Changeling

HistoryChimerical HoustonNoble Hierarchy of HoustonCharacter CreationPlotsCourtsHouse Rules and Important Concepts

City History

Pre-Colonial and Colonial Period

• A Complex History - The history of Fae Folk in Houston is a complex interweaving of three major groups: Proto-Kiths emerging from the Aztec Empire and Mesoamerican Empires further south, various Nunnehi Tribes, and European Kithain/Gallain. Understanding the current cultural mix of Fae in Houston requires an examination of the roots of these groups.
• Pre-Colonial Mesoamerica – Various Nunnehi tribes lived in the area of Texas that would become Houston. Much of the history, even the oral history, of this time period is lost to the Mortal and Fae indigenous populations alike. What is known for certain is that there were many more Tribes of Nunnehi than what exist today. Despite the common misconception, several Empires existed in Mesoamerica prior to Colonialization, including the Aztec Empire. Having left behind their tribal roots centuries ago, the Fae folk of the Aztecs, Mayans, and Incas were already beginning to more closely resemble groups of proto-Kiths than the Nunnehi tribes that lived further north or in more rural areas around their empire. They no longer communed with the spirit world, nor harvested glamour from nature. Instead, they obtained glamour as Kithain do: by inspiring artists and artisans, as well as astronomers, mathematicians, and engineers. The banality that chased European fae through the gates of Arcadia was still a far distant winter to the Nunnehi and proto-Kithain of Mesoamerica.
• Pre-colonial Houston – When the Spanish arrived in present day Texas in 1528, they discovered a wide range of mortal tribes. These included the Karankawas, Caddos, Jumanos, Atakapa, Mariame, and Akokisa. Each of these tribes lived in distinctly different communities: some were wide ranging nomadic fishermen and hunters, others were farming communities with permanent territory. These tribes were eventually either pushed to extinction by Colonial Europeans; pushed out by Comanche, Apache and other tribes who had, themselves, been pushed out of their own territory to the East; or assimilated into one of those two conquering groups.
• Conquistadors – While there were a few Kithain explorers among the ranks of the first waves of French and Spanish explorers/Conquistadors (its hard to have quite so many explorers and not find a few Eshu among them), the Kithain as a whole at this time relied far too much on dreamers and their few remaining freeholds for glamour. As a result, the Nunnehi of Houston and European Kithain wouldn't find themselves truly at odds for another 250 years. But this delayed meeting only meant that when the two groups did finally come into contact in greater numbers, there would already be ample bad blood between them thanks to the deeds of the Kithain's mortal counter parts.
• Early Settlers - By the mid-1700s, Tribal populations had already been reduced and forcibly relocated to the point that Nunnehi Glades were ripe for the taking by Kithain settlers desperate for sources of glamour. Many of these Glades would, within a few decades, be converted into the first Freeholds in Texas.
• 1776 - The Declaration of Independence is signed, and the seeds of a new dream are planted. None but a few powerful seers wound understand at the time how this mortal War would set the stage for the Accordance War nearly 200 years later.

A Note on History, Banality, and Glamour

Kithain will often hotly debate whether a given historic period or event was "Glamorous" or "Banal". Things like the Industrial Revolution or the Age of Exploration, periods spanning decades or centuries, encompassing whole nations and thousands if not hundreds of thousands of individual contributions... well they are simply too complex and too big to be easily categorized. Nockers will recall fondly the rush of glamour that accompanied the invention of the steam engine, even though the Nunnehi see the railroad which directly resulted from its invention as a blight that cut through their sacred lands like an iron knife. The truth is such broad concepts can be both glamor rich and banal, depending in the individual context in which one encounters them.

Wild West and American Civil War

• 1836 – Texas gains independence from Mexico, only a scant 16 years after Mexico opened the territory up to Anglo-American settlement. A handful of Trolls, Redcaps, and other Kithain are present during the fighting. ** The fae of Mesoamerican empires by this time have become virtually indistinguishable from their European counterparts, with both groups increasingly popping up in each other's domains. A La Llorna born in the British Isles would be considered a Bean Sidhe, and a Troll reincarnated in Mexico City would have been called a Quinametzin. Thus, both types of Kiths can be found among their mortal Mexican counter parts, including the Tejano population of Houston.
• 1837 - City of Houston is incorporated with 1,200 citizens.
• 1853 - The first railroad to run through Texas is finished, consisting of a 20-mile track connecting Harrisburg to Stafford. The kithain population at this time is primarily made up by a small community of Nockers, but Redcaps, Trolls, Eshu, and Clurichaun also have taken up residence in the young city. Life this far on the frontier of Kithain society is incredibly difficult.
• 1861-1865 (American Civil War) – The war that pitted Brother against Brother also saw Kithain picking up arms on both sides of the battle. However, while the dream of valorous battle is one that sits at the heart of many fae, the cold nightmarish reality of warfare on this scale turned out to be something entirely different. As the fighting grew increasingly bloody, Nightmares and Nervosa were birthed into existence by the terrors and fears of soldiers. These nightmare chimera roamed the battlefields, spread out into the countryside, and were also carried to far flung towns and cities by the wounded. To make matters worse, Dauntain, Cold Iron Chimera, the Undone, and other monstrous servants of banality are encountered on the battlefield with ever increasing frequency. Long before the end of the war, all but the most battle hardened, berserker, blood thirsty Kithain are forced to flee from the fighting for fear of their own immortal souls being undone. These monstrosities continued to plague the Kithain of America for decades after the end of the war.
• Late 1800s - Early 1900s – The Civil War was followed by a period of Reconstruction. This was a time of great societal and economic upheaval in the south, as old systems (most notably slavery) were abolished and replaced by new ones. The economy of Texas was left in a dire state following the war, which required the state to find new ways to fund programs like higher education. Juneteenth becomes an unofficial holiday in black communities.
  • If the Civil War was an object lesson in the banality of modern warfare, World War 1 was a master class. Kithain in Europe and America both entered the war with dreams of valor and glory, the words Dulce Et Decorum Est burning bright in their minds, only to find themselves in an iron hell of mud and blood and razor wire. Many Fae souls were undone, and those who survived the war did so as much by ravaging their fellow soldiers as by combatting the enemy. Kithain found their magics useless, as every drop of glamour they could wring out of the battlefield was spent simply keeping banality and nightmares at bay. To succumb to a gunshot wound or a mortar round was considered a kindness, in comparison to finding oneself stalked through the trenches at night by living clouds of mustard gas or told to go over the top by a superior officer whose indifference to life or death could fell Fae souls like an iron scythe. Fae who left as Childers and Wilders returned as Grumps, if they returned at all.

