “
Roper: “YOUR “PAD”, THE WAREHOUSE THE DROW TOOK OVER, WHERE IS IT?!?!?!”
Derro: “It’s on the edge of the old Donigarten, man. Used to be a cold storage facility for rothé meat. But I don’t know what those spider lovin’ Knife Ears are doin there, man. Didn’t see any rothé with ‘em. There’s a big sign on top in Undercommon, or what’s left of a sign anyways, man. Says “Ho Zin Ro Tor”...I think it’s Drow for something, but I don’t speak Drow that well, man.”
Roper: “I KNOW THAT PLACE!!! ITS THE OLD HOUSE HUNZRIN ROTHÉ STORAGE FACILITY!!! SOME OF THE LETTERS FELL OFF THE SIGN ABOUT TWENTY TEARS AGO AND LANDED ON A WEALTHY DROW WHO WAS THINKING OF BUYING AND REOPENING THE PLACE AND KILLED HIM!!! MADE THE NEWS AND EVERYTHING!!! COME ON PIERCER!!! LETS GET ON THE ROAD!!! LIISHUH, GET THE DERRO A DRINK AND THEN TAKE HIM TO THE STATION FOR US!!!”
Liishuh: “Ok, honey. Y’all be safe out there.”
_Piercer and Roper hop in Yeet! and peel out of the parking lot. There are a few brief shots of them speeding through different parts of the city, then it changes to a shot of the inside of Yeet! centered on Roper as he’s driving._
Tinny Voice on MZPD radio: “Attention all units, be on the look out for a suspect headed West through the Braeryn towards Eastmyr in a red Shelby Cober, license plate 2-Bravo-Alpha-Delta-4-Uniform. The suspect is a Drow male, approximately 6’ tall and 165 lbs, with white hair, red eyes, and dark skin, assumed to be in his mid 150’s. The suspect is wanted in connection to robbery at the Gnomish Gemstone Exchange in Narbondellyn and is to be treated as armed and dangerous. I repeat all units be on...”
_Just then a Drow man in a Candy Apple Red Shelby Cober with a license plate that reads “2 BAD 4 U” goes roaring past Yeet! heading in the opposite direction, drowning out the sound of the radio as it passes. Roper quickly turns the steering wheel, drifting a wide arc through an intersection, spinning Yeet! around and smoking the tires as it takes off after the suspect._
Piercer: _Grabs the handset of the radio and holds down the button, we hear a few moments of static, then the same tinny voice from before responds._
Voice on Radio: “Copy that Piercer. We’ll have a scrying unit zero in on your location and send additional officers in pursuit.”
Roper: “WELL, IT LOOKS LIKE THE WAREHOUSE WILL HAVE TO WAIT!!! BUT HEY, THERES NOTHING LIKE A GOOD CAR CHASE TO GET YOU BACK ON YOUR FEET AFTER A RELAPSE!!!”
_Shot changes to one of Piercer in the passenger seat, now somehow wearing a NASCAR style jumpsuit and helmet, then back to Roper._
Roper: “I’M GLAD TO SEE THAT YOU’RE INTO IT, BUT WARN ME WHEN YOUR GUNNA DO A QUICK CHANGE LIKE THAT!!! SHIT CREEPS ME OUT!!!”
_Scene fades to black._
Announcer: “Now that they have finally found out the location of the warehouse the Rogue Drow House is using to bring Pink Ooze Dust into the city, a new issue has arose to take distract them from the case in the form of a Drow Gem Thief with a need for speed. Will they be able to catch the furiously fast Drow? How long will this keep them from getting to the warehouse? Could the Drow’s license plate possibly be any more cliché? Find out next time on...” _Theme Music starts._ “...Piercer & Roper!”
_Credits Roll_
Yay! It let me post it with out cutting off the Announcer’s bit.
A friend was looking at using the feywild as a refuge from a world-destroying orc horde in his campaign. This gave me an idea of playing an illythiri seelie, who accepted food from a seelie nymph during the Crown Wars and thus was changed to drow after being tricked into fealty to the seelie. Such a character would try to dissuade others from seeking refuge in the fey realms.
This video helped to develop the idea.
Great concept!
The Dresden Files book series features the fey courts heavily and does a VERY good job of underlining that they're both absurdly dangerous.
I always kinda think of the Seelie vs Unseelie being Friendly vs Unfriendly as per their original portrayal in Irish mythology.
Friendly doesn't necessarily mean morally good or even benevolent at heart. And likewise Unfriendly isn't always wicked or malicious for no reason.
Like a gruff, grotesque and bad mannered Unseelie Fey may simply be a decent enough character at heart who is just used to being rather slobbish in habits.
And a Seelie Fey may be cordial and polite; the picture of hospitality. But secretly they may be trying to figure out how to trick you out of all your belongings or even your life. For no other reason than it's a simple joke that amuses them.
Exandria Unlimited: Calamity brought me here. I wanted to know the meaning of the court, well done 👍
So excited to see this video. My favorite book series is the Dresden Files and how he uses the Seelie/Unseelie lore. I know there are differences between his cosmology and D&D's cosmology but I love the similarities too. Great work! Thank you very much
When i saw this video in my feed as i was scrolling though i legit thought it was dresden files
Fey are cool so I’m hyped for this video fam.
