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Peace, peace he is not dead, he hath awakened from the dream of life
- Shelly
HISTORY
The City of London is unique in nature. It rests on the most important nexus in the World, truly living up to its modern label as the gateway to the world. Long before any village or settlement rested beside the Thames there as a clearing in the forest upon which rested a vast Henge. Each Dolmen that made up this stone circle was a gate to other worlds and other realms. Mortals who knew of this field of gates avoided it as a haunted and otherworldly place and left it to the fair Folk to whom it belonged. Foremost among those fair Folk were the Children of Nemed, Tribes such as the Tuatha de Danu and the Fir-Bholg as well as the Fomorian Sea devils.
For many years the control of these gates gave the Fae power among the other supernaturals and made the Land of the Young as powerful as any vampire Civilization or Garou tribe. After a time of betrayal, the legendary Battle of the Gates, the Tuatha de Danu banished the Fomori from using the gates and the paths beyond, denying them an important tactical advantage. The Children of Danu now controlled all the major Trods and paths, and could ask for boons and payment from others for access to the gates. This, more than anything, guaranteed their eventual Victory over the Fomorians.
With the Gates becoming such a vital resource the Tuatha de Danu had to garrison a large force to guard them. They created a Race of giant guardians hewn from the same Rock as the gates themselves. These behemoth's, the Aegis, were devoted to the protection of the gates and the field upon which they stood. This protective Urge was transferred to the small settlements that sprung up nearby, and then to the roman settlement and eventually to the great Port City itself.
Once the Tuatha had imprisoned the Fomorians in the deep Dreaming and left the earth themselves, they charged House Fionna with protecting the Domain of the Gates and London has been seen as the seat of Fionna power ever since. The Gates were swallowed by the vast city and only those few who knew of the ancient secret was ever aware of their location. Changelings who were party to the secret influenced the location of the City walls and the gates within it, keeping the memory alive with London's citizenry.
While the Tuatha de Danu ruled over the Sidhe all things were as they should be, but after they left the ruling House, Gwydion, cast covetous eyes upon the Field of Gates. House Fionna's right of Rule was unassailable, handed down as it was by the Tuatha de Danu themselves as recognition for Lady Fionna's actions during the Battle of the Gates. Sir Feargal Ap Fionna, possibly the Son of Lady Fionna herself, and his wife Lady Matrona were the first King and Queen of the Field of Gates. They oversaw the use of the gates, gaining consessions from Commoners and gallain in the process, but the Gwydion believed they deserved this final Treasure. They began a campaign of undermining their allies, knowing that if they proved the Fionna incapable of protecting the Field of Gates the remaining houses would not challenge their succession of ownership for the prehistoric site.
For years the leaders and Nobles of House Fionna were beset by troubles and innuendo, the rumour mill dragged them further and further down in the eyes of the other Sidhe while the Fionna's apparent Flawed state only impressed the Commoners all the more. Feargal and Matrona's son, Oenghus (Angus) and his gaulish wife Rosmerta eventually came to rule the settlement that grew up around the field and the Port on the River Thames. This couple had many children in their years and several of their offspring later ruled over London while the interregnum was in force. During their reign Gwydion agents pointed to the influx of Vampires that settled in the Field alongside the invading Romans, but when Fionna's favourite Boadicea and her Icini handed the Soldiers their arses on a platter the rest of the Fae asks the Gwydion how well they were doing under Roman domination and the subject was changed very quickly. The Fionna weathered all storms and rather than fall from external pressure they grew stronger. Many of the Fae understood the reality of what was going on and they preferred the magnanimous way the Fionna controlled the Gates than the way Gwydion would horde the resource for themselves alone.
As the City grew to accommodate more and more mortals, and their Vampire shepherds, House Fionna invited others to rule alongside them, Sheriffs from the major British Houses. They Gave Gwydion territory within the City walls and a seat on what would become a council of advisors on matters concerning the Gates. While this tactic did distract the House of the Griffon for a time, it also served to remind everyone who ruled London and who was in the position of appointing advisors. London came to resemble a court, or more correctly, a small Kingdom. It was divided into Seven Estates, which the Commoners referred to as Kingdoms just like the larger Realms of the Changeling nation, and the leaders were named Kings.
For a time House Gwydion chaffed under its limited position and they bided their time. What they could not destroy from without, they figured, they would erode from within. Every ruling or policy House Fionna and its allies made, the Gwydion camp challenged. The Seelie court was fractured and the Unseelie soon saw the opportunity to prosper from the chaos. London was split three ways and looked set to topple upon itself when the Shattering began to impinge on the Changelings. In the end, the control of the gates remained in Fionna hands not because of superior tactics or machiavellian scheming, but simply because the Ruling Fionna bloodline remained on earth while nearly all other Sidhe fled in panic for Arcadia.
