Changeling Game - Brisbane, Australia

I'm setting up some ideas for a Changeling game; if anyone wants to add or anything please let me know, I'm very much in brainstorming mode at the moment.

Notes -

Brisbane is a warm city on the coast of Australia, north of Sydney. It is for the most part a fairly quiet place where families move to.

Under the surface things are different. Brisbane is quiet because the police and the underworld gangs go hand in hand. Blatant corruption is rare, and violent crime is rare, and the police and gangs like it that way. Any problems with the status quo simply get buried in the outback.

Supernaturally, due to its rather hot nature and for the most part more light hours and less dark hours, Vampires are a rare commodity. They exist more in cities 'down south', being Sydney and Melbourne, but even there are by no means the prevalent and dominant orders they are in the United States. Despite its population, Brisbane only has between fifteen to thirty vampires operating at any time.

Wolves are not native to Australia. The Forsaken even less so. Shapechangers tend to blend with their surroundings, becoming native creatures such as the dingo, though introduced species such as the cat or more rarely the fox are still around.

Mages exist in Australia in the same number that they exist elsewhere, though they may be forced to order magical implements over the internet. There are many places of magical power in Australia, some of incredible intensity.

Ghosts are strangely potent in Australia. Convict horror, settlers burying enemies, a harsh and unforgiving land.

Due to many things, the Changeling population is the most dominant. It has over a hundred Changelings, and there are organisations dedicated to finding the Lost.

Melancholy hills; Mount Buggery, Mount Treachery, Mount Despair. The landscape of Australia is one in which a great deal of poetry is written. As convict Changelings came to Australia, they found the Hedge had come with them. Called the Bush, or 'out bush', or 'bushwalking' by Australian changelings (Hedges don't happen here, unless we make them), there are many pathways in and out. It isn't difficult to get lost or turned around in the hills, and many people have simply.. gone.

The colonial changelings were at first as confused as their friends and allies. Trees where the bark falls off instead of the leaves. Animals part otter, part duck. But they soon realised the Hedge was the same. The Hobgoblins may have a little more variety, but the inherent nature of the Gentry remained the same. In truth, it was like the Gentry they knew had come with them; imported to the country like the rabbit.

And like the rabbit, they were a scourge. The Changelings of Brisbane (The River Haven freehold) and their bretheren down south felt guilt for what they had done; brought the horrors of 'home' to this new place. They weren't entirely correct - horrors also awaited them. But they had brought them.

More to follow.

Summer Court:

Ruler - Quick Donny, a Wizened Chatelaine.

The Freehold of River Haven (Brisbane) has recently overcome a ten year drought, brought on in part by the hold that the summer court had over the city for that time. The old Summer king, Hard Harry, believed totally that the only way to deal with the Gentry was to fight them when they appeared, and began to use his summer courtiers to interfere with the other courts operations, and eventually simply took over.

The summer court is still powerful, but its allegiances are difficult to pin down. Many of the 'old guard' of summer courtiers still believe in permanent summer, because they saw evidence of hobs and things being driven back. However, since the Winter Court allied with Autumn and Spring to overcome Hard Harry, and ambushed him while he was on a trip to destroy one of the Gentry, the old Summer Courtiers were caught unawares. Quick Donny, a more 'traditional' summer king who believes in each season and cultivating alliances has internal problems, of which he is loathe to use direct violence; the power of the summer court has weakened considerably when the King and his Summer Knights, the most powerful in the court, were killed.

Note on Summer, above - The Summer court resides permanently at The Center, a MMA gym. Hard Harry was the old 'coach', Quick Donny the current 'coach'. They are only referred to by titles when in the presense of other changelings. Most Summer courtiers have an unspoken understanding of who has power and who doesn't due to fighting prowess and/or contributions to the cause.

Autumn Court

Ruler: Horrible Jack, an Ogre Cyclopean.

The Autumn court meets regularly at the Gardens Point University, in different lecture halls periodically. They have hidden as a University guild for some time, under the name of 'Mythological Studies Study Group'. They have a 'front' of normal, myth oriented geeks that organise the majority of the study group and privateers or other investigations don't see the Autumn courtiers unless they ask specific questions, for 'Dr. Ogrums Special Study Group.'

Dr. Jack Ogrum is in fact Horrible Jack, a professor of History and Mythology. Dr. Jack runs his court as he does his masters students, and for the most part they are one and the same. He allows access to remarkable research, and they periodically come to him to have their work checked and dissected. Whether that happen to be an essay on Achilles or the effects of a new Goblin merit, Autumn are a very studious group for the most part. Courtiers rank as their intelligence lets them; Undergraduates have very little freedom in their studies and no power at all; Graduates have some freedom to act but usually attempt to gain their masters or a doctorate eventually. Once a Changeling has his Doctorate, he is usually free to act in the best interests of Autumn; All he is required to do is mention his acts to Horrible Jack every now and then, or important events.

