Thelanis

Every culture has faerie tales— stories that use exaggeration and supernatural elements to warn children of the consequences of bad behavior or to demonstrate the virtues of society. Breland tells tales of the Sleeping Prince, cursed to slumber by a cruel hag until he’s saved by the courage of the Woodcutter’s Daughter. In the Mror Holds, there’s a tale older than Breland itself, in which Lady Narathun curses Doldarun’s son with eternal sleep, until he’s saved by humble Toldorath. And the Dhakaani dar have an ancient story about how Hezhaal—a dirge singer who betrayed the empire and studied sinister magic—cast the marhu’s son into a cursed slumber, until he was saved by a simple golin’dar.
This is just one of many stories that appear over and over in different cultures. The exact details may shift—is the sleeper a prince? The marhu’s son? Doldarun’s heir?—while the thrust of the tale and the lessons it teaches persist. But long before any of these cultures arose, these stories existed somewhere else. In a layer of Thelanis, the Lady in Shadow curses a prince with eternal sleep. She tends a garden full of wonders, and keeps her own daughter hidden in the heart of a labyrinth of thorns. At the deepest level, that is what the fey are: stories. The dryad isn’t a natural spirit; it’s the magic we want in the world when we see a slender tree move in the wind and imagine it as a beautiful person. Thelanis is built on iconic stories, but it’s also the Faerie Court; at its heart, satyrs and nymphs dance in the shadows of the Palace of the Moon, while the archfey engage in immortal intrigues. It’s a fantastic realm essentially built around the idea of adventures, but it’s a deadly place for those who refuse to understand its rules.
Thelanis is one of the easiest planes for mortals to reach. Just walk through a mushroom ring when Rhaan is full in the sky, or follow the sound of distant music in the forest. It’s not always this easy, but it can be. One wrong step and you could find yourself in Thelanis, retracing the steps of storybook heroes and making dangerous bargains with the rulers of the Faerie Court.

Geography

Much like Kythri, Dal Quor, and Syrania, Thelanis has a core layer surrounded by lesser layers. The heart of Thelanis is the Moonlit Vale, where all archfey gather for their revels. This is surrounded by endless baronies, each embodying the stories of a particular archfey. While eladrin and fey can shift between layers, it’s more challenging for mortals to travel to a barony; this often requires a token from that realm, or for the mortals to act out some aspect of its story.
Regardless of the specic identity of a layer, Thelanis always feels magical and otherworldy. Its environments are typically vibrant and beautiful, but if they are harsh and ugly, they are exceptionally so. It feels like a story, exaggerated and unreal.

Localized Phenomena

Thelanis is unpredictable, and its cardinal rule is that layers follow their own stories.
Enchanted Realm. Saving throws against illusion or enchantment spells have disadvantage. When a creature casts an illusion or enchantment spell with a duration of 1 minute or longer, the duration is doubled; spells with a duration of 24 hours or more are unaffected.
Storybook Logic. No two layers of Thelanis are exactly alike. Each is driven by its story, and any rule can be overridden by a particular tale. Damage types could be swapped or rendered impotent; in the Valley of Stolen Fire, all fire damage becomes cold damage. Ability checks using particular skills could have advantage or disadvantage. In one layer, spells that restore hit points might have no effect; in another, a glass of wine could act as a potion of healing. But while these effects vary from layer to layer, they are entirely reliable within that layer and should feel logical based on the nature of the local story.
Words Have Power. In Thelanis, words—and particularly promises—have power. Creatures should be very careful about making formal agreements of any sort, especially with archfey; the more powerful the fey, the graver the consequences of breaking a promise. The price varies, a slightly broken promise to a greater fey might simply result in a run of bad luck, with disadvantage on the next few rolls. On the other hand, a promise to an archfey could inherently carry the power of a geas. The fey themselves are bound by this restriction—though they are aware of it and are exceedingly careful with their promises.
Chaotic Time. Time is entirely flexible in Thelanis, moving at different rates from layer to layer. It’s possible for adventurers to spend a night in Thelanis, then discover that a year has passed in Eberron. But it’s equally possible for a group of adventurers to find a layer where they save a kingdom and reign as kings and queens...only to stumble through a gate many years later and discover that only an hour has passed in their homes. Often time catches up with mortals when they return to Eberron—either swiftly aging them if more time has passed on the Material Plane, or potentially restoring their youth and erasing the decades of time spent in Thelanis.

