A Maze of Thorns part 1: General Topography

Virtue knows he follows softly

Through the steaming woodlands

Travel light the deathly shudder

Down the leafy pathway... 

~Comus "Diana"

 

The hedge is a dangerous place, a seemingly endless maze of thorns with an ever changing topography constantly in flux between two seasonal extremes...the hedge is not a place any sensible Lost would wish to find themselves. Yet by want or necessity many will at some time or another be required to venture outside the walls or the banality of the mundane world into this beautifully terrifying place. Some Changelings do venture into the hedge often, gaining themselves a reputation for being either stupid or foolhardy, and for those who can make a trip in one piece it can be quite profitable in terms of hedge bounty. However, what these so called 'rangers' will not tell you is that one can never hope to learn or master the hedge but merely survive it.


A Change of Seasons
The local hedge is a brutal and desolate place defined by two seasons.
In the summer it is a rank and humid swamp buzzing with life, the area surrounding the freehold becomes a vast lake like bayou rich in hedge fruit but also fraught with danger as the larger aquatic hedge beasts appear from hibernation. In the past, claim the older members of the city, one would stick to the streams that resonate with echoes of technology while avoiding the lights of willow-the-wisps, however with the expansion of street and road lighting many an unfamiliar traveller has drowned mistaking a guiding light for a more sinister illumination. When the fog rolls in many a wise hedge explorer docks their boat on a patch of firm ground (or better yet in the port inside the walls) and waits for clearer waters.
In contrast winter turns the hedge into a bleak tundra come marshland. The local fauna (excluding the thorns) die off and the suicide trees bloom their withered and gangling branches. Those in need of hedge bounty must either stray out into the wilderness battling sub-zero temperatures and razor sharp winds for a sheltered grotto or face the perils of the vast subterranean complex beneath the freehold itself. Many have set off in good spirits never to return, drowning in underground lakes or peat like bogs, freezing due to over exposure or meeting a fate even worse…

"Navigation"
Amongst the rangers of 'The Tower' there is a simple code of received wisdom for those wishing to venture out and 'navigate' the local Hedge. It is by no means exhaustive but does lay out some of the common feelings towards hedge travel.

1. Never stray from the path, cause there is no guarantee you'll ever find it again.
2. Don't touch anything that you don't know what it is.
3. Avoid large groups and people who can't keep their wits about them. Two's and Three's are good but more people and the more chance someone's going to get lost...or attract trouble.
4. Don't venture with someone who can't look after themselves, they're your responsibility otherwise.
5. If you can't look after yourself always make sure you can catch a glimpse of 'The Tower' that way you can find your way home.
6. If you see the Blood Thorn steer well clear of it, that means Old Nick's abroad

Those who get lost find their glamour depleting on the thorns, their sanity can fold under the reality warping topography and their panicked cries cause hedge beasts to swarm like carrion birds. While those who play 'escort' can find the thoughts and feelings of their companions befuddling their judgement. Some have likened the Hedge to a predatory creature in its own right, displaying an malevolently sophisticated decree of sentience that leads its prey on a merry chase; causing divisions amongst friends, ensnaring them in their isolated states and slowly harvesting them for glamour and blood.

 

Mechanically Navigation is an extended [Intelligence + Survival] roll with bonuses (such as traversing well maintained Trods) or penalties (such as territory belonging to 'hostile' forces) depending on the Changelings circumstances, with each roll pertaining to 1 hour of hedge travel.

 

Trods
While a well maintained trod can be the life blood of the freehold, lack of use or maintenance can soon see a trod disappear or more worryingly become inverted into some sort of trap by loyalists or even the hedge itself. Rangers and the wild hob tribes attempt to maintain the Trods but at the same time will seek to profit from them with the establishment of ambushes or 'toll bridges'. After all, one who has poured blood sweat and glamour into maintaining a trod is well within their rights to capitalise on such an investment.
Trods have a rating between 1 and 3, which can be improved with maintenance. This requires DT actions and carries with it a small degree of risk as you will be spending a prolonged period in the Hedge. While you will be physically maintaining the Trod the actual maintenance is a side-effect of your presence and will. [Wits + Wyrd] is the roll and requires successes equal to the quality rating you wish to impart x 5. Each roll is a DT action, and requires a payment of 5 times the quality rating in glamour at the end of this process; the glamour may come from multiple sources.

 

Lost Colonies

'The Watchtower Over the Water' was once the capital of a legendary kingdom of the east. It was said in those times the Free lost held multiple hedge settlements connected by the Trods. Amongst the more dogmatic and zealously traditionalist of the City this golden age ended with the arrival of the 'Great Seasonal Courts of the West'. It is said that those of the former colonies irrevocably turned their backs on god and the old traditions of the Seelie and Unseelie courts. For this act of hubris they were cut off by the Blood Thorn and never seen nor heard of again. Many of the names of the Colonies have since long been forgotten but one that is remembered is Seager-ma-hole where the house of God and the city of sin was reclaimed by the waters.

