Felitcia went shoping with Rachel, it was nice to get to spend some time with her and they had fun. When Rachel asked her out on a "date" Felitcia smiled and said, "Sure, I would like that." Felitcia remembered then that she had something else to do later tonight and added, "I do have something to do later tonight though. I have a lead on where I can meet the worshipers of the third deity I experienced when my powers awakened and it has to be tonight at midnight in a warehouse in the harbor district. I could wait another week, I was told tehy meet weekly, but I don't want to put it off since we don't know if we will be here next Starday."
Felitcia gave Rachel a questioning look and said, "If you want to help me find the place, and even attend tonight I would be glad to have you come along."
"Of course! I'm usually quite good at tracking down information. It's kind of my thing," Rachel says, smiling.
After a few hours, the oracle's questioning pays off, as she learns the location of the warehouse where the followers of the Redeemer Queen meet. "There, all set. Let's go get dinner, and then we can head to the meeting."
***
The restaurant Rachel takes Felitica to is called The House of Shade and Grace. Built of imported, sunbaked desert brick with ornately carved panels of fragrant wood screening its open windows, the Thuvian restaurant has quickly become a popular fixture in Oppara. Inside, guests can enjoy floral, intensely concentrated teas, share sweet-scented tobacco smoked in sinuous pipes, and gather around communal dishes of spiced goat and curried chickpeas served over platters of onion-flecked rice.
After eating her fill of the delicious food, Rachel dabs at her mouth with a napkin and looks across the table at Felitcia. "So, uh... Before we get too far along with our relationship, I need to tell you something, in the interest of full disclosure. I've told Alice already, but I don't know if she told the rest of the group. Back on Earth, before I was brought to Golarion, I was a man. The magic of the transition changed me into the woman you know me as. It was not an altogether unwelcome change, and I've since come to accept and enjoy my new life here. But I wanted you to know about that part of my past."
Richard smiles a rather tusky grin, ”I’ve been quite well! Busy dealing with a fey infestation in the countryside. If only I were joking. Would’ve hurt quite a bit less. Any case, I’ve got another request to make of the library. I need information on orcs, more specifically cultural values and mystic traditions. I’m working on a theory for, well, why I’ve ended up looking like this.”
Copernica nods. "Alright. Once again, I'm happy to help you find what you're looking for."
The pair spend most of the evening looking through the stacks, eventually consolidating their research to learn more about orcs.
Felitcia was glad she had asked Rachel for help as the woman knew the town much better and was really good at gathering information. It wasn't hard to find where the warehouse she needed was and Felitcia was rather glad that Rachel decided to accompany her as Felitcia wasn't sure what to expect of worshipers of a former demonlord.
Dinner was delightful, she hadn't eaten Thuvian before though the same could be said about most types of cuisine on Golarian, but she found it to be good. As they finished eating and Rachel said she had something to tell her before their relationship went any further Felitcia felt concerned. Fortunately what she was told wasn't something that was a problem for her and Felitcia said, "No, way, you were a guy before you showed up here? I didn't think about gender changes too but since some of us became something besides human I guess it makes sense."
Felitcia sighed and said, "If you had told me this when we first showed up I would probably have made fun of you or done something really mean. I...I wasn't always a nice person and coming here has made me re-evaluate myself and change. I'm still who I was before I just have grown up." Felitcia reached out to take Rachel's hand and said, "I don't care what you were before, I was an unabashed drunken, bisexual, nymphomaniacal, movie star, what do I care if your original gender was something different."
Felitcia stood partly and leaned forward across the table so she could pull Rachel's face closer to her's. The short skirt she was wearing allowed everyone behind her to get a show as she pulled Rachel forward and kissed her firmly on the lips just once. "I don't care what you were before," she said as she sat back down and smiled slightly, "though that does explain a few things, namely your knowing who the avengers were. Most girls wouldn't have before the movies showed up."
Rachel feels a wave of relief wash over her as Felitcia accepts her. She returns the actress's kiss and smiles at her. "Thank you, Felitcia. I've been worrying about telling you for days, now. It feels good to get it off of my chest."
She laughs at the Avengers comment. "Yep, that was me. I was a big nerd. But now look at me--on a date with a beautiful actress! Who'd have thought it?"
Felitcia giggled at Rachel's words and said, "Well at the very least it means the physical relationship should be incredible if that old movie is right." She smiled naughtily and said, "It's said that jocks have sex all the time but Nerds dream of sex all the time making them the more enjoyable lovers."
