Requesting Help with an Archfey’s Court

[TheBrassDuke]

I’m beginning an Eberron campaign and was just working on one of the sBEG’s and his Court, the Wicked Garden of the Dreamsnake.

In our campaign, his Feyspire, “the Spindle”, is connected to the Court of Dreams, and serves as a Fey Dream Prison for powerful, dangerous minds that have been put to sleep by their enemies; my Archfey (formerly a Shadar-Kai/Kalashtar Warlock (Hex; PoB) Carabosse is the Dreamsnake, the Warden, and has been brought along with his Spire to Eberron on the Day of Mourning, when the cataclysm happened, and planes merged.

I know there aren’t a lot of details, but that’s because my brain is severely cooked right now.

I have seven locations here:

The Spindle (Feyspire)
The Vale of Reflection (Hall of Mirrrors with shadow sentries)
The Bramble (a forest of thorns guarded by a shadow dragon, where the Prison Tower lies)
The Nest (where the Dream Serpents breed)
The Feydark Tunnels (veins where the Court has bled into Khyber)
The Sleeping Market (where sleeping merchants with the appropriate permissions come to trade intellectual wares)

Once, Carabosse’s Wicked Garden was a place dedicated to keeping the most dangerous magical minds asleep, and bound to a prison they could never leave willingly. On the Day of Mourning, however, the Court of Dreams was pulled from its place in the Feywild, through Thelanis, and eventually burst through the floor of the jungles of Q’barra.

The Dream Prison has become the Nightmare Asylum, and the Dreaming Dark feels this place stealing pockets of dreams from the plane of Dal Quor to fuel its prison.

—

I’m at work right now, so I can’t complete this at the moment…I’ll get back to it soon.

[Segev]

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking for help with. More locations? Members of the court? Prisoners? What is it you want discussion on?

[TheBrassDuke]

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking for help with. More locations? Members of the court? Prisoners? What is it you want discussion on?

Hey, Segev. Long time no see!

My bad, I never returned the other day—spring fever, I think.

Well, to be honest, I’m looking for cool location ideas, members, prisoners, features/traits, and potentially some history.

[Lupine]

Full disclosure, I have never used a pre-written setting, so my details might be off.


The Dream Prison has become the Nightmare Asylum, and the Dreaming Dark feels this place stealing pockets of dreams from the plane of Dal Quor to fuel its prison.

This actually feels like it would fit really, really well either in the Shadowfell itself, or near a shadowfell portal. Corruptions of this manner, changing dreams --something frequently thought as pleasant-- into nightmares is exactly the sort of think that the shadowfell likes to do.
If you take this idea, the shadowfell could also have corrupted your archfey, who goes from simply being the warden to something which enjoys the cruelty of the shadowfell. It would also explain why your archfey wouldn't just mop the floor with the players.
Depending on the player level, they could be sent by one of the courts to remove the archfey so they could replace him with someone else.
Or, they could be sent by a quest giver to investigate this newly found "ruin" or mysterious designs (perhaps linked to a string of disappearances). While there, the place continuosly get's creepier (tasha's Haunted local would fit this well). Eventually, they have to fight there way out, or be trapped within the asylum. Perhaps the questgiver was the Archfey himself.

In any case, if you are the going this route, the bread and butter monsters should be the sorrowsworn. Maybe sword wraiths, the literal manifestation of the minds trapped in this prison.
The archfey could be a reskinned one of the lizard creatures (maybe a behir).

And, of course, the chance for players to accidentally release one (or all) of the minds that the fey courts decided were too dangerous to be let free.

[TheBrassDuke]

This actually feels like it would fit really, really well either in the Shadowfell itself, or near a shadowfell portal. Corruptions of this manner, changing dreams --something frequently thought as pleasant-- into nightmares is exactly the sort of think that the shadowfell likes to do.
If you take this idea, the shadowfell could also have corrupted your archfey, who goes from simply being the warden to something which enjoys the cruelty of the shadowfell.

I figured some umbral bleed would cause something like that, but wasn’t sure how I’d actually make it happen. Thanks for that help!


It would also explain why your archfey wouldn't just mop the floor with the players.
Depending on the player level, they could be sent by one of the courts to remove the archfey so they could replace him with someone else.
Or, they could be sent by a quest giver to investigate this newly found "ruin" or mysterious designs (perhaps linked to a string of disappearances). While there, the place continuosly get's creepier (tasha's Haunted local would fit this well). Eventually, they have to fight there way out, or be trapped within the asylum. Perhaps the questgiver was the Archfey himself.

It would be interesting, to have a duality combating himself like that, all insane.


In any case, if you are the going this route, the bread and butter monsters should be the sorrowsworn. Maybe sword wraiths, the literal manifestation of the minds trapped in this prison.
The archfey could be a reskinned one of the lizard creatures (maybe a behir).

And, of course, the chance for players to accidentally release one (or all) of the minds that the fey courts decided were too dangerous to be let free.

Actually, this works really well too.

[Lupine]

Glad I could help!



It would be interesting, to have a duality combating himself like that, all insane.


I was more thinking that the questgiver was the archfey tricking people into going into the asylum so he/she could torture them. But having the archfey unconciously trying to defeat itself like that would actually be really cool, so I'm gonna claim that's what I meant all along.:smallbiggrin:

[TheBrassDuke]

Glad I could help!



I was more thinking that the questgiver was the archfey tricking people into going into the asylum so he/she could torture them. But having the archfey unconciously trying to defeat itself like that would actually be really cool, so I'm gonna claim that's what I meant all along.:smallbiggrin:

I’m considering going with your initial idea instead, as the secondary one kinda vibes a little too closely with the Madgod Sheogorath and Jyggalag.

[Segev]

How about a former prisoner-turned-warlord who is still trapped - perhaps by his own attempts to break out backfiring and welding his portion of the prison more firmly to the Dreaming?

An Elder Oblex (p. 219 of Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes) who was a mass murderer and has entire civilizations of memories dwelling within. His Nagpa servants (p. 217, same book) bring the ruined remnants of thigns they've learned, and interesting accomplished creative people to their master, who aborbs their memories and recreates the cultures his minions destroyed within himself.

He is trapped within or dwells within a giant pitcher plant, and lures people in with his pseudopods. He is happy to trade historical information for services, for new knowledge...but he usually wants to get that knowledge by eating somebody. So be ready to make sacrifices.

He might be a gifted Illusionist with levels sufficient to cast mirage arcane, with or without malleable illusions, and thus use that to recreate the lands of his stolen memories. Or perhaps he can draw people in while he digests them. If you can survive, you can delve into him to explore ancient destroyed lands and talk to scholars and inventors and history-makers long dead (because the oblex ate them). But get digested, and of course you're never leaving, having become part of the Elder Oblex.