Shadows of Austin

Seasonal Shifts

Seasonal Shift will be every 3 months
December 1st - February 28th
March 1st - May 31st
June 1st - August 31st
September 1st - November 30th


Pledge of Many Keys

The Freehold Pledge must be sworn in the Freehold's throne room in the presence of the ruling Monarch or her designated representative.

Wording

I swear to abide by the dictates of the ruling Monarch in good faith and bring no direct harm to any who take refuge within the Freehold's lands. I shall not violate the laws set forth by the Seasonal Courts upon the citizens of the realm. I shall swear to provide hospitality to those of the Freehold in good standing who ask me twice for no less than three days. Most of all, I swear to prevent the mortals from learning of our true nature and keep the secrets that keep us safe and the Gentry at bay. By this I swear upon my my good name, may the wolves take me and my enemies hound my heels should I break the word that I have thus sworn.


Benefit: +1 to rolls to navigate the Hedge that the Freehold controls.
Punishment: -3 to all Contract rolls within the Freehold's lands.

The Spring Court's Mantle can be adopted by any who can enter into Freehold's Oath and sworn within the Freehold's Feasting Hall.

For those who need parties planned, Travis Smith acts as the current Vizier of Party Planning.


Locations of Note

Crosshairs Nightclub

Located in the better part of uptown, the Spring Court runs the three story structure as both a safe house and entrance into the Freehold. The Second Floor "Staff Only" door that leads to a clean, white tiled hallway of doors with empty rooms is the Gateway into the Hedge. The key to entering is an offering of a quarter with an odd number year placed into a coin slot on the side of the door. Where the coin goes and what its purpose is remains unknown to even the wisest minds of the Court of Desire.

The ground floor is at the top and opens from a black and white tiled L-shaped hallway that is poorly maintained with flickering lights and broken tiles that are rarely cleaned. The double doors at the end open up revealing that crosshair shaped reinforced clear, acrylic floor with only slight opacity allowing a perfect view of the floors below. Tables are set up near the center for those who wish to eat in a public setting while the aloves around the edges are filled with booths and a bar for more clandestine liaisons.

The first basement floor consists of dance floors, and people moving to a beat that they can practically feel. Most of the side doors lead off to private rooms for events, staff, and storage. The translucent floor is textured and cleaned, made of a material that is not of this world and rumored to have been bought at high price for the safety of patrons and staff alike from the Goblin Market.

The final floor consists of raised platforms, ravers, and cages set into four quadrants set against a jet black floor and a series of lower end bars that often give out more watered down drinks and water itself. However, the dancers rarely seem to notice as the beats play out and the Glamour begins to flow through the crevices and shadows. The flashing lights and thumping music seem to bring even the Lost back to life helping them maintain their Clarity if not necessarily in a healthy fashion.

First Floor Bonus: Socialize +2 (+3 if trying to be seen), Stealth +2 (if in the Alcoves)
Basement 1 Bonus: Expression +1 (+2 if dancing)
Basement 2 Bonus: +2 to Harvesting Glamour from Desire

The Summer Court's Mantle can be adopted by any who enter into the Freehold's Oath and sworn in the armory upon a pair of crossed axes.

Daryl Jean Keaton handles the majority of computer work for the freehold and the Summer Court in particular.


Locations of Note

Backblast Paintball and Games

By far the largest safehouse for the Seasonal Courts, the Backblast Paintball and Games is off the highway in a densely wooded area with an artificial chain of lakes, open fields, and even a high castle design complete with obstacles and other cover. The place is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday with Sunday and Monday open to Changeling only events usually consisting of training for the Summer Court though other Courts and individual Motleys can request its use. While the fields are uniquely designed for training and war, only the Summer Court is truly at home on the hot and humid battlefields.

A pavilion for picnics with firepit and grills are near the bathrooms while the main office building is connected to an arcade and family restaurant to keep the fields float during the hotter and colder months. The food is basic but good and consists mostly of American affairs: pizza, double-cheese melt burgers, and fries bathed in oils of rendered Briar Wolves.

The local Gateway is a pair of trees bent into an arch over a small cove of the lake making it one of the least accessible Gateways normally though it is very useful for getting a large portion of the local navies into the waterways of the Hedge. A tire swing allows brave and daring Changelings to enter into the Hedge with more flare and momentum carrying them far enough to often land on the banks of the river in the Hedge unblemished though there are many a tale of someone landing in the muddy shallows instead. The Key for the Gateway is a literal one guarded by its Ogre owner/operator, Nicolás Diego, who lives on the grounds in a camper. Those who wear it around their neck can enter through freely.

