Tomnahurich - Changeling: the Lost Venue Style Sheet
Approval Number: UK-UK-LC-0709-79433

Part 1: Basic Information

Venue Name: Inverness Online
Domain Number: Online
Venue: Changeling: the Lost
VST: Áine MacLennan, aine.maclennan@gmail.com
RST: Rob Collins, horza@neon-tiger.co.uk

Part 2: Styles of Play

Action (Combat and challenges): 2
Character Development (Personal dilemmas and choices): 4
Darkness (PC death or corruption): 4
Drama (Ceremony and grand story): 2
Intrigue (Politics and negotiation): 3
Manners (Social etiquette and peer pressure): 3
Mystery (Enigmas and investigation): 3
Pace (How fast do stories emerge, develop, and resolve?): 2

Ratings Description:

1 Never present
2 Sometimes present
3 Often present
4 Usually present
5 Always present

Part 3: Description of Venue

... there can be no good without evil, no love without hate, no heaven without hell, no light without darkness.
The harmony of the universe depends upon an eternal balance.
Out of the struggle to maintain this balance comes the birth of legends.
-- Legend, introduction

Changeling addresses the nature of the World of Darkness on a deep level, in a way that is at once both intimate and far-reaching. Changeling is about finding ways to reach out to other people who might have some inkling of what you've been through, about building a community, learning how to trust again in the face of such horrors as were perpetrated on the characters during their durance.

Changeling: the Lost is about learning what's important to you, and how even the smallest sliver of light can penetrate the deepest darkness and light your way back from the madness of Arcadia... and what do you make of your life, when everything you've ever known, had, loved... is lost?

In the UK Online venue, we will be exploring themes of personal darkness and corruption, the results of compromise, and the nature of balance as characters walk the line between Fae and reality, darkness and light.

Mood and Atmosphere:

The mood and atmosphere of the Changeling: the Lost chronicle in Inverness harkens back to film noir, the realm of anti-heroes, shifting shades of grey, subtleties of motivation that swirl in dangerous undercurrents below the surface.

The World of Darkness is a horror setting; bad things happen frequently and often, player characters will be forced to make choices in circumstances which seem to be walking the tightrope of choosing the lesser of two evils. But there is no darkness without light, nor light without darkness and this venue reflects that in its atmosphere and mood. Both Player Characters and NPCs stand as heroes, anti-heroes and villains, and it is often difficult to know which is which.

History:

Scotland is a land of vast wilderness, sparsely populated, with a few major population centres. Changelings have followed this pattern of settlement. Whilst Edinburgh and Glasgow's population centres consist of Changeling who've managed to carve small holdings out of the wilderness and defend them against the incursions of Border Reavers, Loyalists, Mad Raiders, Hobgoblins, and other perils which hold sway in the wilderness areas... Inverness has followed another path.

So many years ago that the events have fallen into folklore, the Highlands were populated by Border Reavers, Mad Raiders, True Fae Loyalists and Hobs of many different tribes who all warred for dominance and raided for resources. One tribe of Hobgoblins, known as the Caereni (after the Pictish tribe in the area) began to grow dominant, after the arrival of a mysterious figure lore says came to mainland Scotland from the Hebrides.

Whatever the reason, the Caereni grew to be the most powerful tribe in the region, conquering or absorbing tribe after tribe as they swept south and east.

They reached Tomnahurich, a place long contested amongst the Hobs as a place of power and after a lengthy conflict they secured the hill, claiming it as their stronghold.

For centuries, the tribe has held Tomnahurich hill, and the surrounding area of Inverness, and though human settlement has reduced their strength, they hold Tomnahurich to this day.

Today, the tribe of Hobs the Changelings call The Marrowmen are ruled by a beautiful and enigmatic figure, Isil, the Queen of Frost and Fire, who has maintained the strength of her tribe against both True Fae and Border Reaver incursions through brutally efficient military might and cleverly crafted pledges. The true strength of her tribe, many say, is the wealth they obtain by running the perpetual Goblin Market on Tomnahurich hill.

