My biggest stumbling block... Fey!
Fey, fae, fay, fairy, faerie, or its presumed origin, fay-eerie, regarding the Fates, the Fey have several possible origins (all concepts fitting into the setting idea.) Barely remembered gods of previous inhabitants existing in local lore, ghosts or spirits of individuals from long ago, or fallen angels. As memory of their ancient truths are lost the beings remembered become smaller and smaller, until they reach the enlightened (wacky) Victorian Era when Spiritualism, a rise in what now call New Age (crap) was born, and has largely influenced what we think of as things pertain to Fairies and Druids - much of it quite false.
Most fey beings were originally human sized or larger in the oldest tales, by the time of the Elizabethan era and Shakespeare they were the size of human children, finally at the Victorian Era you can hold one in your hand. While I will be including some child sized and tiny sized fey members, the Fey I want to convey in this setting bears more resemblance to the older tales - my sick need for historical accuracy, and the darker nature of older tales...
Many of the known Athurian Tales by Malory and later authors are actually iconic Celtic tales, many of which have origins far older than the time of Arthur. The Green Knight's Tale is one such ancient Celtic story retold. An ogre sized Green Knight enters the king's hall demanding to set a challenge between himself and the master of the hall. The king's champion intercedes saying his master is too valuable to risk such folly, but he will take the challenge instead. The Green Knight states take my great axe and take three swings at me, and I will not resist, if you do not slay me, I shall return in a year and a day to do the same to you. Do you accept?
The champion accepts and takes a clumsy swing at the giant - the axe is oversized and heavy. A second swing cuts open the Green Knight's armor, damaging, but not mortal. Finally he sets a swing right and takes the giant's head clean off, which rolls towards the banquet hall. As the champion casts down the heavy axe, the giant walks over and picks up his head, and the head says, "then I'll see you in a year and a day." retrieving his axe and walks out of the hall.
I want more of this kind of fairy tale, then a pixie land Tinkerbell scene.
I see the Fey Realm, as an parallel universe, a timeless place trapped in everlasting twilight, much of the Fey Realm is evasive and effemeral - illusion and glamour. Islands of solidity in the form of strongholds for the various fey lords that rule the tiny places, and the fey host both neutral and evil (none truly good) serving the various lords, though all is ruled by the Fey goddess, Danu the Earth Mother, the Queen of the Celtic pantheon.
Danu presides over a pantheon of Irish, Brythonic and Gallic gods, each responsible for a different aspect of reality, some sharing duties, reflecting the traditions of all things Celt. She presides this court in the Fey Realm, though set apart from the rest of the fey. These gods maintain "manors" away from the royal court as solid areas within the greater fey entropy.
The Caillech Bheur (kalyek var) or Winter Hag is said to be Danu's sister, actually a pre-Celtic goddess of winter, horned beasts, and storms from the northern seas. The Winter Hag is going to be Queen of the Unseelie Host, which include all malevolent Fey, goblinoids, ogres, trolls, and giants, including the Fir Bolg and Fomorians. Though her host is scattered across the Fey Realm and in the wilderness reaches of the Celtic World.
As best can be described most of the regions of the Fey Realms can best be described as entropy that can instantly manifest itself as some natural terrain that generally matches the Celtic World plane of existence, it can also manifest any other kind of terrain desired by some fey or divine being altered as needed at the moment. There are roads that traverse this entropy allowing safe passage between the courts and islands of control by various deities and powerful fey, and then back out to Celtic World once again. Venturing off the path for more than a few rounds can mean being trapped for eternity, appearing as if stepping into a dimension door upon leaving the path... and of course the paths lie as well... Crossing the Fey Realms is always dangerous business. Knowledge: Fey (Int) is a required skill to use for those leading groups through this land of dreams.
Trees and Fey hate men, they are both jealous and vengeful of the Celtic World. At the same time Fey are as awed and misunderstanding of humans, as humans are to them. This is the mentality of the fey beings in general, though there are individuals everywhere with their own alien agendas. These are the denizens that comprise what is Fey.
One of the most dangerous aspects of traveling through the Celtic World is that portals between Here and There exist everywhere, mostly found at locations of "in between", that obvious gates and borders: creek/river crossings, bridges, pools, ponds and lakes, edges of the forest, between two arched trees with branches entwined overhead, between to lithic stones. If one does not have the Knowledge: Fey skill after succeeding on a Perception check, a party can be walking in their world at one moment and enter the Fey Realm the next.
Just think of all your brownies, pixies, bogeymen, amid blood drinking, memory draining, giantish monsters, and give them all a darker personality. This is the olde world Fey I want to add to my setting.
GP
