Echoes of the Past: A Changeling: the Lost 1.0 story

[ladia2287]

The year is 1987. The Freehold has, for twelve years, been ruled with an almost tyrannical hand by the Courts of the Four Directions. Seasonally-inclined Changelings have been frequently bullied and harassed, and even attacked on occasion. The four ruling Monarchs, all Directional courtiers, are disinterested in these problems and for the most part simply turn a blind eye.

That is, until an event occurs which even they cannot ignore. In the space of a week, almost all the Seasonal courtiers of the city are murdered. Those few who survive have pointed the blame squarely at a motley made up mostly of South and East courtiers, who vehemently deny the accusation.

Your character is an outsider, sent by another Freehold to help sort out the mess. What will you find?

Seeking expressions of interest. I'll be running this as a freeform game with a very simplified character sheet.

This game is set in a fictional city in Europe. You may choose any Court, but may not have mantle higher than three. Court Goodwill will have no effect as you are a stranger in the city. PCs who have been out of Arcadia for 5 years or less preferred, but I could be persuaded to allow more experienced PCs with the right backstory. For plot reasons, your PC cannot be the Monarch of your Court or hold a leadership position within your Freehold. I also accept bribes (kidding with that last one obviously :P )

Feel free to post potential character concepts using the below format. Once I have enough interest I'll put up a character creation topic with the final character sheet format.

Character name:
Time since escaping from Arcadia:
City/Freehold you are based in:
Court and Mantle:
Mask: (Either description or picture/faceclaim)
Mien: (Either description or picture)
Seeming:
Kith:
Bio: (this can be as long or short as you like)

[HopeFox]

Ooh, I love Changeling: the Lost! I have a character concept that I've been dying to play for ages. I hope you like it!

Character name: Ruby White
Time since escaping from Arcadia: 3 years
City/Freehold you are based in: London
Court and Mantle: Winter
Mask: A classical beauty with pale skin, deep chestnut hair and bright red lips, Ruby White is clearly as delicate as she is lovely, and it would be difficult to mistake her for a woman in good health. She walks with a cane and is prone to fainting spells and coughing fits, but it's difficult to pin her down to any particular ailment. She dresses in a dignified if somewhat archaic style, favouring the fashions of London of yesteryear. (Faceclaim: Nicole Kidman)
Mien: Alabaster skin so pale as to be luminescent, lips the colour of rubies (or blood) and long flowing hair matching the deep mahogany of the sickbed where she spent so much of her Durance. Ruby is the very image of the romantic heroine wasting away from some very beautiful disease.
Seeming: Fairest
Kith: Treasured
Bio:
Once upon a time, there was a girl who was very beautiful and very ill. Much was made of her as a child, and her parents doted upon her and ensured she had plenty of visitors and a good education, but in the middle of the twentieth century, there was little that could be done for her condition. Towards the end of her teenage years, she was dying, and she knew it.

Just when it seemed that the family's prayers would go unanswered, a doctor from a far-away place called upon her. He told them he could take her to his own hospital where she would receive the best treatment for her condition, and would survive into adulthood, but that they might never see her again. In desperation, she and her family both agreed, and the bargain was struck.

Ruby became the crown jewel in the Doctor's collection, a perfect patient whose illness only made her more beautiful. She drew admirers from all around the Doctor's realm, who visited to admire her and feel sorry for her and speak of what a good man the Doctor was. She grew accustomed to the admiration and the sympathy, and might have grown old and finally perished without ever leaving her bedroom, had not one of her admirers reminded her of the sounds and smells of the world outside - a Beast who resembled the dog she would play with before she was too sick to venture into the yard. Slowly, achingly slowly, she marshalled the will and the strength to walk away from her comfortable prison and rejoin the world.

Since her escape, Ruby has been surviving in London on the patronage of a hospital administrator who ensures that she is always present whenever wealthy donors come to visit, supplemented by a welfare system that seemed to bend magically to accommodate her. Drinking in the sorrow and the sympathy that follows her everywhere she goes, she has found a place in the Winter Court of a London freehold, where she is known for her ability to look pretty, be quiet and observe.

[ladia2287]

Welcome! I love your character concept. And someone who observes may come in handy :)

[Marie Reynolds]

Hmm I would like to tentatively  announce my interest. I will sit down after work and think of a character.

[ladia2287]

Awesome! I will look forward to seeing what kind of character you write 😊

[Marie Reynolds]

I don't want you to think I have forgotten. I Have been reading over things and I have  a few ideas brewing but no clear  one that has won out yet.

[ladia2287]

Not a problem. There’s no rush 😊

[Marie Reynolds]

Okay I have a timeline finally established for my character! So now I should be able to build more story  for this character!

[Marie Reynolds]

I do apologize for the  double post. @ladia2287  Would it be okay to PM you? I have some questions I would like to ask some questions about the Freehold that will be the  focus of the Plot and see if some Ideas I have will mess with your story  that you have built.

