“Know then that in Elfland are colours more deep than are in our fields, and the very air there glows with so deep a lucency that all things seen there have something of the look of our trees and flowers in June reflected in water. And the colour of Elfland, of which I despair to tell, may yet be told, for we have hints of it here; the deep blue of the night in Summer just as the gloaming has gone, the pale blue of Venus flooding the evening with light, the deeps of lakes in the twilight, all these are hints of that colour.”
The King of Elfland’s Daughter, by Lord Dunsany
The forests and jungles of Hyracanum are dark, mysterious places full of magic. Every cluster of woodland in the world overlaps with Elfland, the Faerie Realm that borders upon the world, with the lights and laughter of fairy-folk echoing through the twilight. It is the native realm of Elves and Gnomes, as well as Goblins.
Elfland is essentially the Feywild, with a few modifications.
Firstly, all of Elfland is nothing but endless forest stretching as far as imagination will allow and all of it under an endless misty twilight like that of the minutes before sunrise and after sunset. Sounds are muted and time seems to hardly move at all, while a heavy sense of magic pervades the atmosphere.
Elfland touches every forest in the world, from coniferous to jungle, but the Forever Forest has no fixed geography. For those native to this realm, it is entirely possible to move from a woodland on one side of the world to a jungle on the other in a single day by taking a short-cut through Elfland. For those not native, the same short-cut almost certainly will end in getting lost forever.
Elfland is accessible by the use of Fey Crossings, as described in the DMG (page 50), during the hour preceding sunrise or just after sunset, when environmental conditions match. All Fey instinctively know the existence and location of Fey Crossings and which ones may be used to bypass the Feywild Time Warp effects also listed on page 50. Non-Fey might be able to identify a crossing, but it is unlikely that they would be able to tell which ones avoid time warp and which ones don’t.
There is a subterranean aspect to Elfland where the tree roots all intertwine. These burrows are the homes of Gnomes, among others, and it is through secret passages there that the green jungle moon of Cora or the pink floral moon of Nora maybe be reached.
Time, as measured by mortals, is a different concept to the folk of Elfland. Seconds, minutes, hours and days are all meaningless for fairies who track time with poetic expressions like “it will only take two ticks of a lamb’s tail!” For those who know their way around the dream-like realm, nothing lies beyond “a walk and a nap,” which translates to a day of travel followed by a long rest, in rules terminology.
Adventurers who spend time in Elfland would do well to have an Elf or Gnome as a guide. As long as they are together, time spent in Elfland as tracked by the DM roughly equates to the passage of time in Hyracanum, and they will return to a world that has passed as many days as the party has had long rests while in Elfland. Without a Fey guide, adventurers are subject to the Feywild Time Warp effects as listed in the DMG, page 50.
“Ill met by moonlight, proud Titania.”
A Midsummer Night’s Dream, by William Shakespeare
Elfland is ruled by Titania, the Faerie Queen, and Oberon, the King of Shadows, who are sometimes lovers, sometimes rivals, as befits their purely Chaotic Neutral nature. Titania is Queen of the Seelie Court and Oberon is King of the Unseelie Court, which come together at a festival known as the Feymeet, held according to some kind of paradoxical schedule by which it is always simultaneously about to happen and already happening right now. All Fey are invited and expected to attend, bearing gifts for the king and/or queen, depending on the politics of their relationship. In spite of all the conflicting alignments, violence is strictly forbidden at the Feymeet under penalty of death, as is attendance by non-Fey.
Fey can be conjured into existence fully formed on a whim by Titania or Oberon, but there is another way to make fairies which they consider more fun and that is to steal human infants and raise them to be whatever Fey their nature inclines them toward. As beings of pure Chaotic Neutral, the King and Queen of Elfland enjoy seeing what stolen children blossom into more than waving their hands and having a bunch of predictable fairies result.
FEY CREATURES
There are a number of monsters which are considered Fey in the World of Hyracanum setting that are not so in the regular rules. These include: Centaur, Displacer Beast, Elf, Faeirie Dragon, Fomorian, Gnome (Forest), Goblin, Oni.
All Fey creatures have the power to pass between Elfland and Hyracanum at will, under the correct conditions. The ability requires the use of a bonus action and a Fey Crossing during the hour before sunrise or after sunset.