Location Bonus: +1 Cover most fields, +2 Cover Castle Siege Field; +1 Athletics, Brawl, Firearms, and Weaponry (Summer Courtiers)

The Autumn Court's Mantle can be adopted by any who enter into the Freehold's Oath and sworn in a secret glen hidden within the Freehold's walls but known only to them and the Winter Court.

Currently, Ava Mabel is the acting Autumn Court Alchemist and is a rival of the Spring Court's Penelope Schwartz.


Locations of Note

Safe Storage Solutions

The Court of Fear owns and operates the lot keeping things that need to be safely stored for each of the local Courts and individual members who seek their services. Tokens, antiques, junk, and even a few Changeling squatters make their homes here at the pleasure of the Autumn Court. Many of the doors and storage bunkers are rumored to lead to rare Trods or even other realms of existence. A few are said to be even paid for and secured by the Autumn Court by the True Fae though this clearly is slander meant to sully the good name of the Leaden Court. While rates are reasonable for Autumn courtiers (Resources 1), the rates rise for non-Members consumate to their Court Goodwill (Resources 5 - 1 for every 2 dots of Court Goodwill) though the service comes with no questions asked.

While the other Courts only safeguard a single entryway into the Freehold, the Autumn Court is believed to harbor many and have one of the two safe ways to reach the Goblin Market: The Promissory Note. To enter through the Freehold Gateway in Lot 42, one must recite a child's nursery rhyme at night. The Goblin Market Gateway is simpler: a gold coin must be offered to the goblin nightwatchman sitting beside it in a lawn chair.

The location is not a place most reasonable people wish to go at night as the place is supposedly a crime hot spot that is poorly lit with creeping shadows. Added to it that the warehouses are located next to a broken, overgrown cemetery and mortuary service doesn't add to the place's unwholesome reputation. The Autumn Court works to actively encourage this sense of dread and foreboding drawing Glamour from pedestrians passing by and daring teenagers who brave their fears alike.

Location Bonus: Intimidation +4 (at Night), Larceny -5

The Winter Court's Mantle can be adopted by any who enter the Freehold's Oath and some who have not as it is the Court in charge of fostering new arrivals from Arcadia and executing those who end up proving false friends. The Oath is traditionally sworn in a secret place far from the Freehold's bounds.


Locations of Note

Clarity of Time

Clarity of Time is the Winter Court's known haven with the majority of the shop off limits to the general public. The front of the store are filled with antique pieces and modern devices alike but none of which were machine made. In the back, the Winter Court members can meet in relative privacy in a known location without the other Courts being too suspicious of their actions. While many of the pieces have been made in house, the shop also handles repairs and modifications for brand names and unique finds alike with a specialty in restoration of European custom designs.

Only the Winter Court know for sure if there is a pathway to the Freehold in the back of the shop or not though many suspect that this is the case. However true to their nature, the Freehold would have to pay a high price in exchange for this secret: silence on the matter. Of all the safehouses of the Courts, the Winter Court's is the most secure leaving it nigh impenetrable and difficult to siege. Should the day come that the Freehold falls, it maybe the Winter Court who shepherds the Lost.

Location Bonus: Crafts +1 (+3 if making or repairing a watch), Safe Place [Security] 5, Stealth +3 (+5 if Winter Court)

Promissory Note (Goblin Market)

The Goblin Market is located at a junction of a the massive Hedge river and a dark forest looking for all the world like a medieval town. Most of the local hobs prefer to deal in promises and bargains with a specialty in Goblin Contracts. A few of the locals are more friendly than others, but for the most part, they hold a special apathy for the Seasonal Courtiers due to some unspoken, unknown past slight. The majority of the local muscle for the Promissory Note are Changelings who are not members of the Freehold of the Locked Tower.

