First of all a court is optional, you can remain courtless BUT then you have no organization to back you. You will face all your trials alone. Though choosing a court will limit your character you will belong to a group of hundreds of your kind, this will give you things you must do however there are hundreds who may help or support your character. There are four courts.
SPRING COURT
The Spring Court exists for changelings who refuse that loss, choosing to replace it with something new. They deny despair in preference of hope, and together they keep that hope alive where alone it would falter. Their lives are not over, and they intend to prove it — to the Fae, and to themselves. Mother Susan is the alleged founder of the Antler Crown. After returning to Earth from Faerie, her dreams of motherhood were shattered by infertility.
Contracts she forged with other entities enabled her to have a child again, but she would not keep it. Many believe that Mother Susan gave up her infant to Spring in order to seal the pact that founded the Court. They honor her as one who sacrificed her spring so that others might have theirs, though many question what could have driven her to such an extreme. Some say it was guilt, and they wonder what she might have done to first have her child. This is how the members of the Spring Court defend themselves against the Fae. These Court members will not be silent, pain-wracked victims of their
tormentors. These Lost choose to exult in the now and guiltlessly retie themselves to the human world around them. They surround themselves with the beauty their time
in Arcadia showed them, proving that their joy is not trapped in
that other place forever. Far from a denial of the situation,
this is a deliberate attack on the Fae. Changelings of the
Emerald Court fulfill their own desires, and do it with style, out of spite and pride, to diminish the power the Gentry hold over them. If it were easy, every changeling would do it. Instead, there is an entire Court devoted to the idea. The Court of Desire serves as a support group for its members as much as a governing body. For every refugee who truly embraces the concept of living well in order to live at all, there are two who play the game and hide their shame. Being among others struggling the same way strengthens all of them, helps them go on. The reinforcement the Court provides is the reason it and
many of its members have survived so long. So, what members of the Spring Court do, they do with style. They must enjoy life and steal Faerie’s thunder, which they do by making their existences beautiful as well as enjoyable. Changelings of this Court seek the most poetic aspect of any effort, from poignant stanzas and cleverly appropriate bargains to
something as simple as walking gracefully to the bus. Bearers of the Emerald Mantle practice equal elegance in their interactions with others. Their wit and eloquence naturally attract allies and acquaintances whom, in a pinch, they can call upon or manipulate when necessary. This quickly became and remains another of the Court’s tools in its effort to remain free.
The results are subtle, but effective. One motley
spends its evenings in a nightclub, drinking in the thirst
and lust and the slaking of each. It can also rouse the
clubbers to riot to conceal their escape. Others sneak
into office parties across their city, riding the whitecollar
workers’ one night of release, but they always
have friends to hide them. From this, changelings of
the Spring Court camouflage themselves against these
backgrounds. Hunting Fae cannot find changelings as
easily when the prey doesn’t have that feeling of loss
that most changelings cannot shake off.
And when True Fae grow close, the Court gathers.
The monarch arranges soirees to delay or deflect
the wrath of the Fae. There is a metaphysical power
in unbridled joy that turns away captors seeking their
slaves. There is such strength in being able to honestly
laugh in the face of terror that it slows or stops the
hunting Gentry, who wonder if these are their quarry
after all.
Courtiers
Changelings in a Spring Court pursue their
every action with elegant grace, and they refuse to
neglect their own pleasures. Many of them are very
serious about seeing their own desires met, to the
point where people might call them narcissistic egoists.
Few admit that a Spring courtier has a very good
reason to pursue his own interests, and that that pursuit
requires an iron will and a self-control to rival
any recovering addict.
The ideal of beautifully living for today is very
attractive, especially to escapees from the courts of
Faerie. But few changelings have the right personality
to live in the moments of their own creation — so
much of what they are is in the past, decided for them
by minds decidedly unconcerned with fulfilling the
changeling’s desires. They still have not escaped the
Arcadian prison, though they walk free on Earth.
Such people do not belong in the Spring Court.
The Court seeks those who want to deny the
consequences of the past. Rather than hide from it
or stand against it, they choose to leave their troubles
behind them and forge something new and distinctly
theirs in the “new” world of Earth. They are pioneers
and explorers on the experiential landscape, always
seeking a new pleasure because moving any more
slowly means the Fae will find them.
A proper member of the Spring Court is devoted to
meeting her own desires and doing so elegantly, but also
to helping other members meet their desires. A changeling
who can not just emulate Spring’s rebirth but help
carry it to others is one who has the Court’s respect. A
courtly Knight proclaims his love for the maiden in every
artfully careless step and revels in it, but it is better
if his proclamation gives the maiden the opportunity to
gently swoon and become ravished just as she desires.
A changeling scientist constructs her lab such that every
Bunsen burner and bubbling flask speaks volumes
about the sanity she delights in pretending is lost, but it
is better if her research assistant has the opportunity to
thematically rail against her madness before storming
out the door in secret joy.
Anyone is welcome to join the Spring Court, but
members are judgmental. A changeling without the
same affectation for beauty as the others is quickly
made to feel as if she doesn’t fit in. Unless (or until)
she shows some special poetry in either her work or
play, she will be only on the periphery of the Court
and unable to advance.
Some changelings of this Court suffer strong feelings
of guilt. What gives them the right to see to their
own wants while others suffer? No mere human may
have endured as much as one of the changelings, but
there are other fae who have. This question is most
common among members whose hearts are changing,
and will soon lead them away from the Spring Court.
Rituals
Some observances are common among many, if
not most, Spring Courts. Best known is the Spring
Revel, a region-wide party the Court commands each
time power transfers to the Spring Court from the
Winter Court. Changelings of all Courts look forward
to these celebrations, as the Court of Desire arranges
locations where the fae can be private and makes a
special effort to see that at least one desire of every attendee,
changeling, human guest or other, is met. The
best monarchs use the opportunity to demonstrate
the intended themes of their reigns without being so
gauche as to state them. Members of the Spring Court,
at least, believe that the Revel deters Fae incursion.
Spring courtiers constantly compete to make the
most subtly eloquent and audaciously beautiful statement
in their individual bailiwicks. This is no poetry
slam or lyrical comparison. It is a competition practiced
in all media across a Court’s jurisdiction, and
a composition’s worth is measured by the response
among humans. The Spring King or Queen usually judges. She determines which member of the Court
performed best (taking into account gamesmanship
and honor, the wild cards) and bestows a simple honor
or prize once each year, usually during the Spring
Revel. Arranging a building’s skeletal structure to
look like a rose growing into full bloom as it is built is
an example of one victorious entry.
Every year, many Spring Courts hold a Homecoming.
Some members of the Court (or other Courts) try
to rename the party to something not used by academic
institutions for their sporting events, but the attempts
always fail. The name is too perfect. The Homecoming
usually takes place on the date of the Spring monarch’s
escape from Faerie, but it is occasionally
rescheduled to honor a particular changeling. Everyone is invited, and they are all expected to “let loose.” Surprisingly, most of the guests actually do.
Desire
Lust. Hunger. Greed. These and
more fall under the broad blanket of
“desire.” The Spring Court claims the
greatest connection to this emotion
by right of the Court’s pact, and few
deny that the courtiers make it a part
of themselves.
A member of the Court of Desire
luxuriates in her signature emotion any place she can find it: the child in the supermarket
who can’t have a cookie. The dog on the street, staring
hungrily at its owner’s pastrami. The older man
walking with his grandchildren and longing for a
rest. Some Lost relieve these desires, slipping the kid
a snack or bumping the sandwich onto the ground. If
doing so creates a greater story or meets more wants
— the mother is upset at the well-meaning stranger
usurping her authority, so she forgets herself and allows
her other child to have some bubblegum — so
much the better.
Many changelings find positions in human communities
that provide close views of human desires.
One owns a strip club, while the friends in her motley
serve as bartender, waitresses and janitor. A changeling
organizes and leads a two-week summer camp,
knowing the sort of drama that runs rampant there.
Members of the Spring Court are quick to organize
celebrations, from block parties to gallery openings.
Some become purveyors of alcohol or marijuana (occasionally
to minors), letting the relaxed inhibitions
help people reach for what they want.
Spring courtiers are careful to recognize their
own desires. To do otherwise would be a failure, because
a pleasure unknown is a pleasure unfulfilled.
Members also try to be aware of what others want,
especially their comrades-in-arms. Allowing a fellow
refugee to suffer despair is as much a failure as despairing
yourself. A few changelings take it further,
considering it their duty to ensure their companions
meet their desires.
Some members of the Court spend
their time seeking new pleasures
in an attempt
to experience everything
and deny
themselves nothing;
their less frenetic
comrades often stick with
the few pleasures they prefer,
though often only after a
period of searching for what
those pleasures are. There
are those who consider the
continued search for fulfillment
just another part of the
escape that began with a furious,
fearful race through the
Hedge. Others think of
it as their reward for
making it this far.
Stereotypes
Summer Court: They’re strong, and I suppose
that makes them safe. But by protecting their lives,
they don’t really live.
Autumn Court: They spend too much time remembering.
They should really get
out more — out of doors, and
out of the past.
Winter Court: I’m this
far from being one of them.
If I’d shut my doors instead
of throwing them open, I’d
be there.
SUMMUER COURT
The Summer Court welcomes
any changeling willing to fight to the last drop
of blood for her — and for others’ — safety.
