Faewyr and Draumfeldr Questions

[Frisbee]

It's time for a torrent of questions regarding the wild and wonderful wolf children of Arad. Before I start, I apologise if I've missed a previous answer to any of these - I've tried to be thorough in my searching, across both wikis and forums, but of course I might have missed something, or relevant info shared years ago might not apply now as lorekeeper views inevitably evolve.

Firstly, with regards to Draumfeldr, I've seen various references to people trusted or favoured by Aphraen who are immune to its effects. Are there many such individuals in Tyr-Gwyrd? I imagine they're invaluable for foreign trade and such, as it sounds like they'd be the only ones capable of guiding ships back home. Since seafaring is very widespread among the Faewyr, is it fair to assume that those unaffected individuals are common enough for a PC to have known one of them in their time?

As for the effects of the Cloak itself, what is the extent of the memory suppression it inflicts? In past discussions, it was mentioned that people forget the topography of Tyr-Gwyrd, along with some rules or traditions dictating central Faewyr leadership and possibly other, more obscure racial secrets. Does it also erase familiar faces or past interactions, or are more personal memories left intact? If not, what happens when two people who knew each other meet again outside the boundaries of Draumfeldr? How inaccessible are these lost memories to a native of Tyr-Gwyrd once they’re outside? Could they fleetingly resurface if the outsider encounters something that would normally trigger their recall?

As I grow more and more hopeless about my ability to pronounce Faewyr terms, I wonder about the meaning of two in particular, 'Dunwyr' and 'Dwaedn Wyr,' if there are any translations for them. Furthermore, I wonder if the Dunwyr are a broader community beyond the Lost Lands, I'm assuming yes since the Smoke Wolf is a part of Faewyr tradition anyway, but best to check.

I think that's enough questions for now! Before signing off, I'd like to express what a pleasure it is to be looking more thoroughly into Arad's racial lore, broadly speaking, and into the Faewyr in particular, after years and years of playing a native Shadgardian. I love how the different peoples have such distinct - and sometimes contrasting -views on the origins of mankind and all the immortals. The dedication to worldbuilding over the years is very much appreciated, as is any input on the above. Thank you!

[Rias]

I love lore questions, sorry it's taken so long to respond to this one! They'll sometimes get me thinking about stuff I haven't fully hammered out so it can take a while to come up with a response I'm satisfied with. And honestly, sometimes I have to try and remember things I've forgotten and look up old notes in my horribly scattered and disorganized personal documentation. (I've been improving and consolidating my documentation system though!)

Individuals that are able to navigate back past Draumfeldr are rare, but not exceptionally so. (They also really need a specific term/title, note to self: come up with one.) It's possible that a PC knew one at some point in their history as part of a PC backstory, sure. Just don't assume any specific details about how they do what they do or anything like that - it's supposed to be one of those more vague and mysterious things with the details known only to those who know.

Some additional info on the subject of these Aphraen-blessed Faewyr individuals:
- Particularly important voyages going out beyond the protection of Draumfeldr virtually always have one of these individuals personally present to ensure the ship can get back.
- Some have been known to be able to confer a temporary blessing upon another individual serving as a ship's navigator, allowing that person to also be able to guide a ship back within a certain timeframe. This way they can delegate a bit without having to personally accompany a voyage. Not to say that they're doing it out of laziness or something like that - there's just not enough of these people to accompany literally every Faewyr ship going abroad. There's a lot of pressure on these blessed-by-proxy navigators to stay in line and behave themselves according to Aphraen and the one who gave them the blessing, lest they lose the blessing and doom the entire ship to be lost.
- Some have been known to be able to produce a blessed talisman that can be used to guide a ship back to Tyr-Gwyrd. These can be created to only work for the specific person they're meant for, or to conditionally only work for people who are deemed worthy of being guided by the talisman (specific conditions vary and are typically rather vague and mysterious, though there are some more common/obvious ones like "not planning harm to the people of Tyr-Gwyrd" and "hasn't fallen out of favor with Aphraen"). These are known to be less reliable and are more used as a backup plan or desperate measure or for other non-ideal circumstances.
- Some have taken it upon themselves to dedicate their lives to constant sweeping sea voyages, searching for lost Faewyr who need to be guided back home. There's typically some investigation of these lost people first to try and determine whether they were "meant" to be lost or if it was just an unfortunate accident.

As for the effects of the Cloak itself, what is the extent of the memory suppression it inflicts? In past discussions, it was mentioned that people forget the topography of Tyr-Gwyrd, along with some rules or traditions dictating central Faewyr leadership and possibly other, more obscure racial secrets. Does it also erase familiar faces or past interactions, or are more personal memories left intact? If not, what happens when two people who knew each other meet again outside the boundaries of Draumfeldr? How inaccessible are these lost memories to a native of Tyr-Gwyrd once they’re outside? Could they fleetingly resurface if the outsider encounters something that would normally trigger their recall?

Players have some liberty here. If it makes a more interesting (or convenient) backstory for your character to have forgotten some/all of the people they knew back home, go with that. You can always say they begin remembering/unlocking memories again over time at your convenience. On the other hand if you'd prefer that your character more fully remembers many of the key people they knew back home, that's fine too. Why does it affect some people differently than others, and why do some memories eventually come back? Who knows! Maybe it's random chance, maybe it's Aphraen doing it for their own mysterious purposes. (Maybe it's through bargains with Malfant to get their lost knowledge back!)

I wonder about the meaning of two in particular, 'Dunwyr' and 'Dwaedn Wyr,'

I'd honestly have to do some digging at this point because it's been so long, and I don't see the translations in my surface-level notes. I *think* I remember what they are, but their concepts have also changed a bit since they were first conceived (Dunwyr more than Dwaedn Wyr). If you didn't know already though, "Wyr" just means "People". It's like the word "folk," as in "country folk", "city folk", "hillfolk", etc.

Furthermore, I wonder if the Dunwyr are a broader community beyond the Lost Lands, I'm assuming yes since the Smoke Wolf is a part of Faewyr tradition

Correct, both Dunwyr and the Smoke Wolf are not limited to the Lost Lands, their history goes back to Tyr-Gwyrd. They've been known to cause a lot of trouble for some of the Twelve Realms that were perhaps getting "too civilized" and forgetting the Will of the Wilds.

I'm glad you like the lore, and it's always nice to see positive reception to some of the less-certain or less-consistent parts of it rather than being frustrated by it. I've always been fascinated by the evolution of real-world lore and how it can vary from time period to time period, region to region, culture to culture, but also have connections or evolutionary paths and all that. Not saying settings with cut-and-dry lore are bad, but I've always preferred the more speculative and mysterious stuff, myself! It's weird to say, but for me it's often more fun to want to know than to actually know, you know?

As I've looked over the Faewyr documentation, I've realized one glaring issue is that there's not much in there about the Animal Spirits, despite them being a huge part of Faewyr lore and culture. Whoops. I'll have to do some updates at some point. The Faewyr are typically considered closer to animalkind than other human peoples, both in respect/reverence/inclusion and in behavior/temperament. They can be some pretty wild folk (or rather, "wyr")! On the other hand, this isn't to say they're a bunch of primitive feral wild people or anything. They just have much more of a blend of the wild and primal in their society.

[Frisbee]

I love this! Thank you for taking the time to post it.

May your enriching of the lore continue on, and may Aphraen’s blessing help you with your disorganised notes as it does the Faewyr navigators across the seas.