Horrible Jack is a cautious and powerful Changeling, well skilled in many contracts. But this doesn't cover how truly frightening the Autumn Court are. The Autumn court see their duty as protecting the Freehold by scaring Mortals enough that they take precautions; generally mortal precautions, but the Autumn court often show deliberate magical power, frighten someone, and then show them how to deal with it; The Autumn court are almost universally skilled at dreamwalking, and routinely check through dreams nightly for traces of dream poison or other magical influences.

As well as this more benevolent frightening, the Autumn court often set up elaborate tricks to scare their local populace, the university students. They might use every trick in the book; dissapearing stalkers, horrible apparitions, even their powers over dreams to create nightmares. Generally this is done by glamour hungry undergraduates, but occasionally this gets out of hand and they drive someone insane. This doesn't happen particularly often, but if an Autumn courtier is slighted or offended, the offender might well scream themselves awake for the next few months. Horrible Jack tries to keep this under control, as he sees it as a potential risk, but generally only stops it when a single individual is about to lose it.

Winter Court

Ruler: Mr. Ced, a Darkling Mirrorskin.

The winter court operate like a conspiracy, with a large number of small cells operated by handlers, who report to Mr. Ced. The Winter court specifically work to cover investigations into the fey or lead them astray. They also keep tabs on all of the Changeling populace.

The Winter courtiers of Brisbane hide by blending into the mortal population. They don't tend to take desk jobs, but do tend toward positions of responsibility; police officers, homeless shelter-tenders, and social workers tend to be Winter Changelings. They tend not to stick out or over-achieve, but also keep their ears close to the ground for rumours about changeling life.

Winter Courtiers have a policy of 'adoption' of changelings fresh from the hedge. The Winter courtiers tell the newly Lost the basic political run-down of the city and set them up with simple jobs and living arrangements; often forming Motleys in a share-house arrangement. For this deal the Courtier gains new eyes and ears, because the other side of that arrangement is that as long as the Winter Courtiers have dependents, the dependents must tell them any information they require.

The Winter courtier cells often play nice with new changelings, and those who keep their heads down and report well are offered a Winter courtiership and get better luxuries and responsibilities. Those who tend to other extremes have the names of suitably receptive members of the other courts given to them.

Not before the Winter courtier cell has a good chance to examine them to find if they are fit for the freehold, however. If for any reason the changelings are deemed 'unsuitable' (i.e. Child eating ogres) the Winter court quickly disposes of the changelings with as little fuss as they gave them lodgings. They simply disappear.

Spring Court

Ruler 'Princess' Jewel, Elemental Metalskin.

The Spring court are located at The Beat in the fortitude valley, at least most of the time. Spring courtiers can be found anywhere where things are happening, from raves and nightclubs to swarrays to the functions with the governor-generals wife with high tea.

The Spring court is a very loosely-knit organization. Motleys of Spring courtiers tend to organize parties and celebrations with little regard to other groupings, and the spring motleys often change their members around almost willy-nilly.

Jewel, the ruler of the Spring Court, rules not so much by agreement of the other Spring courtiers but through love and obsession; Jewel uses her spring courtiers desire for her company to her own (generally harmless) ends.

The Spring court often run elaborate games through Brisbane and the Hedge, which drives the Winter court nuts; however, the Spring court regularly set up tournaments and challenges for the other courts that bind the courts together; Challenges involving using a single changelings abilities or teamwork of different members, and so on. Generally there is a prize available for the winners, but the lazy attitude and reliance on the Mask that the Spring courtiers have often causes problems for the community as much as it brings them together.

The Spring court has members at any given event, and so their knowledge of what is happening even rivals the Winter Court.

Keepers

1. The Toyman.

The Toyman lives in his great, 19th-century style toyshop where he carves, molds and plays with his 'toys' until they break. The Toyman plays incredibly complex and elaborate games with his toys, and if they break the labyrinthine rules they are 'remade' until the 'impurities in the base material' are gone. The Toyman loves his toys, and when he realizes some of his are lost he throws truly terrible tantrums. He will go to great lengths to find them again, even though he will just as often throw them aside as soon as he finds them and 'remakes' them.

The Toyman is a huge creature, some fifteen feet tall; a great pair of eyes in a childishly baby-like face, a great fat torso and with mounds of baby-fat falling off its long arms. It has many arms, and each arm ends with a multitude of ten-fingered hands; it moves around by using its arms. Each hand also drags along a collection of yo-yos, decoder rings, and other knick knacks. The Toyman always carries its toys stuffed into pockets and sacks, and often briefly toys with them as it moves about. He has a high-pitched, whiny voice and often giggles and laughs as he moves about, or utters disturbing rhyming stanzas about his toys.