The Court’s founder was Sam Noblood, whose
mien always dripped with red during a fight. Legend
has it that Sam topped an old branch with a bundle
of autumn leaves to make a spear, and hunted down
Summer. The pursuit was long, but Sam Noblood cornered
Summer and extracted a promise: in exchange
for peace, the season would support Sam’s Court.
That legend embodies the Crimson Court way to
success in life: through strength. What is worth keeping
is worth fighting to keep, and a fight only ends in
your favor if you make it. To members of the Summer
Court, everything is something they must learn to
endure and overcome. But not alone. A changeling’s family, friends and kinship with humanity have been
stolen from him, but the Court offers a new family.
Enemies of the changelings are to be faced and defeated,
together, doing what no refugee could do before he
escaped and found companions. Otherwise, there was
no point in fighting free of Faerie in the first place.
Not all members of the Court are strong, but all
of them see strength as the best means
to achieving their security on Earth.
Strength is an ideal for them, the
ability to weather what the
world forces on them and the
power to shape events to the
changeling’s best interests.
Courtiers who do not wield
such strength pursue it,
and the Court supports its
members in their pursuits.
The ideal manifests in
many ways, from the simple
brute who can take a punch
(or a dozen) and dish it all
out to the political fixer with
the backup to stay connected and
the clout to direct policy. For some,
breadth of ability is another measure of
strength. No changeling has the freedom to fight
in only a single arena, so being capable in more than
one is considered another expression of strength.
The Iron Spear’s dedication drives it to lend aid
to any Lost who need help fighting off the Fae. It’s an
ultimate measure of their power: if the Court can fight
on behalf of all changelings and win, it is successfully
earning its safety through its creed. The Court’s need
to test itself causes them to champion fae society in
other causes as well, often without being asked. Members
of the Summer Court stand between the Courts
and other supernatural threats, such as vampires or
mages, and they act to stop human institutions that
would do the fae harm, for example, investigative reporters
and paranormal conspiracies.
Courtiers
Changelings who join the Summer Court are
usually the more direct, conflict-minded refugees from
Arcadia. When they see an assault, their solution is
to fight back. To such a person’s eyes, webs of intrigue
and plotting nearly beg to be torn down around their
weavers. Their instinct after their escape is to pick up
what pieces there are, suffer what they must and spit
the Fae’s hospitality right back in Their faces. The
Gentry are masters at finessing around or through
such direct challenges to their slippery power, but the
Summer Courts don’t care — and that’s part of what
makes their survival such a big deal.
Besides that directness of manner, members of the
Court of Wrath have the will to use it. For many, it’s
the smoldering fury they hold for the Fae that stole
their lives and didn’t even let their families mourn.
If you don’t intend to let enemies live long enough
to play games with them, why pretend? Others return
to Earth with the patience burned out of them, or a
steel-hard dedication instilled that they have trouble
questioning. Some just like lording over the weak, and
they fall into this category, too.
Some fae see those who join the Summer Court
as leftovers from the other Courts. They aren’t elegant
enough for Spring, inquisitive enough for Fall
or crafty enough for Winter, so they end up in Summer.
These are stereotypes too often applied and only
partially correct. A changeling who is none of those
things and also not a fighter remains Courtless. And
all too often, the other Courts recognize the Summer
Court as a changeling’s destination before any Summer
courtier meets her. The fae has the strength and
will to fight, yes, but also seeks a foundation for her
wrath. She needs a knightly brotherhood sworn to defend
the refugees and destroy their enemies, because
that is exactly what she burns to do.
Nearly all members of the Summer Court appreciate
the direct application of force for its usefulness
and elegance. Few restrict their study of direct conflict
to brute-on-brute fights, though, and none of them
ignore that most of their enemies use less straightforward
tactics. One courtier knows exactly how to
read the intricacies of politics, and exactly when to
cut through them with truth like a knife. Another undermines
others in arguments, unsubtly but very effectively,
and can sway crowds to her whim. The strategist
sees where the enemy commanders must move
their troops, and stations her soldiers in the perfect
place to stop them.
Pledging to the Summer Court is an uncomplicated
affair, just as the rest of the Court’s activities.
The Court runs a potential member through a gamut
of arduous physical challenges, from fistfights and
rock-climbing to staying alive in the woods at night.
(Basically, all the Physical Skills.) The intent is to see
if the changeling can keep going through it all and
to determine which (if any) skills are the individuals’
forte. Some don’t make the grade. (In game terms,
most characters in the Summer Court have ••• in
at least one Physical Skill. Some manage to join the
Court with less, with liberal Willpower expenditure
and a bit of luck.)
Rituals
Compared to the other Courts, the Court of
Wrath’s rituals are abundant and unsubtle. Very common
are contests of physical skill. The Court is full of
changelings who place great value on sheer force or
ability, and it pleases them to know who is best at any
given thing. Wrestling matches or mock combats are
common, as are footraces, free running and climbing
competitions, martial arts contests, tests of archery
and marksmanship and many other competitive endeavors.
Most courtiers have running scorecards in
their head that tell them who has beaten whom and
how many times, creating an approximate pecking order
that differs for each category.
One recent tradition that has caught on among
many Summer Courts is to arrange official contests
during their periods ruling the freehold. Each of the
three contests tests a quality at which another Court
is, ostentatiously, the best. Each Court chooses a
champion for each contest, and the best fae brings
honor and prizes to her Court. Unsurprisingly, the
Autumn Court usually wins the contests of invention
and magic, the Winter Court usually wins the contests
of stealth and subterfuge, etc.
Most changelings see the contests as an opportunity
for the Summer Court to challenge other Courts
in their bailiwicks, trying to show them up. Few realize
that the contests were designed to spread goodwill,
as members of the other Courts reinforce their pride
as the most eloquent poets or craftiest forgers. In this
way, the Summer Court builds social awareness of the
Courts’ individual strengths and weaknesses, shoring
up areas that the Fae might try to exploit.
Some Crimson courtiers also try to take part in
human competitions. Different Courts take different
stances on such activity. While excelling at a craft is
very much in line with the Court’s nature, doing so can also attract unwanted attention. Some Summer
Courts discourage it, suggesting that the competitors
instead hone their skills to fight the Fae. Other
Courts support the idea as a way to draw out the
True Fae for ambush. Problematically, truly national
competitions take changelings far afield, where they
don’t know the lay of the land and must interact with
strange (and probably untrusting) fae in order to take
basic safety precautions. The other Courts look down
on such grandstanding in human society, believing
that it can only cause trouble.
Wrath
There is a righteous wrath in the heart of nearly
every member of every Summer Court. Somewhere
deep, they want their tormentors to feel as helpless
as the changelings once did. It is something that they
must deal with — the sheer anger at how they have
been abused, the rage at those who took what can
never be returned. The courtiers of Wrath know how
angry they are in their hearts. They try very hard to
spend their wrath on something, anything, so that
they do not lose their control. Strength without aim
is too dangerous for the Court to favor it.
There is wrath in every competitor at a contest.
Wrath lurks behind the desire to be victorious, disguises
itself as competitive nature, but really wants
the others to fail and you to win. A competitor wants
the others to go down. This is the other reason the
Summer Court holds so many informal competitions.
In addition to honing their strengths, the contests
burn their anger. The members work to keep their
fires banked, so the flames will burn hot when the fae
need them to but not before.
Members of the Court of Wrath do burn out occasionally.
Having lost their driving anger, they often
become Courtless. Recognizing the phenomenon,
the Court makes an effort to provide its members appropriate
fuel for their rages without letting it burn
too brightly. One of the Court’s core purposes is to
prevent its members’ wrath from consuming them, or
from dying out and leaving changelings undefended.
In the pursuit of wrath, courtiers frequent sporting
events. They let the competitive urges wash over
them, flavored by the angers of clashing or disappointed
fans. Changelings may become coaches or even
influential teammates, working to fan the competitive
rage that drives athletes. Humans are prone to anger,
and the fae can usually create it with ease. One can
pretend his car is broken in the middle of rush hour
to anger hundreds, or one could order with infuriating
sloth at the popular coffee shop to piss off a couple
dozen. On a smaller scale, some changelings enjoy
pretending to be telemarketers or evangelists and calling
upon families at dinnertime. It’s small scale, but
more personal.
Not every member of the Crimson Court considers
petty anger appropriately wrathful, and some
seek out deeper furies. Some visit prisons to get a
sense of the prisoners, or correspond with murderers
on death row. These can provide tastes of wrath current
and wrath past, both of which are valuable to
the Summer Court. Daring changelings may join or
assist local criminal organizations, hoping to be near
gun battles and dramatic betrayals, but others seek
out positions in Hollywood or politics where such
things are more common.
Stereotypes
Spring Court: They’re too busy playing Fae to
fight them.
Autumn Court: These guys have the right idea,
but the fire they’re playing with is hotter than ours
and harder to control.
Winter Court: If I wanted to hide from real life,
I’d’ve stayed in Faerie.
AUTUMN COURT
The curse is a gift. Not
one member of the Autumn
Court is glad of her abduction
and enslavement. But
since they were taken, they were
changed and they can’t go back,
they can damn well take advantage of
those changes. They know that the gramarye
of the Fae doesn’t have to be terrifyingly beautiful and
gloriously torturous. It can be simply wondrous, too.
