The Parched Realm

tl;dr: Giant warmongering court lived here, tried to fight god, got dunked, now a cult lives here. vvv summarize this hmm... about 200 years after the Parched Court invades my Palace (long enough that whole generations have been born, grown, had kids, and become seniors, but short enough that even those who were already past 100 might still be alive if very elderly, so it's still in living memory; it's about the equivalent of 66 years passing for humans), the first tiny foreshocks of the Gentry's absence will be felt. Fairy lands are always innately very odd, but this will be like minor glitches in reality- a plant-animal hybrid will appear for a few instances before vanishing, a tree might suddenly appear to be floating an inch or two above the ground before suddenly reconnecting as if it was never uprooted, a single step at the bottom of a hill might abruptly lead to its crest. These are rare and isolated, but they happen just enough that people will begin to hear rumors. Maybe these rumors are even significant enough to go into local records, that might spin off into folktales and eventually into myths as the centuries march on. A year and a day after these glitches begin, I will send an aspect of myself to certain fairies. Descendants of any mortals of the Parched Court who somehow came to know of me and do not believe that I was out to get them (not sure if there are any, but hey), those who witnessed these "glitches" who are also open-minded to new ideas, people who are naturally attracted to mysteries and secrets, and also people who are straightforward and think of a good larger than themselves (and therefore concerned by the glitches) to balance out the fringe conspiracy theorist views that the other categories will inevitably attract. This aspect/manifestation of myself first appears as a hazy silhouette on the horizon, backlit by the sunken sun of the golden hour. It is indistinct and wavering like a desert mirage. This vision will be witnessed for a fortnight before finally appearing up close on the thirteenth day just before midnight (or on the first day/time of night afterwards, as the person must be alone). It will look fairly closely to my throne room presence (the outline is in the art channel), also wearing a cowl. There are seams along the spiral patterns on its skin which occasionally split and open up, revealing a dark and starry nebula roiling in bizarre fractal patterns its body, and the whole thing- and its immediate surroundings- still shimmers like a mirage. The chosen person will get the sense that they are being watched, or not alone, and the avatar will appear behind them when they turn their head around. Once this is done, time pauses around the mortal, and space becomes recursive so they cannot leave until the avatar has said its piece. The sky darkens and changes into the starscape seen above my throne in the Palace. They will feel a wash of emotions from the avatar- sorrow, pity, and underneath it all, determination, and perhaps most importantly a lack of any dangerous intent. Eventually the avatar will communicate in a method almost but not quite like speech the following ideas: The Parched Court lost more than its leaders to the failed invasion. The Gentry were a stabilizing presence as much as they were a force for change. Without them, the powerful changing forces their presence sank into the land itself are without guidance or constraint. A land in this state is fated to be utterly changed. The mortal will see visions of the Perilous Realm, and then visions of their surroundings being warped into a similar bizarre configuration around them. (The mortal may feel a lot of dread over this, and understand where the sorrow is coming from) The High Queen of the Fairies is real, and concerned for her subjects. While society may thrive in such a place, she doubts the people of the Parched Court will want their lands to become Glitch City/Annihilation surrealist landscapes, as the process will inevitably upend everything about their culture as it progresses. So she has devised a way to avert this fate. They now see a vision of the heart of their domain, the now-abandoned complex of grand buildings, the portal that is the epicenter of the spreading unraveling of space itself. The vision sinks down, deep into the ground, through a complex of many underground floors and basements, down to a large antechamber centered around a black, stone Monolith shaped more or less like a pentagonal prism about 50 feet high and 10 feet wide. It's segmented, with 5 sections carved into cylindrical chunks with 22 alcoves ringing them, each alcove containing a chunk of the Ring Star crystal. Even through the vision, the mortal can feel the sheer power of this Monolith. This is the key to preserving the Parched Court's landscape, ecosystems, and even people. This Monolith will stabilize the heart of the domain, preventing its influence from deepening or spreading, and stopping the strange “glitches.” However, the Fairy Queen always preserves her subjects' ability to choose, so the monolith must be maintained to keep working- exercising the choice to preserve the realm. If the Monolith is allowed to fall into disrepair and break down, the disruption will seep out slowly at first, and then the warping that would have happened slowly over the years will crash down all at once. The magic of the Monolith may affect them in strange ways, but will not harm them. Because the Parched Court at large is pretty anti-Fairy Queen, the mortals are given the suggestion of keeping this on the down-low. Pass this onto those who may truly be trusted, and definitely not to just anyone. Each mortal is told that they are not alone in receiving this message, and that many more will aid them, but telling everybody about this might lead to the Monolith being destroyed by the scared and ignorant. With that, the avatar unravels completely into weird shapes with unfathomable geometries before vanishing completely and returning the mortal to normal space/time. Future cult notes: Cult members can be any class. However, any genuine/deeply-felt vow or oath made on/by the Monolith (must be in the Monolith's presence, and physically touching it) will be taken as a pact, and they will become empowered by the Monolith as a level 1 warlock with great old one pact powers. I imagine that once this is figured out they'll restrict making oaths on the Monolith to certain members of the cult. In a sense, some of the weird unraveling behind held back by the Monolith will be safely transferred to the warlock, a bit of a way to diffuse the power and keep its protectors strong.

Geography

Located in a valley at the foot of a massive cluster of towering mountains. Hilly, lightly mountainous terrain. Northern coastal area is cooler with unceasing rains or verdant tropics; as you travel south, lush landscape peters out into hot and arid steppe. Majority of inland climate is tropical savannah. The "capital", or location of the Pillar, is remarkably temperate. It has no dry season and warm summers, thanks to its elevation and the crown of mountains holding most of the rain back. The cool mountain-fed river certainly helps as well.

Fauna & Flora

Flora Bamboo (!), coconut, Fauna Crocodiles, primates, maned wolves, pumas, jaguars, ocelots, mongeese, american lions, otters, foxes, porcupines, so many large snakes Deer, capybara, tapir, armadillos, sloths, Witness Shrews, bats, hares, pangolins, anteaters, pudu, Buzzards, hawks, jacana, frigatebirds, vultures, eagles, secretarybirds, kingfishers, falcons, parrots, hummingbirds, owls, so many more.

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