Fey Pools

When traveling through the deep forest, some travelers report finding still pools of clear water surrounded by odd-looking mushrooms. Usually the trees nearest the pool have died out, leaving a large clearing with the pool in the center of it. Smart travelers prefer to camp somewhere else, despite the fact that the ground is soft and level. Rumors talk about campers disappearing, sometimes returning after about a month forever changed.

A dry Fey Pool.

Under the light of a full moon, these Fey Pools function as a portal between this world and the realm of the fey. Sometimes cheerful music encourages the wayward into taking a swim, where they visit the realm of merry tricksters and colorful chaos. Sometimes they stay with the fey, sometimes the fey prevent them from returning. Sometimes they reappear hundreds of miles away. Sometimes shapechangers replace them, and sometimes they just plain disappear.

Fey Pools can dry up in the summer, only returning after heavy rains. When dry, these locations still hum with power, but the full gate connection to the fey realm doesn't happen. Some Fey Pools resemble puddles, only big enough for cats to come through or return home. Some like the Padalant Circle in Alfinwald cultivate Fey Pools specifically to access the fey realm.

Fey pools surrounded by darker mushrooms and plants sometimes lead to the shadow realms either instead of or in addition to the fey realm. Shadow portals open during the two nights on either side of a new moon. A single pool can connect to both the fey and shadow realms, but these remain vanishingly rare and jealously guarded. Pools of Fey and Shadow usually appear at ley line nexus points, a testament to the great power of a particular location.

Part of T.W.Wombat's Lore 24 project, detailing the world around Fellport.
For all city posts, see the Fellport Index. For posts about the wider world, see the Beneterra Index.