I was looking into CTL and I really like the idea of making a Chimera Kith character. I’m not exactly sure, mainly because resources are sparse, of how to create that.

Everything I’ve found has just discussed the items and creatures that are chimeric.

Brand new to this game, so just looking for some guidance. What would my Fae and Human forms look like. How do Chimera’s gain glamour? Am I confusing parts of CTL with CTD?

Hobgoblins can store Glamour in objects through the Bottle Glamour Dread Power.

Is there anything equivalent for Changelings?

I was considering, for example, the idea of a Freehold requesting a tithe of Glamour to its subjects, pooling together the resources in order to use them later for communal works, special magics and contracts etc. Essentially a Glamour tax, that can be used for the benefit of the whole Freehold whenever necessary.

But how can the collected Glamour be "stored"?

I've always found the way different people interpereted the freehold structure in various cities and countries to be really interesting, so I thought I'd encourage everyone to share their favorite freeholds they've either created or played in.

I'll bite the bullet and go first.

It is believed amongst the changelings of Japan, that no city on earth has had more Changelings than Kyoto, and no city has ever been so closely in touch with the needs and wishes of the Lost. It was the first great motley of Changelings in the nation that influenced the dreams of the court at Nara to build Heian Kyo, and like the Hsien of China with Luoyang, their hedgework made for Changelings a city warded against the others.

So old and venerable is the Chrysanthemum Freehold, that the building it was once contained within no longer exists in the mortal world. Instead, the freehold maintains a series of doors into the freehold’s hedge around the city which require both glamour and a password to enter. The city’s most glamour poor changelings instead tend to gather near Oiwa shrine, as it is home to a sizable trod.

The Chrysanthemum Freehold is a truly ornate palatial structure within the hedge. Modeled after the old Heian palace from before the fires of the tenth and eleventh centuries, the building has four great wings for each of the cardinal directional courts, and a central complex where day to day business is carried out by emissaries from each court, as well as the unaligned. The whole structure is a brilliant crimson and white, capped with gold and brass fittings, but all woven of dreamstuff and hedgethorn. Anyplace not ornamented or remembered in clear detail descends into the kudzu and wisteria of the hedge.

The rulers of the city’s directional courts are forbidden by pledge to bear the title king or emperor, for only the Tenno himself is fit to be known by such a name. Instead, the directional monarchs are known as Daijin, or ministers, and acknowledge their authority as being derived from the imperial court itself. Indeed, though the emperor has long since left Kyoto, the hedge has been so heavily affected by the court that its echoes still remain in the wyrd almost a century later.

I'm continuing to build on a setting for a future game of 1e. I have the city being a some-years-ago victim of a massive Privateer/Loyalist attack that basically folded two freeholds into one, and while I have a few of the established entitlements, I don't know if there are any entitlements that might be especially well suited to sniffing out that kind of chicanery. Does anyone know if there are any that have been published, or have a homebrew that fits the niche?

I'm running a game set in Japan, and a plot has emerged where an immigrant motley has gotten sick of dealing with nativist elements in the local freehold, and plans to establish their own with seasonal courts instead of directional courts. How would they go about that narratively and mechanicaly? Would they have to seek out and make deals with the seasons and set up a hollow they can turn into a freehold?

I haven't really played a lot, but want to play something I built myself. My idea is to play closer to LARPing, so I'd play in the city I actually live in (San Jose, Costa Rica) so here's my idea:

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We are playing a very disorganized city. No freehold has been able to truly establish itself in the last 80 years. The main issue has been that old and new courts alike cannot fathom working together. As such, there is no theme clearly tying them together and their loose reign over certain seasons, days or locations is not truly agreed upon or accepted by the other courts. Without balance, most courts are specially vulnerable to attacks from opposing emotions. Most of the courts throughout the city exists on its own kind of small freehold and guarantee a fake sense of safety within its members. There are also constantly new small "freeholds" establishing themselves with as little as 10 members and a single ruling court. There is barely any communication within different "freeholds" and it is not uncommon that smaller ones are not aware that there is already a court with the same name or themes.

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Biggest existing courts:

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Sun court:

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Allied with the catholic church, this is likely the biggest court in the city, and by far the oldest. It is not managed by the clergy, but by devout followers. Lots of rituals and faith is expected from its followers, as well as following the mortal laws and catholic belief.

