Fae Domains¶
Contested
Named in the open questions Count and names of the Fae realms (sixteen or eighteen realms, and two of them named differently) and Canon status of the four winds (Boreas, Notus, Eurus, Zephyrus).
"Fae Magic is divided into 18 realms. Each realm is a combination of 2 of the 6 elemental forces (Air, Darkness, Earth, Fire, Light, Water)." — The Nature of Magic (S208)
The Fae domains are the divisions of Fae Magic. Each is one of the realms of the Fae plane, and each is a pairing of two of the six elemental forces, written as a pair of letters: A for Air, D for Darkness, E for Earth, F for Fire, L for Light and W for Water. A Fae caster draws on a domain, a shaman's spells are learned by domain, an alchemist's reagents are graded by domain, and a Fae creature's loyalties follow its domain. The realms as places are described under Fae Realms; this page is about their use in magic.
The eighteen domains¶
The domains as the 2022 treatise and the Sancturi notes table them, with what each governs (S208, S132, S279):
| Domain | Pair | Governs |
|---|---|---|
| Light | LL | "light, energy, life, order" |
| Sun | FL | "sun, growth, power" |
| Moon | AL | "insight, intelligence, vision" |
| Fauna | EL | "beasts, strength"; Vigor in S279, "beast, muscle, strength" |
| Flora | LW | "plants, growth, health"; Blood in S279, "healing, health, growth" |
| Forge | EF | "metal, magma, minerals" |
| Rock | EE | "stone, earth, burrowing" |
| Ruin | ED | "weakness, disease, digging, shatter, break" |
| Acrid | EW | "geysers, acid, poison" |
| Pool | WW | "water, swimming, pools, lakes, seas" |
| Ice | AW | "ice, frost, mist, clouds, rain" |
| Rot | WD | "rot, decay, blight" |
| Wind | AA | "wind, air, flying, sound" |
| Storms | AF | "energy, lightning" |
| Shadow | AD | "illusion, mind", and sleep in S208 |
| Night | DD | "darkness, sleep, death, void, chaos" |
| Specters | FD | "necrotic, undeath, spirit" |
| Flame | FF | "fire, flame, burning, consuming" |
The Fae Magic notes add that "it is believed that there is one primordial per domain (18 total)" (S279; see Primordials).
Opposition¶
Domains oppose one another letter by letter. "Opposition = any one letter opposite of another. FL is opposite to FD, due to L and D. WL is opposite to FL due to W and F" (S279): Light stands against Darkness and Fire against Water. The same arithmetic rules the Fae themselves: "when dealing with Fae, one letter in opposition is distrust/dislike, 2 is hatred and resentment and 3 is burning hatred" (S279). A Sun fae (FL) distrusts a Specter fae (FD); a Light fae (LL) hates a Night fae (DD).
The notes sketch a further layer of secondary domains, each "a combination of 2 primary domains -- only the adjacent ones", forty or more of them written with three letters (S279).
Domains in alchemy¶
The reagent catalogue and its price lists assign every herb, component and mineral to one of the eighteen domains, using the S279 names Vigor and Blood for the Fauna and Flora realms (S224, S226). The recipe books call for ingredients by domain and grade (S210). The reagents are listed by domain under Reagents and Herbs.
Domains and the Hollows¶
When a Hollow formed over a Fae demesne, the realm shaped what grew there. A Sancturi design table pairs each realm with the Abyssal biomes it could become and with the life, effects and materials of the result (S156). Under Light the Hollow becomes the Pale Night, the Xanthous Morass or the Crystal Bog, its rare material Stardust; under Rot, the Creeping Fungus, its material Silvercap; under Night, the Pale Night again, with Darkstone, Night's Eye and Ebonwood; under Flame, a burning Hollow of Cindertrees and Cinderwood; under Pool, a Sulfuric Ocean of "Soul Reflection" whose dead become the Drowned Dead, or a marshy Xanthous Morass yielding Mirrorwater (S156). Most of the table is blank. The Hollows are described under Hollows, their creatures under Hollow Creatures, and the Hollow materials under Hollow Magic.
Shaman demesnes outside the list¶
The Sancturi shaman's spell lists are written by demesne, and three of them do not match the eighteen. Sun (S289) and Wind (S290) are realms of the list; Sand (S288), whose spells bind and shape sand and guard against heat, and Wither (S291), whose spells bring thirst, desiccation and rot, are not. The Wind list reaches its height in the Winds of the Autai: "Each of the four winds grants the ability to cast special spells. Winds of Boreas (Cold and Fog), Winds of Zephyrus (Powerful/Fast Wind), Winds of Notus (Wet and Stormy), Winds of Eurus (Wild and Erratic)" (S290). Whether the Autai are gods, Fae powers or placeholder names is not settled. The Spellfury lists are written by realm too, Forge and Rock (S286, S287). The casting styles are described under Primal Spellcraft.
Gap
No source says how Sand and Wither relate to the eighteen realms, whether they are secondary domains, or how a caster comes to a demesne at all.
Earlier accounts¶
The count and two of the names vary. The Nature of Magic says "Faerie Magic is divided into 16 realms from the Elemental Plane" and two lines later "Fae Magic is divided into 18 realms", then tables eighteen with Fauna and Flora (S208); the Fae Magic notes say "16 realms from the Terrestrial domain" and then count "18 primary domains" with Vigor and Blood (S279); the Sancturi notes table eighteen with Fauna and Flora (S132). The reagent sheets of 2018 still speak of "16 Fae Realms" (S210). The Fae Magic notes mark six domains, Rock, Light, Pool, Wind, Night and Flame, the six doubled pairs, with a dash in their list (S279). In the 2017 notes the Shadow realm's description is "illusion, mind" and the Sun's "light, fire, sun" (S279).
Legacy rules for the domain spell lists are kept under Mechanics: Fae Shaman, with Sun Spells, Wind Spells, Sand Spells and Wither Spells.