Rachel laughs and blushes. "Well, ah... Maybe you'll find out later tonight, after the meeting," she says nervously.
Richard pores over the information, studying the texts, ”I still feel as if I’m scarcely closer to sorting this out. Orcs revere pain and glory, stoicism through extreme hardships. I suppose I’ve been through more hardships here than I ever was in my last life. Battles against foes I could scarecely have imagined. And indeed, I guess I have prevailed through them.”
He pauses to jot down some notes about orcs and their nature. ”I suppose only time and trials will show me more of what I seek.”
"I'm sorry we couldn't find out more here," Copernica says. "Perhaps you might try seeking answers at the local Pathfinder Society lodge? They are an organization of world-traveling adventurers. They may have more insights into orc society in their Chronicles."
After Felitcia and Rachel finish their dinner date, the pair kill some time smoking tobacco from the glass pipes and watching a troupe of Thuvian dancers perform. As midnight approaches, they make their way to the appropriate warehouse in the Eastbridge district.
Rachel knocks gently on the door, and a few moments later, a slot open to reveal a pair of beady red eyes peering out. "What's the password?" a gruff voice asks.
"The Pathfinders! Interesting. Do they have a presence here in Oppara?"
Alice looks at the pretty, translucent robe. “Might I try that on? It’s quite pretty.”
(And quite big.)
Once they finished eating Felitcia let Rachel do the smoking. Felitcia never cared for tobacco herself as she always felt like she was choking every time she smoked it. It was also bad on her lungs and voice and acting is a very demanding taskmaster. Despite that she chatted with Rachel about whatever came to mind until it was time to go.
When they finally reached the warehouse Felitcia was more than a little disturbed by the red eyed person on the other side of the door. She'd never seen eyes like that before and it was more than a little unnerving. Still she was here for a reason and didn't have anything to worry about...at least she didn't think so anyway, and Rachel was there so she wasn't alone here. She responded to the red eyed person's demand, "The shadow sent me".
"The Pathfinders do have a small lodge here, but it hides behind the facade of a greasy bait and tackle shop," Copernica tells Richard. "Though you are not a member, they may be willing to help you in exchange for coin or a favor."
***
"Ah, you have a good eye, madam," the shopkeep tells Alice. "This is an enchanted dweomerweave robe. It will resize to fit you, and you can will it to appear as anything you can imagine. Go ahead, try it on!"
***
When Felitcia responds, the slot slides shut, and a moment later, the door opens. Standing behind the door is a lanky hobgoblin with numerous piercings and scars. He looks Felitcia and Rachel up and down before nodding. "Welcome to the Exiles' Nook."
The hobgoblin steps aside to allow the two women entry to the warehouse. Inside, it is largely empty, though there are a few free-standing art installations in the center of the space. The abstract sculptures and paintings on easels evoke feelings of isolation and loneliness. A dozen people or so mill about, each wearing dark clothes and makeup and sporting esoteric hairstyles or tattoos. The word "goth" comes to mind.
As Felitcia and Rachel mill about, an athletic, attractive woman approaches them. She has short silver hair and golden eyes that seem to glow with an inner radiance. She wears a symbol about her neck that resembles a pair of smiling lips on a moon surrounded by a halo of horns. "My name is Hope," she says. "The goddess Nocticula spreads her wings of night to embrace you. The Redeemer Queen smiles upon those who seek to better themselves through introspection. She is a patron of marginalized artists and protector of those cast out from society. You need not be afraid to be your true selves here."
Alice takes the robe and marvels as it changes size as easily as she does. She puts in on over her clothing, still currently a synthetic flower petal dress. What goes wi—?
She wills the robe to be (or seem to be?) a thigh high mesh of fine swirly vines to form stockings. Her shoes are formed of cloverleaf.
The robe shimmers with a brief gleam of energy, and looking down, Alice can see its appearance has altered to her whims! While to her it still feels like she's wearing a robe, it now seems to be the stockings and shoes she pictured.
Once the hobgoblin opened the door and let them in Felitcia felt his eyes looking her up and down. She didn't mind beeing oogled, even if it was by a creepy guy. Felitcia nodded politely to the hobgoblin and said, "Thank you." She took Rachel's hand and walked further into the warehouse and looked around.
There were many sad and lonely seeming art projects in the room. You would think with having other pieces nearby they wouldn't feel lonely but they somehow did to Felitcia. This wasn't to say they were bad, quite the contrary as they were largely well made and could have stood shoulder to shoulder with some of the greats of Earth, they just evoked different emotions than most paintings did.
