Courtly Matters

"The Joining of the Baron and the Bee" - Session 5

October 19, 2003

The baron Draven Vasquez ap Dougal is getting married! His bride-to-be is the ever vivacious Hannah Veneer. They mean to be married for a lunar year (13 months) - but still, their marriage is a time of great celebration. While there is no ceremony in the traditional sense - a priest to oversee the ceremony and so forth - they do stand and drink mingled wine, to represent the joining of themselves to one another. Why is Vasquez with such a firebrand? Well, it's because she is not only a fantastic crafter in her own right, but she is firey and challenges him in ways that he never thought possible. They are each other's yin and yang, while at the same time still very caring people. Vasquez believes in kind words and a soft hand, while Veneer busts down the door and demands the keys to the prison and refuses to take no for an answer.
The ceremony itself is short, but the party is long - far longer than the children will be allowed to stay. Still, in the meantime they can have fun and enjoy this place of revelry and fun.
The following activities are available:

• Dancing
• Walking through the gardens
• Eating the dinner (autumnal fare such as pumpkin pies, roasted turkey and boar, non-alcoholic ciders for the children, etc.)

The following people are available to speak to:

• Christina Carol, the old woman boggan that Skulde spoke to about Naming
• Baron Vasquez's cousin Sebastian, a surly Arcadian Sidhe with hardly a good thing to say about anyone or anything. He's secretly a Shadow Court member, and was stripped of his title in House Ailil for being just a bit too much of a murder hobo.
• Jamal and Lakeisha Bearington, an enchanted father and his eight-year-old satyr daughter. Her mother is not enchanted - having been too banal for even an attempt to be made, but Lakeisha's mentor thought it was prudent for at least one of the child's parents to be aware of what is going on with their child.
• Nicole Brighterson, a Ghille dhu (YEEL-du) from the Marianna Woods where she works as a park ranger.

This is a social session, so not a lot is meant to happen.

"Lighting the Jack O' Lanterns" - Session 8

October 27, 2003

It is Monday, and Samhain is fast approaching, as is Halloween for the mortal children. It is near the end of the day, and in Home Economics, the children are making carved pumpkins. This is a perfect time to gather some Glamour if necessary... but also to roll a dexterity + crafts, difficulty 5, to see how good everyone's pumpkins are.
There are a few different options for kids when it comes to Halloween this year:

• Trunk or treat, hosted at Emmanuel Lutheran Church for the kids that aren't allowed to actually celebrate Halloween
• The small Halloween village at Town Hall, with various stands handing out apple cider for $2 a piece, and a few pieces of candy for free (for example). There's also going to be a hay maze and a parade by the high school band, with the theater club supplying the ghouls and ghosts
• Many kids go up to Mason Hills, where all the rich people are, to get the best candy.
• Some of the older kids are holding a Halloween party in the closed community pool. You could sneak in.
• You could pull pranks on your neighbors. Toilet paper their tree, egg their house...
• Or... you could just trick or treat in your own neighborhood. Or stay home.

After school lets out, and the children make their way back home, Sebastian Vasquez waylays Hilda. He knows who she was in a past life - the Sorceress-Queen, master of seiðr (SAY-dar), and he knows what has been taken from the Unseelie by the Seelie dogs. He offers Hilda training, to help her gather her strength, and then they can work together to take back her title. He acts respectful for the most part, but still clearly thinks of Hilda as still nothing but a little kid, though he will deny it if asked.
His true feelings will come out if she refuses, but if she agrees, she will gain a 4-dot Mentor in him and change her allegiance to the Shadow Court. Though in-character she may or may not know this.

"The Frog-Prince" - Session 9

October 28, 2003

It is the next day following the hunt for the spriggan, but as of yet there has been no new developments. Baron Vasquez promises that he is looking far and wide for the spriggan, but it is possible that the creature has already skipped town or dove into the Dreaming to avoid them. He makes the children promise that they will not go alone, nor unarmed.
School is much the same that it always is, though Mrs. Hutch gives them all an assignment before next Monday: create a diorama of their favorite fairy tale. This is in relation to a unit they just finished on classical literature and what makes something a classic. She is perhaps even more excited than the students in this regard, but perhaps one lucky fae is excited by this homework.
As they leave for the evening, they see the clouds begin to grow dark - a thunderstorm approaching. It begins to rain as everyone rushes home or to Skulde's freehold, as they choose and get everyone slightly wet.
Everyone must make a Perception + Kenning roll, diff 6, to notice The Frog-Prince. The one with the highest amount of successes spots him. He is quite desperate to be kissed by a princess and be made human again. There are very few princesses around. How can they cheat this curse?