Old Nick

Out in the deepest hedge, far beyond the reach of any path, something has made its abode. The Citizens of 'The Tower' call this creature "Old Nick", the devil that tempts the Lost to fall back into the bondage of Arcadia. Nobody is quite sure what exactly "Old Nick" is; a powerful hedge beast, one of the Gentry or something altogether more Wyrd and terrifying. But what is know comes from the lips of the deranged and the unsavable in their last confession before undergoing the Freehold's mercy. One thing for sure though is that "Old Nick" warps the hedge around it creating the dreaded Blood Thorn. A Crimson plant that laments a blood red pus with a sweet putrid stench. To some "Old Nick" is just propaganda to keep Citizens from venturing too far from the City's smothering embrace but to those who have claimed to have seen the Blood Thorn they are more than happy to comply.

 

"So...we all met in a...pub?" Downtimes and premises

So, with the first game down its a good time to start talking about Downtimes and premises. Lets start with downtimes...


Downtimes are a chance for your character to collect clues, wrap up loose ends and further your characters goals.


For each game you attend you get 2xp
You get an additional 2xp for submitting a downtime
You may earn an additional 1xp for a Motley meeting/DT scene with an ST present
There is a xp cap of 5xp per month within the IOD except for overcap xp




Downtime Deadlines:


Here is an extract from the National chronicle guide:


Downtime actions are always due 2 weeks before the local game of the ST to whom they are addressed. This means that downtime actions to your LST are due 2 weeks before your local game. However if you wish to address a downtime to a different LST, they should receive it 2 weeks before their local game. Any downtime action received less than 2 weeks before the game will not generally be addressed until after that game. Exceptions are entirely at LST discretion and will generally only be granted when there is a clear IC urgency in response to a new and unexpected circumstance.


I'm placing the DT deadline at 11am two Sunday's after the game, any downtime that hits the email account more than a minute after this will count as late and you may not get a response before the game. If you can't make the deadline it is important you contact me beforehand and we can arrange a suitable extension.


Downtime Actions:


As standard each character gets 3 downtime actions per month. For each action I would like you to highlight the following:


1. What you are trying to achieve.
2. How you intend to achieve it.
3. What you are prepared to risk for it. (this is especially important if you are trying to cut a deal with an NPC)


In addition you get an additional action for each of the following you have on your sheet.*

• Allies: will do a favour for you within their purview
• Contacts: will answer one question asked of them within their purview**
• Hedge beast Companion: will perform a simple task based on their abilities***
• Mentor: Can teach or give advise within their purview
• Retainer: Will do favours for you, more efficient if within their purview
• Prophet Circle: Choose a topic and receive a 'related statement' per dot of prophet circle
• Slave: Will do whatever you say master...must always please the master...
• Visionary dreams: Receive a dream about a subject of your choice

*with the exception of visionary dreams and prophet circle these can be bought multiple times
** Contacts are now a single dot merit per contact
*** Choose three 'Tags' (Skills or Contracts) and I will stat you hedge beast to reflect that.


XP spends

XP spends do not cost a downtime action, unless specifically restricted by another addenda. There is no limit to the number of XP spends in one downtime, but you should not normally be expect to increase a single skill, attribute, power, etc. by more than 1 point each month. Your ST may also deny requests he or she feels are inappropriate for the character.

For XP spends I would like you to tag them into either an action in downtime or something relevant in uptime you have done in the last month (this can include buying but not selling the particular trait from the market).

This is especially so for learning the clauses of contracts as you have to actively seek out the platonic concept and strike a deal with it. I'm happy to run small linears in uptime to facilitate this.


Premises


Premises are a way for player to know what to expect from the upcoming games and are a good opportunity for characters to show achieve 'non plot related' character goals. e.g. setting up that fighting tournament or opening a pub your character has bought.

More importantly premises are a way for you the player to have a say in what happens during a changeling game and get creative in providing entertainment and challenges for your fellow players

Originally I wanted each of the four seasonal courts to host two games a year with the rest either being ST premises or premises from the lesser courts. However (given there are only 2 winter courtiers and 3 spring courtiers out of a playerbase of 20+) that might be a bit untenable...


anyway here is a spread sheet everyone should be able to access if you have an idea for a game you'd like to run please put down your name and a quick three word concept (e.g. rattlin, battlin, hedgebeasts) in the month you think you'd be able to run it in. If somebody has already written in the month you wanted just put your idea in a different colour underneath and we can work something out.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OCG9pT3FOAkOLGQ_4frOuw6AA4F3vUi8-aM1pmMPta8/edit?usp=sharing

A Byzantine web of words: Pledges and the Tower

Following on from the statting session you are probably all starting to come up with your motley pledges, and eyeing up that free blag :p , so for this post I thought I would talk about the importance of pledges and the local social conventions surrounding pledge making.
Pledges 101
Pledges are broken down into three different types

Vows: The most common pledges, these are simply a formal agreement to accomplish a task. A changeling can have their Wyrd+3 vows active at any time.
Oaths: More formalised pledges sworn on the name of an individual. Changelings can have up to three oaths (one on their own name, one on the name of their keeper and one invested in a higher power)
Corporeal: Similar to Oaths except they are investing an aspect of the Changeling. Changelings can up to five corporeal pledges (One attached to their seeming, one attached to their court, one attached to their entitlement [if they are in one], one on a mortal association they are a member of and one sworn on another who will act as their punisher should they break that pledge).

All pledges which your character has sworn must be submitted to me at norwich.lost.lst@islesofdarkness.com including the pledge wording and a mechanical breakdown for you to gain the mechanical benefits.