Kithain and Slavery and Racism

Chattel slavery in the Americas was, with little doubt, one of the crueler, more barbaric examples of the institution to exist. It was a systemic brutalization of a people involving torture, mutilation, and casual murder. It would be nice and neat to think the Kithain were universally aligned against a practice that was the cause of so many crushed hopes and shattered dreams. But to many Kithain, the idea of owning mortals as slaves was not too distant of a memory as to give them immediate pause. To others, the cruelty was the attraction. So, like most human endeavor, the slave trade in the Americas saw Kithain involved in every facet: there were Eshu abolitionists helping slaves to freedom in the underground railroad and Trolls who were oathbound to hunt down those same runaways. But, just like mortal society, most Kithain simply turned a blind eye and avoided the issue for as long as they could. If the Fae are good at anything, it is ignoring the Autumn world.

Paradoxically, Racism is inherently Banal. It is also an inherently mortal concept, and one that makes little sense to the Kithain. Trolls and Boggans, Sluagh and Sidhe are widely considered to all be unique facets of a single people: the Fae. This is true despite their obvious differences in physical characteristics. Classism, elitism, and a sense of inherent superiority are, however, very common attributes among the Fae. A Satyr who considers herself to be inherently better than all mortals might not see any immorality in owning a few as property. It is for this reason that Kithain have at times, throughout history, found themselves on the same side of a debate as racists and bigots.

Roaring 20s, the Great Depression, and The Night of the Martians

• 1926 – Houston Central Library is constructed, and within the same year is turned into the main Seelie freehold, under control of a diverse group of Kithain devoted to the idea of democratizing knowledge. It would later be renamed the Julia Ideson Building.
• The Roaring 20s is a decade of great economic change in the country in general and Texas in particular. This is the beginning of the Oil boom, which would bring a new level of wealth and prosperity to the region. The population of Houston more than tripled in size between 1910 and 1930, as Texas experienced the same flocking of people to urban centers. With money came an increase of funding for theater, arts, and education. These additional sources of glamour, coupled with the wild nightmares which still roamed rural Texas, lead many Kithain to abandon isolated rural freeholds and flock to cities like Houston.
• At the same time, immigration from Mexico is dramatically on the rise, accelerating the intermingling of Mesoamerican Kiths with those that immigrated from Europe. Most of these immigrants are migrant farmers.
• Prohibition creates massive moonshining and bootlegging operations, with Texas seeing its share of both. In this period, with mortal society at large embracing casual lawlessness, record numbers of Fae embraced their Unseelie halves. Freeholds became increasingly abundant, as the Speak Easy (imbued with the excitement of danger and rule breaking) replaces the local watering hole. Unfortunately, many of these new freeholds would prove short lived, falling to banality in the decades to follow.
• 1929 - The Great Depression signals a death knell to the hopeful era that had preceded it. Banality seizes the country at a level most Kithain have not seen since, putting many of them under siege in their own Freeholds. The Cinema becomes a literal lifeline to many Fae, just as it served as a source of escape for so many mortals during The Depression. The silver screen and the glow of the projector saved many a Kithain soul over the course of the next decade. Classics like Dracula and Frankenstein enthrall mortals with a sense of the supernatural world that had existed around them for centuries. Belief in the supernatural is decoupled from the ability to -imagine- the supernatural, which to the Fae is even better than belief.
• 1938 - Orson Welles broadcasts War of the Worlds, triggering a mass hysteria that spawns hundreds if not thousands of Chimerical Martian monstrosities across America. Kithain find themselves suddenly waging a very -real- war against alien Martian invaders that lasts for weeks and months. More than a few fae meet a gruesome end at the wrong end of disintegration beams and heat rays. A team of Nockers out of Chicago manage to build a Martian to English translation device (a difficult task considering there's no such language as Martian!), and negotiate a temporary ceasefire with some of the local Martians. It takes the better part of the year to pacify all of the invaders. As no two groups of Martians were born from the same mortal mind, they frequently had radically different objectives. Some were simply blood thirsty killing machines, while others were after resources, while still others simply wanted to return to their "home" planet. To this day, you can still find a handful of old Martian chimera stalking the Dreaming in isolated pockets, or sometimes even working alongside their former Fae enemies. While The Night of the Martians proved a harrowing experience for many Fae, the sudden infusion of glamour was enough to sustain the Kithain through the end of the decade.

