Arm-Lost-Background

Background for the Lost

For the last 50 years the Seasonal courts held sway in the Armidale region. In recent years they have been concealing themselves amongst a Medieval re-enactment group that gathered in the pine forest outside Armidale. The freehold held it’s gatherings inside a Viking longhouse build by the group in the pine forest. For many years there was relative peace, with their holdings this far from the city they were insulated from most of the activities of the normal and other supernaturals.

About a year ago a new group of Lost began to form, they did not change with the seasons, but with the passage of the sun. They hailed from the courts of Dusk and Dawn, the determined and the hopeful. This group formed around the arrival of Odin Duskbringer, a changeling reforged by the hedge into a reflection of an old god. Brought to the city by dreams of an inevitable end he has rallied many Lost to his side, including an old “friend” Mr Low Key, a changeling whose origins are unclear and as tangible as mist.

When returned from Arcadia he initially sought sanctuary within the seasonal freehold of(placeholder name). After researching alternative methods of Freehold governance, he hosted debates on the philosophies of Dusk and Dawn. Finding kindred spirits amongst the outcasts of the freehold, the founding members first formed the Asatru motely. The Asatru motley continued their discussions, inviting seasonal freehold members whenever they could, in an attempt to convert them their philosophies. This did not sit well with the seasonal monarchs, who demanded Asartu stop their activities because it was destabilising the power of the courts.

From this Dawn court rose to maintain the balance, and the diurnal freehold was born.

The two groups where on cordial, if not exactly friendly terms. The seasonals had there holdings well outside the city, so the two groups rarely had much to do with each other. That was why when tragedy struck the seasonal freehold, the diurnal freehold was amongst the last to know. At the time when Autumn gave way to Winter, the freehold went silent. Almost all of Autumn was there at the time. The Summer King gave the order to move out in force to see what had become of the freehold, only a few were left behind. When the Summer court failed to return Spring when forth, against the wishes of the Winter Monarch. They did not return. With what remained of the seasonal courts, they called for aid from the diurnal freehold.

There they encountered traps and pitfalls left by winter, and managed to disable and bypass the other wards with cunning and the information the Winter King gave them. Inside the old freehold they found themselves in a loud and lively drinking hall. It became quickly apparent to them that they were in a dream. There they encountered a cat who called itself Jasper, and after hunting down its favorite food for it pointed the way out. The dream was created by a strange monstrous creature that dissolved into ectoplasm on being defeated. Out of the dream the Lost found the remains of the freehold members strewn across the clearing. With the night on them and more danger approaching the Lost gathered what they could and destroyed the freehold. The only other survivor was a mortal who wandered in to the Dream Eaters trap shortly before the Lost. He was helped by the Dawn Lady and taken to hospital. The Lost returned to the Winter King with the solemn news, the Seasonal Freehold was effectively dead. Those that remained from the freehold split up and went their own ways.

Asatru Motley and the Theatre of Dusk and Dawn Freehold - Armidale Play House

WIP Instead, Asatru left then Freehold entirely, retreating to their shared hollow and business/glamour endeavour, the Theatre of Dawn and Dusk. After several months of hard work, Asatru threw open their doors and declared themselves a full freehold.

Until recently, Asatru and the Diurnal Freehold have been largely one and the same, and the blatant favouritism the motley members show each other can be rather galling to outsiders, but the Diurnal freehold has always worked on trust, specifically in opposition to the perceived oppression of the Seasonal court.

The seasonal freehold sneered at these upstart changelings running off to form their own club and dismissed the diurnal courtiers as childish. Even as both Freeholds co-existed for years, the seasonal court refused to acknowledge the diurnal court as legitimate, largely failing to grasp the fundamental difference in philosophies.