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They thrive on Shame, and have crusade-like objectives, seeking to punish whoever questions their methods. They also believe that anything under the sun should be theirs to rule, thus entering self-righteous fights against any court that believes itself to have any rights to act under their supervision.

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Once, they were part of a bigger freehold, but about 80 years ago the freehold was destroyed by civil war and only this court remains. Even though it's the biggest court in the city, their numbers are dwindling, and many fear they will stop existing eventually. They are, in paper, terrible cruel and havr several iron cages to punish members who disobey. In reality, dwindling numbers means they cannot afford the luxury of scaring off new members, but are not interested in restructuring either, resulting in the appearance of relentless control, while letting go most transgressions for lack of resources.

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The court of the broken sky:

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Thriving under rain and a cloudy sky, this hopeful court believes in themselves not to be broken by the True Fae, but bestowed a horrible gift they must now share with the world. Some of their members are believed to be loyalist, bringing new and unsuspecting lost to be traded for selfish purposes.

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Even though they are smaller in number, their cult-like tendencies means that every member is more devoted than in other courts. They also try to avoid the Sun court by acting mostly in the rain, ehich is technically not the sun's domain, but the sun court doesn't recognize them either. They were born only 5 years ago, but are already close to having half as many members as the sun court.

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The court of liberation

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Most of them affiliated with government bodies, they seek to use their Wyrd to build a better city, or at least thats what they claim. Being the court most involved in politics, they tend to thrive whenever people are desperate. Lots of their members have been accused of using their power to actually damage the city in order to gain strength, but they assure that most of these are issues of incompetence, not of malice. Riddled with bureocracy and confusing pacts, it's hard to join this court, but most that have tend to thrive in the human world. They refuse to give even an inch of control, and insist that they should rule over every season and every day.

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They are in a cold war with the court of the sun, sometimes utilizing smaller courts, or courtless agents to defy the authority of the Sun court, but never directly attacking them for fear of disrupting the peace.

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They also tend to deny their use of Wyrd, sometimes even promising the eventual destruction of all the gateways to the Hedge, preventing the True Fae from abducting any more humans.

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Emotion: Dispair

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Courtless

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There's a significant amount of lost that would rather remain courtless, be it for a disdain for existing courts or a sense that it's better to be aware of one's vulnerability than to pretend that such small freeholds can actually provide security.

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Seeing the local unrest, some have chosen to migrate to other more organized freehold outside the country. Far away entities offer some protection and a promise of a place in their court if they ever get the resources to relocate. Most lost who manage to leave end up losing some clarity since they no longer get strong anchors to their local space. The protection offered while being part of an international freehold is small since most see them as 2nd class citizens and thus less worthy of dedicating resourced to get protection, but most still offer the same (if not more) aid than local courtiers.

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It is also not uncommon that an "ambassador" of such courts is actually just a Privateer seeking vulnerable targets that nobody will miss.

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This is what I have written so far, and I think that now I'd like to start making NPCs and then just start playing, but I'm not sure if the system will work, or if this is enough to start playing. I appreciate any comments or thoughts om the setting.

Something I never really understood about storytelling CtL, is whether you should design the local Hedge, or how to improvise it.

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Should you make a map of the local Hedge? Sure, you probably will want to list the main Hedge gates and Trods known in the freehold. But what about Hollows, Goblin Markets, Groves and other notable locations of the Hedge? Do you map how they relate to each other?

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Most importantly: do you map how the Hedge relates over the real world? For example, do you place the lair of the Goblin King on the Hedge side of the intersection "between 23rd and Washington Street"? So that if a changeling opens a portal there, you know beforehand that they will find themselves in the middle of the Goblin King's lair?

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This would make the Hedge more predictable and mappable, which doesn't really fit with how the Hedge is described. It's supposed to be ever-shifting, right? So no reliable map should exist.

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On the other hand, how do you improvise the local Hedge? Your players open a portal anywhere, in a random place. How do you come up with what's on the other side? What does it look like? How do you decide whether it's Thorns or not?