Oaths of allegiance
Although the ruling monarch has de jure absolute power, the size and complexity of administering a freehold (not to mention the reservations changelings naturally have towards people having power over them) has created a byzantine bureaucracy or various offices and titles that mark the various levels of power and status within the city. Upon entering office, including the lowliest of ranks- simple citizenship of the city, a Changeling is expected to make a formal oath of allegiance which outlines their duties and responsibilities. This always takes the form of an Oath or corporeal pledge as this limits the concentration of power in the hands of a few individuals, especially as not all offices expire alongside the changing of the crown.


Moreover all oaths of allegiance are sworn in Old English. This is because Changelings would rather used tried and tested pledges to hold their officials to account and fear that updating an oath into the modern tongue might inadvertently create loopholes: Received wisdom states that anyone who seeks power over their fellows is only a matter of steps removed from the Gentry and with the evolution of language words can take on different meanings in the eyes of the Wyrd to those intended by the signatories.
For those unable to speak the old tongue younger changelings have created the 'Speakers Pledge' to get round an archaic formality...


The Speakers Pledge
Okay, lets do this
no lies: we use the true tongue this day
Deal...
Vow
Task: Forbiddance (Medial)- do not tell a lie; the speakers pledge is used for deal making so its just common courtesy (-2)
Boon: Blessing- Language: Old English (+1)
Duration: Day- pledge should not last longer than is necessary (+1)

Freehold Pledge: The Citizens Pledge

Upon broken chains I swear this oath. ‘Till (rains of summer/ frost of winter) abide in both; I pledge my service to the Watchtower-Over-the Water. Within its walls shall I be stayed from slaughter and before the monarchs decrees shall I not falter. To its defence I swear my arm upon Sigil and on its walls I maintain my vigil. Upon these tasks may my clear eyes see and upon failure retribution seek for me.

Oath: The Name of the Keeper- increased risk of being taken back if pledge broken
Task: Forbiddance (Lesser) - do not kill another changeling within the city walls; though this is generally only assumed to apply within the walls of the hedge city a cautious fae would steer clear of doing their murdering within the walls of the mortal city as well (-1)
Task: Alliance (greater) - be vigilant, report or deal with threats to your city and your fellow citizens and obey the city bye laws   (-3)
Boon: Vassalage- the freehold is more than bricks and mortar, the freehold is more than a vow, it is a community. Members of the Freehold pledge receive a +1 to all clarity checks they are required to make (+3)
Boon: Adroitness- Signatories gain a greater insight into the use of weaponry for defending the city walls. (+1)
Sanction: Violence - though not explicit the penalty for betrayal is exile into the mortal world, enforced by the glare of their former peers and the knives at their backs. Those who choose to stay within the city walls may only use mundane armour to defend against attacks by members of the freehold. (-2)
Duration: Season- Though the ‘season’ is derived from the two conflicting seasons of the local hedge. The nature of the wyrd means that the pledge must be re-sworn every 89 days- ironically along the lines of the traditional four season of the mundane world (+2)

Monarchical Decrees of the Freehold:

1. Those who forsake their oaths shall not be afforded citizenship of the city.
2. Scouring for glamour with the city or otherwise defacing the city walls is forbidden.
3. Those who knowingly bargain with the enemies of the city will be withdrawn the city’s protection.
4. The following are listed as enemies of the city:
   1. The Gentry
   2. Loyalists
   3. Privateers
   4. Bridge burners
5. Those whose minds are deemed irrevocably unsound by the committee of freedom and stability, appointed from amongst the Bishopric of the city, will be withdrawn the city’s protection.
6. It is an offence to influence an official of the city in the enacting of their duties through means of violent or magical coercion.

A Maze of Thorns part 3: The Winter of Discontent

As the Unseelie assume power the abundance of life within the hedge beats a hasty retreat. The luscious canopy of thorns withers into short shrubs  and tall grasses. Lakes and rivers turn to peaty bogs or frozen sheets as a bitter wind beckons the arrival of snow. Water drains from the landscape, firming the ground into permafrost that reveals a vast subterranean landscape below. Hedge bounty and provisions are few and far between, found in isolated groves deep into the expanse or in grottos far below the surface. Hedge beasts can be found but fatality is most likely to come from starvation and the elements.
Winter Begins in the hedge during the witching hours of All Hallows Eve (31st October). The temperature suddenly drops as the rains of summer turn fist to sleet then hail then a blizzard of snow. Vision becomes near zero and the very earth below an observers feet begins to shift...All this is based on speculation as none have lived to give a personal account of how the hedge topography changes.


Environmental Hazards
The cold is a constant threat for anyone traversing the hedge in winter. Howling winds and regular snowstorms severely increase the wind-chill one experiences, forcing changelings to see shelter off the paths. Sources of nourishment are few and far between meaning that someone planning on entering the hedge must pack provisions in case they have to hunker down for the night. Though the ground is generally permafrost there are large stretches of peat bogs which can prove fatal if one falls in. Finally due to the seemingly less dense nature of the hedge in winter, it has often been speculated that hedge beasts and other creatures find it easier to track and hunt their prey.


In the subterranean 'underworld' hazards come in the form of cave-in's and underwater lakes. This can be especially dangerous as viable hedge gates out of the catacombs are hard to come by, leaving changelings stranded to an unknown fate on more than one occasion.