The sight of so many people in black clothes, makeup, and wierd hairstyles made her think of the kids she thought of as freaks back in high school. Felitcia leaned over to Rachel and said in English, "I guess you can find Goths on every world huh?"
When the attractive woman with golden eyes approached them and introduced herself Felitcia gave her best smile in return and said, "Hi, I'm Felitcia and this is my friend Rachel. We came to learn more about Nocticula and her teachings and maybe a bit about ourselves."
The sight of so many people in black clothes, makeup, and wierd hairstyles made her think of the kids she thought of as freaks back in high school. Felitcia leaned over to Rachel and said in English, "I guess you can find Goths on every world huh?"
"Freaks and geeks abound," Rachel agrees.
When the attractive woman with golden eyes approached them and introduced herself Felitcia gave her best smile in return and said, "Hi, I'm Felitcia and this is my friend Rachel. We came to learn more about Nocticula and her teachings and maybe a bit about ourselves."
"Then you have come to the right place," Hope says. She leads the two women across the warehouse, to where a large portrait overlooks the space. The portrait depicts a beautiful, purple-skinned woman with batlike wings and three long, sinuous tails. She is clad in an elegant dress of midnight-blue. "Behold the Redeemer Queen," Hope continues. "Nocticula, the demon lord who ascended above her own base nature and arose to true divinity. For thousands of years, she served as a patron of assassins and a paragon of destructive lust, yet for many of those centuries she also served as a potent guard against the proliferation of demonic lords—her realm in the Abyss was quite literally built upon the corpses of demon lords she’d slain. Likewise, her rise into the role of Redeemer Queen was built upon these corpses, for with each demon lord she destroyed, she gained not only power, but the conviction to turn against her own nature.
"And so we take our lessons from our Queen's example. You are not bound by who the world thinks you to be. You are your own soul, and what you choose to do with it is your choice alone. But know this—you are not alone. As long as despots suppress artistic integrity, as long as society rejects eccentrics, and as long as those who find nothing to fear from the darkest reaches of the night endure, the followers of the Redeemer Queen will abide."
Felitcia listened to what Hope said of Nocticula's story and what else she wanted to know. After a moment she asked, "Are there other deities that she is associated with? Does she have allies among the gods or is she an outcast from them?"
"Nocticula's divinity is fairly new. She has only been a full-fledged goddess for a handful of years. She's forging her own way, but there are still a few other gods sympathetic to the values she espouses. Chief among them are Sarenrae, in her role as goddess of redemption, as well as Shelyn, goddess of art and beauty."
Felitcia considered what she was told and nodded in understanding. That explained the connection between Shelyn and Nocticula being in her vision but why was Calistria there? A good question and one she thought maybe Hope could help answer.
"Some time ago," Felitcia said, "I met a band of orcs who took my companions in for a few days and they had us go on a vision quest of some kind. During the vision I felt three presences and have strove to identify them. It seems those presences were Shelyn, Nocticula, and Calistria, or at least the presences were connected to those three, and I have been trying to learn about them and understand why I felt them."
Felitcia gave hope a serious look and asked, "Can you think of anything those three might have in common and why I would be important to them?"
"Well, Nocticula and Calistria once shared similar portfolios. Calistria is the goddess of lust, and Nocticula espoused the darker aspects of seduction and sexual manipulation when she was still a demon lord," Hope says. "The Redeemer Queen has since risen above such base matters, but it's possible she and Calistria still have some sort of connection through that.
"I would wager, though, that it is more likely that each of the three goddesses are actively courting your faith. You must be destined for great things if all of those divinities have their eyes on you. So then it is up to you, Felitcia, to decide who you want to put your faith in. Be it one of those goddesses, another divinity, or none at all, the choice is yours. Remember, you are your own soul."
”Thank you again, Copernica. You’ve been a great help as always.”
With that, Richard sets off for the bait and tackle shop, aiming to get in touch with the Pathfinders.
The robe shimmers with a brief gleam of energy, and looking down, Alice can see its appearance has altered to her whims! While to her it still feels like she's wearing a robe, it now seems to be the stockings and shoes she pictured.
“I rather like this. A part of me would prefer to feel the change, while on another hand, the robe itself might give me comfort even in an outfit that appears restrictive.
“Might I commission one in my size?” She removes the robe, which immediately grows to a large heap of hazy translucent fabric. ”For those times I wish to disrobe.”
