The Haethen Court

The Haethen court worships life, to excess. The origins of the court are long since forgotten, and the roles within it are said to predate the realms. In general, its members tend to be those who love art, knowledge, or history. The court will have a Queen and/or King, who rule the court. There will be nobles, musicians, knights, all of whom will dedicate to some aspect, though this can change more swiftly than the weather. Each of these was a mortal who, at some point, came under the influence of the court. The path to the court is a difficult one, and often found by those who have been abandoned by their faith.

An example is found in one of the subcourts. These members were in a village which fell during the age of Chaos. They were largely farmers, whose wheat fields and apple groves were burning. Their greatest warriors fought to defend the people, ready to buy them time to flee into the nearby woods. Yet during the battle, as the villagers fled, several of the warriors, including their leader, vanished in a sudden storm of lightning. The villagers were largely slain, and only a handful made it into the woods. Largely drawn from children whose parents died to buy them time to flee, they lived in the wood, and came to see it as a nurturing deity. They frolicked and worshipped, and the spirits of the woods seemed to protect them. The survivors stopped aging, and learned to draw power from the woods themselves. The survivors began to launch raids on the forces of chaos, and in doing so was found by the greater Haethen court, and folded in.

While the ranking members of the court were mortals once, the rest of the court is filled by the fae hordes. These are spirits of wind and wood, who can be drawn upon through powerful emotions. The spirits will often reflect the emotion that is used to conjure them, which means that in battle they tend towards aspects of hate, anger, and pain. These dark warriors are known as the Unsouled.

The court flits from wildlife to wildlife, dedicating fanes to whichever aspect seems the most appropriate to them. Sometimes it will be a pond, other times an ancient tree, or a long standing stone monolith. These fanes may be left for centuries, only to be found again. Some of these predate the court, as far any of the court themselves know. It is said that so long as the realms have existed, the fanes have as well, and it is these altars which have brought the court into existence.

The court is surprisingly difficult to define, yet the philosophical underpinnings are incredibly black and white. One can break down motivation into two camps, "pain" or "pleasure." The Haethen court feel that, rather than focusing on inflicting pain on others, one's time is better spent spreading pleasure. Though they live for the carrot, however, they are not adverse to the stick.

These epicurean ideals are likely why there are some who look on the works of the Haethen court and call them worshippers of Chaos. They see the focus on beauty, and assume that it is a sign of worshippers of the Prince of Excess. This is not necessarily wrong, for those who worship She who thirsts may also seek the finer things in life. The lust for food, drink, and other pleasures is certainly within Slaanesh's demesne. However, the court is emphatically not a part of the standard milieu of chaos, for they seek to preserve and create, rather than tear down. Regardless, it is not wrong to refer to the courts as Hedonites, but it is incorrect to suggest that they are "of Slaanesh."

There is also, often, a consideration that the Court are followers of Alarielle. While not a mistake any Sylvaneth would ever make, there may be just as much overlap between the Court and the Sylvaneth. However, the Sylvaneth would do anything to preserve their groves, while the Court are more interested in the landscape as a whole. This may be the aspect that has drawn the attention of the Mournguls to them. With aelven blood amongst them, and a desire to create and grow in direct opposition of those that would ravage, kill, and feed, it is possible that the Mourngul King has taken the Haethens as his enemy for precisely this reason.