Toski

Freehold: Freeholds are large groups of changelings, analogous to a country or a city. You have the leaders or "Monarchs" of the Courts. Each freehold is different. Dawn and Dusk, the Seasons, the Red and White Roses, Travelers' Courts, etc, each with their own rules, customs, and approaches. Many monitor common Hedge-gates for new arrivals, some actively patrol the trods for escapees. It is a place they can identify as "Home". A place of protection, of fellowship, of "We went through the same thing, you're among allies", like a support group, only your therapy is being told "We're all mad here and that's ok." Each freehold has some kind of rotating power system. The idea of willingly giving up their power is something the Keepers have a difficult time understanding, and so it shields them from Keeper eyes while simultaneously ensuring no one leader gets too much power. Dawn and Dusk for example swap places at day and night respectively, while the Seasons swap...with the seasons. The traveler's courts, being mobile, swap whenever a role is needed as part of the camping / break-camp ritual, etc. 

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Frailties: Frailties are fae weaknesses, split into two types: Banes and Taboos. Banes are things that physically harm, such as pure iron. Taboos are mystical compulsions like 'must count every grain of spilled salt'. They vary from individual to individual.

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Wyrd Level: 10. Two major, Three minor as detailed under Wyrd.

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Glamour Pool (See Spring Court and Contracts): 75+20 for Hollowheart Bag for a total of 95 with the bag.

 

Willpower pool 10.

Taboos:

1. Must follow the modern Hippocratic Oath to the best of his abilities. Major.

2. Must always seek to escape confinement at the earliest possible moment, including perceived confinement such as clothing that is too tight or a collar, A locked door to exit the room does not count as confinement if he has the key, while being locked in a prison cell by someone else does. Minor.

3. Must not indulge in 'wasteful extravigance'. He may indulge in a feast, but he may not wear extravagant jewelry such as gem-encrusted necklaces, participate in immense drug-fests like opium dens, etc. Extravigant clothing does not count unless it is excessively so. Gold-threaded patterns on vests and such are ok. Wearing a hat loaded down with gems and gold to the point you'd swear your neck will snap is not. Minor.

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4: Must do his best to provide for someone upon request of his help. Minor

 

Banes:

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1. Iron. This iron must be at least 95% pure for this. Steel, despite being 90% iron does not count. Meteoric iron is even nastier for him. Holding the metal causes serious discomfort while being injured by it causes lasting wounds that take much longer to heal than normal, such that a papercut-like nick with iron might not heal for days. Part of all fae and thus does not count towards the number.

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2. Gold. Like iron, this must be almost pure gold for this, so he can handle gold alloys semi-safely. Fake gold is alright, but the pure stuff can cause burns. The exception to this is fae-based gold, such as riches bought on the Goblin Markets or thread spun into gold by the Guild of Goldspinners. This weakness only applies to Earthly, non-magical gold. Major.

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Clarity: Caught between the worlds of Faerie and the mundane world, things are strange. 

Clarity is the struggle to maintain this delicate balance. High Clarity represents just that: a keen perception and ability to distinguish between the two worlds. Low Clarity changelings struggle to separate the fantastic from the mundane. Her dreams bleed into reality, and elements from the fae world peek through more and more. She sees faces, hears the voices of strange Hedge beasts, or objects from Faerie transposed on the mortal world. As Clarity slips further, these figments and mistaken perceptions become more dangerous. Changelings of low Clarity find it difficult or eventually impossible to function properly in either world.

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Fae who maintain a high clarity benefit from keener senses than their befuddled brethren, gaining a bonus to perception. All their senses heighten and their minds quicken, adjusting to filtering the sensory input of disparate worlds. This also includes to identifying contracts and other fae magic. It also applies to solving riddles, piecing together logical problems, and discerning the truth, Clarity can also help a changeling resist magic. This does not affect fae magic, curiously, but helps resist other supernatural power. 

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Needle and Thread: Unlike the classic idea of a Virtue and a Vice, such as being charitable but wrathful to those who abuse it, changelings have Needle and Thread. Needle is the core identity the changeling presents to the world. This is her assumed personality and way of approaching her everyday life. In Arcadia, she had a mandate, a singular driving need to fulfill whatever her captor required of her. After her escape, it has been far too long — even if it was only weeks, or days — since she’s exercised her own free will. The freedom to choose how to act, work, and process information is both heady and daunting. The Needle helps the changeling cut through all that. It provides a framework for her actions. It defines how she does things, how she approaches issues, and how she solves her problems. She uses her Needle as an instrument to shape her will, and give it focus and precision. Any time a changeling overcomes a small hurdle to affirm her Needle, she regains some of her Willpower. When committing existentially risky or terrible acts to affirm her Needle, she regains all her spent Willpower.

