THE STONES: INFORMATION
The Troupe
This is the largest selection of stones of all. There are at sixteen in the outer ring, roughly six feet tall and spread about four feet apart. The inner circle contains nine stones spread about three feet apart from each other, all standing about roughly four feet in height. There is a single stone at the center, close to nine feet in height, and flat-topped where the others are peaked. It is covered in indistinct carvings, all whorls and swirls.
Iron will begin to become too heavy to carry the moment one steps into the outer ring. If a person perseveres and drags the iron with them, it will become unbearably attracted to the stones of the inner ring and will attach to them, unable to be moved. The only iron that can be brought to the center stone is iron shaped into a horseshoe - ‘the iron which goes everywhere’.
Stepping into the inner ring will cause a person’s skin to tingle. As they approach the center stone, they will experience increasing feelings of vertigo. To an outside viewer, the closer someone walks to the center stone, the farther away they will begin to appear, while not moving any great distance away. When someone touches the middle stone, they will vanish.
The Troupe will lead to the Castle of the Queen.
The Castle of the Queen
This is only a small section of the true faerie world - it is, in particular, the section which contains the abode of the Queen and her Court. It is a wonderful place, elegant and beautiful, with an impossibly large skyline upon which the Aurora Borealis blazes every night. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter are reflected in this world, and each season brings its own loveliness. There are little copses of trees here, along with streams and meadows and bowers, all unusually silent. Far off in the distance is a castle straight from a fairy tale; all spires and shining white stone, with banners and flags fluttering in the breeze. It can be seen from any part of this world.
Distance is a strange thing here. A copse of trees, for example, may look as though it is a mile away, but you would be able to reach it in five steps. Similarly, you could be reaching into a pool to drink from and find that you can never quite touch the water, though it is only a few inches away.
This place is inhabited by the Queen of Faerie, and also beings known as the Sidhe. Tread carefully around them if you brought no iron; it would not be wise to rouse their anger. Other people are here; silent servants who smile blandly when approached. They are summoned and dismissed by many of the fae with a word, but each holds a trinket or token which, if used in some way, would summon them out of the palace itself.
Resources
The Castle is filled with murals, paintings, books, and ballads about the creatures of faerie. Legends are often sang or spoken in the halls, and the libraries and gardens are filled with many beautiful drawings of significance. It may be dangerous to come, but it will also be very informative of things within Demeleier itself.
There are two libraries. One is the Library of Records, where legends and tales are stored as though factual, and also contains a list of people who have been spirited away by the fae. The other library is known as the Library of Truth, and getting into it will prove very difficult. There will be a separate section describing this library at a later date.
A room of trinkets is also in this castle. Each one is tied to an individual person who has been enslaved by the fae. They may be musicians. They may be dancers. They may be builders, cooks, librarians, fighters, lovers - anything. There names are down in the book of records, along with a description of the trinket they are bound to. Finding the trinket and taking it away will enable this person to be summoned anywhere. For example - if the trinket is the bell, it will summon the person on the first ring. The second ring will bring them the tools of their trade - for example, a cook will be provided with all the ingredients they need to prepare a meal. The third ring will dismiss them again, and cause the bell to vanish back to the trinket room. If they are summoned outside of the Castle for longer than twenty four hours, the trinket will resonate of its own accord and the servant will disappear with it.
Getting to the record library or the trinket room will prove difficult, as one risks passing through generally populated areas to get to either, like guard turrets, courtyards, staircases and halls. The Library of Truth will be nigh on impossible to reach, as it is located at the top of a winding, windowless tower, guarded inside and out by Sidhe, and locked by a key that only a faery monarch has. It may be impossible to get to either per visit to this realm, but even getting into the castle will prove informative. Friezes and paintings line every hall and adorn every wall. Scraps of poetic song will be heard, detailing something which may be of significance. Going to the castle will allow you to find out something about the why and the how of Demeleier.
One will always have to be wary of the Sidhe when in this castle, and pray that the Queen is not home if they plan to snoop around.
The Long Man
This is a cluster of three stones arranged on one of the gentler slopes of the foothills. There is one large stone at the north, which juts up fifteen feet in the air. Two smaller and rounder stones, about eight feet in height, stand to the southeast and southwest of it, about five feet apart. When one stands in the center of this triangle, they will become aware of the large figure drawn into the hill before the stones. It is not visible anywhere else, but the blazing white lines depict a gigantic man in the hillside. Staring at the figure will cause the earth to shift at the base of the largest stone, and will reveal a hidden door deep into the hills.
Iron can be brought into this circle, but will not be allowed to be brought through the threshold of the door. Again, the exception to this is a horseshoe, as it is the iron that goes anywhere.
Follow the tunnel through, and one will find themselves transported into another land of faerie.
The Hall of the Mountain King
This realm of faerie is a series of twisting passages, wide and smelling slightly rank. They vary in width, light, and temperature. They all eventually lead to one central area, which in turn branches off into three paths. The one on the left is covered with frost while the one on the right looks scorched to cinders. Both will lead to two trees, still growing underground. The middle path looks normal, but as it is followed slowly grows warmer and warmer, with steam beginning to coil around the tunnel. Eventually, it will lead to a wide cavern, where the King of these halls sits.
