<div align="center"><strong><span class="bbc_u">Changeling 20: To The Manor Reborn</span></strong></div><br/><div align="center"><strong>Music (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V4Y-xR6aaX0)</strong><br/><br/>Thread 1: Heir Hunters (https://elliquiy.com/forums/index.php?topic=317837.0)</div><br/><div align="center">(https://i.imgur.com/DylJFsz.jpg)<br/>Image Source (https://j-rom.artstation.com/projects/L89Jk)<br/><br/><em>On the edge of the labyrinth<br/>Under a veil you must never lift<br/>Pages that you must never turn<br/>In the labyrinth<br/><br/>You stand in front of a million doors<br/>And each one holds a million more<br/>Corridors that lead to the world<br/>Of the invisible</em><br/>--Kate Bush, “How To Be Invisible”</div><br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_u">The Setting:</span></div><br/><div align="center">(https://i.imgur.com/RluGnJJ.png)</div><br/>The small town of Little Allerton sits in North Yorkshire, England, within the Yorkshire Dales National Park,  in what is sometimes called “Bronte Country”. It sits north of the town of Skipton, next to the River Wharfe. To a visiting tourist, the place is idyllic, a quaint locale of cottages, twisting streets and rustic farms set against the rugged scenery of the Moors.<br/><br/>But it has a lot of very modern problems. More and more shops are closing, to be replaced with pound stores and charity shops. The library is now run by volunteers, and the local school is barely hanging on in the face of constant cuts. With no local jobs, teenagers either leave for university and never return, or hang around listlessly--and “county line” drug gangs based in the cities have given some of them a new line of work. Houses are bought up by the affluent and left empty for most of the year, or used as dormitories for city workers. The farmers struggle with an unfriendly economy and political uncertainty.<br/><br/>Many say the town is dying, that the spark of life is fading, and it’s certainly hard to find any hope for the future. And there is a history here that few like to speak about, a string of buried tragedies that haunt the town.<br/><br/>And then, a fifteen-minute walk out of the town, there is Greenwood Hall. A manor house and large estate originally established during Tudor times, it has a wide collection of fanciful legends surrounding it. Have you heard the one about the ghostly highwayman? Or the talking tree in the forest that can grant wishes? Or the dungeon where fifty Roundhead prisoners were supposedly buried alive during the Civil War? The witch who lives behind a waterfall? Or the wild parties that took place there during the Jazz Age, hosted by the lord’s scandalous American wife and with a whiff of occultism about them?<br/><br/>But now the house is empty. The Greenwood family had suffered severe misfortunes and decline throughout the twentieth century. Their tragedies included sons lost to the Second World War, a shocking murder following a violent fall-out about Fascism between the lord and his son, their most brilliant daughter dying in a riding accident, and the tragic never-solved kidnapping and death of one of their young children. Fifty years ago, there was an incident that saw the last few members of the Greenwood family die--supposedly an outbreak of some exotic disease bought back from Africa, or carbon monoxide poisoning caused by faulty piping. Nobody seems to know for sure, but there are no shortage of exotic rumours.<br/><br/>Nobody has lived in the manor since then, but there’s<em>some</em>sort of arrangement to keep the house from falling into disrepair--every month or so, a van turns up and some workmen from out of town run maintenance to keep the lawns from getting out of control, repairing weather damage, etc. Local historians or “heir hunters” who try and get to the bottom of the manor’s current status and ownership find themselves lost in a web of bureaucratic delays and confusing and contradictory requests for authorisation. For most of the townsfolk, it’s not relevant any more. There’s nothing there that can help anyone.<br/><br/>But recently, answering an unknown imperative, some letters have gone out from the solicitors currently responsible for Greenwood Hall. They’ve gone out to<strong>you</strong>. Out of nowhere, you have been named as heirs of the estate (even if you’ve never been to England in your life or have no known relations in that area), provided you visit the place on December 21st and meet the representative of Springfield and Snow Solicitors  to hear the terms and conditions. Travel expenses will be covered, provided you fill in Form 4C.<br/><br/>But as you will soon discover, the faded glory of the exterior conceals secrets too strange and wonderful to be believed. And the same goes for yourselves, as you uncover the links between yourself and the house, and the truth about who you really are--and were. Inside this dark house, a flicker of old glory is guttering, waiting to be rekindled. But terrible secrets, tragedies and injustices also wait buried here--it remains to be seen if the fabled curse of Greenwood Hall can be averted this time round.