Changeling: the Lost 1.0 - Echoes of the Past

[ladia2287]

The events of fifty years ago are the stuff of legend. A well-respected Winter Queen, murdered by one of her own courtiers in her own home. The confusion as her Last Will and Testament was found, leaving part of her considerable estate to her murderer. It plunged a strong Freehold into chaos and so the stories say it took years to re-establish calm and order.

Very few changelings survive from that time and those who do almost never mention those awful happenings, preferring that they be forgotten. But the past has a nasty habit of resurfacing when it is least wanted and someone or something seems to want the truth to be known. What happened to make a seemingly loyal Winter Courtier murder his own Queen? What was she hiding and why did the only remaining Directional Courtier disappear shortly after her death?

This will be a mostly Freeform game with no dice rolls. Instead I'll be using GM discretion to determine what would normally be ruled by the dice. So because of that I'll be using a different format for character sheets, which I'll post below when I've had a chance to draw it up properly. Because this is Freeform I'm going to be pretty lenient when it comes to things like Contracts, however I'll want a good supporting argument if you intend to play an Entitlement. Players can select any of the Seasonal, Directional or Diurnal Courts but if making your own character they must have escaped Arcadia within the last 20 years.

There are a handful of pre-generated PCs available, or you can make your own. If you take a pre-genned PC you'll also be given a private spiel on information your character already knows (or thinks they know).

So pre-genned characters are:

Mr Masari
Mr Masari is the oldest surviving member of the original Freehold and was Autumn King at the time of the Winter Queen's murder. He retired his crown some years ago but is still highly respected and considered an expert on Occult matters. Nowadays he mostly keeps to himself though he is always willing to lend advice to younger Autumn Courtiers. He rarely raises his voice or shows anger.

Baudecia
No one knows how old Baudecia is, but rumour has it she was once a powerful Goblin Queen and is even older than Mr Masari. For a long time she and the Freehold were at odds with eachother; she utterly refused to swear even a Good Neighbour Pledge with them and despite her frequently helping them they refused to trust her. She faked her own death about a year before the old Winter Queen died and did not resurface until about five years afterwards. She's been very tight-lipped about what she was up to in that time however she since sworn the Freehold Pledge every season and finally joined the Spring Court about ten years ago. Like Mr Masari she utterly refuses to discuss the past.

Hekatrix
Once Baudecia's 'right hand goblin', Hekatrix is a hobgoblin who for many years had the dubious honour of quelling any opposition to the fomer-Goblin Queen's rule. The Freehold found him torturing a suspected Loyalist to within an inch of her life, believing her to have had a part in Baudecia's supposed death. Some time between then and Baudecia resurfacing years later, the pair have grown to despise each other but no one knows for sure why.

The Book Keeper
The Book Keeper appears stand-offish and aloof, rarely showing a genuine interest in Freehold affairs and preferring the company of books. He maintains the Freehold library and archives, and his favourite pastime seems to be to glare silently at anyone asking for access to any books or records more than 30 years old.

So that's the pre-genned characters. If you'd like to claim one let me know via PM and I'll mark it off here. If you have your own character concepts feel free to post a short spiel. I'll post a character sheet format sometime in the next couple of days so that you can start building your characters.

[Marie Reynolds]

Hmm possibly interested, What Country,  state, and city would  this   be in?

[ladia2287]

Hi, I'll be using the City of Oxford in England as the primary setting for the story, with some shenanigans to various towns and villages in the county of Oxfordshire. Hope this helps.

[ladia2287]

I have a character sheet format, feel free to post your prospective characters.

Character Name:
Seeming:
Kith:
Wyrd:
Brief description of Durance:
Time since escape from Arcadia:
Brief description of history since escaping Arcadia:
Appearance
Mask:
Mien:
Court:
Mantle:
Personality:
Contracts:
Merits:
Strengths:
Weaknesses:
Any other relevant information:

[Marie Reynolds]

Thank you  it absolutely does help! So  are  you okay  with Dual kith's  and  is there any limit on Wyrd  that you had in mind?

[ladia2287]

Thank you  it absolutely does help! So  are  you okay  with Dual kith's  and  is there any limit on Wyrd  that you had in mind?

You can absolutely take Dual Kith :) . While I’m not imposing a hard limit on Wyrd, I’ll expect it to be at a reasonable level compared to time out of Arcadia vs back history (ie it may take some convincing if you want to play a fresh escapee with Wyrd 10 just as an example)

[Marie Reynolds]

Hmm  so are there  any current monarchs  or leading political factions?

[ladia2287]

Hmm  so are there  any current monarchs  or leading political factions?

Depending on how much interest we get I’d actually like for PCs to take on the roll of Monarchs, with the political structure being based on what people want to play. As implied in my opening post the structure was Seasonal at the time of the events that make up the premise but 50 years has passed since then so it’s entirely plausible that the politics and social structures have changed in that time

[Dakkon]

Ah, if it were 2e I'd be all over this! I'll try reading along anyhow. Good luck!

[Darrow Huck]

I'm potentially interested, but l'll have to see how much time I have after the Sith game I'm running starts.

[Xunzar]

Ah, if it were 2e I'd be all over this! I'll try reading along anyhow. Good luck!

Whereas I love 1.0 more. Like "own all the rulebooks" love.