The Bánóg
Realm of Áine
Location: Outlands / Tir na Og
Bánóg, the realm of the Celtic goddess Áine, is a place that’s as beguiling as it is beautiful, a realm where the boundaries between the natural and the supernatural blur.
Nestled in the heart of an ancient forest in Tir na Og, Bánóg is a clearing. The trees encircling it are colossal, their trunks twisted into intricate patterns that dance in the moonlight. The leaves of these ancient guardians shimmer with iridescent colours, whispering secrets long-forgotten.
In the centre of the clearing lies a pool, its waters reflecting stars that don’t exist in any known sky. The surface of the pool ripples with the movements of the fey dancers who move around it, sending cascades of sparkling light into the air, like fireworks of liquid starlight.
The air in Bánóg is thick with the scent of summer flowers that bloom in pulsating, glowing hues. These flowers don’t follow the rules of any botany known to mortals; they bloom and wilt in the span of moments, only to rebloom again in an endless cycle of growth and decay. The colours are so brilliant that you can actually smell them, and the scents so intoxicating that you can feel them as they waft against your skin.
Áine, the goddess of wealth and plenty, makes her home in Bánóg. Her laughter is the music to which the fey dance, her radiance the light that illuminates the clearing. She appears sometimes as a vision of translucent beauty, her form shifting between that of a regal queen adorned in summer’s bounty and a playful sprite, darting among the dancers with mischievous glee.
The fey who gather here are a motley assembly of sprites, pixies, and other mystical beings, each more bizarre and beautiful than the last. They dance in a frenzied yet somehow graceful ballet, their movements telling stories of bountiful summers and the untamed joy of the wild.
As night falls, the clearing transforms into a dreamscape. There’s a moon here, larger and more luminous than any on the Prime, that bathes Bánóg in a silvery light. Shadows play across the clearing, while the pool in the centre glows with an otherworldly ghostlight. In Bánóg, time doesn’t flow as it does in the mortal realms. Hours can feel like minutes, and a single night of revelry can span what seems like seasons. The realm reflects the fleeting, ephemeral nature of summer. It’s a place where dreams of the fey are as real as the ground underfoot and the stars overhead.
Source: Jon Winter-Holt. This location is homebrew.