# The Fey Isles - Maps & Charts - Angrean Atlas :::section ## The Fey Isles :::subheading{level="2"} **Status:** Tax Rebellion (Year 6… probably) | **Climate:** Eternal Spring | **Type:** Multi-Island Archipelago ::: :::intro *Home to the mysterious Sidhe, these islands remain wrapped in enchantment and a steadfast refusal to acknowledge Imperial tax authority. The rebellion began over “unfair taxation without fey representation” but has deeper roots in the Empire’s attempts to regulate wild magic; which the Sidhe find personally insulting.* ::: :::intro "We do not recognize your calendar, your currency, or your concept of linear time. Your tax assessment is therefore null and void. We have enclosed flowers." — Aesling mor Velleith, Green Court Emissary ::: ::: :::section ## Overview The Fey Isles exist in a state of eternal spring, where flowers bloom perpetually and the concept of “winter” is regarded as a quaint foreign tradition. The islands are protected by mists that confuse navigation, ensuring that only those the Sidhe wish to find them actually do. Time flows differently here, visitors have returned claiming to have spent a single afternoon only to discover years have passed in the outside world, while others report weeks-long visits that corresponded to mere hours elsewhere. Wild magic pushes back against Imperial regulation with aristocratic indifference, portals to Avernon operate out of the Green Court’s basement, and the Sidhe find the whole arrangement endlessly amusing. House Silvos manages the Empire’s half of the ongoing conversation about the tax rebellion, patiently and without visible progress; House Canae disputes the Green Court’s right to regulate wild magic by calling it something other than magic, equally patiently and to the same effect. **Population:** Unknown. The Sidhe do not cooperate with census takers, and the census takers who enter the mists rarely return with coherent reports. ::: :::section ## Islands :::intro *Two islands surface-side, though the count is debated: the Sidhe sometimes describe them as one island reflected, other times as four, depending on conversational intent. Imperial cartographers have settled on two.* ::: :::card-list :::card{title="Aelindhyr"} :::subheading{level="4"} **Type: Primary Island | Function: Green Court Seat** ::: The main island, where the Green Court sits beneath a canopy of perpetually flowering trees. Aelindhyr hosts the Dancing Grounds, the Portal Nexus to Avernon, and nearly every Sidhe of political consequence. ::: :::card{title="The Twilight Shore"} :::subheading{level="4"} **Type: Secondary Island | Function: Imperial Interface** ::: The smaller inner island, the only surface territory where Imperial merchants and envoys routinely set foot. Caerwyn Harbor sits on its nightward coast; the rest is quietly occupied by minor Sidhe who prefer the Empire to the Green Court’s politics. ::: ::: ::: :::section ## Notable Locations :::intro *Specific places on the two islands, though their exact number, location, and sometimes existence varies depending on factors the Sidhe decline to explain.* ::: :::card-list :::card{title="The Green Court"} :::subheading{level="4"} **Type: Primary Settlement | Accessibility: Variable** ::: The main center of Sidhe governance, housed beneath a canopy of flowering trees that bloom in whichever season the presiding court prefers. Leadership rotates between seasonal courts in patterns that do not correspond to any external calendar and that visitors are advised not to attempt to understand. ::: :::card{title="Caerwyn Harbor"} :::subheading{level="4"} **Type: Trade Outpost | Accessibility: Occasionally open** ::: The only outpost on the Twilight Shores where Imperial merchants can legally disembark. Caerwyn consists of a long stone quay, a licensed trading hall, and a bell that determines whether the port is currently accepting visitors. The bell is not on a schedule. ::: :::card{title="The Dancing Grounds"} :::subheading{level="4"} **Type: Sacred Site | Accessibility: By Invitation** ::: Where the great fey festivals occur under the light of the three moons. Mortals who witness these celebrations reportedly experience “permanent perspective adjustments,” the precise nature of which varies by individual and is not considered a medical condition by Sidhe physicians. ::: :::card{title="Portal Nexus"} :::subheading{level="4"} **Type: Transportation Hub | Accessibility: Restricted** ::: The stone archway complex that connects to Avernon, the underwater Sidhe capital. Access strictly limited to Sidhe and their chosen guests. The archways appear inert to non-Sidhe observers and are sometimes mistaken for ruined gates. ::: ::: ::: :::section ## Connection to Avernon The Fey Isles maintain direct magical connections to **Avernon**, the legendary underwater city of the ancient Sidhe. Preserved beneath the waves since the great Flood by powerful magic, Avernon exists in a massive air bubble maintained by enchantments older than the Empire. Its coordinates are unknown to non-Sidhe, access is only through the Portal Nexus on Aelindhyr, and it has never been part of the Empire in any meaningful sense. Cultural and spiritual significance run the other way: Avernon remains the heart of Sidhe civilization, and the Fey Isles are, in the Green Court’s view, the surface presence of a deeper polity. ::: :::section ## Travel Information ### Getting There - **By Airship:** Routes technically exist; arrival not guaranteed - **By Sea:** Possible if the Sidhe want you to arrive - **By Invitation:** The only reliable method ### Travel Advisory :::travel-advisory{level="caution"} ##### UNPREDICTABLE CONDITIONS Travel to the Fey Isles is not recommended without explicit Sidhe invitation. The Imperial Travel Bureau cannot guarantee safe passage, accurate travel times, or that you will return to the same temporal period you departed from. ::: **Local Cautions:** - Do not eat fey food, make promises, or accept gifts without understanding the obligations involved - Time spent in the Isles may not correspond to time passed elsewhere; plan accordingly, or don’t - The Sidhe sense of humor is not compatible with mortal embarrassment The ongoing tax rebellion means Imperial authority is not recognized within the Isles, and Imperial citizens should not expect consular assistance. The Sidhe have been unfailingly polite about the rebellion and equally unfailing in their refusal to pay. ::: :::section ## Historical Notes The Sidhe predate the Empire by ages uncounted. Their civilization flourished before the great Flood, and they survived the catastrophe by retreating to Avernon and related sanctuaries. The Fey Isles emerged (or were created) during the Emergence, serving as the Sidhe’s surface presence while their true capital remained beneath the waves. Relations with the Empire have always been complex. The current rebellion was formally declared in 3157 CR by Imperial reckoning; the Sidhe acknowledge approximately five of the intervening years, though which five is a matter of ongoing Green Court debate. The rebellion represents the most direct confrontation in millennia, though the Sidhe prefer to characterize it as a “clarification of existing arrangements” rather than outright defiance. Minor frictions in the preceding millennium are not forgotten, merely re-categorised; the Withholding of Spring (2034 CR), in which the Green Court delayed the season’s bloom across four Imperial regions until a disputed tax was rescinded, is cited by Imperial historians as precedent and by the Sidhe as an example of reasonable behaviour. :::