The Court of the Brownie King

Oberon decreed long ago, in responce to the wails of the mothers in the Black Forest whose children were taken from them without reprieve, to elevate a noble fairy to be the Brownie King. The fairy in question, Lord Mateo, had been reknown as the most charming of the court, and many among the fey tittered that he was Titania's lover. The titterers, however, usually were turned to banshees by Titania, who claims Mateo's attentions grow tiresome quickly.

The Brownie Swarm
The means by which children are found in the forest, brownies number in the millions in the Black Forest. Generally found in swarms of a few hundred, they are small, about an inch in length, and brown. They are made up entirely of static energy, and procellemages have been able to curtail their attacks. They are very territorial, and have been known to sting and gnaw careless woodcutters to death, and stuff the corpses into trees. They feed on fruits and nectar, and the blood of the children Titania doesn't care for (though many have been spared that fate as of late, see below).

The way that the children are found is thus: Throughout the spring and summer, brownie swarms permeate the forest, searching for children who have gotten lost and wandered deep into the forest. Though brownies are easily distracted by food and warded off by iron and pure salt, they are single-minded and can lift a man as a swarm. When they have cornered a child, the child's distress alterts the Brownie King, and he takes them into the CastleCreature before the swarm can eat them.

King Mataeo
Hailing from a small town in the Black Forest, often considered to be Brynnewald, Mataeo had been some sort of nobility before he was ensnared by the Fairy Court. There is no documentation about his previous life, and the earliest mention on him among the Fey gossip is an anecdote of some interest:

Having returned from some small errand to Oberon on bahalf of Titania, Mataeo presented himself to Titania. He brought her a ring, the fruits of his journey, in the glint of which would hide an expansive castle and gardens. Titania, it should be noted, was in the habit of pointing in the general direction of a group of fey when she wished someone to go on an errand, usually trivial. Titania, having, as was usual, forgotten of the errand and having previously no cause to notice the fairy, commented on his strange eyes as he put the ring on her finger. The Frost Queen had always been, it should be noted, extremely taken by new jewelry, and would completely devote her attention to it whenever some was brought into the room, whether or not it was for her (though it almost always was).

From there on, Mataeo was a special favorite, and frequently chosen as the liason to Oberon's court. The records of the treants in Oberon's court, strangely, make no mention of Oberon meeting Mataeo. However, Oberon loathed speaking with any of the Fey Court, and would usually delegate the negotiations to a lesser treant.

The Brownie King's Castle
The CastleCreature is a curious being, acting simultaneously as the King's pet, steward, home, and means of transportation. Small in stature, only about the size of a small child, the CastleCreature walks upon two strong legs, but is much in the shape of a chicken, but plucked. It has two small round eyes and no arms, and has tough skin, much like a rhinadron of the Afrik Isle. However, the most curious thing about this creature is the castle growing out of its back.

Completely miniature, and extremely intricate, it is no bigger than a child's dollhouse in proportion, and is the same pale blue as the CastleCreature. The architecture of the castle is considered to be an incredible feat of either magic, design, or nature. The tiny spires and numerous balconies and verandas are covered in ivy, and the higher parts seem to be made of tiny, pale blue blocks of marble.

The Children's Chamber
The lowest layers of the CastleCreature, accessable only through its mouth, is where the children found by Mataeo in the woods are kept until they can be brought to Titania. The hallway the rooms are in is a perfect circle, with no windows on any part of the level, and doors only into the bedrooms, of which there are twenty.

Each room is outfitted with a bed of elderdown and a regenerating feast of quail, sausages, easter bread, three kinds of cheese, mulled wine, creamed spinach, sticky buns, potatoes au gratin, and tiny iced cakes. The food is provided in order for the Brownie swarm---always present during Titania's Choosing of the Children---will not eat the children who aren't chosen. For many years, the children Mataeo caught were doomed to death should Titania not want them. In recent years, however, the food he has created instead turns them into brownies, though it still looks as if the children are being eaten for the benefit of the Frost Queen, who prefers it that way.

The Feasting Room
A side effect of the food has been to allow the eater to pass through the inner walls of the Children's Chamber, which leg King Mataeo to create the Feasting Chamber, a room within the very heart of the CastleCreature's rooms. This chamber, full of food, is enchanted so as to have no gravitational force, and, moreover, is full of fireflies of varying colors---a creature closely related to the semi-sentient butterflies of Dascian. Often, the room is full of the Brownie King's sparrows, who are often employed by the lesser Treants in the Antlers.