Background[]
The Winter Court is an organization of Fae that live in Arcadia. The Winter Court is one of many similar versions of Arcadia that occur on different continents. This is due to the fact that Arcadia is a symbolic "reflection" of the physical world, and so reflects different aspects in different places. It is the polar opposite of the Summer Court. It is theorized that it symbolically represents villainy on Calernia. As an organization of Fae, it is extremely intertwined with popular stories. Its capital is Skade, the center of the Winter Court.
Organization[]
The Winter Court is modeled after a feudal society, similar to the rest of Calernia. The Fae are ruled by a Queen or a King, followed by several tiers of nobles. However, these noble titles have inherent power, allowing Fae nobles to have a myriad of different powers, usually involving aspects of wind, ice, or magic. The higher the tier of noble, the greater the magical power, causing the King or Queen to be the strongest Fae in the entire court.
Every year, the Winter Court is involved in conflict with the Summer Court. Regardless of the winner, both of the Courts are eventually destroyed, which causes the formation of the Autumn and Spring Courts. These Courts eventually turn to the Winter and Summer Courts through some event. However, when the Winter Court is reformed, Nobles can be reformed with different titles, causing them to act in different ways. This causes the Winter Court to change every year.
Notable Persons[]
As the Winter Court is extremely mutable, these persons may change their title or even name over the course of the story. In descending order of nobility, these are some notable members:
The King of Winter (Also known as the Prince of Bleak Solstice)
The Prince of Nightfall, Larat
The Princess of Silent Depths
The Duke of Violent Squalls, Auster
The Duchess of Moonless Nights
Events in Story[]
In Book 2, the Winter Court invades Callow, under the order of the King of Winter. Catherine Foundling repels the attack, and enters Arcadia to find the reason for the invasion. At Skade, Catherine kills the Duke of Violent Squalls to take his power and stop the Winter Court from invading. She bargains with the Prince of Nightfall to aid her in the Battle of Five Armies and One against Summer, winning her the battle. Catherine goes on to siege Dormer, in order to force the Queen of Summer to agree to marry the King of Winter. This causes the Winter Court to dissolve, forming into a united Fae Court.