Fane

A fane is a place of power. Fanes have natural magical power and are described as the hearts or the magical cores or centers of a land. They are also described as places of worship, in the way of a temple, and are locations of importance. A fane is distinct from but similar to a leyline. They exist on multiple Planes of Existence, as there are known fanes in the Material Plane of Exandria and in the Feywild.

Some fanes are protected by powerful guardians, such as an archfey. Some guardians of powerful fanes are formed out of spiritual energy that gathers as these spirits are worshiped over time, eventually transitioning into a guardian spirit that takes the form chosen by these worshipers; Orlan is one such guardian spirit.

Matthew Mercer described the Circle of the Blighted as a subclass of druid who is connected to a land where the fanes have been corrupted, causing the druid's features and abilities to be corrupted as well.

Fanes binding Tharizdun
During The Calamity, Tharizdun was banished and sealed with shackles at six fanes throughout Exandria. The locations of these fanes are secrets closely guarded by the highest clergy of Pelor and Ioun, and it is not known how few shackles must remain to hold Tharizdun.

Texts describing the location of at least the fane below the Chantry of the Dawn were kept in a vault in Vasselheim and stolen by the Angel of Irons cult in 836 PD. The cult was instructed by visions from the Angel of Irons, secretly Tharizdun, to "release the fanes that hold its shackles". The Mighty Nein successfully stopped the cult's attempt to release the fane beneath the Chantry.

Known fanes
There does not appear to be a formal classification of a location as a fane, and "fane" seems to be simply used to denote that the location is one of natural magical power. The following are places described as fanes or fanes that are known to exist.


 * Chantry of the Dawn in Rexxentrum, one of the fanes binding Tharizdun
 * Five other fanes in Exandria that bind Tharizdun
 * King's Cage at the bottom of the Betrayers' Rise in Bazzoxan, a primal fane of corrupting power. During The Calamity, Moradin and Sehanine built a temple around this fane as a trap for Torog, whom they bound to the fane and used it to banish him from Exandria.
 * Within the Labenda Swamp, tended to by the Idolmaster, a druid living in the Mossmire Temple in Berleben
 * Within the Lotusden Greenwood, a druidic fane protecting and empowering the forest that was buried long before 835 PD. Its power has caused some local beasts to grow to "a nightmarish size".
 * Morrigan's domain in the Feywild. As it is her domain as an archfey, Morrigan has power over the place and may alter the flow of time within it.
 * Cave in the Moonbrush in the Feywild, guarded by Orlan
 * Rifts to the Elemental Planes at Pyrah, Terrah, Vesrah, and Zephrah

Trivia

 * The word "fane" means a temple or a shrine, derived from the Latin "fanum" to refer to a place dedicated to a deity.