Haven, The Freehold of Freedom
This Freehold, held by Count Theodore Kingesly ap Gwydion, can be found on Thayer Street. It is well known that the Freehold is open to all Kithain of any association. It's commonly a place of discussion and in fact an annual debate is held. The atmosphere of the Freehold is one of openness. All are welcome to come and speak. All views are heard, but don't expect to find anyone that will agree with you.

The Count and his Wife:
The Count is an extremely old Grump, having been a young wilder in the Accordance War. He enjoys a good philosophical discussion and debate and encourages people to speak their different views within his Freehold. Despite this he has very little tolerance for lawbreakers. Though in his old age he is starting to, get more and more lenient, to the dismay of his Wife. Countess Tatienna ni Gwydion (Deceased 7/03) is exceptionally Seelie and does not enjoy the open atmosphere of the Freehold at all. She is very confident in the Noble's right to rule and does not appreciate the Commoners view of equal rights. The two were married in 1995 after a very short courtship. Most thought it was interesting that a changeling so old would marry one so young, but the couple seem to get along well despite all of their differences.

Appearance of the Freehold:
A large castle style Freehold. The Entrance in the Mortal world is on the side of a small building. Stairs lead downward into a small door. A chimerical gargoyle stands over the door and questions all who enter. He will be more than happy to talk, but will not open the door until the Kithain presents themselves with a proper name. He'll announce the name(s) inside the hall as the door opens.

Knights of the Court:
Sir Vinny "The Love Machine" Dachienzzo, a wilder Satyr is the Count's only Knight. Despite his nickname (and don't ask him about it unless you have all afternoon), his real passion is that of public speaking. Sir Vinny won the Great Debate in 2000 and because of his inspiring closing he was asked to be a Squire to the Count. Within a half year he was knighted and has served the Count ever since. He has not competed in the Debate since winning, which is something he's not usually comfortable talking about.

Officers of the Court:
Tuckerby is a new addition to the Count. His skills as a craftsman and his aptitude with Soothsay have put him in good standing with the Count. Though he is unsure what to do with the young Boggan as he already has a Seer and a master craftsman. Well actually he has the local Sluagh to act as Seers and the Builder's Guild to loan a craftsman on occasion. But who's really going to argue with that?

The Count does not actually have any official officers within the court. His Knight usually acts as his Herald and as he is usually not away from his court he does not need a steward. When he does he has two (one as of 7/03) mortals to take care of the little things.

Servants of the Court:
Two Dreamers William and Benjamin, serve the court as mortal servants. The Countess found them both shortly after arriving in the city from France. They have served her ever since. They are bound by strong oaths to follow her every command. The Count treats them very well as has grown fond of the boys. The Countess, while not abusing them in front of others, is not exceptionally kind to them. Even so, they are every bit a pair of toadies.
Benjamin was killed in July 2003 during the Count's rage over the death of his Wife.

The Great Debate:
Once a year, on the day before the high schools start in Providence, a contest of wits and words is held within the Freehold. It has been a tradition since the end of the Accordance War. There is a listing of ever person that has won the award hanging on the wall behind the Count's throne. Each one holds the title of Expert of the Word. Should a Kithain be good enough to win three contests then they are given the title of Master of the Word. Only one person has won so many times, an old Eshu that now runs the local VAW club, Cyrus Smith.

Lands within the County:

The Barony of Angels:
Held by the Baroness Opthalma ni Eiluned, this Freehold can be found on Angel Street. It is the smallest of the Baronies within Providence but very few Kithain travel through the area. The building next door (276 Angell Street) is a house for battered women. Leading to many speculations about the Baroness herself. The Baroness came to the court of Providence in the early nineties as a very young wilder. She inherited the Barony after a short apprenticeship with the previous Baroness (another Eiluned Sorceress). It's been a long held 'fact' among the Boggan gossip circles that the Baroness and the Count had quite the affair before he was married to the Countess. Though no one dares ask the Count and few Kithain that have met the Baroness have not told any of what was discussed, never mind a matter as trivial as a past affair.

Knights of the Court:
The Baroness' Knight, Sir Dunemai (occasionally thought to be Scathach because of his silent demeanor), patrols the Barony with two Redcap Thanes to make sure that the rituals of his Lady are not disturbed by a misguided young Fae.