<br/><br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_u">Character Backgrounds:</span><br/><br/>(https://i.imgur.com/ShNTDEB.jpg)</div><br/>This game will use the 20th anniversary edition of Changeling, so you'll need this book. (https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/210616/Changeling-The-Dreaming-20th-Anniversary-Edition)<br/><br/>Characters will start out as mortals pre-Chrysalis, and so don’t have any of the abilities or weaknesses of their fae mein, and no supernatural traits. You should still buy such things, it’s just that you won’t be able to use them right away. Characters may have started to notice suggestions that there’s something a little peculiar going on in their lives based on their dormant supernatural traits (ie, a character with high Remembrance might be having vivid dreams of being a strange other person or a character with the Winged merit might be feeling irritating itches around their shoulderblades), but nothing overtly supernatural yet.<br/><br/>You might also choose to justify implausible skills for your character with them not knowing them<strong>yet</strong>, but being set to remember them after the Chrysalis--for example, a redcap might find themselves remembering countless bloody fights for survival, gaining Brawl 4.<br/><br/>Lastly, if you take backgrounds that represent other people (Dreamers, Mentor, etc) and don’t already have someone in mind for them, then you’ll meet some excellent candidates for those positions after the Chrysalis. If you want to define some of the townsfolk, go right ahead!<br/><br/>Characters of any gender, gender identity or sexuality are highly welcome here! Playing a character of a different gender from your own is also fine.<br/><br/>Adult content is fine, but it won’t be the focus of the story. The rating is Light / Exotic / Small Group.<br/><br/>Characters should be 18+ years old. You can still be a Childling (since seemings are a state of mind instead of a physical age) just so long as their age is 18+. Apart from that, they could be from pretty much anywhere. I’d prefer for at least some of the characters to originate from the UK, but characters from America or other overseas locations are certainly possible. See below for some quick notes on how the UK differs from other countries, especially the US.<br/><br/>The intent of the story is that characters will stay in the area, so they probably shouldn’t have pressing business back home that can’t be bought over.<br/><br/><em>“Hey, Can I Play A--”</em>I’m new to this system, so go easy on me! Rare kiths are possible, so long as they don’t have drawbacks (like Ghille Du or Morganed) that make it hard for them to stay with the group long-term or associate with the everyday world. Kiths from outside the corebook are a maybe--tell me what they do, and I’ll decide. Anything more unusual than that (Enchanted, Inanimae, Denizens, Menehune, Nunnehi, Hsien, and Thallain) is not available. Also, given that this is set far from the sea, Selkies might not be the best choice.<br/><br/>Characters will not formally be part of a Court to start off with, though they may align themselves with one later on.<br/><br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_u">Character Creation &amp; House Rules:</span><br/><br/>(https://i.imgur.com/qMFg4yc.jpg)</div><br/>The Holdings background is not available--because as you may have guessed, you’ll be getting one a short way into the story for free!<br/><br/>Characters have 20 freebie points instead of 15.<br/><br/>Related to the above, Flaws do not give you points. Instead, you’ll gain a consolation prize (Willpower,  Glamour or possibly XP, depending on how they affect you) when they make your life harder in a meaningful way. Like other traits, magical Merits and Flaws won’t kick in initially.<br/><br/>The satyr birthright<em>Gift of Pan</em>will be handled as follows: It inspires the same emotions that the satyr is feeling if the Banality / Willpower roll is failed, but it’s entirely up to the affected person how they express that emotion.<br/><br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_u">Posting:</span></div><br/><div align="center">(https://i.imgur.com/jez8cXE.jpg)</div><br/>If you’re feeling stuck or uninspired, or there’s something you’re not happy with, please let me know! My guiding principle for running games is “everyone should have fun”, so if you’re not having fun, I want to fix that.<br/><br/>I don't like to push a scene forward before everyone's had a chance to react / contribute, but a loss of momentum is also the kiss of death for group games. So as a general rule, I'll give it three days in between my posts for people to react. If you’re not sure you can manage that, it’s probably best you don’t apply. But if you need to take a break for a bit, that’s 100% fine--just drop me a quick PM saying “Can’t post for a bit.”<br/><br/>Short posts are okay! Obviously, I’d rather not have a long string of one-liners, but it’s fine to just say “I agree with that plan.” or “X follows the others.” if you don’t have anything major to add to a scene. Momentum matters greatly in a  PBP, so I’d rather get a quick shorter post that keeps things moving than an extended masterpiece that takes a week to post. :-)<br/><br/>Editing posts is fine if you misunderstand something, just let us know you’ve done so and what you’ve changed.