Interview with Felix Sundown (Part 1)

I am not really sure why I have agreed to do this interview. Perhaps I’m worried that, once I do eventually die, there will not otherwise be anyone else to tell my story. Or, perhaps its because, given the recent discovery of the Feywyrd, I am now finally able to speak about things that I’ve been forced to be quiet about for over four hundred years. Whatever the reason, consider yourself fortunate to be the one to hear it first, before things get twisted by history’s lens. There is so much to tell though, I guess I might as well get started at the beginning. You asked me to introduce myself? Fair enough.

My name is Felix Sundown. In a children’s book, I might be called a gnome or perhaps a troll, but these terms are in truth derogatory names that have replaced the proper name for my kind: Fey. I have lived for more than six hundred years, with the last four centuries confined within the walls of Loaerth, the city of my captor and once teacher, The Archivist. Recently, I finally managed to escape the cursed bonds that have kept me silent for so long. How? I can only guess, but I suspect that it is because someone else discovered the fate of the Feywyrd, and thus unwittingly released me from my bonds. Allow me to explain…

When I first arrived in Loaerth the world was a place full of colorful and fantastical creatures of all sorts. Mythic demihumans, fey beasts and strange magic were commonplace. It was a world of abundance and diversity, where imagination was the only limit on possibility. I was a student of this magic, a Steward of Aram Court in fact. I had come to Loaerth to further my training under the tutelage of the Archivist Eurig Talfrun. He accepted me as his last student and bonded me into service. The bond was one from the Old Ways, a curse really. At the time I felt it was worth the sacrifice: a little of my freedom to be the sole pupil of one of the most influential archivists in all the realms. Little did I know of Talfrun’s ambitions, and it took decades before I eventually regarded my bond to him as a curse.

You may have heard a story of something the Helfay that happened an eon ago. It is often used as the reason humankind can lay claim to all the world and why Loaerth can expand the boundaries of its empire unopposed. But the Helfay is not a myth – it happened. The whole world was as I described it: a fantastical place full of strange and magical things. Then, in an instant, poof! On one mid-winter night all the world’s strange and mythical creatures, the Feywyrd as they were called, vanished in a silent icy moment. From wizards and students sleeping in Aram Court, to dwarves deep in Forgeholme. From dragons sailing on the winds of the Faertwins, to myrmidons a thousand leagues under the Degra Sea. Their lights just went out as they vanished like fireflies in the twilight. Whole kingdoms vanished in fact. I expect all the world’s Feywyrd vanished, save for one: me. You see, the Helfay was not an act of the gods, but an act of greed and hubris by a man, my master Eurig. It was the result of an ancient ritual he believed would return the Feywyrd the world he believed they came from. But he failed, and the failure carried with it the instant annihilation of not just the Feywyrd, but every other creature beyond the horizons of Loaerth.

Since I unknowingly participated in this ritual, I was fortunately protected by it, and soon found myself to be the last of the Fey. Eurig also allowed me to live on as his assistant and pupil. I was now a curiosity to him. He was the last of the Archivists, the only remaining practitioner of the Old Ways, and having the last of the Fey as his personal thrall was too great a prize to ignore. He bonded me to him again, only this time his bond would last until the Feywyrd returned, something he believed would never happen.

It was no coincidence that, after the Helfay, the people of Loaerth soon discovered the King and the royal family had vanished as well. They soon appointed Eurig Talfrun as Regent of Loaerth, and in time he became the leader of the world’s only remaining civilization: the Empire of Loaerth.

What else would you like to know?

Loaerth & Feywyrd’s Feytroll And Other Possibilities

Edited by Cassey Toi

As I alluded to in the opening post about Loaerth & Feywyrd (Interview with Felix Sundown, Part 1), there’s much more than just “MAN” walking around in the world. Or, at least, there used to be. What I haven’t decided on yet though is exactly what the other races will be. Stock fantasy races, even if you mash-up the cultures a bit (elves underground! dwarves living in trees! oh my!) has been done well enough. Now, this isn’t to say that “been there done that” is something to avoid though, obviously it works. Players get a lot of options; they are familiar with the stock fantasy line up (dare I say Tolkien-esque line up?); and they know the sticking points of each race from the start. This means there’s less overall pre-game work that needs to be done to get a good handle on what’s available.