It is said that the Market is governed by a convoluted and arcane collection of rules, laws, and contracts, which no Changeling has yet managed to fully decipher, though many Changeling historians and researchers have tried - some to their detriment.

What is known are the following:

Visitors to the Goblin Market at Tomnahurich must pay a toll, freely offering up an item of value to the tribe who runs the Market. Individuals who have not made such an offering have frequently discovered upon leaving the Market that some item of personal significance has gone missing.

Weapons drawn on Tomnahurich must be blooded before being sheathed. Weapons drawn in anger, brandished only as a threat and resheathed have been known to shatter in their sheaths, regardless of the potency of charms or magics upon the blade.

The Hobs of Tomnahurich don't seem to care how much the vendors fleece their customers, but vendors making significant profits whilst in Tomnahurich have learnt to make at least a small percentage offering from their profits to the Queen of Frost and Fire. Some miserly and profitable vendors have learnt that failure to do so has resulted in turns of fortune... though that could just be coincidence.

Rumour has it that there have been a few Changelings who have had the temerity to create Gateways into the Hedge in Tomnahurich without having gotten the permission of the Queen of Frost and Fire... but they have never been heard from again.

There was a fellow known as Artemis Flax who had long been enemies with Stephen Daedalus, though none can say what the source of their enmity was. It is said that both men were once in Tomnahurich at the Market, and Artemis Flax called down the Wild Hunt on Stephen Daedalus. The Wild Hunt came, sure enough... but the Fae who came was Artemis' own Keeper, who carried him back to Arcadia.

to be written yet.

Lore:

Thomas the Rhymer

Thomas Learmonth of Erceldoune, also known as Thomas the Rhymer, or True Thomas, was born in Erceldoune (presently Earlston), Berwickshire, sometime in the 13th century, and has a reputation as the author of many prophetic verses. Folklore indicates that Thomas lived for centuries, and that he was the principle figure in a very well-known folktale. Folklore gives that Thomas is buried in the cemetary in Inverness situated in Tomnahurich.

Many Changelings hold that Thomas was an early Changeling in Scotland, and still others maintain that he is still alive, but lives as a recluse in Inverness, amongst the Hobs.

Some tales state that Thomas has an army under Tomnahurich, waiting for the day when Scotland has its greatest need.

Rev. Robert Kirk

Rev. Robert Kirk, the youngest and seventh son of Mr. James Kirk, minister of Aberfoyle, in 1691 wrote an unusually sympathetic account of the denizens of Arcadia, The Secret Commonweath of Elves, Fauns, and Faeries. It is said that, for his trouble, Rev. Kirke was taken to Arcadia by the True Fae. Though Rev. Kirke disappeared, his work did not, though it didn't see print until 1815, printed from a handwritten manuscript dated 1691, owned by his son, Colin Kirk. A mere 100 copies were printed in 1815, and tales abound about the dangers of owning a one of these original printings of the book. Mysterious tales also surround Rev. Kirk's decendents.

Rumour has it that there was an undergraduate student at Glasgow University who had gotten hold of one of the 1815 editions of The Secret Commonwealth, and for reasons unknown, took it to the graveyard on Tomnahurich to read. He disappeared, and was never heard from again.

to be written yet.

Part 4: Storyteller Information

Character Creation Guidelines:

Canonical Snowflakes: The Storytellers respect the fact that players want to play unique and interesting characters, and wish to encourage creativity, however, every genre has published canonical materials which define the setting for that genre, and characters created for play within that genre should conform to that canon. Characters which break canon can be interesting, however, they may also strain credibility and damage a venue. Please bear this in mind when creating a new character, if it strays too far from canon your ST may choose to deny it.

