The Cyclic Race of the Fey and varied species of Fairies undoubtedly share some common link, but they are vastly differing in uncountable ways.
The Cyclic Fey of Terath have been intertwined with the histories of the many nations for at least a millennium, with historic references to the Cyclic Race of the Fey going back as far as to the reign of the Vallehorriene as King, over a thousand years ago. This conflicts with many stories on the continent of Lairroth, which seem to claim that the Fey Race was born only a few hundred years ago. While there is a great home of the Fey People in Lairroth, known as the Gladelands, the Fey have no centralized home or place of origin on the continent of Terath. They are a scattered people, and far rarer in number than the humans which make up the majority of Terath’s populace.
Fairies in Terath, on the other hand, sometimes claim to possess ties to a separate realm formed of mists and magic. Some say that this is a mystical island off the coast of Terath, while others suggest that it is a Great Cavern so massive that there are seasons and storms within it. Some scholars believe that this magical realm is a place secreted away within the lands of DragonHeld, and others seem certain that it is actually part of the Silver Glen within the Gladelands. A number of ritual magi once believed that this Terathian fairy-home may have been akin to a planar sanctum of some kind, but this idea has become widely rejected in recent years. Whatever the nature of this place, the Fairies occasionally refer to it by the name “Rapture”.
There are stories which claim that Rapture is a formless realm of mystic and arcane energy, where emotions and passion control the whims of it’s inhabitants. Other stories speak of Rapture as the home of the first fairies, even suggesting that the King & Queen of the Fairies in The Gladelands were born within Rapture before travelling to Lairroth. While not many of the Fairies of Terath claim to originate from Rapture, nearly all have at least heard of it. Stories claim that Mushroom Circles and Fairy Gates can lead one into the realm of Rapture, although some tales claim that Rapture can only be accessed by mortals if entered through their dreams.
What is known for certain is that there are forces within Rapture that move and influence the fairies of Terath, occasionally separating them and pitting them against one another in a war between dawn and twilight, or between Summer and Winter. Old legends of the Seelie Court and Unseelie Court of the Fairies are deeply intertwined with the myths of Rapture and the first fairies. Certain fairies, and even members of the Fey Race, have been known to pledge their allegiance to either the Seelie or Unseelie court, but when questioned about the nature of these courts, even Fey Scholars are able to provide little to no information.