Stalls of Interest: Black Hand (Hedge Fruit Vendor), Glass Card (Goblin Contracts Vendor), The Bookkeeper (Used Book Seller), Harper Lee (Broken Promises Tavern)

Doorways: Owl and the Serpent (main doorway), Safe Storage Solutions (Lot 13), 7th Hole of Roy G Guerrero Disc Golf Course


Freehold of the Locked Tower

The Freehold of the Locked Tower is a strange and menacing sight in the Hedge formed of a single piece of diamond rising into the sky like a knife piercing the heavens. It is a singular structure with no windows, pennants, or adornment with only a single entrance at the base consisting of a locked steel door with a keyhole at the center. No one has yet entered into the structure in the Freehold's history nor has anyone claimed to have pulled even a single treasure from it's depths. The Freehold's livable space consists of the unlocked towers surrounding the central crystal appearing like fairytale structures rather than real world counterparts in a riot of colors and shapes with interior structures and walls changing with patterns to represent the ruling Season.

Main Structures: Armory (+3 Crafts for weapons and armor), Observatory (+1 Occult, [+2 with Astrology]), Throne Room (+4 Socialize [+5 Persuasion if Ruling Monarch]), Hallways and Secret Passages (+3 Stealth)


The Candy Chest

The store front for the Candy Chest is a brilliant, riot of colors and shapes showing candy of all kinds surrounded by frothy ice cream and sweet pastries. The colors are pastels, vibrant primary colors, and vivid hues. A large wooden chest overflowing with goodies is the logo for the shop inviting all who see it to peer through the clear and day glass windows showcasing the delectable wonders within. The shop's purveyor, Penelope "Princess" Schwartz, is a well-respected member of the Spring Community known for her prowess at crafting sweet confections and penchant for buying Goblin Fruit from local purveyors. Crossing her though is often thought to be a bad idea as it is rumored she possesses a magic wand capable of turning people in candy. The store is also known for its Goblin Fruit ammunition creations that one can eat as well as fire.


Keys to the Kingdom

Located near Blackblast Paintball and Games, the Keys to the Kingdom is a rather boring and unassuming structure made of brick and concrete with bars on the windows and metal shutters capable of placing the building under lockdown in seconds. Inside, cameras watch customers' every movements while racks of ammunition, guns, and plenty of hunting and camping gear cover every inch of this bunker like structure. The owner, Theodore Winchester, is a paranoid sort whose brusque demeanor seems at odds with his business's goals of making sales. However, he is the premier Hedge survival gear provider in the city outfitting those who wish to dive into the Hedge for a cost.


Juliet Theatre

Down on the rougher side of Austin, the Juliet Theatre stands proud as a historical relic of the past few years weathering the changes in history poorly. Donors and a few volunteers in the neighborhood have gone about and worked hard to keep the theatre going bringing in a modest audience and revenue. The theatre has done much to keep the neighborhood from crumbling away into nothingness, preventing it from becoming completely destitute. The interior has stained carpets but free of debris and dust while the seats creak and have padding that has slowly begun to stiffen. The stage is large and well lit often with performers practicing or an old man walking about drinking in the memories of past performances gone by much like his youth. The current manager is Madame Laurent though she would never go so far as to call herself it's owner.

Stage: Performance +2 (+4 during an actual Performance)
Audience: Perception +1
Rafters: Athletics -2


Austin City Jail

Mortals and Changelings alike need to lock of dangerous criminals and keeping such beings who are a danger to the Freehold within the Freehold itself would be a very foolish decision. To that end, the Autumn Court is involved in the storing of undesirables within the Austin City Jail. In a level below the standard prison complex is a series of labyrinths holding Changelings who have violated the laws of the Freehold ranging from Privateers to mere turncoats. It's believed by the rare Courtless Changelings who operate in Austin claim that there are also political prisoners kept in another, more secure layer beneath where the last Monarchs of the Lost Tower are hidden from the populace by the Freehold's current Monarchy.

Location Bonus: -2 Larceny, -2 Stealth, +3 Streetwise (+4 if a prisoner)


Soul to Sell Gambling Hall

Wholly illegal, completely illicit, and absolutely fantastic, the Soul to Sell is currently located in the back of a biker bar near the outskirts of town. It is a place where anyone and anything can come and bet their lives, souls, and possessions for the chance to walk away with fortunes unimaginable. The current owner is Xavier Masters whose easy smile and sweet words do little to hide the fact that he is one of the best gamblers in the city. Smart men and women don't place their bets against him, yet the desperate, downtrodden, and hungry are always looking for a ticket to the fast lane through his establishment. The heavy muscle he employs is joke either with some rumors claiming they are Hedge modified humans or some manner of hobgoblin that he's managed to swindle into his service.

Location Bonuses: Larceny (cheating at Cards) +1