World War 2 and the Civil Rights Movement

• 1940s (WWII Era) – Few American Kithain entered the war, having already in many instances both fought and died mortal death in the First World War. Those who do are some of the fiercest fighters in the war, and were noted for their uncanny combat prowess... almost as though they were seasoned veterans already at the age of 18 and 19 (because they were). By the time these American Kithain join the war efforts, most of the German and Austrian Kithains who fought on the side of the Fascists (usually out of loyalty to country or Oaths of allegiance) had already succumb to the banality of the Nazi regime.
  • Wartime industry springs up all over Texas: from petrochemical plants to aircraft manufacturing. Texans from all walks of life move from rural areas to cities like Houston, as factory jobs become both more lucrative than farming. More importantly for the Kithain, the nation unites behind the war effort. Nockers, Boggans, and other Kithain craftsmen go to work not just helping to crank out bombs and bullets, but also inspiring mortal inventors to develop new forms of warfare. The shipyards in Houston produced 208 Liberty ships (the primary cargo/troop transport used to move supplies to Great Britain, and eventually to combat theaters after D-Day).

• 1950-1968 – The **Civil Rights Movement** strengthens in Houston. Ideas of equality and justice begin to fully permeate into Kithain society. Two competing American Dreams sweep through different parts of the country: in the suburbs a dream of prosperity, safety, and security. Elsewhere in the country, a dream of dignity, freedom, and equality was emerging from a nightmarish cocoon of Jim Crow and the countries white supremacist roots. These two dreams, equally powerful, clashed on many occasions.
  • McCarthyism seizes the country as the Cold War begins to ramp up. Artists, many of them Dreamers, Kinain, and Kithain, are targeted across the nation. For the Fae, being hauled in front of a congressional committee or grilled for hours on end by the FBI is tantamount to a death sentence. As a result, many of the Kithain of this era are forced to abandon their mortal lives.
  • The Vietnam War thins out the number of the Houston Kithain, whether through combat or when they flee south across the border to avoid the draft.
  • The assassination of JFK in Dallas creates a shockwave of banality that further weakens the Fae of Texas. In this environment where there are relatively few Kithain, Nightmares run unchecked through the Near Dreaming and chimerical reality. The remaining Kithain of Houston are overwhelmed, struggling to maintain their freeholds when constantly under attack from the dual threats of monstrous chimera and banality.

The Resurgence and Accordance War

• July 20th, 1969 – Neil Armstrong takes mankind's first steps on the moon. The Gates of Arcadia are thrown open, and the Shining Host returns to the Autumn Realm.
  • Houston, weakened by recent events, and never the stronghold of glamour that surrounding cities were, fell almost immediately. Many of the Trolls who were seen as leaders within the commoner community of Houston felt honor bound to bend the knee to the returning Sidhe sovereigns. Other Kiths mounted a bitter resistance movement, but with the reawakening of several key Freeholds, an army at their back, and the Commoners' own leaders joining the side of the invading force... these resistance groups stood little chance. Many Redcaps and Sluagh, Satyrs and Boggans were slain in battle or placed under unspeakable Geas for daring to raise a hand to their Sidhe betters. To this day, many Unseelie Commoners in Houston hold a greater grudge against those Trolls who took up arms in common cause with the Sidhe than they do against the newly returned Nobles themselves.
  • Seeing that the fall of Houston to the returning Sidhe was now inevitable, the last of the Commoner resistance pulls together to seal off, hide, and wipe the locations of existing Commoner Freeholds from the memories of all Fae, in an attempt to keep them from falling to into enemy hands. Thanks to this last-ditch act, the Sidhe only manage to seize a single Freehold in Houston: the Julia Ideson Library Building aka Magnolia Hall.
  • This, unfortunately, has the opposite effect than that which was intended: With the Sidhe now controlling the only accessible Freehold in the city, the remaining Commoner resistance is brought under control with even greater ease.
  • With the end of the Accordance War, High King David gifts the Kingdom of the Burning Sun to King Videll, who shortly thereafter changes his name to Chief Greyhawk, and largely recedes from courtly life. Greyhawk's political life is largely limited to his attempts to help the Nunnehi in his Kingdom and beyond; and appointing new Dukes and Duchesses when necessary.
  • Mexico, known to the Fae as the Kingdom of the Feathered Serpent, is gifted to Duke Topaz, a trusted General of High King David. Many of the local fae population of Mexico, both Kithain and Nunnehi alike, view this as a military occupation by a foreign Kingdom who has little understanding of the culture or history of Mexico's supernatural community. Greyhawk's support of "rebel" Nunnehi groups in the Kingdom of the Feathered Serpent has put the two leaders squarely at odds with each other, to the point that many fae use the phrase "Between the sun and the serpent" as an analogue for "between a rock and a hard place." Much of Texas, Houston included, resides in this difficult spot.