[ladia2287]

Sure, you can PM me 😊

[That One Dingus]

Character name: Jasper Flint
Time since escaping from Arcadia: 2 years
City/Freehold you are based in: London
Court and Mantle: Summer, Mantle 1
Mask:
Mien:
Seeming: Ogre
Kith: Stonebones
Bio:

Born in the 1870s to a poor working class family, Jasper has only ever known poverty. Whenever he wasn't working in one of the great factories of London, Jasper involved himself in the street gang violence so common among the illiterate toiling masses with no chance of improving their lot. He grew to a great hulk of a man, able to swing a fist or a wrench with equal measure. Having grown so tall and strong, he thought himself a force to be reckoned with.

During a rare holiday to the English countryside, Jasper found a stone fairy circle in a quiet corner of the woods. Jasper didn't understand, so he fell back on his default method of solving most problems: he kicked aside the carefully perched and positioned stones, laughing as he did so. The laughter died in his throat as impossibly cold fingers gripped his shoulder with unearthly strength. Knowing true fear for the first time in his life, Jasper turned his head and stared into the sharp-toothed grin of HIM. HE abducted Jasper, stealing him away to HIS private demesne in Arcadia. For time uncounted, Jasper became HIS favorite plaything to break. The snap of bones, the tearing of flesh, the tinkling of Fae laughter audible over even his own screaming... Words became meaningless as nothing would give Jasper's tormentor pause save HIS own boredom.

Jasper became so used to his existence cycling between quiet recovery and bouts of torture that it took him what must surely have been a long time to realize that HE had not come back. For the first time, Jasper became aware of his surroundings... and of the door that had been left open. How long had he laid there, his gaze fixed upon the open doorway and wondering if it was yet another novel cruelty? What little fight was left in Jasper had him break free of his bonds and fall limply to the floor. Slowly, agonizingly, Jasper stood up and hobbled his way out the door.

So vast was HIS manor that Jasper did not see any of the Fae on his way out. Had Jasper simply been forgotten, his fickle Fae captor bored with an old toy and out to find new sport? Jasper knew nothing, nothing but the desire to keep moving forward and find a way out. He stumbled through the Hedge and back into the world of mortals... in the woods near the old fairy ring.

London was completely unrecognizable. Everyone still spoke English (thank God), but things were so very, very wrong that Jasper wondered if he was still in the Other World. Machines powered by harvested petroleum had replaced horses. Barking boxes glowed with moving pictures of people and places, but nothing was inside the box but wires. Illiterate as he was, books and newspapers did nothing to explain this new London. Only a conversation with a very concerned Londonite finally revealed the truth.

Jasper had been gone for nearly a century. Anyone he had ever known, loved, or hated was dead. Two World Wars had been fought. Weapons unlike anything ever seen before had been dropped on England and its enemies overseas, delivered by giant flying metal machines and rockets powered by liquid fuel. Guns had gone from single-shot to spraying bullets like rain. Metal warships floated on the waves. The British Empire, where the sun always shone, was no more.

His head swam and he nearly despaired, but Jasper found small courage in the fact that he was home. His old life might be dead and buried, but Jasper was determined to make a new one. Despite his unearthly strength and skin as tough as granite, Jasper tried desperately to pretend that he is as human as anyone else. Fortunately for him, strength and lack of thinking are always in demand in the work force. Slowly, Jasper managed to reintegrate himself into this new London.

Both Jasper's old life and his captivity in Arcadia are subjects of hazy memory, but he remembers enough to be nostalgic and to resent his kidnapping. That feeling of righteous indignation against helplessness has manifested itself as Jasper becoming an unintended champion of the common worker. Stronger and angrier than ever, Jasper's clubbish brutishness has been honed into an axeblade that strikes out against perceived injustices. His complete disregard for current power dynamics and structure made him a target... not just for corporate mercenaries, but also for recruitment.

Jasper always knew there were others sorta like him, but he never reached out. When a messenger from the Summer Court came calling, however, he could not ignore the summons... not when their mission became clear. Since then, Jasper has done what he can in the fight for humanity against the Fae. The skin between his shoulders always itches during these encounters. He is painfully aware that one day, HE might find out about Jasper's escape and come to collect...

[ladia2287]

@That One Dingus Jasper sounds really interesting! Welcome aboard!

Recruitment is still open but I’ll open up a character creation topic shortly so that folks can get really into full character creation while giving time for other players to join us if they wish

[ladia2287]

For the benefit of those who would like to get straight into full character creation, here is a link to the topic and sheet format.

Note that even though I have posted it in the NC section, that does not necessarily mean I expect NC to occur or even that it should be expected, but this should enable players who wish to explore such a theme to do so without me needing to crack the whip.

I will impose the expectation that players' individual O&Os will still be respected and honoured.

[Marie Reynolds]

I do apologize but I am going to have to withdraw. I keep trying to sit down and build a concept and my mind keeps going in 20 different directions. I am just unable to settle on Idea.  I hope you all have fun with the game!

[ladia2287]

Fair enough Marie. You're welcome back if you change your mind :)

Best of luck to you otherwise