<br/><br/>I’ll make any “reaction” rolls for characters (noticing things, resisting powers, defending in combat, etc). If you want to modify those in some way (spending Willpower, etc), just let me know and I’ll edit it in and adjust the result.<br/><br/>In combat, all the PC’s will go (acting in the order in which the players post), and then all the enemies will go.<br/><br/><br/><div align="center"><span class="bbc_u">Miscellania:</span></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">My Inspirations</div><div class="spoiler_body">For Changeling in general:<br/><em>It</em>, Stephen King<br/><em>Kushiel’s Dart</em>, Jacqueline Carey<br/><em>Revolutionary Girl Utena</em><br/><br/>For this story in particular:<br/><em>The Ancient Magus’ Bride</em><br/>The collected works of Jilly Cooper<br/><em>Amelie</em><br/><em>Wuthering Heights</em> (the book and the song)<br/>The <em>Merrily Watkins</em> mystery series, Phil Rickman<br/><em>Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable</em><br/><em>Love on a Branch Line</em><br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Notes On The UK</div><div class="spoiler_body">It rains, a lot. Complaining about the weather is one of the national pastimes. The climate is mild, seldom dipping below freezing or rising above the 20’s. In recent years, the tendency is towards late summers and mild winters. Flooding in low-lying areas has been a growing problem in the last decade.<br/><br/>The age of consent is 16 (though for the purposes of this game, all characters involved in sexual activity will be 18+), and the legal drinking age is 18.<br/><br/>The speed limit on the roads is usually 30mph or less on small roads and urban areas, and 70 on motorways.<br/><br/>Police do not usually carry guns, except when patrolling areas like transport hubs. More often, armed police are called in for operations expected to be dangerous, or when a suspect is known to be armed. Civilian gun ownership is tightly limited, with the most common licenses being for hunting and for farmers. Firearms usually aren’t the hot-button political issue they are in the US .<br/><br/>Children remain in school until age 16 or 18. Higher education usually lasts for three or more years after that for an undergraduate degree (sometimes with a “gap year” in between to go travelling or gain work experience), though more people are attending university later in life.<br/><br/>Based on media portrayals, Yorkshire (and the north of England as a whole) often gets stereotyped as being either romantically rustic, or a grim and poverty-ridden post-industrial wasteland scarred by the mining industry being destroyed in the 1980’s. Those two views both have some truth to them, but the region is as varied as anywhere else. There is a lingering feeling, with deep historical roots, of being hard done by compared to London / the South in terms of investment and development.<br/><br/>The nearest large cities will be Leeds (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leeds) and York (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York).<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Myths &amp; Legends of the North</div><div class="spoiler_body">The Cottingley Fairies (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cottingley_Fairies)<br/><br/>Mother Shipton (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_Shipton)<br/><br/>The Lambton Worm (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lambton_Worm)<br/><br/>Jenny Greenteeth (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jenny_Greenteeth) &amp; Peg Prowler (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peg_Powler)<br/><br/>The Barghest (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barghest)<br/><br/>Redcap (the original) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Redcap)<br/><br/>The Kilburn White Horse (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilburn_White_Horse)<br/><br/>The Hedley Kow (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hedley_Kow)<br/><br/>Legends of the North: The Gytrash / Hobogblins / Boggarts / Lake Semerwater and the Angel's Curse / The Drummer Boy’s Well / Gyests / Devil’s Bridge / Redcaps (https://theculturetrip.com/europe/united-kingdom/england/articles/folklore-tales-from-the-north-of-england-every-visitor-should-know/)<br/></div></div><br/><div class="spoiler_container"><div class="spoiler_header" onclick="hideSecond (this);" role="button">Character Sheet Template</div><div class="spoiler_body">This is a simple version--if you’d like to use another template, go right ahead.<br/><br/>Mortal Name: <br/>Changeling Name: <br/>Concept: <br/>Theme Music: <br/><br/>Seeming: <br/>Kith: <br/>Court: <br/>Seelie Legacy: <br/>Unselie Legacy: <br/><br/>Attributes:<br/>Strength 1, Dexterity 1, Stamina 1<br/>Charisma 1, Manipulation 1, Appearance 1<br/>Perception 1, Intelligence 1, Wits 1<br/><br/>Talents: <br/>Skills: <br/>Knowledges: Holdings 3, <br/><br/>Backgrounds:<br/><br/>Willpower: <br/>Glamour: 3<br/>Nightmare: 0<br/>Banality: 3<br/>Seeming Immunity: <br/>Banality Triggers: <br/><br/>Birthrights: <br/>Frailty: <br/><br/>Realms: <br/>Arts: <br/>Cantrips: <br/><br/>Merits: <br/>Flaws: <br/><br/>Chimera: <br/>Treasures: <br/>Other Equipment: <br/><br/>Background: <br/><br/>Appearance: <br/><br/>Personality: <br/></div></div>