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.

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

Winter

• 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