Fauna & Flora

Thelanis is home to fey in all their forms. Sprites flit between trees, singing to the dryads that dwell within them. There are birds in the trees, and if you talk to them, one might answer—either a bird or a tree, depending on the story.

Supporting Cast

The vast majority of the creatures of Thelanis—the sprites in the forest, the dryads, the birds, and for that matter, the trees themselves—are manifestations. These members of the supporting cast exist because the story needs them to exist, and they have a specific role to play. While most supporting cast are fey, any creature can appear if the story requires it. A pack of wolves? An angry giant? A white horse that appears just when it’s needed? Anything is possible.
Supporting cast generally use the standard stat blocks for each creature, though they might be considered fey instead of other creature types. These creatures don’t think of themselves as manifestations; it’s simply that they have no real depth, no desires other than the drives they need to fill their role in the story, and no care for the passage of time. The sprite never gets bored of its song, and it never stops to question anything about its existence.
The supporting cast reflects the fact that the stories of Thelanis don’t change. The hungry giant will always be guarding the well. If adventurers defeat the giant, they’re the heroes of the hour and it feels like a triumph; but if they return to the barony at a later date, the giant will be back—or at least, a remarkably similar giant—and it won’t remember them or acknowledge their previous victory. As a general rule, supporting cast can’t abandon their posts or leave their layers.
However, more than the manifestations of other planes, the supporting cast of Thelanis can evolve. When an anchor baron gives the white horse to an adventurer, it becomes a mortal horse and they can ride it home. Supporting cast that drift into manifest zones become mortal fey, dwelling in the zone until they die. A supporting cast member can also evolve by gaining a greater role in the story. An individual sprite doesn’t even have a name, but if the adventurers convince the sprite to help them, and it plays a critical role in their defeat of the giant at the well, it’s no longer a nameless sprite; it’s Clever Jack, or whatever name they gave it. If a manifestation becomes mortal, it can go anywhere it likes, even leaving its layer and following the adventurers back to Eberron...but if it dies, it’s gone forever. On the other hand, a manifestation can evolve to become a greater fey; if this happens, it remains immortal, and it’s still tied to its story, just with a bigger role and more personality.

Eladrin & Other Mortals

There are two types of mortals in Thelanis. The first are the supporting cast that have become real and split off from their original stories. The second are natural-born mortals who do have their own cultures and cities; chief among these are the eladrin, who dwell in the feyspires of the Moonlit Vale. Each spire is ruled by an archfey, and each has a distinct story that shapes the personality of the local eladrin. The eladrin aren’t as bound by story as other fey, but the magic of the plane encourages a deep devotion to their spire and their ruler. They hunt, they hold revels, they serve their ruler in the intrigues of the Moon Court; it rarely occurs to them that there could be more to life. However, they’re indeed mortals; they fall in love, they have children, they are born, and they die. If an eladrin leaves their spire—whether to roam across Thelanis or into Eberron—they often gain a greater appreciation of the passage of time. Living among mortals in a mundane world can be a hard transition for an eladrin; compared to the wonders of the Faerie Court, there is little fey beauty in Khorvaire. The longer an eladrin lives in the mortal world, the more mortal it becomes; this is why eladrin player characters are considered humanoids (and elves) rather than fey.
For the eladrin of Thelanis, the seasonal aspect remains a statement of their current mood and nature. However, seasons are also used as a political statement, reflecting a degree of support for that season in the Moon Court; there may be times when an eladrin will resist assuming a particular aspect so as not to offend a host.
The eladrin are the most common mortals in the layer, but there are also a handful of mortals who have been drawn in from Eberron—the gnomes of Pylas Pyrial, wandering Greensingers, mortals personally chosen by one of the archfey, or creatures who accidentally wandered through manifest zones and are trying to find their way home.

