I mix and matched three figures from the "Nagi Animal Phantom Realm" series to do this (RIP the spare) and it turned out super cute! I'm still looking out for a Rhysand but it's a little harder than expected. Fingers crossed for a bat or dragon type that works for him haha.
Getting There: Through The Forest of Faces
The Wall is hours and days behind you, seemingly lost to you in an endless haze of half-forgotten memory. You hadn't even noticed when it happened, too preoccupied by the fear, the horror, of being past that singular barrier that barred you from the monsters it hindered.
It had been like diving into a pool of water. One second, the land, the sky, it surrounds you. Looms over you. And the next, you are submerged and drowning. But what differentiates a pool of water from the region Beyond The Wall is that you can always swim back to the surface.
Here, you do not even know which way would count as up.
You have been trudging on through the forest for days. Or it is weeks, or it is hours and seconds and minutes and years. It's rare that anyone truly knows.
But you have been trudging on. Even as your skin hardens and your blood turns sluggish and slow. Even as each of your fingers extend into leafy branches, your eyes implode before ballooning into ripe, pinkish fruit, and your toes lengthen, the nails drilling through the topsoil to become hardy roots. Soon you will be just be another face amidst the hundreds of nameless trees that lingered too long, too much, without someone to guide them through the Forest of Faces.
Sometimes, a few stronger souls are luckier. They are not rooted to the ground, but are instead taken by the air. Their skin grows soft, downy feathers, and strong, wide feathers. Their bones shrink, the marrow leaking from every orifice in their skin. Their faces explode and knit themselves back together in an agonizingly slow process. Their feet turn scabbed, then scaly with orange scales. Their toe nails elongate into talons.
They are lucky.
They can always fly back to the human realms. Most are recognizable by the brand of golden feathers that permeates their wings. The sentries know not to hunt those (though once upon a time they were a grand delicacy). And of course, the unluckiest ones are simply transformed into game. These have no branding, no mark to distinguish them from the ordinary beasts.
These are caught and killed as all animals are.
Such is the risk you take in the Forest of Faces, guideless and alone.
Once the fruits of your eyes would've been relished with gusto, turned into sauces or fermented to form a particularly sweet, euphoria-inducing wine. Children (Fae children) would skip merrily into the trees to pluck the fruit when they were hungry. The birds were a delicacy. The High Lord unfortunately banned all this, citing it as savagery, and orders his sentries to turn around any who find themselves lost in the Forest, even his enemies. Should they be unable to, they are to escort them to him. And if unable to do this, he considers a quick death a mercy compared to what would await them, twisted into unfamiliar shapes and bizarre, merciless senses.
Inhabitants Within The Forest
Not for nothing is the Court considered that of Spring. Spring is transformation. It is renewal and destruction. And as such, its inhabitants are as varied as its dual natures. The Forest itself hosts grand creatures.
The Suriel that, once bound, shall answer any question. But it is said that it never forgives a slight, and should you bear hubris enough to trap it, it shall hunt you down whenever you should enter the Forest again. To ward it off, one must carry a bag of rice or some other countable but large quantity at all times.
Toss it at the ground. It shall have no choice but to cease its motion, crouching low against the ground to count each individual piece or grain or even speck of ink.
Under no circumstances must you attempt to trap or kill it again.
The types, categories, and species that reside in the Forest of Faces number too far for any sort of useful taxonomy. However, there are some that one must be especially wary of. Pixies (pinkish, furry things with too many teeth and eyes) will sprinkle a sort of dust on unseeing prey, that pacifies them and lulls them into a dreamlike fugue state. This dusting also serves to detach the skin from flesh and sinew. It is not an instantaneous process, but rather, the victim will walk for several days, while their skin sloughs off, inch by inch, the pixies gnawing on it like its a cape trailing on the floor, until the flesh is entirely exposed.
They will then leave the victim, sated. Typically after this, giant moths or butterflies will swarm the freshly-skinned victim, suckling on the blood before laying their eggs inside the victim's exposed flesh. After an incubation period of about nine months, during which time the victim's blood is completely sucked dry by the insects, fresh new butterflies will chew themselves through any possible orifice.