Local Flora and Fauna
Blindbirds
Small avian hedge beasts resembling a black feathered Merlin with heavily sunken eyes. The Blindbirds are said to be an omen of death, appearing only when a changeling is at their most vulnerable. It is said they can offer aid in return for a pound of flesh...
Briar Wolves
Bestial humanoid wolves with long forearms. Briar wolves always hunt in packs, appearing from nowhere across the expanse of the hedge they circle their pray looking for signs of weakness...


Etaynes
Standing almost forty feet in height, with four muscular gangrel arms, the Etaynes are giants pulled straight from Anglo-Saxon myth. Wandering the vast tundra always in search of their next meal the Etaynes more than live up to their 'devourer' moniker. With the power to tear apart a poorly hidden hollow or, speculatively, able to tear down the city walls: when one emerges from the deep hedge it is a matter of priority that it is taken down quickly.
Rumours:

1. I don't know about you, but it seems to me that the Etaynes are becoming more frequent. For some reason they seem to be attracted to the walls: is anyone even looking into them, where they come from or like? If you ask me if nothing's done about it then there might come a time when you cant even venture out into the hedge without one of them coming after you.
2. Sometimes when you're out in  the Hedge you see giant standing stones: well that's an Etayne slumbering...yeah many of them have the ability to turn to stone and sleep for a long time...so you ever spot a nice inviting cave to shelter in you just might be doing the giants work for him...

Gloom Drake
Bioluminescent and petit Wyverns that live in the catacombs that seem to be made from smoke and shadow: Gloom Drakes are an inherent contradiction between the monster in the dark and the fear of the unknown. They are obsessed with riddles, a hallmark of the quick-witted delicacies amongst the minds that it feasts upon.

Suicide Trees
Standing solitary by the intersection of two Trods or growing above the ruins of a long departed hollow, the willowy and drooping branches of a Suicide Tree are both a warm comfort and an ill omen. Suicide trees take the appearance of  a large yew tree with its thick branches tapering off into long gnarled tendrils. Apart from small blister like buds the tree looks dead and gives off the musty smell of decay. Despite this, a Suicide Tree is the best natural shelter one can find when a storm or nightfall hits the hedge.
Rumours:

1.  If you cut open a suicide tree blood will pour out, useful to know cause I heard that when some of the hedge experts get wounded they ingest it, though I hear transfusions better,  and their wounds nit back together. It even slows down poisons and diseases to a near standstill...Well if its that good why hasn't anyone tried to harvest it I wonder.
2. Suicide trees only grow in a place where death occurred, now before you say no shit its the fucking hedge, I mean significant tragedy like a motley being killed trying to prevent one of them from taking a friend back to faerie...those trees give me the creeps, there always feels like there is some dark oppressive weight hanging over them; a sense of dread that is all the more acute if you're Unseelie like me...

Wodwos

The descendants of Cain and his ilk, Grendel, Krampus, Wildmen: there are many names that have been attributed to the Wodwos. Standing over six feet tall, with ram horns and cloven hooves for feet, their hair covered bodies cut the silhouette of the devil. Though they wear fur and leather hides like a man they are covered in shaggy hair which protects them from the worst of the elements. Their faces bulge with a vicious muzzle that opens to reveal an array of sharp fangs. Wodwos are particularly interesting not just because of their sentience, having some sort of nomadic hob society, but for the fact each shows noticeable variations in both appearance and abilities.

Rumours:

1. 'The Church of Lost Salvation' says that only those chosen by god can escape faerie...so what about all those sick buggers that somehow manage to get out...well the way I heard it the Wodwos are actually changelings who have spent too much time in the hedge: either they somehow escaped their keepers without divine intervention or they are those who turned their back on god...
2. Though the Wodwos are little more than barbarian hobs they aren't completely stupid: if you can earn their respect then you can negotiate with them and in the time of want that can mean the difference between life and death for a hedge traveller. but don't go getting all naïve, they are a bunch of heathen lowlifes and are just as happy to sell you out to loyalists as help you out...

Yow-Yow's
There was once a story of an old sea captain whose ship was wrecked in a storm off the Norfolk coast. Despite the wailing cries of him and his crew the fishermen of the local village would not launch their boats, for their greed to acquire salvage was greater than the compassion for their fellow man. It is said that with his dying breath the captain cursed a vengeance upon those unwilling to act...its a lovely story but to changelings who take heed to the legend of the Yow-Yows one should not be so rash in the making of pledges. Nobody exactly knows what the Yow-Yow's are: beyond the local folkore they are the ravings of the mad and despirate. Those fully given over to the emotions of the Unseelie courts...
Rumours:

1. You remember Di, the winter courtier fresh out the hedge last year...Yeah the one whose mantle flared up all of a sudden...well I went down to the catacombs a couple of months back to search for hedge fruit and I saw her...well I say her but it was her bloated rotting drowned corpse...stared right at me and tried to drown me in and underground lake...look I'm NOT making this up, anyone who tells you death is a way out they're bullshitting...
2. Yow-Yow's are kind of half banshee, half siren...they're ephemeral beings from beyond the grave that try to drown you...but even if you 'escape' you just defer the suffering...They're an omen of death and if you don't pay the price someone close to you gets drawn into the bargin...how do I know this? Ms Crowley confided it to someone at a function...well she's always saying don't go down into the catacombs...