The Sidhe prowl these long passages, and a guard of three are with the King at all times.
Resources
The Halls of the Mountain King are rich with minerals and ore, which grow out of the walls of the tunnels. Copper, tin, faery silver, true silver, and gold can be found in abundance. Absolutely no iron can be found, however.
The two trees are trees of cold and fire, respectively. The berries from the tree of cold will cause anything they touch to freeze and as such should not be handled with bare skin. The bark of the tree is also cold and emits a freezing aura when used. Similarly, the berries of the fire tree will heat up anything that they touch, and too long in contact with something flammable will cause them to ignite. The wood from this tree is always constantly warm, and in large amounts is able to heat just as well as fire, but does not consume any fuel. The wood from either tree will keep its magical properties for a month at a time, and will grow less potent as the days march on.
The Drinkers
This set of stones is located in one of the meadows north of the village. True to their name, they stand somewhat drunkenly, each leaning off to one side with no visible patterns. There are about seven in total, and the ring is roughly a yard across. The wind will stir the grass within the stones in a different direction that the grass out of it, and no matter what happens, no other plant life will grow within that circle.
Iron will become extremely attracted to these stones and will become attached to the stones. It can be dragged off from outside of the circle, but it will not pass within. Again, the ‘iron which goes anywhere’ can be taken through here, but it is the only sort.
Entering the circle will mute all the sounds of the world outside them. Only sounds that originate within the circle will be heard. People will feel a faint tingling in their arms which will slowly march up to their head, and become a feeling of giddy drunkenness. They will experience intense vertigo, and then will vanish.
This set of stones transports the walker into the Meadow Glen.
The Meadow Glen
This meadow is constantly in the grip of a lovely, gentle summer. It is a lovely meadow teeming with wildlife. Its days and evenings are long, and the nights short and incredibly light. To enter here is to feel completely at ease.
Trees stand off to one side, separated from the rest of the glen by a merry brook. A bridge of stone, which looks almost completely natural, crosses from one bank to another about halfway down the river.
At the other side of the glen there is a depression in one of the hills, several feet wide and containing a large stone table. The grass around this knoll is trampled down, as if there had been dancing on the area. The noises of wildlife become strangely muted here, and people will get the feeling that they are being watched. If they linger long, they will hear some deep, slow breaths from under the earth.
Resources
Deer run across the lush grass and dart through the trees to the side of the Meadow Glen. Pheasants pluck their way along the undergrowth. Fish leap in the stream. Boar snuffle through the woods. Game of all sort is in constant abundance here, and the trees are always swollen with different kinds of fruit. The trees, also, are not alive and can be harvested for wood with no repercussions.
The Red Stones
This is a circle of stones, about ten feet wide, located within the forest. The stones are all roughly ten feet tall, and carved to look as though three spheres are sitting atop one narrow neck. They are reddish in colour, with deep carvings gouged into the rock. Three is a theme here, for most of the carvings are topped with three swirls.
Iron cannot be brought into this circle. It will grow attracted to the stones and be unable to be pulled away from them if walking into the circle. It will be able to be pried away from outside of the circle, but not without great effort.
Walking into this circle will make one feel incredibly uncomfortable. First, they will feel slightly sweltered. Then they will feel pain in their wrists and their necks, and then there will be a flash of red light and they will vanish, transported to the Etin’s Moor.
The Etin's Moor
The Etin’s moor is a wide stretch of land with a castle in the distance. The land is tilled into three fields, each tended by three enthralled herders. The first land is all tilled land, filled with vegetables of all sorts. The second is one where cows and sheep are driven. The final one contains hideous beasts, as large as bears, with three heads and long, lashing tongues. As travellers go across the fields, they will be warned about the master of these lands - a being known as ‘The Red Etin’. If pushed to describe this creature, they will mention a hulking monstrosity, three headed and with skin as red as blood.
The castle of the Red Etin will actually be extremely comfortable. The huge kitchen, which most people will enter by as the main gate is ever-closed, will be stocked and furnished with things that may well be delicacies within Demeleier. Strangely, it will be decorated with all kinds of statues, some delicate carvings, some rough and barely shaped.
Resources
The vegetable field can be tilled for fresh or rare produce. Similarly, the livestock can be taken back through the stones to Demeleier itself. The danger here is that the tenders may set the monsters from the third field on anyone who steals, and they, too, can leave the circle.
The castle itself can be stolen from - things like food, or even blankets, candles, oil, tinderboxes, paper, ink, books of fiction or historical importance from many worlds. The library here is well stocked, and seems to act as a hub of information on all the worlds people from Demeleier have been stolen from.
The Silver Road
Located at one of the highest peaks in Demeleier, this set of stones breaks the mould of the others, somewhat. They are large, thin stones which line one of the paths on the mountainside, each glimmering with a silver sheen. They are placed roughly five paces apart from each other, two sets on either side, and are perfectly symmetrical even as they follow the path. Eventually, the path comes to a dead end, where two stones stand to either side. They are crowned with a small, almost spherical stone of the same silvery material.