Though all changelings use magic, the Leaden Mirror
walks on the cutting edge of Wyrd.
Clay Ariel founded the Court of Fear. She had
natural hands before she was taken, but when she returned,
they were artificial. Only soft clay, she had to
be careful not to damage them. Ariel took this as a
lesson, and her toys and weapons of clay were wellknown.
None living today know what influence Clay
Ariel exerted on the season of Autumn, but legend
states that she went off without any armament but a
wry smile. She ruled as the first Autumn Queen for
long years after forging her Court’s pact.
The Autumn Court survives by turning the
weapons of the Fae against them. These weapons are
the pacts and Contracts made between Faerie and the
various aspects of Earth. Many Court members also
justify their experiences as slaves by bringing magic to
Earth. This is the opportunity to enrich their world
with breathtaking wonder, and they’ve already paid
the monstrous cost. Autumn courtiers are
the most likely to seek out trods and
other places of power, because that
is where there is more to learn.
Every Contract is another
sword to wield, another shield
between her and the Fae and
another rainbow cast by the
otherwise lonely rain.
This Court encourages
subtler solutions to problems
that face fae society.
Clay Ariel didn’t charge off
to wrestle the season for her
pact, and Autumn Court members
rarely try to match their
enemies eye to eye and fist to fist.
One would much rather lead a foe
into a trap or trick an opponent into attacking
the wrong target — minimum force for
the maximum result. To a degree, it’s just efficiency.
It lets the changeling spend as little effort as possible
and get back to other things. But it’s also common
sense, honed by fear: when you’re fighting with your
enemies’ weapons and don’t know exactly how they
work, you use them as little as possible.
So the Court tracks down and investigates any
potential source of Wyrd knowledge. A member of
this Court is much more likely than most to ask other
changelings about what they remember of Faerie.
When that fails, they ransack their own memories for
new revelations, sometimes resorting to hypnotism or
thiopental sodium. Autumn courtiers also travel more
than most changelings, exploring places of fae significance.
Every little bit helps.
Autumn Court members often explore the Hedge,
seeking a glimpse of Arcadia’s wonder. Others explore
the limits of known pacts and their interactions with
each other — some take a very scientific approach
to such things, while others refuse to explain magic
with reason. Daring Ashen courtiers try to effect new
pacts, expanding the breadth of changeling magic and
developing Contracts that the Fae could not match.
(The occasional assertion that all Court founders
would have been members of the Autumn Court today
is always laughed down.)
Not every source of power the Lost try to use is
Wyrd. There is more to the supernatural than just the
Fae, and the Autumn Court knows that better than
most. Its members explore — carefully, cautiously,
with great (and very reasonable) reservation — the
worlds of werewolves, mages and other supernatural
creatures. One never knows where one might find an
ally. Or a new weapon
Courtiers
Every member of the Ashen Court has a little
voice that misses magical Arcadia and desperately
wants to go back. Maybe that voice was placed by the
Fae, maybe it’s natural, but it’s there either way. This
is just one reason of many a changeling may join the
Autumn Court, and it’s often not the greatest. Many
changelings quite simply want to hurt their captors
and see their magical capabilities as the best way of
doing so. Others become enamored with the irony of
fighting the Fae with the magic of Faerie.
The best prospective members of the Court are
creative and inquisitive, but in the end, they are also in
love with magic. There are creative ways to make war
without magic, and there are questions one can ask that
only concern earthly subjects. Changelings join this
Court because they want to change the world obliquely
by pushing through dimensions of trust and poetry that
most people ignore. All eventually deal with the conflict
of surrounding themselves with what the strove so
long to escape, but it often takes some time.
Courtiers of Autumn seek alternative solutions
to surmount their obstacles. A member would rather
sweep the legs out from an opponent than push him
over, and luring him onto a patch of ice is more attractive
than either. One might spread a rumor to draw
out the Fae instead of planting real bait to attract
them. Either way, changelings attracted to this Court
generally lean away from the most direct path. Unless,
of course, it’s the best.
Though all members of the Court involve themselves
with magic, many specialize in certain fields and
expand their mastery of other disciplines. Even those
who relegate the study of magic to secondary importance
apply the Autumn Court’s method of problemsolving
to the rest of their lives. The businessman who
outsourced before outsourcing became “cool,” the scientist
who gives outlandish theories a chance and the
teacher who neatly sidesteps the principal’s wrath are
all people who could join the Autumn Court.
Most Autumn Courts require a potential member
to share some secret of Wyrd lore that they do not
already know. Acceptable secrets are often just foggy
tidbits that a changeling remembers from her time in
Faerie. Some fae make such things up, but a secret
that does not ring true is quickly weeded out. On the
other hand, the ability to falsify tales of Fae magic
and fool others is a valuable creativity, and may be
respected. Other changelings demonstrate Contracts
not commonly known in the area or to the Court.
But magic has a price. Changelings who practice
too carelessly find themselves growing apart from
Earth again. Worse, some of them don’t realize how
much of their humanity they are giving up for their
gramarye. The wise among them accept the costs
they cannot avoid, and the Court serves to help the
Lost without that strength. Others simply don’t care
or don’t think of it, exulting in magic for magic’s sake
and damning the (or ignoring) consequences.
Rituals
The rituals of the Autumn Court are not as colorful
or outlandish as some of the other Courts’. The
annual Fallen Fair is common in many regions. Each
year, members of the Court and esteemed guests from
other Courts gather to show off their discoveries in
the realm of the supernatural. Changelings demonstrate
their advanced aptitudes with well-known
Contracts, display newfound tokens and share their
unique pacts (if any). There is a full docket of lectures
on all manner of magical topics. The Fallen Fair is
also an unofficial opportunity to barter magical tools
and services.
Many Autumn Courts sponsor a hunt, called the
Hunt of Leaves, the Ash Run and other names. This
is a lethal hunt that welcomes all interested changelings,
in which the fae ride (or run, or drive) down and
kill their enemies. Topping this list are the True Fae,
but the hunt also targets loyalist changelings, leftover
dream-things and sometimes fetches. The Court bears the expense and effort, arranging necessary weapons
or concealments from human society. All the other
Courts need to provide are warm, willing bodies.
Of course, the Autumn Court has the first claim on
bounty, especially magical, from the hunt.
The hunt gets most of its participants from the
Autumn and Summer Courts, but a healthy smattering
of the other changelings (including Courtless) always
participate. Whatever their reasons, most relish
an opportunity to make the enemy run scared, if only
for an evening or two.
Some Courts mimic the scientific community’s
approach to magic to a larger degree. They fund lectures
by members of other Autumn Courts, arranging
travel and accommodations and occasionally providing
an honorarium. Some also publish journals containing
their members’ monographs. Such a work is
generally on the scope of an indie ’zine (and is taken
as such by mortals who happen upon one).
Fear
Autumn Court members deal with fear on
two basic levels. They evoke the emotion in othin communities is easy, but not always desirable,
moral or safe. A changeling may spread word in a
neighborhood about the sex offender who moved in
next door, but if the rumor leads back to him (assuming
it’s false), there will be consequences. Likewise,
one can lower the perceived safety of people who live
in the area by staging muggings or calling the police
with lies about drug deals or shootings. This can also
backfire, as such “prophecies” tend to be self-fulfilling.
The cold war was a good time for the Autumn Court,
as the threat of nuclear war loomed large, and some
skeptically note that fear will always be good business
for human society as well as the Leaden Mirror.
Children are a valuable source of fear for Autumn
courtiers. Children are less skeptical than
adults, and emotionally more pure, so many members
of the Court hone the skill of telling scary stories or
arranging frightening performances. Spreading local
legends about “that house” or “old man Withers”
is common. Some create the yard where kids never
venture to get a lost ball. Creating truly frightening
haunted houses during Halloween is a tradition
few pass up.
On the surface, members of the Court
know why they’re afraid. Their period of
forced servitude in Faerie
is still terrifying to them.
What’s important is how
they relate to that fear.
An Ashen courtier tries to
be aware of her fears, whether
a frightening moment (an
imminent car crash) or an abiding terror (the Others,
naturally, but also more mundane things like spiders
or losing an honored position).
Knowledge of the emotion and of the fae’s self
is the key; Court of Fear members put little stock on
conquering their fears, which they consider an unhelpful
goal, and more on learning how to use those
fears. They try to wisely excuse themselves from
projects in which they will be nervous and unhelpful,
and they examine when to work with their fright
to surpass their normal limits.
Members of this Court are also known for their
ability to understand other’s fears, and their aptitude
for wielding that knowledge with great efficacy.
Stereotypes
Spring Court: They may understand the nature
of Wyrd, but they sure don’t do anything about it.
Summer Court: There’s so much potential, but
they waste it all on brute force.
Winter Court: If they ever came out of their shells,
they could do something. As it is, they just hide.
WINTER COURT
In the Winter, all the glory
of the seasons fades to nothing, nowhere
to be seen, and snow hides the ground. But there
is life, waiting beneath the earth where it can’t be disturbed.
The Silent Arrow knows this.
The founder of the Court was a changeling called
Snowflake John. Per his moniker, he was nearly impossible
to tell apart from any of the other people on the
street at any time. In a crowd, he could blend in seamlessly.