1970s - The War Within the Peace

• With the signing of the Treaty of Accord, the hostilities between Commoner and Noble came to an end, but not the bad blood. There was plenty of violence, indignity, and death on both sides of the conflict; and it turned out that Boggans were no quicker to forgive than Sidhe. While David Ardry's dream was one of a more democratic monarchy with the creation of the Parliament of Dreams, many Nobles were slow to accept this philosophy.
  • In one of his last acts before leaving court to live amongst the Nunnehi, King Videll appoints Duchess Cassandra ni Daireann to rule the Duchy of the Lone Star, and she quickly establishes Austin as the seat of her Duchy. Cassandra exiles one of her largest political rivals, Count Ludvik ap Gwydion, to Houston, aka The County on the Lunar Sea as punishment for some minor sleight commited thousands of years ago.
  • While in transit to Houston, a group of Sluagh assassins launch an attack on the newly appointed Count. While he survives the attack, it leaves him deeply paranoid. Ludvig's first mandate is to ban Commoners from owning Freeholds until the assassins who attacked him are arrested. They prove remarkably elusive, and this ban will remain in effect in Houston for decades to come.

1980s – Reaganomics and Stadium Rock

• 1981 - Count Ludvik becomes increasingly paranoid. He withdraws into the Magnolia Hall. Day to day governance of the County is left to Count Kyllauf, an old friend of Ludvik despite their opposing Court affiliations. Kyllauf establishes the Astrodome as his Freehold, harvesting the glamour of stadium rock shows.
• 1982 - Seven cities in Texas are in the list of the US Cities with the highest murder rates, including Houston in the number 3 slot. The oil bust of the 80s leads to soaring crime rates as the previously economically prosperous city becomes suddenly cash strapped. Kithain are barred from entering Magnolia Hall to "prevent assassins" from getting close to Count Ludvik.
• 1985 - In a series of political maneuvers, Kyllauf consolidates power and authority. Though he is officially acting on Ludvik's orders, many Commoners suspect that Kyllauf now operates independent of his Seelie counterpart. With the overwhelming majority of fae in the city forced into his own Freehold, Count Kyllauf easily earns a seat in the Parliament of Dreams.
• 1989 - A Philips petrochemical plant explodes, killing 29 and injuring 312 people in the Pasadena area.
  • For 10 months, Texas residents were inundated with Ads for the "Biggest Party Ever Thrown". The publicity stunt, undertaken by Coors Lite to try and grab market share, saw 120,000 Houston residents show up for a party at the Astrodome that included The Who (recently reunited), Stevie Ray Vaughn, a wrestling match between Andre the Giant and the Ultimate Warrior, a beach volleyball tournament, and many more insane mash up acts. The Fae, of course, added a little debauchery and fun around the edges. About a hundred mortals went missing from the show... while many of them reappeared decades later with amnesia of where they had been the entire time, others were not so fortunate. Considering the party was thrown right at the Kithain's own front door, the mortal population of Houston was lucky there wasn't more permanent damage done.

1990s – Present-Day

• 1995 – Tensions in the County have reached a boiling point. Commoners both Seelie and Unseelie alike are getting fed up with the combination of Ludvig's benign neglect and Kyllauf's autocratic tendencies. Unrest is not limited to Commoners either, as many Nobles recognize the untenable nature of the situation; yet most hesitate to act openly against their fellow nobility, the memory of the Accordance War still fresh in their minds when compared to their previously eternal existence. Some seek to reason with Kyllauf, others plan a quiet downfall for him, while still more seek to cure Ludvig's madness so that he may take his place as the rightful ruler of the County.

[[File:|center|500px]]

Freeholds Lost and Found

**Active Freeholds**

Name	Freeholders	Description	Court
Magnolia Hall Upon the Lunar Sea	Duke Ludvik ap Gwydion	Public Library, held by reclusive agoraphobic Sidhe Count. Fae visitors not welcome.	Seelie
Freehold of Falling Stars	Count Kyllauf ap Aesin	Sports Arena and Viking Long House. Defacto center of Fae life in Houston	Unseelie
Silver Springs Freehold	Baron Sterling	Rare privately owned Freehold, but open to all Fae visitors.	Seelie

**Lost Freeholds**

Name	Last Known Owner	Description	Court
Herbst & Hiems Conservatoire of Houston	Dean Tacher	Nightmarish Academia welcoming the worst sorts	Unseelie
Lacrima Mortis	Tomas Garcia	Shrine to the Beauty of Death, owned by a La Llorna recently seen back in Houston	Unseelie
Frameway Cloister	Pamela von Aiyk	Museum exhibit with views onto the world	Seelie

The Fae Feudal System of Modern Concordia

Following the Treaty of Accord, High King David established a two branch political system within Concordia. The first branch is the Nobility, which consists of the Kings and Queens, Dukes, Countesses, etc. etc. all the way down to the lowly squire, who is still a half step above the average commoner. The Sidhe make up the overwhelming majority of the Nobility, but the Treaty of Accord specifically requires that all Noble Houses admit a small number of commoners into their ranks every year. The effect of this is that since the early 70s, the percentage of the Nobility made up by Sidhe has gradually decreased over time, though they still hold the 90 percent of the highest ranking titles.