Great video, your videos are filled with material for us Gms to use for inspiration
I'm actually planning a game where hostile planes like the Feywild, which I made more like the Irish Faerie, leak into ours. My players are going into the Feywild on raids to do enough damage that the courts decide to pull the Feywilds back. The Fay are brutal, chaotic and unaware that the things they do could be harmful. Those who are aware of how dangerous they are either help the characters while others enjoy feeding on the feelings of suffering they cause
I love this one since my warlock has a pact with the Queen of Air and Darkness
I am planning on making a warlock with this pact and patron. Any advice. I have been searching online everywhere and have found limited sources.
@@placebo5466 there’s really not much about the Winter Queen. Her physical appearance is of a diamond so you can use a black diamond as a spell focus if you don’t use your pact weapon as one. Darkness spell is a must along with devils sight
@@JadeDarkness8822 Awesome thank you for the quick response. Have you ever considered the warlock being a possible agent of the unseelie court and carrying out "espionage" on the mortal plane? Almost like a pawn to trigger anger towards the Seelie court.
@@placebo5466 I have a book from her right now that something will happen eventually in game. But no this is my first real PC. Archer using pact of the blade. I have constant advantage and elven accuracy gives me 3d20’s so higher chance to crit. I like faerie fire to get advantage when I can’t do darkness and at level 6 warlock you get an ability to teleport 60 feet then turn invisible. I multiclass in fighter to get more feats and attacks so I’m pushing 50+ per two shots and on an action surge at the moment I can hit within a 100 points of damage because of sharpshooter. She’s fun to play.
@@placebo5466 If you read Jim Butcher's "Dresden Files" series, you'll get plenty of great info to draw upon in re fae.
Interesting thought - to destroy the _Ring of Winter_ you must get Titania to put the ring on, at which point it will melt and be forever destroyed. And considering all you have to do is go to the Feywild, find the nearest Seelie Court fey and say "I bring a wondrous and beautiful artifact ring as a gift for the Summer Queen", it isn't too hard to get it to her. What happens when she sees it melt on her finger...well, I doubt it will end well.
It's all in presentation. If you instead say "Have I got an experience for you.. I come bearing an instrument of winter, in the form of an artifact ring, for you to destroy at you pleasure." I'm sure things wouldn't be too unpleasant for you.
This is a being that is damn close to being a god. How are you gonna trick her about the nature of the artifact? Maybe if you made it a fun game she would ablige but I cannot see Titania actually being decieved about what it is and have any reason to put it on even if you flattered her a bit. Basically you are thinking of her as a powerful mortal, not a magical being whose powers and insight is great enough to challenge the beings who created reality. Basically...what is her incentive to humor you?
Giving and receiving a gift is dangerous when the fey are involved. Giving a ring to Titania that will melt when she puts it on is likely to find you in mortal peril or find her in fealty to you.
It’s best to just chuck it down a really deep hole and hope no one ever finds it.
@@jacobfreeman5444 Well, even if she doesn't put it on, the artifact is in a safe place where it can't do any harm. But like I said, it probably won't end well.
I have a soft spot for the Feywild. My last campaign never reached the end stage, but the PCs were SUPPOSED to end up journeying through the Feywild to fix a mess made by a Fey deity of magic who'd made a massive spell but been destroyed by the feedback from it. What he'd done was far-reaching but subtle, and caused far more trouble in the Prime Material Plane than in the Feywild. They were supposed to enter the remains of his realm, a trippy place, and retrieve a soulgem containing a portion of his essence. Once someone attunes with it, they'll be reborn as his new form and able to undo the spell he cast. (The spell basically placed a barrier between the perceptions of the gods and the Prime material plane, creating minor illusionary data for the gods to view to so they wouldn't become suspicious, and preventing the gods from truly seeing what was going on in the world or from hearing the prayers of their followers. It also messed with scrying magic cast by mortals, and any of them trying to reach the gods would fail. He'd intended to use it to spy on everyone, collecting data which he could use as he wished and blocking whichever deity he wished, mainly evil ones, but it ended up too powerful, he couldn't handle it and basically exploded. Without him controlling it it was in a default state where it interfered with all the gods and not just those he wanted to block. Unfortunately the end result was that the evil-aligned creatures kept putting plans into motion and the good-aligned and neutral-aligned deities didn't notice, leaving their followers only able to notice and react instead of being proactive. It was a minor difference, but still had negative effects.) Maybe there's a lot of flaws here. Who knows, maybe the good and neutral deities wouldn't have warned their followers anyway. On the bright side, the evil deities were also sitting there thinking their followers were doing the usual stuff and not actively orchestrating any plots in the Prime Material Plane themselves. And clerics and paladins who'd fallen weren't being punished because their deities had no idea anything had happened.
Another cool source for the Seelie and Unseelie courts, even though it isn’t dnd, are the Dresden Files books. Love the authors version of the Fae
It isn’t part of the original lore but one game I play in, which is a weirdly all fey party, has a neutral court that arbitrates as needed between seelie and unseelie and quite a few other minor courts of the feywild. This is a homebrew of course but I found it quite neat of a concept so I’m posting it here for others browsing comments for ideas.
Basically it’s a court of Dreams. Literally dreams. It has its rivals who cause problems of course, it’s still a court after all, but they are very neutral.