It is unknown why they choose to use skinned bodies rather than fresher ones, as logic would dictate that bodies with skin would be more durable.
Some have suggested that they simply like the blood. Occassionally, butterfly-humanoid hybrids have been formed from these parasitic relations. These humanoids are short-lived, and are protected by their impossibly colossal siblings till their deaths, upon which they themselves are melted down by a digestive liquid in their siblings' feeding tubes. They are then consumed entirely.
The spiders are more straightforward. They keep to themselves in giant, glimmering stalactite caves that look akin to the starry skies. Should anyone not under the High Lord's protection enter, they are quickly bound in endless silk webbing. In a few hours they are melted into shimmering liquid crystal that they utilize as a food source. The silk is then discarded outside their caves, and is a highly demanded quantity in Prythian for an export, rivalling the Night Court's own silk trade. Previous High Lords attempted to steal the crystals for use in gemstone trade, but were killed for their insolence and found with their eyes, ears, tongues (and in some particularly disconcerting cases, their cocks and inner anal walls) transformed into hard crystal from the inside.
No further attempts have been made to harvest the crystal substance, and any suggestion to try again is typically met with either horror or ridicule out of the sheer stupidity of the notion.
Other noteworthy creatures include: trees that wrap around prey till they are subsumed into the bark, honeybees whose venom causes their victims to undergo significant physical deterioration, turning into a puddle of golden resin that is sold all over Prythian for its healing properties and uses in construction, as well as a food item in its own right (one of Spring's most popular and highly demanded exports. The bees produce the resin even without prey), grasshoppers who rip their prey to thirty tiny pieces all over the Forest, and more.
The non-insectoid animals in Spring are numerous, but aside from being exceptionally large and more lustful beasts than their mortal counterparts, there is nothing particularly noteworthy about them. Rivers flow all throughout Spring, clean and cool, and act as the main suppliers of water. These rivers host far too many aquatic marvels to name. Octopi that produce different kinds of dye depending on what they are fed (used by tailors and painters often), sea snakes whose shed skins produce the highest quality leather, crocodiles that are a popular sort of pet for nobility (something they share with fifty-headed owls, Argosian Peacocks that have fifty eyes, firethrowing foxes, the parasitic butterflies, et cetera).
The flora in Spring is also of some note. Most flowers, fruit, and plants (even plain grass) in the forest will heal any minor ailment or injury, as well as provide a small boost of energy. This effect is not seen in the vegetation in the more civilized regions, though agricultural yields (Spring's main export) are almost ten times what one would find in the other Courts or in the human realms. Spring is the most important food source in Prythian, with the Autumn Court being its only rival due to its mix of low costs and high yield.
The Court That Twists
PEOPLE
There is very little of civility to be found amidst the Spring Court. Only a few towns abound, and the High Lord's manor. These towns are, like the Forest, filled with far too many different kinds of Fae to name. Though most can be broadly classified by habitant, appearance, et cetera. All are connected to the High Lord, and in times of crisis or jubilance, may change their shapes to match his moods.
The Elemental Fae, typically water, wood, or stone-based. Dryads, water wraiths and nymphs, known for their exceptional beauty when calm (save for the wraiths) and their inability to drift far from where their habitants lay (again, save for the wraiths, who are able to travel through the inner currents of the Earth to any waterbody in Prythian). When angered, they will grow teeth and claws and will lunge at the object of their ire (unless the target is under the High Lord's protection. Even then, it is unwise to provoke them, as some may throw caution to the wind or be unaware, and by the time they are calmed it may be far too late).
Then there are the sylphs. Mischievous winged-creatures known for driving unprotected guests insane. You will never see them, only hear their madness-inducing laughter in the wind, or catch specks of silver in the corners of your eyes. They are known for playing pranks.
There are also the Beast Fae; animal-headed creatures with the bodies of men and women. Where these came from, it is unknown, but they have formed a community of their own within Spring. When angered, they will shift fully into their beastly states and attack whoever has drawn their rage. A particular kind of insectoid Fae also exist, though they are largely recluses who keep to their own kind.
There are also Fae who bear certain features of other animals (feathers, fur, scales, et cetera) but retain a mostly human appearance. They will often have similar mannerisms to their animal forms, but are far more social and open-minded than their animal-headed counterpats.