As with all things related to the Fae, the hierarchy of the Kithain feudal system is not as straight forward as its mortal counterpart. Promotions are happen frequently, and demotions but rarely. Autumn Sidhe and Commoner Nobles may die, vacating a post, just to be reborn and find themselves landless. As such, the number of Dukes, Counts, and Baronies far out numbers the actual Duchies, Counties, and Baronies, with the number of landless nobility growing the further down the hierarchy you go. As such, you may find a barony being ruled by a Duke or Duchess, and or a county being ruled by a Baron, in certain peculiar circumstances. Land trumps title, with any given Baron only answering directly to the Count or Countess above him, who only answer to their Duke or Duchess, and so on.

That being said, deference and respect for ones betters is of utmost importance (especially to the Seelie), and a landless Duke can still exert tremendous pressure on those of lower title with his presence alone.

The second branch of Concordian politics is the Parliament of Dreams. Consisting of one representative of every Freehold with 15 or more members, the Parliament of Dreams only officially are empowered to advise the High King on matters of governance. In effect though, the High King will usually honor the spirit of any motion that passes through the Parliament with majority support... though the High King can of course ignore any motion that he doesn't agree with.

While the Parliament was created in the hopes of giving Commoners a greater voice in Concordia's political system, the Sidhe's control on the largest and most powerful Freeholds in the Kingdom ensures that they hold a large bloc of seats at Parliament as well. Sidhe, in fact, make up about 40 percent of the Parliaments members... though Kithain politics are a complicated affair, and the Sidhe are hardly a monolith when it comes to how they vote. This system for choosing members of Parliament is one reason Kellauf ap Aesin has continued to suppress anymore freeholds from being built within the city; and is happy to let the lost commoner Freeholds remain that way.

Nobility of the Kingdom of the Burning Sun

Kingdom of the Burning Sun - King Videll, AKA Chief Greyhawk (Based out of Arizona)

Duchy of the Lone Star - Duchess Cassandra ni Daireann (Based out of Austin)

County of the Lunar Sea - Count Ludvik ap Gwydion (In abstentia), Count Kyllauf ap Aesin

Barony of the Falling Star - Count Kyllauf ap Aesin

Houston is large enough to easily support another two dozen baronies, but between Count Ludvik's paranoia regarding Commoner assassins and Count Kyllauf schemming to keep political power in the city within his own hands, there are currently none others. All Kithain in the city are forced to go through Kyllauf for access to the dreaming, unless they are welcome to one of the few privately held Freeholds.

Character Creation

Character Creation Rules

• Kithain: All
• Thallain: Restricted
• Gallain: All
• Inanimae: Very restricted
• Nunnehi: Restricted
• Lycians: Restricted
• Minimum Age: 18+
• Closed: Menehune, Hsien, Dauntain, Denzien

Court Open: Seelie, Unseelie Restricted: Shadow Court

Age/App Age Must both be 18+ years old AND appear 18+ years old

Attributes

• 7/5/3 points distributed in Primary/Secondary/Tertiary

Abilities

• 13/9/5 points distributed in Primary/Secondary/Tertiary

Backgrounds

• 5 points
• Notes Required: Chimera (Both Item and Companion), Contacts, Dreamers, Mentor, Resources (trust fund concepts restricted), Retinue, Treasures
• Holdings: May be taken in Chargen. Can be used by creating a new Freehold with either two other players, or joining an existing Freehold and investing the points into it (joining NPC Freeholds requires earning the good will of existing Freeholders).
• Title: Title 1-3 may be taken freely. Title 4 is restricted. The largest territory a PC will govern is a Barony.

Arts

• 3 points
• Banned: Naming 5

Realms

• 5 points

Merits/Flaws

• May take 10 points of Merits and 7 points of Flaws
• Restricted: Iron Will
• Banned: Because I Think I Can, any merits or flaws that would make you appear underage.

Base XP

• Commoner: 50 xp
• Sidhe: 0 xp
• Pooka and Aquatic Fae: 25 xp
• All other Kiths: 50 xp
• Thallain, Inanimae, Nunnehi: 0 xp

Incentive XP

• Based on concept and backstory. STs discretion.
• All XP Totals are given out after initial chargen

Plots

Coming Soon

Court Logs

Coming Soon

Important Concepts

Glamour

• Glamour is raw creative force. The term creative applies in all of its definitions here. It is the spark at the center of the Big Bang, as well as the muse that guides an artist's hand. Kithain use it to help stave off Banality, fuel their cantrips, Enchant mortals, and many other purposes.

• Glamour is generated primarily by Freeholds and by Dreamers (Mortals whose low banality make them fonts of creativity and glamour). Thus, absent investment or control over a Freehold, most Fae must rely on inspiring mortals in order to refill their supply of Glamour.

