To be Lost
is not simply a matter of not knowing where you are, the voice told you, but to
know that the things you hold dear have been taken from you. YOUR wealth, YOUR
status, YOUR looks, YOUR thoughts, YOUR hopes, YOUR dreams. To be Lost is to be
a slave, to be owned, to be possessed there is no agency, no justice…but to reverse
such a wretched fate…it simply starts by taking back what is rightfully YOURS…
Calculating,
controlling, cunning, capricious, holistic, hoarding, sage, selfish… It is
often said of the walkers of the Alabaster Road that they know the price of
everything and the value of nothing…but nothing could be further from the
truth. To escape the realms of Arcadia the members of the Earth court realised
a fundamental truth: The burden of emancipation is yours to carry alone, you
carry your weight or you carry your chains. Following their memories of what
they have lost and what they will regain, those who would become members of the
Earth Court seethe over the many injustices that have been committed against
them and plan how to right those wrongs. This can make the return all the more
bitter when the Earth Courtier confronts their Fetch, a shallow and lacking
doppelganger left in stewardship of their legacy. Despite the wracking torment
of seeing a pretender squander all the Earth Courtier strove to build
before their capture, many play the long game; accounting for every detail and
every omission the fetch has made so as best to slip back into their old lives.
For Earth is cold and resilient, a level head and ruthless calculation will see
those who stand in their way break long before they do. Once an enemy has been
vanquished and their ‘assets’ have been consolidated under the Earth courtier’s
control they will look for the next perceived wrong to be rectified. For the
sad truth is that once an Earth Courtier finally gets back all they have lost,
they soon realise that it was never enough…
The
Land Knows. The Land Remembers:
Though brute force and social assassination are the probable
outcomes of a walker of the Alabaster Road’s latest acquisition, many know that
the surest road to power is knowledge. As such even the most meat headed of the
Earth court have a working knowledge of something: whether it be esoteric lore,
local history or simply a little black book for blackmail. Many within the
Earth court carve an existence amongst Lost society as Consiglieres, Mandarins
and middlemen; exploiting their knowledge and dubious connections to enact and
facilitate the Freeholds will. Though an Earth courtier’s council may at times
be highly charged or partisan it always contains sage analysis and insightful
expertise. While many welcome the wisdom and teachings the Earth courtier can
provide, the cynical state the Alabaster Road does not act out of something so
simple as altruism. Favour, popularity and respect are all forms of currency
the Earth Courtier can exploit in their ever increasing flow of wealth. As with
its material counterpart, the influence of such ‘wealth’ can be corrupting of
even the most ethical members of Alabaster Road, as many who enter a bargain
with an Earth courtier soon learn the hard way if they choose or are forced to
renege.
Court
Merit: Grounded (•••)
Prerequisite: Earth Mantle •••
Effect: Your character's
connection to the Earth Court makes him sure of himself and his perceptions by
placing faith in the inanimate and the incorruptible. Even when he is at his
weakest and most vulnerable, his sense of self is a firm as granite. He has an
armour rating of 1 against all Clarity attacks that deal mild damage.
Mantle:
Your character gains a Glamour point whenever he successfully
hunts down someone who owes him something and gets it.
O- Taking
their first steps on the Alabaster Road the contours of the Courtiers body
become more defined and more angular while their skin becomes smooth like
polished marble. The Changeling Gains bonus dice equal to their Mantle for mundane
rolls that involve parting an individual with an item of value.
OO- The
Changeling gains the Fixer merit even if they do not meet the prerequisites.
OOO- The
Arteries and veins of the Earth Courtier shine under their skin like veins of
untapped ore and their eyes sparkle like polished gemstones. Once per chapter,
The Changeling can add their dots in resources as a bonus to any dice roll they
make.
OOOO- Reduce
the Glamour cost of contracts by one when using them only for personal gain.
OOOOO- Those on
the Alabaster Road who have fully embraced their envy feel their fat and muscle
thicken so that their body is as tough and immoveable as Granite while the
Earth Coutiers teeth, nails and bones become as diamond or polished metal. After
a magical effect affects your character, you may spend 2 Glamour to mimic that
effect exactly, and may choose a new
target. You must do this in the same scene that she was affected.
