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” Loki, a changeling whose origins are unclear and as tangible as mist.

After researching alternative methods of Freehold governance, Odin hosted debates on the philosophies of Dusk. Merely by playing devil's advocate, the philosophy of Dawn emerged, with Alice passionately espousing the creation of potential is the face of entropy. 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. 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. The seasonal freehold initially sneered at these upstart changelings running off to form their own club and dismissed the diurnal courtiers as childish. Over the next couple of years the diurnal court faced an uphill battle for legitimacy, but succeeded after an epic battle to take back the local hedge from rampaging Hobs.

June 2013 Although the seasonal monarchs had largely failed to grasp the fundamental difference in philosophies between the courts, the two groups where on cordial, if not exactly friendly terms. The seasonal courtiers had always their holdings well outside the city, so the two groups rarely had much to do with each other directly. 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.

The diurnal court 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 favourite 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 Alice 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.

September 2013 An envoy from Brisbane and Toowoomba visit Armidale and the most basic functions of the seasonal court are re-established.

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

The Theatre of Dusk and Dawn is both the personal hollow of the Asatru motley and the Freehold of the diurnal court. 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 hollow in which the theatre resides is actually far bigger than the theatre itself should be. In order to counter this problem, the mundane theatre itself is only a 'set' of the larger hollow - a theatre within a theatre-hollow.

The Seasonal Freehold - the ruins of the longhouse

The recreated medieval longhouse that Seasonal Freehold claimed as their own is in ruins after the diurnal court were given permission to burn it down as they investigated the events that transpired there. The Winter king moved the freehold to Armidale Business Centre, but has since abdicated. The seat of power for the seasonal courts is either not established or not known.

Other locations

The Parliament of Ravens
Somewhere in the hedge, at the outskirts of the city, is a circle of twisted trees. Thousands of ravens and raven-like birds gather here for strange and noisey gatherings. Many of the ravens can speak the languages of humans, but most seem to converse in their own twisted tongue. Supernatural corvids of all sorts are invited to parliament gathering by well written, illegibly signed letters of high quality paper, delivered to their homes directly.

The Rooftop Garden
Exactly as it sounds, there is a garden of goblin fruit trees on the top of the hedge in the city. The fruits are guarded by almost immobile stone gargoyles, and the goblin proprietor lives in a hollow in the side of the building. A wholesale supplier to the goblin market, the proprietor has proved willing to accept glamour or other deals for specific fruit. Odin and Moonpaw visited the garden to negotiate goblin fruit to cure a magical disease infection.