Chicago's Hedge
From Shadowsoflogos
Contents |
[edit] Trods and Hollows
[edit] The Long Road
This Trod is a broad, clear path - laid down with the precision of a Roman road - that begins with a gateway accessible only by leaping from the top of the sign marking the first interstate exit leading into Chicago (while traveling north). The path, it is said, leads directly to the outer skirts of Faerie, but no changeling is foolish enough to test that theory. True or not, the rumor is enough to draw the occasional Loyalist looking to "get home", or some damn fool militiaman or bridge-burner. By ancient pledge, both the Wind-Dragon Freehold and the White Tree Freehold contribute two guardians to ensure that no one tries to get through to the Road. Guarding the Long Road is seen as something of a punishment detail for unruly changelings, however, and the guardians spend most of their time drinking coffee at an all-night diner just off the interstate.
[edit] Midian Way
Midian Way is the most commonly used Trod in Chicago, though its appearance is that of a modest gravel path through the Hedge. The Trod opens in Graceland cemetery, inside the mausoleum of Archibald Grimwicke, a famous painter and artist from Chicago's early days. A staircase is built in the mausoleum, spiraling down into the ground, at the bottom of the staircase is a rickety wooden door, which opens to nowhere unless the opener first marks the door with a small red 'x', in which case it opens onto the first step onto the Trod, which is clearly marked by a wooden sign, hastily painted with white lettering - the language of which changes regularly, sometimes even appearing as written Atlantean High Speech or the First Tongue. The location and method for opening this Trod has slipped into local human lore, and every so often, bored teenagers and others find their way onto Midian Way.
A number of Hollows have grown up along Midian Way, and Changelings take advantage of it, largely because it's easy to step off of the Trod and into just about any part of Chicago that lies between Graceland Cemetery and the Trod's second opening, a crumbling, condemned brownstone on the edge of the southwest suburbs. Getting in from this second entrance requires a key in the form of a rhyming couplet. "I see the wind, how it blows/Goodbye home, hello crows" (Game notes: Finding the couplet requires an Intelligence + Investigation or Occult roll with a -1 penalty).
[edit] Barabbas Trod
Changelings rarely take the Barabbas Trod, despite its usefulness. It can be entered from very nearly anywhere in Chicago, so long as one knows the proper Key - which is to lay out the shape of a door in hempen rope, and then set it alight and step into the flame - and, although no one knows where it begins or ends, it can exit almost anywhere that the changeling cares to navigate to just as easily. However, it is a dark and dangerous road to travel - even in the dark and dangerous Hedge. The ground is scorched and blackened, no Hedge-plants grow here, and where their leaves and blooms would cross the path, they are burned and heat-withered. Instead, tall "Gallowtrees" grow alongside the road, crowding out all other plant-life, each one hung with a dozen noose-shaped leaves.
The denizens of the Hedge along the Barabbas Trod are particularly nasty creatures, and the Hollows that grow around it are decidedly unpleasant. Still, every year, desperate or greedy changelings find themselves on the road, and more than a few never come back.
[edit] The White Tree Freehold's Hedge
The nature of the Dual Monarchy has an affect on the Hedge around the White Tree Freehold. As one steps into the Hedge in or around the Freehold, one finds that the it is dominated by white cypress trees, dogwoods and a peculiar strain of thorny, ivory-leafed vine, which climbs like kudzu over the buildings of the city - at least until those buildings fade away, leaving behind a seemingly endless expanse of white forest. The Tree itself makes its own mark on the Hedge, appearing as a huge throne wrought of ivory and glowing with its own inner light.
When the Winter Court is in power, the trees of the Freehold's hedge change, their leaves and blooms becoming delicate ice crystals which reflect the light of the White Tree into a million rainbow colours. Though beautiful, this brilliant display can be disorienting to changelings who are unused to it. While Summer holds sway, the trees are in bloom, and the entire Hedge is bathed in a golden light.
(Game Effect: -1 to all sight-based Perception rolls; -1 to all attempts to Navigate if not a member of one of the Seasonal Courts.)
[edit] The Wind-Dragon Freehold's Hedge
The Hedge surrounding the Wind-Dragon Freehold is even more labyrinthine than its surroundings - according to outsiders, at least. Stepping into the Hedge leaves behind the densely packed, brightly coloured buildings of Chinatown for a narrow, looming hedge maze. The local fauna is brightly coloured, changing as one nears locations associated with one Court or another to reflect the colour and associations of that Direction. A constant wind howls through the the Hedge, often masking other, lesser sounds.
(Game Effect: -1 to all hearing-based Perception rolls, -1 to all attempts to Navigate if not a member of one of the Directional Courts.)
[edit] The Mire
The Mire is a strange, Hedgeborn phenomena rather than a particular place. Sometimes called "the Wet Season", it can appear anywhere in the Hedge, starting with a dreary drizzle of rain that slowly grows until the unfortunate trapped within is hip-deep in swamp and walking through pelting rain. Even the plantlife changes when this happens, and the sudden appearance of the Mire can confuse trails or attempts to travel to a specific place in the Hedge, as it connects the traveler to Hollows and landmarks that have no connection to the Hedge outside the Mire.
Worse, the Mire is inhabited by a particularly vicious Hedge-beast known as the Shoat. An enormous boar with razor tusks and an appetite for changeling flesh, the Shoat has killed more than a few Lost who've stumbled into its Mire, and the Summer Queen has ordered a handful of attempts to hunt and kill the Shoat, none of which were successful.
[edit] Creatures of the Hedge
[edit] Goblin Fruits and Other Oddities
[edit] Gallows-Leaf
Gallows-Leaf can only be found on the Gallowstrees that grow on the Barabbas Trod. Thick, dark green vines, these strange Goblin Fruits are shaped like a noose. If eaten, they taste in turns acrid and smoky, and leave the eater muddled and jumpy afterward (-1 to all Clarity degeneration rolls for the next six hours). Their real benefit is when worn around the neck. Once, and only once, a fae creature who wears a Gallows-leaf around its neck can - when faced with an attack that would otherwise be fatal - mandate that the damage be redirected to someone else. As soon as this effect is invoked, or after three days have passed, the Gallows-Leaf crumbles to ash.
When collecting Gallows-Leaf, it is important to note that the Gallowstrees that grow along the Barabbas Trod also produce Gallowsroot (See C:tL). Telling the difference between the two requires an Intelligence + Occult roll with a -3 penalty. If the roll is failed, the changeling will not know what oddment he has collected, until he puts it around his neck.