The reason this court came to be is because I made a dreams druid. As I used the hexblood lineage I made the backstory of them being adopted by an archfey as an abandoned baby and the exposure to so much potent fey magic transformed them into the hexblood they are. This comes into play because one of the quirks of the queen for the court of dreams is that she enjoys adopting and raising children (they don’t have to be humanoids). Even grown, they are still her children to her and she is a very maternal figure of the courts. So my character is the Prinx (nonbinary form of prince/princess) of dreams and is a druid of dreams because they are trying to learn how to use their powers to better protect themself. They are technically not born fey after all and they don’t quite have the same protections because of it despite having a very high status, one of which only really the queens of the dream, seelie, and unseelie courts outrank.
Anyway! I guess that isn’t much. But it should be noted that the main antagonist for my character is a hag which a grudge against the queen of dreams. As she can’t target the queen, she targets my character who is vulnerable and it will cause heartbreak to said queen. The hag is part of an opposing court known as the court of shadows, which is gaining influence in the feywild from far less accepted denizens and it isn’t known who is in charge, though their is a mysterious archfey that noted to be among them.
Anyway! Enjoy!
I like it
The Fey realm is best enjoyed as a stoic adventurer with good diplomatic skills. It is better to be a giver of gifts than a receiver of gifts.
Your timing couldn’t be better! The campaign my group started recently focuses on the fey overtaking the material realm (thanks in no small part to one of the player characters actions in the previous campaign). I’ll forward this to my DM to hopefully give him some ideas for his own version of the fey courts. Thanks AJ!
A while back, I had the idea for a Moonstone Dragon that protects and cares for a community of Brigganocks in exchange for offerings of the wish stones, which the Brigganocks mine
In an endeavour to protect the Brigganocks, this dragon has had to chase off Fomorians on multiple occasions and thus would love if a group of adventures could help to stop the giants from coming back somehow
Faeries and their courts are a really cool concept, but I've always been wary of including them in my games because I don't think I can get their mindset and the grandeur of their realms down well enough. It's harder for me to get the ambience right than with your Underdarks and your Abysses and your outer planes. Not sure why.
It would be nice to get a sourcebook or adventure module set in the Feywild with information and tips on how to get into the mindset of Fey creatures as well as ideas on how to portray their strange world. I've played 2 different Eladrin in campaigns and still don't think I really did them justice in portraying them properly.
Because they have more in common with the far realm than the material realm. They are completely alien. They only have a human shape. To accurately portray the fey you have to make them so alien as to be amoral. With power that rivals even greater gods. They are a form of elder spirit that gives an insight into what the gods may have been like before their duty towards creation bound them. They are the terrifying majesty of that bygone era made manifest. A true fey has no understanding of what mortality truly means. Even those for whom death, disease, darkness, and endings are their concept do not understand what it means for mortals. They are part of and aware of the cycle of life in an eternal way. For mortals death is most often the end of their awareness of the cycle for that iteration. It is possible for a fey to be part of an eternal cycle of living a very particular life, dying a very particular death, aware of it completely, and sees no problem with it. They just do this same cycle endlessly. Or maybe they do the opposite. In any case they lack any mortal sensibilities because they really aren't mortal. They just play at it when the mood suits them. Fey beings were the original terrifying aliens who abduct you for unknown reasons with powers you can't comprehend or compete with. When portraying them they should be quite creepy as some part of your characters realize the fey beings may act in a familiar way but something within them realizes the fey beings are just putting on a sham. Their true alien mindset should always be just out of sight but still felt. The fey may seem "human", but like a mannequin they are not. And should hit that same amount of uncanny valley.
Hope my long winded rambling helps xD
@@jacobfreeman5444 I appreciate your thoughtful elucidation!
@@jacobfreeman5444 Wow, actually, I had a very similar wariness about including them in my game. I still don't think I could pull the atmosphere off either, but you've given me a much better grasp on how others that might have experienced them would describe them.
One approach I've seen is to play them as narcissistic sociopaths, who were that way because whatever they wanted really did come true. "Good" and "Evil" to them meant "I like it" or "I don't like it". They would be friendly and gracious, but ... when contradicted or opposed, would become confused and then intensely angry.
Full disclosure. I had no idea who these groups were. Not even my brothers had ever used them. This dissapoints my heart.
Great video though. They are actually pretty cool.
Thanks for this one AJ! I have an interest in the Fae, must be the Irish in me! I especially enjoy thw way that they're fleshed out in D&D lore. If I ever get to play again, I think that a warlock with a pact with The Queen of Air and Darkness would be my ideal character! As always, you have outdone yourself my friend! I hope that you're enjoying some warm weather! We are already in to our second snow fall, with Fall having barely begun! I think that I'll definitely be back on World of Warcraft if I'm going to be snowed in for the next several months! That and listening to your videos over and over helps to pass the time!
I’m new to this channel and at first I thought this was going to be over the Changeling: The Lost versions and I almost yelled out of excitement. 😭
Julius Weiss welcome. I think this lore can be used to enhance changling. I’m new to that system and AJ’s explanations is helpful to me.
The Unseelie Court sounds amazing! Dark, gloom, and hidden secrets/terrors.