A Maze of Throns part 2: The Summer of All Dead Souls

During the time in which the Seelie Courts are ascendant the local hedge transforms with a deluge into a thick mist filled swamp that washes away or severely warps all but the most well maintained Trods. Through it is still possible to navigate by foot, those who seek to travers the hedge in this season are wise to invest in a Wherry. However, for one daring to enter its many misty bayous and dark enveloped broads the multitude of groves containing hedge bounty offer an enticing reward.


Summertime in the hedge begins during the witching hours of Walpurgis Night (30th April). Those who have become temporarily trapped in the hedge during this transformation have claimed that as the crown shifts from Winter to Summer the hedge begins to heat up. The snow and ice thaws into a thick mist the blinds the viewer from the terraforming that takes place. Anybody caught out during the transformation will find the heavy rains wash away this mist to revel an unfamiliar part of the deep hedge.


Environmental Hazards
The Hedge in summer is bathed in a putrid humidity. Steam and fog rises over the oily waters or from the 'coast' making navigation difficult at the best of times and can occasionally render visibility to near zero. Out in the marshes willow-the-wisps dance to attract the unwary to watery graves. This presents a dilemma for the Lost of recent times as received wisdom says an exit can be found around the 'shadows' of the Mortal realm: in a time where Street lighting is been an ever present feature of the Mortal realm one can never be sure if the light in the fog invites salvation or death.


Local Flora and Fauna


Briar Wolves
Nimble pack animals that resemble wolves with long front limbs used for combat or fishing along the riverbanks. Although they both appear and display animalistic traits, their eyes are all too human albeit one with atavistic tendencies. Unlike in other regions, the common Briar wolf is relatively low down the food chain.

Heracleum Mantegazzianum Rex (A.K.A. Regal Hogweed)
Introduced into Britain as an ornamental plant in 1893, the invasive phototoxic weed known as 'Giant Hogweed' soon escaped domestication to find a new home in the hedge. Its wyrd mutated 'hob' counterpart, the Regal Hogweed, has evolved to become top of the local food chain. Standing up to eight feet tall on three squat growths, the Regal Hogweed digs its toe like roots into the silt of the marshland to walk along the banks of the many hedge rivers and gullies. It is a slow and lumbering creature which hunts via a ring of bud like sensors around its mid torso, a collection of fine hair like thorns on its lower body and along its roots (though it is still hotly debated by members of the autumn court what exactly these appendages detect. Its distinctive floral 'crown', similar to other species in the Hogweed family,  emits a sweet smell that entices other creatures to climb upon its Green and red speckled stalk 'neck' either to taste its nectar or the hedge fruit that sometimes grows from it. Its bulb like head contains a long vine like tongue which it uses to deliver its venom which first weakens and then paralyses its prey for consumption, often displaying symptoms of Phytophotodermatitis in the victim.
Rumours:

1. I'm sure you've noticed it too; but where there's one hogweed a few more are certain to be around. I have a friend see who said he saw a group of them surround and pin down a swamp dragon...husked it in a matter of minutes he said...Can't be true right: I mean how would they even coordinate a thing like that...dumb plants...
2. You know Annabel Lee gets anyone who's encountered the Hogweed to go into quarantine right: taking liberties I say...literally. However, I heard once this autumn courtier went to study them and ended up breathing in too many of their spores so that one of those things grew inside him... used his corpse as a puppet until it decayed to collapse and the weed was at full maturity...horrible way to go if you ask me...

Lantern Men
Traveling at night in the hedge can be even more dangerous than travelling by day: the arching branches of the thorns form a thick canopy blocking the pale moon light and many a fool has been led to a watery demise following the light of spontaneously combusting swamp gas. Except not all the lights on the marshes are that banal. Once the sun begins to set beneath the horizon the Lantern men go on the prowl. No accurate description beyond a spectral figure with long raking claws and a lantern on its right middle digit exists but a Changeling knows one is near by from the deep seated sense of unease they feel. Their ambiguous nature has made some to speculate that they might be some sort of 'double take' caused by prolonged stay in the hedge, the Clarity of the witness or the weight of a guilty conscience.
Rumours:

1. I have a friend who is a darkling, proper goth child but she's pretty on the level...anyway she says she can understand what the Lantern Men are saying...it's like you have to listen carefully to the voice in the breeze or some shit like that. Apparently she also does 'favours' for them, weird things like collecting the heads of dolls and leaving them under a certain tree near a hedge gate...
2. I heard the reason nobody knows exactly what the lantern men look like is because your brain actively tries to shut their image out...I've heard people say they are attracted to noise but I reckon its concentrating on them that draws them in...why you ask? Well I heard from a friend of a friend about this kid who kept seeing shadow monsters in their room at night and whenever they talked about it to someone more seemed to turn up that evening...I bet they harvest peoples dreams but they need a way in and cause we can lucid dream we have some sort of natural defence mechanism.

