I know she is a dual-kithed Flowering/Treasured; her Keeper turned her into a fashion accessory for his precious courtiers and she spent years like that.  I know her flower is the rose, and that her Keeper was a Handsome Devil who had whisked her away into a cutthroat political domain where only the lovely survived and no darkness fell.

But… the thing is, I don’t want her to have Striking Looks.  She is pretty, definitely, but she has a generic prettiness, and I’m trying to figure out the character herself, beyond her being a heart-broken attention seeker who is so used to being silent that she’s fighting to speak up now.  I know she wears all black as a silent rebellion against the Fae she fled from, but… otherwise, the character is relatively flat.

Does anyone have any ideas to add to the girl?  Because I’m trying, but picking other people’s brains would be nice.

Dread, naturally, called both Cheerio and Sereno insane.  Sereno didn’t comment, but as he continued to talk, he struck up an idea.  If there was a fair vote, one for the whole freehold, would it mollify Cheerio and the unknown Changelings who would have left?

The answer was yes.  And so, everyone was called to the freehold that evening, and Sereno created a secret ballot.  No meddling and no discussion to persuade people, as required by Dread.  One hour.

The winner was Willow Mackennal, a Treasured sculptor.  While she joined the freehold after the Concord was born, after the war ended, she has a will of iron and will not allow herself to be used by anyone.  This will be interesting.

So the freehold has its monarchs.  Darah White is Winter’s Queen and at this point nothing more than a figurehead and puppet of Major Dread, the Autumn King.  Dread, while an effective ruler, is a very paranoid man who has spent fifteen of the last twenty-one years dealing with a supernatural war and believes he needs total control and the majority vote to keep the freehold alive.  Winter is not enjoying the fact that it means they lack a voice because Darah will always follow Dread’s lead.

They can’t vote her out either, Dread will just invoke Freehold law to stall any sort of vote until Winter comes and Darah gets the crown again.  So at this point, Cheerio, who is heading this movement, is making one last ditch effort to force the vote and stop Dread from interfering.  In this situation, it’s a final attempt at diplomacy and having my character, a Spring Wizened by the name of Sereno, argue their case.

Dread is outright demanding evidence of some of Sereno’s concerns, handwaving the fact Sereno has an oracle’s journal full of dreams and prophecies that Sereno comprehends due to being both an onieromancer and friendly with other supernatural factions, claiming them to be speculations for the sake of drama, so…  Sereno has just played one of Cheerio’s final cards.

Winter, and several other courtiers of other courts, will secede if Dread does not let the Crown change hands, fracturing the courts and possibly putting everyone at risk.

And Sereno will not be one going with them.  No, he will declare neutrality, move out of the freehold, and take his chances on his own so that he can be a free agent, using all of the friends he has both mortal and supernatural to survive.  And you know what?

It just might work.

shiftingpath said: You are a corgi born

Heh.  I actually took advantage of the fact I sort of have Mordekai’s coloring before and my family has compared me to the damn dog before.  The fact I have golden-brown hair with reddish highlights and brown eyes made it easier for my larp to believe Ruby was well, Ruby, instead of having to explain every time that my character had certain traits.

That and how I acted.  I was always bouncing and wiggling and grinning and occasionally whining in complaint.  It was fun.

kayandp:

A lovely commission for of characters; sweet little sidhe Narina, and the mysterious sidhe knight, Sir Song. So cute!

Want your own commission? Peep your eyeballs at that link!

Narina is one of my oldest characters, and honestly, she was the first to actually have an endgame.  It seemed fitting she’d get something cute and Christmasy, for one.

Anyway, Dame Narina ni Fiona was the innocent of the deadly, decadent duchy, who Chyrsalised following a young man during a festival, navigating a fabled garden in the freehold in the process, much to the court’s shock.  Even so, the haze of Rememberance made her forget the identity of the person she had been following until the First Nightmare scared the ever-living crap out of her by showing an image of that man in grave danger.