Great intro music! For a moment, I thought I was about to watch a trippy music video from the 80's. So sad. Remember the greatness of MTV in it's youth and raise a glass.
As a bard, to be "imprisoned" in the home of a fey lord would probably be amazing. Always an eager crowd, great food (maybe), hot elven/fey/celestial ladies... heaven
Maybe the bard can swear feilty to an archfey in exchange for going to their domain after death?
Or you could be imprisoned at an eternal party, playing your fingers literally to the bone, singing until your throat bleeds
@@aubreyackermann8432 that's the beauty, it's all up the the DM 😁
The men are probably great too
I like to think that Titania is the Queen of the Seelie/Summer Court and Mab is the Queen of the Unseelie/Winter Court, while Oberon is the King of both Courts and is both Titanias and Mabs husband. Titania and Mabs rivalry stems between the fact that they share a husband and try to get more attention from him. Titania and Mab are both beautiful and strong Queens who can rule their courts without Oberon they would love to have him by their side for his company. Oberon doesn't interfere with the courts much trusting his queens but will step in and intervene if he deems it necessary, such as stopping his queens from starting a war with each other.
What a bastard.
King Ghob is the male counterpart of Oberon.
@@slyfer60 They're Fey, what do you expect.
@@almitrahopkins1873 Gob? The Gnome King?
@@ChasoGod Ghob. Father of the ghoblings.
Unseelie Parties are the best. You can be the fox in the foxhunt. The hidden blade at a masquerade and the slow poison in the wine cellar and that's just the overture.
So... They're both kind of jerks, just in different ways.
Exactly.
One will try to embarrass you, the other will try to physically hurt you, all for laughs.
Very timely, my party is going to the Feywild to have the Ring of Winter destroyed by giving it to the Summer Queen.
But it's the coolest magic item!
One ring to fool them all,
One ring to seize them,
One ring to cool them all,
And in the cruel rime freeze them.
That seems like it’d cause global warming.
This is relevant to one of my current characters. That character being a Drow Warlock with the Archfey patron The Nixie Queen. The (Un)Seelie courts and the (Dark) Seldarine are not to be associated with without extreme caution.
I love fey lore, awesome video
Your like a firehose of information. My brain is full so i'll have to defrag it to make more room! I checked out your Fey videos for back ground information with my Eladrin Rogue. Now that he's in Neverwinter I imagine it's kind of like spending time in a sensory deprivation chamber.
Yep
I thought it bore mentioning that the Seelie and Unseelie Courts are actually native to the Great Wheel cosmology of D&D - 1st through 3rd and arguably 5th edition, and traditionally information on them has been fairly scattered and often minimalistic. The first time that the concept of fey society really became a prominent part of the D&D Cosmology was in 4th edition and its World Axis. The Feywild, however, isn't ruled by the Seelie and Unseelie, but instead by a much larger and more complex array of faerie cabals and factions collectively known as the Court of Stars. The most important of the factions here are the Summer Fey, Winter Fey, Gloaming Fey, Nature Fey and Coral Fey. The Unseelie fey do exist in the World Axis, but they are a relatively minor faction in the Court of Stars, being made up of fey who have been corrupted by the dark magics of the Shadowfell.
Do you have some suggested sources for learning more about what you've written here? Particularly the Court of Stars....
@@KelticPhoenix Sadly, the only sources on the Feywild are all the original 4th edition material; you want to check out Wizards Presents: Worlds & Monsters (one of two design-teaser books published before the edition launched), 4th Edition's Manual of the Planes (there are 1e AD&D, 3e and 4e versions, so make sure it's the right one), and Heroes of the Feywild. There was also an article series in the 4e run of Dragon & Dungeon magazine called "Court of Stars" that looked at individual 4e archfey; there should be an article on 1d4chan called "Archfey" that lists them and all other archfey mentioned in 4e material.
So I'm a big fan of your newer stuff it's entertaining to go back and see how you've improved
Can you please do a deep dive on Clerics? Either as a whole, or by Domain? :D
Plane of Fables.
I have been looking high and low for the names of the lord and lady of the Unseelie court.
My Unseelie Court member now has a theme song. Cult of Personality by Living Color. 🤘🏼🍻
An oak growing through a unicorn..... Ouch! 😂🤣🤘🏼
Please see Laurell K. Hamilton's Merry Gentry Series for a great read and great info on the Fey realm. I found it very helpful and a great read.
TSR naming the non-human gods: Zingelbert Bembledack, Tringelbert Wangledack, Slot Bunwalla, Klingybun Fistelvase, Dindlebert Zindledack, Gerry Dorsey, Engelbert Humptyback, Zengelbert Bingledack, Engelbert Humperdinck, Vingelbert Wingledanck
I get the feeling everyone just walked around half drunk most of the time back in the 70's
@@AJPickett Or just tripping balls.
“Cake or Death?” asks fey prince Benedict Cumberbatch. 🎂💀🍃
@@calebsyswerda Bentover Cucumberpatch
In the case of the fey, they are all from Gaelic mythology.
Nature deities are varied, from Silvanus (Roman) to Mielikki (Finnish).
Some of them come from Sumerian, such as Jergal and Myrkul.
Bhaal is Canaanite, but usually spelled Baal.
Tyche is Roman.
But yeah, the ones they created, the names are really screwy.