Greater Fey

Greater fey are tied to a barony or have a role in the Moonlit Vale, but they have their own names, identities, and distinct personalities. They can have their own agendas and schemes within the grander story of the archfey, seeking love or revenge or other ambitions. Sometimes the protagonist of the story appears as a greater fey; in the case of the Sleeping Prince, perhaps the adventurers can actually meet the clever Woodcutter’s Daughter. However, often the role of protagonist is left for the adventurers to fill; in Thelanis, they are the ones who must wake the Sleeping Prince.
Despite their individuality, these greater fey are still fey; they remain attached to their layers, and don’t experience the passage of time as mortals do. They want to achieve things within their story, but few have any thoughts or desires that go beyond Thelanis. However, it’s possible for them to go wherever they want. A greater fey could establish its own domain in a manifest zone tied to Thelanis, or be found selling strange trinkets in the Immeasurable Market of Syrania. When greater fey do leave Thelanis, they generally seek to create their own stories; they still want to be part of a narrative that makes sense to them.
Any fey creature can be used as a basic foundation for a greater fey, possibly with additional powers tied to the story they tell. A greater dryad might be able to see through all of the trees in the manifest zone she calls home, and to control its beasts. This isn’t represented by a spell, as she couldn’t control beasts in other places; it’s simply part of the story.
As the story of a greater fey grows, its abilities can grow as well...but these are often tied to storybook logic, and power could be balanced by a weakness. A greater dryad could be immune to re unless someone knows her name, at which point she is vulnerable to it. Or she might be immune to piercing damage but vulnerable to slashing damage—arrows and spears refuse to strike her, but axes hunger to cut her down

Archfey & Anchor Barons

The archfey are the foundation of Thelanis, the force that sets a story in motion. Where greater fey may be tied to a single story, most archfey have inspired countless tales—often as the antagonist, though they can also be benevolent. The Lady in Shadow is the archetype of the mighty witch who lives apart from society, whose anger can bring a terrible curse. She’s the villain of the Sleeping Prince, but she also curses those who steal from her secret garden, and may have advice for those who approach her carefully and with gifts. In some cases, stories refer to the archfey by name. When something goes missing in the Five Nations, people in Eberron know the Forgotten Prince stole it. Other archfey inspire tales, but those stories are seen through a local lens. The Lady in Shadow set the story of the Sleeping Prince in motion long ago, but in Eberron, the villain of the story is Lady Narathun, or Hezhaal the dirge singer, or Sora Katra. This is fine with the Lady in Shadow; she doesn’t need mortals to know her name. Many archfey dwell in the Moonlit Vale. Some rule over feyspires, while others dwell in the Palace of the Moon; the intrigues of the Court are their defining stories. Archfey that rule layers are known as anchor barons, as each is the anchor that defines the barony. They come to the Palace of the Moon for revels or conclaves, but prefer to dwell in their own story.
Archfey possess great power within Thelanis and its manifest zones, but to act in the world beyond, they need agents. Some recruit agents directly, working with Greensingers or training warlocks or other emissaries; an archfey could serve as an immortal group patron for a group of adventurers. Typically, an archfey wants its agents to take actions relating to its story; the Forgotten Prince charges his agents to steal secrets and unloved things. Others don’t want agents; they want mortals to reenact their stories, as in many versions of the Sleeping Prince. Hezhaal the dirge singer really did curse the marhu’s son long ago, and Sora Katra is another real person who just happens to resemble the Lady in Shadow in some ways. Neither Katra nor Hezhaal knowingly served the Lady in Shadow—but she may have secretly aided them, or placed gifts or obstacles in their paths that might make them reenact the stories, unknowingly becoming avatars of the archfey. Archfey can’t be permanently killed; as long as their stories are told, the archfey will reform. However, this usually involves a greater fey being promoted to fill the role; the archfey still exists, but they aren’t exactly the same as the one that came before.