It turned out to be the taciturn Sir Song ap Eiluned, who at least put up with having a smitten Seelie teenager mooning over him pretty well, making sure she was safe and generally humoring her requests.  Even after it turned out he had went Shadow Court a session before Narina confessed and was the biggest villain of the PCs, which we didn’t find out until endgame.

It was a good game.

deliciousboards:

Sereno for Astra

Sereno Blackwood is the Changeling of the Queen’s Bay game, a dorky young Wizened who writes for a living and does housework to relax.  He’s a lot less of a nervous wreck than he was at the beginning of the game; having a steady, happy relationship with a mage and getting used to the routine that is becoming his life helps out a lot.  He’s also the fae Changeling member of the Odd Squad, and is working on a history book of the supernatural side of the city, to help the Concord learn and be aware of things that might bite them on the ass.

Among the Changelings, he’s the informal house and grounds keeper of the freehold (a Spring cleaner, you could say), the resident oneiromancer, and occasionally idiot who does something amazingly stupid in regards to vampires.  At least he’s learning.

kayandp:

Did I mention I have a giant collection of Changeling books? In fact, I’m only missing four CtD books (well, plus the Dark Ages Fae book) and I’ll have all of them. An awesome friend of mine also gave me a box (like the display case box) full of the old cantrip cards.

…minorly obsessed. Just a smidge.

Meanwhile I haveevery damn sourcebookfor the game, even blowing my money on getting the last two books I needed instead of getting a commission of an artist I was *dying* to get art of.  I’m still stupidly pleased with it.

That said, my gaming experience really started with D&D, Ravenloft to be specific, on a White Wolf chatroom.  Feels weird that Rookhausen is gone, but I got burned out on Java chats.  I prefer smaller games at this point.  First proper Changeling game I got into was a larp and amazing at that.  Fiona wilder + True Love + Curiosity = the only ‘innocent’ in the freehold and the luckiest character in the game.

Yay, another commission, this one done by Fastpuck, patron saint of gentleman/cutie pairings.

(Though Ulciscor would be hit with an onslaught of housework puns if he ever called Sereno a maid.  Made of words as he might be, and as swept under the rug as he can be, it should be made clear that he’s a brownie, thank you very much dear.)

andarix:

Color commission for AstraKiseki - (Happy birthday, Astra!)  Lines were done by Mer. 

HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Anyway, lovely coloring.  :D

(… and I’ll explain the two if asked.)

Yay, the Sereno/Ulciscor commission by Mer (click the picture!) is done.

And Sereno’s blushing like an idiot as usual.

Well, that’s an adorable discovery.  So, my Spring Wizened has a significant other, a gentleman Mastigos who serves the Guardian of the Veil.  He’s pretty happy with the guy, even though he is having a hard time wrapping his head around the guy’s arcane abilities at times.  Mind-reading and thinking with portals, and the dork has a harder time understanding the man can teleport to across the globe, with him.  Go figure.

Anyway, Sereno has other friends, naturally.  One of them is an absurdly attractive vampiress who Sereno dances with and has slept with once, before Ulciscor and Sereno dated.  Sereno mentioned this in passing and Ulciscor commented that she was indeed very pretty, no more, no less, without knowing Sereno had turned her down for a second round after mage and changeling got together.

Recently, Sereno was invited to hang out at her house and go swimming, so he got worried and asked if Ulciscor was fine with it, which he was.  Then he asked if Ulciscor was okay with the risk of being seduced, and found out three things.  One, the man would prefer Sereno not to end up screwed, and two, he has complete faith in the Wizened’s ability to resist a woman who is basically a living sex goddess, and three, if he felt if he was faltering, Ulciscor was just a thought away.

Cue Sereno teasing him that Mr. Low-key-and-Calm actually was possessive, what a surprise!  Then shut up as the nice little mental images came tap-dancing in and Ulciscor was treated to seeing Sereno bury his face into his arms and basically steam with thoughts.