Richard finds the shop down by the Porthmos River. The dingy place looks pretty unassuming, and an older man stands behind the counter, fiddling with a fishing rod. He looks up as you enter. "Welcome. Can I help you, sir?"
***
"Of course, I would be delighted to craft a fairy-sized robe," the shopkeep says to Alice. "Give me two days and I'll have it ready for you."
“Wonderful!”
Alice grows to human size failing to consider the consequence of doing so with the coins in her arms. They grow to three large hunks of metal that fortunately shrink back before hitting the floor, after Alice inevitably drops them.
She hands off the coins and says, “I believe when you give me my five silver change, the coins will fit my hand when I revert, provided I do not let go of them as I change.
“I am pleased to pay up-front.”
The woman nods and exchanges coins with Alice. ”Pleasure doing business with you, miss,” she says with a smile.
"Frankly, I'm not sure I'm in the place. A friend of mine, Copernica over at the Library of the Arcane and Occult, pointed me in the right direction. I've got a...well, a situation on my hands. As you can see, I'm an orc. Except I wasn't always an orc. I was human once, and found myself transported a great distance and woke up in this new body. Several others I woke up with were similarly transformed into different races, but I out of all of them seem to be the most at odds with my new self."
He pauses for a moment, "I've gotten ahead of myself here. I am Richard Farthington, pleased to meet you. Copernica said I could find a...Pathfinder Society here? As mentioned, I'm really not sure I'm at the right spot."
Alice hangs onto her 5 gold. She improvs poetry to time the duration of her size-changing magic.
I’m walking tall and proud
No longer too small for the crowd
No longer dodging human feet
Just walking down the street
I’m looking at a guy
Look now—we’re seeing eye-to-eye
Look up, you creep—my eyes are here
I best not walk too near
Alice makes a wide berth around the ogle-y man, but still smiles back politely at his grin. Force of habit, you know.
When no one is watching, Alice shrinks back to her fairy size, marveling as the coins in her hand shrink with her. She remains on the edge of the side walk and reconvenes her purposeless poetry.
I like the smell of flowers
I love the way they tower
Over me
The New Me is quite strange
But I rather like the change
Over me
Alice pauses to ponder her wordsmithery. “Mr. Carroll would have applauded politely, perhaps, but those partially drunken ladies and gentlemen at the bar would have passed out mid-stanza.” This she says to some flowers planted along the street in a flower bed. “To nap in a flower bed.” She points at the dirt. “Not a chance, Mr. Earthworm. Or… Golarionworm?”
Realizing she is talking aloud to flowers and an imagined worm, Alice decides she best head back to the inn, at least to put her remaining coins away.
The old man's eyes widen as Richard tells his story. At the end, he nods vigorously. "Yes, I would say you are in the right place, my friend. While we normally only open our services to members of our society, yours is a unique case. My name is Musuello. I would be delighted to try to help you learn more about your situation, in exchange for the opportunity to record your story for submission into a future issue of the Pathfinder Chronicles, which is a collection of tales and discoveries our members gather from all over the world. What do you say?"
”An academic journal! How very interesting. Before my change happened I taught at a university. As interesting as it sounds, I cannot in good conscience accept without the go-ahead of the others who came with me. So my caveat to you is you either leave their names out for now should you start writing immediately, or you give me some time to check with them.”
Musuello nods. ”I understand. Broach the subject to your companions and see what they have to say, then come back here tomorrow with their answer. I hope they will agree!”
Felitcia listened closely to what Hope had to say and found that there were connections she had not expected between Calistria and The Redeemer Queen as well as Nocticula and Shelyn. The idea they were actively courting her to gain her worship was a curious thought and one that, being a modern girl with no real faith before being brought here, had a very hard time wrapping her head around. This was something that would take time and likely a lot of talking over with Rachel, for Felitcia to work her way through.
"I know some of what is required for the worship of Shelyn and Calistria but how does one worship The Reddemer Queen? Also, is there some kind of a text I could obtain to read through about her?"
”The Redeemer Queen asks only a few things of her followers: create art true to yourself, protect marginalized artists, and punish those who take advantage of offered trust and shelter. And of course, your best works of art should be completed outside of daylight hours, for the night is our time.”
Hope rummages through a small chest by the painting and presents Felitcia with a slim folio titled The Midnight Manifesto.. ”Nocticula’s story is told within these pages, along with insights into the nature of her faith. Take it, read it, and see if her teachings are right for you.”
Felitcia smiled as she accepted the book and said, "Thanks Hope. I will read this and consider The Redeemer Queen's faith carefully." Felitcia looked at Rachel and then back to Hope, "We will look around and speak to the others here for a while I before we head out."