"Samhain's Greetings" - Session 10

October 28, 2003

We're going to pick up with Skulde opening her desk to reveal the frog-prince. The thought is to crib off of Disney's The Princess and the Frog - that is, they have to find a girl dressed as a princess on Samhain (Halloween). However, if Skulde is tapped to try and release the prince from his curse, it will not work. She's a queen, not a princess.
Note: Hell's Night takes place on the night before. Mention the chaos outside and the rioting that the parents of the children do not allow them to go out into.
On October 31, a Friday, the game picks up as the sun goes down. The following events will be going on:

• Draven Vasquez is in disguise as the Scarlet Pimpernel and Hannah Veneer is disguised as Lady Blakeney. Calling out the baron will allow them to ask him for a boon. To spot him, a perception + empathy check is required. If they don't know it already, an intelligence + greymare roll will let them know about the boon.
• Inside Ashby Manor, the court is dressed in crowns and capes of papier-mâché and rags, provided by the Unseelie court members. They have also made a feast, provided by their boggan members. Fruit tarts, spinach-and-sausage quiches, apple cider, frothy hot chocolate, etc.
• Around midnight, the bonfire in the Ashby Manor garden is lit and the children have an opportunity to put out their own stories. If they want to hear a story, there is an ugly, sallow looking slaugh woman (Ally Hetfield) who will regale them with The Story of the Youth Who Went Forth to Learn What Fear Was. It's about her once-husband, though she refuses to speak much about him.
• On the front lawn, Mock Tourneys are starting up. They offer titles for several different categories: wrestling, bare-fist fighting, etc.
• Lady Bellows (satyr, House Varich, Unseelie), disguised as a sexy nun, sits on the top of the roof, burning leaves to try and contact the dead.
• Xelan (eshu, Shadow Court) is attempting to learn more about the future's tragedies by offering free tarot card readings to the mortals as they wander around in a witch doctor costume.
• Samantha, Hilda's friend, is dressed up as a Russian princess.... if they can find her and convince her to kiss a frog.

"A Devil's Deal" - Session 13

November 15th, 2003

It's been a few weeks since Samhain, and things have progressed as most would assume a middle schooler's holidays to progress: Frank's abuelita and abuelo are coming into town, Hilda's parents are going to the Alps so she gets to stay home with Haley, the au pair, and Charles's Uncle John (Jonathan Wagner) is coming into town. Which is... great (John has a tendency to drink a bit too hard).
It is about this time that Sebastian Vasquez comes back into the picture. He asks Skulde for her decision to join the Shadow Court, and even offers her friends a place if they are willing. If they're not willing, well, he knows some ways to turn their Legacies. All she needs to do is wait for Thanksgiving Day, and bring them to the Mason-Willcox Mill. Sebastian will take care of the rest.
In the meantime, Samantha is still around... and still enchanted. She's started hanging around the motley more and more, asking them questions and exploring more. Her outfits have changed. Still expensive, but now they are less Gucci and more Northface. When questioned, she gets embarrassed and mumbles about spending more time in the woods, watching the "creatures" (chimera) out there. More pressing will reveal she even camps outside at the edge of her parents' property, in the Marianna Woods.
If they decide to take Samantha out exploring, there will be a man named Martin Kestle who has been watching the area for days. He's a crackpot human whose fractured post-Enchantment thoughts have convinced him that Roseland is an alien hotspot. He believes that there are extra terrestrials living amongst the humans of Roseland. He isn't quite sure if they're friendly or not, but the motley's antics could push it one way or the other. If they don't, then Sebastian will certainly push Kestle to start acting in a hostile manner to the "replacers" (Sebastian just thinks it'll be funny). If they engage, spin off this plotline into its own article.
If not this hook, then there will be talk of a new store coming into town: Herrick's, which everyone is afraid will put the local grocer's, Mandy's, out of business.