When the other Court founders were challenging
their seasons, he did the same: by not showing up.
Legend has it that John declared publicly his intent to
earn a pact from Winter, but the challenge never materialized.
After two years, when Winter had circled
the globe fully twice, Snowflake John reappeared and
asserted that Winter’s inability to find him had earned
him the right to make a pact. Many changelings claim
that there was something else to the bargain, but none
agree on what it is. The fact remains that the Winter
Court has its pact.
When the Fae come, the Winter Court is gone.
And when the cat is away, the mouse plays on. The
Court itself takes up whatever unoccupied location
is convenient and attractive, and abandons that
place just as easily when danger or discovery threatens.
Members all know the short list of those
places, giving them a place to look, but
even they are never sure where the
Court will surface until someone
finds it and passes the word. It’s
a security measure, ensuring
that their enemies have a
very hard time tracking
them down and ambushing
them.
Members of the Court
practice speaking in code,
the better to conceal their
intentions from their oppressors.
They leave messages for
each other in ways that outsiders
cannot distinguish or intercept (using
Contracts for this purpose is ideal;
a combination of drop boxes and codes is
second-best and usually sufficient). Many of them
keep multiple homes and make a practice of avoiding
regular paths to avoid ambushes. Changelings
regularly invest in security systems (mundane, magical
or both) and secret rooms. Some Courts arrange
“safehouses” for their members, in the event that
they need a place to hide from unwanted attention
(whether Fae or human). The cold war was a defining
time for the Winter Court; while the Autumn Court
profited greatly from the fear of nuclear annihilation,
the Winter Court learned to fuse many of the mortal
innovations in espionage and deceit with their own
fae talents for trickery.
The Onyx Court isn’t all paranoia and secrecy,
though that element is certainly present. Members try
to be subtle in their daily lives. They avoid attention from their neighbors by being “just another guy.” In
the suburbs, where homeowners drive off every day
and have landscapers by once a month, you don’t want
to be the car left in the driveway. Even the fae who
don’t have regular jobs (many, but not all) drive off
and find someplace to spend their “workday.” Winter
changelings make unremarkable employees, doing adequate
but unremarkable jobs and trying not to get in
trouble. Only those who can maintain an unnoticeable
record while dealing with the weird things from
Faerie stick with employment.
Members of the Court fit in wherever they go.
City life is very attractive because, amidst all those
people, it’s easy to be just another anonymous neighbor.
At a coffee shop, a Winter Court member makes
an effort to be kinda hip and kinda pretentious. On
the street at night, he’s just another fellow in a windbreaker
with a baseball cap. Even in situations where
nobody quite fits in — a diversity rally, for example, or
an event where punk rockers mingle with the upper
class — the changeling may not fit in, but he fits in
more than that guy. The changeling’s not the stuffiest
rich guy, or he’s not the most-tattooed, most-pierced
punk, and he gets glossed over.
This is all part of the Court’s effort to go unnoticed
by the Fae. Not fitting into human society
is a dead giveaway, so the Winter Court makes a
point of fitting in seamlessly. Even the other humans
barely notice Winter Court members, but not
to the point of ignoring them. That would also reveal
the hiding changelings.
Courtiers
Other changelings occasionally call Winter courtiers
cowards, but they know that’s not true. Members
of this Court aren’t just trying to conceal themselves
from the Fae, they’re also trying to live their own lives.
To have a life, they have to draw a curtain between
themselves and the fae world. There’s a degree of denial
to it that some members of the Court recognize.
To truly hide from Faerie and all that is, a changeling
must also hide from himself.
Besides, divorcing themselves from Faerie and
the Wyrd isn’t common in the Court. Only the most
extreme members manage it. Others create the image
of humanity, enough to delay the Fae and provide
a cover for the courtiers’ other activities. They
are subtle, sneaky, crafty and dislike having their
true motives known, even by their allies. Their allies,
after all, are less adept at concealing the truth.
The Court spies on Goblin Markets, exiled Fae and
even the True Fae when they ride on Earth. Winter
courtiers also sometimes kill. The Silent Arrow is
not just a poetic moniker.
The Court certainly accepts those changelings
who only want to run and hide, but with the knowledge
that most will find themselves unable to live a
normal life. Eventually, even the most timid refugees
develop a need to interact with the world of which
they are now a part. They end up helping, becoming
the spymasters or fixers or assassins of the changelings
world.
Changelings of this Court evade problems rather
than solve them. It’s a sort-of solution — whatever
the trouble, it can’t hurt them, now, so it’s okay. This
callous attitude doesn’t mean they don’t help. Winter
courtiers lend a hand getting other changelings out
of the way, and they sometimes walk into trouble,
trusting their skills to get them out of it again safe
and well.
Onyx courtiers manifest their callings in different
ways. The commander manages to distract the enemy
but never actually get caught in battle. Nobody notices
the Winter socialite, but he’s there soaking up
information just the same. They make excellent silent
partners in businesses. And not all of them avoid
notice — but even those that don’t influence others
perceptions of who or what they are. A popular emcee
may look harmless, but he’s shaping the thoughts of
hundreds, thousands or more fans.
Many changelings join the Winter Court when
they’re fresh out of Faerie, but a more proportionate
number remain a part of it. To run and hide is a very
natural instinct immediately after one’s escape, making
the Winter Court a very attractive option. Few
Winter monarchs choose to turn away the new refugees.
Instead, the Courts try to aid as many scared
changelings as they can. Only after several months’
interaction between the Court’s members and the potential
inductees does the Court accept them or turn
them away. In the latter case, the Court can usually
suggest a more appropriate Court. Few fae take the
rejection poorly enough to instead become Courtless.
Rituals
Most famous of the Winter Court’s rituals is the
Winter Market, a gathering most Courts sponsor two
or three times in the season. At the market, changelings
of all Courts (and Courtless) are free to set up
stalls or booths, buy, sell, run games and trade services
or information. The Winter Market is less focused than the Autumn Court’s Fallen Fair and much more
open to non-magical bartering.
In most Courts, the Winter Market serves two purposes.
The first is to be a clearinghouse for the Onyx
Court’s information, “confiscated” goods and services,
of which there are many. Winter courtiers make up
the majority of purveyors at the Winter Market, if
not by too much. The second is to counter the illicit
draw and influence of the Goblin Market. The Winter
Market provides an opportunity for the same sort of
deals and networking without forcing any changelings
to expose themselves to hobgoblins, exiled Fae and
loyalists who are just as likely to sell information back
to Faerie as they are sell Contracts to the free fae.
Some Courts use the Winter Market to achieve a
third goal. The confluence of changeling Courts gives
the Silent Arrow an opportunity to judge the other
Courts’ capabilities and natures. It’s also a chance for the
Court to infiltrate their peers’ societies. Many Winter
Courts feel no need for this measure, but quite a few do.
Winter Courts also often hold the Winter Formal
once each year. Some wiseass named the event
after typical high school or university dances, and
the name stuck. The Winter Formal is a masquerade
where concealing one’s identity is mandatory, and an
opportunity for free-for-all, guiltless socializing. The
Court procures tokens that conceal the seeming, or
makes a pact with certain entities of Faerie to make
identities unknowable for the evening. In this way,
even typical enemies of the changeling Courts can
attend and mingle, while the changelings still feel
safely hidden.
Radio Free Fae is a modern tradition spreading
through Winter Courts. As masters of subterfuge, the
Onyx courtiers are also usually at the heart of any
underground movement. Radio Free Fae is a method
of disseminating information that all Lost should
know without divulging the location of either the
sender or the receiver. The broadcast “station” can
be tracked down, but it moves regularly. Surprisingly,
not all Winter Courts support Radio Free Fae, and it
is sometimes upheld by an underground movement
within the Winter Court itself.
Sorrow
Members of the Court of Sorrow deal with their
signature emotion much as they deal with the rest
of their lives: they hide from it. They all know it’s
there, hovering on the edge of their consciousness,
but they deal with it by avoiding it. In most cases, this
is the healthiest thing to do. There’s no way to face
the sorrow of losing Faerie’s wonders when one never
intends to go back, and what good is sorrow at one’s
stolen life when there’s no way to go back?
Bringing their emotion to others is rarely a matter
of cruelty. Often, it is a kindness. It is a way of
offering the release to others that the courtiers cannot
— or are afraid to — experience. A changeling
may attend a funeral and discuss the deceased with
those who miss him, and some go so far as to become
touching eulogists. They bring the sorrow of others’
to mind so that others can deal with it.
Natural disasters such as hurricanes and
typhoons are seen as times of plenty for
the Winter Court — though, of course,
it’s best not to be visibly seen indulging.
That would be a bit crass.
Guilt and regret are other high-yield sources
of sorrow. Fae of this Court may spend time near a
Catholic confessional, or even inside it, listening to
the repentant ask forgiveness. Others visit prisons to
discuss the cause or results of inmates’ incarcerations,
or they may participate in or run group therapy sessions.
There are less moral changelings who cause
tragedies in order to benefit from the sorrow they
cause, but these acts are usually discouraged, sometimes
violently, by the Court.
Stereotypes
Spring Court: I think they may be hiding from
themselves the same way we are… just louder.
Summer Court: Sometimes I think, if the Summer
guys would just stop pounding their chests and
howling, They might lose track of us.
