Far to the West of the Hundred Kingdoms, across the Cairngall Range to the north and the Bitter Sea to the south lies a primeval land, where the calls of exotic birds and the ceaseless rustle of leaves marks the edge of man’s domain. Deep within these lands, known to its inhabitants as the Faerannn, the Weaver Courts, ancient cousins of the Spires, hold sway. Split into four seasonal Courts – Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter – these two great Exile nations could not be more different.
Where the Spires turned their back on their innate gift of Life Binding and perverted it into Biomancy, the Weavers revere it, using it to shape almost every aspect of their culture. Where the Spires look upon Eä as a sacrificial staging point for their successful return to their Homeworld, the Weavers look upon Eä as a divine gift and take their duty to nurture and protect it very seriously indeed.
Children of a lost world and inheritors of a riven society, the Exiles who left the Spires under protection of the Eldest Dragons chose to abandon everything they knew, everything they carried and walk upon Eä giving freely of those gifts they possessed in exchange for the chance to peacefully sample those gifts the planet shared with them.
Under the tutelage of the Dragons, perhaps the only beings more fascinated with life on Eä than they themselves were, the Exiles soon began to appreciate the complexity of the tapestry of life upon Ea. These Exiles soon took a new name, Weavers, to represent their new calling, taking upon themselves the onus to heal the damage they had caused to the planet with their arrival.
The main tool they used for this was their innate gift of Life Binding. Capable of binding the life force of two beings together, the Weavers quickly began to bond with the planet they sought to succor. Breaking an age old taboo, they soon started mingling their own essences with those of the local environment, taking upon themselves the traits of local flora and fauna while gifting them with some of their own awareness and sentience in return.
A physical description of a member of the Weaver courts is categorically impossible: each member of the Weaver Courts has embraced the gift of Life Binding, bonding with at least one other living being, changing irrevocably. One can walk past a beautiful Autumn Court maiden whose eyes are the gentle round brown orbs of a doe, whose hair is a riot of thorns and roses yet walks upright upon the cloven hooves of a goat as she converses with the lean male of the Court of Spring whose long neck and upper body is covered in vibrant feathers and ends in a parrot’s head but whose legs are covered in a fine fur but shaped in the talons of a raptor. Standing next to these one might witness an ancient of Autumn who has repeatedly bound with the same grove of trees, becoming a towering humanoid figure encased in moss, bark and forest detritus who speaks with a voice like a hundred breaking branches.
Even stranger, one might lay eyes on a member of one of the High Courts. These are the mystical and spiritual leaders of the Weaver Courts who have somehow managed use their Life Binding gift to bond with the elemental forces of Eä itself, manifesting flaming coronae of fire instead of hair, clothing forged of frost and snow or claws and scales formed from pure obsidian and other, even more exotic displays of power. Each Court is associated with an element it: Water for Spring, Fire for Summer, Water for Autumn and Air for Winter.
An unusually large amount of Summer and Winter Court members possess Elemental Bindings, a fact that often causes these two courts see themselves as more worthy than the Courts of Autumn and Spring; a common source of contention between them. It would not be wrong to consider each Court within Weaver society a small nation unto itself with its own culture, goals, social mores, and rulers. Competition amongst the Courts is fierce and it is not unknown to break into open warfare, particularly when members of the Higher Courts are involved.
Much like the seasons must come and go, the power and influence of each Court waxes and wanes over time. The Court of Spring has been ascendant for centuries, flush with the victory and achievement of repairing the damaged to the Faerann that was cause by the Fall, the Long Winter and even the Breaking. But times seem to be changing, centuries of ennui have dulled the luster of their achievements and the other Courts grow restless. Intrigues and plots are flying thick and heavy throughout the Courts and maneuvering has already begun to see which Court shall rise and what agenda they shall pursue…