• Glamour is sometimes stored in physical form, called Dross. One Dross stores One Glamour. While the books at times present Dross as being used as currency, on this game we will say there is chimerical currency of lesser value that can be used to buy and sell low value Chimerical goods. Your Resources background can represent your Chimerical wealth, but using currency to buy Treasures, Chimerical items, etc. only acts as a justification for a corresponding XP Request. You still need to spend the XP to purchase anything that is a Background.

Banality

• Banality is the oppositional force to Glamour. It is the mortal impulse to rationalize, normalize, and homogenize everything. It is the defense of the status quo, and the need to turn the extraordinary into the mundane. Banality is poison to creativity, hope, and inspiration, while also growing from their remains. It is thus a self-perpetuating force. The banality of society stifles an artist's dreams, and in their breaking more banality is generated.

• The entire Autumn Realm and all of mortal society is Banal to some degree or another. It is the defining difference between it and the Dreaming, and without Banality the landscape would be as ever shifting as it is in the Dreaming. Every human being, and even every Kithain, carries within them some level of banality. When the fae refer to a person as being "Banal" what they really mean is that this person has a high enough amount of banality that they are poisonous to the fae. Like a walking Chernobyl of anti-creativity, they contaminate the things around them with banality by their mere presence.

• This all-pervasive quality of Banality sometimes causes people to arrive at the equivocation that "Everything Is Banal!" and thus Kithain can't engage with mortal society in any meaningful way without receiving a lethal dose of Banality. THIS IS NOT THE CASE. While everything in the Autumn Realm has some level of Banality, it is only high banality individuals that actually have a detrimental effect on the Kithain and other Fae.

• Banality is based on a person's outlook and perspective. It is not (with rare exceptions) an intrinsic quality they are born with or that they obtain. This includes most supernatural creatures. A Technocrat is more banal than a Technomancer because, while they both believe in Science, the Technocrat is driven to force all of reality to conform to their viewpoint. They didn't become Banal when they signed their employment contract.

• Banality ratings are an average. Obviously, everyone has moments of creativity, including all but the most banal of people. But a few seconds out of every day of daydreaming does not make one a Dreamer.

• Buildings are only Banal if their average occupants are also highly Banal. With only rare exceptions, a building empty of occupants will also not be Banal in a way that will hurt Fae.

• Similarly: Industries, social constructs, and mortal activities aren't inherently banal. Banality is not just what -you- find boring or unentertaining. While record executives will try to force a musician to compromise their creative vision, an empty stomach and a landlord looking for the rent will drive most street buskers into the arms of "more practical" employment far more often. In both cases, it is the record executives and the land lord that are acting as agents of banality, not the music industry itself.

Science, Cold Iron, The Weaver, and Banality

• While the Shifter, Mage, and Changeling frameworks for understanding the universe have areas of overlap, it is important to understand that the broad cosmological concepts of each Splat are not identical, or merely a rose by any other name. They are distinct things, no matter how connected they may be.

• For example, while Garou consider all science and technology (laptops, MRIs, pagers, etc. etc.) to be of the Weaver, these things do not carry anymore banality than any other manmade object. Indeed, there is ample examples of Sidhe Noble Houses operating online, Trods being contained inside of laptops, or cantrips working over telephone lines.

• Science, which is often seen as the domain of the Weaver, can actually be a source of glamour for the Kithain, and scientists can be Dreamers. If a scientist is more focused on: discovery instead of classification, finding the extraordinary instead of trying to prove the extraordinary is mundane, or pioneering new inventions rather than merely designing a new iteration of old technology... then they likely skew towards less Banal rather than more.

• In contrast, a Cold Iron (see below) axe would not be considered of the Weaver by most Shifters (many might consider such an old fashioned and archaic weapon to be the antithesis of weaver tech), and yet Cold Iron is pure Banality given form to the Fae.

• Similarly, one might be tempted to say that the Mage concept of Stasis is the equivalent of Banality: and yet a mage with a Static Avatar would not necessarily be anymore Banal than one with a Questing Avatar. And likewise, multiple Changeling Arts have effects that a Mage would see as increasing the Stasis within their target (Winter 5: Stasis, springs to mind) and yet these Arts do not cause the Kithain using them (or their targets) to suffer from any Banality.

More on Cold Iron

• A primer on iron and steel: Aside from pure elemental iron, all iron and steel falls on a spectrum of iron/carbon compounds that are defined by the percentage of carbon in them. Stainless steel is steel with additional elements compounded into it to reduce corrosion or alter other properties. This spectrum is as follows, from order of lowest carbon content to highest:

          Wrought Iron -> Low Carbon Steel -> High Carbon Steel -> Cast Iron

• Cold Iron is defined in Changeling 20th Anniversary as wrought iron produced using a charcoal flame.

• C20 makes a few mistakes regarding the the properties of wrought iron, which I will correct for the purposes of RetroMUX. These are minor deviations from lore as written and rules as written.

• While wrought iron was once exclusively produced using charcoal, later innovations made it possible to create wrought iron without using charcoal fires. Thus, while all Cold Iron is Wrought Iron, not all Wrought Iron is Cold Iron.

• Cold Iron makes for poor edged weapons compared to steel because it is more malleable (not because it is more brittle as stated in C20). This means that it is prone to bending, and its edge can easily be blunted or rolled. These properties did not stop the Assyrians from deploying iron weapons to great effect, and it won't stop someone determined to murder Fae either.