Walking through the silver road won’t take your iron from you, strangely enough. You will be allowed to enter this world with ordinary iron. However, as you approach the end of the path, what iron you have with you will begin to feel hot to the touch, and by the time you reach the spherical stone it will be almost red-hot.
Hopefully you can hold onto it, however, because when you reach the spherical stone, you will be transferred to another land of the fae.
The Silver Mines
Possibly the most industrious part of the fae world residents will ever see. This is a world of mines and caves. The Silver Road in this area stretches off to the north, and following it will eventually take you to a small encampment. The camp will be full of Stone Fae and Ogres, with the occasional Sidhe overseer, clad all in light armour made of silvery metal. Sneaking past this camp is advised, as the Ogres and Stone Fae may attack, and the Sidhe may shoot arrows at people who thought to bring iron. If iron was not brought, then the Sidhe will call out to people and offer them a drink of tawny wine.
The camp is based at the foot of a mountain with many caves and entrances, and it wouldn’t take someone with eagle eyes to spot the ranks upon ranks of people entering the mines. Some are chained together, some are simply in lines. Those unchained are overseen by an ogre and two stone fae, and those chained up are overseen by a Sidhe. The ones in the chains look miserable and nervous, jittery and frightened, while the ones who aren’t chained have dreamy, unfocused expressions. These people come from all kinds of races, but it’s clear that they’re not fae; they’re mortal.
The mines themselves burrow deep into the mountain in a rambling warren. Some walls are lined with nodes of ore and some glitter with precious and semi-precious stones. Faint whispers and echoes linger at the edge of hearing. In areas with light, people will see things scuttling away out of the corners of their eyes, and in places of darkness, people will feel things slithering over their feet, brushing against their backs, or grabbing at their clothes. After about an hour or so, the whispering grows louder and more distinct. Cries and pleas for help will gradually rise in volume to wailing shouts, and will not stop until the mines are exited by the person afflicted.
Resources
The Silver Mines have many types of ore buried within them. Copper, tin, gold and even iron can be found - though the iron is in very small quantities, and never mined by any group overseen by a Sidhe. Gold and silver can also be found - silver in specific abundance - but the real treasure of the mines are the nodes of Fae Silver that grow there. They look very similar to normal silver, but glow very slightly with an iridescent light. This stuff is stronger than steel and lighter than leather, and as a result very valuable for all kinds of materials.
Various other ores and metals from different worlds can also be found, though never in plenty of abundance. Different oils are also drawn out of the earth by a series of crude pipes and valves.
Precious stones and semi-precious stones can also be found here. So can one of the shards of the Guardian’s crystal, but aside from a faint heartbeat sound, it will be especially hard to locate.
The Dancers
These stones are set on the small island on the loch, a short distance in front of the ruin. They are long, slender spikes of black stone, and have been shaped in wavy lines that put one in mind of people dancing. There are seven of the stones, set about seven feet apart in a perfect circle. Faint music pipes when one enters the circle, and the stones will look as though they are swaying until the person vanishes.
Iron cannot be brought in here. The exception is, of course, ‘the iron that goes everywhere’. Any iron that is not that cannot be brought into the circle and will be stuck to the stones and unable to be pulled off from the inside.
The Towers
This is a realm all in twilight, with beautiful, wild gardens filled with night flowers. Sidhe prowl about these sprawling acres, some tending to the flora, some looking for intruders. The Dancers are situated at the very bottom of the gardens, with a view of the two large towers to either side of the estate.
One tower is black and spiked, with dark stones and windows that are always lit up. The other tower is white and flowing - almost more like a growth than a building. The windows are dark in this one, and the ivory door at the bottom is locked tight.
The black tower is the abode of the Erlking, and filled with beautiful gilded cages, each holding a bird within it. The birds flutter and sing throughout the winding steps, and fill the tower with sad, if lovely sounding song. The rooms are sparsely but beautifully furnished, even though they do not look lived in. No, the only two rooms that look to be used at all are the stables at the base of the tower, which hold three black horses, and the room at the very top of the tower, where the Erlking waits. It contains nothing but a throne, a mirror so badly shattered that only a shard of it remains pinned to the wall, and a single key of ivory hanging from the wall.
This key of course unlocks the white tower, of which tantalising glimpses could be seen through the ascent of the black one. Many faces appear to look out from the windows if they are looked into. Faint strains of harp music can be heard even over the birdsong, and finally the silhouette of a woman can be seen at the very top of the tower, sitting on the balcony. What actually lies inside the tower is unknown, and must be explored to be found out.
Resources
There’s not actually that much to take here, though one of the shards from the Guardian’s crystal can be found somewhere in this area. The shard of mirror and the ivory key can also be taken. The key unlocks the white tower, while the mirror is something of a scrying mirror, and will reveal things if asked of it. Of course, it is broken, so to work properly it would need to be reassembled.