Nicor
Anglo-Saxon and pan-Germanic folklore tells of serpentine creatures dwelled in river and mere. Though many surviving  tales depict such creatures as ambivalent water sprites such as the Nix of the Rhine and the Danube, the Nicor are brutal, ugly and cunning. Nicor can grow up to 20 feet long from the tip of their long Gavialidae snout to the tip of their tail and are noted for having a scaly 'humanoid' torso which they propel with webbed talons on the end of muscular arms. Beyond their pelvis is a long reptilious tail with two vestigial legs which it uses to balance upon the river bed when it rears up to attack. Nicor are solitary and territorial creatures which predate using the murky waters and the element of surprise.
Rumours:

1. Its pretty stupid to think of the Nicor as simple beasts, like all 'wyrm's they are dangerously intelligent and have an insatiable greed...it is possible to negotiate 'safe' passage through a Nicor's territory if you can offer the right price...and catch one in a good mood...
2. Many tales tell of the Nicor luring dupes into peril with music but that's not strictly true. Sure they are known to 'sing' a deep throaty baritone but its not to lure prey so much as to herd them by attracting other creatures: it just triggers some primal instinct in hedge beasts and draws them closer...

Spencer's Nepenthe

A giant and colourful plant that appears on the banks and amongst the trees on small islands. Spencer's Nepenthe is a carnivorous plant resembling the 'pitcher plants' of more tropical regions. However, it has a unique method of luring prey by emitting a mixture of pheromones and sound mimicry that gives the unwary the belief one of their kind is in grave danger.

Swamp Dragons
Truly the rarest but most dangerous creatures during summer. Swamp dragons are seldom seen outside the deeper hedge in areas containing large bodies of water. They are fierce two legged creatures, similar in appearance to the sea Wyvern, that can grow in excess of 60 feet yet in their wetland homes can easily hide below the waters due to the purply-black hide. They breath out concentrated methane gas which they can either ignite as a flame weapon or use to poison would be attackers. Swamp dragons are one of the few 'wild' creatures that can pose a significant threat to 'The Tower' and if one strays too close it will become the subject of a hunt.
Rumours:

1. Look, if you don't believe me I wouldn't blame you but from what I heard the Dragons actually have a 'society' of sorts...full of intrigue and wot not, but then what would you expect from something that's only a few steps away from one of them. so how do I know? Well 'Big Al' sends some of his boys out in the first few days of Summer, all draconics right, carrying some bundles of paper like their lives depend upon it...from what I've heard the dragons send any of there's who've caused too much trouble our way and anyone who the monarch needs to disappear fast gets sent off to them...every body wins then except the poor buggers that get stickked...
2. So all hedge beasts can enter the mortal realm right...well what could a full on dragon hide itself as I wonder? Well, I was hanging around the mortal realm a few years back when there was that massive oil tanker spill and the PR guy doing the rounds with smug insincerity looked just like one of those fucker's...you don't think they were behind it???

Wyrd-Mites
Wyrd-Mites are small insectoid creatures similar to ticks in that they lay their eggs in the skin of their prey. These parasitic creatures are little more than a minor annoyance  in most circumstances but as they live through siphoning glamour from their host one should always be weary.

"Your backstory is factually incredulous..."

So its coming round to that time when people probably have at least a concept, and in the case of most people I've talked to a group concept, for the characters they want to play in the new chronicle. With the planned stating session fast approaching it's time to start looking at what I would like from people prior. What I want to do with the Changeling slot of the statting session is for players to generate character ties, form motleys or group concepts (as I'm expecting players being players to already have started statting characters).


Before the statting session:

1. If you haven't yet I would suggest reading my blog posts; 'From National to Local Level' and 'The Changeling Courts of Norwich' posts are the most important for getting the getting the tone of the game I am running.
2. Could you please email me at norwich.lost.lst@islesofdarkness.com with the seeming, Kith and Court you intend to play as well as a one sentence character concept.
3. If you are planning on having anything at beginning of chronicle that might require an approval (I would use the old chronicle Lost addenda as a reference for that) could you also include that in the email.
4. Have a think about the answers to the Character questionnaire below

For people who are in the process of statting you have 160xp as per the addenda (150xp plus two months cap due to Requiem restarting earlier). No trait can start at five with the exception of Wyrd (if you really want to put all your xp into it) and the attribute selected for Arcadian body (in which case you cannot raise that attribute to six at character creation). This gives players something to aim for as a character goal. On top of that characters may earn a one time award of 2xp for submitting a background (to earn this you will need to submit a completed character questionnaire) and a further one time award of 1xp for providing an IC biography for distribution to all players.


As per the universal setting document, If you also want a secondary Lost character they will have to belong to a different domain.


The Character Questionnaire
So rather than a traditional backstory that narrates what has happened to a particular character before the Chronicle start I would like players to answer a series of questions about their character (a la God Machine Chronicle). The reason I am doing this, and the reason this post is titled, is because Clarity is how a Changeling sees and responds to reality. Being broken down in Arcadia and attempting to rebuild themselves, Changeling's don't have access to any sort of objective reality and more than most people have to seriously question their own memories. Therefore instead of telling me what happened to your character tell me what your character believes.


Below are 25 questions that I would like you to answer about your character. Not all of them may be applicable to your character and its cool for you to answer some with 'no one' or 'nothing' but try to explain that as the more you put in the more I can take out. Fell free to answer some IC and others OOC. I would suggest reading the four subheadings below first as they detail what I'm looking for in a backstory and might help you answer some of the more left field questions.


For people who still want to write a 'traditional' backstory I would suggest writing it as the IC biography (just remember everything in that biography is easily obtainable IC knowledge).


