Morrowrealm
5 years, 3 months & 16 days ago
11th Sep 2019 11:06 Morrowrealm - The Faerie world. A dark realm inhospitable to humans.
Humans cannot enter this realm unless they are spirited away, almost always never to be seen again.
It is said that all magic in the world originated from the Morrowrealm. Some believe that all life originated there. There is a spillover of magic and magical creatures between the Morrowrealm and the land of humans, though there are many creatures unknown to humans as they are unable to live outside the Morrowrealm.
The Morrowrealm and the human world exist side by side, within an alternate dimension. Portals to the Morrowrealm do occasionally open, created by a being on the other side or other strange force. These portals tend to be temporary. People (and animals) have been trapped in the Morrowrealm after wandering into a portal.
Humans who are able to use magic are an oddity. While sometimes these people are celebrated they can be the subject of persecution and fear. People believe different things about magic users. Some say that they are cursed by the faeries or are changelings, switched at birth.
Humans who enter the Morrowrealm usually do so by force or kidnapping. Some Morrowrealm inhabitants have been known to enslave or eat humans who enter their realm. Because the Morrowrealm is a land of pure, unfiltered magic, humans who enter rarely remain unchanged. Many humans have died over the ages after being forced into the Morrowrealm, simply because their bodies and souls could not withstand the immense magic. Some humans have gained powers while others have changed form completely. The longer a person is in the Morrowrealm, the more they are altered.
Small children are especially malleable in regards to magic. In the case of changelings, a human infant is abducted and replaced and replaced with a fae creature. The fae creature takes human form and lives the life of a human, while the baby takes on a fae form in the Morrowrealm raised by fairies, usually forced into servitude.
---Inhabitants of Morrowrealm---
To assume that all Morrowrealm inhabitants are evil cradle robbers is as untrue as saying that all mankind is good or all mankind is evil. There are many complex inhabitants of the Morrowrealm. Some are benevolent, some benign, and some bad. Morrow realm’s relationship to the human world is a complex one and rarely can be broken down to something as black and white as good or evil.
There are many creatures and races that inhabit Morrowrealm, as well as countless flora and fauna which do not exist or are completely unheard of in the human world. Some races and species are familiar to the outside world, choosing to visit or live in the human world. More often than not, these faefolk and creatures keep to their own kind, or are creatures of legends, such as unicorns.
Though there are countless races and creatures with a wide variety of forms, inhabitants of the Morrowrealm can be broken down to two types of beings: Energy based creatures and everything else.
-Energy creatures-
These very understood beings are made of pure magical energy. They cannot live in the outside world, though some mages are able to summon them as an elemental spell. These summons are the most common form of elemental magic in the human world. Because of the nature of these energy creatures, these summons do not last long. Once their energy has been expended, an overwhelming majority of these creatures die after being summoned. Very strong summons can return to the Morrowrealm. This form of magic is dark magic and is considered unethical and dangerous.
Energy beings can range from animal-like creatures to sentient, human-like beings. These energy creatures may be pets of other Morrowrealm citizens or they may be valued members of a complex society. Being summoned at random reduces these beings to fodder for a sorcerer’s spell. This is a major source of discord between humans and the citizens of the Morrowrealm and something that many human mages do not understand the consequences of. Most humans do not understand that they are summoning living things.
Though it is rare, some mages have made pacts with stronger creatures to use their power, allowing these magic wielders to use the summoned creatures' power without causing great harm. However, this is said to be at a cost and is such a rare thing to happen, it is practically legend or a scary bedtime story. Variations of these stories warn that wielders of summoned magic would pay by having their first born taken by fairies or having their soul dragged to the Marrowrealm upon their death.
Whether or not these stories are true or simply cautionary tales about the dangers of magic is unknown.
Summoning has been known to backfire. It is possible for a summoned creature to be so powerful it can create a large portal to the Morrowrealm which can drag the summoner and anyone nearby inside. It is an extremely dangerous form of sorcery.
-Other Creatures-
In addition to energy based creatures, there are other magical creatures with a more similar composition to creatures from the human world. Some of these creatures can be found in the human world, though they are far less common there. These creatures can be humanoid, such as elves and fairies; or animal-like, such as dragons, unicorns, and other mythical beings. However, these are not limited to the standard mythological creatures we know.
---Setting, Flora, and Civilization---
Morrowrealm is called "The Dark Realm" by humans. This is in fact due to mankind's fear of faerie-kind, calling them creatures of darkness. Also, humans who have seen the Morrowrealm briefly and returned to the human realm have described it as having a dark, gloomy tint to it. Faefolk would describe it quite differently, with vibrant hues and great beauty. The darkness is due to humans' limited range of vision. Human eyes would adjust the longer they stay in the Morrowrealm (though that's because they would cease to be human and instead be some kind of magical being.)
The landscape of the Morrowrealm is somewhat similar to the human world in that there are forests, rivers, lakes, and even villages and kingdoms. However, the flora and fauna are different. Humans who have seen the Morrowrealm have described it as unlike anything they have ever seen. Some plant life closely resembles plants from the human world, with small changes, such as color or shape of fruit. Other plants appear completely alien. The landscape varies greatly; from majestic forests with trees that are hundreds of millennia old to vast, bizarre landscapes which could only be described as an over-sized coral reef that exists on dry land.
Just as there are energy based creatures, there are also plants and minerals which are energy based, as well as structures which appear to be made of pure light.
Some parts of the Morrowrealm have such high concentrations of pure magic so bright, they cannot be seen by human eyes. Even citizens of Morrowrealm avoid these locations. Any human unfortunate enough to enter these areas are instantly vaporized, or broken down into magical energy. This basically transforms humans into tiny energy beings which are eaten by larger creatures. This is the fate of those who summon uncontrollable elemental magic.
There are complex, advanced civilizations in the Morrowrealm, though most communities, villages, towns, and dwellings are deeply rooted in nature.
Most faefolk do not cut down trees or take from the earth to create buildings. Instead, they coexist with nature, magically manipulating nature to their benefit. Colonies of pixies and small creatures which serve as pets live within intricate coral reef-like communities.
Different fairies live in intricate caves or in forests, inside trees which can be as large as a 30 story skyscraper.