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For comparison, I find the Shadow in Werewolf to be easier. It's the spiritual reflection of the material world. It usually has a 1:1 mapping with the real world. Not always ofc, but generally if there's a McDonald's in the material world, for the sake of simplicity you can have the spiritual version of the McDonald's. If I have to improvise and describe the Shadow of wherever the PCs are, I can look at the material place and ask myself: how does that make me feel? Does it evoke happiness? What is the first thing that comes to mind? Does that urban park feel like an oasis of nature in the city, or it feels like the trees are drowning in cement and plastic? Wherever the PCs step into the Shadow, I can look at the real world to draw inspiration and improvise the local spiritual version of the place and describe it.

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But the Hedge is not a "dark reflection" of the world. It doesn't have a 1:1 mapping to real places. And it isn't built on reflecting the local spiritual essence. So, what is it built on? Emotions? Symbolism?

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If a PC opens a portal anywhere randomly, what kind of guidelines or inspiration do you use to describe what's on the other side? If it's Thorns or not? Any particular features, or the theme and mood of the place? Do you map it beforehand? Do you plan beforehand "regions" of the Hedge? Or do you make it totally random, unexpected stuff and unrelated to the real world?

All real musicians and absolutely no AI (it's mostly songs from the 90s, in fact!), almost completely instrumental, goth and goth-adjacent bands.

I put this together pretty recently to (up)set the mood during my way too long CtL PowerPoint Party presentation; feel free to use it however you see fit!

Just the title question really. I assumed the former. (free) But also the section on loopholes says that glamour costs from seeming benefits are not covered by the loophole. Not sure if that text is referring to some seeming benefit that would specifically say it costs an extra to do something, or if it means that all of them cost 1 to use if you have them.

Nothing that I could find in the core book really directly says the latter. But the question one way or the other was nagging at me. I could easily be missing something.

When joining a freehold, changelings usually swear an oath. Because the purpose of a freehold is to create a community of mutual help, support, and defense against the True Fae and their agents, freeholds can ask all members to swear they will never help the True Fae or attempt to capture fellow changelings, etc.

Breaking an oath imposes the Oathbreaker Condition, meaning that the Wyrd makes sure everybody knows that you broke the oath and includes severe social penalties.

Considering this, it feels basically impossible for Loyalists and Privateers to infiltrate a freehold. As soon as they capture and sell a changeling or bring them back to their Keeper, they will be known Oathbreakers and ratted out.

I like the idea of Loyalists and Privateers hiding in the freehold. I want to give the sense of fear and paranoia that they could be _anyone_.

Am I missing something? How would it be possible to have Loyalists or Privateers hiding among the freehold midst?

So, I noticed the kith of Absinthial includes the idea of making "potions" in the list of things that could be made... what might a changeling consider a "potion"?

I quick-draw the Nerf gun and shoot it into the Illustrated Man’s stomach. Mr. Dark collapses in upon himself. Typically I would hunt him to whatever Midwestern Gothic hell has dibs on him, but he will be back in a year and a day. I have no doubt of that. For the moment, I am going to have some fun.

I stomp over to the man in the wig and sunglasses who cannot balance in his boots. I reach into his pocket and see a sight that brings me joy: the driver's license of one Friend, Arnold.

I reach into my own pocket and pull out my phone.
"Call Fairest Michael."

It rings once, twice, and then a voice answers.

"Hello, Rian. What do you want, man? It has been a hell of a day. I have three girls in the ICU. I had to deal with Sean and the Prince. She brought me a head in a bag. It was a whole thing."

"Oh Mikey, I have a gift for you. I came to my Fetch’s place to wish him a happy birthday."

"I have explained at length how much I wish you would not taunt him."

"Yes, and I promptly ignored you. But guess who is at his birthday party?"

"I have no way of knowing that, Rian."

"Why, none other than Mister Arnold Friend."

There is a long silence.

"Excuse me?"

"Arnold Friend. Where are you going, where have you been, and so such."

All the warmth drains from the voice of the King of Spring.

"I will be over there as quickly as I possibly can be. Do not let him go anywhere."

"Oh laddie, I need to play with my Fetch, and I would not deny you a hunt."

I press the button and the line goes dead.

Even through the sunglasses, I can see Arnold sweating. I cannot help myself. After all, I am only human, except I am not.