The Duality of Changelings
So pretty much everyone I have already spoken to about what they are intending to play in the new chronicle has only mentioned their 'Fae' persona with no reference to their 'Human' life (which to be honest is fair as no one ever got enthused about playing a guy struggling to hold down a menial nine-to-five job...especially when you can play a dragon). However one of the core themes of Changeling is navigating the thin tightrope of this duality, even the most dogmatic Spring courtier's actions are informed by the person they perceived they were. What I want is for players to think about the mundane challenges their characters face and the dissonance between their lives before and after Arcadia.


Motive Vs. Circumstance
I'm going to be honest here, as an ST tool I don't like player backstories. The backstories I have read have all been really enjoyable reads  and have provide insightful, but when you have to periodically go over them looking for plot worthy details it can be time consuming and sometimes, in the context of the plot you want to run, unproductive. What I really want is the answers to three questions: 'what can I bait your character with?', 'what can I do to harm your character?' and 'where does your character want to go?'
Therefore, by asking for a background in the form of this Character questionnaire I have a quick reference for various circumstances that might come up in play. From a player perspective, this also puts the emphasis on a characters reasons for doing something rather than simply reporting stuff that has happened; I've tried to make the questions as open ended as possible so players can put their own spin and emphasis on them. After all, how you define a question can be as insightful as the content of the answer.


An Anthology of Memories
Most Folkloric characters don't have an established chronology of action and consequence, instead there are usually multiple episodic tales attributed to them. In my own experiences playing with an established and ordered background makes it less likely it will come into play for fear of going 'too far down the rabbit hole': everyone usually has that one skeleton in the closet from their backstory that they simultaneously want to come up in game but don't want other characters to use against them. This makes players less likely to openly draw on their characters experiences because this can lead to unwanted scrutiny. By breaking up a backstory into a series of questions you can make each answer a self contained story which is easier to offer up on the alter of good roleplay.


'Trigger Warnings'
Everyone has things that make them uncomfortable in a roleplaying environment for various reasons: although I am pitching Lost as an Urban Fantasy WOD in general is a horror game and as such there should be times when there is tension and unease. So with that in mind, using a questionnaire instead of a traditional background players can give me things they are comfortable with but will freak their characters out. (As an aside if there is something you are uncomfortable with coming up in play feel free to drop me a discreet message and it won't turn up).
Moreover, from an in character perspective Changelings will only vaguely remember the rules of Faerie and undoubtedly have forgotten the rhyme or reason behind them. As such the Lost harbour many superstitions which they believe either ward off or attract the Gentry.

1. Who are you?
2. Who were you?
3. What are you?
4. What is the worst thing you have done?
5. What is the worst thing you could imagine yourself doing?
6. What is the worst thing you can imagine someone else doing?
7. What did you endure?
8. What have you forgotten?
9. What brought you back?
10. What have you lost?
11. What do you intend to (re)claim?
12. What three rules will you never break?
13. Who doesn't know, but suspects you are not exactly 'human'?
14. Who could give you up to the Gentry right now, if they really wanted to?
15. Have you ever considered working for the Gentry?
16. What will you protect at all costs?
17. What are ‘acceptable losses’?
18. What keeps the wolves from your door?
19. What is your sweetest dream?
20.  ...and your most chilling nightmare?
21.  What do you bring to the Freehold?
22.  What does the Freehold do for you?
23.  What’s that in the corner of your eye?
24. "That you can only see me because you are mad, does not mean that I do not really exist". Who said that?
25. 'Freedom is Slavery'. Discuss.

 

The Changeling Courts of Norwich part 5: The Leaden Mirror

The work of God can be destroyed by the work of the Devil,

 just as we are now discussing the effects of Witchcraft.

But since this can only be done by the permission of God,

it does not at all follow that the Devil is stronger than God.

- The Malleus Maleficarum

There was a time when the Leaden Mirror commanded both fear and respect amongst the citizens of 'The Tower', even before the sorcerers feud however their influence was on the wain. The Silent Arrow commands begrudging respect because it is the leader of the Unseelie court but the Leaden Mirror can claim no such authority. As such, those more ignorant from the other courts easily dismiss their 'mad, dangerous and unethical' research as an abomination against the 'Church of Lost Salvation'. Although these concerns have never crossed the line into open persecution, Changelings of the Leaden Mirror know full well that they walk a precarious path between true insight into the war against the Gentry and the hell that is paved with their 'good intentions'.

Living on the Edge

The Leaden Mirror dedicates its efforts to the understanding of two things, the fears of others and the magic of the True Fae. This in turn provokes suspicion and revilement from more 'respectable' citizens who would seek to learn another's fears without intent to use it against them, and perhaps more importantly could anyone learn the secrets of the others without bringing the consequences down on others. Their compulsion to discover the hidden depths and mysteries often portrays them as 'Faustian' figures on the fringes of sanity and common decency.

That doesn't mean however that the freehold won't accept any of the Leaden Mirrors findings: the scholars of the Leaden Mirror may practise all manner fringe theories and time and again it has been the unique insight of one such individual that has staved off a threat to the City at large. Moreover, it is members of the Leaden Mirror that best understand the City walls and take the lead in maintenance and repairs.