Autumn Court: If they took fewer risks, they’d
be a great help. As it is, they’re more likely to cause
trouble than prevent it.
SPRING COURT
The Spring Court exists for changelings who refuse that loss, choosing to replace it with something new. They deny despair in preference of hope, and together they keep that hope alive where alone it would falter. Their lives are not over, and they intend to prove it — to the Fae, and to themselves. Mother Susan is the alleged founder of the Antler Crown. After returning to Earth from Faerie, her dreams of motherhood were shattered by infertility.
Contracts she forged with other entities enabled her to have a child again, but she would not keep it. Many believe that Mother Susan gave up her infant to Spring in order to seal the pact that founded the Court. They honor her as one who sacrificed her spring so that others might have theirs, though many question what could have driven her to such an extreme. Some say it was guilt, and they wonder what she might have done to first have her child. This is how the members of the Spring Court defend themselves against the Fae. These Court members will not be silent, pain-wracked victims of their
tormentors. These Lost choose to exult in the now and guiltlessly retie themselves to the human world around them. They surround themselves with the beauty their time
in Arcadia showed them, proving that their joy is not trapped in
that other place forever. Far from a denial of the situation,
this is a deliberate attack on the Fae. Changelings of the
Emerald Court fulfill their own desires, and do it with style, out of spite and pride, to diminish the power the Gentry hold over them. If it were easy, every changeling would do it. Instead, there is an entire Court devoted to the idea. The Court of Desire serves as a support group for its members as much as a governing body. For every refugee who truly embraces the concept of living well in order to live at all, there are two who play the game and hide their shame. Being among others struggling the same way strengthens all of them, helps them go on. The reinforcement the Court provides is the reason it and
many of its members have survived so long. So, what members of the Spring Court do, they do with style. They must enjoy life and steal Faerie’s thunder, which they do by making their existences beautiful as well as enjoyable. Changelings of this Court seek the most poetic aspect of any effort, from poignant stanzas and cleverly appropriate bargains to
something as simple as walking gracefully to the bus. Bearers of the Emerald Mantle practice equal elegance in their interactions with others. Their wit and eloquence naturally attract allies and acquaintances whom, in a pinch, they can call upon or manipulate when necessary. This quickly became and remains another of the Court’s tools in its effort to remain free.
The results are subtle, but effective. One motley
spends its evenings in a nightclub, drinking in the thirst
and lust and the slaking of each. It can also rouse the
clubbers to riot to conceal their escape. Others sneak
into office parties across their city, riding the whitecollar
workers’ one night of release, but they always
have friends to hide them. From this, changelings of
the Spring Court camouflage themselves against these
backgrounds. Hunting Fae cannot find changelings as
easily when the prey doesn’t have that feeling of loss
that most changelings cannot shake off.
And when True Fae grow close, the Court gathers.
The monarch arranges soirees to delay or deflect
the wrath of the Fae. There is a metaphysical power
in unbridled joy that turns away captors seeking their
slaves. There is such strength in being able to honestly
laugh in the face of terror that it slows or stops the
hunting Gentry, who wonder if these are their quarry
after all.
Courtiers
Changelings in a Spring Court pursue their
every action with elegant grace, and they refuse to
neglect their own pleasures. Many of them are very
serious about seeing their own desires met, to the
point where people might call them narcissistic egoists.
Few admit that a Spring courtier has a very good
reason to pursue his own interests, and that that pursuit
requires an iron will and a self-control to rival
any recovering addict.
The ideal of beautifully living for today is very
attractive, especially to escapees from the courts of
Faerie. But few changelings have the right personality
to live in the moments of their own creation — so
much of what they are is in the past, decided for them
by minds decidedly unconcerned with fulfilling the
changeling’s desires. They still have not escaped the
Arcadian prison, though they walk free on Earth.
Such people do not belong in the Spring Court.
The Court seeks those who want to deny the
consequences of the past. Rather than hide from it
or stand against it, they choose to leave their troubles
behind them and forge something new and distinctly
theirs in the “new” world of Earth. They are pioneers
and explorers on the experiential landscape, always
seeking a new pleasure because moving any more
slowly means the Fae will find them.
A proper member of the Spring Court is devoted to
meeting her own desires and doing so elegantly, but also
to helping other members meet their desires. A changeling
who can not just emulate Spring’s rebirth but help
carry it to others is one who has the Court’s respect. A
courtly Knight proclaims his love for the maiden in every
artfully careless step and revels in it, but it is better
if his proclamation gives the maiden the opportunity to
gently swoon and become ravished just as she desires.
A changeling scientist constructs her lab such that every
Bunsen burner and bubbling flask speaks volumes
about the sanity she delights in pretending is lost, but it
is better if her research assistant has the opportunity to
thematically rail against her madness before storming
out the door in secret joy.
Anyone is welcome to join the Spring Court, but
members are judgmental. A changeling without the
same affectation for beauty as the others is quickly
made to feel as if she doesn’t fit in. Unless (or until)
she shows some special poetry in either her work or
play, she will be only on the periphery of the Court
and unable to advance.
Some changelings of this Court suffer strong feelings
of guilt. What gives them the right to see to their
own wants while others suffer? No mere human may
have endured as much as one of the changelings, but
there are other fae who have. This question is most
common among members whose hearts are changing,
and will soon lead them away from the Spring Court.
Rituals
Some observances are common among many, if
not most, Spring Courts. Best known is the Spring
Revel, a region-wide party the Court commands each
time power transfers to the Spring Court from the
Winter Court. Changelings of all Courts look forward
to these celebrations, as the Court of Desire arranges
locations where the fae can be private and makes a
special effort to see that at least one desire of every attendee,
changeling, human guest or other, is met. The
best monarchs use the opportunity to demonstrate
the intended themes of their reigns without being so
gauche as to state them. Members of the Spring Court,
at least, believe that the Revel deters Fae incursion.
Spring courtiers constantly compete to make the
most subtly eloquent and audaciously beautiful statement
in their individual bailiwicks. This is no poetry
slam or lyrical comparison. It is a competition practiced
in all media across a Court’s jurisdiction, and
a composition’s worth is measured by the response
among humans. The Spring King or Queen usually judges. She determines which member of the Court
performed best (taking into account gamesmanship
and honor, the wild cards) and bestows a simple honor
or prize once each year, usually during the Spring
Revel. Arranging a building’s skeletal structure to
look like a rose growing into full bloom as it is built is
an example of one victorious entry.
Every year, many Spring Courts hold a Homecoming.
Some members of the Court (or other Courts) try
to rename the party to something not used by academic
institutions for their sporting events, but the attempts
always fail. The name is too perfect. The Homecoming
usually takes place on the date of the Spring monarch’s
escape from Faerie, but it is occasionally
rescheduled to honor a particular changeling. Everyone is invited, and they are all expected to “let loose.” Surprisingly, most of the guests actually do.
Desire
Lust. Hunger. Greed. These and
more fall under the broad blanket of
“desire.” The Spring Court claims the
greatest connection to this emotion
by right of the Court’s pact, and few
deny that the courtiers make it a part
of themselves.
A member of the Court of Desire
luxuriates in her signature emotion any place she can find it: the child in the supermarket
who can’t have a cookie. The dog on the street, staring
hungrily at its owner’s pastrami. The older man
walking with his grandchildren and longing for a
rest. Some Lost relieve these desires, slipping the kid
a snack or bumping the sandwich onto the ground. If
doing so creates a greater story or meets more wants
— the mother is upset at the well-meaning stranger
usurping her authority, so she forgets herself and allows
her other child to have some bubblegum — so
much the better.
Many changelings find positions in human communities
that provide close views of human desires.
One owns a strip club, while the friends in her motley
serve as bartender, waitresses and janitor. A changeling
organizes and leads a two-week summer camp,
knowing the sort of drama that runs rampant there.
Members of the Spring Court are quick to organize
celebrations, from block parties to gallery openings.
Some become purveyors of alcohol or marijuana (occasionally
to minors), letting the relaxed inhibitions
help people reach for what they want.
Spring courtiers are careful to recognize their
own desires. To do otherwise would be a failure, because
a pleasure unknown is a pleasure unfulfilled.
Members also try to be aware of what others want,
especially their comrades-in-arms. Allowing a fellow
refugee to suffer despair is as much a failure as despairing
yourself. A few changelings take it further,
considering it their duty to ensure their companions
meet their desires.
Some members of the Court spend
their time seeking new pleasures
in an attempt
to experience everything
and deny
themselves nothing;
their less frenetic
comrades often stick with
the few pleasures they prefer,
though often only after a
period of searching for what
those pleasures are. There
are those who consider the
continued search for fulfillment
just another part of the
escape that began with a furious,
fearful race through the
Hedge. Others think of
it as their reward for
making it this far.
Stereotypes
Summer Court: They’re strong, and I suppose
that makes them safe. But by protecting their lives,
they don’t really live.
Autumn Court: They spend too much time remembering.
They should really get
out more — out of doors, and
out of the past.
Winter Court: I’m this
far from being one of them.
If I’d shut my doors instead
of throwing them open, I’d
be there.
SUMMUER COURT
The Summer Court welcomes
any changeling willing to fight to the last drop
of blood for her — and for others’ — safety.
