Faerie: The Feywild, or Land of Dreams
The origins of the elves and the nature of The Feywild they may or may not have originally come from is still a matter of debate by scholars to this day. To most practitioners of The Arcane, the Feywild (often used interchangeably with 'The Realm oF Faerie' or 'The Land of Dreams' and related terms used by different, far-flung scholars) is acknowledged to be a metaphysical dream world that exists beyond and in parallel to the physical 'Prime Material plane' of the "real" world, and is layered over and throughout it in much the same way as The Plane of Shadows, The Ethereal Plane, The Astral Plane, and many Elemental Planes. While elves can - using magic portals, or scrying - see, move, and experience events clearly and freely in and into this place, much of its goings-on are hidden or cannot be clearly understood by humans or half-elves - or most mortal creatures - except in the broadest terms, or when explained in concept.
Most scholars of the phenomenon in The Feywild are therefore either elves, undead or supernatural creatures incapable of dreaming, or humans who are very lucid dreamers who also happen to be Oneiromancers ('mages who can manipulate dreams'): Which means that information on the subject can be questionable at best and experiments and explorations can be difficult or impossible for many human scholars to trust, replicate, peer review or use for practical purposes. Important but difficult-to-explain features of the Feywild that need to be noted and are widely understood and accepted by experts include objects, places, and travel between locations being heavily influenced by Non-Euclidean geometry, simultaneous parallel perceptions of non-adjacent events that occur in distant or the same location(s), and incoherent time-lines.
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The Feywilds or land of faerie is like, and yet unlike any realm of mortals. A dreamer with the strength of will can travel a thousand miles in the Feywild in the blink of an eye. Live lifetimes in hours, become heroes and awaken in one's own bed, well-rested in time for breakfast. A dream world both heavenly and nightmarish which mortals visit and awaken from in sleep. This place? Is the true homeland of the now mortal elves - who themselves, though they rest, do not ever lapse into unconsciousness or dream as mortal men. When a mortal human, man or woman steps through a portal into the Feywild, they are often overwhelmed by the vastness, the vividness of colors, smells, and sounds. A mortal creature's power and vulnerability in this place are often overwhelming and a true balance and equilibrium with one's environment is almost impossible to achieve and consistency difficult to maintain. From one moment to the next, a person may be armed and armored, or naked.. find themselves leaping from mountainous cliffs, into the softness of royally appointed and sensual harems.. loved and adored, to playfully mocked and painfully ridiculed - events that only make sense to dreamers guided by Fey whim, and the immortal denizens of these places who have lived, acted, and re-acted these events so many times.
The experiences of humans in this place are as wild and varied as anything one can imagine, and it follows few set tones, and the entities within it, born of a dream, fantasy, and imagination - both legendary and obscure, beautiful and terrible - often exist simultaneously in multiple timelines, living and reliving events in history and legend, fully aware of their omniscience and omnipresence as they guide and play with the dreams of mortal creatures - limited to but a single string of moments - during their brief visits to The Land of Faerie. Dreams and physical visits to the world of the Fae are often characterized by a lack of control - either of one's own impulses or one's surroundings; being subsumed and drawn into the dream or even having a Fae confront lucid dreamers with events and feelings designed to startle them awake.
It is only those who use magic - spell rite or portal - sojourners who physically project themselves into the land of dreams that can hold even small power or permanence there: But even walking into these lands in person does not remove the haze and insubstantial nature of a world of dreamers, and a human's memories of this place will always be insubstantial, incomplete, and non-sensical as dreams often are to those who awaken ... but going to the realm of faerie personally rather than under the banner of dream removes the ability to awaken when swept up in the power of Faerie's fey rulers; the safety net that exists for all dreamers. Some sojourners live a life-time in faerie, and return in minutes hours or days - younger or older - and some sojourners never find the portal home at all - it can be easy to get lost in a dream-world full of seductive wonder that changes at the whim of the whimsical: Even when the fae aren't trying to keep you.
The reality is that due to the nature of The Realm of Dreams; and the nature of its rulers both Seelie and Unseelie.. substance and weight, anchors to topics, and sensation are difficult to maintain unless they are being held in place by immortals of immense power: The immortal fae creatures themselves are what everything in The Realm of Dreams orbits around and anchors to; all else eventually dissipating as if an illusion, smoke, and mirrors when the dreamer awakens or the Fey creatures whimsically relinquish their holds or jolt humans from their realm to awaken where they slept..
The terrifying part comes, however if a mortal returns with the stuff of dreams to his own world, changed by his time there, or carrying something that isn't his to take: For objects from the land of dreams can be brought home by sojourners. Fey creatures; Seelie and Unseelie alike are known for jealously guarding what they believe to be their own.. but the truth is? Though returned to the world with you - these toys are not real and most Feywild entities are semi-immortal multi-dimensional creature living out multiple timelines in parallel.
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It is from this unreal land of dreams that ascendant High Elves integrate themselves into Fey culture and use their strength of will to ritually participate in and passively view an imperfect history of men's imaginations, living and re-living many lives, gaining centuries of wisdom and learning often unspeakable truths of the heart from the dreams of countless mortal men in an effort to divine the future of the real world before returning to it to rule the great houses of Aer Arnad.
This esoteric and occult practice of dream-divination has been carried on by the great houses for literally thousands of years and the specifics of preforming such ritual ascensions and the things those High Elves learn in the Feywild from the dreams of men are among The High Elves most closely guarded secrets - though most even loosely familiar with High Elves are peripherally aware the practice exists.
A practical example of traveling to The Feywild and contending with a powerful Arch-Fey:
If you go into the Feywild, and you go steal the Thorn Queen of the Briar's spear and leave the Feywild with it.. you will possess a spear, and part of her or one of her servants will probably pursue you into the mortal plane for it. Because the Feywild is not a sense-making place someone interacting with her in the Feywild.. may still see her as having the spear, particularly if visiting/participating in or viewing her past - her spear is simply an imaginary prop - and if you steal it, and take it back to the mortal world she may chase you to the real world looking for it; but both she, and the spear are but a small part of the legends and mortal memory that makes her immortal - merely made manifest when you brought them home. The true entity; The Thorn Queen of the Briars doesn't chase you because she wants her spear back - she wants her spear back because it's the part of the story where she's supposed to chase you.
A good way to understand The Fae in their home plane is merely life demonstrating art, rather than the other way around.