Simon Pierce  Autumn Leader
“Just <bzzzt> leave it on the worktop there and I’ll have a look at it this evening”
The Autumn court doesn’t talk about it but there is a reason that Mr Pierce speaks with their authority. The Leaden Mirror was once a divided group, two sorcerers had feuded for leadership but their ambition plunged the court into disgrace. With wounds still raw what was needed was a leader who was not controversial…was not divisive. Simon Pierce was a low ranking member of the court what had not picked a side; in fact he had spent most of his time rebuilding his life within the mortal world. Simon Pierce works as a senior architect for a local practice and is an expert in hedge spinning and token making. To the citizens of Westwyk he is nothing less than a hero showing that they can truly ‘have it all’ but the higher ups are getting concerned and the sword of Damocles seems to dangle ever more precariously above his head

Elemental: Manekin
Mantle: 3
Entitlement: Unknown
Mask: A scruffy looking man in practical outdoors clothing. He seems perpetually preoccupied with something or other as if he cannot keep his hands or his mind still. He is rarely seen without a sketchbook.

Mein: Simon has a cold, metallic and angular face. His articulations are accompanied by the ticking of cogs, hampered only by the bellows of his lungs. It looks as if he’s always listening for the sound, as if he is hoping it’s just his mind playing tricks.
Noticeable Mechanics: None

Rumours:

• That whole stick about reclaiming his old life back, I bet its not even real...he seems to spend all his time abseiling on the walls...I bet he's not even a neutral party either: his whole token expertise probably puts him as Annabel's marionette...
• ...Senior architect, that's more than just sticking your head above the parapet and he's not been dragged kicking and screaming to you know where...What kind of deal has he done to keep that cushy number???
• I got a visit from Si a couple of weeks back, middle of the night he just turns up all panicked like and muttering about god knows what...anyway when I managed to calm him down he sort of froze up and didn't want to talk about it...it was like he had found something out but didn't know who to trust with it...

Dr Sleep   Autumn’s Legate of Mists

“…”
If you go out on the streets at night, talk to the right people and hand over some cash you too can hear the legend of Dr Sleep: The Homeless of Norwich have three rules, keep an eye out for each other, don’t go into a place marked with a chalk star and hide if you hear the sound of bells…because that’s when the good doctor comes calling. The Good doctor is a powerful Oneiromancer who takes a cynical view towards the Mortal Realm as an accident waiting to happen. Moreover, being one of the two sorcerers he hasn’t taken too kindly to the current status quo amongst his court, believing the whole court should follow his acolytes devote themselves to the study of fears and superstition.

Darkling: Skitterskilk
Mantle: 3 (Unseelie)

Entitlement: Unknown
Mask: The Good Doctor is shabbily dressed in a long coat, frock and tails, remminisant of rogues and vagrants of the Victorian era.
Mein: The Good Doctor never quite seems there, as if he’s merely an extension of the shadows. His face moreover looks like it is wrapped up in black cloth like a crude executioner’s hood. Two sunken eyes glare out of this freakish ‘garment’ though there is no trace of a nose or mouth.

Noticeable Mechanics: Gentrified Bearing, Fame 1 (Urban Legend)

Rumours:

• I was in one of the Summer expeditions out into the hedge last winter and we came across this line of posts blocking the trod. each had a skull facing towards the deeper hedge and a candle in the mouth which by all laws of heaven and earth should have been blown out in that bitter wind...Apparently the good Doctor put them there but why???
• You know The Good Doctor can kill you in your sleep...no, not like any old darkling creeping up on you in the middle of the night but actually kill you in your dreams...I heard that if you fuck up, and I mean really fuck up so exile seems like getting away with it, he'll pay you a final visit next time you close your eyes...
• I heard The Good Doctor has a hobby for collecting memories...apparently he has a secret room in his hollow where they are all on display and sometimes samples them...more worryingly though I head he likes to take memories from Changelings because he likes to study its effect on their clarity...

Annabel Lee  The Witch of the Bitter Wind

"Please! I have more important matters to deliberate…go pester an ibecile like the doctor on such trivial matters”
Annabel is the most noted scholar within the walls of the tower. Quick to anger and one who does not suffer fools gladly her feud with Dr Sleep almost tore the Autumn court in two and severely weakened their influence amongst the freehold. She is known as a capable battle sorceress who condones the rivalries and infighting amongst her coven for her praise and the arcane secrets she bestows as a reward.

Fairest: Telluric/Brightone
Mantle: 4 (Unseelie)
Entitlement: Unknown
Mask: A stern librarian who is angered by your presence disturbing the ambiance of her sanctum. Her facial expressions move from contorted displeasure to forced smile. Her skin is fair and only extenuates the brightness of her red mane. She has constellations tattooed on her arms.

Mein: Annabel is a collection of lights forming constellations like the map of the Northern Hemisphere. She speaks with a voice that seems to echo from a great distance.
Noticeable Mechanics: Siren Song

Rumours:

• Autumn may have an understanding but I give it a few months tops. Annabel's followers have been getting rather vocal at late and I bet she is going to make another play for her courts leadership. You better choose a side now otherwise you'll be caught in the crossfire...
• If you can impress her with some display of Fae magic I head Annabel is looking for an apprentice...another one so soon you ask, well you remember how changed the last one was since they both journeyed into the hedge alone...and then one night she just disappeared without a trace, whatever Annabel showed her no good will come of it...
• Look I've seen a lot in my time, I know what different seeming's are capable of and hell I've even seen some of the weird shit the lesser courts can pull of...but one time my motley was escorting Annabel into the hedge when we were attacked by hedge beasts....and seriously man the shit she was pulling off was unlike anything else I had seen before: she couldn't have come by a trick like that naturally is what I'm saying...