• Iron weapons are not heavier or unwieldy compared to their steel counterparts. Thus, we will not be using the rule from C20 that imposes a penalty on using larger iron weapons such as swords or axes.

• Most of the "wrought iron" in the modern world is, in fact, either low carbon steel or cast iron, made in a way to imitate the style and techniques used when true wrought iron was more common. This includes most wrought iron gates and fences, as well as modern produced furniture incorporating this style.

• All together, this means that Cold Iron is most likely encountered in products made (or buildings constructed) prior to the end of the 18th century. Any Cold Iron a Kithain encounters that is newer than that was almost certainly purpose made for killing Fae.

• The mystical properties of Cold Iron are lost if it is reworked from wrought iron into other forms of steel or iron.

The Mists

• The Mists is the name Changelings give to the supernatural force which protects the Dreaming from Banality, primarily by erasing evidence of its very existence from the minds of anyone who has Banality (this includes the Kithain and most other Fae who live primarily in the Autumn Realm.)

• Non-Fae experience the Mists whenever they see overt displays of Fae Magic, see a member of the Fae or a Chimera in their Fae Mien/Invoking the Wyrd, or when they have been Enchanted and that Enchantment ends. This includes -most- supernatural races, with the exception of Wraiths. Other Prodigals (Vampires, Werewolves, etc.) are considered as good as mortal for the purposes of The Mists.

• Fae primarily experience The Mists in four scenarios: When they Enter the Dreaming, when they Leave the Dreaming, when their Banality is higher than their Glamour, and when they experience Chimerical Death.

• When a Fae or Enchanted Mortal Enters the Dreaming: Subtract their Banality from their Glamour and consult the chart below to see how long it takes to regain their memories of past adventures, and how much they remember of their Past Livs.

• When a Fae or Enchanted Mortal Leaves the Dreaming: Subtract their Glamour from their Banality and consult the chart below to see how long before the clearest memories of their adventures in the Dreaming begin to fade.

• When a Fae experiences Chimerical Death, consult Changeling staff about how long before their Fae soul can be reawakened by a gift of Glamour.

• When a Fae's Banality is Higher than their Glamour, consult Page 270 of Changeling 20th Anniversary Edition.

**The Mists: Entering the Dreaming**

Net Glamour/Banality	Mist Effect	Time Lapse
10 Glamour	None: The Dreaming goes out of its way to welcome and protect the character.	Instantaneous
9 Glamour	Minor distraction as the character reorients to the dreaming.	Instantaneous
8 Glamour	Memories of past lives disorient the character.	1 Turn
7 Glamour	Fragmented memories of past lives. Things are disturbingly familiar.	2 Turns
6 Glamour	Though the character experiences past memories, she is left in a state of disbelief by them.	3 Turns
5 Glamour	A sensation of Deja Vu, where things seem familiar but memories never fully surface.	1 Scene
4 Glamour	Remembers fragmented images, but no coherent memory of events.	1 Day
3 Glamour	Character embraces her surroundings, but is unaware of changes to her behavior/thinking.	1 Week
2 Glamour	Dazed: The Dreaming is a fascinating place, but provides no memories of past lives.	1 Month
1 Glamour	Awestruck: The sights and sounds of the Dreaming often are distracting.	Permanent
0 Glamour	The character accepts the Dreaming and quickly forgets the Autumn Realm.	Permanent
1 Banality	Worried: Accepts there is something beyond the mundane, but afraid to speak of it.	Permanent
2 Banality	Bitter: Self-preservation causes the character to act with hostility, despite not knowing why.	Permanent
3 Banality	Fear: Everything in the Dreaming is confusing and frightening	Permanent
4 Banality	Angry: Filled with hatred and driven to hunt down what they perceive as demons.	Permanent
5 Banality	Enraged: Strikes out at anything within reach while battling her own mind.	Permanent
6 Banality	Denial: Actively refuses to believe what she sees.	Permanent
7 Banality	Fae Stroked: The Dreaming overwhelms the character and he becomes lost in thought.	Permanent
8 Banality	Demented: Nothing makes sense. Attempts to fight her way back to her own world.	Permanent
9 Banality	Catatonic: Retreats into unconsciousness to protect his own mind.	Permanent
10 Banality	Forbidden: The Dreaming prohibits entry to this individual	Permanent

**The Mists: Leaving the Dreaming**

Net Glamour/Banality	Mist Effect	Time Lapse
10 Glamour	None: Remembers everything, but when Banality sets in, these memories will fade.	None
9 Glamour	Clear Memory: Remembers most of what happened in the Dreaming	None
8 Glamour	Strong memories that eventually fade.	1 Week
7 Glamour	Strong memories that become disbelief and take on a dreamlike quality.	3 Days
6 Glamour	Finer details are forgotten. Past lives begin to fade and only the most significant events remain.	1 Day
5 Glamour	Only able to recall the faintest details.	1 Scene
4 Glamour	Events in the Dreaming seem irrelevant or trivial. Memories are like those of a Dream.	1 Turn
3 Glamour	While she considers everything that happened to be real, she cannot recall the memories clearly enough to describe.	Instantaneous
2 Glamour	It was a lovely dream, or a horrible nightmare, nothing more.	1 Month
1 Glamour	Lapsed time, where she remembers nothing other than her companions.	Permanent
0 Glamour	Full scale amnesia. Character has no idea anything unusual happened and is convinced everything is fine.	Permanent
1 Banality	Time is missing. The character wonders if she has developed a mental disorder.	Permanent
2 Banality	Memory is blank, but hypnosis or other psychiatric techniques might bring up disturbing images.	Permanent
3+ Banality	Amnesia, except for the occasional intense, disturbing dream about her visit.	Permanent

The Autumn Realm, Chimerical Reality, and the Dreaming

• The Autumn Realm - The World of Darkness/reality we are all familiar with.