A wondrous Princess, a Jewel;
And for me a terrible tool!
To snatch and find all my toys,
All the girls, and all the boys.

Designs on Brisbane: While as yet unaware, The Toyman can be made aware that some of his 'toys' are hiding from him. When he finds out that a whole collection of 'Toys' are waiting for him, he will jiggle and giggle with glee, and set a game in motion to capture as many as he can.

Hey, if anyone has any cool ideas, be sure to tell me!

PC

Steadfast Tim

Court: Summer

Seeming: Elemental

Kith: Metalflesh

Recently escaped from the Hedge, Steadfast Tim was a captain in the Australian Army. Tim was a good soldier and a good officer who upon embarkation to Afghanistan was replaced with a fetch made of bullet casings and cockroaches. He was taken by The Toyman, who delighted in Tim's bravery and steadfast belief in his own abilities. Tim was turned into Steadfast Tim, a tin soldier. He remembers little of his time there, but remembers elaborate and brutal games and has a horrible fear of broken porcelain dolls. He feels protective towards completed ones.

His fetch, in Afghanistan, was one of the casualties of the campaign and in front of the rest of the men in his unit, stepped on a landmine. When cockroaches and bullet casings landed around his old unit instead of body parts and gore, the men covered the situation as best they could and claimed he was 'kidnapped'. A search was led by Australian special forces teams, but nothing was recovered.

It has been two years since Tim was taken. He escaped from Arcadia and returned to Brisbane, his home town. He doesn't know it yet, but his wife has mourned him and married another man, and his children can barely remember his face. Regardless, he feels duty-bound to protect them as best he can, and a righteous rage at all of the true fae.

His children, a girl (11) and a boy (10) are beginning to have problems in school.

Plot Hooks: (Hmm.. just some ideas)

1. His wife has been married by another man. The man who has married his wife is a horror of some sort. Can't think of how to do this one up yet.

2. His children are being attacked by a bunyip.

3. He meets the soldiers in his old unit. Possible problems with 'deserting'.

4. A porcelain mannikin is in trouble.

Keeper

The Archive

Not so much an individual being as a place, The Archive is a moldering bookshop that is always larger on the inside than the outside. From the outside, the rather normal-seeming shop is close to Arcadia but still technically in the Hedge, and is never guarded.

Changelings sold to or taken by The Archive always think 'This isn't too bad.' They enter the store and browse the old books for a while. Then, eventually, they lose sight of the door. That is when The Archive begins its process; for in fact, every tome on the inside was once a human, its very soul having gone through the great press in the very depths of The Archive.

Many people enter, and begin to read the books. All of the books are odd autobiographies of the people who had come before; but anyone who has been turned into a book always lead inexorably to The Press; they talk about their lives, their own quests in The Archive, and eventually they all go to The Press. Curiosity, especially academic curiosity, always leads to The Press. Then, when they find themselves being fed to the great machine, their own lives are printed upon their living skin and their souls are sewn into the binding, they find nothing quite so interesting and curious as their own lives; endless writing and rewriting of greater and more subtle choices that in their lives they had made. However much of their human lives have been lost, so they write mainly of their time in The Archive.

A great deal of information is stored in The Archive; the problem is getting to it and getting out again.

The Archive has its staff and its riffraff, being talking insects or the strange Librarians that drift between the shelves. Some Elementals may be bound into large desks or chairs or even shelves. For the most part, Darklings come from this shadowy and dusty place, and mainly Antiquarians.

Sometimes the books begin to remember that instead of dry analysis, new data may be required. Some remember their own histories. Some simply grow bored. But as their awareness of their surroundings broadens, they find humanity returning; arms, legs, even their shape.

Hey!

I just thought I would say wow, very nice! Very creative - I especially like The Toyman - holy crap my players are going to have a run in with this guy (hope you don't mind him making an appearance in someone else's game) hehe.

The Archive is great as well - good stuff!

I feel I am missing out on some things either because you are trying to keep it general (and short) or because I don't have a firm grasp on what some things mean, or what your take on them is - this is not your mistake, it's just my lack of understanding - this is great stuff, keep it coming!

Feel free to ask any questions about my language! As I said, its basically a brainstorm session for me so I might not be 100% clear. Also I'm Australian, so I might occasionally refer to Aussie things without explanation.

Also feel free to take the Toyman. For some reason he doesn't scare me as much as he should. I want to make him really, really scary, but can't think how.