Ensemble Story Telling: While loner concepts work as the protagonist of a book or film, LARP is not the sort of venue where you have a star, a co-star or two, and a host of supporting characters. LARP is, above all, ensemble cast story telling. All characters in the story are equally important. Because of this, Changeling: the Lost characters in this venue should be built with certain things in mind. The themes of this game are not centred around controlling other PCs, nor are goals necessarily Player-vs-Player. This story is group-oriented, and any PC that places his or her own fun above the lives of others is an inappropriate concept. Characters whose first solution to a conflict with another character is to reach for a weapon or invoke a Contract can damage the game, and may be dealt with accordingly. Please note that this does not protect characters from legitimate consequences of their actions, nor does it mean that Player-vs-Player combat will never occur. The creation of motleys is strongly encouraged.

Role Play vs. Roll Play: The Storytellers reserve the right to ask participants of a scene to run the scene cinematically and with role playing rather than with challenges.

Visiting Character Guidelines

It bears mentioning that attending a game in person in our venue is not considered to be proxying your character. We like to encourage visitors, whilst still preserving the feel of a "local game" for those players whose characters are attached to this VSS. In order to ensure the most enjoyable game experience possible for all of our players, both those for whom this is their local game, and our visitors, we ask our visitors to conform to the following guidelines:

Please, for the ease of check in, email your character sheet to our VST (Address to be added) a minimum of two hours before the game. Please include the follwing information:

How your character is arriving in Inverness,

If the character will be staying over night, and if so, where she will be staying

List of goods your character is bringing to sell at the Market (and any approval numbers, if necessary, for those items)

List of goods your character is specifically seeking to buy at the Market

List of contracts your character will have active on arrival

List of weaponry your character is bringing, with all associated approval codes

Character sheet and XP Log, with all associated approval codes

Visitors are requested to please "tag" their nick with "{V}" to denote their visitor status in our game.

Players who send their character sheets late may be accommodated by the VST, depending on time constraints. Efforts will be made to announce games suitably far in advance to ensure players have the opportunity to get their character sheets sent prior to time in of our games.

Proxy Rules:
The following excerpt from the Camarilla Addendum, Section 4.0, applies to proxies run in the Scottish Region's Changeling venue:

To engage in a proxy, a player must get local Low Approval, as well as informal approval from the supervising Storyteller of the scene into which she proxies. Mid Storytellers may choose to require notifications of any proxies into their areas of responsibility. The player must provide the Storyteller of the scene into which she proxies with her full character sheet, and her character’s motivations and potential actions for whatever situations may develop during the proxy. Storytellers must keep players informed of proxy progress, providing status updates on at least a weekly basis, and should portray proxied PCs to the best of their ability should unforeseen situations arise.

All Character sheets, items and xp logs must be approved by your storyteller before coming to our Region. Custom items with game mechanics not available in the core books must provide a copy of their approved write-up. Any actions taken by the proxied character are final, as are the consequences of those actions, and players proxy their characters at their own risk.

Character Restrictions:
Character Restrictions in the Scottish Region conform to the guidelines in the Global and Camarilla UK Addenda.

Downtime Scenes:
Downtime scenes in Tomnahurich will generally be handled by email, however, special arrangements can be made to run scenes on IRC, as needed.

Travel Risks:
The World of Darkness is not a safe place in which to travel, by mundane means, and travelling through the Hedge is dangerous at the best of times.

Characters coming from non European Union countries by mundane means will have to deal with Customs and Immigration officials, and should be prepared to explain how they will deal with said, including passports, appropriate visas, and explanations for any restricted items they may be carrying.

Experience Guidelines:

The Tomnahurich Changeling game conforms to the UK Addendum in regard to XP awards:

If this is your first Domain game of the month, the game awards 4XP.
If this is not your first Domain game, the game awards 2XP
If you receive an award for "good roleplay", you gain both 1 additional XP and 5 Open prestige.

Downtime Reports grant up to 3XP.

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