After a short break to prepare the next batch of material, the series on Miranbrück can continue. Today we will be taking a look at the leaders of the courts.
If this is the first time you are reading an article about Miranbrück, you might want to take a look at the two previous installments (Miranbrück: An Overview and Miranbrück: Locations).
Characters
As said before, Miranbrück originally was planned as a play-by-post forum game. The scope we were then aiming for would warrant a pun in the vein of MMOFRPG (Massive Multiplayer Online Forum RolePlay Game), for the plan called for all characters in Miranbrück (with only a very few exceptions) to be created and handled by the players. Extreme sandboxing so to say.
This setup had various consequences. First off, the background was written in a way to be logically accommodating to a large number of new characters versus a low number of established characters. The second major consequence was that accordingly only a low number of established characters were generated in the first place.
In the end, there were just eight of those established characters, two of them per court. Today, we will be looking at the first four, the leaders of the courts.
The character profiles are written in such a way, that they – with the exception of the „background“ section – can be handed out to the players. The general information about the leaders as a group and the detailed character sheets of the individual leaders should not be made accessible to the players. Accordingly, everything after the next heading should be considered storyteller information.
The Leaders of the Courts
At this point a general introduction is warranted. The leaders of the courts are bound together by a common fate. All of them were in Arcadia together. They were kept in a place modeled after the world ash Yggdrasil of Germanic myth. While they believe that they were in the presence of a small group of True Fey conforming to this metaphor (Ratatoskr, Nidhogg, Hræsvelgr and the Norns), in truth even those were just other changelings, who were serving their lord – in the shape of the world ash – since time immemorial.
Without their knowledge, today’s leaders thus all were the prisoners of the same keeper. Even though they developed in different directions and belong to different seemings, they all made similar experiences. They swore to protect one another for all time. To break this pledge would mean their own death and that of their loved ones.
Despite this they hate each other.
The pledge might once have been a sign of friendship, by now it is a chain forged of hatred. Each time they look upon the other, they are reminded of terrible things they did to survive and of even more terrible things their keeper did unto them. It is exactly 15 years since they managed to escape from Arcadia and directly arrived in the town. Now, on that very anniversary, new lost appear all over the town and a new goblin market opens ist doors.
It should already have raised a few eyebrows, when a few years ago most of the other established denizens vanished, while the four were spared, with half of them rising to their exalted position at the head of the course as a consequence of these proceedings.
Spring: Silke Kohler / Red
Background:
Silke stems from a poor Miranbrück working class family. Her father did odd jobs and her mother was a singer of only mediocre talent. Silke turned to a life of crime. She never came far. While she stood lookout for gangs, sold drugs or performed courier duties, she caught the eye of a True Fay.
Shortly thereafter she was the slave and messenger of Ratatoskr and ran up and down the world ash carrying nonsensical messages to and fro.
After her return with the others, she ran drugs again for a short time. Over time she managed to set enough aside to go legal. She rented the Hues and made it the success it is today. As the owner of the club her life became a lot easier, though no less busy, and the love of music she inherited from her mother finally came to the fore.
Seeming: Beast
Kith: Steepscrambler
Entitlement: Maestro (leader of Spring)
Apparent Age: ~ 31
Mantle: Spring 4
Appearance Mask:
Silke stayed young. Even though she has reached 30, she still dresses like an adolescent without making a fool out of herself. She wears her long red brown in varying elaborate styles and enjoys flashy make up.
Appearance Mien:
Red‘s mask differs significantly from her human appearance. As if sporting a bushy tail and reddish coat of fur wouldn‘t already be enough of a giveaway, her face, hands and feet – although still recognisably human – as well resemble those of a squirrel.
Character Traits:
She has taken up youth slang like it was her mother tongue, saying that one in five of her words is an expletive is probably an understatement. She is always cheerful and laughing – almost too much so.
Summer: Erwin Tappert
Background:
Like Silke, Erwin, then still Johannes Fehlin, comes from a humble background. Indeed the two knew each other as children before their abduction, albeit fleetingly. Erwin was abducted at a later time though, after he had turned 20 and completed police academy.
His strawman grew corrupt and was dismissed from the force due to drug abuse. His wife and two children finally turned their backs on the so estranged head of the family when he was convicted and imprisoned for his dealings with organized crime.
Meanwhile, Erwin, after escaping his slavery at the hands of the giant Hræsvelgr by flight, came home decades later. He quickly found his fetch. The fetch didn’t survive long. Erwin, though, was shocked by the shame his fetch had heaped on his name and the trauma his family had to live through and refused to go back to his old life. The age difference alone would have made this nearly impossible, though it helped him to secure false papers and once again gain a position as a policeman in Miranbrück under his new name.
Seeming: Ogre
Kith: Gargantuan
Entitlement: Sword (leader of Summer)
Apparent Age: ~ 30
Mantle: Summer 4
Appearance Mask:
A heavily built man not striking an especially bright impression, Erwin is still impressive at 2 meters with a back like an ox. He wears his hair close cropped as if straight from boot camp.
