Fae

Many of the Fae are great craftsman and artists, and with an extremely long lifespan they have plenty of time to perfect their craft. As such, art (in all its forms) is celebrated amongst all of Eirrin. All fae are, by birth, are subjects of the rulers of Winter or Summer Court or subjects to themselves if they were born into Wild Fae. While they most often stay aligned to either court or Wild their whole lives, a select few have been known to change seasons throughout their long life. Some who belong to the courts may find themselves to be more political than others, fighting for the good of their court or simply for titles and good graces from their respective ruler. 

The Fae have a very robust history which has shaped the culture of today. Some fae still hold onto grudges and prejudice from wars of the past (for the perception of time runs differently for a Fae and thousands of years ago can seem like months) others simply treat it as a chapter in a book of their long life. Ancient History The Great War The Balor, leader of the dreaded Fomori, had great dark magics and began to march across Eirinn causing the land to die in their footsteps. The Summer Court, Knights and Lords lead by Finvarra himself, stood against the Fomori, as Summer magic is the magic of defence, and their strategy was to slow the Fomori charge and lead them to the ground of Fair Fields. Once there, King Finvarra issued a challenge to the Balor, that they fight as honest warriors, proving the right to lead Eirinn by challenge of arms. The Fomori leader sneered at the challenge, claiming that nothing so insignificant as a Faery should lay claim to honor and nothing so great as a fomori needed anything but power. This began the last battle of the Great War. As the Balor’s forces began to be ground between Summer and Winter, the Balor himself fled, taking his cadre through a rift out of Eirinn. 

While the forces of Eirinn celebrated their victory, they also lived with the sure knowledge that they would see their enemies again. The Second Great War When the Fomori next marched on Eirinn, it was perhaps more devastating than the previous attack. While there were less Fomori since the Great War, they had allies called Beastmen, hordes of twisted corrupted creatures filled with the essence of chaos. The Fomori also allied with the Master the dark arts of Necromancy, the Lich Sakkalid, and bore his legions of undead in their ranks, causing all of the fallen to be animated back into their ranks. This time, rather than allow the enemy to escape and attack another day, General Puck of the Winter Court demanded that the Fae be allowed to hunt down the Fomori and destroy them, root and branch. Wiser, cooler heads prevailed and convinced the High King that it was not Summer’s place to attack, as their strength was in defense and if Winter would stand with them, Eirinn was secure. General Puck, filled with battle rage, and the cold, implacable anger of Winter failed to heed this argument and lead all the Faeries that would follow through the rift created by the Fomori. When the rift was sealed behind the Fae Warriors, all Eirinn mourned their loss.

 Recent Years (615-620) The Fae have just concluded a four year war between the Summer and Winter Courts. The former Summer King, Finvarra, was seduced by the corrupting force of Nether which began to corrupt Eirrin and some of the Fae within. The extremely independent and passionate Summer Court were defensive and wanted to keep Summer matters within Summer. Winter Court, however, wanted to invade and dethrone Finvarra themselves leading to a war that lasted four years. When Finvarra left Eirrin for the Prime, some heroes of Shadowmoor were able to trap him and bring him back to Eirrin where the Lord Gwyddion, King Regent of Winter, banished him resulting in the banishment of Lord Gwyddion as well, as all things have balance in Eirrin. This led to the recent coronation of Queen Summerset of the Winter Court and King Llyr of the Summer Court.