Changelings of House Fionna who underwent the ritual of the Changeling way ruled in London, the majority of whom were Sons and daughters of Oenghus and Rosmerta, and at times the fight for the throne was bitter. Although she never moved to take the throne herself, Oenghus youngest daughter Evelynn acted as a stabilizing influence among her siblings. Her foresight and calm demeanour made her a favourite advisor and the only times the infighting really threatened to topple the house was during the times she was not present in the city.
The Interregnum was, for London, a Time of desperate siege mentality. The Freeholds that had been formed around the Gates certainly made London a font of Glamour and ruling it allowed the Fionna to create a stable realm and to weather the long Autumn of the world with their Commoner allies. Already popular, House Fionna benefited from their choice to remain and as the mortal halves of the fae gained by the Changeling way looked to the Human royalty to guide London, so the Fae souls trusted House Fionna to oversee London's Dreaming. The growing Banality of the World had a much greater effect on the Giant Aegis and unable to follow their wards into the Human bloodstream they became undone. Without the Aegis the Gates themselves suffered and slowly one by one they ceased to function and slipped slowly from the memory of the Changelings as they went through each reincarnation.
The very same year the Moon landings reopened the Trods to Arcadia, Lady Evelynn married Lord Murdoch Ap Fionna, a distant cousin whose deteriorating mental health and slid into Bedlam threatened his rulership of the region. After centuries of supporting the Kings and Queens of London's dreaming Evelynn finally took a more direct role in her stewardship of the Field of Gates.
Before the final exodus House Gwydion and its allies had managed to expand their estates to swamp much of the far Western portions of London and the south banks western portion. The Unseelie who maintained the Western most borders of the City had been reduced to a tiny holding in this war of attrition. With the Resurgence, House Gwydion demanded the immediate return of their territories from the Commoners and the refusal of the lands now rightful occupants was met with swift and terrible action. The Accordance war in London was bitter and the Crimes committed on both sides outstripped the horrors perpetuated elsewhere. Goldhawk and his alliance of Houses Liam, Dougal and Gwydion looked destined to triumph, but the War crimes he openly sanctioned eventually served to unite not only the Commoners, but the Unseelie Houses with house Eiluned and thus with King Murdoch Ap Fionna.
Details of War are too dark to regurgitate in times of peace, and that matters is that when the Nobles made peace with the commoners, they made peace with the Unseelie first and then with the Fionna. Peace with the Gwydion, Dougal and Liam came much later, long after the rise of David the pretender in the colonies, and it was not a happy peace.
Countless Changelings were undone or destroyed in the resurgence war, but the greatest lost was that of the King himself. Mad Murdoch, now fully entombed in his Bedlam, led his Commoners, Trolls and redcaps, against the Noble forces on Tower bridge for the final battle. Gwydion and the remaining Noble houses had the Capitol freehold, the Throne and the crown in their sites and few held much fear of an insane king. Forcing their own Commoner troops before them they bore down on the Fionna for the final push. Murdoch had less then 20 Sidhe to stand beside him and the fate of London seemed sealed. But then the Gwydion ranks broke. The Trolls on both sides stepped aside, as if previously resigned to the act and gangs of Redcap sappers hidden beneath the Bridge swarmed over the Commoners, leaving Sidhe to face only Sidhe. Even now the Gwydion forces outnumbered the Fionna by 10 to 1 and The Banner of the Golden eagle strode on.
Each inch was hard fought, but the Fionna had little hope of survival. Within a half hour, Murdochs and his honour guard had been slain and the Gwydion breached the walls of the Tower. Once inside the Walls the victorious Gwydion came face to face with the Queen, Lady Evelynn, who they expected to capitulate. They were wrong. Lady Evelynn strode out in her Armour and demanded the Gwydion surrender. In the face of hoarse laughter, lady Evelynn simply smiled and when the Gwydion commander spat in her face she nodded courteously and clicked her fingers. With the signal her satyr ally, Earl Jonathon of the Sylvan Dream, opened a Trod and the Prince came riding through with knights of House Fionna and Eiluned. The cobbles of the Tower ran with blood and the Gwydion alliances was decimated. London remained in the hands of House Fionna.
Goldhawks Brother, a Baron from the North, took the defeated remnants of the Gwydion alliances back to their estates after signing a treaty that officially recognised House Fionna as the proper rulers of the field of Gates. The treaty was made more palatable by a Change in semantics. Seeing that much of the colonist Changelings had accepted some Gwydion fool as their King and had the nerve to call him Ard Righ, British Fae made it a part of their treaty to recognise Fae law and to find the true King. Murdoch's son, Shaughn, ruled as regent, not King, to recognise the fact that without the Lia Fail, no King could be chosen. House Fionna began to send reminders to the American Sidhe about how the Ard Righ of the Fae nations was chosen. So far, in their embarrassment, the Americans have neither relied nor has the pretender admitted his lack of claim on the title.
