Saliysuli Veránal

Many things are unknown about the Courts of the Feywild. The denizens of the land of wild magics are capricious to the point of cruelty at times, but that does not mean they are without their traditions.
One such tradition occurs at the height of the Summer Court’s power during The Eternal Summer Time – Saliysuli Veránal as it is called in the Sylvan tongue. One dares not call this tradition a ceremony because though there is a sense of formality to the event, there is no incense or prayers used. The fey do not adhere to such strict and rigid lines like those of the Mortal Realms. Rather, it is an unspoken and intuitive magic that guides this “ritual”.
It starts with the Fey of the Court of Summer masked, wearing the faces of any and all manner of creatures, arrayed in groups which to those not of the Court would be hard to find commonality. The faces worn are meant to be a reflection of the growth gone through over the year prior, for whatever that may mean to each denizen of the Court.
Then the music and dancing commence. The steps themselves are not important, it is more of a weaving through space and – if anyone else has happened to be present when they fey dance – it has a power in itself that can cause time to fluctuate in unquantifiable ways. This dance can last for days or mere minutes, it is hard to observe the passage of time in the Feywild as a rule of thumb. However as the creatures of the Summer Court dance and weave they eventually pair off in duos, trios, or however many in a group seem appropriate to those who wish to do so. It is rare that there would be one lone fey at the end of this but it has been known to happen (see the chapter titled “Fey and Fate: The Ties the Bind the Fair Folk to the Realms”). As they retreat into the twilight woods for more private celebrations the masks are taken off by the respective partner(s).
During all of this, the Queen of Summer observes her people, though not from her throne. She could be the hand that holds the dryad, or the arms that embrace the centaur, for her mask is more than the one worn on her face. It is the one she wraps around her in the very threads of the gown she wears. Normally Queen Titania is unmistakable, but for this, the Choosing, she has all the power and her people are her to select from.
Should Titania choose to join the revelries – for not every year she does – it is because she wishes to choose the Marfachrei, or The Short Lived King, her Oberon. It is a common misconception that Oberon is an archfey who rules by Queen Titania’s side in the Summer Court. This is not the case and many a woe-begotten fey or mortal has made this mistake, which has cost them more than their lives in attempting to subdue or coerce the Great Seelie Queen. To become the Oberon is one of the greatest honours the Queen of Summer can bestow on any of her court, but the Fey are capricious beings and their interests can wane as fast the moon cycles through her phases. There has been but a mere handful of times where a fey has born the title of Oberon more than once, and even fewer who keep the title past Midsummer a month a half hence, when the Queen of Summer can choose to keep this bond through the year or discard it like an old, moth eaten coat.
Many have tried to predict who will be the next Marfachrei but either because of the powers Queen Titania holds, or due to some other, Fated power, the fey chosen is one that is never expected, but it has always been whomever or whatever the Queen of Summer wishes. Without exception.
--Written & Designed by Riah

Translations
Saliysuli Veránal - The Eternal Summer Time
Marfachrei - The Oberon, the Short Lived King