From National to Local level

Castle Gormenghast, one of the main inspirations for 'The Watchtower over the Water'

Welcome Stranger, to your happily ever after...

So, this is the first blog post for an extended players guide for IOD Norwich Lost. I am going to be using this blog to expand upon my original VSS, particularly in creating a visual guide for the 'Watchtower over the Water' (OOC: the Local Freehold) which is entirely hedge based, through to describing what you may find venturing out into the hedge proper and the societal context the people of 'The Tower' live in.

As the game exists in a national context, and the GST team has recently reiterated what game they are running at a national level, the best place to start is with the National Themes (black bold) and how they fit with my vision for the local game (black italics).

Important Context note: The new chronicle begins nationally in the context of a recent 'hot war' between the Free Lost and the Loyalists. This has wound down for both sides to rearm after twenty years of conflict. For more information read the Lost Reset doc.

If you wish to look over my VSS again it can be found here.

Universal Theme :

The space between - This theme is all about what you are now as compared to what you were, it's about inhumanity and I've put in a Lost Genre Theme directly to answer this (See below: You can never go home).

Universal Mood:

Alienated - Changelings shouldn't be able to integrate, whether it's the insanity or the fact that they begin with nothing, something should be not quite right about them and humanity should sense that not-quite-rightness.

The Sleeping Tiger - Humanity is a problem, the main weapon of the Loyalists during the war has been tricking humanity into attacking Free Lost materials and creating environments hostile to changelings. Humans can't distinguish you either, in the same way that a vampire thinks you're something weird, humanity will view you as a monster, and the likelihood that you'll be viewed a lone monster without a society, or that doesn't fit neatly into their categorisations means that they might be bolder in their vigilante hunting.

Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose - freeholds and courts exist for a reason…

Lost is a game of striving to reclaim what was once 'lost' but what does that actually mean. As it can be seen in the National setting the blatant 'Wyrdness' of Changelings makes it hard to integrate back into their former lives. Either the time elapse and inconsistencies of their memories arouse the suspicions of their loved ones or your connection to the Wyrd, and the internalised mannerisms, mores and ettiquete learned in Faerie just unsettle people.

That doesn't mean you can't strive for these things but its going to be an uphill struggle. Maybe all the heart-felt suffering and torturing madness just isn't worth it? That's where the 'The Tower' comes in. Whereas most freeholds are simply an institution that offers support and comradeship that exists on the fringes of mortal society, 'The Tower' physically exists as a tangible counter culture existing amongst the wilderness of the Hedge. Steeped in Anglo-Saxon and medieval culture and values it goes further than most to be an actual state run by the Lost for the Lost. Here, so the idea goes, the Free Lost can live an mundane and stable life unperturbed by the prejudice of mortals or the schemes of loyalists.

Local Theme:
This green unpleasant land: The life of a Free lost is harsh, returning to a world that has moved on the perils of loyalists, privateers and even sections of mortal society can for some seem just too much for the hard won scraps a changeling can collect as a semblance of existence. Even those who have forsaken the real world to live in the ‘Tower’ rarely venture beyond its walls for fear the things that lie within the surrounding hedge. The theme of the game is the souring of that ‘promised land’ that the Free Lost have strived to reach tinged with a constant hope that they can make a real impact on their situation for the better.

What I want to focus on is characters trying to find a role for themselves and more importantly a ‘home’ whether that is trying to reintegrate into their old life, forging a new one in the mortal world or throwing their lot entirely with the freehold and its ‘hedge utopia’. Furthermore, I want to focus on the morality and ethics of Changeling’s main themes, returning and readjusting to a world that has moved on without you, and have characters questioning the very meaning of returning ‘home’ as much as striving towards those goals.

The focus therefore  should be about making those first stumbling footsteps into a new life, the losing of naivety and the struggling against despair. I would prefer players to play relatively newly escaped changeling, unless you have a cool thematic and characterful reason for your character to have more than a few months under their belts as a Free Lost, who doesn't yet have the answers to those questions and is most likely seeking to go out and reclaim their birth right.

Local Mood: 
The mood for Norwich lost is an overbearing and quite claustrophobic sense of history. History gives birth to legend and legend gives birth to myth: it is these great myths that the wyrd thrives on. Even in the context of the National setting the NPC elements of the Freehold should feel stuffy at best and part of something completely alien to their experiences at their worst. Changeling is about those whose lives were taken from them and how they try to take them back using the power of the Wyrd. But the Wyrd, being something of the Fae and not of this earth, is equally a millstone around their necks. In the absence of certainty superstition thrives, things are done the way they are because there haven't been problems before and when dealing with something as capricious as the Wyrd its considered best to err on the side of caution. As the NPC elements of the Freehold warn not to upset the cart because of ‘consequences’, the more bohemian PC’s should be thinking ‘fuck you’ because out there is what brought them back and they’re not ready to let go of that after suffering so much to make it this far…

Going back to the 'Space between' National theme, 'The Tower' has clearly planted its flag on the 'Fae' side of changeling nature. On countless occasions it has made 'harsh' and 'morally wrong' decisions for the benefit of its continued survival because the Wyrd does not recognise morality or the rules of Humanity. I've done this because there is no drama to be had from a balanced opinion. As characters you have to decide where you stand either on the 'Human' side attempting to redress the problems of the world, through codes of ethics and morality (which is what I expect most players, being players, will want to do) or side with the cynicism of the freehold because Freedom has a price and if you are not prepared to pay when it is due then you do not deserve your freedom.