Still holding Rachel's hand Felitcia asked, "Want to look around an mingle Rach?"
Felitcia and Rachel mingle with the other artists and exiles, who are eager to talk about themselves, their art, and the wonders of the Redeemer Queen's faith. It is almost two in the morning by the time the pair return to the inn. Rachel is far too tired to engage in any intimate acts, but she happily snuggles in bed beside Felitcia as the pair finally fall asleep.
The next morning, everybody gathers once more for breakfast. No doubt each member of the Gaian Explorers had an interesting night...
Richard gets himself a hearty breakfast. Eggs, toast, sausage, bacon, potatoes...the list could keep going. The orcish metabolism is nothing if not endlessly ravenous.
While chowing down and drinking a large cup of strong coffee, Richard brings up his discoveries of the day, "I've got what might be a lead into sorting out our, well, our situation. A group called the Pathfinder Society is a globe spanning society of adventurers and scholars. The leader of their lodge here in Oppara, a man named Musuello, offered their support in solving our dilemma of just how we ended up here in exchange for the right to publish it in their Pathfinder Chronicles. I am inclinedt to take his offer, but I did not want to do it without all of your inputs."
Rachel sips at her own coffee, heavy on the cream. "The Pathfinder Society is full of all sorts of people of varying scruples. In general, though, they're a neutral organization. If you're interested in garnering fame and fortune in this world, having our story published would definitely lead to that. It would bring with it a lot of attention, too, I'm sure."
She looks to the others to see what their thoughts might be.
Alice sits on the table, dining on a considerably lighter portion.
“I’d rather enjoy getting our name out there. I’m finding this aura is quite helpful in the matter of drawing attention.” Grinning at Rachel, and then at Felitcia, she adds, “I even managed to draw attention away from you two at the Old Hitching Post.”
Hitching… I get it now. A good one.
“You’re lovely together,” she notes, “but what I meant to go on about is that I’m happy to assist in whatever relations with the public we care to obtain, and maintain.”
Dear me, might need to go a step up from card-tricks-for-drunkards.
The next morning Felitcia awoke the next morning to find Rachel had already left the room. She figured the woman hadn't been gone long because the bed was still warm. Felitcia climbed from bed and used a washbasin to wash off in before dressing herself and heading down for breakfast.
Felitcia took a seat next to Rachel after getting her food and sat down with a plate of bacon and eggs with a glass of juice. "So, what are we talking about?" Felitcia's leg brushed against Rachel's under the table after she slid her chair closer.
Rachel smiles at Felitcia, enjoying the touch under the table. "We're discussing whether or not to effectively sell our story to be published, in exchange for assistance from a global society of adventurers."
"What's the point of all this life risking if we don't get some publicity from it?"
With the majority of the group in agreement, you return to the Pathfinder Lodge later that morning to speak to Muesello. He meets with you in a back room of the bait and tackle shop that is cluttered with storage. Tools, documents, and disassembled mechanical objects lie in disarray on a large workbench.
"Hello, Richard. These are your friends? Welcome!" the old man says, brushing back his gray hair. He clears some space on the workbench and produces several sheets of paper and and a pen, then bids you to have a seat. "Thank you for agreeing to share your story. It certainly is quite the tale! I'm ready to record it when you are."
Alice will of course allow others to interject. She tells her own beginning. “…and when my foot dropped into the rabbit hole, I dropped in—much less than a foot, and much less dressed…”
She tells her point of view upon meeting everyone for the first time. “It seemed every time I talked, Felitcia commented on thinking she heard a voice. So I would try to speak a bit louder as I mistook her to mean at my size, I was hard to hear.” She gives way for Felitcia to explain her own power.
She lets others embellish more on the dragon’s home. But there was one night with Siobhan that Alice remembers. “Doorknobs. My arch nemesis.”
Skip a bit to discovering that she’s a Wingless. “But who isn’t? The Mistress—that’s who!”
She tells of herself healing the defeated. “Fey have rules, like the way cards have rules.” She shows her card trick. “I told you not to tell me.”
Her final contribution is to allow the Pathfinder to trace her. She restyles her clothing to be a skin-tight outfit (except for a knee-length skirt), and requests a caption.
“Dearest Mistress,
“In some ways we are the same. We have our differences, but let us meet under truce as your man—whose life I saved—has surely told you. I look forward to discovering our commonalities.
