A FAERIE CAMPAIGN

Some adventurers, whether of their own curious free will or by the compulsion of circumstance or magic, find themselves in Faerie for the long term or at frequent intervals. Such a campaign may be defined by frequent exposure to standalone Faerie encounters or by something more complex and long-lasting.

A famous archetype which is reflected in many of the longer quests is the introspective journey which earns the heroes a realization about themselves which they can take back and use in the mortal realm; such a journey often appears isolated from all else in the heroes’ lives, but may secretly be linked intimately to everything else. Although tales tend to reflect the realization as the real prize, such quests often also involve the acquisition of powerful boons from the Faerie world of adventure ‘artifacts or magical gifts’ which  can be taken back to mortal lands.

In such  a campaign, the PCs are generally well-received by at least a few fey or giants, who serve as patrons and important NPCs. The party may offer their services, and possibly even fealty, to one or more courts; or, they may work as agents of an independently powerful or wealthy archfey, giant king, or dragon. The party is likely to be blessed with special powers by their liege, and fey can incorporate mortals into the Otherworld, granting them some of the benefits of fey magic. Blessing or seduction encounters may eventually lead to this; in unusual cases, trickery, theft, or combat challenges may as well.

It is important to note how Otherworldly creatures, both as individuals and as a group, view mortals, as well as the differences between mortal ensibilities and those of Faerie. For high- and epic-level parties, consider allowing the PCs to begin navigating the treacherous waters of fey politics as vassals themselves.

Possible adventures include:

• Settle a long-running feud between a group of nymphs, treants, and unicorns and the neighboring humen settlement who all depend on making heavy use of the forest’s resources for their livelihoods. If convinced the mortals will serve them well, the nymphs grant the heroes their favor.
• Destroy a portal that is dangerous to the local nature and its fey guardians, such as one leading to the Depths Below. The fey guardians offer useful magic items as boons to their champions.
• A daoine sidhe’s forest is endangered by cultists of Amdusius, who wish to summon this Duke of Hell in order to enslave the nature of the region to their will.
• Liberate (or raze) a great city held in thrall by an Irudyte with the aid of joystealers, splinterwaifs, and a zeitgeist who inhabit the city.
• After catching the mercurial attention of the Queen of Air and Darkness,  avoid being “collected” by questing for a brachyurus pelt and  presenting it to her.
• Escort a fey diplomat to meet with the high priest of a nature deity.

Faerie Enemies

In such a campaign, fey, giants, or dragons generally serve as the primary antagonists to the PCs, and there is no shortage of reasons as to how this can come about. The party could serve a deity or pantheon whose goals are contrary to the designs of a Faerie faction. One or more of the PCs themselves may have a grudge against the fey and simply seek to protect mortals from their predations. Legends of a linnorm’s or fomorian’s  treasure may well have inspired them to seek out Faerie spoils. Perhaps  they have even aligned themselves with one of the master aberrationraces,  Lolth, another demon lord, or an entity of the Void. Unlike some villains (such as fiends), fey can be very pragmatic in seeking their goals. Excepting a few with evil instincts (like redcaps, who live for unceasing murder), most fey care more about their bond and sometimes propagating their own vision of the world than about personal glory or harming others. They can often be negotiated with, although this is usually a difficult and dangerous venture in its own right. Fey tend to be very savvy and capricious about the ins and outs of high-stakes bargains.

Possible adventures include:

• Rescue children who were kidnapped to be playmates for a nixie.
• Secure a rare fey text of arcane secrets to help a PC or NPC to research a new spell.
• Destroy forest guardians (and the forest itself) to make way for a new settlement and farmland.
• Foil the plans of a baen nighe who plots the PCs’ deaths to move along 
  her heretofore unrelated plans for the ruination of a nearby city.
• In order to learn a nefarious lich’s evil schemes, consult the region’s most renowned seer, a hag sage whose experience, wisdom, and cruelty are infamous. Her divinations and insight can tell the party how to catch the lich unprepared and attack him in his home base, but only if they can reach her in her storm-wracked mountain hut and are willing to pay her price of a painful, personal sacrifice.
• Obtain an artifact hidden in an archfey’s stronghold, such as the Sword of Light – useful for slaying powerful undead – kept by Vivienne.
• Stop the plans of an evil Unseelie Count of Plagues, who wishes to devastate a rising humen kingdom for his own political ends.
• Capture a minor Faerie Lord as an offering to alien gods.
• Discover why the Snow Queen froze an entire nation in wintry death before she does it to any other land.