Amaranth

Every portal leads somewhere, a new world, a new plane of existence. But every portal will at one point or another lead back to Amaranth, the waypoint, or called by some savvy changelings, “The bus stop of the universe.” Amaranth is a world based around portal travel. The portals were given to Amaranth by the travel god, Cados, and these portals grant travelers magical powers. These portals, however, are highly regulated by the Acolytes of Cados, called the Travelers, who make sure nothing dangerous goes in or out of the portals.   Amaranth is an ancient world, once only inhabited by elves (called “fae” colloquially). They are split between two general courts, the Seelie Court and the Unseelie Court. Loyalty to one of the two courts usually determines what a fae is particularly dedicated to or what style of living they prefer. The Seelie fae prefer structure, rules, rigidity, and metropolitanism. The Unseelie fae live more wild lives, finding fierce dedication to the gods, and a fluidity as opposed to the Seelie’s rules.   Amaranth is ruled by the Sun Queen and the Night King. The Sun Queen rules over the Seelie, and the Night King over the Unseelie. Both are highly religious positions, with the Sun Queen representing the physical form of the sun goddess Aona, and the Night King representing the physical form of the moon god Beol. They consider each other to be spiritual siblings. While they maintain a fierce rivalry, they often come to each other’s aid in time of need. Both kingdoms are focused heavily on balance. When one kingdom suffers, so does the other.   Amaranth, despite its beauty, is a world that knows it has the potential for an overload of magic, and it takes that very seriously. Anyone traveling through portals must detox their magic to prevent wild magic from erupting from them, and the Travelers make sure the portals are looked after and that nothing unsavory comes through them. It is said in some circles, however, that history in Amaranth only changes when something comes through a portal.