The Court’s founder was Sam Noblood, whose
mien always dripped with red during a fight. Legend
has it that Sam topped an old branch with a bundle
of autumn leaves to make a spear, and hunted down
Summer. The pursuit was long, but Sam Noblood cornered
Summer and extracted a promise: in exchange
for peace, the season would support Sam’s Court.
That legend embodies the Crimson Court way to
success in life: through strength. What is worth keeping
is worth fighting to keep, and a fight only ends in
your favor if you make it. To members of the Summer
Court, everything is something they must learn to
endure and overcome. But not alone. A changeling’s family, friends and kinship with humanity have been
stolen from him, but the Court offers a new family.
Enemies of the changelings are to be faced and defeated,
together, doing what no refugee could do before he
escaped and found companions. Otherwise, there was
no point in fighting free of Faerie in the first place.
Not all members of the Court are strong, but all
of them see strength as the best means
to achieving their security on Earth.
Strength is an ideal for them, the
ability to weather what the
world forces on them and the
power to shape events to the
changeling’s best interests.
Courtiers who do not wield
such strength pursue it,
and the Court supports its
members in their pursuits.
The ideal manifests in
many ways, from the simple
brute who can take a punch
(or a dozen) and dish it all
out to the political fixer with
the backup to stay connected and
the clout to direct policy. For some,
breadth of ability is another measure of
strength. No changeling has the freedom to fight
in only a single arena, so being capable in more than
one is considered another expression of strength.
The Iron Spear’s dedication drives it to lend aid
to any Lost who need help fighting off the Fae. It’s an
ultimate measure of their power: if the Court can fight
on behalf of all changelings and win, it is successfully
earning its safety through its creed. The Court’s need
to test itself causes them to champion fae society in
other causes as well, often without being asked. Members
of the Summer Court stand between the Courts
and other supernatural threats, such as vampires or
mages, and they act to stop human institutions that
would do the fae harm, for example, investigative reporters
and paranormal conspiracies.
Courtiers
Changelings who join the Summer Court are
usually the more direct, conflict-minded refugees from
Arcadia. When they see an assault, their solution is
to fight back. To such a person’s eyes, webs of intrigue
and plotting nearly beg to be torn down around their
weavers. Their instinct after their escape is to pick up
what pieces there are, suffer what they must and spit
the Fae’s hospitality right back in Their faces. The
Gentry are masters at finessing around or through
such direct challenges to their slippery power, but the
Summer Courts don’t care — and that’s part of what
makes their survival such a big deal.
Besides that directness of manner, members of the
Court of Wrath have the will to use it. For many, it’s
the smoldering fury they hold for the Fae that stole
their lives and didn’t even let their families mourn.
If you don’t intend to let enemies live long enough
to play games with them, why pretend? Others return
to Earth with the patience burned out of them, or a
steel-hard dedication instilled that they have trouble
questioning. Some just like lording over the weak, and
they fall into this category, too.
Some fae see those who join the Summer Court
as leftovers from the other Courts. They aren’t elegant
enough for Spring, inquisitive enough for Fall
or crafty enough for Winter, so they end up in Summer.
These are stereotypes too often applied and only
partially correct. A changeling who is none of those
things and also not a fighter remains Courtless. And
all too often, the other Courts recognize the Summer
Court as a changeling’s destination before any Summer
courtier meets her. The fae has the strength and
will to fight, yes, but also seeks a foundation for her
wrath. She needs a knightly brotherhood sworn to defend
the refugees and destroy their enemies, because
that is exactly what she burns to do.
Nearly all members of the Summer Court appreciate
the direct application of force for its usefulness
and elegance. Few restrict their study of direct conflict
to brute-on-brute fights, though, and none of them
ignore that most of their enemies use less straightforward
tactics. One courtier knows exactly how to
read the intricacies of politics, and exactly when to
cut through them with truth like a knife. Another undermines
others in arguments, unsubtly but very effectively,
and can sway crowds to her whim. The strategist
sees where the enemy commanders must move
their troops, and stations her soldiers in the perfect
place to stop them.
Pledging to the Summer Court is an uncomplicated
affair, just as the rest of the Court’s activities.
The Court runs a potential member through a gamut
of arduous physical challenges, from fistfights and
rock-climbing to staying alive in the woods at night.
(Basically, all the Physical Skills.) The intent is to see
if the changeling can keep going through it all and
to determine which (if any) skills are the individuals’
forte. Some don’t make the grade. (In game terms,
most characters in the Summer Court have ••• in
at least one Physical Skill. Some manage to join the
Court with less, with liberal Willpower expenditure
and a bit of luck.)
Rituals
Compared to the other Courts, the Court of
Wrath’s rituals are abundant and unsubtle. Very common
are contests of physical skill. The Court is full of
changelings who place great value on sheer force or
ability, and it pleases them to know who is best at any
given thing. Wrestling matches or mock combats are
common, as are footraces, free running and climbing
competitions, martial arts contests, tests of archery
and marksmanship and many other competitive endeavors.
Most courtiers have running scorecards in
their head that tell them who has beaten whom and
how many times, creating an approximate pecking order
that differs for each category.
One recent tradition that has caught on among
many Summer Courts is to arrange official contests
during their periods ruling the freehold. Each of the
three contests tests a quality at which another Court
is, ostentatiously, the best. Each Court chooses a
champion for each contest, and the best fae brings
honor and prizes to her Court. Unsurprisingly, the
Autumn Court usually wins the contests of invention
and magic, the Winter Court usually wins the contests
of stealth and subterfuge, etc.
Most changelings see the contests as an opportunity
for the Summer Court to challenge other Courts
in their bailiwicks, trying to show them up. Few realize
that the contests were designed to spread goodwill,
as members of the other Courts reinforce their pride
as the most eloquent poets or craftiest forgers. In this
way, the Summer Court builds social awareness of the
Courts’ individual strengths and weaknesses, shoring
up areas that the Fae might try to exploit.
Some Crimson courtiers also try to take part in
human competitions. Different Courts take different
stances on such activity. While excelling at a craft is
very much in line with the Court’s nature, doing so can also attract unwanted attention. Some Summer
Courts discourage it, suggesting that the competitors
instead hone their skills to fight the Fae. Other
Courts support the idea as a way to draw out the
True Fae for ambush. Problematically, truly national
competitions take changelings far afield, where they
don’t know the lay of the land and must interact with
strange (and probably untrusting) fae in order to take
basic safety precautions. The other Courts look down
on such grandstanding in human society, believing
that it can only cause trouble.
Wrath
There is a righteous wrath in the heart of nearly
every member of every Summer Court. Somewhere
deep, they want their tormentors to feel as helpless
as the changelings once did. It is something that they
must deal with — the sheer anger at how they have
been abused, the rage at those who took what can
never be returned. The courtiers of Wrath know how
angry they are in their hearts. They try very hard to
spend their wrath on something, anything, so that
they do not lose their control. Strength without aim
is too dangerous for the Court to favor it.
There is wrath in every competitor at a contest.
Wrath lurks behind the desire to be victorious, disguises
itself as competitive nature, but really wants
the others to fail and you to win. A competitor wants
the others to go down. This is the other reason the
Summer Court holds so many informal competitions.
In addition to honing their strengths, the contests
burn their anger. The members work to keep their
fires banked, so the flames will burn hot when the fae
need them to but not before.
Members of the Court of Wrath do burn out occasionally.
Having lost their driving anger, they often
become Courtless. Recognizing the phenomenon,
the Court makes an effort to provide its members appropriate
fuel for their rages without letting it burn
too brightly. One of the Court’s core purposes is to
prevent its members’ wrath from consuming them, or
from dying out and leaving changelings undefended.
In the pursuit of wrath, courtiers frequent sporting
events. They let the competitive urges wash over
them, flavored by the angers of clashing or disappointed
fans. Changelings may become coaches or even
influential teammates, working to fan the competitive
rage that drives athletes. Humans are prone to anger,
and the fae can usually create it with ease. One can
pretend his car is broken in the middle of rush hour
to anger hundreds, or one could order with infuriating
sloth at the popular coffee shop to piss off a couple
dozen. On a smaller scale, some changelings enjoy
pretending to be telemarketers or evangelists and calling
upon families at dinnertime. It’s small scale, but
more personal.
Not every member of the Crimson Court considers
petty anger appropriately wrathful, and some
seek out deeper furies. Some visit prisons to get a
sense of the prisoners, or correspond with murderers
on death row. These can provide tastes of wrath current
and wrath past, both of which are valuable to
the Summer Court. Daring changelings may join or
assist local criminal organizations, hoping to be near
gun battles and dramatic betrayals, but others seek
out positions in Hollywood or politics where such
things are more common.
Stereotypes
Spring Court: They’re too busy playing Fae to
fight them.
Autumn Court: These guys have the right idea,
but the fire they’re playing with is hotter than ours
and harder to control.
Winter Court: If I wanted to hide from real life,
I’d’ve stayed in Faerie.
AUTUMN COURT
The curse is a gift. Not
one member of the Autumn
Court is glad of her abduction
and enslavement. But
since they were taken, they were
changed and they can’t go back,
they can damn well take advantage of
those changes. They know that the gramarye
of the Fae doesn’t have to be terrifyingly beautiful and
gloriously torturous. It can be simply wondrous, too.
Though all changelings use magic, the Leaden Mirror
walks on the cutting edge of Wyrd.
