Fey courts

By one accounting, there are four "courts" or categories of fey. Not all fey fit nicely into these courts, especially the minor ones. And as with anything fey, hard categories hide as much as they reveal. But for better or worse, here they are.

Spring

The Spring fey are my personal favorites. Like me, they drift, rootless and free. And, like me, they're utterly unreliable in a pinch. Nice folks, but don't expect them to have your back. --The Immortal Bard (while drunk), as reported by Brightsong Dovara.

Yup. The resemblance is uncanny. --Brightsong Dovara, the Bard's daughter and ranking bard at the Graniteflame Academy, Kaelthia.

The Spring fey, children of Air that they are, partake of the free-flowing nature of that Plane. Their guiding humor is blood, making them sanguine. Their primary aspects include freedom, wanderlust, unreliability, inconsistency, extroversion, dreams, and curiosity.

The Spring fey are the most volatile of the fey--they rarely last more than a few seasons in one shape. And their society is just as fleeting--Kings and Queens come and go according to arcane rules that some believe are made up on the fly. That's ok, because they don't have any power. Being a King or Queen really just means that you're temporarily popular with the other fey. They get along well with Summer, think Winter is stodgy, and love to tease Autumn.

Known Individuals

• Mervin (probably not his real name), aka "The Painful Truth". A high fey, focused around exposing the little lies that make up society. Currently in forced exile to a little lake in Tri-nation area of SW Noefra after offending the entire Summer court about 200 years ago. Has a "constructed fey" bodyguard/jailer. Will soon be released after his time is up.

Summer

• Ruler: King Oberon. Has been ruler since 2nd Wish. Oldest fey.
• Ethos: hierarchy and competition
• Status games based on alien rules of debt, obligation, and games.
• Hierarchy:
  • King
  • Lords (gender neutral)
  • Courtiers
  • Common folk
• Each of these has multiple layers
• Places are constantly shifting…except for the king.
• Humor: Choleric--dominance, decisiveness, violence, short tempered but more concerned about status than grudges. Good winners and fair losers.
• Element: Fire
• Respects autumn, is amused by spring, can't understand winter.

Autumn

• Not an organization at all
• Ethos: Individualism and emotion
• Humor: Melancholic--individualistic, deep feelings, obsessions. Holds epic grudges. Bad losers.
• Element: Earth
• Gets along well with winter, ignores Summer, dislikes Spring

Known Individuals

• Lascivia

Winter

 Although the name suggests hostility and a cold reception, I've found that the Winter fey are some of the most...human...fey (for a lack of a better word). Their obsessions tend to be about things like music, memories, stories, dances, art, and other such things. You can usually get a Winter fey to stop in its tracks and listen to you just by starting with "Once upon a time,..." or "In a place, neither near nor far, and a time, neither now nor then..." Unlike the shifting social patterns of the Spring fey or the hidden sub-currents of the Autumn fey, or the violent outbursts of the Summer fey, the Winter fey tend to be exactly what they appear. Individual, proud, and reserved. They drive hard bargains, but keep their word. They can be reasoned with, as long as you understand their motivations. --The Immortal Bard, "Reflections on my time among the fey."

 Obviously the Immortal Bard never met Maeve while she was doing her Ice Queen impression. --Walker, margin notes

• Several loose organizations, no centrality.
• Ethos: Reason, Memory
• Humor: Phlegmatic. Logic, reason, cold-blooded rationality. Doesn't hold grudges, but does get even. Do not play fair. Long-running games using people and others as pieces.
• Element: water
• Accepts autumn, uses summer, hides behind spring

Known Courts

Morrigan's Court is a well-known (to scholars) court that has remained mostly stable since the Cataclysm. Queen Morrigan (AKA the Raven Queen) is one of the most ancient fey of which we have records (after King Oberon of the Summer Court and Wayland Smith). Her primary aspect is Memory, with death and martial glory as secondary ones. She sends her raven servants to watch the doings of heroes and villains alike, taking in their stories and capturing their likenesses. Visitors to her court can walk among the shades of famous warriors, mages, and nobles from throughout the world's history and ask them questions...for a price. Her Palace of Shimmering Waters lies in Beastholme; every room and every locale features water in some form. Crystalline tombs of ice (that are neither hot nor cold), glass-like reflecting ponds that peer across time and space, burbling brooks; it's all there. The palace adjoins the Shimmering Sea.

Notable fey associated with Morrigan's Court include

• Lord Orphea, Morrigan's on-again, off-again lover and consort. Musician, composer, impresario. Always searching for new musical inspirations and experiences. His primary aspect seems to be knowledge.
• Terpsichore, the Dancer at Dusk. This enigmatic being never says a word. Instead, she is always dancing. Her form shrouded by veils that shift like shadows, she drifts through the Palace like a ghost. Her primary aspect seems to be grief; being in her presence can bring the strongest mortal to tears of sorrow.
• Sorrow's Thorn. Said to be Terpsichore's daughter (how such a thing is possible is not quite known). She serves Morrigan loyally as the captain of her Raven Guard. Her primary aspect is duty (a strange aspect for a Winter fey, but...)
• The Huntsman. Leader of the Wild Hunt that courses through Beasthome and (thankfully rarely) into the Mortal Plane, the Hunter is a stag-horned man of immense size and presence. He calls the spirits of the lost to join his hunt, transforming them into his hounds and the steeds for the Riders who serve him. His aspect is rest, inverted. Why he associates with Morrigan is uncertain. He is actually of the Summer court.
• The Dolorous Ladies. These four sisters (?) are all reflections of each other. Their aspects are ennui and loss. They've gathered a large following of naiads, neriads, and nymphs, all of whom lounge around the Palace (and their homes in the Mortal plane) sighing in boredom. They give great gifts to the rare mortals who can relieve their ennui for a moment; they can be dangerous to those that outstay their welcome, however. Gifts, parties, stories, and music all appeal to them, as do more carnal pleasures.
• Of the lesser fey, the most commonly encountered at the Palace of Shimmering Waters are selkies, darklings, and death's-head butterflies.