On the other hand, L&F is a blank slate that I’m hoping to develop collaboratively with the community (meaning you – the reader). So, instead of just dropping all 35 (!) races from the D&D cosmos into L&F, the better approach is perhaps to come up with some themes first, choose which races work, which don’t and what new races we might want to see. We have to work backwards, flesh out the back-story of L&F a bit more, and develop what races are present in the game at the start. But even before we do that – we know already that there’s one race that is new.

Feytrolls – Concepts and Backgrounds

Felix Sundown is a feytroll, but I don’t explain much as to what exactly that means when I introduced him. Obviously, we need to explore the concept behind feytrolls a bit more.

In appearance, Feytrolls are somewhat like faeries with a strong dose of house fly thrown in. They are small, plump humanoids standing about 2 to 3 feet in height, but often weigh in at over 50 lbs. or thereabouts. Their rotund faces feature a pair of prominent, bulging compound eyes that are glazed over like stained glass windows. Humans frequently feel uncomfortable in the presence of a feytroll because there’s no telling what they are looking at. In fact, they are quite capable of looking at many things at once.

In addition to their eyes, the other striking feature of a feytroll is the fly like wings that adorn their backs. While functional and flight worthy, these can not, however, carry them more than a dozen yards or so before they need to sit down to take a rest. They are usually too fat to go much further than that. More often than not, they prefer to simply walk at a leisurely pace to “take it all in” as they say.

As a race, they are generally cunning, quick to react, persistent in the face of opportunities, and patient while waiting for them. They see beauty in the grotesque, and much to their disgust and frustration often find value in the trash of others. Humans, who are often apt to throw away things that are broken or seemingly useless, could learn a thing or two from them.

They are not a violent race, which is perhaps one of the reasons why before the Helfay they were frequently enslaved by humans and the other races who could tolerate them. With their keen senses, and quick reflexes, Feytrolls often made excellent servants to kings and wealthy merchants on the lookout for assassins or tricksters looking to fool them. Feytrolls are not easily fooled by anyone. They see the world as it is, and are quite skilled at adapting to and surviving the worst of it.

Before the Helfay, feytrolls in the more civilized areas of the world integrated in to society as best they could. Many spent their lives as servants or serfs trying to buy their own freedom. Those that did, usually became merchants who traded in rare books and antiquities. They never did well as merchants who traded in foodstuffs or other perishables, except perhaps for the Sugar Cartels (who were rumored to have all been led by a brotherhood of rapacious feytrolls). A few feytrolls became great scholars in their time. Their powers of observation served them well as academicians, and even better as practitioners of magic and sorcery.

The Short Story of Felix Sundown

Felix Sundown, a feytroll, is an academic and sorcerer. He is the son of a petty bookseller who managed to buy his family’s freedom at an early age. Felix never knew slavery as a child, and he was better for it. To him, nothing was impossible to achieve. He entered Aram Court as a young adult, and stayed there for years of scholarly training. Eventually Felix received the title of Steward, which permitted him to openly study the Old Ways (a complex set of rituals and spells that are kept secret from Provincial Wizards). In only a few years he managed to master Aram Court’s most secret rituals, so he left to seek out training from the Archivist Eurig Talfrun in Loaerth City. Eurig agreed to take him on as a student, but only if Felix agreed to bond himself as a thrall to Eurig. Felix agreed, and remained his silent servant for centuries as a result.

Other Races in Laaerth & Feywyrd

As I mentioned above, these haven’t really been nailed down. This may be because I need to rough out the history of the world first, or at the very least come up with some general themes to help decide the issue. So far in L&F we have a couple of themes already: the humans that remained in Loaerth are a society of low-tech steampunk with a heavy dose of manifest destiny and witch burning; the rest of the races who vanished in the Helfay are back, but have vastly sharpened their knowledge of the arcane in the centuries that have past (likely due to isolation or surviving the harsh world of Feywyrd… hasn’t been worked out yet). What else works with this?