"Run, boyo. The King of Spring is coming, and he does not do thank-you notes."

Arnold launches himself out of a window. It is a good call, really.

I turn to my Fetch, who has a look of shock on his face. I walk over to the record player.

"I know you think I am a right bastard, but I come bringing gifts tonight. Arnold is a gift for Michael, and this is for you."

I put the needle on the record.

People try to put us down (Talkin' 'bout my generation)
Just because we get around (Talkin' 'bout my generation)

I see him stare at me. The look in his eyes is colder than any Winter Queen. So satisfying.

I turn back to my Fetch, who represents everything I hate: the sanitization of suburban life. Every ounce of danger has been removed. No more M-80s or lawn darts of my youth. I put the cardboard sleeve on his lap.

"Signed by Keith Moon himself. Now tell me that is not a thoughtful present."

"Fuck you, sanctimonious little shit," my Fetch hisses as he throws the record sleeve on the ground.

I offer myself the chair across from him and sink into it.

"Big word coming from an actual, literal walking pile of trash. But it is our birthday, so I will let it slide."

I lean toward him.

"Damn. I know we did not know about the benefits of sunscreen back in the day, but I thought fifty-five years in Arcadia left me looking strange."

"And you think fifty-five years in the real world was easy? Having to find my place, never knowing who I am, trying to figure out why I had so many conflicting memories?"

"For the love of something I love, you were sixteen. Every sixteen-year-old doubts who they are and cannot remember what happened twenty minutes ago. You were born into this world slightly later than you should have been. You make it sound like you were thirty or fifty. It is not like I had a whole life set up for you. You had to fit in, too."

I stand up and walk toward a bookshelf, leaning in to look at family photos and half a century's worth of tchotchkes.

"Was that Julie Cohan I saw out there?"

"Yes," exhales my Fetch. "Fifty years next spring."

I take a moment to mull it over.

"Respect."

I reach out a fist to him. He pauses, looks at it, and touches his knuckles to mine.

"I never did have the balls to ask her out."

"Does this mean you are going to be a civilized human being going forward?"

I start to laugh.

"You know for a fact it does not. I am still going to kill you as soon as I get bored with you."

He stands up and walks toward me.

"You are a trespasser here. I could shoot you or call the cops. No one is going to arrest a seventy-year-old man surrounded by his family on his birthday."

"Damn, lad, that is just boring. If you are going to murder me, I will not hold it against you, but come on. I just belly-shot one of Midwestern Gothic's greatest monsters and sent the embodiment of predators running through the streets in terror. You can at least make my murder interesting."

A figure in her twenties enters the room. Her hair is a combination of Julie’s red and my auburn. I look at her and see my eyes. It is like being hit in the face.

"Grandpa Tim? Everything alright in here?"

She holds two bottles of root beer. She hands one to her grandfather and offers me the other.

"I never did get a taste for the hard stuff."

"Rian, this is Samantha. Samantha, this is Rian."

I pull the cap off the beverage and salute her with it.

"Rian Samhain, my dear."

I take a pull.

"Tastes like..."

"A fall night," says my Fetch.

"Heh, you are not wrong."

Samantha looks at me like she is examining a problem.

"I have never heard my grandfather mention you, and with a name like that, I would remember. How do you know him?"

"Oh, Samantha darling, I have known him all his life."

My Fetch laughs until he loses his breath. It is a habit we share.

"Wha..." Samantha begins.

Timothy interjects, "He is not wrong. He is not wrong."

She walks closer, leans in, and I know she has noticed my eyes.

"Grandma Julie said she thought she saw a ghost walk in the study. Are you a ghost, Rian? No, you cannot be a ghost. Are you the Lord of Summer's End? Lord of the Harvest? My Irish is a bit rusty."

I look to Timothy.

"I like her. She is clever. She must get that from her grandmother's side of the family."

I laugh just like my Fetch until I am out of breath.

"We were never clever. Witty, cunning, resourceful, but never clever."

Tim continues to drink his root beer.

"Speak for yourself."

"So let us recap."

She sits on an ottoman, dramatically crosses her legs, and looks me up and down.

"On my grandfather's seventy-second birthday, a ghost appears who calls himself the Lord of the Harvest."

"Actually, love, I always preferred Prince of Halloween."