The In-Between
The In-Between is a shadow world, a prison.
Only powerful Fae can move easily between it and the other Realms (only the Faerie Queen, the Dark King and the Assassin can accomplish this – even Ankou stays away, but only because death doesn't exist there). Others need special ingredients that come at a price: the first fire given to man by Dragons – Eternal Flame; water from a sacred spring carried in a special crystal chalice; wood from the heart of an oak tree – only a Dryad's tree will work.
The In-Between takes the life-essence from those trapped there, though it doesn't kill them. It sloughs away their body and soul.
Those who are powerful – or in great need – can communicate with someone close to them on the outside. But it takes even more of their life-essence to do so. The In-Between is a cruel place.
Fae – led by the Caìt Sìth – have to take light to the In-Between to keep balance between darkness and light or all the Realms will fall to the all-consuming darkness of the In-Between.
The Wild Wood
The Wild Wood was formed after the Rift that tore Faerie to pieces.
It is a place neither in the Mortal Realm nor Faerie, yet is filled with magic and wonder. Wild Fae live there – they have changed over time in ways that other Fae hadn't.
It is the easiest way to travel between Realms – but it is extremely dangerous. Wild Magic runs through the Wild Wood. But if you can find a copse of trees that connect to the Wild Wood, you can safely travel to where you need to go – especially if travelling out in the open is too dangerous.
Faery Rings
The only safe rings to use are those with white flowers, white stones and white mushrooms. These rings will take you safely to wherever they end up. Pairs of faery rings work together, creating a portal from one location to another.
The grass inside a faery ring will always be different than the grass outside of the ring – something to do with their portal quality and where they lead to.
Pixie rings are technically faery rings, but they do not have stones and always have tulips among the mushrooms. These rings shouldn't be trusted: pixies are fond of pranks.
Never destroy the mushrooms of a faery ring, as it will cause great tragedy to you. If a faery ring needs to be dismantled before it can be finished (the mushrooms sprout first), carefully remove the mushrooms without breaking them, put them in a plastic bag, seal the bag and dispose of in the garbage – it will end up somewhere safe for the fae to create a new ring.
Faery Circles
Their only defining characteristic: a different grass type growing in a circle within another type of grass. Sometimes it is obvious: kikuyu growing in veld grass. But the true faery circle, the one created by the Cù Sìth, usually has a type of lily in the circle that still looks like grass to fool the eye.
Faery circles can take you wherever you wish to go and do not need another faery circle to deliver you safely at your destination. Faery circles are rare – the Cù Sìth do not believe in allowing great power to be accessible to just anyone.
A dead faery circle will have nothing growing inside: it will be a circle of barren soil surrounded by grass. This can mean various things, but usually it means that all the magic in the area is depleted by a great battle. Or that the Cù Sìth who had created it was dead and had been the last of their bloodline.
Magic Portals
Momentary. Created by human magic-users (warlocks, witches, druids, etc.). Something strong has to be channelled to create these portals: standing stones, meteoroids, the full moon, the blood, bones and scales of dragons, etc.
Caves and Tunnels
Thanks to the dwarves and duergar, what happens within the earth can be in either Faerie or the mortal realm. Caves and tunnels can lead anywhere... even dangerous places no-one should ever go.