Kisses on the Wind
Location: Air / Vault of the Sky / Wandering
Once upon a time there was a high-up Lady of the Seelie Court named Caressalyne. She had a laugh like chiming bells and a heart as light as a sylph’s touch, and was a darling of all the fey nobles, let me tell you. She was also a favorite of Titania herself, so she was—many’s the night they’d be dancing through the moonlit glades, sharing riddles as sharp as razorvine. But like all tales worth telling, this one’s got a twist.
Now, Lady Caressalyne, she had a secret. A deep, dark secret that would’ve sent the Seelie Court into an uproar. She’d gone and fallen for an air elemental—a whisper of wind called Zephyros—from clear blue skies of the Elemental Plane of Air. They’d met where the enchanted winds of the Feywild tangled with the endless breezes of his own realm, and their love was a fierce and warm as a summer storm. But love between a fey princess and a breath of fresh air? That’s not just frowned upon—it was outright barmy to the high-ups.
Still, they carried on their tryst in secret, meeting under veils of mist and clouds spun from dreamstuff. But nothing stays hidden for long in the Feywild, not with all those nosy sprites and will o’whispers. Word got back to Titania, and let me tell you, she weren’t best pleased that she’d been upstaged by an incorporeal gas. The jealous Queen of Light and Laughter gave Caressalyne an ultimatum: End her dalliance with Zephyros or face banishment from the court.
Well, Caressalyne wasn’t about to give up her nebulous lover—not for all the pots of gold in the Feywild. So she did the unthinkable: She broke free. Making a wish granted to her by a sympathetic (or perhaps mischevious) djinni, Caressalyne’s domain was torn clean out of the Feywild and cast adrift into the Deep Air. The winds screamed as the magic unraveled the threads between the planes, but when it was done, there it floated—a cluster of islands bound by misty bridges, forever riding the endless skies.
She called it Kisses on the Wind, for it was born of love. But here’s where things start to get proper strange: the wish didn’t just move her domain; it left a mark on reality itself. From that day forward, every blown kiss that missed its mark—every whispered affection lost to the breeze—was drawn to her realm like a moth to a flame. The lost kisses swirled into and around the village as if searching for their rightful recipient.
Caressaline welcomed these wayward tokens like old friends. She learned how to catch these kisses and spin them into wonders: Silken cloaks that let the wearer dance on air, paired scarves that can whisper secret messages from one lover to the other, and veils that can hide you from jealous gazes.
But don’t go thinking this is some happy-ever-after tale just yet. See, Caressalyne may have escaped Titania’s jealous clutches, but she paid a price for defying her queen. The spell that tore Kisses on the Wind free also bound Caressalyne to her domain; she is cursed to never feel solid ground beneath her feet again. She dwells now in Heartstring Hall, weaving wonders to bargain for riddles and stories from the outside world with planewalkers who stumble upon her drifting village.
And what of Zephyros? Well… some say he visits still, riding storms to meet his love in secret once more. Others reckon he was destroyed by Titania’s fury when she found him alone in his realm.
Kisses on the Wind
Picture a cloudy cluster of floating islands bound together by shimmering bridges of solidified mist. Each island is adorned with delicate structures spun from gossamer threads and crystallized air, their walls translucent and glimmering like morning dew. The castle drifts through the boundless blue expanse of Air, its position ever-changing as it rides the Labyrinthine Winds.
Caressalyne’s realm is the final destination for errant blown kisses—those tender gestures sent on the wind but never received. They swirl around the place like petals caught in a breeze. The cutters who call Kisses on the Wind home catch these wayward tokens of affection in silk butterfly nets, and weave them into objects with strange and magical powers which incorporate longing, joy, love or sorrow. In particular, the love potions which are distilled here from stray kisses are renowned for their efficacy.
The denizens of Kisses on the Wind are a varied bunch, feyfolk or mortals drawn here by unrequited or forbidden loves, in the knowledge that Caressalyne’s sympathy extends to others in a similar situation to her own. Others are planewalkers who stumbled across the place and fell in love with it themselves, electing to stay. People here are generally friendly, if secretive, and driven by deep emotions and wisdom about the intangible threads that connect beings across planes.
Heartstring Hall
Lady Caressalyne is both gracious host and shrewd bargainer. Planewalkers who find their way to her hall often come seeking her woven magics, or her wisdom about matters of the heart. But beware: like all fey, her bargains are bound by ironclad rules cloaked in poetic riddles. Visitors should note the following three:
- Mind your step: The misty spans connecting the islands shift with the breeze. Step carefully lest you fall into endless sky.
- Mind your words: Promises made in Heartstring Hall are binding, and even casual remarks can be taken as oaths.
- Mind your manners: Taking even a single errant kiss without permission will invoke Lady Caressalyne’s wrath—and she has ways of ensuring thieves never leave her domain.
And so cutter, if you should ever feel a breeze carrying warmth upon it—a kiss not meant for you—know that it may be bound for Caressalyne’s realm. Perhaps one day you’ll follow it there yourself and see this strange village where love lingers on the wind, spun into magic by dextrous fey fingers.
Source: Jon Winter-Holt. Credit also to Neneh Cherry for the lyric that inspired this idea and takes me way back to my childhood.