In much the same way I feel D&D, especially the Forgotten Realms setting, has revolutionized races presented forth by Tolkien... I think Jim Butcher nailed the machinations of Queen Mab and the political dynamics of the balancing between Winter and Summer courts. However, those are the only two real powers outside the setting's "Material Plane" (Earth). Until someone comes along and does to the Feywild what the Erevis Cale series did to the Shadowfell and what R.A Salvatore did to the drow and the Underdark, Jim Butcher's representation of the two courts would give life to a Fey inspired D&D campaign. And something like the Far Realm exists in the setting of the Dresden Files, now that I think about it.
That is the most compelling reason I have ever seen, for me to read those novels.
Couldn't agree more. I have run an interpretation of the Butcher versions of the courts and it is great fun. Especially Mab.
@@AJPickett Butcher has said in interviews that he used D&D character sheets when creating his characters for the book. He's a big time TTRPG guy.
Laurel k Hamilton is also an excellent source for inspiration
Every single fantasy game I run includes Jim Butcher's vision of the Fae. I can't not do it.
On the subject of realms close to Pandemonium, off the top of my head I'm imagining a place called the Halls of Echo. A labyrinthine underground realm of twisting stone passages dotted with vast cathedral-like caverns purpose built to amplify sound, in particular, singing. It's a lawful-neutral demi-plane inhabited by all manner of creatures known for their unique calls and peopled by humanoids prone to building the massive caverns.
Have you done a video on the court of stars yet? Would love to learn more about it.
So, in terms of MTG lore, seelie is Selesnia (W/G Alinement) and unseelie is Golgari (B/G Alinement). As far as tastes in beauty, one is more holy themed while the other leans more on the gothic side. I think I like the unseelie courts a bit more than the seelie ones.
Same
Loved this one particularly!
Amazing stuff. I would love too see some content on Eladrin!
Like imagination itself the Seelie and Unseelie courts are interesting, but need to be approached with caution. They live between divinity and mortals, which by the nature of the higher planes makes them almost unrelatable and dangerous.
Everytime I listen to/read information about the Feywild, the Eladrin are never brought up.. Nothing ever explains how they are associated with the realm besides their brief description. I'd assume they are denizens of the courts and/or roam around the Feywild but there isn't really concrete descriptions of their association with the Feywild. This drives me nuts because they are probably one of the most common races there and they are one of my favorite races to play.
5 Volt o assume this is because of the disconnect between Fey and the more common Eladrin of Arborea
That's because AJ is using 5th edition lore supplemented with AD&D/3e lore, which is an uneasy and somewhat clumsy mixture of brand new material, the Great Wheel, and a few hints of 4th edition. 5e has deliberately tried to exclude a LOT of 4th edition lore, and even though it retains the Feywild as a part of its reformed Great Wheel, it maintains very little of the lore that 4e so carefully crafted for it. Long and short: if you want to know about the Feywild and the Eladrin's connection to it, go back to 4th edition where they first appeared, because 5e basically wants to sweep them under the rug.
Not all fey are seelie or unseelie. The courts represent the lawful end of the spectrum within chaos. Unaligned fey are the chaotic end.
Kingdoms of Amalur did the fae justice.
Craig Rainbow Ehh. Not so much. Don’t get me wrong, I love that game series. But they make the Fae into unchanging, reincarnative, plant people. It’s a really good take on the Fae, but it’s about as far from the source material as is possible. D&D keeps it’s more along the lines of the actual Fae related mythologies from real life.
In my world, the fey courts are the most neutral parties because every so many years fey from either side just kinda swap sides.
I wanna see what a koatoa or beholder would do in this place or other imagination influenced worlds
Thank you for the information. I am working on a Changeling Hexblade of Queen Tatania, and King Oberron. I don't quite understand how bloodlines work with the Seelie Fae, however, I want him to be the son of Squelaiche. Kind of a low key sort of trickster. He's gonna make people think they've soiled themselves from time to time 🤣 He's also going to be a Musician, and Street Magician modeled after 16th Century French Cavaliers. His name is François Etienne de le Frits, loosely translated his name means Steven of the French Fries 🤣 I can't wait to RP this character, and am going to do my best to develop a good French accent.
I know it's been a while but if you're interested in a French version of the name, you could go for "de la Frite" (singular) or "des Frites" (plural), or maybe "du Cornet de Frites" for how they are typically eaten. Lastly just in case you would indulge in a Belgian twist (we are competing to know who actually invented the fries, but the competition doesn't really extend to the taste of the fries where Belgians are reputably unrivaled, tho unfortunately for vegetarians and animals they often use animal fat in the process) you could go for "de la Mitraillette" which to the uninitiated would be a quick-firing firearm, but is also a belgian fries sandwich of sorts.
Awesome video topic as always!
i once visited both courts, but security thrown me away each time...
Not sure if its mentioned in the video but was wondering how the LeShay interact with either court? are they revered or do they play any part in the feywild?
They're probably seen as an uncomfortable reminder that the fey are not quite as perfect as they'd like to be
@@felixrivera895 Yeah was wondering if there was any lore of encounters.
LeShay in general tend to avoid other races and, due to the LeShey’s origins in another reality, don’t really interact with political regimes of any kind because how events in this reality play out aren’t truly their issue.