The other sort of Fae are almost humanlike in appearance, though their skin may be barklike or of a different pigment. When angered (or when sharing in their High Lord's anger), they have no particular change save for a spectral glow emanating from underneath their skin, claws sharper than knives, and giant, sharklike teeth. When calm they are no different than the High Fae.
ECONOMY
As mentioned before, Spring trades mostly in agricultural goods and this forms the bulk of its revenue. Furthermore, it makes revenue off of the honeylike substance the wild honeybees within the forest produce, as well as the silken material the spiders provide them with. There is little to no cost in exporting either of these two, and as such, profits abound. There is an annual tithing done as well, for which the punishment upon failure of payment is death.
However, the High Lord has not followed such a tradition in a long while and will instead only double and triple the payments owed. A debt with no interest.
THE REGION ITSELF
The weather is never constant in Spring, though always pleasant, be it cold, warm, wet, dry, whichever. Crops are protected from the unfortunate weather patterns.
ARCHITECTURE
Construction is deeply intwined with nature and the magic of the land. Vines are used alongside wood to hold up houses. A type of resin produced by a particular sort of tree (Earthbloods, with flowers made entirely of onyx and leaves of jade) is used in place of stone due to being much stronger. Fire is rarely used, with most preferring to use trapped fireflies or luminous flowers for lighting (these can be found all over Spring).
Buildings take on a variety of forms, but are made of Earthblood resin, wood, plants and vines. Most are small, though this is a matter of personal preference and need, as resources are not scarce. The High Lord's manor is likely one one of the most intricate buildings.
CULTURE AND LAWS
All animal and plant life is considered sacred in Spring. Even ants. That is not to say that killing is forbidden. However, anything that is killed must be made use of, as nature commands. A bug that is squashed must be taken outside to feed the soil, or it must be consumed.
Failure to do this, when discovered, will be met with hefty fines or even death depending on the sort of creature killed. Burning of the dead is forbidden and punishable by death. Bodies must be thrown into rivers, buried, utillized for ritual purposes, or consumed.
Sex is another thing that is considered sacred. Women and men alike enjoy it often, with little to no shame. However, prudishness is frowned on, as well as lack of desire and childlessness (this does not extend to same sex relations, as magical means exist for these couples to bear children). Childlessness, however, is frowned on (though not illegal by any means). Wine, sex, and other indulgences are accepted as a celebration of life and sensation. Abortions are a deeply contested topic, being illegal up until the latest High Lord stepped in and legalized them.
Even then, they are seen as shameful by most. A waste of a life.
Those who are unable to indulge themselves or survive on their own (the blind, the deaf, asexual, et cetera) are met with pity and condescension, with many families once having preferred to abandon such children to the wilderness. However, this was strictly forbidden, and the current High Lord has now made the punishment for it death by burning. Murder (outside of self-defense) is also treated the same way, as is rape. Death by fire is seen as shameful, a permanent withdrawal of the body from nature.
Any mutilation of the sensory organs or genitalia (barring ritual purposes) is also considered a crime, be it consensual or not. However, there is no punishment for it if it is consensual, as most who choose to go through with it (or with assisted suicide) are seen as pitiable rather than criminals.
Should it be unconsensual, the punishment is for the same organ to be taken from the culprit, and grafted onto the victim should they desire it.
CLOTHING
Clothing is largely open and revealing, as well as light both in color and weight. Jackets with no buttons, open vests and shirts, slit trousers, et cetera. Ornaments are usually made of silk, flowers and resin rather than gemstones. Pearls, however, are common amidst the aristocracy. The wearing of gemstones and metal is considered a sign of wealth, due to most of it needing to be imported from other courts. Metal is rare in Spring, and most of it is used for weapons-making (archers are rare due to this reason, and instead, warriors prefer swords, spears, et cetera, that can be reused multiple times. For ranged weapons, typically poisoned blowdarts fashioned from the spines of venomous animals suffice, as these are able to pierce most metals and the sylphs wil typically manipulate the winds to ensure the target is hit).
Thanks for reading! I decided the Spring Court should actually be scary and unnatural instead of a quiant little village with some supernatural elements. Explanation in the comments!