“Cordially,
Alice Pleasance Liddell”
Richard goes about describing his experience as excitingly as he can within the bounds of academic integrity. That is to say, it’s as exciting as it can be within the precision of rigorous academic standards.
”…and as I was getting near the end of my lecture I felt my heart give out and my vision grow dim. I thought everything was over for me but my vision came back and I was large, green, and in a forest surrounded by these folks. Ah, and let me tell you about the orcs and the dragon…”
Siobhan looks quite exhausted (and a bit content) by the time the team reunites.
When it comes time to relate their stories to the Pathfinders, her part in the story is curt and to the point.
"...I fought against a tyrannical empire. I saw an omen of my death. I was supposed to die--but I didn't. Now I'm trapped here with no idea what the Morrígan wants from me."
Felitcia psyched herself up to tell her story while the others spoke of theirs. When her time came Felitcia drew herself up and said, "So there I was, finishing my last day of filming with a grand party at the most expensive club in the city. I drank far more than was good for me and failed to find someone to take me home with them to party longer."
"Finally it had become so late that I had no choice but to go home for the club was closing. My driver picked me up at the door and took me back to my apartment in LA where I somehow climbed my way up the stairs, so inebriated that I couldn't see straight," Felitcia was putting as much of her acting skill to use as she could, "I stumbled into my room the door closing behind me, and to my bedroom where I tried to fall into my bed." Felitcia shuddered and drew in on herself as she continued her story, about how she had fall instead into a wormhole to another world and found herself with these others in this strange new place.
Muesello nearly wears his pen out jotting down everything that you tell him. He happily sketches Alice, as well as anyone else who wishes to pose for an illustration. The sun has set by the time everybody has had a chance to tell their tale in full.
"Well, thank you very much for your time, my friends! Doubtless this story will cause quite a stir within the Society! As thanks for such an inspired telling, please, accept these." The old man hands each of you a small compass engraved with strange inlays that almost resemble circuitry. "These are wayfinders. I happen to be an expert on repairing and constructing them. You may find them of use in your future adventures!
"The libraries of our lodge here are open to you. I know Richard has expressed the desire to learn more about the orcs of Golarion. If there's something the rest of you wish to research, let me know, and I'll be happy to direct you to some appropriate tomes and journals."
Alice wants to learn about the Mistress, not that there’s a book about her specifically. If the fey have societies, titles and such, this may help her understand how it is that a woman her size is the boss of satyrs and other relatively bigger folk. And how do fey generally fit into the human world?
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Alice finds a tome called Legacy of the First World that has lots of information about fey!
The First World stands outside the cycle of souls, something the fey call the Great Abandonment, save for rare worshippers of the Eldest whose souls incarnate here as fey. However, the plane’s proximity to the Positive Energy Plane provides an environment bursting with all manner of strange life and a general absence of true death for its native fey unless they leave—as did gnomes. Natural gates in wild places of the mortal realm connect to the First World, which fey often use to visit the Material Plane or ensnare mortals for their own capricious desires.
Fey are often depicted as living in harmony with nature, yet this is less an idealistic stance than a practical one. In the constant upheaval of the First World, building great structures is often seen as asking to have them torn down, and thus most fey either don’t bother, or else do so with the knowledge that their creations are temporary. Those fey who build the First World’s great cities are the exceptions, banding together in hopes that sheer numbers or the patronage of powerful individuals will hold the land stable enough for them to build something more comfortable and lasting. While this works well enough, even the Eldest aren’t interested in trying to keep and hold vast swaths of shifting territory, and most civilized fey are organized into autonomous tribes, villages, or city-states, ruled by a bewildering variety of systems ranging from byzantine socialism and anarcho-capitalism to simple might makes right. The rest do without the trappings of society—not so much because they love the state of nature, but because nature refuses to give them up.
When added together, all of these differences can make First World residents seem fickle, capricious, or untrustworthy in the eyes of Material Plane travelers. Yet whether it’s their seeming disregard for death; their lack of loyalty to a nation, god, or cause; the search for novelty; or their frequent disinterest in achievement and legacies, nearly all of these “chaotic” aspects are in fact merely reasonable and rational cultural responses to their environment.
For all their novelty-seeking, however, most intelligent residents of the First World have at least some vague understanding of the fact that death on the Material Plane means ceasing to exist, and self-preservation thus keeps them from colonizing the mortal world too heavily. As a result, First World influence on the Inner Sea region remains generally constrained to breaches and the communities that spring up around them, interplanar merchants like those of the Witchmarket, and worshipers of the Eldest.