Appearance Mien:
His body seems literally furrowed, bone and muscle showing at different intervals and grotesque spines, resembling feathers in shape, sprout from his body.
Character Traits:
Erwin might not be a genius, but he is far from stupid as anyone can attest who holds a longer conversation with him. At the very least he is bright enough to play with the preconceptions of others, hiding behind the mask of the dumb slow giant, leading him to be easily underestimated.
Autumn: Thomas Anthes / Srell
Background:
Thomas Anthes or Srell worked hard under the Norns and was especially „prepared“ for his tasks by them. He had to water the roots of the world ash and protect them from parasites. He also had to untangle the strands of fate, so that his mistresses might weave them anew.
In the real world he quickly found his way to the autumn court, but he needed a bit longer than his companions to rise to lead the court. He wasn’t incapable but he had already foreseen his fate and wanted to enjoy the time without the responsibility. His powers all revolve around soothsaying and by more or less educated guesswork he appears as even more knowledgeable than he truly is.
He has long since reassumed his old identity and killed his fetch (who had just started his career as a psychiatrist). Even though he broke contact with the friends his fetch made and closed the practice, he still made good use of the professional qualifications.
When he isn’t going about his routine as headmaster, he spends the nights working as a watchman and the days as school counselor. He gets almost all of his glamour from the countless problems of the children. Even though he generally means them no harm, he still talked more than one child into a state of fear to then reap it from their dreams the following night. His place of work is well known also amongst the lost and even though he hasn’t declared the boarding school a safe place, he still welcomes lost seeking prophecy or advice in his office (claiming his visitors are student’s parents).
Seeming: Wizened
Kith: Oracle
Entitlement: Headmaster (leader of Autumn)
Apparent Age: ~ 38
Mantle: Autumn 4
Appearance Mask:
Thomas has an unhealthy pallor to his skin and a remarkably large nose. He appears well groomed though. His mid length dark hair sport fashionable blonde strands. No matter how hard he might try, though, he simply cannot match the charisma of a Fairest.
The small wrinkles around his eyes are just one sign of the onset of aging, but those who know him longer are aware that those signs have gone unchanged for years.
Appearance Mien:
His skin is a splotchy yellow and his eyes burn with an unholy intensity. When he wears his hedgespun attire, he can usually be seen in a richly decorated robe. There is nothing effeminate about his looks but all in all he appears to genderless. His hair is sparse and completely white.
Character Traits:
He is almost obsessive in his insistence upon manners and certain rituals. His answers often are cryptic, staying true to the ways of his kith. Those who treat him with courtesy always find an open ear and good advice with him. Those who forget their manners can quickly make an enemy out of him.
He can usually be found at his office at the boarding school, where he is willing to see members of the freehold – as long as they make proper appointments first.
Winter: Uenda / Dalia Pettersson
Background:
Kristin was a popular child. She was quiet and talented, played handball, sang in a choir and was still well liked by the other children. Grown-ups literally adored her and her future looked bright indeed.
The perfect servant for the dragon Nidhogg. As the keeper sent his creatures to search for servants for them, it was no wonder that the dragon found her. A few promises of adventure later she belonged to him. In her place he put a pitiful fetch, who did not survive more than a few years.
After her return, she thus assumed a new identity under the name Dalia Petterson, though the lost just know her as Uenda. As a human she hides in plain sight as a politician on the town council. As befitting the Deceased of Winter, she has positioned herself just so that she may exert influence on behalf of the lost without appearing herself on campaign posters or in news stories.
Seeming: Fairest
Kith: Draconic
Entitlement: Deceased (leader of Winter)
Apparent Age: ~ 42
Mantel: Winter 4
Appearance Mask:
Dalia is a middle aged woman. Her outfit is always discreet, yet at the same time fashionable and modern. Her blonde slightly wavy hair cannot hide the first creases on her face, but these just enhance the impression of respectability.
Appearance Mien:
Uenda is a bit smaller than her human guise with snow white slightly scaly skin and silver white hair. Small horns curve from her temples all the way back over her ears and her hands are shaped into delicate claws. Her tongue is forked and her pupils burn with red fire, that lights up her eyes in the silhouette of a coiling dragon.
Character Traits:
Uenda chooses her words and actions with great care. She keeps her distance, making no friends but neither making enemies.
Changeling the Lost and related names are the Intellectual Property of White Wolf and protected by Copyright. These items have been used unofficially and quoted exclusively as reference with no infringement on any associated rights intended and without implying endorsement by the copyright holder. Other contents of this article are published without permission or license.
The attached character sheets are based on the excellent editable sheets by Mr. Gone.
Changeling the Lost und alle damit verbundenen Namen sind Geistiges Eigentum von White Wolf und urheberrechtlich geschützt. Diese Elemente wurden inoffiziell und ausschließlich als Referenz zitiert ohne die Absicht damit verbundene Rechte anzufechten und ohne eine Billigung durch den Rechteinhaber zu implizieren. Andere Inhalte dieses Artikels werden ohne Genehmigung oder Lizenz veröffentlicht.
Die angehängten Charakterbögen basieren auf den exzellenten ausfüllbaren Bögren von Mr. Gone.