Officers of the Court:
No one has stopped to ask the two Redcap Thanes what their names are or why they would work for the Baroness as of yet. It's commonly thought of as a 'bad idea'.

The Barony of Old Hope:
Just recently given to the Troll Baron, Lord Vincent Shieldhand, this Barony has the weakest balefire of all the Freeholds within the city. It is thought that the Barony remains weak today due to neglect by a previous Lord, and in fact one of the previous Troll Lords did fall due to his failure to uphold his oath.

The Current Lord:
Lord Shieldhand was a Knight under the previous Baron, Lord Aielwynn ap Fiona, who only managed to hold it for five years. The Lord travels the land with a small group of Dreamers and his few friends and hopes to clean up the streets as much as possible. He's generally thought to be a bad Lord as his interest in the mortal affairs seem to take him from his Freehold often, leaving a young Pooka (of the possum persuasion) as his steward.

The Previous Lord:
Despite his youth he lost himself to forgetting giving up the hard life of the protector for an easier way. He is now married with a single child and working as a high school history teacher just outside the city. There have been occasional attempts to bring him back to the Dreaming but everyone has failed. Lord Shieldhand sends someone off on the quest whenever he gets a chance, but none speak about what happened when they return. At least not outside of the local court.

The Lost Barony:
This Freehold had burned out about ten years ago. There was not enough Glamour in the city to support it so no one wanted to risk trying to start it up again. Recently the County Seer, one of the random Slaugh that seem to pop up in court on occasion, received a prophecy and there is renewed interest in finding it again. The local Slaugh seem to know something is up but aren't saying, so what's new?

What was lost is found. The Lost Barony was found by a group of Kithain lead by Sir Darraghyn ap Fiona, including Tuckerby the Boggan, and Ben Monk the Nocker. The Count place Darraghyn as the new Baron of the Freehold with instructions to rename it. The Freehold is now known as Hope's Crossing and has had a rocky return. Ben Monk was chimerically slain, then Ben was accused when Skinny Tim was found murdered in the VAW. Nightmares plague the area of the Freehold, nightmares so terrible that one's eyes will not come to rest upon them. There is rumor that the previous Baron still resides with in the Freehold lost deep in Bedlam.

Other Tourist Sites to see while in the City:

Veterans of the Accordance War (VAW):

Cyrus Smith, an old Eshu, and Skinny Tim, a Boggan, are the hosts of this small club. They can be found near the Brown campus a few streets over from the Count's Freehold. The Count himself is a regular visitor. Anyone that wishes to hear stories of the Accordance War, from both sides of the fence, are allowed to visit. Though only actual veterans are allowed to reside, and they may stay as long as they wish. Coffee and Donuts can be found at the door of the Freehold every morning,compliments of Skinny Tim.

The VAW has not been nearly as active in the past months, with Skinny Tim's murder and Cyrus's disappearance. Some say Cyrus not only was the murderer of Skinny Tim, but the Countess too.

Admirals Club: (Note: need to speak with the ARST Changeling about this) The Admiral of the Queen's Navy, His Excellency Zebediah Waterluck ap Dougal, has a small club near the docks, on the edge of what the Kithain call Hope's Harbor. It's more of a land office and naval training area than anything else. It has a small room for entertaining guests with all sorts of chimerical objects that the Admiral has found from exotic lands on the High Seas. The Admiral's son fought with the Count in the

Accordance War, though with the fickleness of Glamour and the Dreaming, the Admiral did not come from Arcadia until a decade after his son fell defending the Kingdom. He was knighted by Queen Mab early on in his career, and quickly climbed the ranks within the Royal Navy. His Troll First Mate, Fenir 'The Weatherman', is never far from his side. Not many know the story of why, but of course, there are rumors. His other usual companions are the Nocker engineer in charge of aquatic construction within Providence, Rebekka Withers, as well as the Selkie ambassador to the Mer Kingdom of Hope's Harbor. She's detailed more under the Builder's guild section.

Bes Din Guildhouses:

Builder's Guild:

Providence has long had a Builder's Guild associated with it. The old Crone, Grandma Sammy, is the headmaster of the Guild within the city. There are four sections under her. Rebekka Withers, a wilder runs the aquatic section. Danny Dugger runs the architectural section as well as being the liaison to the small Miner's Guild in the city. Lily Travels is the engineer in charge of the aerospace section. The head of the siege weapons group has recently lost himself and has not been replaced. Sammy does not appear to be in a rush to fill the void either, as there are so few engineers working on these projects. In fact there is only one other and he's started to think about moving away.

