Forest Folklore

Kessia Beverley-Smith's first deck stays close to home in the most literal way: its legends, wildlife and mythology are those of the New Forest in Hampshire, the ancient wooded commons of southern England. That specificity is the deck's quiet distinction. Where most fairy and folklore decks assemble a generic enchanted forest, this one is rooted in an actual place with an actual folklore record, its dwarves, nymphs and imps sharing the frame with the humans who live among them. The full seventy-eight cards carry the local material across the whole structure rather than reserving it for the majors, and the register stays folkloric rather than high-fantasy. It suits readers drawn to British folklore in particular, place-based practitioners who like a deck anchored somewhere real, and collectors of first decks by working illustrators. Readers wanting grand mythic architecture should note this deck's scale is deliberately intimate: one forest, closely observed.