Clay Ariel founded the Court of Fear. She had
natural hands before she was taken, but when she returned,
they were artificial. Only soft clay, she had to
be careful not to damage them. Ariel took this as a
lesson, and her toys and weapons of clay were wellknown.
None living today know what influence Clay
Ariel exerted on the season of Autumn, but legend
states that she went off without any armament but a
wry smile. She ruled as the first Autumn Queen for
long years after forging her Court’s pact.
The Autumn Court survives by turning the
weapons of the Fae against them. These weapons are
the pacts and Contracts made between Faerie and the
various aspects of Earth. Many Court members also
justify their experiences as slaves by bringing magic to
Earth. This is the opportunity to enrich their world
with breathtaking wonder, and they’ve already paid
the monstrous cost. Autumn courtiers are
the most likely to seek out trods and
other places of power, because that
is where there is more to learn.
Every Contract is another
sword to wield, another shield
between her and the Fae and
another rainbow cast by the
otherwise lonely rain.
This Court encourages
subtler solutions to problems
that face fae society.
Clay Ariel didn’t charge off
to wrestle the season for her
pact, and Autumn Court members
rarely try to match their
enemies eye to eye and fist to fist.
One would much rather lead a foe
into a trap or trick an opponent into attacking
the wrong target — minimum force for
the maximum result. To a degree, it’s just efficiency.
It lets the changeling spend as little effort as possible
and get back to other things. But it’s also common
sense, honed by fear: when you’re fighting with your
enemies’ weapons and don’t know exactly how they
work, you use them as little as possible.
So the Court tracks down and investigates any
potential source of Wyrd knowledge. A member of
this Court is much more likely than most to ask other
changelings about what they remember of Faerie.
When that fails, they ransack their own memories for
new revelations, sometimes resorting to hypnotism or
thiopental sodium. Autumn courtiers also travel more
than most changelings, exploring places of fae significance.
Every little bit helps.
Autumn Court members often explore the Hedge,
seeking a glimpse of Arcadia’s wonder. Others explore
the limits of known pacts and their interactions with
each other — some take a very scientific approach
to such things, while others refuse to explain magic
with reason. Daring Ashen courtiers try to effect new
pacts, expanding the breadth of changeling magic and
developing Contracts that the Fae could not match.
(The occasional assertion that all Court founders
would have been members of the Autumn Court today
is always laughed down.)
Not every source of power the Lost try to use is
Wyrd. There is more to the supernatural than just the
Fae, and the Autumn Court knows that better than
most. Its members explore — carefully, cautiously,
with great (and very reasonable) reservation — the
worlds of werewolves, mages and other supernatural
creatures. One never knows where one might find an
ally. Or a new weapon
Courtiers
Every member of the Ashen Court has a little
voice that misses magical Arcadia and desperately
wants to go back. Maybe that voice was placed by the
Fae, maybe it’s natural, but it’s there either way. This
is just one reason of many a changeling may join the
Autumn Court, and it’s often not the greatest. Many
changelings quite simply want to hurt their captors
and see their magical capabilities as the best way of
doing so. Others become enamored with the irony of
fighting the Fae with the magic of Faerie.
The best prospective members of the Court are
creative and inquisitive, but in the end, they are also in
love with magic. There are creative ways to make war
without magic, and there are questions one can ask that
only concern earthly subjects. Changelings join this
Court because they want to change the world obliquely
by pushing through dimensions of trust and poetry that
most people ignore. All eventually deal with the conflict
of surrounding themselves with what the strove so
long to escape, but it often takes some time.
Courtiers of Autumn seek alternative solutions
to surmount their obstacles. A member would rather
sweep the legs out from an opponent than push him
over, and luring him onto a patch of ice is more attractive
than either. One might spread a rumor to draw
out the Fae instead of planting real bait to attract
them. Either way, changelings attracted to this Court
generally lean away from the most direct path. Unless,
of course, it’s the best.
Though all members of the Court involve themselves
with magic, many specialize in certain fields and
expand their mastery of other disciplines. Even those
who relegate the study of magic to secondary importance
apply the Autumn Court’s method of problemsolving
to the rest of their lives. The businessman who
outsourced before outsourcing became “cool,” the scientist
who gives outlandish theories a chance and the
teacher who neatly sidesteps the principal’s wrath are
all people who could join the Autumn Court.
Most Autumn Courts require a potential member
to share some secret of Wyrd lore that they do not
already know. Acceptable secrets are often just foggy
tidbits that a changeling remembers from her time in
Faerie. Some fae make such things up, but a secret
that does not ring true is quickly weeded out. On the
other hand, the ability to falsify tales of Fae magic
and fool others is a valuable creativity, and may be
respected. Other changelings demonstrate Contracts
not commonly known in the area or to the Court.
But magic has a price. Changelings who practice
too carelessly find themselves growing apart from
Earth again. Worse, some of them don’t realize how
much of their humanity they are giving up for their
gramarye. The wise among them accept the costs
they cannot avoid, and the Court serves to help the
Lost without that strength. Others simply don’t care
or don’t think of it, exulting in magic for magic’s sake
and damning the (or ignoring) consequences.
Rituals
The rituals of the Autumn Court are not as colorful
or outlandish as some of the other Courts’. The
annual Fallen Fair is common in many regions. Each
year, members of the Court and esteemed guests from
other Courts gather to show off their discoveries in
the realm of the supernatural. Changelings demonstrate
their advanced aptitudes with well-known
Contracts, display newfound tokens and share their
unique pacts (if any). There is a full docket of lectures
on all manner of magical topics. The Fallen Fair is
also an unofficial opportunity to barter magical tools
and services.
Many Autumn Courts sponsor a hunt, called the
Hunt of Leaves, the Ash Run and other names. This
is a lethal hunt that welcomes all interested changelings,
in which the fae ride (or run, or drive) down and
kill their enemies. Topping this list are the True Fae,
but the hunt also targets loyalist changelings, leftover
dream-things and sometimes fetches. The Court bears the expense and effort, arranging necessary weapons
or concealments from human society. All the other
Courts need to provide are warm, willing bodies.
Of course, the Autumn Court has the first claim on
bounty, especially magical, from the hunt.
The hunt gets most of its participants from the
Autumn and Summer Courts, but a healthy smattering
of the other changelings (including Courtless) always
participate. Whatever their reasons, most relish
an opportunity to make the enemy run scared, if only
for an evening or two.
Some Courts mimic the scientific community’s
approach to magic to a larger degree. They fund lectures
by members of other Autumn Courts, arranging
travel and accommodations and occasionally providing
an honorarium. Some also publish journals containing
their members’ monographs. Such a work is
generally on the scope of an indie ’zine (and is taken
as such by mortals who happen upon one).
Fear
Autumn Court members deal with fear on
two basic levels. They evoke the emotion in othin communities is easy, but not always desirable,
moral or safe. A changeling may spread word in a
neighborhood about the sex offender who moved in
next door, but if the rumor leads back to him (assuming
it’s false), there will be consequences. Likewise,
one can lower the perceived safety of people who live
in the area by staging muggings or calling the police
with lies about drug deals or shootings. This can also
backfire, as such “prophecies” tend to be self-fulfilling.
The cold war was a good time for the Autumn Court,
as the threat of nuclear war loomed large, and some
skeptically note that fear will always be good business
for human society as well as the Leaden Mirror.
Children are a valuable source of fear for Autumn
courtiers. Children are less skeptical than
adults, and emotionally more pure, so many members
of the Court hone the skill of telling scary stories or
arranging frightening performances. Spreading local
legends about “that house” or “old man Withers”
is common. Some create the yard where kids never
venture to get a lost ball. Creating truly frightening
haunted houses during Halloween is a tradition
few pass up.
On the surface, members of the Court
know why they’re afraid. Their period of
forced servitude in Faerie
is still terrifying to them.
What’s important is how
they relate to that fear.
An Ashen courtier tries to
be aware of her fears, whether
a frightening moment (an
imminent car crash) or an abiding terror (the Others,
naturally, but also more mundane things like spiders
or losing an honored position).
Knowledge of the emotion and of the fae’s self
is the key; Court of Fear members put little stock on
conquering their fears, which they consider an unhelpful
goal, and more on learning how to use those
fears. They try to wisely excuse themselves from
projects in which they will be nervous and unhelpful,
and they examine when to work with their fright
to surpass their normal limits.
Members of this Court are also known for their
ability to understand other’s fears, and their aptitude
for wielding that knowledge with great efficacy.
Stereotypes
Spring Court: They may understand the nature
of Wyrd, but they sure don’t do anything about it.
Summer Court: There’s so much potential, but
they waste it all on brute force.
Winter Court: If they ever came out of their shells,
they could do something. As it is, they just hide.
WINTER COURT
In the Winter, all the glory
of the seasons fades to nothing, nowhere
to be seen, and snow hides the ground. But there
is life, waiting beneath the earth where it can’t be disturbed.
The Silent Arrow knows this.
The founder of the Court was a changeling called
Snowflake John. Per his moniker, he was nearly impossible
to tell apart from any of the other people on the
street at any time. In a crowd, he could blend in seamlessly.
When the other Court founders were challenging
their seasons, he did the same: by not showing up.
Legend has it that John declared publicly his intent to
earn a pact from Winter, but the challenge never materialized.
