This is a conglomeration of nonsense based on the background of my Changeling: the Lost character Willow. She was the first ever character I created for a LARP, and I have had many happy and facepalm-inducing moments playing her. Really, she is severely flawed in terms of fluff and mechanics, but she will still always hold that place in my heart and my memories as the beginning of what is now a life-disabling addiction.
Jacob! Winter! Where are you?
***
My head...what-
I think that you had a nasty fall, sister. Are you OK?
What was that?
What was that?
I don't know what you-
That...that thing...what was-
We'd better get you back to mother; you're not well.
***
What's happening to me? Where am I? Who is this creature that stands before me? I feel so far from home, wherever that may be. Nobody can save me now. I'm lost in this world. Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined such a place. Only a moment ago I was with my sister, and now...
What's your name, boy?
J...Jacob. Jacob Profeta.
I prefer Dismas. I shall call you Dismas.
What?
***
Winter Profeta is a poor spinster, and that's all she'll ever be, but look at this fine embroidery! So delicate! So intricate! Yet she remains stuck in this grotty city... I wonder what will become of her. She is probably already mad. It's difficult to stay sane for long in these conditions! We're all mad here... Observe how I grin like the Cheshire Cat: darkly, mischievously and quizzically. We're right characters in this neighbourhood! Now she is one of us - mad just like the rest of us!
Does anybody have any chloroform? My wife is going crazy again! She talks far too much...
***
I cannot abide war; how I hate it; loathe it. I have seen the death and destruction it causes for myself. I miss you every day, mother; since you died, everything seems hollow. I pray to God every day that we meet again. However, overall I am content with my existence, though it always feels as though something is missing, and it has done since before fate so cruelly took you from me. I am not old, but my days of youth are over, and it is too late to start again. It's a pity really, but oh well. I'm still more learned than most women of my generation, and this is something for which I am eternally grateful and of which I am most proud. Attitudes and roles are changing at an astounding rate - even when faced with opposition - and the world around me now certainly looks different from when I was growing up. Perhaps, actually, for all of the misery and pain that it causes, war is like the death of a phoenix: when it ends, a new flame of life sparks up and something new is born, something beautiful.
Winter!
Winter!
Winter!
Make the voices stop...I just want them to stop...
You have work to do, Winter!
I always have work to do - I do nothing but work, and work for you people!
Look how it's paid off for you though!
Yes - I live in a dingy, run-down apartment in the middle of an overcrowded city, barely able to breathe.
You live like royalty.
Inside my mind? Maybe. I will escape this world...
Turning, twisting, winding through the forest, Winter soon lost track of what was happening to her.
***
Winter!Winter!
Winter!
Winter!
Make the voices stop...I just want them to stop...
You have work to do, Winter!
I always have work to do - I do nothing but work, and work for you people!
Look how it's paid off for you though!
Yes - I live in a dingy, run-down apartment in the middle of an overcrowded city, barely able to breathe.
You live like royalty.
Inside my mind? Maybe. I will escape this world...
***
You can live like royalty inside my realm if you like. Let's go for a walk.
***
10th of April, 1970. It should have been a day like any other, but it wasn't. Life was never that simple, especially for Winter. She had taken the Friday off to go for a walk in Ettrick Forest. The flowers were blooming, the trees were green; all in all, it seemed like a perfectly normal day. However, the universe is a mischievous little trickster, and on that day, fate conspired against Winter. The fog gathered, her vision became impaired and before she knew it she was thoroughly lost.
"Hey! Is anybody there?"
rustle
What was that?
"Hey, you."
"Who's there?"
"Come with me - I think I know a way out!"
"Are you sure?"
"Take my hand. I insist..."
Turning, twisting, winding through the forest, Winter soon lost track of what was happening to her.
That hurt... What's going on? What is this place? This is...
...your worst nightmare.
No...oh God no...what's...what's happening to me? Mother! Father! Oh God, somebody help me...somebody tell me what on earth is going on...
Look at yourself in the mirror all you like. I decide what you see.
It's so beautiful...
It's as beautiful as I want it to be!
It's so magical...
It's as magical as I want it to be!
It's so frightful...
It's as frightful as I want it to be! Do you understand now? This is my kingdom. I am the king.
***
What was day? What was night? Winter never knew. She couldn't tell. Such concepts were mere memories for her. Her new body was so unfamiliar that it took her a while to adjust to it. She slaved away, doing the work that her master bade her do. She didn't dare attempt to escape, for she had witnessed others' punishments. There was a grim reminder on the entrance to the forests of what would happen should any prisoner or slave attempt a rebellion: an old captive, whom the natives had apparently named Dismas, was crucified to a tree, his lifeless body of shadow still relatively intact. So it was that, held captive by fear more than directly by her keeper, Winter stayed in the realm of Faerie, labouring over carpentry and poetry. She was the monkey that danced for its keeper, the court jester, the puppeteer with a puppeteer. Her life was filled with fear, even though wonderful things surrounded her. The realm was hustling and bustling with all manner of faerie folk, but she managed to spend a lot of her time alone.
***
"Hi! What's your name? My name's Boffin, Kalimac Boffin. You never speak much... Please tell me your name - please! Fine, see if I care! Ah come on, I just wanna be your friend...pretty please? PLEEEEEEEEEEASE! Hmmm, I guess I could name you. I mean, you do kinda look like a willow tree, so I guess I could call you Willow, if that's OK. Is that OK? Ah, I see you're actually talking now - and smiling! You're beautiful when you smile, you know that? You should smile more often, it's a good look for you..."