@@Im-Not-a-Dog True surely though a few of the leshey sought sanctuary within the feywilds
Fistimus Maximus Sanctuary and solitude. The Faewild is a large place and not at all mapped out. There are many places where they could have essentially disappeared in. While I have no doubts that there is a LeShey community in the Faewild, I just don’t believe it interacts with the Courts. LeShey would seek a place of quite contemplation and reflection, regardless of what plane of existence they’re on. If someone of another race found them, they would interact peacefully with them, but they wouldn’t seek others out, and they would never interject themselves into the affairs of other cultures unless that culture’s actions threatened the LeShey.
A good video but it would have been even better if the fae you talked about were on screen as you did
True, good critique, thanks Tammy
With shape-shifting and invisibility so common among the fae folk, what makes you think that weren’t them, love?
Hope you make it to 100k, I love this content!
Oh I will.
Will you remember me? I WILL return
@@lieutenant_oreo1027 I may be wearing a suit.
"an oak growing out of unicorn" wow that got real dark, real quick.
Unicorn blood doesn’t act like a potion of Plant Growth in your games? Just one drop from a wounded unicorn fleeing causes the forest to grow so thick that only a Druid could pass through it within seconds in mine.
If you plant an oak where a dead unicorn lies, a treat grows there within a week. Only the most faithful of druids ever even hear of the unicorn graveyard and they never say where one is.
Crinti Legend, from The Magehound by Elaine Cunningham
"Legend has it that once, many thousands of years ago, an Ilythiiri wizard stumbled through the veil that separates the world we see from the unseen world of the Unseelie Court. There she learned some of the magic of the dark fairies, most of it by unfortunate firsthand experience. After much torment, she escaped, now utterly insane but carrying a knowledge of fell magic that surpassed any wizard in the land. She began a rise to power that attracted the darkest hearts of her time to her court. Her name is lost to memory, and she is known only as the Spider Queen. It is said that the evil goddess of the drow, Lolth, assimilated the wizard into her own being, taking for herself both the wizard's name and her dark magic. It is said that something of the wizard's memory remains within the goddess, and as a result, the drow, even Lolth herself, fear the Unseelie folk. What, then, could be more frightening to the Crinti than the songs of the dark fairies?"
Great, so the prissy fey assholes only counter is a bunch of deranged murder hobo emo cutters. May as well just give the whole damn place to elements.
me: I know it! the Seely Court is that of the nice guys!
AJ: proceeds to describe the Seely Court fey as a bunch of proud & selfish a-holes.
I'm entertained!
You're better off meeting the Seelie than the Unseelie, but that doesn't make them the good guys. Just sayin'.
@@BigusGeekus really depends: if you're part fey on your great great great grandmother's side, you're actually better meeting the unseelie, as you're just another one of them.
If you're a human, orc, or dwarf, it's better to just bring a lot of fire and iron...
Given the choice to get involved in the affairs of wizards, dragons, or fey, getting involved with fey of either court is the least wise choice.
@@dynamicworlds1 True, but it's not always a choice. The fey like to meddle in mortal affairs, after all.
#Tip for pronunciations of names and other fantasy words, I use a text to speech website. I start with names I know the pronunciation for to choose which settings/voices give the best results then type in the difficult name. Great video.
I love how DND based their lore on Scottish Mythology.
Why no Polish mythology? We're very interesting people.
@@MrZonehawk Perhaps because the most popular Mythology most used in books, movies, and games is mostly -- Norse, Celtic, Greek, or Egyptian related.
IDK why to be honest with you. :/
@@witchette I was totally joking :o)
@@MrZonehawk The Leshy?
@@almitrahopkins1873 It was a joke. What's the Leshy by the way?
Great video bro!
I wonder who is prettier… Titania or Malcanthet?
Both
Eyyyy the bog of eternal stench
Somewhere in the fey is the "middle of the night" literally a line between night and day. Like Alice in wonderland.
The twilight court
"The time has come," the Walrus said, "To talk of many things: of shoes- and ships- and ceiling wax, of cabbages and kings!"
@@NanoMayTry pray tell, what is ceiling wax? ;D
I always viewed the Unseelie court as Ogres before they were turned into monsters. Similar to the Irda of Krynn.
Well, there are plenty of ogres in fairy tales, so they are part of the fey for sure.
Fey beings are just a collection of magical creatures. The courts are just groupings of like minded beings within the Fey. Seelie tend to be energetic and fun loving, reveling in growth life. Unseelie tend to be stoic and duty bound, tending to decay and death. Together they represent the full cycle of life, from birth to death. The only reason you shouldn't include the undead among the number of the unseelie is because it is unnatural death, where as the unseelie represent death as is part of the natural cycle of life. They may control undead or the forces that can animate them but in the end they should be offended by things like liches, wights, and zombies. Although, considering the nature of one, they may help a revenant in its quest. As it is a soul reanimated by its need to avenge itself upon those who wronged it in life.
As far as cosmological positioning... not sure about your conclusion here. If that's true then there should be a lawful element and thus a lawful Fey Lord. Archfey and Fey Lord are two very confusing rankings because on can be one and the other or one but not the other. I am thinking that an Archfey is any Fey creature once it has acclimated to the Feywild to where the plane responds to their presence. While a Fey Lord is an immortal creature with a following no different from a God or King or Queen and would be part of the Courts.