History

Manifest Zones

More than with any other plane, Thelanian manifest zones often allow travel between the planes. Fey creatures dwell in such zones, and a greater fey may turn such a manifest zone into its personal domain. Just as fey can cross over from Thelanis, mortals can travel to the Faerie Court. Gateway zones always share the general environment of the layer they are connected to, though it’s rarely obvious when this passage occurs, and it may take time for travelers to realize they have crossed over. However, there are always signs of a gateway—circles of mushrooms, strange patterns of vegetation, eerie lights, or faint, unearthly music the adventurers must follow. Gateways typically only activate at certain times—often when the moon Rhaan is full—and even then, there’s usually something that must be done that violates a known superstition. If you stay on the path in the forest, you won’t stumble into the Endless Weald. But if you follow the ghostly music, or chase the silvery deer? That’s on you.
Other manifest zones reflect the properties and influence of Thelanis without allowing passage between worlds. Zones with the Enchanted Realm property are much sought after by House Phiarlan and House Thuranni. Zones with Storybook Logic break the rules of reality in specific ways; the Grove of Promises is a clearing that holds an old stone fountain. Stories from the nearby village say that if you make a promise to someone and then share a drink from the fountain, you must keep your word—and if you are false, you’ll sicken and die. The people of the town perform marriages in the Grove. Young lovers sneak away to pledge their hearts. There are even merchants who like to seal their deals in the Grove. The people of the town never break a promise sworn in the Grove...will you?
A final form of manifest zone is the beachhead; this phenomenon periodically draws a piece of Thelanis into Eberron. The feyspires mentioned earlier are an example of this, but a beachhead can be any unusual location—sure to be a local legend, but rarely be found by those searching for it, only uncovered by chance. There’s a tale in the Mror Holds of the Tomb of the Forgotten King, found when a traveler seeks shelter in a cave and discovers deeper passages. Following these tunnels, they find themselves in an ancient tomb. Jewels are embedded in the walls. Coins are heaped on tables, spilling onto the oor. In some versions of the story, guardians patrol the tomb, spirits of stone and metal. In others, there are deadly traps. But one detail remains the same throughout all the tales: treasures taken from the tomb always bring misfortune, bestowing curses that linger until the thief nds the tomb again and returns what they have stolen...or until they die.

Coterminus & Remote

When Thelanis is coterminous, new gateway zones spring up. Mischievous or cruel fey may cross over, and it’s far easier for careless travelers to cross over. However, there are always warning signs, and you generally must break some superstition or taboo to be pulled through. Thus, when people know the planes are coterminous, they are cautious to remember the stories and avoid foolish behavior.
When Thelanis is remote, the effects of Thelanian manifest zones are suppressed. Fey creatures may be temporarily drawn back to Thelanis, even those that normally dwell on Eberron. In general, the world feels less magical.
Traditionally, Thelanis becomes coterminous for a period of 7 years every 225 years, and it is remote for 7 years halfway between these cycles. However, there is evidence, such as beachheads remaining in place longer than usual, that something has disrupted this cycle. This may be a result of the Mourning...or it could be that the Mourning is just an easy excuse, and the true story is tied to the schemes of an archfey or a mortal mastermind. Nonetheless, no one knows when Thelanis will become coterminous again—or how long the phase might last when it does.

Thelanian Artifacts

Thelanis can be a source of wondrous magical items. The simplest deal with illusion or enchantment: eyes of charming or a hat of disguise. But any sort of magic item can come from Thelanis—the catch is that Thelanian items invariably have a story attached to them. The berserker axe that can’t be released until it kills someone you love. The dragon slayer that calls out to dragons, summoning wyverns for you to fight and drawing the attention of agents of the Chamber. The crystal ball that occasionally shows glimpses of things you don’t want to know.
Thelanian items can also hold curses that come with no accompanying benefit. The mithral falcon is a statue that amplifies existing greed. Generous people are unaffected by its magic, but greedy folk feel a growing need to claim the falcon from its current owner. The falcon can start a gang war between criminal organizations, or turn Aurum concordians into the bitterest of enemies. The falcon has no beneficial powers, but its curse can drive a story.

Alternative Name(s)

The Faerie Court

Type

Plane of Existence

Included Locations

• Castle of Forgotten Things
• Folly
• The Assembly
• The Endless Weald
• The Moonlit Vale
• The Shadow Kingdom