 

Toski's Needle: The Teacher / Counselor: The teacher acts in ways that help others learn lessons. She doesn’t want to lead or follow, but instead to work as a comfortable companion, catapulting others to greatness.

Some Willpower: Give advice to another that succeeds.

All Willpower: Take full responsibility for another's dangerous actions. 

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If the Needle is the instrument of the changeling’s will, the Thread is the binding that holds a changeling together. It might be her darkest fear, her most deep-seated desire, or her fondest memory. It motivates her and drives her forward. It reminds her to be strong when things look the bleakest, and keeps her uplifted when reality shifts and warps beneath her. A Thread gives the Lost a sense of purpose, and a reason to keep fighting. The life of a changeling is tumultuous at best, and her Thread is her lifeline to stability and strength. It’s what she clings to when she has nothing else. Anytime a changeling withdraws from others, puts herself at a disadvantage, or lashes out in pursuit of her Thread, she regains some Willpower. When committing terrible acts or risking Clarity damage in pursuit of her Thread, she regains all her spent Willpower, just like Needle.

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Toski's Thread: Love / Acceptance: Those motivated by love have someone they want to come home to. It doesn’t have to be romantic, but he cares deeply for the person and just the thought keeps him strong.  Those motivated by acceptance desire others to need and want them. She wants to find her place in the world, and for people to take her as she is.

Some: Follow a friend into a situation that is clearly disadvantageous to you.

All: Put yourself at risk to defend someone who needs you.

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Touchstones: .A Touchstone is something from the human world that helps keep a changeling grounded. It serves as a source of support and validation, helping maintain her Clarity, and something that helps reconnect her to life after her durance, likely one of the reasons she escaped in the first place. Touchstones act as a kind of "armor" for Clarity, and spending time with them or having them with the changeling can help restore Clarity that has been lost. Touchstones are almost always mortal in nature, or born of the mortal world. They’re usually people, although they can be places and sometimes deeply held ideologies — there is no place like home, after all.

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1 Love. Jenners, the one he broke out of Arcadia for, only to find he had been nabbed as well by someone else, taking the form of a "literal computer mouse", with a rubbery cable with a USB port for a tail, glowing red optical-laser eyes, fiber-optic fur and cursors for claws with silicon chips for buck teeth, plastic flesh that is still supple and soft with a bar-code tattooed onto the tail.

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2. Hippocratic Oath: He was a doctor, he had patients who need him, a desire to heal the world of its sickness and pain, but where to start?

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3. Home. The Hollow makes him feel alive, free, safe, but in the middle of fae country, it must be protected, guarded, and cared for.

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4 Art. From singing and poetry to sculpture and painting, art gives focus, it gives something to pour emotions into when nothing else can. If all else fails and the walls close in, sing. If you seek to bring your beauty to life for others to see, paint. 

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The Empty: He is one of the Empty, The Empty are Lost that tore their hearts out for the sake of power, Davy Jones style. Due to the semantic nature of the Hedge, this need not be physical, but can be emotional deadening, killing a person you care about the most who was 'the heart of your world' or physical removal. Much like a lich, destroying the heart and then him will permanently kill him, but must be done before he can escape to his dreams to weave a new one, and killing him without doing so will just make his body disintegrate into stardust and cosmic gas such as hydrogen and helium while his mind reappears in his dreams to weave a new body out of glamour. Holding the heart, which takes the form of a glowing, warm star the size of a fist to those that can see through the Mask but a bloody, disembodied heart to those that can't, allows the holder to seal his statements, making any promises he makes towards them magically binding, any serious promises they make using the heart itself binding him to their fulfilment even if he wasn't a participant, and may replace one of his goals with one of their own for a day as they literally 'hold his heart', but doing so is taxing and leeches their own energy. Breaking such an oath-sworn promise hits him with whatever punishment was declared, taking an injury, loss of glamour, being afflicted by a magical power the user possesses regardless of distance, etc even if he wasn't the one that broke it but the effort and genuine seriousness of this promise means it can't be abused by promising someone something frivolous like a burger and then just not pulling through with it a few times to kill him or debilitate him.

An Empty's heart is replaced by a token, an object they gain power from as explained above. This token's abilities are subsumed into themselves, able to activate it for free and without drawback, and in fact once per day may inflict the drawback on another person by spending willpower. In this case, the Hollowheart Bag though altered in form due to emotional connection, which greatly increases his glamour storage capacity even beyond what becoming an Empty already does, storing glamour in the empty space in the chest, and allows him to curse an enemy with enhanced wounding, making any wounds they receive much worse for a short time. This does NOT render him immune to pain, disease, bleeding out, etc. Nuke him and you'll never find the radioactive remains. This also renders him both lost and Soul Shocked, draining him of all Willpower and leaving him fearful, feeling lost and spooked and must regain willpower through natural rest, over about a week.