Faewave, From Alice to Zero Hour
The Faewave A–Z: No Tutorial, No Respawns
THE A–Z OF FAEWAVE
Realms, rebels, rats and very bad ideas
A IS FOR ALICE
Wonderland’s most dangerous tourist. Human, allegedly. Sensible, absolutely not. Fought for the Queen of Rats, kicks like a mule, dresses like she lost a bet in a charity shop and somehow makes every battlefield look like a music video. Approach with tribute, snacks, or body armour.
B IS FOR THE BARRIER
The Concordian Barrier: the Emperor’s enormous magical “NO ENTRY” sign slapped across reality after the War in the Dreaming. It stopped the war, sealed the Empire and cut off countless trods. Peace was achieved. Everyone was thrilled. Apart from all the people trapped outside, obviously.
C IS FOR CONCORDIA
The Empire at the centre of the whole beautiful mess. Order, uniforms, impossible architecture and the quiet certainty that the Emperor already knows what you have done. Official doctrine: The Empire will have no enemies. Read that again, slowly.
D IS FOR DOROTHY
Oz survivor, professional problem magnet and current owner of the Emerald Wand and Ruby Slippers. Has endured more apocalyptic nonsense than most armies and still looks like she might politely ask where the nearest road is. Do not mistake manners for weakness.
E IS FOR THE ENDLESS CITY
Capital of Concordia. A colossal, impossible metropolis where gods, soldiers, witches, monsters and weird little men with clipboards all coexist under one skyline. Every street leads somewhere. Not necessarily somewhere you intended to go.
F IS FOR THE FOX
Scout, survivor, legend and one half of the most emotionally catastrophic partnership in the Realms. Fast, clever, loyal and usually several moves ahead. If the Fox tells you to run, do not ask why. Just start moving.
G IS FOR GEMINI
The Twin Queen. Mistress of Death Magic. Commander, monarch and walking reminder that death is not the end so much as an administrative inconvenience. Her return to the Otherside changed the balance of power. Again.
H IS FOR THE HIGHWAY
A road between worlds, except “road” is doing some fairly heroic work there. Travellers, drifters, smugglers and things pretending to be all three use it to slip between realms. Great scenery. Terrible breakdown cover.
I IS FOR THE IMPERIAL DOCTRINE
“The Empire will have no enemies.”
This does not mean the Empire intends to make friends.
J IS FOR THE JADE EMPIRE
Realm of the House of the Dead. Ancient, severe and saturated with the sort of atmosphere that makes you instinctively lower your voice. It is not the home of Death Magic. That belongs to Gemini. Get it wrong in person and your correction may be delivered posthumously.
K IS FOR THE KINGDOMS
There are more realms, courts, cities, ruins and semi-legal pocket dimensions than any sane traveller could visit in one lifetime. Fortunately, sanity is not a Faewave requirement.
L IS FOR LOREAN
Once a great city. Then came the Siege. The Raven, the Fox and Lord Echo fought the Nothing there during Echo’s Last Stand. They fought magnificently. The city fell anyway. Some places become ruins. Others become wounds.
M IS FOR THE MIDNIGHT ZONE
A place where the dark has had time to think about itself. Half realm, half fever dream, wholly unsuitable for casual tourism. Bring a weapon, a light and one friend you are willing to sacrifice for narrative momentum.
N IS FOR THE NOTHING
Also known as the Adversary. Less a villain than an erasure with intent. It does not conquer. It removes. Cities, histories, names, futures. Imagine the final boss deleting the save file while you are still playing.
O IS FOR OZ
Emerald towers, broken kingdoms and enough magical trauma to fill several sequels. Oz survived its siege, though “survived” is carrying a lot of emotional weight. Dorothy remains. The road remains. The innocence did not.
P IS FOR THE PAGEANT
A gathering, ritual, spectacle and political nightmare wrapped in costumes and ceremony. Everybody looks fabulous. Everybody has an agenda. Half the audience is armed and the other half is pretending not to be.
Q IS FOR THE QUEEN OF RATS
War leader, sorceress, House ruler and undisputed patron saint of making an entrance. Commands rats, soldiers and the attention of every room she enters. Led forces through Wonderland, Concordia and Earth during #RatThePlanet. Cute crown. Terrible consequences.
R IS FOR THE RAVEN
Ranger, war hero and servant of duty long after duty stopped deserving it. Once served beneath the Lord of Dwarves, the Oak King. Survived Lorean. Lost the Fox. Kept walking. A man shaped like a warning label in a long coat.
S IS FOR SILENCE
A realm where absence has architecture. Home to things best approached indirectly, including Eris and the mysteries surrounding Breath. Visitors report profound revelations, sensory collapse and occasionally becoming part of the scenery.
T IS FOR TRODS
Paths between realms. Magical shortcuts, ancient roads and cosmic trapdoors. Many beyond the Barrier are now inaccessible. Others still open when the moon, bloodline, song, weather and local narrative convenience are correct.
U IS FOR UMBRA
Near Umbra, Far Umbra, Deep Umbra: descending layers of increasingly questionable reality. The deeper you go, the less useful your map becomes and the more interested the darkness gets in you.
V IS FOR THE VOID BETWEEN STORIES
Where forgotten narratives rot, abandoned gods drift and lost characters wait for somebody to remember their names. Not officially marked on Imperial maps. Neither are several prisons.
W IS FOR THE WAR IN THE DREAMING
2011 to 2014. Realms burned, alliances shattered and the Nothing advanced. The war ended with the Concordian Barrier and the Empire’s new doctrine. Technically a victory, in the same way surviving a nightclub fire without eyebrows is technically a successful evening.
X IS FOR XENO-REALM NONSENSE
The category Imperial clerks use when something has too many eyes, arrives through a broken trod and refuses to identify which universe it belongs to. See also: Tuesday.
Y IS FOR YOU, UNFORTUNATELY
Yes, you. Reading this was probably enough. The signal has noticed. Expect unusual dreams, corrupted audio and a woman in a rat-eared hood standing somewhere she definitely was not five seconds ago.
Z IS FOR ZERO HOUR
The moment every plan collapses, every portal opens and somebody says, “It cannot possibly get worse.” In Faewave, this is not dramatic irony. It is a starting pistol.