This would be why certain creatures in the Feywild that seem to be mundane can be elevated to Archfey in power despite being equivalent to a 8th level PC. Feylords on the other hand since that requires some validation from the courts or it's followers cannot be without a means to keep that support.
To clarify an Archfey with the stat block of an 8th level PC is in no way killable like an 8th level PC, this is still a creature of imagination and on paper they can look like an 8th level PC but in practice if they are in their home area they are far more deadly.
Great video thank you for your amazing work
I just love this stuff, so glad I found this channel! Great job!
could you do a video on Titania and Obern?
AJ Pickett Before i get around to watching this, you need to know there is a youtuber called "luetin09" and his kind of like you for 40k. Great quality lore videos, but unlike you he doesn't upload vids faster than you can watch them. 😝 Anyways if you didn't know about him now you do. *that moment when AJ pickett exposes his magical nature by exceeding his minute number by upload rate* 🎸❤👍
A very informative video. What would you consider the best produced resources on the Seelie Courts/Feywild?
4th edition, Players Option: Heroes of the Feywild. Pretty good stuff, they pack a lot into the book.
@@AJPickett Thank you!
Okay we need to get these archfey stuck in a cycle of constant reincarnation so that they can learn humility and actually mature.
That's what they think of humanity but are they really as unhumble as we humans protray them in stories or another way we write the story's about fey Lord so we can make them as wise or foolish good or evil as we desire or at least as much as the story teller is any of these thing
@@camerondavidso3860 Yes they are, the compilation of myths and legends aren't as malleable as you would think. The Fey folk don't think highly of us humans to say the least. However that is neither here nor there as we are talking about the D&D fey folk and they have more ready contact with the fey folk.
@@andresmarrero8666 not speaking of DND the fey folk seem to think that we are stuck in constant reincarnation cycle because we (humans) are the fallen angels of myth and legend I think at least some of the unseelie really believe that story they gave me whatever that's worth but I think they have to tell themselves that in order to resolve thier pain when they look apon the human world and choose not to interfere because every time they tried to help the humans on earth well almost every time it went badly they fear repeating thier mistakes the arch fey are collective concinousness fusion of many lesser fay they see ruling over the souls that compose them the same way we view ruling over are own body's first is last last is first as we serve and persue are body welfare the guard the selves it is just that they are made of many
@@andresmarrero8666 also for whats it's worth in my experience I don't think most humans are worth being thought very highly of but the myths are malleable enough so every individual can go from saint to sinner mortal to god (immortal) humans have great dorment potential but few ever try to do much with it or worse they seek ill things and reap what they sow
@@camerondavidso3860 that's a nice story unfortunately it does not line up with the Celtic stories. They are not exactly benevolent as you paint them as. They certainly don't think highly of us, contrary to what you may think but humans are quite a bit more bright nor has the drop been made. Children playing in the field, stumbling, scraping, growing, following a single light that doesn't move yet is never still. A parade of lights. The fey are in a reincarnation cycle well depending on who you ask, the endless ones certainly are, but they are all gone except for one, that old lord of the sea, Manannan Mac Lir. Though the otherworld is not a singular place. The rules change for every visitation. You fail to notice and they will curse you, one of Arthur's knights can attest to that. They are not kind to humans, they do not think highly of us even when humans are kind to them. Even those who are your allies you must be wary of, even those that ask for aid. One must be respectful but weary of them. That is what the old Celtic stories tell and they are older than Titania's era. When her name was coined, when her court established within the minds of man.
With the courts I always had the queens behind veils 1. So the "common raff" could not gaze upon her
2. So the queen wouldn't have to see the common raff.
But if ever she would reveal herself
I'd have them roll checks of either con,wis,int or chr which ever was highest for all players DC18.
Describe in detailed ways how her beauty would drive them to tears or inspire every ballad they would ever write from here on etc and upon success they are able to divert thier gaze for they are unworthy or fail gaze longingly at what is truely unobtainable and be at complete behest of her.
Ofcourse I left out all the flavoring speech for y'all but you get the jist
When are we getting a video about the Fetchling (Kayal) race ?
'Finn-wala' is the pronunciation, according to my niece of that name.
That also depends on whether it is Scottish, Irish, Welsh, Cornish or Brythonic Gaelic.
Fee-on-ola is also correct.
@@almitrahopkins1873 of course. But I'll stick with my niece's until I meet someone else by that name who pronounces it differently. :P
4 gold half up front paid to
adventurers cruel, unusual, or ugly
Mission of revenge
See only half orc in the tavern
I'm planning to use some Fey influence in my current campaign, so I'll make sure to hit all the comments sections for the sake of the almighty (potentially Fey in temperament??) algorithm.
I have the existence of Fey Path anchors with runic obelisks within my world. Chaotic energy from the Feywilds has been leaking out into the Mortal plane, Would this be capitalized by any of the Courts or would they only care for their own realms?
Oh they would find it very entertaining for a while, like the newest game at a high society party, but, the fey bore of things or the very landscape shifts and changes, breaking the easy connection with the mortal worlds yet again.
@@AJPickett could there be a way to make their machinations into a larger thread as a backdrop to conflict going on in the mortal world?
good video AJ
Also the pre genator races of toril.