Miner's Guild:

The Miner's Guild is very small and only has a presence so as to aid the Builder's Guild in finding new materials. The Miner's Guild headmaster is Benny Dugger (Denny's Brother). These two are the only ones that are aware of the ancient treaties with the Sluagh as to where they can and cannot dig. The other digger's think it's a bit weird that the headmaster has them dig in certain angles and places that don't make much engineering sense, but most either attribute it to his extensive experience or eccentricities, and they like him enough not to complain too much (for Nockers).

Other Groups within the City:

The Gathering:

The largest population in Providence is that of Sluagh. They have collected many secrets of the city, but they are unwilling to reveal what they have learned to the rest of the city. And most Slaugh don't know the whole story. Their structure is a mystery to even some of their younger members, but it is generally thought that there is a small group of Slaugh witches organizing the others in their search for the answers to the fate of Providence. They have ancient treaties with the Nockers to keep them from digging in certain places. In return the Slaugh supply the Nockers with information on Occasion.

Hunters at the Gate:
A small group of Redcaps and a single Pooka that hunt chimera formed from Lovecraftian Dreams. They've been at odds with the Baron of Old Hope on occasion, but it's never become a big issue. The Redcaps don't usually bother with the other Kithain and have been known to save a few from the grip of the odd chimera. So the get tolerated.

History of the Area:
Some cities are alive. They sleep, they grow…they feed. Providence is one such city in its prime and it is Dreaming.

Before the Return:
Prior to the Sidhe returning, Providence was held by a strong Troll Lord, the Nockers had a great Guild within the lands and the Slaugh crept beneath the surface. Anthony Militello, the Troll grew up on old Federal Hill. His Family connections helped him out early in life, when Federal Hill was the center of mob activity in the Northeast. In fact most of the earlier rulers of the city were in their mortal lives connected to the mafia. It made for really cheap enforcement, and very easy to hire Redcaps and such. The Troll family members lent a great deal to the tales of honor among the criminals. Anthony being a very notable example. Under such rulership Nockers (being businessmen themselves of sort), Slaugh (getting the occasional interesting contract), and Redcaps (who were never short of work) thrived. Though there was the occasional bump between the Redcaps and the Trolls. There was no real shortage of the other Kiths either.

The Legend of the Starless Night:
In the mid 1800's Providence was at its highest population of changelings ever. Trolls rules the land, Satyr's and Pooka threw wild parties, and Nockers created wonders seen never before. But they had to dig to find the material, and they dug farther than they should have, or so the story goes. The local Kithain had noticed a dark turn to the Chimera in the area and some of the Kithain were talking of war between their Shifter allies and a dark force trying to control the city. The local leaders wanted to respond to all of this in force so asked the Nockers to step up their work on war machines and weaponry.

In their digging a new material laws found. The Nockers called it White Stone, which the other Kithain thought was a very boring name for such a fascinating object, but weren't about to tell the Nockers the name wasn't so good. Not that anyone agrees on what it did anymore. Many weapons and war machines during this time were created from the substance and almost all warriors of the land had at least one. Obviously one of its properties was its ability to be forged into useable items. Beyond that the rest is legend.

And so the hunt for darkness began. The Troll Lords sent out Kithain on quests to get to the bottom of the new Chimera pervading the city. It was during this time that a balefire was found in the heart of the city. It was set up as the center of activity within the city during that time and became quite popular hang out. The parties were legendary (well obviously if they made it into this section). They found the darkness in many places around the city, but it never seemed to take the same form. Too many Chimera and other dark 'things' stalked the night, and sometimes day.

