Igneada

Horseless Carriages

The Fae Courts were made more accessable during the explosion of magic that created Banon's Desert, but that doesn't mean a person can just walk up to them. A great number of trials, traps, and dangerous creatures stand between an adventurer and either of the Fae Courts. While it is possible to fight your way to the cities of the Fae and earn their respect through the process of traipsing through jungles and killing giant spiders, it is much easier to find their favour through deeds done abroad and wait on an Igneada, or horseless carriage.

---

Igneada In Many Forms

An igneada may appear in any colour or level of adornment, often reflecting the nature of the court or specific fae that is summoning a mortal to their realm. The only things that are uncompromising are the four lanterns that house wil-o-wisps at the corners of the carriage. They are all built to be sturdy and polished, looking as if they'd never seen dust or dirt. There are no hitches or sign that horses could ever be attached to the carriage, and there is never a footman or driver's seat.

Unseelie carriages tend to be black, deep blue, stark white, or crimson red with wil-o-wisps that reflect the same colouring as the carriage. Some unseelie carriages may be adorned with winter scenes or decorated with gruesome gargoyle features. Seelie carriages are much lighter in their tone, painted in spring and summer colours with floral features and motifs.

---

Invitations

Along with the arrival of an Igneada an invitation to attend a fae court will ouline the use of the carriage. These invitations are pinned to the door of the carriage which swings open upon taking the note.

Few recieve invitations to the courts of the fae but those who do never come back the same. Some are better for the changes and others are worse, left rambling and mad as hatters. To refuse the invitation is seen as the highest insult and while there is never a threat against those who decline, they are often met with terrible fates. The fae are quick to forget the lives of quicklings but never forget or forgive a slight.

MidJourney, RandoScorpio

Greetings Adventurer,

You have been seen as worthy to tread the hallowed grounds of my court, as I seek a boon from you. Step aboard the carriage should you wish to meet, but do not step foot on the ground before you arrive lest you be lost to time and space.

Should you see this as folly know that you will never receive an invitation from me again, place this invitation on the seat and the carriage shall carry on without you.

— Yriel, Royal Secratary of the Sealie Court

---

The Journey

No matter how an Igneada is turned out each works in the same way. When an adventurer steps aboard the carriage the wisps flair brightly and the sound of hooves on stone echo around the carriage, and scenery seems to pass as though the carriage is pulled by a team of horses. However, the scenery is an illusion and those who watch the carriage leave will only see it slowly disappear from view.

The warning in the note not to step out of the carriage is not a threat but an issue with the way the carriages work. Drawing on Fae magic they travel through the leylines and on a plain not of the mortal world, crossing the veil and the physical distance at the same time. Stepping out of the carriage will not kill a person, it will simply strand them between plains of existence. None have been reported to be returned from this fate.

Fickle As Fae

The Fae are reguarded as a fickle folk with no weakness to bribery and are prone to trickery. Their favour is hard won and seldom kept, and their courts are closed to outsiders that haven't at least tried to win some favour. Each court, seelie and unseelie, have their own ideas on what great deeds are worthy of praise or reward, and which ones might help to make an adventurer useful in their designs.

The seelie courts are more inclined to reward steadfast heroism, an adventurer who does great deeds not for the thanks or to seek rewards. A selfless nature is most preferable for these fae, but a dab of chaos is never discouraged. The fae abhor boredom and will always delight in the unpredictable nature of the quickling mortals.

Unseelie fae will always turn a blind eye to the morality of a person and heavily favour those with the resolve to complete a task no matter what it might call for. They seek out self serving chaotic adventurers to attend their courts and serve to fulfil their whims.

It is never wise to trust either court to have an adventurer's best interest at heart. Both Fae Courts are selfish and care little for the lives of quicklings.