Magister of
the Unbreakable Diamond Visage: To wear the Crown of Earth is the
goal of all who walk the Alabaster Road, for the power and prestige it grants
is beyond compare. As such those who become monarch find their reign filled with
deep seated paranoia and scheming against ‘potential’ rivals. To survive long
as the Earth Monarch one soon learns how to channel the envy of others to their
benefit. The Monarch of the Earth Court may inflict the Obsession condition on a number of people equal to their mantle per
story.
Bargain: Power is
the only truth, never pass up an opportunity to increase you grasp of it.
Give and
Take
On the face of it, the Fae should have the easiest time
attacking the Earth Court. Envy and the desire to own, to consume, are what The
Gentry are… aren’t they? To pierce
the Bargain of Earth the Fae must be like themselves but not of themselves: to
satisfy their alien wants and obsessions, all the while becoming all too…human in their need to satisfy. The Fae
will scheme and plot, embedding themselves into a network of influence to
manoeuvre and engineer their quarry’s downfall. When a Fae comes for an Earth
courtier they leave a trail of breadcrumbs, a mystery to be solved and
knowledge to be gained, a beautiful stranger to be desired and love to be
gained, a rank to be won and dead man’s boots to be filled. The Earth courtier
is drawn in, their ego rubbed and their obsessions caressed so that they do not
see the trap close in on them until it’s too late…
But the most powerful of the Earth court have built their
foundations deep and their tunnels wide and far reaching. The fortunes of individuals,
collectives even possibly nations have risen and fallen – collateral damage in the shadow war between
an Earth courtier and their Keeper. Though the Fae can count on Huntsmen,
Loyalists and even Hobs to act as their catspaws the savvy Earth courtier can
riposte with friends, associates and underlings of their own. As the Fae
battles for control of the powerbase their prey they find their usual powers to
command and rule limited by the banality of their battlefield. As their thrusts
and schemes are deflected they become more twisted – they Envy the ease at
which earth holds sway over the base hearts of men. However, perspective is
everything and as the stakes rise the Earth courtier may not (or may not want)
to see the depleting of their wealth and the ruination of their powerbase. In a
protracted battle the Fae becomes more mortal and the Earth courtier becomes
more Fae.
Courtly
approaches:
“All that
glitters…”- When faced with the unassailable strength and resources of
the Earth court, the servants of the Gentry play to their opponents insatiable
greed to expose the cracks in their defences. A Huntsman gains a point of yearning
whenever it manipulates an Earth courtier to investigate a McGuffin of its own
creation.
“Every man
has his price…”- Loyalty is fickle but envy is eternal, so say the
members of the Earth court, perhaps because their wisest members know that
their techniques of divide and rule have been perfected by the fae over an
eternity. A Huntsman gains a point of yearning if they can stir envy of the
Changeling in the heart of an Earth courtiers ally. The Huntsman gains a
further point of yearning if the ally then goes on to ‘right’ the perceived
wrong the Earth Courtier’s actions have wrought upon them.
“Neither a
Borrower nor a Lender be…”- The members of the Alabaster Road hoard their wealth,
be it gold, connections, knowledge, physical beauty or prowess, and guard it
jealously knowing it to be the source of their power and agency. To waste it
frivolously in the service of the Lost community can cost them dear, a cunning
servant of the Gentry will bleed the court dry before committing the attack. A
Huntsman gains a point of yearning if, from its actions, an Earth courtier must
relinquish something that holds value to them in order to aid another.
Perceptions:
The Fire Court: “I got my eye on you: behind all the rhetoric
you’re just the same as me”.
The Water Court: “If you really cared about them, you would
keep them close…”
The Air Court: “I
suppose you’re after your next fix…wel…Hey! Come back you Bastard!!”
The Courtless: “Loyalists…and I’m not even charging for that
info.”
The ‘Draculas’: “We both want the same things…and that’s the problem.”
The ‘Dogs’: “Piss on it all you want. You can prise this
street from my cold dead hands…”
The ‘Gandalf’s’: “Magic? Artefact?! I’m sorry I don’t know what you’re talking about…”
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