Then came real darkness. The city itself awoke and the darkness within its heart clouded the sky. It was the night that the Shifters planned their final assault on their enemies within the city. Some Kithain went off to join them. It is also said that the locals found what they believed to be the source of the evil pervading the city and planned an assault. As you can imagine, nothing went well on the evening of the Starless Night. There was only one survivor of those that went with the Shifters, Jimmy Feral, and none came back from the assault on the darkness. Mr. Feral, a cat Pooka of no small skill in battle, left the city that evening and never returned. An Eshu came through the city years later to tell of a story he had heard of a young Pooka that had faced the essence of night itself. He never believed it as the Pooka was quite mad, but it sounded a lot like Jimmy so people kept the tale going.
The Nockers stopped making items from White Stone after that night and no one has been able to get it out of them why. Only one weapon remains that was made from the substance and it is in the hands of the Count. He rarely brings it out except on ceremonial occasions. He received the weapon from the previous ruler of the lands, who received it from the previous Lord and so forth.

The First War with the Mer:

They attacked out of the Harbor bringing Arts that had never been seen before. Sounds a bit like the return of the Sidhe, but it happened about sixty years earlier. The Naval forces had been building up quite heavily prior to this time and it seems as if the Merfolk did not take kindly to the invasion into their territory. Great heroes emerged on both sides of the war, though the names of the Mer are lost to time. Alicia White, The Eshu Captain of the famed 'Hope's Fortune', was the one to finally bring both sides to the negotiation table after ten years of war. Since then an ambassador has stayed in the city to maintain good relations.

The Return:
When the Sidhe returned a young noble came forth and claimed the right of Fior over the land of Providence. He defeated the Troll Lord in honorable combat and was declared the rightful ruler. Tales are still told of this event as it appears that it was quite the battle. It's never really agreed upon how the Count won the battle though.
The new Lord, Theodore, knew that the Troll had done well in his rulership so allowed him to rule over an important area within his Demesne and called it the Barony of New Hope. The Nockers fell in line behind the Lord quickly and all fought to solidify the rest of southern New England under the rule of the newly arisen Queen Mab.

The Accordance War:
The Kithain of the County fell in line behind the old Troll rulers who in turn followed the new Sidhe Lord of to war. They did an outstanding job solidifying the southern areas of the newly forming Kingdom of Apples as well as drawing more and more commoners to their side. The old pacts between the Merfolk and the local Kithain of Providence went along way to keeping Hope's Harbor safe and the Royal Navy came to be based out of it. Theodore's popularity with the commoners, while remaining true to ideals of the newly emerged Sidhe, was one of the reasons why Queen Mab named him Count Haven, the ruler of the Freehold of Freedom.

The Second Starless Night:
The Lost Freehold used to be called the Marketplace prior to 1990. It was the center of the County's activity. Everyone liked to hang out there in their free time. The Freehold on Thayer Street was for debate and talk, you came to the Market to have a good time and relax. The Fiona Lord had three Knights, all of which were Satyrs and all of which tasked with making sure people enjoyed their time at the Freehold. One night a young woman came sobbing into the Freehold screaming of the Lord being swallowed by the Darkness. No one was sure how she knew so much about the local Kithain as she was a simple mortal, but when the Knights returned from their search for the Lord the woman was gone. A Boggan seer came the next night and told the Knights that they must quest into the Dreaming to find the answer to where their Lord had disappeared to. He also warned them that if they did leave the Freehold would fall to the same fate that it's Lord did. They weighed breaking their oath against the life of the Freehold and decided in the end that they must go for the sake of honor. Other Kithain of Providence stepped up and pledged to protect the Freehold while they were gone so the prophecy would not come to pass.

Two nights later came The Second Starless Night. The Darkness made assaults on each of the balefires within the city. The Kithain of Providence converged on each to defend them. Some Merfolk even came to the defense of the smaller balefires near the shore. No one was sure how they knew the Darkness was coming. Some said they could smell it on the wind, something wicked. In the morning, no one could remember what they fought, and only survivors were left. The bodies of the fallen were gone. The Count sent some Kithain to investigate The Market as no Kithain had presented themselves and reported on what happened. They returned with news that no one wished to hear. No one was found and the balefire was significantly weaker. In the course of the next few years some Kithain tried to rebuild the Free hold, but each quickly lost interest.

The Present:
There have been no major issues within the city since then. In fact the County has had many happy day, including the Count's Marriage and the overwhelming success of the Great Debate. There is the occasional missing Kithain and the decline of the Barony of Old Hope, but the latter is considered a minor setback. The Freehold should get back on track just as soon as the Kithain get their priorities straight.
The City sleeps and dreams. Currently the City's dreams are good, but it will not be long until the city again has a nightmare.