Whispering Isle
October 23-26, 2025
Walewice Palace, Poland
"To Whispering Isle, where faeries play
stray not or you will lose your way;
for faeries there, with wily game,
will bind your soul and steal your name;
with twinkling eyes and silver gleam,
they'll whisk you off into their dream..."
WHISPERING ISLE is a larp inspired by works such as Changeling: The Lost by White Wolf, Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke, A Court of Thorns and Roses by Sarah J. Maas, Lords and Ladies by Sir Terry Pratchett, Witchwood Knot by Olivia Atwater, and many others.
Set in an era of industrial revolution, analogous to the late 18th and early 19th century, it weaves a fairytale which tells two parallel stories: that of troubled mortals who wandered into the land of magic and myth; and that of the faeries who lured them there for their own twisted reasons.
Six marvelous Courts,
Three days of festivities,
Two opposing villages,
ONE MAGICAL ISLAND.
THEMES
Each player will portray two characters: a mortal and a fae. Each role will be played at scheduled times, with open slots in between for the player’s own decision which character they would like to portray at that time.
Fear of the unknown
The industrialisation of the world, symbolised by Shadeward and juxtaposed with the preservation of nature embodied in Lightwick, is mirrored in the relationship between the human world (the familiar) and the world of the fae (the unknown). Distrust towards “the other”, sometimes justified, at other times unreasonable, is a theme that will accompany us throughout the game.
Progress comes at a price, but staying in place isn’t without its cost, either. Which of our protagonists and antagonists will look towards the future, and who will stay behind?
Dreams, fears, promises, and desires
These four words, often taken for granted by mortals, for faeries hold special meaning and power. At the larp, they will be the tools to explore the depths of humanity, and see how much can be sacrificed without losing oneself.
Power imbalance and oppression
There is a reason why mortals warn each other against dealing with the faeries, and while various cultures have their own methods of protecting their families and their homes against the supernatural, the power of the fae is still a force to be reckoned with.
Faeries can and will use their power to subdue the humans, rope them into deals, manipulate and use them in their Court games. Cruel consequences await those who offend a faerie, and no amount of pleading will help the poor soul who breaks a fae deal.
However, faeries are not the only ones capable of cruelty and oppression. In a world where the poor are at the mercy of the wealthy, where nobility rules over the lower classes, sometimes the only way out is by finding an ally among the supernatural. The price will be steep for sure, but at least the outcome is secure. Or is it?
Conflict and violence
Faeries don't possess the capacity for emotions the way humans do, and they do not experience things such as empathy or compassion. Some are curious, some are cruel, but many perceive mortals the way children see toys: as new, exciting things to play with or pull apart - emotionally rather than physically, although some faeries are known for their more brutish inclinations.
That isn't to say that mortals are free of violent tendencies. Those who have delved into the depths of human nature know that humanity is as flawed as it is intriguing, and that every person has their breaking point beyond which they are capable of great evils. Some mortals visiting the Whispering Isle have mastered cruelty to perfection; others have been on the receiving end of it.
What happens when the tables turn?
THE EXPERIENCE
Every player portrays two characters: a mortal and a fae, who serve the roles of a protagonist and an antagonist in our fairytale. While the division may seem intuitive, the lines may quickly blur. Not all mortals are good people, and not all faeries are cruel. Evil comes in all shapes and sizes, and sometimes it’s difficult to tell the protagonist apart from the antagonist... until it’s too late.
During the larp, each role has scheduled times during which they are introduced into play alongside their faction; outside of those times, the players can freely switch between their characters depending on what themes they want to pursue and which relations they wish to develop.
Around mealtimes, which are off-game, there will be ample time for calibration and costume changes.
Playing a fae
No two faeries are alike, but those similar in mindset gather within the same Court. Daylight Courts and Nocturnal Courts are different from each other like day and night, locked in an eternal struggle for power, dominance, and control.
Some of them are led by curiosity; others by cruelty; but all of them are governed by unbreakable rules of their kind:
- Fae cannot lie.
- Names have power.
- Iron cuts deep, iron cuts true.
- Promises, memories, fears, and desires are currency.
- Feelings are strange and foreign; feelings can set one free.
During the game, the fae get to know the mortals, exchange favours with them, lure them into traps, trade with them (or perhaps even trade them); and in the process, they learn about humanity. Some of them will understand what it means to have mortal hopes and dreams; others will broaden the divide between the mundane and the supernatural, trying to keep the two worlds forever apart.
Playing a mortal
Two villages stand on opposite sides of a river - the industrial Shadeward and the agrarian Lightwick, as different as night and day, forever at odds with each other, forever linked together by the island that stands between them.