"March Ho!" - Session 14

November 19th, 2003

A rally is taking place! Hannah Veneer is one of the leaders, but there are other community members as well... including a slightly older girl named Maya Fox, a member of the local Garou pack. She doesn't reveal who she is, but expresses great disgust for big corporations and such.
The council members are also available to talk to - Anthony Yanez especially is the sole dissenting voice.

-1 difficulty to gathering Glamour here.

"Spinning Leaves" - Session 16

November 22nd, 2003

This is the session where Sebastian will attempt to sway Frank. That's all I have planned.

Related Session Reports

• A Devil's Deal Report
• Croak for Joy Report
• Lighting the Jack O' Lanterns Report
• March Ho! Report
• Pick A Card Report
• Spinning Leaves Report
• The Frog-Prince Report

Samhain Notes

• If a commoner finds a noble in disguise, it is common to ask a boon of him.
• Common folk who are nominated for such titles have a chance to prove their worth by word or by deed. Since all is forgiven (and forgotten) on the following morning, this is the best time to confess transgressions against the nobility.  Seelie commoners are eligible as well, but only if they have undergone the Descent
• Crowns and capes of papier-mâché and rags are presented, and all bow before the nobility of the Shadow Court. In less-civilized circles, the nobles wear bones and strips of flesh, and their crimson robes are dyed with human blood.
• Unseelie commoners also demonstrate their hospitality at this time of year. For the commoners in most freeholds, this involves multiple tables of food. The nature of the freehold influences what the feast will be.
• It is traditional for the redcaps to have their feast at a separate table.
• Seelie who value their purity had best stay away from Samhain revelry. Any who witnesses the events of this night will be tempted to give in to their Unseelie Legacies for one night. Resisting this requires a Willpower roll (difficulty 9) and at least four successes. Seelie who overcome this first roll must attempt it again for each scene they witness. It has thus become a popular pastime for cliques to hunt down Seelie on this night, regardless of whether they have witnessed ceremonies or not. The taunting and mind games they indulge in will often result in a Seelie losing their temper or composure.
• At midnight, the bonfires are lit, and loyal Unseelie and corrupt Seelie alike compete by confessing their greatest misdoings of the year. Lying is an option, but it is traditional for a corrupt noble of House Gwydion to observe the ceremonies. Members of House Eiluned rarely participate at all. It is not uncommon for less-eloquent fae to choose champions to tell their stories for them. Many aspiring cliques will choose a skilled storyteller to join their clique for the next year to witness their accomplishments.
• The knights of the Shadow Court are chosen at the annual Mock Tourney. There is a variety of categories in this competition, although all weapons employed are chimerical. The first few events typically involve wrestling, bare-fist fighting and boggan-tossing. It is possible to win either by defeating all of one’s adversaries, or by impressing the crowd with innovative carnage. Each winner receives a title, which is good for the next year.
• Early in the night, Unseelie nobility attempt to communicate with fae who are lost in the lands of the dead. Black avians descend into the chambers where their rituals are perpetrated, and fae whisper questions and information to these eidolons. They seldom return before three or four in the morning, and so nobles often sequester themselves before they retire for the night as they wait for a response. Quill in hand, they write down the responses they receive, although many of these dreamlike notes appear quite cryptic the following day. (In general, anything written down or recorded electronically slowly dissipates before dawn.) If deceased fae have requests to make, the living will respond again before daylight overtakes them and send the eidolons on their way again.
• Soothsayers of the Shadow Court will also try to predict... or verify... tragedies to occur over the next year. The difficulty for any Soothsaying that bodes ill-fortune is at a -3 on this night. Ritualist cliques typically make one of these predictions each hour, and deliver them to the newest Instigators at the end of the night. They are never able to accurately predict whom the next Instigators will be, however. The events of this one night are too drastic for even Soothsayers to predict fully. An hour or two before dawn, the Soothsayers will then hold a ceremony for the newest Instigators, wishing them good fortune.
• As the first rays of dawn appear, the Mists are at their strongest. Save for the Instigators and their ritualists, none remember what they have seen.