Since the return of the Sidhe and the approach of Winter, rumours circulate that the Fomorians are awakening again and the gates have once more become strategically important. Evelynn's Son, Shaughn, took his fathers position as Regent of London and ruled for almost three decades. During his reign, London enjoyed a great deal of peace, but the court was a hotbed of intrigue. Shaughn was not a man born for peace and without a war to fight he fell to his baser urges. With his mother to steer policy London grew to become a model for Changeling rulership and the layers of alliance and treaty are so complex that it requires an entire body of specialists to study them for each official act. Lady Evelynn, now often referred to as the Queen Mother, appointed a team of scholars to ensure the details of the City ran smoothly. These experts on Law, intrigue, etiquette and subterfuge were led by a Sluagh known simply as Serpentine, for her wisdom and her abilities, and recruited agents from each of the estates.
By the end of the 1990's the Gwydion estate had shrunk to a tenth its size, and it stood alone in matters of council. The Estates once held by House Gwydion and House Liam were lost to Commoner motleys, and the Unseelie Estate of Camden suffered the same change. The seventh traditional estate, that of South London, had not been autonomous since sometime in the interregnum. What little common ground Baron Goldhawk shared with the Regent was lost when Lord Shaughn was slain by the Chimerical beast known as the Toy stalker. From that moment on, the Gwydion Lord began to gather his allies once more. Territory became the focus of London's fae once again and the location and control of the ancient gates consumed the attention of all the major players.
The location of the Ancient gates is the reason behind the Civil war in London as House Gwydion still regard themselves as the only House fit to control the gates and have all but abandoned subtle moves for power. Cathal, the Son of Shaughn and the new regent was a forward thinking Prince with a growing coterie of capable associates that made up his own Oathcircle. If he had ruled for longer he might well have been considered as a contender for Ard Righ, but he burned too bright and too short for such long term plans. He led a failed quest into the Dreaming to rescue a Noble of House Gwydion and was slain by a Fomorian known simply as the Sorceress. The Irony of this tragedy is that the rescued Princess, Lady Kelemon, became the catalyst for the Civil war. In mere months she had taken hold of Goldhawks strings and established a powerbase fully capable of challenging the Fionna-Eiluned alliance for the throne of London. With no Regent to lead them, the Fionna once more turn to Lady Evelynn for leadership and London has become the chessboard for a game between two of the most powerful Changeling women of the modern world.
BBesides the battle between Changeling factions, many of the Velvet Children, the Mages, Garou and the Demons have remembered the awakening Gates and they too seek control over the gates. No one can deny that possession of a gate is a major advantage in any competition, and total dominance over the entire field is a goal worth pursuing. The Civil war between the Seelie houses began when Lady Kelemon openly demanded the Regents forces swear fealty to the 'new and rightful' King of London, her puppet Baron Goldhawk. Even in her arrogance this bold more was only intended as the opening gambit, the first more in the Nobles game of War. That slow and defined practice was cast into chaos by an unknown (though rumours all point to a single figure, Sir Dillon MacRoth) assassin who attempted to assassinate the Gwydion Nobles as they left. This assailant used a flaming arrow to shoot at Goldhawk and Kelemon as they left the Tower Freehold through the Sewers. Kelemon escaped strangely unscathed, but and the fire crippled the Baron horribly and left him as little more that a pathetic recluse for the remainder of his short life.
With the Regent dead and no other direct descendant to take the Throne, House Fionna placed their next highest ranking ally to rule. Earl Auberge, eldest of the two Eiluned noble Brothers whose father stood beside Prince Shaughn at the Battle of the Tower gateway years before became Regent of London. Auberge rules more in name than in spirit but he has amassed a great deal of respect and together with his machiavellian Brother Darkain, the politically savvy Lady Evelynn and the master warrior Snowdon Ap Annis, House Fionna maintains its position as rulers of the Field of Gates. Outnumbered by the Gwydion/Dougal/Liam alliance, the Regency holds two aces in this war. Firstly they have held the City since it was nothing more than a clearing beside the river and they know every secret it holds. Secondly they have support from two hidden groups of Allies, the Garou with whom they have long shared a friendship and the Unseelie who would rather get in bed with the Fionna than have to contend with the Gwydion.
Seven of the gates have so far been identified and claimed by various factions in London, but they are still dormant for the time being. Half remembered legends point to the likelihood of more Gates still being lost in the back alleys and byways of London and a thousand theories circulate as to why they have not become active again.
Old borders and territories are no longer respected and the Seven estates have become five. The Barons court that had continued to shrink since the end of the accordance war, has now extended to retake its previous holdings in the White city (central West) estate, and has extended its borders by annexing a stretch of the Southbank and parts of the Earl's Court (Central) and Islington (Central East) Estates. This victory has given them control of the Notting Hill gate once held by the independent Motley of Harledon's Troll's and Brixton's redcaps. The Regency have possession of the Tower gateway, the New Cross gate, the Moorgate and the Aldgate and their Allies among the Commoners control Highgate and Southgate making them the dominant force in London even though the Gwydion have them outnumbered 3 to 1.
CLICK HERE For a Map showing the distribution of power and the borders of the Estates since the War.
