The Scabbard and the Sword: Session 1

STARRING:

Bill as Brutus "Sten" Stentor, Lithium's Sound Technician

Daisy as Zero, Reclusive Alchemist

Lisa as Seven, Creepy Death Obsessed Darkling

Matt as Sophie Juliet White, Bunny

Stella as Lithium-Morphian, Famous Singer

Game Mastered by Krzyś

Release Date: ???

---

It is December 2009 and Brighton is suffering from the worst winter ever. While the Winter Court is proud of their season's prowess, it is making life difficult for everyone involved. Roads are full of snow to the extent driving is dangerous, the trains are delayed a lot more than usual and if heating breaks down in an office, it is easier to just go home and start buying cheap food.

Due to the severe weather conditions on the day, Lithium's gig was cancelled and she stayed in her flat for the day. At about midnight she heard knocking on her window. As strange as it was, having someone knock on the window on the second floor, she ignored it. A moment later said window was smashed with a piece of ice.

The gig cancellation also affected Sten who decided to have a walk down the beach. He was very enamoured with the sounds the waves did when they swept and melted the snow lying on the sand. He took his time throwing rocks at the wave breakers. At one point a wrinkly mad changeling jumped out and shouted him down for giving him a bump on the head. A few words of apology later, he went off to continue his sound making somewhere else. Sten didn't go far before screams of the changeling reached him. He came back to find the changeling's living place ravaged by ice and with a newly open Trod into the Hedge.

Seven was hanging around in her studio flat when she heard knocking on the door. Naturally she went to open it and was surprised to find a Trod going through the corridor. The Darkling felt a cold presence behind her and knew immediately she was in grave danger. Without giving it much thought she burst out of her flat and into the Hedge. Keeping to the path she seemed to have lost her assailant until she stumbled onto something. The next thing she knew she was in some large room with other changelings everywhere. They tried to get her up but she refused the offer of help. Later on she would hear that she ended up in a Spring party. Some time before she arrived, the lights went out and chaos erupted. When everything was over, some guests went missing while a newly opened Trod into the Hedge was discovered. No one noticed Seven wasn't invited.

Meanwhile Sophie enjoyed an evening on the beach with her boyfriend, Dave. They were lying down on the snow and kissing each other when something pulled the love of Sophie's life into the sea. She grabbed his hand and they were pulled in together. Her struggle to pull them both out of the ice cold waters ended with her letting go and saving herself. She looked at the waves and saw a figure in the distance, a woman in a white dress standing on the water. The woman was gone with the next blink.

Zero's routine was shattered with a knock on the door. It was a puppy changeling by the name of Fiddler, a fellow member of the Iron Spear. He told Zero that the Green Knight, the Summer King, needs something analysed. It was a piece of unmelting ice that was found on the scene where a changeling was supposedly kidnapped. Fiddler couldn't tell anything more since he had to run.

After rumours spread of changelings disappearing all over Brighton, the Winter Queen decided to call the whole Freehold in. The court held place in a Hollow with the entrance within an abandoned building close to the railways going out of Brighton Station. In order to enter, a changeling had to walk in through the door frame on the second floor and go back through it without turning or looking.

During the meeting, Ninian, the Winter Queen, tried to calm the Freehold down. She had hoped that whatever Zero found out would put everyone at peace. Unfortunately, she mainly said that the piece of ice was created by making a contract with Ice. The Freehold was quick to jump to the conclusion that a True Fae is working to bring all of them back to Arcadia. A heated discussion erupted where blame was thrown at each Court and their respective leaders. Either due to being bored with the bickering or deciding taking action is best; Lithium, Sten and Seven decided to help Zero investigate further into the matter. They went to find Fiddler. He told them where the place the piece of ice was found was and that there would be a guard but they just had to tell him they were on orders from the Summer King to look into the Trod's appearance.

---

I have to honestly say that this session was probably the worst I ever had. At one point of the game I just broke badly enough that I wanted to just walk out of the room and not come back. Instead I looked through my Magic cards as a distraction of sorts.

The unexpected arrival of three more players technically brought the game up to 11 players though 3 were absent from this session. Before the second one started two players bowed down and another two decided they won't be playing so we went down to 6, which is a better number. Due to 2 players leaving, I decided to edit the session summary to reflect only the currently active participants.

My plan for this session was to give each player a piece of the puzzle as to what is going on. I wasn't too pleased with it. I think we either had too much out-of-game distractions or I am way too subtle for my own good.

Looking over this summary I think I should say a few things about the world of Changeling The Lost. Changelings are people who have been kidnapped by the True Fae, taken to Arcadia and changed into something not-fully-human. Some were changed into animals, others into scenery while others were just servants. Some times a changeling escapes and goes back to the real world but they will never be human again, they will forever have the features of what they were in Arcadia.

In order to better protect themselves from the True Fae taking them back, they organise themselves into four Courts based on seasons. Each Court has a King or Queen who rules the Court and the Freehold during one fourth of the year. The Freehold is a term used to describe all changeling of a city/region.

The Hedge is what divides Arcadia from the real world. A Trod is a safe path through the Hedge while a Hollow is a piece of the Hedge that has been crafted into a safe place. The Hedge is not a nice place... the second session shows the players why.