Feywind "echo" of elven village

[HoboKnight]

Hey guys,

my party will transfer to Feywild in vicinity of an elven village on Material plane. I'd like for this village to have "an echo" in Feywild. How should I shape it? Any ideas? I was of course thinking of symbolism ... perhaps not another village in Feywild, but ... what? An echo/shadow of a village in Feywild.

thanks

[HoboKnight]

Not much luck with this conceptual question, I see.

I'll write, what I came up with. Since everything is sort of "boosted" in feywild, I'd go like this: Village has some ponds nearby. In Feywild, these ponds will be full of water elementals. There is a tree, where our PCs reside - druid, ranger and barbarian. I was thinking of this tree being exceptionally lush, capable of shooting plant-y arrows at intruders and, given, that totem animal of barbarian is a bear, a wooden sculpture of a bear emerging from a tree if anyone comes too close. There are small shrines to Silvanus and Correlon in settlement. I wonder, how would these aspects reflect in feywild? Something, that represents elven perfection and ... super-lush part of forest? With symoblism of both gods?

There are also other village members residing there. I wonder, how would their "aspects" reflect in Feywild? Elven living library, hunting lodge, brewmaker, herbmaker, blacksmith/weaponmaster, sorcerer and a massive tree, a mighty oak, that is sort of centre of village, a conceptual reflection of nature-intertwined-elveness.

[Icecaster]

Interesting idea! I'll try and throw a few things at you and you're welcome to modify or disregard them, but hopefully one piques your interest.

1. A massive tree sprawling out over the area with huge branches and roots. The faces and/or bodies of elves who have lived in the village have naturally grown in the trunk of the tree, resembling beautifully detailed low-relief sculptures (except they seem entirely natural). They might be interacting with each other, posed with their families, and some/all of the sculptures may be able to speak slowly, resembling an echo of the personality of whoever they are or have been. Some might even be predictions of the future. The sculptures might depict everybody who ever lived in the village, and there might even be a couple other trees in place of prominent buildings which are filled with the elves who lived there - for instance, the town hall could be a smaller tree beneath the large one, and it has the carvings of past rulers/mayors/leaders. Alternatively, every building could simply be replaced by a large, lush tree, or the sculptures could only be of elves who passed away in the village. These options could represent the interconnectedness of the elves via nature and their close bond as a village spurring forth the growth of a magical tree in the Feywild.

2. The ponds have been enlarged like you suggested, but they are cupped between large roots that cover the landscape, making these roots the only usable pathways over/between the water, which may be unbelievably deep or wide in some places. The reflections of these ponds might show the past, present, or future of the village, as the village is conceptualized magically in the water (which might even possess magical properties if drank or bathed in). These ponds could even have water elementals like you said, although many of them might be friendly to the players, resemble elves of the village, and/or attack non-elven intruders. The portal they use to enter the Feywild could also have them exit by swimming out of one of the ponds. Any non-elven characters viewing the ponds could be reflected as elves. This idea could probably be paired with any other ones also, but hey I'm spitballing.

3. The conceptual "village" could be spread out over a large area of different terrains that possess magical borders between them that keep the terrain itself entirely separated, although the terrains could still have some common quality, such as them all being a kind of forest. The idea could be that the size of these varying terrains would be defined by their local significance as the mental and spiritual energies of the elves on the Material Plane converge to create a terrain that feels physically the way that the Material Plane location feels spiritually. For instance, the hunting lodge might be warm with a constant magical twilight where wildlife roams at every corner and seemingly-dry leaves fill the forest floor, making for comfortable and quiet footing there. The brew maker's or tavern's terrain might have the occasional thick, jovial-looking trees with [yellowish-gold leaves the color of beer and mead]/[deep scarlet leaves the color of wine]/[warm orange leaves the color of brandy]/[all of those on various trees you get the idea] and a hot breeze like a good campfire blows over pastures filled with wheat and wild grapes. The terrain of the blacksmith/weaponmaster might be warm bordering on hot as the constant scent of smoke and iron fills the air and tall pine trees grow close together whose grey bark is as hard as steel (these trees might be usable as the ideal material for a magical weapon made by the blacksmith themself, being hardened stronger than any Material Plane steel). The shrines could be solemn and cool, with no wind whatsoever, filled with small wildlife, glowing lights, and verdant mosses that scent the air. These areas could also be twisted by the specific personalities of the people who more or less created them; for instance, if the weaponmaster is particularly calculating or serious (one might even say cold?), then his terrain might be snowy and frigid instead of hot, his blacksmithing represented instead by smoke vents that provide the only solace from cold.

Those are the couple ideas I have for now, but this was a fun concept! The ideas would probably be pretty easy to mix-and-match, too, depending on what you want and where, but I hope in the end I'm at least able to jog your creative juices and give you a helping hand to your own ideas. I hope to hear what you end up deciding on.