Have another old commission (holy shit, three years ago?!), by Dongsaeng, this one of Fu as a mortal.  I had to ask him to put the handcuffs on Fu’s belt due to his issues with bondage, but all and all, this one was well worth the money paid.

And because it has to be said, I’m pretty sure either he’s very interested already, or the fucker shoved a sock down there.  Most likely the first one.  He would deck anyone implying the second.

Verymild trigger warning for a reference to certain drugs.

So, in the mixed nWoD game I’m in, my Spring Wizened is on a mixture of a Valentine’s date and a mission: The PCs are framing someone for murder to help conceal a vampire NPC’s existence, at a political mixer for our Sin-eater PC (basically think of someone who made a deal with a ghost), Jack Abraham, a politician who’s running for mayor.  To do this, part of the plan is to dose the patsy and the Sin-eater with roofies to create a ‘black out period’ and a time our douchebag patsy doesn’t have an alibi.

Sereno, the Changeling, is mostly there as a member of Jack’s campaign staff, as his role in the plot is to plant a dream into the patsy’s mind to blur the lines about what really happened, and that doesn’t need him near the guy.  And so, at ease with the fact he won’t be needed much at all, Sereno asked his gentleman friend, a mage, to accompany him as his date, both for the sake of company andjustin case, as the mage in question is a Mastigos Guardian of the Veil.   

(For those playing the home game, Sereno’s dating a guy who can read minds and manipulate space, and works for magical MiB most likely as wetworks.  And goes by the moniker Ulciscor.  That ain’t sunshine and kittens.)

Things are actually going well, Sereno has been schmoozing a bit as a staffer should be doing, and occasionally returning to his date to relax and calm down so he doesn’t get too overwhelmed.  The two start talking about different little things, such as Sereno’s mental state being a bit weird, but very well insulated, reducing the amount of noise Ulciscor hears from him, and it comes out Ulciscor finds Sereno’s nature, as a friendly, kind, sincereperson to be appealing, a rarity in the world of darkness, while Sereno finds Ulciscor’s personality to be comforting and encouraging analysis in a positive manner.  Sereno makes a mention that he probably should get back to the social aspects, and Ulciscor offers a little bit of help, touching his hand and amplifying Sereno’s sense of inner peace enough to provide power for Sereno’s magic.  More on that in a few.

Meanwhile, Jack has gotten to the patsy, and they are talking.  The guy’s well connected, which is nice, and he gets a few introductions to people before they go to talk in private, where the drugged wine is.  They keep talking there, and there’s implications the patsy’s hitting on him.  However, the patsy lets something worrying slip: he has more connections than expected, and he might be involved with supernaturals the city doesn’t know about.  Lovely.  Jack texts Sereno to get him and Ulciscor down to where he is so Ulciscor can read the patsy’s thoughts.

Back to our idiot Changeling, one of the emotional reasons why he’s attracted to Ulciscor is tranquility, a sense of security.  Ulciscor’s calm, blunt, and intelligent, things that appeal to a boy who has a fractured mind, who craves safety, prone to worrying and panicking.  His appearance doesn’t help matters either, and Sereno tends to be flushed around Ulciscor.  Their first meeting, Sereno panicked pretty badly, and he’s been getting better over time.  Anyway, getting a major dose of peace and tranquility?  Sereno was inches from taking his first kiss there.

Then the Addams Family started playing on Sereno’s phone and interrupted that.  So no smooches and right now, Sereno’s planting the dream in the patsy’s head and Ulciscor is scanning the unconscious patsy’s thoughts to figure out who and what the hell he’s working for. 

Such a pity.  At least Sereno’s fine with it.  Just about nothing can rattle him at the moment.

My Spring Wizened is playing Exalted at the local gaming store.  He’s the party Dawn.