Stock fantasy races I think would rub the existing themes the wrong way. Maybe I’m wrong (leave a comment and let me know!), but if we were to include elves, dwarves, gnomes, dragonborn (blech…) and the like – it just wouldn’t work. We would need to pick and choose. I’m currently thinking that elves and dwarves might work with the least amount of tweaking. The other races? Not so sure. Tieflings and Dragonborn? No way, just doesn’t resonant at all with the setting. Gnomes? Perhaps. Haflings? Maybe, but i feel like the feytrolls fill that niche for the most part.

BEARS

Yes, the last thing that keeps crossing my mind is that perhaps what might make the setting interesting is to introduce some more “naturalistic” races. Talking Bears keep coming to mind. Maybe its because I recently saw The Golden Compass, or that my son (who is learning to read) keeps reading Father Bear because he can. But then again…  I mean.. who wouldn’t want to play an armored steampunk talking bear?

EVIL GENIUS RACES

What sort of evil genius race works well in a fantasy steam punk mashup? Illithids – nope, that’s WotC “product identity”. Chtulu? Sure, but – HP Lovecraft just scares me. I’m thinking of (typically) non-playable humanoid races – in D&D these are often referred to as “monster races”. Once again, I keep thinking of a more naturalistic angle. The juxtaposition of naturalistic races against the brass and steam of the Loaerthians (the humans that stayed after the Helfay) is just something that keeps me interested. Perhaps something completely new? Or a derivative of something that is already out there? A race of porcupine-like gnolls who live in the Highlands of  Korgugo? Xenophobic chameleon-like yuan-ti isolated for centuries on The Island? Do you have any suggestions? We’d love to hear them.

In any case, this is all open for discussion and fairly fluid. If you’re a fan of Nevermet Press – or a content developer – throw in your input and leave a comment! This entire post is intended to drive discussion and get people thinking. Everyone’s input, no matter how small, can be a spark…

The Feytroll – Now with Video!

Heya folks. Jonathan asked me if I would be willing to do a character portrait of Felix Sundown. Intrigued by the concept of the feytroll, I jumped at the chance.

Here on the left is the initial sketchwork stage. I emailed this to Jonathan and asked if he had any suggestions/critiques he could offer at this point.

I like this stage in the process. It’s ‘fast and dirty’, but it feels like real progress very quickly. Later in the process, things move a bit more slowly and I sometimes get bored too quickly. At this point, I’m able to make massive changes to the image without feeling like I wasted time with previous versions.

Jonathan’s suggestions all seemed to point to making our little friend a bit more… repugnant, so I moved in that direction fairly quickly.

And here we have a more refined version in greyscale.

Hairy little bugger, with those bulging eyes (though he tries to hide them a bit with his glasses and hat) and I think that I managed to make his wings a bit more realistic. And those jowels… yeesh.

Anyone else think he looks like a certain singer who really liked his peanut butter and banana sandwiches?

Anywhoozle -- I’ve included a quick video to show you the process better than I could describe. As always -- I welcome your feedback! Leave a comment and let me know what you think!

Interview with Felix Sundown (Part 2)

Edited by Cassey Toi

Hello again!

Finally, we  have time to sit down and discuss Loaerth & Feywyrd again. What a pleasure! I’m glad to see you again, and this time around lets chat some more about the Fey. Some of you had some questions, and hopefully we’ll get them answered.

Who are the Fey you ask? Well, for one, feytrolls aren’t all of them. There is fey blood running through the veins of creatures other than my own kind. Our brothers and sisters in magic, whose very flesh is made or tainted with the stuff of the Feywyrd, include elves, hodolu faerys, giants, myrmidons and many others which I have not even had the chance to meet.