• Chimerical Reality - Certain objects, people, and places in the Autumn Realm may have a Chimerical Quality to them. This includes things like: A Sidhe Noble's Fae Mien, a Nocker's beloved VW Beetle, a child's teddy bear, an art school with a high number of Dreamers in attendance, and Chimera born from a madman's dreams. The chimerical quality of these things is invisible to the eyes of most mortals, but revealed to a Kithain through their Kenning. Some Chimerical objects and creatures have a mundane quality (such as Treasures or the Kithain), and others are purely Chimerical.

• The Near Dreaming - Think of the Near Dreaming as a funhouse mirror dimension that is partially entangled with our own. By its very nature, it is inconsistent and mercurial. Few places in the Dreaming, when revisited, are the same as they were the first time. A maze of back alleys might lead through a Fae Market, dipping briefly into the Near Dreaming. A door in the attic of the creepy old house at the end of the lane might open up into a demented shadow version of the same structure, or it might lead an explorer into a witch's house made of candy. One can never be sure what they will find.

• • The Near Dreaming takes its form from the dreams and memories of the mortal plane, and thus it is often a strange reflection of its mundane counterpart. Sensory input and emotions are both heightened in the Dreaming, and this effect can profoundly alter the way Kithain think.

• • While in the Near Dreaming, Chimerial objects and creatures become fully material; and Chimerical Death and Physical Death become one and the same. This means that a Kithain who is killed by a Chimera in the Dreaming also dies for real.

• The Firchlis - The effect by which The Dreaming (including the Near Dreaming) is constantly being altered and reshaped. A group of Kithain might be traveling through a dark forest overrun by giant spiders one moment, only to find the Firchllis has changed it to a haunted woods full of shuffling undead the next. It is because of both the Mists and the Firchlis that the Dreaming is notoriously difficult to map and to explore.

• Freeholds - Freeholds are halfway points between The Dreaming and the Autumn Realm. Through their Balefires they allow Glamour to pour into the Autumn Realm, and simultaneously they stabilize the Near Dreaming around them. HOUSE RULE: While within a Freehold, Fae benefit from the return of their memories as though they had entered the Dreaming, while they ignore the Mists when Leaving the Freehold. Memories formed while in the Dreaming outside a Freehold cannot be "laundered" through a Freehold.

• The Far Dreaming - The Far Dreaming is a realm born from the myths and tales of humanity that are centuries or even thousands of years old. The Firchlis constantly shifts its landscape, and rearranges the paths in and out. Further more, entering the Far Dreaming requires navigating through The Vale of Mists, a part of the Dreaming that is now populated mostly by dangerous Chimera and powerful Fae. Everything is amplified and more vivid here. What might be a gentle gust of wind in the Near Dreaming is a howling gale in the Far Dreaming. Fresh blood is brilliant scarlet, and diamonds shine like stars burning in the night sky.

• • When Kithain enter the Far Dreaming, their physiology begins to change as they start to move closer to the Fae halves of their souls. Additionally, they will begin to shed one point of banality every day. Provided they are active within the Dreaming (pursuing Quests, for example), once they reach 0 points of Banality, a dot of Permanent Banality will be converted to 10 points of Temporary Banality. They will then begin to lose those at the same rate as before. This banality purification ends when the Changeling leaves the Dreaming: Only Quests or powerful Treasures can permanently remove dots of Banality.

• • Finally, when in the Far Dreaming, Kithain regain a point of temporary Glamour every hour.

• The Deep Dreaming - A land of primordial dreams from before human history, and perhaps even before humanity itself. It is ironic that even this part of the Dreaming relies on a handful of Dreamers whose unconscious minds truly believe in its existence, even if they cannot remember it when they awaken. Likewise, it is a strange quirk of the Deep Dreaming that the Firchlis does not truly alter it the same way as the Near and Far Dreamings. Instead of constantly mutating, no realm in the Deep Dreaming ever goes away or changes, they just constantly are reshuffled. In this Realm literally anything is possible, and Changelings traveling through it may find they exit a stately ballroom full of dancing animals, and step into a nightmare dimension full of horrors. The Deep Dreamings effects on emotions and sensations are likewise further heightened, and it is not unheard of for a lovers quarrel to end in tragedy when traveling within this land.

• • Under no circumstances can Unenchanted Mortals or Prodigals find themselves in the Deep Dreaming, as it will always expel them. Kithain add a Dot of Glamour when in the Deep Dreaming, and regain glamour the same as in the Far Dreaming. Changes to Kithain physiology and personality are further heightened, sometimes to nightmarish effect.