"Kalimac you say. That's a nice name. I hope we'll be friends."
"Kalimac you say. That's a nice name. I hope we'll be friends."
***
"Foolish boy. You always think that you can escape but you never can. Just accept your fate and understand that I have always been better than you will ever be."
He is too afraid to try anymore, but I know we can escape, I just know it. This plan is far from flawless, but there is still a chance, there is still hope. Hope will never die - hope will always remain! He has to believe me. Oh please, Kalimac, just trust me. Think of earth, our simple, sweet home. Is that not what you want? Do you not want to start again? Our pasts are long dead, our futures not yet born - let us give birth to them! The True Fae think that they own us, yet you have shown time and time again that there is the possibility of escape to freedom. Think of success - only of success - and never give up. Come, brother, and let us create our magna opera, with which we shall deceive the tyrant. We can do this. We can. We can! I believe in him, and I believe in myself. I am not small and I am not weak - I am a brave, strong creature-thing-woman, and I shall dictate my own life. Too long have I been a plaything for a cruel demon. Together, Kalimac and I shall reclaim our rightful places in the mortal realms.
"Never!"
***
He is too afraid to try anymore, but I know we can escape, I just know it. This plan is far from flawless, but there is still a chance, there is still hope. Hope will never die - hope will always remain! He has to believe me. Oh please, Kalimac, just trust me. Think of earth, our simple, sweet home. Is that not what you want? Do you not want to start again? Our pasts are long dead, our futures not yet born - let us give birth to them! The True Fae think that they own us, yet you have shown time and time again that there is the possibility of escape to freedom. Think of success - only of success - and never give up. Come, brother, and let us create our magna opera, with which we shall deceive the tyrant. We can do this. We can. We can! I believe in him, and I believe in myself. I am not small and I am not weak - I am a brave, strong creature-thing-woman, and I shall dictate my own life. Too long have I been a plaything for a cruel demon. Together, Kalimac and I shall reclaim our rightful places in the mortal realms.
She's crazy. Absolutely nuts...so why do I feel so compelled to trust her? I don't know...will this plan work? I doubt it. I really doubt it. Still, it's a plan, I guess. She seems determined for us to follow through with this. She has never attempted an escape before though, and I have several times. She has experienced neither the horror nor the pain of failure. Please don't let this fail...I don't want to see her get hurt. She may have her eccentricities and quirks, but she is the only thing in this place that has ever been a true friend to me. Fine - let's do this! We've got some metaphorical ass to kick. We could kick literal ass, but I don't think that would go too well. Just saying. I'll get onto the carving and drawing. We'll make a picture-perfect replica of the surroundings and prop them against the windows of our keeper's abode while the True Fae sleep. That way, if they wake up, then they won't see us escaping. It may be far from perfect, but whatever - this plan is so crazy that it just might work!
Keep running!
Never look back!
"Kalimac..."
"Yes, Willow?"
***
I can't believe that worked!
I can't believe that worked!
***
Never look back!
"Kalimac..."
"Yes, Willow?"
"It would be better if we parted ways here."
"But-"
"Listen to me, please. If we split up, then our keeper is likely to only recapture one of us."
"Listen to me, please. If we split up, then our keeper is likely to only recapture one of us."
"I understand. I'm going to miss you, Willow."
"I'll miss you too. Stay safe, my friend."
"I'll miss you too. Stay safe, my friend."
***
I don't remember much, but I remember that hug. It was the greatest embrace of simultaneous fear and love that I have ever experienced in all my years. If I ever meet you again, Kalimac, I hope very much to replicate that glorious moment.
***
Oh god damn it! Why did I have to wind up in Taunton?
***
My head...what-
Where am I? Swansea? Isn't that in Wales? How did I end up in Wales? Are...are those people talking to themselves? No... Are those phones...mobile? Mobile phones? Ha - ingenious! My word - look at the size of that television! Look at the cars! Oh my! What year is it? What year is it?! 2010?!?!? Impossible! I wasn't gone that long, surely. It certainly would seem that way. What do I do now? I have no home and I have no money!
Where am I? Swansea? Isn't that in Wales? How did I end up in Wales? Are...are those people talking to themselves? No... Are those phones...mobile? Mobile phones? Ha - ingenious! My word - look at the size of that television! Look at the cars! Oh my! What year is it? What year is it?! 2010?!?!? Impossible! I wasn't gone that long, surely. It certainly would seem that way. What do I do now? I have no home and I have no money!
"It's OK. You're not alone here."
Huh?
"My name is Farrell Butler, and I am a changeling just like you. There is a freehold in Swansea where we escaped changelings gather to protect each other from threat. I myself am currently Autumn King, Monarch of the Court of Fear. We will take care of you while you adjust to your new life. You are welcome to pledge an oath and join the freehold. We will also tell you more about our systems and you can choose which court you would like to affiliate yourself with, although there is no rush. I am sure that you are scared at the moment, but I am doubtless that you will adjust. You seem bright enough. The changelings in Swansea are all relatively kind, so you should be OK. There are some mad ones, but that comes with the nature of our existence, I suppose. I am sure that both of us will totally lose it eventually. For now, though, try not to fret. Just concentrate on building a new life for yourself, OK? Things will hopefully work out all right in the end - they have for us so far! Willow? Welcome to Swansea..."
Roleplaying is the most crippling addiction known to man, i suspect it should probably have its own classification in drug terms.
ReplyDeleteNo character is loved quite like your first character.
It really is an addiction. To be honest I kind of laugh whenever I see hardcore role-players harp on about how there are no negative side effects of role-playing.
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