Some, like the elves, were in the World since the dawning of history, they are not true natives of the World. Looking back eons, myth speaks of the elves fleeing from another world into our own. They fled, as an entire race, from things so dark and unspeakable that the names were eventually either lost or stricken from their history. They stayed and made a home here. It’s also thought that the elves brought my people, the feytrolls, with them as servants, watchers, and scholars. And, they brought with them Magic.

The humans at the time were probably living as tribal nomads, or in rudimentary villages when Magic was first taught to them. The World’s primitive dwarf and troll peoples are believed to have been unable to learn its secrets or refused it at the outset. Nonetheless, the humans learned about magic from these elven newcomers and, within a few generations, boasted formidable sorcerers and ritualists in their own right. Eventually, the dwarves and trollkind also fostered traditions of Magic that were unique to each of their racial heritages.

In time, the elves prospered and eventually became the dominant race of the world. They eventually built vast civilizations on the backs of trolls and dwarves. Humans, for the most part, escaped this fate and were able to live in relative peace with their elven counterparts. But only the men and women of Loaerth managed to carve out an independent existence. These people, and perhaps a few more in other pockets of the World, escaped subjugation at the hands of the elves through careful negotiation and strong military might.

What is Loaerth? Just look out the window! Loaerth is a coastal city state that sits on the edge of the Degra Sea. Loaerth has a long, and deep rooted, history of independence. It’s a city of merchants and scholars, soldiers and sailors, artists and thieves. Loaerth is a flickering light, struggling to stay lit even as the winds of change try to blow it out. It is and has been the center of the world for five centuries, ever since the Helfay left the world a vacant place. All the non-Fey, the races of Man, have grown to call Loaerth home. They have also ventured far out into the wild to explore the empty frontier – empty because there are whole cities that were suddenly devoid of anyone living there after the Helfay.

What are the people of Loaerth like? Considering you are no doubt new here, I’ll take a bit more care in answering that. Well, for one, the humans of Loaerth for the most part keep to traditional, plain dress. All too often you will see a man or woman dressed decidedly boorishly, only to be sporting the latest clockwork or coal-work gizmo, bauble, or trinket. “The more it whirls, the more it twirls.” they say. I’m still not sure what in the gods name that means, but you’ll hear them say it all the time

The dwarves of Loaerth are staunchy folk. Quick to anger, but dependable. Clever too. Most of the new gizmos and “wonders of the world” that have been made in the last century or so were invented by dwarven machinists. As you would expect, most dwarves love to drink ale and eat hearty meals that would send many a grown man to a physician. The interesting thing about dwarves is the way they live. Their homes are dense, I mean 10 to 20 families to a house. They prefer these deep basements where they all lay about in tight quarters. I’ve heard them say it makes them feel “safe” while they sleep. Baths? Forget about it. They do take dust baths in the summer, but I have yet to see a dwarf with a bar of soap. Not that they are averse to water, but soap for some reason is taboo.

The trolls of Loaerth are few and far between. Most trollkind moved out of the city a century or so ago after a great fire burned the Troll Ghetto to the ground. They have a few scattered communities , so I’ve heard, hidden away in valleys rarely traveled by city folk. They are more commonly seen along the frontier. Trolls are a quiet, thoughtful folk. Slow to anger and gentle with their hands, even for their great size. You will often see trolls in the employ of merchants looking to travel, or in the company of explorers venturing out to the frontier in the hopes of finding lost riches. Trolls, unlike dwarves, have a unique language that has never gone out of use. It is said that they do not write down their own history, but that it is part of their language so by using trollspeak, “Gua’Fig Na”, they are keeping their history alive as well.

There’s so much more to tell. I’m just at a lost on where to start or to continue from. What else would you like to know? Please ask me anything! Leave a comment after this interview is done, or send me question via tweeting birds.

Until next time, I’ll leave you with a common nighttime blessing for children:

“May the gods wrap me in copper and coal.
Protect me from harm, and heat my soul.
May my dreams spark the light keeps hodolu away,
and may I wake with my heart free from the Fey”
– Blessing For a Child’s Night