The world of dTír na
nIontas (THEER nah NIN-tahs) is an ever shifting expanse one moment filled with light and color, the
next with fear and darkness. It is one of the many dream worlds within Faerie
and thus is mutable in many things. There are many different environments
within dTír na nIontas from sandy beaches to magical forests, even a large
hedge maze culminating in a beautiful castle.
When one enters dTír
na nIontas if doing so outside of a dream one must always enter from the East
Ocean. The tides in this place are ever changing sometimes from minute to
minute but often times from second to second causing huge swells and waves. The
currents of this ocean will always guide a traveler inward to the coast. These
currents are more and more difficult to fight the farther from the coast one
travels; due to this extreme hindrance no one knows if the East Ocean has a
west coast.
The beach itself
located at the coast of the East Ocean is populated by a strange race of awakened animal people who are
consistently dodging the ever changing tides and trying to get dry. It has
never occurred to these people to move from the coast and it never will. The
changing tides here flow in and out about one quarter mile mercilessly covering
and tearing at these people’s homes.
Having passed the East
Ocean one enters the Everwood in one of two places depending solely upon the
mood of the entrant. The Shine and The Murk, there is only ever one path and it
is not unknown for an adventuring party to embark together upon this seemingly
innocuous road and be separated once they enter into the Everwood. If one
completely understands the mutable nature of this world it is not unheard of
for them to be able to completely skip the Everwood into the beginning of the
dwelling grounds of the denizens of dTír na nIontas an area known as The
Queen's Ways.
The Shine is a very
lighthearted place with creatures that resemble things out of dream that appear
to be foods or playthings like the Bread-and-Butterfly Loafs or the Rocking-Horse
Fly’s, and even the Musical Leapfrogs. There are always new beings being
discovered here as new dreamers and adventurers traveling these parts are
consistently dreaming up new things by design or not. The road through The
Shine is many miles long and it seems to vary per person who wanders this path.
Those who dwell in The Shine tend to be light-hearted and fair they will do
what they can to help a dreamer and to warn the adventurers of the dangers they
may face along the way.
The Murk, conversely,
I a terrifying dark place populated by dangerous beings. It is the birthing
grounds of the Jabberwoks and Bandersnatches. Many who enter The Murk never
awaken, it is a place of unending nightmare and fear. The path commonly becomes
overgrown here and winds back upon itself. Those who have taken up residence
here are nothing if not cruel and unhelpful to a pointless degree; commonly
harming themselves simply to make life even slightly more difficult for an
adventurer and the stay here that much more nightmarish for a dreamer.
At the end of the
Everwood is The Queen's Ways. The Queen's Ways have many dangers from meeting
up with the queen, a renegade group, a group of guards, or even the air itself
(every 24 hours a player must make a Will save DC 15 or suffer 1d2 points
temporary wisdom damage). Here the one path branches into many different roads
going all directions wooden signs pointing down every road bearing some
variation of the term “My Way” designating that all ways are her ways. This is
where most of the population of dTír na nIontas lives. All here are subservient
to the Queen of Hearts if not out of choice, out of fear. It is a place
dominated by homes created by these creature that resemble anything from a
single tree to even a small home with a thatched roof cottage, however the
dweller dreams it to be. As one progresses further down any of the ways that
take one closer to the hedge maze the homes get larger and more elaborate as
the traveler enters the Noble's dwellings. Continuing down the road's one will
eventually meet the hedge maze.
Here it is not
uncommon to see the Queen's gardeners fussing about the roses growing among the
maze painting the white ones, of which there is no small shortage, red; or
pruning the dying roses. The maze itself is huge and long with no given guides
here and many creatures and lost souls wandering within. If one makes it
through the ten mile long and twenty mile wide maze you will be treated to the
Queen's Court.
Arguably the most
beautiful place in dTír na nIontas, the Queen's Court is consistently filled
with feasts, games, fanciful nobles of all races and even the odd court of
justice. It stretches from end to end as far as the eye can see. In the center
of this wondrous place, juxtaposed from the incredible natural beauty
surrounding it is a bloody wooden block the grass around it, what still lives,
is stained red with still wet blood, the thick wooden block has many grooves
dented in it made by the axe sitting by the side of the block. A red basket
reeking of old blood stained by the years of carelessness sits at the base of
the block.
The Queen of Hearts
herself, the ruler of this great land, is most often seen here in the enormous
courtyard of her castle. She is a fat woman always in a red gown with an ornate
red crown on her head adorned with hearts cut from every jewel imaginable.
Ruled by her passion she always shouts be they shouts of joy at winning a
rousing game of croquet, her favorite game, ofttimes played with living
creatures; or shouts of rage, her face turning as red as her dress as she
shouts “Off with their head!” A threat carried out immediately and with great
pomp. One may, depending on the mood of the queen, convince her to have a trial
but these trials are always heavily weighted to the queen's favor and more
nonsensical than actually useful, though they have been known to occasionally
sway the queen and allow the accused to keep their head on some occasions even
declaring them nobility of dTír na nIontas. It is believed that the Queen will
eat the brains of those who's heads she orders removed from their previous
resting places and will feed them to her court (This is patently true though no
one would dare accuse the Queen herself for fear of losing their own head. The
purpose behind this is doing so makes the imbiber immune to the wisdom draining
aura of the world itself for 1d3 days, the effects stack and eating partial
brains will gain you temporary immunity to a minimum of 12 hours).
The Castle itself is a
very basic place, large certainly but very little of note exists beyond the
court. At a close inspection the stones are all shot through with veins of
copper and red crystal. The castle itself seems to grow from the ground having
no definitive foundation. It has grand ramparts to defend against those who
would try to siege it, rooms of all sorts, a large entrance hall, and the
kitchens. The kitchens take up almost the entirety of the ground floor and are
always buzzing with activity; cooks bustling here and there making sure the
meals will be ready at a moment's notice for the Queen. The head cook, a very
dirty looking woman has learned much about cooking brains, the most important
thing about it though is to spice the flavor up and she has many different
peppers to do so. There are entire spice cabinets within the kitchens dedicated
solely to different types of pepper as the cook has become quite fond of it.
Surrounding the castle is a moat stained blood red, either by the blood of
those slain on these grounds or by some natural algae.
dTír na nIontas is a place of great power, the
birthplace of laughter some say but others have seen the darker side from The
Murk to the dark rage of the Queen of Hearts foul moods. They know this is a
place to be feared, to always have one's guard up, and to run if the need
arises. Here one can discover massive gardens filled with flowers chatting and
singing happily only to notice the malice beneath the music and smiles. This
place is where nightmares are born, this place is where no one can come back
completely sane. (If you travel to dTír na nIontas any of the wisdom loss one
suffers lingers and can only be repaired by a greater restoration spell,
miracle or wish). No one travels to dTír na nIontas lightly when they know the
lurking secrets past the Everwood.