After two years, when Winter had circled
the globe fully twice, Snowflake John reappeared and
asserted that Winter’s inability to find him had earned
him the right to make a pact. Many changelings claim
that there was something else to the bargain, but none
agree on what it is. The fact remains that the Winter
Court has its pact.
When the Fae come, the Winter Court is gone.
And when the cat is away, the mouse plays on. The
Court itself takes up whatever unoccupied location
is convenient and attractive, and abandons that
place just as easily when danger or discovery threatens.
Members all know the short list of those
places, giving them a place to look, but
even they are never sure where the
Court will surface until someone
finds it and passes the word. It’s
a security measure, ensuring
that their enemies have a
very hard time tracking
them down and ambushing
them.
Members of the Court
practice speaking in code,
the better to conceal their
intentions from their oppressors.
They leave messages for
each other in ways that outsiders
cannot distinguish or intercept (using
Contracts for this purpose is ideal;
a combination of drop boxes and codes is
second-best and usually sufficient). Many of them
keep multiple homes and make a practice of avoiding
regular paths to avoid ambushes. Changelings
regularly invest in security systems (mundane, magical
or both) and secret rooms. Some Courts arrange
“safehouses” for their members, in the event that
they need a place to hide from unwanted attention
(whether Fae or human). The cold war was a defining
time for the Winter Court; while the Autumn Court
profited greatly from the fear of nuclear annihilation,
the Winter Court learned to fuse many of the mortal
innovations in espionage and deceit with their own
fae talents for trickery.
The Onyx Court isn’t all paranoia and secrecy,
though that element is certainly present. Members try
to be subtle in their daily lives. They avoid attention from their neighbors by being “just another guy.” In
the suburbs, where homeowners drive off every day
and have landscapers by once a month, you don’t want
to be the car left in the driveway. Even the fae who
don’t have regular jobs (many, but not all) drive off
and find someplace to spend their “workday.” Winter
changelings make unremarkable employees, doing adequate
but unremarkable jobs and trying not to get in
trouble. Only those who can maintain an unnoticeable
record while dealing with the weird things from
Faerie stick with employment.
Members of the Court fit in wherever they go.
City life is very attractive because, amidst all those
people, it’s easy to be just another anonymous neighbor.
At a coffee shop, a Winter Court member makes
an effort to be kinda hip and kinda pretentious. On
the street at night, he’s just another fellow in a windbreaker
with a baseball cap. Even in situations where
nobody quite fits in — a diversity rally, for example, or
an event where punk rockers mingle with the upper
class — the changeling may not fit in, but he fits in
more than that guy. The changeling’s not the stuffiest
rich guy, or he’s not the most-tattooed, most-pierced
punk, and he gets glossed over.
This is all part of the Court’s effort to go unnoticed
by the Fae. Not fitting into human society
is a dead giveaway, so the Winter Court makes a
point of fitting in seamlessly. Even the other humans
barely notice Winter Court members, but not
to the point of ignoring them. That would also reveal
the hiding changelings.
Courtiers
Other changelings occasionally call Winter courtiers
cowards, but they know that’s not true. Members
of this Court aren’t just trying to conceal themselves
from the Fae, they’re also trying to live their own lives.
To have a life, they have to draw a curtain between
themselves and the fae world. There’s a degree of denial
to it that some members of the Court recognize.
To truly hide from Faerie and all that is, a changeling
must also hide from himself.
Besides, divorcing themselves from Faerie and
the Wyrd isn’t common in the Court. Only the most
extreme members manage it. Others create the image
of humanity, enough to delay the Fae and provide
a cover for the courtiers’ other activities. They
are subtle, sneaky, crafty and dislike having their
true motives known, even by their allies. Their allies,
after all, are less adept at concealing the truth.
The Court spies on Goblin Markets, exiled Fae and
even the True Fae when they ride on Earth. Winter
courtiers also sometimes kill. The Silent Arrow is
not just a poetic moniker.
The Court certainly accepts those changelings
who only want to run and hide, but with the knowledge
that most will find themselves unable to live a
normal life. Eventually, even the most timid refugees
develop a need to interact with the world of which
they are now a part. They end up helping, becoming
the spymasters or fixers or assassins of the changelings
world.
Changelings of this Court evade problems rather
than solve them. It’s a sort-of solution — whatever
the trouble, it can’t hurt them, now, so it’s okay. This
callous attitude doesn’t mean they don’t help. Winter
courtiers lend a hand getting other changelings out
of the way, and they sometimes walk into trouble,
trusting their skills to get them out of it again safe
and well.
Onyx courtiers manifest their callings in different
ways. The commander manages to distract the enemy
but never actually get caught in battle. Nobody notices
the Winter socialite, but he’s there soaking up
information just the same. They make excellent silent
partners in businesses. And not all of them avoid
notice — but even those that don’t influence others
perceptions of who or what they are. A popular emcee
may look harmless, but he’s shaping the thoughts of
hundreds, thousands or more fans.
Many changelings join the Winter Court when
they’re fresh out of Faerie, but a more proportionate
number remain a part of it. To run and hide is a very
natural instinct immediately after one’s escape, making
the Winter Court a very attractive option. Few
Winter monarchs choose to turn away the new refugees.
Instead, the Courts try to aid as many scared
changelings as they can. Only after several months’
interaction between the Court’s members and the potential
inductees does the Court accept them or turn
them away. In the latter case, the Court can usually
suggest a more appropriate Court. Few fae take the
rejection poorly enough to instead become Courtless.
Rituals
Most famous of the Winter Court’s rituals is the
Winter Market, a gathering most Courts sponsor two
or three times in the season. At the market, changelings
of all Courts (and Courtless) are free to set up
stalls or booths, buy, sell, run games and trade services
or information. The Winter Market is less focused than the Autumn Court’s Fallen Fair and much more
open to non-magical bartering.
In most Courts, the Winter Market serves two purposes.
The first is to be a clearinghouse for the Onyx
Court’s information, “confiscated” goods and services,
of which there are many. Winter courtiers make up
the majority of purveyors at the Winter Market, if
not by too much. The second is to counter the illicit
draw and influence of the Goblin Market. The Winter
Market provides an opportunity for the same sort of
deals and networking without forcing any changelings
to expose themselves to hobgoblins, exiled Fae and
loyalists who are just as likely to sell information back
to Faerie as they are sell Contracts to the free fae.
Some Courts use the Winter Market to achieve a
third goal. The confluence of changeling Courts gives
the Silent Arrow an opportunity to judge the other
Courts’ capabilities and natures. It’s also a chance for the
Court to infiltrate their peers’ societies. Many Winter
Courts feel no need for this measure, but quite a few do.
Winter Courts also often hold the Winter Formal
once each year. Some wiseass named the event
after typical high school or university dances, and
the name stuck. The Winter Formal is a masquerade
where concealing one’s identity is mandatory, and an
opportunity for free-for-all, guiltless socializing. The
Court procures tokens that conceal the seeming, or
makes a pact with certain entities of Faerie to make
identities unknowable for the evening. In this way,
even typical enemies of the changeling Courts can
attend and mingle, while the changelings still feel
safely hidden.
Radio Free Fae is a modern tradition spreading
through Winter Courts. As masters of subterfuge, the
Onyx courtiers are also usually at the heart of any
underground movement. Radio Free Fae is a method
of disseminating information that all Lost should
know without divulging the location of either the
sender or the receiver. The broadcast “station” can
be tracked down, but it moves regularly. Surprisingly,
not all Winter Courts support Radio Free Fae, and it
is sometimes upheld by an underground movement
within the Winter Court itself.
Sorrow
Members of the Court of Sorrow deal with their
signature emotion much as they deal with the rest
of their lives: they hide from it. They all know it’s
there, hovering on the edge of their consciousness,
but they deal with it by avoiding it. In most cases, this
is the healthiest thing to do. There’s no way to face
the sorrow of losing Faerie’s wonders when one never
intends to go back, and what good is sorrow at one’s
stolen life when there’s no way to go back?
Bringing their emotion to others is rarely a matter
of cruelty. Often, it is a kindness. It is a way of
offering the release to others that the courtiers cannot
— or are afraid to — experience. A changeling
may attend a funeral and discuss the deceased with
those who miss him, and some go so far as to become
touching eulogists. They bring the sorrow of others’
to mind so that others can deal with it.
Natural disasters such as hurricanes and
typhoons are seen as times of plenty for
the Winter Court — though, of course,
it’s best not to be visibly seen indulging.
That would be a bit crass.
Guilt and regret are other high-yield sources
of sorrow. Fae of this Court may spend time near a
Catholic confessional, or even inside it, listening to
the repentant ask forgiveness. Others visit prisons to
discuss the cause or results of inmates’ incarcerations,
or they may participate in or run group therapy sessions.
There are less moral changelings who cause
tragedies in order to benefit from the sorrow they
cause, but these acts are usually discouraged, sometimes
violently, by the Court.
Stereotypes
Spring Court: I think they may be hiding from
themselves the same way we are… just louder.
Summer Court: Sometimes I think, if the Summer
guys would just stop pounding their chests and
howling, They might lose track of us.
Autumn Court: If they took fewer risks, they’d
be a great help. As it is, they’re more likely to cause
trouble than prevent it.