Thanks AJ
How about the underdark's connection to the feywild and shadowfell it is weird to me that you can find yourself in a different dimension if you keep going down.
So, for clarification the unseelie are not always evil?
No, they are not... just mostly.
The unseelie court accept outsiders without fey blood into their midst so it might be easier for a party of adventurers to deal with them.
The unseelie are survivalist they think any thing that is dangerous to them is evil in thier world view
They are death centric, which is why many are either evil or considered evil. Do you blame the lion for eating you if you are fool enough to wander into its territory when its hungry? Truth be told the seelie court is no less dangerous, just less honest about the peril they pose. That said there is little you, as a living being who wishes to continue living, can offer the unseelie so they are unlikely to humor you.
Best to not mention what happens to fools who request power from them.
Can I haz?
Here you go!
Not like that though -.-
They get the power, but at such a cost...
So what is in the case of the elven pantheon the point where the Fay and celestial meet? Are there celestial Fay? Also if the court is made up of pure bloods are they all Leshay?
The interaction between LeShay with the rest of the Feywild always intrigued me, what is their relationship, what is the status of the LeShay with the archfey and eladrin fey Courts, do they correlate somehow, etc?
LeShay are a big question mark in the fey society which we don't know wxactly how to place them.
@@fftere in my homebrew I had the Leshay as the creation of Selune and Shar together but when the two goddesses had their falling out the Leshay lost a part of their purpose. Later I had the Oberynth attempt an invasion of the plane's (before the creation of the abyss) one billion Oberynth each as powerful as a demon prince battled against a couple million Leshay. The war lasted thousands of years and as the Leshay began to falter due in large part to their inability to breed amongst themselves they began crossing with other beings to replenish their numbers (most of the powerful Fay are born here) when all was said and done 12 Oberynth survived and just over 100 Leshay.
I explain to my characters that the Feywild became a sort of loony bin for the soldiers who after thousands of years of battle had been mentally broken in the extreme. Titania's court with its obsession over breeding is actually an attempt by the Leshay to breed more Leshay that ultimately failed as new Leshay can't be born or created. Correlon, Oberon and their courts are remnants of the first Leshay half breeds as some even became gods.
The Leshay in their original form were clothed by their mothers in armor of light and darkness with one wing of each. Having lost their purpose they threw away their armor and wings.
@@dmstantastic3653 Have you heard of Relkath? He's a treant who's supposed to be the fey manifestation or aspect of Rillifane Rallathil, the Great Oak (a chaotic good deity). While he might not be a celestial fey, that's pretty much an earthly fey closely linked to a celestial deity.
Are the Seelie & Unseelie greater than the Leshay or Eldarin?
Leshay are not really part of the fey society, the Eladrin are more like the merging point of celestial and fey, so, they are a group that just... is.
@@AJPickett
My question is are the Leshay greater AJ?
Is there a Queen of Air and Darkness episode? Or will you do one at some point?
Yes! Where is Queen Mab?
Have not watched this yet but I might be miffed if there isn't one mention of Harry Dresden.
Where most of my knowledge of the courts comes from.
Favorite series
@@mrkojak-ci1zm Finished watching it and I stay miffed.... but it's good stuff so I can't stay too mad.
@@mreyes3543 I hear you.
I even offered to purchase some of the books for him.
Knowing that once started, the hook would be hopelessly set
Dresden references with Fey are Nerdarchy's thing though.
@@lordnul1708 haven't been there to check it out but I'm sure anyone can review it
Another Amazing Video! What were the spellings of these fae deities? Trying to write stuff down for later 😏
I have a Winter Eladrin Warlock who has a pact with the Prince of Frost, she has a noble background, any advice?
As with everything about the Fey, take what you learn with a grain of salt. Gygax didnt invent the Fey or the Seelie and Unseelie. They have merely been transposed into a new mythology. The stories of the Fey and the Courts goes back centuries, even millennia. They exist under various names and attributes almost everywhere on the planet. Native Americans have traditions concerning the fey just like the Celts do.. As to your question, a noble fey will seem like all nobles, aloof to those beneath her and haunting to her peers. All mortals will be beneath her if she is fey or elf. Besides that her personality is yours to write.
Yes, stop playing Warlock.
I have an idea for a Archfey pact Warlock who gained their powers by striking a deal to serve the archfey to repay an offence aginst them. I'd also blending this with the idea of the movie RIPD or Booker DeWitt from Bioshock infinite where these characters begrudgingly choose to accept a deal to serve something in exchange for their lives or someone else's life.
They can be anything you want. I always thought it was stupid how they shoehorned a mishmash of folklore like the Seelie unseelie court into pre established DND lore.
It's a GREAT idea in world of darkness.
In dnd? Uh you mean to tell me all of these FAMOUSLY CHAOTIC PRANKSTERS have worshipped the same royalty for millenia in perfectly regimented time following miles upon miles worth of written laws as etiquette? The fuck?
Did you forget how you wrote them ten 20 years ago?
what are the names mentioned in here? I can't find them written anywhere to look up and find more information on
Look up titania, Rhiannon, Oberon (lots of Gaelic and Celtic folklore)
@@AJPickett what was the 2 foot long feywild dragon diety?