So that's the general theme and mood. Below is a further breakdown of how Lost will feel in the national game and what I'm doing locally to reflect that.

The Hedge is a wild and scary place (National - Environmental)

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One of the many casualties of the war was a sense that Changelings had a degree of control over their environment, cultivated hedge gardens, well-maintained hedge hollows and ancient ruins which were the resources of the Freeholds all began to untamed and were reclaimed by the thorns as Hedge wardens and gardeners were called to the front lines. Trods that had stood for years were lost, and the secrets of the hedge gates died with the courtiers entrusted with the secrets.

A wild untamed hedge is a dangerous place, filled with monsters and traps for the unwary traveller.

We will be supporting this theme at a national level…preparing some creatures - War machines created by both sides during the millennial conflict, crazy experiments that have gone awry, the Market alliance is very much part of this, while you're in a goblin market it now feels like you're in an untamed foreign country where the rules aren't there to support you.

When 'The Tower' was first founded many of the escaped changelings died in the first year due to the ravaging horrors of the hedge. Locally the Hedge has two seasons: a steaming swampland in summer and a barren tundra in winter (it is from these change of seasons that the Monarchy of the Freehold changes every six months between Summer and Winter). In summer monstrous hedge beasts wander through the fog, swamp dragons and serpentine Nicor prowl and predate the unwary traveller seeking out the abundant hedge fruit while even the vegetation can poison or digest those that lack the right survival skills. In winter the elements themselves become a travellers worst adversary, chill winds and a lack of resources have formed the death of many a changeling driven by desperation to forage for supplies. More frightening is the fact the paths seem to constantly shift as the rains of summer and the ice of winter cut new channels and paths or seal old ones. For those whose duty it is to venture out into this inhospitable landscape respect and pity can be found in equal measure.

The war isn't over - it's just, it's quieter now (National - Political)

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20 years of occassionally fierce fighting have ended not with a bang but with a whimper, both sides are exhausted and are taking this lull in the fighting to rebuild their forces. If you want to know what preoccupies the Monarchs so much that they can't get involved in your day to day lives this is it. Militias have become the norm outside of the control of the Freeholds, dangerous warbands with both sanction and resources to cause real problems to freeholds.

The loyalists have also not gone away, what exists now is a perpetual cold war, small turf battles over areas neither side could truly hold but for which they will fight tooth and nail to gain support. The winter court is enjoying a period where they are the primary actors in this conflict and resources are being directed to them to help them gather information and perform counter-espionage.

All of the courts in a way are in a heightened sense of battle preparedness, I'm not sure how this translates to the Spring Court yet, but it's effects should be solidly felt in the regimented ranks of Summer, a strongly organised Autumn court (quiet academics no longer cut the mustard) and especially in the Winter court, where mysterious orders from their masters might come at any time.

It could be said that for a long time the citizens of 'The Tower' have hid behind their walls. they offer safety against the Loyalist mallitia's but on the other hand have isolated them from the world around, with word only reaching the Freehold from the mouths of refugees. It is said that once 'The Tower' was the capital of a Free Kingdom of the East but that its secondary cities, such as Seager-ma-hole, were left to their own fate as the boundaries of the once grand Freehold receded.

From a court perspective, as the Freehold has militarised to protect its remaining assets

From Summers ranks the Knights and rangers are found to protect its boarders

In Winter is found the strategists that plan and scheme

From Spring the rites and laws are observed so the Lost do not forget their past

In Autumn insight was once found but an internal feud has brought them into disrepute.

And Dawn brings the light and righteousness of the lord, so that its chosen people may remain within their promised land.

You can never go home (National - Personal Impact)

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You can't seriously expect to own a publicly owned business that advertises to the Free Lost and not have some balls at this time.

Loyalist manipulate humanity to reject the Free Lost wherever they feel comfortable. They will tear down lives, they will set fire to your workshops, they will attempt to get you arrested under false credentials.

Keep your head down, prepare your hidden identities carefully, prepare for the worst.

I'm not saying people can't own tea shops, or run pubs, that they can't work as school teachers. I'm just saying this day-to-day should be another battleground in the war.

Players that are aiming for high clarity should have an uphill struggle not to get dragged back in.

I also wanted to remind STs that the default assumption if the player doesn't opt out, is that they have a fetch, and that this should in some way affect them. Fate isn't going to allow dopplegangers not to meet in the Lost genre.

I think that considering Fetches are an important part of a changeling's return you need to have a good reason not to have a fetch (p.s 'I want my old life' is not a good reason). That is not to say that you might not have before chronicle start had running's in with your Fetch; If people have cool ideas for the relationship with their fetch feel free to drop me a line to discuss it because there is a lot you can do with a fetch...

Regarding what you can and cannot do in your day to day lives, I really want the drama of trying to make a place for yourself an important part of your characters story. I'm not going to say you out and out cannot take a more public position but I will be gunning for you (and exploiting any weakness or slip up) if this is the story you choose. The fact Simon Pierce (the nominal Autumn leader) has such respect is he is fighting that battle every day and seemingly winning, so I'm not going to make your character unplayable but if you do choose to have a public profile expect severe scrutiny.